Hectic days! Madness! The SSP team has hit their busiest time of the year.
Events are stacking up and the office is in a frenzy. More packages are delivered every day, full of decor and supplies for the upcoming events.
And more packages....
Even though it is a madhouse here, it feels great to be busy and looking forward to the events!
Cheers!
Ashlie
Over the last few weeks I've been using a great new application called
. Everyone knows I take tons of photos and now I have a place to put them besides Instagram.
Momentage allows you to group up to 60 photos from the same event, allowing you to tell the whole story.
Give Momentage a try – you will love it.
-Samantha
The food was over-the-top good and very innovative.
We can't wait to plan an event with them soon.
I could show you the cool space behind these great doors, but you should come check it out for yourself.
Thank you Tommy, and the whole team, who made such a nice lunch possible.
See you soon, Samantha
On the second night of a three-day event for one of our clients, we created a honey-inspired evening!
Whiskey Tea
We had a specialty drink to go along with our honey-themed dinner menu.
The Menu
We invited John Russo, the beekeeper and lavender expert at Carmel Valley Ranch, to attend cocktail hour. John cares for more than 60,000 honey bees and created this table arrangement for guests to enjoy his honey with a number of different cheeses.
During cocktail hour, guests could sit by fire pits and enjoy the view of the golf course and mountains.
Or they could join in on the golf competition, where each guest had the opportunity to hit a golf ball off the deck. The female and male guests who shot the farthest and got closest to the hole received a $50 gift card for the Carmel Valley Ranch gift shop.
Danielle and I created the tablescape for dinner, using candles and sunflower heads to line the table.
We even created the floral centerpieces in the "comfort" of our hotel bathroom!
The heirloom tomato salad was my favorite part of the dinner, although it was hard to eat everything as I had overloaded on the delicious honey and cheese appetizers!
The best part of the trip, however, was spending the week with Samantha and Danielle! Even though we started the week off with an 8 a.m. eight mile walk... along a highway... in heavy mist... while trying to close our eyes as we passed dead deer on the side of the road... we still managed to pull off another successful event!
All smiles at SSP!
- Hayley
Last week we put together a salt party for one of our clients. Here are some pics
of how it turned out...
We brought Bob Kirkland on site at
to talk about how he
harvests salt for the hotel and his company –
.
(here is a photo of his salt house)
Guests were able to taste different kinds of salt during cocktail hour
at the Carmel Valley Ranch organic garden.
The executive chef created a special family-style menu to
compliment our salt-inspired meal.
Centerpieces were created with local produce to give that farm-to-table feel.
Guests were able to season their meal with three different salts during dinner and dessert –
Monterey Sea Salt, Hawaiian Black Lava Sea Salt, and Himalayan Sea Salt.
It was a lovely, salty night! :)
-Danielle
For my summer vacation, I had the opportunity to visit what is known as the "The Concrete Jungle." This was my first time on the east coast and experiencing New York City.
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into, since I've lived in San Francisco and am used to city life, but I was completely taken by surprise. New York City's population alone is overwhelming and there is so much to see and do.
My first day started at 9 a.m. on the PATH train that brings you into Penn Station. I took a taxi to my first attraction, Central Park.
The Bethesda Terrace Arcade is the park's main architectural attraction. Walking around, you can see little children making wishes at the fountain, people taking family photos, and even people in decorative canoes floating around the park's reservoir. You almost forget that you are in a city.
Bethesda Terrace Arcade
I saw several types of entertainment as I was walking around Central Park, such as street performers, dancers, painters, and even magic shows.
If you enjoy Italian food,
Eataly
is the spot to go. The building is made up of Italian grocery stores and a boutique-style restaurant.
Enjoy the delicious Italian food and an awesome view down 5th Avenue
while sitting on the restaurant's rooftop.
Lunch time at Eataly!
Walking along 5th Avenue to the Meatpacking District
St. Patrick's Cathedral
The famous naked cowboy and I!
