skip to main |
skip to sidebar
I have been listening to a lot of music lately. As I mentioned earlier, my brother Symon is visiting from California, and along with him - his music collection. So for the next month, I am being bombarded with his music tastes - some I like (I actually enjoy listening to the Jonas Brothers, shhhhh!!!), and others I don't particularly enjoy. ---------
Over the past few days, after Michael Jackson's death, I have reconnected with his music and suddenly remember how awesome it is. I would have to say that Michael's music would have to be in my top three of all time. Luckily Symon agrees with this, so he didn't mind Brian injecting Billy Jean and Want You Back intermittently throughout his play list.
While listening to Symon's blaring play list against my will this afternoon, I finally put together two little packages with extra goodies from the So Cal Blogger's Lunch to give away to two of you readers who weren't able to make it. The goodies include a gift pack from Oh Hello Friend, earrings from Lush by K D'Angelo, a reusable bag from Sedilu Green, a note card set from Mufn Inc, thank you cards from Chapters by Christine, a wallet print from Gabrielle Kai Photography, a muslin drawstring bag from Paper Sprout, a matchbook note pad from Ready Go, and a print by Megan Jewel. To try to score one of the two goody packs, just comment on this post and let me know your top three music artists of all time. Those of you who already have the goodies, I'd love to know your top three anyway! I will post the two winners at the end of the week.
Also, I am thinking of including advertising on my little bloglet in the next few months. Nothing ugly, I promise! So if any of you are interested in sponsoring this blog, and have a shop/blog that kinda goes with the look and feel of this site, email me at cityofdionne@gmail.com and I can let you know my cheaperoonie rates.
Since Summer is such a social, outdoorsy season - I always find myself going out and being tempted by lots of quick, unhealthy, but YUMMY foods that are available at market stalls and vendor carts at the beach. They are so accessible, and so TEMPTING! As I have posted before, Brian is the health-conscious one in this household - always checking the items we buy at the supermarket for sodium content and trans fat levels (all stuff that I have never payed any attention to in the past).
We pretty much avoid Fast Food restaurants, and keep clear of all those deep fried yummies at the markets, but one thing that we LOVE about Summer is all the FROZEN YOGURT!!!! Frozen Yogurt would have to be my biggest quick-access summer temptation. I am not sure really how healthy it is, especially when I mix chocolate in along with my fruit toppings, hehehehe.
What is your biggest Summer Temptation?
(the Winner of the Simply U Jewelry Giveaway is Avant Garde, congrats! Can you please give me your email address?).
Education and Food. That is pretty much what makes Brian and me tick as a couple. He's the learning sponge of our relationship, and I am the foodie - and together we make a pretty good team. An example of this would be the lists that we compiled of things to do with our friends that were visiting from out of town:
You can clearly see what our priorities are, hehehehe.
So for Brian's part of the trip we explored Austin, Texas - it is a gorgeous city. Not as big as Houston, but still very pretty. The Capitol Building was gorgeous. I loved looking at all the architectural elements, while Brian was interested in reading all the little plaques listing out the names of all the past governors, and the history of each monument.
My part of the trip was obviously all about gastronomical delights. We hit all the places I wanted to go to on my list, and also some great new ones. We drove out to Galveston, which is a small beach town in Texas. It's kind of a mix of Texan and Southern, with architecture and food being a blend of Texan and New Orleans style. It was pretty battered last year when Hurricane Ike hit, but it's recovering slowly but surely.
Galveston had a lot of great seafood places - one being Olympia - an awesome Greek-inspired restaurant. I love seafood and Greek food, so I was immediately sold on it.
Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post about things to do with guests! I loved all your answers.
(PS - I was featured on Swapdex from the Swap i hosted in Spring. Check it out here if you would like to see).
This week I have been living with 4 boys. My usual partner in crime, Brian, and then 3 added boys - my brother and two friends. Needless to say, the apartment is a MESS, the toilet seat is CONSTANTLY up (thankfully Brian is neat and clean and never leaves it up), and I haven't had a chance to do anything girly, but it's still been fun. We took my brother kayaking, and it was his first time - seeing the excitement on his face was priceless.
