I'm still in awe of the party Jill Brown threw for Garden & Gun at her beautiful shop, Brown, in Houston, Texas, last week.

Unlike most magazine-world soirees, this party was both stylish and down to earth, which fits the mission of our magazine perfectly.

From the food (almost all of which Jill made from family recipes the night before):

To the flowers (everything from large bunches of tobacco leaves to architectural stalks of tomatoes):

To the music (Across the Water warming up):

To the inspiring backdrop of her  store:

It was stunning.

Below, a very short list of my favorite things from the shop (if I put them all on here it would take days to read!):

—Glass mortars & pestles

—A whimsical lighting fixture made from vintage utensils

—A  new candelabra at the shop that would look great over a kitchen island

—Overscale copper lanterns from Jill's custom lighting collection

—An amazing metal bench

All photos above by Arthur Garcia (with the exception of the Across the Water shot, which is courtesy of Cote De Texas

Wonderful product and attention to detail aside, what impressed me most was Jill's ability to make every guest feel at home and at ease.

Thanks to Jill and her entire team for planning and executing a flawless, memorable evening. 

For more great photos and comments, log onto Jill's Web site shopbybrown.com and check out Joni Webb's blog post at cotedetexas.blogspot.com