Times Square
It was an amazing experience to visit a city that is so vibrant and full of energy. I can't wait to go back!
Cheers,
-Ashlie
Working with a group consisting mostly of women forces me to look at things a bit differently. Some of our team, plus a good friend of mine, Samantha's son Justin Fatheree, recently went on a site inspection for an upcoming event in Carmel, CA. After a fabulous tour and a good night's sleep at the beautiful Carmel Valley Ranch, we headed back home. Along the way, we came across a hidden gem.
is a family-owned business started 27 years ago and passed down to the children of the original owners. They sell everything a home designer could imagine – textiles, soaps, tabletop items, books, furniture, vintage bits and bobs, jewelry, and much more.
Samantha and Danielle were in their own little linen heaven!
They were running around the place like they were six-year-old girls on Christmas morning.
Even for a young guy like myself, Tancredi & Morgen got me excited to own my own home and it definitely forced me to notice the finer decorative options out there and the difference they can make in a home or even at an event we plan.
Next time you are in the Carmel area, make sure you find your way to Tancredi & Morgen. The only thing you may regret is the money you'll spend on all of your wonderful finds!
Thanks for reading and have a nice week.
-Connor
A couple of weeks ago we had the honor of having a
jamón
master-carving demo at our office. Chef Teddy Rebollo personally brought his hand-crafted cart and his out-of-this-world
jamón
for an experience like no other.
Teddy contacted our team a while back and we checked out his website and instantly saw what a beautiful job he was doing – from his carving station cart to his website. We couldn't let him get away without hearing more. Sure enough, we were not only able to
hear
more about his company, but the best part was that we were able to
taste
what he had been describing.
Teddy took us on his
ibérico
experience by walking us through all of his steps. First, Teddy told us a little bit about himself and his background in Spanish
jamón
and why he chose to share his love for it. Next he showed us how he sets up his cart and how it was made.
After that, he taught us a little bit about what we were eating. "Most of the best chefs worldwide consider Jamón Ibérico de Bellota 'The Finest Ham in the World.' It is considered one of the four finest gourmet products along with caviar, truffles, and foie."
We learned how the
jamón
is raised, cured, treated, set up, carved, preserved, and most importantly – how it is eaten!
We poured a splash of white wine for each of us, toasted each other, then sampled the finest ham in the world. Everyone's jaws dropped with delicious surprise. Coming from someone whose favorite meat is prosciutto, this wasn't even in the same league! Welcome to the big leagues ladies and gentleman! Teddy also makes a fantastic, flavorful tomato spread which he put on Spanish baguettes – which are also killer with the
jamón
!
We are so excited to work with Teddy at our future events and we will be jealous of the client who we use him for!
Thank you, Teddy for the finest demo of the finest
jamón
in the world.
Enjoy your weekend everyone, and try some
jamón
if you get the opportunity!
-Connor
Team Building Day with SSP
Today we traveled to Napa in search of new venues, new food, and most importantly…new wine.
We started the day off meeting Christina at Westin Hotel and Resorts, located along the riverbank within walking distance of downtown Napa. Christina gave us a tour of the hotel where we saw different venue spaces, a selection of rooms, the saltwater pool, and a sneak peek into La Toque Restaurant. The hotel offers guests a fully relaxing experience with high-end flare – it was tough to leave!
Next we made our way to the heart of downtown Napa and met Glynnis who showed us Andaz Napa, a Hyatt Hotel. Andaz is filled with trendy décor and is easily accessible to all of downtown Napa’s charm. We all left wishing we could call their Vintner’s Suite our new apartment.
Then we stopped at Danielle’s newly built home, had a “splash of wine,” toured her beautiful home, and met her cat Toots. Poor Toots has a GPS device around his neck which looks like something built in the 90s. The device was probably as big as Toots’ head. I’m still surprised he can hold his head up, let alone breathe with it on!
