Be My Facebook Friend
So I can keep you up-to-the-minute on my obsession with Weeds, my impending vacations, and my sparse photo albums, you can now get to my Facebook profile via the URL: www.facebook.com/ohbrooke.
My new Facebook Vanity URL assures that this riveting drizzle doesn’t slip through your fingertips.
Le Viette – Goodies for Guests
Le Viette makes housewarming sweet with their mini towel-desserts. They create adorable treat look-a-likes using organic cotton towels in all different colors.
My little “swiss opera” below is the perfect little treat for a guest bathroom. I love how the striped towel looks so polished all rolled up with a “kiwi slice” tucked on top.
When Le Viette sent these samples, they were all so unique, and so professionally packaged. You will really feel like you just came home from the bakery. SO CUTE!
After you’ve enjoyed the towel all glammed-up, you’re left with a quality organic towel.
The girls at the {oh Yes!} party agreed that this would be a great shower favor, or as a wedding present in the bride’s colors accompanied with a cake stand or serving tray. I love how these look, and where I thought I wouldn’t need just one towel in a contrasting pattern from my collection, this little striped towel is now one of my favorites.
You have to take a peek at all the cute little towel desserts at leviette.com.
If you want to know what the other {oh Yes!} reviewers thought, use the sidebar to see their review entries.
Just Thursday
This morning I’ll be in Oakland assembling Ikea furniture on camera for a National Geographic show, and then this afternoon I’ll be making my way back to Danville for a weenie roast.
So ya, just your typical Thursday.
Bright Side Project: The kinks are out!
Over the last few weeks I’ve had the pleasure of working with Jules and Tristan, new blog friends on the redesign and migration of their communal blog from Typepad to WordPress. The launch took place two weeks ago, and I think we got all the kinks out. The migration from Typepad wasn’t as painless as it is from Blogspot, but everything has been sorted out.
If you haven’t been to The Bright Side Project, please stop by. These two verysmartandwitty girls plan *DAILY GIVEAWAYS* with seriously fabulous stuff. They post their winners weekly, and all you have to do is answer the daily question to win.
GOOD LUCK!
La Plume Creations
I worked with Christine in T.V. Production a couple of years ago. We chatted and grunt-worked our way through a couple shows and had fun doing it. I was OVERJOYED to hear that she wanted to participate in the {oh Yes!} review party. I knew she was creative, and loved painting, but I had no idea that she designed jewelry as well!
Christine and her friends formed La Plume Creations and make some really beautiful and affordable jewelry. Christine made me this really cute pair of earrings above, that I have worn three times in the last two weeks. I would wear *any piece* of their really unique jewelry… in fact I have some purchases in mind. Below are some of my favorites! You can find them all in their shop at LaPlumeCreations.etsy.com.
Dessert Hamburgers
Lately, every Sunday I come up with some project so I may procrastinate “deep cleaning” another day. Yesterday, I made a big mess instead. I took inspiration from Bakerella {a recommendation from my friend April} and made this little dessert hamburgers and french fries!
{The beauty is, they are all mixes! Cupcakes, brownies, and sugar cookies… even store-bought frosting. Can’t screw it up! For directions, see Bakerella. }
Do Something Nice For Your ‘Web Guy’
Do you know a web designer/programmer/developer? Do them a solid and upgrade your Internet Explorer to the newest version.
Us web nerds have *ENDLESS* hours debugging our websites in old versions (and even current versions) of Internet Explorer. Websites look different in all browsers; IE, Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari, etc, and we have to bug test in all of them. Most of our focus is spent on *GD* Internet Explorer. ARG!
Best Case Scenario? Switch to Firefox… {You like Safari? Eh. Fine.}
So you don’t want to switch? Fine. Stick with your old boring routine. But PRETTY PLEASE, upgrade to the newest version of IE here.
{if you want to find out what version you are on, launch Internet Explorer, go to Help>About Internet Explorer. If it says version 7 – upgrade. If it says version 6 – you have been hiding under a rock since 2006. You probably also have a banana clip or a scrunchi in your hair, and blue mascara. Shape UP!}
{image via www.techstartnews.com}
The Morning After…
..the {oh Yes!} party, and I don’t think we did {or said} anything regrettable, so I’m feeling good. Well, okay, I’m feeling more like a wet noodle after all the work and the sleepless nights, but we had a total blast. The girls made for a fun group; some discussion was very pointed and serious, and some was downright girlie and giggly.
I have to throw up a BIG {oh Yes!} gang sign to Nothing Bundt Cakes – our edible reviewee for the night. Nothing makes an all-female review {not *revue*} panel more loose-lipped than a good dose of sugar and diet coke, and that is exactly how we got started.
