Charming Cards -

New digital photo cards by Baby Idesign

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:37:00 +0000

I have a new line of unique digital photo cards by Baby Idesign that I am pretty excited about. I love adding new products that think outside the box. These digital photo cards come in 2 unique designs- The first is circular with your digital photo on one side and more graphics and greeting on the back side. Optional ornament hangers can be purchased so your recipient can actually hang your card on the tree- how cute is that?!

The other style has a die cut circle that opens upward to a square back. Graphics and text cover all sides of this unique photo card.

All digital photo cards are currently disounted 15% during the month of October.

3 Special Products and a Contest for You!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:00:00 +0000

The contest is on and you can be part of it! 3 of my new products were chosen by my fashionable and savvy sales associates as part of our annual contest. Between Oct 1- Dec 31, the product with the highest net profit will award the associate with the coveted trophy and a percentage of the profits. The products are completely different from each other with different price points, but have the same mark-up and will be featured equally. I will extend this contest to my customers. Post your comment on my blog with your choice for the winning product and we will randomly select from those who pick correctly to find one grand prize winner of $100 gift certficate to Charming Cards. The products are:

Environmentally Friendly- Reusable Shopping Bags

Not only does it save a tree or a barrel of oil — it makes your shopping trip easier and stylish. The trend is to reuse these type of bags instead of paper or plastic at the store. Many adorable designs to choose from. Make every day Earth day!

Utensil Pot Clip

The Utensil Pot Clip attaches directly to the edge of a pot or pan and holds utensils while cooking, allowing residue to drip into the pot and not make a mess on the stovetop or kitchen counter. It is heat resistant and dishwasher safe. At $8.50 and free shipping it is a great little gift and during the month of October, the manufacturer is donating 5% of the proceeds of this pink color to breast cancer research. It also comes in Indigo, Red, Orange and Blue.

Trendy Travel Bags As Seen on Oprah

These adorable travel bags come in a weekender size or a rolling duffel as seen here. The adorable designs are printed under vinyl for easy cleaning and have storage pockets inside and out.

So cast your vote- The Shopping Bags, Travel Bags, or Utensil Pot Clips. Comments until Dec 1st will be eligible to win $100 Charming Card gift certificate, winner will be selected randomly from correct answers and will be announced early January.

A 15th Birthday and a Josh Story

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:00:00 +0000

My oldest son Josh turned 15 today. It is starting to freak me out how quickly they are growing up. We celebrated by surprising him this morning with a birthday breakfast. I picked up 10 of his friends at 6:30am and brought them back to the house so they could storm into his room and wake him up. We drove to a local Coco's for breakfast and then on to school.

Thinking back tonight about raising Josh reminded me of a cute story when he was little. He has always loved water. It started with standing on a chair and playing in the sink making waterfalls out of pots and pans. He loved water fountains, then pools and waterparks, slip and slides, water balloons and eventually turned into a surfer loving the beach. Well when he was 3 we had a computer game about the Berenstain Bears where you could go from room to room in their house and play (this was very exciting in 1996). Josh loved clicking on the bathroom and making the faucet turn off and on and and fill up the bathtub. Well one day he turned to me while playing this and said "Mom, can you flew me in?" I said, "what?" He said, "Can you flew me in?" I thought he meant "can you scoot me in" so I said "sure." He got excited and told me to wait while while he ran to his room to get his special blanket. He returned holding his blanket, stood on the chair and pressed his forehead to the monitor and said "Ok, I am ready." I suddenly realized he actually thought I might be able to "flew" him into the computer game and let him play with the Berenstain Bears and turn that water on by himself, but this was scary enough to need his blankie! I about melted when I realized his frame of mind and how sweet and innocent he was. To think this same boy will be driving in a year makes me melt all over again.

The Sales Contest Is About To Begin!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 21:23:00 +0000

Only 4 more days until the Charming Cards 2008 sales contest begins. I have been frantically adding new products lately but I am most excited to launch 3 new products October 1st that my 3 sales associates have chosen. We started a contest last year for the most profitable new product. Along with a financial reward the winner gets a (cheesy) trophy they can proudly display all year. We went to dinner last week and the 3 of them presented to each other their chosen product which they had kept secret. It was so fun to see the reactions of each other and how they scrutinized each other's pick as you see Amy here going over Mary Ann's literature. My desire every year is for them to find items I would not have picked myself. Last year we started off laughing at Lori's choice and wondered how she could get it so wrong. But her choice-the random Driinn cell phone holder had her laughing all the way to the bank! (see my favorite sales story). So be on the lookout October 1st for 3 new items and see if you can figure out who picked what. I can't wait!

