Kourt: Looks so good. I feel like I want my dining room to look like this all the time.
Jenni: It should! *laughs*
Kourt: It should…… Is this your…. Table runner?
Jenni: Yeah. These are new linens that we just did… um, with the frayed edges and the napkins to go along with them, with the contrast stitching.
Kourt: I need that, and wait so are you not into placemats?
Jenni: I like placemats but I don’t think there’s rules for entertaining so I like to mix it up. Sometimes I like to do a runner, sometimes I do placemats, sometimes we do a table cloth.
Kourt: So if you do a runner, you don’t do placemats?
Jenni: Sometimes I do, but generally, I think it can be a little too much.
Kourt: And then if you were having a dinner, would you have food… go onto the middle? Or no?
Jenni: It depends on what kind of dinner you’re having. So I feel like you can do a plated dinner if want things more formal, you can do family style, which is generally what I like to do..
Kourt: Ok.
Jenni: And with smaller arrangements it gives you more flexibility to move things around, or you can use the table back here/
Kourt: Mhm.
Jenni: and do a whole buffet and then people can get up and serve themselves and, I think being in California/
Kourt: I don’t use that table
Jenni: being more casual is key.
Kourt: I do too. But, what I always wonder too, if you’re having a dinner/
Jenni: Mhm.
Kourt: and you have the plates and everything set up, but if you want people… to bring you the food with the plates then what do you do?
Jenni: Right. No, you don’t. So sometimes I’ll set the table because I think it looks prettier when it’s set, and then right as people are sitting down, I’ll take the plates like with my husband or one friend and stack them up at the buffet.
Kourt: Ok.
Jenni: But, if you’re going to a plated dinner, I would set everything, except for the plates.
Kourt: Ok.
Jenni: Or, you could set the big plate, and then use the smaller plate, to serve/
Kourt: For the food?
Jenni: Yeah.
Kourt: or like say you have salad first, then they’ll bring this with the salad/
Jenni: Exactly.
Kourt: and then maybe they would take your other plate/
Jenni: take the whole thing, yeah.
Kourt: ok.
Jenni: I generally don’t do plated because it’s a bit little formal….
Kourt: Mhm.
Jenni: and stick more with family style or buffet. And then I love all of the small details, so I always like to do like small umm… little accents on my napkins or on my plates, we did little palo santa bundles which was really fun and you can do them with your kids and it’s/
Kourt: Mhm.
Jenni: kind of meditative putting them together. I would say if you’re starting from scratch, you can do your napkins so many different ways, umm.. but one of my favorite ways to do it, is to just fold it like this, and put it like this.. and it also doesn’t need to be pressed perfectly because you’re not seeing the entire thing.
Kourt: Mhm.. Mhm.
Jenni: and you can even put them in between the plates, and then you use this one to kind of hold it in place. You don’t have to set both plates, but if we’re doing a salad plate that’s nice.. and then you always do your solid fork, on the right—on the left… and then your large fork, and then knife on the right, and your glass always goes above your knife, and if you have another glass like offset it… a little bit.
Kourt: Ok. Do you… ever do like when you put the napkin on top of the plate?
Jenni: Yeah, so sometimes I’ll put it in the middle, sometimes I’ll put on top, and sometimes one of my favorite things to do, because ironing is not fun and if you’re like entertaining on the weekends, and you’re here alone, then you can just take your napkin, and you can tie it in a knot…
Kourt: Oooo I love that!
Jenni: and you can put it like, down the middle like this, and it looks super chic.
Kourt: I love that.
Jenni: and it’s like easy.. and you can also like, break the rules and you can do your silverware like that or you know you don’t always need/
Kourt: that’s what I did over the weekend.
Jenni: Yeah solid fork, but there’s so many different things you can do.
Kourt: and you don’t put a spoon?
Jenni: Not unless you’re serving soup, or like need it for your desert, no.
Kourt: Mhm. Alright, so were gonna make bundles. Is that what it’s called?
Jenni: Yeah. So I love for gift toppers or for setting tables, kind of taking the foliage that were using, um, and making little… um, like bundles with them. So, there’s really no rule to how you do it, you can kind of choose what size you want them and kind of make everything the same size, and then you group it all together like this,
Kourt: Ok!
Jenni: and then you just tie it. So it’s super easy.
Kourt: With this— oh. With this?
Jenni: With this, yeah. So we should clip this first. Um.
Kourt: Is this stretchy? Or no?
Jenni: No. this is leather, twine.
Kourt: K.
Jenni: Which, in um, my book I have like kind of a list of things that I think you should always have on hand, when you’re/
Kourt: ok.
Jenni: entertaining.. and like leather twine, or ju twine is always one of them.
Kourt: is it the book you just gave me?
Jenni: Yeah.
Kourt: Ok.
Jenni: it’s called “Pacific Natural.”
Kourt: gotta study that.
Jenni: Yes. Um, so you kind of just choose, however much you want, and you just put it together, like this/
Kourt: and this is everything that you put, in the vases on the table?
Jenni: exactly. And then um, this is pale Santo, which is um, really great for energy and for clearing and all of that and it smells delicious, and you can kind of tie it however you/
Kourt: this one?
Jenni: this right here.
Kourt: oh that.
Jenni: and you can burn it.. so your guests take it home… um..
Kourt: Oooo
Jenni: and it’s really nice, right?
Kourt: where do you get this?
Jenni: you can just get it online. But there’s like so many different ways you can do it. You can do this with florals,
Kourt: what is this?
Jenni: you can put this on top of the gift.. these are dried poppy pods.
Kourt: how cute!
Jenni: right! Yeah. So, taking flowers and drying them is really nice or you can buy them at the flower mart like that, and again like I’ll sit, on a weekend and just kind of do this with the kids, and it’s super fun.
Kourt: oh my god…. Let’s see if I can do this.
Jenni: *laughs* you can make them thick or thin,
Kourt: Do you have to cut it?
Jenni: you don’t have to cut it. You can make them long, like this one’s longer than this one.
Kourt: Yeah. I saw you cut it at a slant, is that for a reason?
Jenni: Well, when I’m arranging flowers, I always cut everything as a slant, cause you want as much surface area, to soak up the water cause then your florals stay longer/
Kourt: ok.
Jenni: So, I think I’m just in the habit of doing that.
Kourt: Cute!
Jenni: Thank you so much!
Kourt: oh my god, thank you!
Jenni: of course!
Kourt: this is so exciting!
