Found this artist on Annchoive's blog. His work is incredible!
Look at his CHINOISERIES series at his website: Harrison Howard.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
CAKE NOUVEAU!
Well, I am working on my "Tags" ..a dinner party with famous people and embarrassing songs you love, and realized...I have been tagged for over two weeks and could have had 10 dinner parties and a decade of music will have gone by before I am able to make my mind up on my tags. I think I am thinking too much here! I loved being tagged too..thank you! You are asking...what is my problem..these famous people are dead and not really coming to dinner!
So, to avoid the subject again, here is my daughter's 13th birthday cake by Cake Nouveau! Yes, we have a hot, famous cake maker in Ann Arbor who actually has won Food Network awards. Courtney is adorable and this is the cake she made for my daughter's Hawaiian themed party. Check our her adorable creations on her website Cake Nouveau.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
DO SHARE THOSE EBAY SECRET SEARCHES!
Well, yes I love ebay...the world is at my finger tips and finding items is never out of the question (even though I am still searching for Dolphin gutter spout covers as seen in Savannah).
Here are my latest searches:
Barbour Jacket (for my son)
Dale of Norway Olympic Sweater New With Tags (Any Olympics)
Pots De Creme
Demitasse
Antique Pedestal Sideboard (house)
Herend Rust (me)
Antique Oyster Plates (for me)
King Cobra Women Fairway Driver 2008 (for my daughter)
Pottery Barn Kids --Caroline Bed skirt or Headboard Cover
Please share yours!
DOLLAR STORE ENTERTAINING TIP #1
Well, here is my latest tip to share with you all. I love the Dollar store!
Dollar General usually has these nice little silver looking trays for guess how much.....a $1. I purchase them in quantity and when I head to an event in which I am asked to bring an appetizer, etc., I put our appetizer/dessert, etc. on one of these numbers and it looks beautiful. My girlfriend actually brought chocolate dipped strawberries on these trays around to her friends for New Year's Eve. After loosing a few priceless heirlooms, this is my new plan and I do not have to bring it home with me nor does the hostess have to deliver my platter, etc.
A Symbolic Representation of My Summer Life--Rubik's Cube
All I can say is that I need a manager to run my summer. This is one of those weeks of quadruple simultaneous bookings (four social activities booked for Friday night at the same time--not possible for my husband to be at Cub Camp and go out to a dinner party for friends moving to Korea and be at my parent's home for a dinner party, etc. ). Making the sides all align of my Rubik's Cube is such a challenge (each side is a family member and usually all need to align on schedule)--only 3 weeks left of summer break and we still need to squeeze in a family vacation. Things are just crazy but fun!
Sunday, July 20, 2008
DON YOUR CROQUET WHITE
We were invited to a wonderful Croquet party on Saturday night. We enjoyed several rounds while drinking a variety of wines. Serving the Pimms Cup #1 (the official croquet drink) was vetoed by the mostly non-British contingent-the British gals said "If we thought you would like it, we could have brought our Pimms". The picture above is a member of the Navy Croquet team--a little hard to play croquet on the ship, but an important skill for our sailors to have, no less. I used a pink ball.Thursday, July 17, 2008
AMPHICAR
A friend of ours purchased an Amphicar for her husband for his birthday. Tonight we went to their summer home and gave it a spin. It was so much fun driving around in the water then driving on the road home and parking this boat/car in the garage.
GROWING UP
My husband received this from one of his friends. Male humor, but true.
26 Ways to Tell You Have Grown Up
1) Your houseplants are alive, and you can't smoke any of them.
2) Having sex in a twin bed is out of the question.
3) You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4) 6:00 a.m. is when you get up, not when you go to bed.
5) You hear your favorite song in an elevator.
6) You watch the Weather Channel.
7) Your friends marry and divorce instead of "hook up" and break up."
8) You go from 130 days of vacation time to 14.
9) Jeans and a sweater no longer qualify as "dressed up."
10) You're the one calling the police because those %&@# kids next door won't turn down the stereo.
11) Older relatives feel comfortable telling sex jokes around you.
12) You don't know what time Taco Bell closes anymore.
13) Your car insurance goes down and your car payments go up.
14) You feed your dog Science Diet instead of McDonald's leftovers.
15) Sleeping on the couch makes your back hurt.
16) You take naps.
17) Dinner and movie is the whole date instead of the beginning of one.
18) Eating a basket of chicken wings at 3 a.m. would severely upset, rather than settle, your stomach.
19) You go to the drug store for ibuprofen and antacid, not condoms and pregnancy tests.
20) A four-dollar bottle of wine is no longer "pretty good sh*t."
21) You always eat breakfast food at breakfast time.
22) "I just can't drink the way I used to" replaces "I'm never going to drink that much again."
23) 90 percent of the time you spend in front of a computer is for real work.
24) You drink at home to save money before going to a bar.
25) When you find out your friends are pregnant, you congratulate them instead of asking, "Oh sh*t, what the hell happened?"
26) You read this entire list looking desperately for one sign that doesn't apply to you and can't find one to save your sorry butt.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
SPLITTING THE CHECK--Where is Miss Manners When I Need Her
Where is Miss Manners when I need her? I organized a group of women to go out for dinner to celebrate my friends 40th birthday. I carefully worded the invitation to say...let's all take xxx out for her birthday. We typically go to our club where splitting the check is always done and never a problem. The other organizer thought we should go to a restaurant.
She also thought that people did not expect us to pick up the tab.