15% off all Digital Holiday Cards and free book offer!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 21:28:00 +0000

I have been feverishly entering new holiday cards to my website to be ready for the upcoming busy season for Charming Cards. I am caught up except for a few vendors whose discs came to me with errors so I am awaiting the replacements but have over 250 new holiday products so far. Right now I am offering 15% off all digital holiday cards until October 15th. There are many new creative fun digital cards like this fun Peace on Earth card by Stacy Claire Boyd.

If you mention you read my blog on any order before October 15th, I will throw in the new little book I love 101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home.

Old habits die hard

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 04:09:00 +0000

We have had rough first week of school. My 11 year old who hasn't been sick forever has been home the first 2 days of school with a fever and terrible cold. Such a bummer. Danny is my quirky kid who we call our "character". Ever since he was a preschooler he has shamelessly selected a favorite outfit every year that he wears to death. In preschool it was a pair of denim overalls that he continued to wear into the summer. There have been Beetle t-shirts, jeans that are worn until they are too short and other favorite combos. For the last 6 months it has been a pair of black pants and a red t-shirt that he has worn seriously 98% of the time. We forbid him to bring it to Hawaii so we had a brief glimpse of shorts and a white t-shirt but soon was back to the "uniform". Well the week before school started he told me "Mom, I am going to retire my outfit". He was serious about "retire". The night before school started he called the family into his room for the "retirement". We stood around his bed and he asked each of us to say something about his favorite outfit. Most comments were something like "I liked your outfit at first, but it was overdone"....or "It was really cool for awhile but I got sick of seeing it everyday.." .....Danny would reply with " I do not accept your comment.......Next......" and the next family member would say pretty much the same thing. He then told us how much he enjoyed wearing his outfit and how he would miss it and then proceeded to hang it on the wall with the help of is sister.

I had taken him school shopping recently and he carefully selected a few new outfits. We have all wondered what will be selected as the next uniform and what he might pick for the first day of school. When he came down the stairs dressed for school (with a fever and he ended up staying home) , we all had to contain ourselves when we saw the outfit he favored for the first day of school. (no, it is not the one hanging on the wall!)

As I said- Old habits die hard!

Get organized for school with the momAgenda dayplanner-on sale now!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 15:53:00 +0000

With school about to start, the momAgenda dayplanner is a hot item. It is geared toward the typical school year and runs from August 2008-December 2009. Along with calendar and scheduling features for mom and up to 4 kids, it includes a favorite websites section, space for notes on books, movies, fashion, and music, vacation and party planning pages. It is sylishly bound and comes in pink, brown, and lime. It is now on sale for 35.99.

Oh the simple joys of summer

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:10:00 +0000

With summer winding down I have asked my children what they will miss about summer vacation. My 11 year old gave a surprising answer- "lunch from the truck". Everyday a catering truck passes by the street behind us to offer lunch to the construction workers who are building a house on that street. When Danny hears the catchy spanish tune the truck plays to announce it's arrival he says "they're calling my name!" Then he grabs a couple dollars and runs around the corner to purchase 2 spicy chicken tacos for lunch. He is an unlikely customer for them and usually the only child in line. The owner told me when I took this photo "he is our best customer, we will miss him when school starts." He takes after his grandpa with a love for spicy Mexican food which fortunately we have lots of in California. Who needs an ice cream vendor playing nursery songs when you've got Anna's truck of yummy Mexican food!

The low down on shopping for holiday cards in the summer

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:52:00 +0000

I have had people on my site recently looking for holiday card ideas. Many are probably looking at some of their fun family vacation photos and are wisely wanting to get a jump start on this process. I love the idea of being organized like this but I will let you know the downside of ordering too early... During the month of August the stationery manufacturers ship out their new holiday designs to all the retailers like me. After receiving the updates, it takes a bit of time uploading all the new products so it is not until September that you will see a full selection of what is fresh and new on any website. Some stores don't have their new items ready to view until October. Also, starting in September, most of the manufacturers offer early bird discounts. These are things like 15% off holiday card orders, free return address printing, or a gift with purchase. I always pass these along to my customers and will have all of the updates I receive in August ready by September. So by shopping too early you may miss out on new products and discounts. I always encourage my customers to get their holiday card purchases done by November. November ends up being so busy and is when I see the best of manufacturers make mistakes on printing, have shipping delays and other problems due to being slammed by orders. It happens every year. So my advice is to start thinking about your cards and get your summer photo ready if that is what you want to use, but wait until September to place your order. I just received my first new album which is digital cards by Prints Charming . I love this card for a fun beach photo ...