Being the girly girl that I am, it's strange to me that I have only started getting into jewelry over the last two years. I got my ears pierced when I was really little, but didn't wear earrings all through high school and most of college. It was only when I moved to the US that I started to wear earrings, and then only in the last few years that necklaces and bracelets have started catching my eye.
So my girly fix for the week has been brief conversations with Petra of Simply U Jewelry (between my non-girly activities here with the lads). She makes lovely silver pieces inspired by her children, from her little shop in France, which is pretty much a dream destination for a romantic like me. She lives in the south of France in a little city called Lyon, between the sea and the Alps, and loves to spend her time shopping for fresh flowers and fruit at the market and picnicing in the park with her kidlets. Lovely pursuits that make me partially wish that my guests here were girls, so I could do this kind of thing with them (but only half wish - the lads are lovely).
Thankfully desserts aren't only for girls, so while the boys have been here, I have still been able to enjoy the sweets that I love. Petra swears by apple crumble with icecream, and I would have to totally agree with her on that.
Petra is so generous and is giving away one of her lovely pretties to one of you guys! Go check out her store and then come back here and leave a comment about 1. your favorite activity to do with guests, and 2.which piece of the following you like best (and your email):
With All My Heart
Moms Are...
Simply U Bracelet
Silver Heart Bracelet
I will post the winner through random.org at the end of the week.
*Jewelry Photos taken by Simply U Jewelry
So I told you all about the great time I had at the Blogger's Lunch. I was so thrilled to meet everyone and get together and talk about life. Another great thing about the lunch was that some AMAZING Etsy sponsors provided items for little goody bags for everyone and for the main Door Prize.
I want to thank them all! All the items were so lovely, I was so happy to see all the great things Etsian's sent. Here are the links to our awesome sponsors:
DOOR PRIZE SPONSORS:
Photos courtesy of Oh Hello Friend and The Kitchen Shoppe by Jenfurmishel.
The Kitchen Shop by Jenfurmichel - Jen the owner couldn't be more down-to-earth. Just talking with her was a joy, she's soooo friendly! She sells the cutest vintage kitchen items, lots of lovely pieces to brighten up anyone's kitchen. As soon as I spotted her store, I knew that I would love for her to be part of the Blogger's Lunch sponsorship!Oh Hello Friend - Danni has such cute little pretties in her store! Adorable jewelry, pins and hairclips - just the perfect selection of goodies! And I love her packaging, it was almost too cute to tear into, but the suspense of what was inside was what propelled me to bust it open, and it revealed even cuter contents!! Danni also contributed lovely rings and earrings to the goody bags.
SpaDelights - this shop has adorable little spa towers that would make a great gift for a friend to pamper themselves at home. Their soaps smell AMAZING, and the owners Rachelle and Dana are two of the sweetest sellers ever! I highly recommend checking out their store! Rachelle and Dana donated soaps for the door prize and lots of vouchers for the goody bags - I am so appreciative of their generosity!
Mufn Inc - Pauline has ADORABLE note card sets. They definitely are a wonderful gift or a treat for yourself, and she also has LOVELY journals and books. Not only are her items cute, her packaging is so pretty - I LOVE this store, and Pauline couldn't be nicer! Not only did she donate a lovely bound book for the door prize, but also little note card sets for all the goody bags. Please, please PLEASE check out her goodies, they are not to be missed!!!!
ShelleAnne's Splendor - Anyone looking for some cute, quirky hair clips? This is a great little store with lots of unique hair embellishments. Rachelle uses a diverse range of materials, from buttons to felt, so you know that you'll find something you love! She's a sweetheart too, and will make your shopping experience awesome!
Photos of courtesy of ShelleAnne's Splendor and Mufn Inc.
