Teaching the art of home entertaining.

Empowering you to host gatherings with soul, intention, and effortless style.

THE 'Ghost' STORY
(my why)

As the owner of Magnolia Bluebird, and a previous tenure with one of DC's premier caterers, I've been entrenched in the evolution of entertaining for over 20 years. During the pandemic it was apparent that gathering is a gift and entertaining is a skillset that simply requires a little know-how, confidence, some preparation and a few supplies. Ultimately it boils down to desire, intention, purpose and the guest list. I realized my 'why' is to create something more permanent beyond the events I love. I want to empower hosts to create space for gathering, honor heirlooms that feel connected and personal, elevate local communities and their economies, highlight small, women-owned and/or mission driven businesses and celebrate the everyday in ways that are deeply rooted in storytelling and intention.

I was selected as a finalist in a tabletop design competition show on HGTV with Martha Stewart and Tamera Mowry, sadly, I didn’t make it to the table (pun intended) but I did watch the show. I realized it was so heavily focused on production that seven of the ten contestants didn’t actually know which side of the plate the forks went on or which way the knife turned. Spoiler alert: the creative that won is an amusement park designer…makes sense…

Simultaneously, as the pandemic raged on, my creative world and purpose was spinning. I was deeply entrenched in trouble shooting and problem solving but there were no smiles on the dance floor or creative tablescapes feeding my soul. I began connecting with interior designers to figure out if there was some way I could support them. I also began receiving call after call from my incredible clientele asking me to design their holiday tables and to help them find a way to spread joy. Intimate, in-home gatherings were now all the rage but none of them valued the price tag with a rental experience. 

My phone rang from one of my dearest clients. She wanted to host a safe weekend gathering to celebrate the (virtual) graduation of her daughters PhD with 12 of their closest family and friends. We produced an entire weekend filled with personalized amenities, three separate meals, daytime outdoor excursions, and a pretty incredible dinner celebration. And… we never saw a single guest. We later joked with our client “…it was like we were a ghost host, we came, we set up, we left, you celebrated, we cleaned up. Wait! I like the sound of that, write that down”. Thus… Ghost Host by Magnolia Bluebird