A dream vacation except for a broken foot

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 01:52:00 +0000

I have officially decided that Kona Village is my favorite place on earth. While on our vacation last week I overheard an older lady telling her group-"If I only knew which day would be my last day on earth, I would time a move to Kona Village so I could live here and my money would run out on my last day." I smiled and thought it not a bad idea. We had a great time relaxing, snorkeling, scuba diving, windsurfing, swimming with turtles, tons of good meals, and also did a lot of paddle boarding. If you are not sure what paddle boarding is, this a photo of my son on a paddle board.

It looks easy but is kind of tricky. I have posted about my Dad in the past who is currently training for his 3rd attempt to climb Mount Everest next year along with Mt Whitney and a triathlon next month. He is 66 and extremely active. In an attempt to balance himself on the paddle board he somehow jammed the oar into his foot resulting in a hairline fracture of one of the bones. It was an unlikely injury for someone so adventurous. The doctor has told him it will take 8 weeks to heal but he feels certain there is some "healing inflation" worked into that and thinks he will be back to training in 4 weeks. (we think otherwise)... The accident was at the end of the trip so fortunately it did not ruin it for him. We had Toby Hoogs Photography take photos that will take a month to get back and I feel certain to be able to use one for my Christmas Cards this year. Getting the photo taken care of for your Christmas Card is such a relief. I was able to get this photo snapped on my camera during our photo shoot to share my (growing up) family at Kona Village in 2008 and 1984.

Here are my own darlings...

101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:00:00 +0000

While doing errands the day we left for our vacation I came across a book that I loved so much I bought 3 extras for my siblings. It is called "101 Things You Should Do Before Your Kids Leave Home" and is filled with great family activities to create lasting memories with your children. With my oldest child starting her senior year in high school fairly soon, the title brought tears to my eyes. Coincidentally, the next day I received an email from one of my closest friends sharing her melancholy feelings as her oldest child had just left for his first year of college, she wrote "I'm sure I just need some time to go by to get used to it, but right now I'm looking into his big empty room and it makes me want to go back in time......" Wanting to share this book with my customers I contacted the publisher and am happy to have it as my newest product that I am really excited about it! At $12.99 I think it is a great price point for hostess gifts, a gift for a new mom, siblings, girlfriends, etc. Each chapter is short and sweet with a Christian message to boot. I plan on leaving one in my guest bathroom to offer a quick little inspiration to my guests.

Next Stop- Kona Village

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 14:06:00 +0000

Tomorrow we leave for Kona Village on the big island of Hawaii. I have been looking forward to this trip since November when we started planning it. We have been going here as a family since I was a teenager and tomorrow my parents, 3 siblings and our children (14 cousins) will enjoy special family time in paradise. Kona Village is a polynesian village style resort where you stay in bungalows (like Gilligans Island) rather than a big hotel. No t.v.'s, computers or cell phones allowed-it is fabulous and I can't wait! I do have help at home holding down the fort and keeping Charming Cards open during this time, just a tad longer processing time for orders. If you have a good book recommendation, please post a comment. I am leaning towards "Water for Elephants" which I heard is really good. Below is a photo of us at Kona Village in the early 80's.
Aloha!

Lori, Dad (the Everest climber), Amy, Me, Dan, Mom

Boatman Geller Box Set of Notes to be given to celebrity one year olds

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 02:23:00 +0000

I first came across Boatman Geller stationery about 5 years ago when they were a new little vendor in a single spot at the National Stationery Show. I instantly fell in love with their designs which included all the recent fabric trends put on paper. ( I was actually wearing toile pants at the show and loved their toile cards- a little too caught up in the trend!) Well they have grown by leaps and bounds and have some of the coolest designs in the industry. I recently added their boxed set of notes which are unique cigar box style containers with personalized stationery making for a special gift. In fact the designs you see below were selected by Jewels and Pinstripes who supplies fabulous celebrity and VIP gift bags to be included in their celebrity baby 1 year old gift bags. Charming Cards has 9 different box set of notes styles to choose from including palm tree notecards, golf notecards, patriotic, golf and princess notecards.

Fright Night!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 19:35:00 +0000

Our family has a fun little twist on movie night. I am fortunate to have much of my family living nearby with 2 sisters in the same neighborhood, making for 12 cousins within walking distance of each other and my parents a town over. Once a month we send out an e-vite invitation to get together for "Fright Night". Grammy and Papa come to my house and bring all the fixings for Fright Night. Supplies include bags of coins, movie tickets, soda, candy, popcorn, a flashlight and a semi-scary movie. The children get a bag of coins to purchase their ticket, soda, candy, and are led to their seats one at a time by their flashlight toting grandpa. Most of the movies are geared towards the 10ish year old boys who prefer semi-scary, sometimes sci fi, creepy monster type movies. Papa then welcomes them to the theater with same dialog every time "Welcome to the Giger Cinemaplex Theater, tonight we are featuring "______" (movie name) which is very, very scary. We ask that you all turn your cell phones and pagers off. There is no talking or chewing gum allowed in the theater. This movie is very scary so Danny might start crying or Simon might hide under the blanket - just cover your ears and close your eyes if you can't take it. (giggles from the boys)

Buy your tickets!

and your soda!

the most popular- candy booth

popcorn in movie bags

Some of our movies have been King Kong, Eight Legged Freaks, Lake Placid, Tremors (a favorite), The Blob, Wait Until Dark, Alien, Jurrasic Park, Critters, Terminator, Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, Zathura. Frankenstein, Godzilla, Gremlins, Crocodile, The Swarm and we alternate a few family type movies geared toward the younger kids. It's a fun reason to get together and the kids love it!