GOODY BAG SPONSORS:
Sedilu Green - Dinnetta makes the cutest little reusable velcro-sealed bags. They are perfect for makeup bags, to store little bits and pieces, AND they are food-safe, so they can be used for lunches too! I love all the fabrics she uses, they are so cute!
Ready Go - We had the cutest little match pad note books in our goody bags. Nadia made them and customized them to say SoCal Blogger's lunch. Wouldn't they make a cute favor? Nadia was so easy to work with and her turnaround time was the fastest I had ever experienced with Etsy!
Photos courtesy of Sedilu Green and Ready Go.
Gabrielle Kai Photography - As soon as I saw her work, I knew that I wanted her to be part of this Blogger's Lunch, and thankfully she was excited to be a sponsor. I love the composition and subjects of all her images.
Lush by K D'Angelo - I FREAKED out when Keri agreed to be a sponsor for the lunch. Her jewelry is STUNNING! The earrings she donated to the lunch were all so lovely, I wanted to keep them all for myself!
Photos courtesy of Gabrielle Kai Photography and Lush by K D'Angelo.
Chapters by Christine - I can't even express how lovely the cards that Christine makes are. They all have such lovely colors and cute embellishments, and when you look at them, you can tell that a lot of love and work has gone into creating them. Such a pretty canvas to write your love and sentiments to friends and family.
Paper Sprout - Dana is awesome. She customized some cute drawstring muslin bags to say "SoCal Blogger's Lunch", and they all came out so pretty! Her etsy store is such a great find. I am definitely going to be going back to her shop - it's filled with lovely little baggies, magnets, pendants, SO MANY things. And she just graduated! So congrats, Dana!
Megan Jewel - Another awesome Etsy paperie. Megan has just recently opened up her shop, and already it's filled with lots of unique note cards that I have never seen anything like before. She has a fun and quirky style, and all of her pieces are just GORGEOUS!!!!
Photos courtesy of Lily Bon Bon and Sweet Ambs.
Lily Bon Bon - I actually met Lynn through her blog, she's one of my favorite reads, and found her amazing etsy store through that. I fell in love with her little bird tags, and all of her other lovely items that have that whimsical woodland feel to them. A great store for sure!
Sweet Ambs - The prettiest cookies you will ever find are right here. You won't believe how gorgeous they are - literally edible works of art. I don't even remember how I came across Amber's store, but I am glad I did. Her cookies include illustrations of teacups, baskets, flowers, and all sorts of pretty things.
BOY GOODY BAG SPONSOR:
Mandaleighf Designs - Especially for the boys, sweet Amanda donated cute magnets of lobsters and moose heads. I wanted them for myself, they were adorable! Check out her store for fun little items, each with a quirky personality.
So as you can see, we all scored! Thank you so much to all these wonderful Etsians who contributed to our day! Go and check out their stores - I am sure you will find lots of lovely things. And keep your eyes peeled - next week I will be hosting a giveaway with items from some of these sellers!
*All prize photos taken by the stores they came from
I'm back!
I had a wonderful time back in California, catching up with friends and having good quality family-time. And the Blogger's Lunch turned out great! Leading up to the day I was so nervous - what did they expect? What were they like? Turns out I was nervous for nothing! They were all so friendly and fun!
Andrew, along with my friend Evan were a big help with setting up and making calming me down as it got closer to 1pm. Lindsey and Jon were the first on the scene, and Lindsey was every bit as lovely as I expected from her blog, and Jon was super cute telling me all about their wedding anniversary that they celebrated the day before.
Sabrina, as always, was all smiles, but I learned something new about her - she can jump REALLY REALLY high!!! Bethany revealed her true colors, and that she was a woman after my own heart - attacking the desserts like no other - the cappuccino pudding, followed by the Tres Leches, and then I lost track because she and Lindsey blocked all traffic to the dessert stand so I couldn't see what they were devouring, haha.
It was great to see Maggi and her husbo Steve. Maggi showed us all her latest bag creation in the cutest fabric ever, and introduced us to an awesome sounding book series (Maggi - what's the name again, i want to check them out!). They also showed off their Swing Dance moves and revealed to me that even though I am not the worst dancer - I still have a lot to learn!
