This past Sunday I participated in the Lilly for Target frenzy. It was a total last minute decision. I woke up at 6:30am on Sunday and turned on my television to hear one of my favorite local News anchors talking about the Lilly Pulitzer for Target hype. I grew up in South Florida (aka the land Lilly Pulitzer), so naturally I was curious to see what this collection was all about. It took about five seconds of reviewing the adorable collection online to realize that I needed to get dressed and get to Target ASAP!
I arrived at Target at 8:04am (the store opened at 8am) and ran to the back where they had set up the Lilly Pulitzer Home section…it was already wiped CLEAN! I was totally bummed that I had missed the opportunity to purchase fabulous cocktail stirrers and wine charms, however I will say that the people watching ended up being a decent consolation prize. Customers were running through the store wearing the merchandise (including very pregnant women) to free up their hands to grab additional items. I also think that they were wearing the merchandise to secure their acquisitions (but that's just me). It was crazy!
So how did this Palm Beach-inspired post come to be? At around 8:30am when the people watching started to die down at Target, I was about to head over to the cleaning products section when I saw my friend Jane talking to a couple of Lilly Pulitzer enthusiasts. She had fared much better than me because she arrived at the store at 7:30am to stand in line (if only I had been so wise). Fortunately for me, Jane had grabbed more items than she had wanted/needed, so she graciously offered up her overflow to me. I was ECSTATIC! It really didn't matter to me what item I ended up with as long as I got my hands on something to serve as a momento from this crazy morning.
I ended up selecting the Lilly Pulitzer beach blanket. I live in DC, what was I going to do with a beach blanket? Well as it turns out, I have this wonderful picnic area right next to my condo and this beach blanket was the perfect picnic blanket. Totally inspired by my new beach blanket I started perusing the rest of Target for additional picnic accessories. It was a very fruitful trip to Target this past Sunday that resulted in the creation of a beautiful Strawberry Thyme Lemonade set up al fresco. Here are the details of my Garden Cocktail Party Setup:
- Beach Blanket - Lilly Pulitzer for Target
- Tray- Decorative Tray with Cane Detail, Mint
- High Ball Glasses- Reed & Barton SoHo Highball Glasses, Set of 4
- Cocktail Napkins- Caspari Entertaining "Garden Follies"
- Vase- Threshold Conch Shell Statuary
- Small Glass Cups- CB2 Low Rider Tasting Glass
- Pitcher- CB2 Double Edge Pitcher
- Stirrer- Williams-Sonoma Cocktail Spoon
- Drink Recipe- Real Simple's Strawberry-Thyme Lemonade
*This drink recipe can be served with or without the addition of alcohol. I would recommend using a Citron Vodka if you choose to add alcohol.
Overall, this day was a lot of fun. Not only did I end up creating a beautiful and delicious impromptu cocktail party al fresco, but I also learned a very valuable lesson. The next time Lilly Pulitzer (or equivalent) releases a special collection at Target…GET THERE EARLY!
