Whitney Leigh Morris 6/18/17 Whitney Leigh Morris 6/18/17

Father's Day at the Cottage

This post was sponsored by Baileys.
From the first moment we discussed the possibility of having children together, I knew my husband Adam would be a wonderful father. He has a calm and carefree way about him that encourages everyone around him to be at ease. His presence reminds me to relax and breathe— it’s a rare and valuable trait that’s so helpful in the context of becoming a parent, and raising a child in a busy world.

For Adam’s first Father’s Day as a dad, we agreed to celebrate simply. No presents— we have everything we need already, and tiny homes function better with fewer items anyway. Instead, we’ve opted for a quiet night in Venice.

We have lavender in our garden here at home, plus there were buckets of it at our local Farmer’s Market as well, so we decided to use it in a celebratory Baileys cocktail shake.

We rode around town on our bikes gathering up the other groceries we needed. (West has grown up enough now that we can secure his car seat into the cargo bike, which has been amazing.)

Adam came up with a quick and easy concoction that we threw into the Vitamix after dinner:

   • 2oz Baileys
   • 2oz Bulleit Whiskey
   • 2 Cups Ice
   • 1 Cup Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
   • Topped with Lavender Sprigs

Earlier this weekend, Adam installed a little shelf on our Dutch Door, which is the handiest little add-on for our tiny kitchen. We put it to good use while making our drinks, and while enjoying the porch after West fell asleep for the night.

The ingredients smelled so good that we couldn’t get Sophee to leave them alone while we were preparing the shakes. (In the end, she only knocked over one glass. Given her track record, it could’ve been worse. )

This was a laid-back and delightful way to observe a special occasion together. We wondered: why scream over each other at a restaurant, or go out and contend with LA traffic while a babysitter watches our son? For us, being in our little home with our little family is the perfect way to connect, celebrate and surround ourselves with love.

Whitney Leigh Morris 5/28/16 Whitney Leigh Morris 5/28/16

Garden Mimosas

When entertaining larger groups in small spaces, I find it helps to have mini stations (for food, beverages, a bag/coat drop, etc.) instead of one main area dedicated to this-or-that. Compact entertaining spots positioned wisely around your tiny home and/or garden will naturally break up large clumps of people, and allow folks to move around with greater ease. We did this for our wedding brunch with lil' mimosa stations:

Garden Beverage Station: Sparkling wine for classic mimosas by WINC, H20 by Boxed Water.

I placed a 3-tier bar cart in the shade of our bougainvillea and grapevine to hold our CB2 champagne flutes, baked goods, fresh market produce, plants, and the beverage dispenser with sparkling wine mimosas from Winc. I upcycled an old wine crate top to make a space-saving hanging shelf where we offered Boxed Water that guests could take with them when strolling the canals throughout the brunch. (As I'm midway through my pregnancy, I had to refrain from enjoying the drink stations. While it's obviously well-worth it, I gotta say that I've never been so sad to say no to a mimosa-- especially after hoofing it through a DIY home-wedding!)