Dining by Design

Last weekend a friend invited Brett and I to join his table at Dining by Design, a benefit for Design Industry Foundation Fights AIDS. The event is held all over but actually began in Kansas City, and is always a good time. We hadn't been in a few years so we suited up and headed down to Crown Center for the fun.

I tried to snap some shots of the tables with varying degrees of success due to the low background lighting and the more intense wattage at many of the tables. In no particular order, some of the more read-able pictures.

I have no idea who designed this, or who was seated here.
Design darling David Jiminez's table was (not surprisingly) gorgeous. Tiffany blue and green (not the yellow it appears to be here) felt fresh and fun.

Sorry this one is so blurry, but the rockin chandelier demanded a photo.

Very spring-like with lots of fresh flowers.

Black and white and light, this was one of my favorites.

As with most charity events, there was a silent auction. There were tons of things and a number of items we really liked. Mrs. Blandings put together a collection of design books. I bid on a signed copy of Margaret Russell's book because she facinates and frightens me, but lost out.

There was also a really great piece of art by a local artist (who's name I can't remember and it's killing me) made from vintage kimono textiles. That section of the auction was closing and they were waiving the white flag AS I WROTE MY NUMBER DOWN, and when they moved on I had been outbid. Disappointing, but hopefully I can find out who it was so I can look for more.

The other fun thing was that I finally met Mrs. Blandings and her husband, and chatted a bit before they were off to the dance floor. KC being the tiny town that it is, we recently figured out that the house we're interested in buying is just down the street from Mr. and Mrs. B. (It was chock-full of lookers at the open today so I'm not confident we'll be neighbors, but my fingers are crossed.)

All in all, a great night for a great cause. And look, we clean up pretty well!