Nothing Bundt Cakes has ten rich flavors that we were able to taste and fall in love with {our favorite was Red Velvet}. What we thought was the best part of the product, is that we could have them shipped or delivered. So instead of sending flowers {which we all agreed is fun to get, but seemingly a waste of money next to these treats} we could send a beautiful and witty cake for a range of occasions. And what I LOVE THE BEST – is the prices are just about the same as picking up a cake at the grocery store. No need to order in advance, they have Bundts and Bundtlets ready to serve.
Be warned that there are MANY adorable mouth-watering photos to follow… I’m going to go snack a leftover piece while you look…
If you are local {Bay Area, California}, you can find Nothing Bundt Cakes on Dublin Blvd. & Daugherty.
And here are a few snaps from the party…
{Oh Yes!} Fortune Cookie Invitations
Oh My! Tonight is the {Oh Yes!} party! Oh, how I can’t wait! {okay, you get the idea…}
I have eleven fantastic products that I love and can’t wait to show you! And I’m starting number one EARLY.
Whitney of Whisker Graphics *bumped into* my blog a while back, and after a few emails, we realized we live quite close to each other and have chatted quite a bit since. I have shared her stationary and etsy shop on a previous post, but I cannot *GUSH* enough about this wonderful product that she has: PRINTABLE fortune cookie invitations. Oh-so-brilliant! {You sick of that yet?}
So naturally, these became the invitations that I sent out to my {oh Yes!} party reviewers. Whitney has carefully marked out where to cut slits in the card so you can tuck a fortune. The PDF is all set up, all you have to do is print and trim! Such a great idea; it enables anybody with or without the resources of Photoshop or Illustrator to create some really fun and unique invitations on the CHEAP!
I added an insert that I designed with all the details, lined it with another colored piece of paper and paperclipped a hand-written little note {I always think it’s a good idea to personalize invitations… showing your handwriting is a great way to do that}. Whitney – your product gets a HUGE two-thumbs up from me!
My Desk
In case you thought it was glamorous, my friends, I assure you it is not.
Yes, my monitor arm is broken, and those are nerdy programming books propping it up.
Yes, there is perpetually a Diet Pepsi can with lipstick tracks within arm’s reach – and a water cup for good measure.
Yes, those are post-it notes on the monitor – so many that they don’t actually remind me of anything anymore now that I completley glaze over them.
And yep, that’s my little printout of “Push Button, Recieve Bacon” graphic that cracks me up, and seemingly nobody else.
Surprise in the Mail
New blogging friend, Whitney, sent me a fun summer package in the mail last week. What a treat! Check out how she did it here.
The Red and Cyan Shower Details
My friend Nicki’s shower was last week, and it was perfect. My friend and I did all the decorating and food prep the night before, so there was literally no stress the day of the shower. The trick to a well-themed party is repetition, repetition, repetition. We made sure we kept our theme evident: the colors red and cyan, and the element of an umbrella. I found some $4 parasols at a local party store, grabbed mini take-out containers from my blogging buddy Jessica, and Shannon and I both made banners using our colors.
The picture below shows the parasols as a centerpiece, the red-colored food, and our little favor boxes which read, “little drops of sunshine”.
We used Shannon’s mantle as a little vignette of adorable prego-pictures of Nicki. We found this banner idea at Paper Source, and I made it with very little paper, some ribbon I had, and those handy full-page labels from Avery to spell out her baby name.
Shannon gathered her clear glass vases and put yummy red candies inside… there was definitely plenty of red food to be had! Notice the little blue umbrella in this picture… too cute! {I found that parasol at a party store; it wasn’t quite the right blue, so I painted it.}
In the lower picture, we had every guest write down a word that describes Nicki to them. While Nicki was opening her presents, I put them together in this little shadowbox with mini butterflies I had cut out earlier. This was the final gift she received and she loved it.
And lastly – remember the invitations?
I love putting together a well-themed party. This had very little out-of-pocket expense, was low-key and fun!
Giveaway Winner
Thanks for celebrating my 200th post with me! The winner {via Random.org} was:
Congrats Whitney B. on winning the cute Birdie Clips!
Irons in the Fire
Nicki’s shower is tonight! I’m really excited to post pictures to show you… remember her invitations?
Today is the last day to enter to win the 200th post giveaway. Winners will be announced tomorrow.
Next week is the {Oh Yes!} party, and I’ve gotten everything ready this week. Gonna be FUN!
{Oh Yes!} Review Party Sneak Peak
With only one week left, the {oh yes!} review party is fast approaching… here is a little sneak peak of some of the oh-so-fabulous products to whet your appetite!
