We had a blast kicking off this holiday season with good friends and reflecting on a successful year!  It was such a fun event and we have a lot of people to thank!  First off B Works, a wonderful non-profit organization, graciously allowed a bunch of curious design professionals to drink and wander around their newly completed renovation of an historic carriage house in Soulard.  Second, we really appreciate Scott Pozzo and Chouteau Building Group for giving us the scoop on the building and partnering with us on the event.  They did an amazing job!

Since it was the holidays, we had 2 surprise raffles for our attendees!  Stephanie from the Design Deli showed off their remarkable custom capabilities and donated a set of custom letterpress block art pieces!  The holidays wouldn’t be complete without a floral arrangement, so we asked Patti Porter of Patti Porter Designs to whip up something special for our raffle.  In a word: gorgeous!

Lastly, we were very grateful to receive wine & beer donations from Major Brands & Civil Life Brewing Co.  Very much appreciated and consumed!  FYI, Civil Life is a newly opened establishment and would appreciate your business in 2012!

Note: we did hang a kissing ball to inspire good cheer (and take funny photos!) and I am just waiting for the pics to be delivered. Proxy Photos donated their time and as soon as the photos arrive, I’ll include them in a new post.  I can’t wait to see them!

Thanks again for everyone who came out to celebrate & here are a few of my pics from the evening!  Enjoy & we’ll see in 2012!

We had lots of water but the beer was a bigger hit!

Holiday Raffle by Patti Porter Designs

Stephanie from Design Deli

Letterpress Block Art Raffle from Design Deli

B Works sells refurbished bikes to support the organization. These guys did their part to help the cause!

Look at all the food we collected for the food pantry! Thank you!

October was a thrilling month in St. Louis to say the least!  We were fortunate that the World Series was rained out for one night to allow a few more people to attend our “speakeasy” at Rhine Haus.  Great venue, yummy snacks and inspired conversations as always!  Thank you to Rhine Haus & Jeff Day, the project’s architect, for such great hospitality!  And thank you to all who came out for the evening!  Here’s a photo recap:

70 fabulous people braved the heat for an amazing evening atop the Moonrise Hotel!  Huge thank you to the event staff for their hospitality in leading several groups of interested design professionals through their unique hotel rooms! Also, big thanks to Colt Industries for providing us with yummy treats!

Here are a few images to capture the evening!  Looking forward to this month’s ispeak event at Park Pacific where we will be toasting with homeowners as well as the design community!

Welcome summertime!  We were hoping for an event on Vin de Set‘s lovely rooftop patio overlooking downtown but the heat moved us indoors.  Nevertheless, we had an amazing event in the gorgeous indoor bar!  New faces met with our “regulars” for an evening of relaxed networking and laughs.  We even choreographed a group shot from the mezzanine.

Our surprise raffle was 2 tickets to the FORM contemporary design show which is on August 12 & 13.  DesignSpeak will have a booth so please stop by if you can!  Should be lots of fun!

Thank you to Vin de Set for their hospitality and to all who came to meet & mingle!  We look forward to seeing you at the next one!

Here are pics from last month’s event at Cafe Pintxos!  We had such a great time and we owe a huge Thank You to the staff at Cafe Pintxos and Hotel Ignacio for making us feel so welcome!

If you haven’t been there yet, you definitely need to check it out!

Our Surprise Raffle Vendor - Chris Cassimatis Sculptures!

Christie Lewis won the prize at her first event! Beginner's luck!

Luckily, the hotel was gracious enough to tour our group through a few of the guest rooms!  An even greater feat when you consider only about 4-5 people fit in the elevator at a time and we had over 50 attendees!  Thank you Rachel!

 Looking forward to tomorrow night at Vin de Set!  Hope the weather is nice!

After a month in a cocoon, we had a great turnout for our May “speakeasy” at the newly redesigned Monarch in Maplewood!  Thank you to all who came out and helped make our evening a success!!!

A huge thank you goes to Derek Maschek (a designspeak team member) and a member of the architecture team responsible for Monarch’s transformation.  Visit Space‘s website for more recent projects!

Amazing display of Monarch butterflies in the Dining Room!

It's all about who you know! Space was kind enough to donate a few of the extra butterflies for our surprise raffle.

Our surprise vendor - Laura Bergmann was a big hit!

Visit Laura’s website for more inspiring products!

We had such an amazing time at Baisch & Skinner on Wednesday evening!

Lots of new faces and fresh flowers galore!

Thank you to all who came out to learn about the wholesale flower market.  Extremely informative presentation in such a beautiful new space.  A huge thank you to our gracious and entertaining hosts: Tom, Glenn & Margaret!

Tom, Margaret & Glenn from Baisch & Skinner

welcome design friends!

The Linda Kay Learning Center, located on St. Louis’ historic Floral Row, is now available for upcoming events.

For more information, please contact Glenn at Baisch & Skinner.

I like how the branches create an entrance to the space!

Ready for people!

The ceiling is beautiful!

Showcase for our surprise raffle.

We raffled this vase & flowers!

Zaximo Studios was our surprise raffle

Here is a close up of one of her new pieces.  For more information, please visit her online gallery.

Beautiful detailing

Everyone had a great time meeting new people and admiring all the arrangements on display!

Off for a Behind-the-Scenes tour!

Lovely display of flowers!

Chris is the lucky winner!

Some guests even won roses on the tour!

Michelle of Zaximo Studios (left) and a new fan!

Thanks everyone for a fantastic evening!  Look for more details about the April event coming soon!

Here are photos from our fabulous “speakeasy” at Chris & Amy’s first location for Hammer & Hand Imports!  They have a great selection of upcycled furnishings, each with an intriquing story.

Thanks to everyone who came out for a lovely evening in February.  Thank goodness for nice weather since the party spilled onto the street!  Lots of new faces mixed with old favorites made for a fabulous event!

Our wonderful hosts - Chris & Amy Plaisted

One lucky person won this gift basket!

Local artists' artwork on display with the furniture!

What a crowd! The place was packed!

Our first "official" team photo!

A trio of Daves!

Thanks again to all who attended!

Well, we started off 2011 with a bang!  We had an awesome event at Sanctuaria in January.  Wonderfully unique space, tasty cocktails, and great conversations made us forget about the blizzard outside!  Huge thank you to the staff at Sanctuaria and all who braved the weather for a wonderful evening!

Thank you David for cleaning off my car!