One woman said that they would like to have a separate check. I called the restaurant to arrange this in advance and then went early to talk to our waiter. I decided to order a bottle of reasonably priced sparkling wine and said "put it on my bill"(thinking it would be separate).
When the bill arrived, it was not separated..I then offered to pay part the champagne and needless to say, the bill ended up being divided evenly. I walked away thinking.... this is not how I want to be viewed.
I wrote the owner of the restaurant a letter for other reasons, but it still brings up the same old problem...splitting the check. The head of Esquire Magazine said...after age 30, people should split the check evenly.
I just usually avoid these situations by having events a my home. What do you do?
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
PRINCESS CAMP
This week, and for the last 5 years, my daughters and their friends put on an adorable camp for little girls called Princess Camp. Twenty-four little princesses are at our home from 1-4pm everyday. They have dream quilt time, theme days (Ariel's Beach day is the favorite), have a camp song, and put on a show at the end of the week for their parents. My daughters learn how to run a business, manage people, organize kids, create a budget, plan activities, marketing, financial management, etc. It is a wonderful learning experience for all.
Friday, July 11, 2008
DRINKING THE POLITICAL KOOLAID
As I mentioned to you, Ann Arbor is a little off when it comes to politics. As a city, we passed several laws to make us "feel" better since we really have no authority to enforce them. For example, we have Nuclear Free ordinance (meaning Nuclear weapons may not be driven though our town).
My favorite sign from the Presidential Primary was vote none-of-the- above...."Gore 2008". This is a little confusing since Gore was not even on the ticket. The fact that someone would spend money for these signs...well, I am sure that you understand my point.
Also, perfectly logical people seem to have been drinking the Kool-aid when it comes to supporting candidates. I say, why are you supporting so and so. They do not have any real reason--which for such educated people, makes me concerned that they have lost their minds. If they are going to drink the Kool-aid, they might as well drink it in a stylish cup.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
I CAN MAKE A RAINBOW
Red and yellow and pink and green, purple and orange and blue....I can sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow, sing a rainbow too.
A preschool song that my children sang, that I will never be able to remove from my brain. Help me please!
PINK PREPPY PARTY GIRL---TAXI SERVICE
Yes, my summer is going well, I think? I am very busy driving my little darlings back and forth to our Country Club which is 1/2 hour round trip.
Six trips for PPPG Shuttle Service yesterday. My children have junior golf, driving range practice, group tennis lessons, private tennis lessons, swim team practices, swim meets, etc. This does not include playdates, tutoring, etc.
Last night we had a 20th Anniversary Dinner for some friends (yes, on a Tuesday) and getting everyone up and out by 8:00 am was tough. I think I am having fun. .
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
THROW THAT ETIQUETTE OUT-THE-WINDOW, I AM AN EVITE GIRL!
Yes, I have succumed to technology and the need for speed. I have invited a small group of women to dinner next Tuesday for a friend's 40th birthday using EVITE.
We received an invitation to a Pool Party for this weekend that was from Evite, which I loved getting and it has been fun to see who is coming, and their comments to the host/hostess. I think EVITE seems to work for last minute parties. Being the invitation fan I am, and always loving the formality and elegance of a personal, hand written invitation, I am very against this.
Because of the 1 week time frame, I was forced to speed up the process and frankly, personal phone calls end up in rejection or last minute call criticism (yes this is last minute before the world goes on vacation next week), or my favorite, date negotiation (i.e., I would really like to come but am unable to make this date. Please let me know if it changes). I have choosen the cowardly route of the impersonal ....EVITE. I will make it up in ordering an elegant, stand-up purse cake that has a J Crew influence (pictures posted later). P.S. If you really want your grandmother to "roll over in her grave", you can even send your thank you notes to your guest through this site too.
CIAO BELLA --MANGO, MANGO!
Thinking back to when we spent a month in Italy, our favorite snack was gelato--in fact, we had 2-3 scoops per day. My kids loved it! I love Ciao Bella Mango Sorbetto--it takes me back. It has only 107 Calories per serving (4 servings per container) and it taste like creamy frozen mango. Also, it does not have the same potential damage of eating a container of Ben & Jerry, etc. This is a great summer treat. The Pistachio is great too, but I am more of a fruity girl and just love that Mango flavor!
Monday, July 7, 2008
DO YOU LIKE MY HAT?
Having the business background I do, and how much fun I have blogging, I am intreged with measuring the value of my blog. Does anyone really like my blog? How do you know you are a successful blogger? I just receive an award from the wonderful It's Toile Y'all--thank you, thank you. My technorati.com rating for blog popularity is 387,498 and have
an authority of 17--- I am not sure that this is good or bad. I did start out in the millions so I am getting better. Bunny Tomerlin and rightfully so, was mentioned on Kate Spade's website under "Things We Love". I think this is a pretty flattering statement that you have made it as a blogger!
I have started a little poll is to see how you measure your success as a blogger.
See the side panel to participate:
1.) Number of hits per day
2.) Number of comments
3.) Profit
4.) Other ratings (such as: technorati.com)
5. ) Awards, mentions, tags, etc. from other bloggers
5.) Just do it for myself (do not care about any of the above)
Sunday, July 6, 2008
NEW PREPPY HANDBOOK 2008?--NOT! BUT FUN!
Even though I know that we are all looking for an updated Preppy Handbook, I am concerned and saddened that traditional, old money styling it out forever or not being written about anymore.
Here is an amusing new book called the "Filthy Rich Handbook" that makes a good attempt to mimic the Preppy Handbook but with an updated twist. It tells where this group lives, where they vacation, and other interesting information. Fun amusing reading for all.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
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