Eric was hilarious, with all his witty anecdotes - and he taught us all a fun game that involved sentences, drawing, computers blowing up, and lots of laughter. Thanks, Eric!
Danni and Nick were lovely. Nick made fun of my burned garlic bread, while Danni insisted on photographing them in the garbage bin, hehehe. Danni brought her lovely goodies to contribute to the AWEOME goody bags filled with items from Etsy Sponsors, and also contributed a lovely necklace to the Door Prize. I will post more about the lovely Etsy Sponsors in my next post. There will also be a giveaway coming up for those of you who didn't come to the lunch to score some of the goodies that the SoCall Blogger's received.
I had a blast! So thank you to Sabrina, Maggi, Lindsey, Eric, Danni, Andrew, Jon, Bethany, Steve, Nick and Evan for coming!! Next time I am back in Cali, would you be interested in getting together again?
There are more pics here if you wanna see.
I am leaving for California in a few hours. I can't wait to get over there and see my family and friends, and meet up with the SoCal Bloggers! It's going to be great! So I won't be in Blogland for about 2 weeks, but when I get back I will tell you all about how the Blogger's Lunch went, and I also have a lovely jewelry giveaway lined up with a great Etsy seller!
Let me leave you with some great Etsy finds that I bought recently (PS. for the first time ever on this blog, these are not my images - I don't have time to take pics of them myself today with all the packing I have to do - sorry! I did the layouts, but didn't take the actual photos)
1. The Merc Shop.
Heather and Michelle have the most adorable shop set up. It's filled with old-school toys that seem like you would find them in a little mercantile on the show "Little House on the Prairie".
I bought this darling little Design Your Own Starter Home Kit. Isn't it precious? It has the little peg family, a wagon for their groceries, eggs, milk, butter, a fence! It even comes with paint to give the house some personality! I love it! Heather and Michelle were tired of the mass-produced plastic junk that you see in toy stores these days, and decided that they wanted to sell toys that had character and old-world charm. It works for me! And like me, they love a good dessert - Heather opts for Grapefruit Sorbet, while Michelle prefers Brownies.
2. Cathy Nichols.
Cathy Nichols' work is beautiful. This Beach Day print was the first art that I had ever purchased. I had always thought that since I was an artist, I should only decorate my home with my own work (crazy, I know!), but Cathy broke me from that ridiculous idea.
Look at the vivid color and the lovely pattern she incorporates into her work. The collage pieces she uses merge seamlessly into the painted parts - I love it. This reminds me of a beach back home in Australia. Cathy says that she is inspired by music. She actually imagines what she is going to paint while listening to her car radio! This is one of my favorite pieces of art ever! And I know - you want to know her favorite dessert - it's Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Icing. Now you just can't go wrong with that!!!
Okie dokies, my little friendlets - I am off to go finish packing. I will see you when I get back (and for those coming to the lunch, I will see you on the 14th!)
Yes - I am saying it. Yesterday I had the perfect lunch.
A girlfriend and I met up for lunch at this cute little restaurant. It's in this little nook in town that's full of eclectic little cafes, clothing stores, and antique stores. It's not your usual generic, inner-city eatery area, this part of town has a unique character to it.
After surveying the menu, we decided to split a pizza and then also get our own personal bowls of soup and salad. Did I mention that it was the perfect lunch? The salad was AMAZING. I love oil-based dressings, I am not into all this creamy stuff (Ranch is so blah!). And how can you go wrong with feta and capers in your salad? You pretty much can't! And then there was the soup. This perfectly spiced corn chowder. Bliss! And then finally -- well the pizza was one of the BEST PIZZAS I HAVE EVER HAD! The crust was perfect, the topping was perfect, the temperature was perfect.
Yup, this is a short post.
I just wanted to brag to you about my lunch.
What about you? Is your lunch something to brag about?
