My husband sometimes thinks I'm crazy because I love to curate and style everything, but he's realized that it's something I truly love to do! Last week we decided to enjoy a quiet evening at home, the weather was lovely and it was the perfect opportunity to relax together and have a little wine + cheese in the backyard before we began to cook dinner.

I could have easily taken some crackers from the pantry, sliced some cheese and thrown it on a plate and been done, but what's the fun in that! Instead I grabbed a simple white tray and thoughtfully placed some cheeses, a couple of types of crackers and a few other goodies. Given that this was an impromptu decision we didn't even have some of the items I would usually have included when making a charcuterie board. Don't ever worry if you don't have "everything," that's what improvising is all about and chances are you will be the only one that knows or notices! The entire process took only a few minutes more that it would have if I had just tossed everything on a plate and it's the small details like this that create ambiance and make something as simple as enjoying wine together a memorable experience.

I always try to consider what kind of experience can I create, whether it's for a dinner party, a gala or even just my husband and I in our backyard on a random Tuesday. My husband works incredibly hard and I really wanted him to truly relax and for us to just unwind and enjoy some time together, so I made the charcuterie board, turned Sonos on with his favorite XM channel, grabbed some flowers I had sitting in our kitchen and my favorite vessel for chilling wine + champagne and headed outside. My husband is ALWAYS in charge of the wine selection in our home so that was his duty for the evening. I arranged everything outside and with wine in hand, my husband turned to me and said, "Sweet Pea, you always make everything so beautiful!" I knew I had succeeded, my husband was able to relax and together we had a wonderful evening.

Cheers,

Molly