Lewis Wines was next on the list, where Danielle’s husband David hosted us for a tasting. We tasted the 2013 Vin Gris Syrah and the 2011 Cabernet Sauvignon, making sure to use proper tasting etiquette (taught to us earlier by Danielle) – smell the wine first, swirl it around your glass, smell again, taste, and then spit it out. However, we don’t waste wine at SSP so we skipped the "spit it out" step.
For lunch we drove to Auberge du Soleil where we enjoyed each other’s company, college pictures of Danielle, and an absolutely breathtaking view. Oh, and the food was amazing as well! I could have stayed up there all day. I ordered the Herlioom Tomato Risotto, with shrimp and bacon bits. It was so rich and flavorful; I had to remember to breathe between bites.
The last stop was Quintessa Winery. We got a behind-the-scenes look at their cellars before walking up to one of the tasting rooms, located on a peaceful hilltop. Guests have the option of taking a cart or walking up to the top. We needed some cardio, so we decided to walk. The scenery during the walk itself was beautiful, but when I arrived at the top of the hill, I couldn’t believe what was in front of me – a wide open view of endless vineyards with the mountains and skyline as a backdrop.
Overall, SSP had a fun AND educational day in Napa. We got to know even more about each other and the culture of the area. Hoping it won’t be too long until we go back again! Or maybe, Danielle will simply let us all move into her beautiful new home so we can do it every day.
- Hayley
it's the SF SSP team
in
silhouettes.
so classic. so modern.
can you guess who's who?
(a few teeny hints below)
s
d
m
j
Thank you to the artist, Karl Johnson, of
, for capturing SSP to a T at our event in San Diego!
~ Melanie
For Ashlie's birthday we journeyed to Philz Coffee in SOMA. We went to get three delicious coffees, but came out with a whole lot more! The extra goodies made us fall head-over-heels for Philz.
I have always preferred tea, but Philz Coffee has made me reconsider! We had a wonderful time ordering from Youmis, who customized each of our drinks to our liking. Melanie and Ashlie ordered the Turkish Coffee and I ordered Jacob's Wonderbar. Since we were new and had trouble deciding on our order, Youmis made us a Philtered Soul to enjoy, on the house.
When I ordered Jacob's Wonderbar, I was introduced to the man it was named after, Jacob. As we were leaving, he chased us down with three baklavas to try. Only later did we learn that Jacob is the CEO/owner of Philz Coffee – it was a great surprise and made our day!
Philz Coffee
on the corner of Berry and 4th in SOMA
Words of wisdom from Philz Coffee while you wait to order.
Jacob's Wonderbar - a dark roast coffee with chocolate, nuts, and cloves.
Don't forget to top it off with a mint leaf!
So many different choices, from dark to light roast, specialty coffees, and teas.
Thanks Philz Coffee!
We can't wait to come back and hopefully see Jacob and Youmis again.
~ Hayley
The SSP team celebrated my birthday in a fun and creative way on Monday. Two of my favorite things to do are exploring new places and taking pictures. The team completely surprised me when they drove me to the North Beach district in San Francisco to tour a few of their favorite spots. I had a great time walking around Little Italy, trying the delicious pizza at Golden Boy Pizza, and exploring this part of the city with SSP.
A beautiful view of the city from the top floor of the Vallejo Street parking garage.
Mario's Bohemian Cigar Store Cafe
Melanie took us to one of the first restaurants she went to when she moved to the city. The sandwiches are delicious!
XOX Truffles
All truffles are made in the store and there are 21 flavors. This is a must for chocolate lovers!
Union Street
Rose Pistola
A toast to a great team and to a happy birthday!
Golden Boy Pizza
A BIG thank you to SSP!
~
Ashlie
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| simple green salad with amazing dressing. |
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| potato with fish, smoked Cod's Roe and Hen's Egg |
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| peas, pea greens, ticklemore cheese, olive oil |
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| toasted drippings bread with steak and horseradish creme with watercress |
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| Ricotta fresco and lemon with peppers and white beans, watermelon with feta, mint and chili oil, sliced Capacola, steak with beats, lentils, horseradish cream, and arugula. |