My (rocky) road to finding a great web designer

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:43:00 +0000

Along with being a fruitful business, my website and blog are a source of great enjoyment and satisfaction for me. Getting to this point did not come easy. I started in 2000 with a very simple website that sold only my discount notecards. In 2006 I expanded on this and decided to sell online all of my products and for a brief time had a 2nd website designed. This ended up being a flop and a big waste of time and money (lots of both). Updates and changes were beyond my control and the simplest modification took weeks to accomplish. I was back at square one trying to find a good web designer that could meet my needs and budget. I remember the moment I came across Cathy at Cgonsa Web Design. I knew right away I had stumbled upon something special. I spent hours looking at all of the boutique websites she had designed and how each one offered different features that were hip, girly, had fun character illustration and just the feminine touch I was looking for. I contacted many of the other websites she designed to ask about their experience with her (I highly recommend this when picking a web designer) and every one of them vouched for her quality of work and professionalism. I contacted her immediately and got on the wait list. I was so excited and couldn't wait to start and when my turn came up and we started with the design process, I could tell I was dealing with a pro. The communication was quick, responsive, and I knew I had all of her attention until my site was complete. Within a few short weeks she (virtually) held my hand as I learned how to add my own products and work in the admin side of my site. Having complete control over my website felt so liberating and the end result was better than I imagined and search engine friendly. If you are looking for a hip web designer to design a website that you will learn to completely manage on your own, check her out and the other couture web designs she has done at http://www.cgonsa.com/.

Boatman Geller Giveaway

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 21:40:00 +0000

One of my favorite vendors- Boatman Geller is sponsoring a giveaway of their soon to be released new product- Carrie and Tuck. Simply go to the Boatman Geller Blog and comment on where you would bring this cute little note filled tote this summer and 3 lucky winners will receive a free one!

Design-her Gals is giving away free notecards!

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:10:00 +0000

ORDER ANY PERSONALIZED DESIGN-HER GALS STATIONERY PRODUCT THIS WEEK AND GET A FREE PERSONALIZED SET OF FLAT NOTE CARDS OR RECIPE CARDS!!

USE PROMO CODE: NOTES

It's easy! Here's how to do it:
1. Go to the Design-her Gals website, Design your Gal and place an order for ANY printed stationery product (yes this includes stickers, invitations, the works!)
2. Then design ANY Gal and order a set of flat note or recipe cards.
3. Check out and enter Promo Code: NOTES
Your order will automatically deduct the cost of the note or recipe cards (one free set per order placed.)
This offer is worth up to $45!!

Promo code works at Design-her Gals website only and expires Midnight, July 15th.

Today's Paper Hits "Home"

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 15:54:00 +0000

As you can tell, my favorite color is pink, except when it is a pink slip! Up until yesterday, my husband and 3800 unlucky other people were employed by IndyMac Bank. While we knew it was coming, the reality of it still packs a punch. The uncertainty about the future is very unsettling but I have faith things will work out. Anyway-to soften the punch, my daughter and I have had plans today to redeem gift certificates we have had for over a year for massages at a swanky local Spa. Hmmmm....laying there having someone rub my back with my husband freshly out of a job seemed paradoxical. It wasn't as relaxing as it could have been but fun to be out with my daughter. Next up- selling the gas guzzling Suburban and the $125 per week fill-ups. I know the economy is tough right now for a lot of people and I look forward to more encouraging newspaper headlines for us all in the future.

Corn on the Cob Cupcakes

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Sat, 05 Jul 2008 16:46:00 +0000

A baker I am not, but I was so impressed with this entry in the bake-off contest in our neighborhood's annual July 4th Family Picnic I had to share it (the entry is NOT mine! my favorite recipe book is the Takout Menu Organizer!) These little corn on the cobs are actually mini cupcakes and were so cute it is no wonder they got a prize for the most original entry. They are sitting on corn husks and dotted with yellow jelly beans.

We enjoyed a day complete with a bike parade, old fashioned fire engine rides, a dunk tank, a chili and baking contest, lots of food and games, fireworks, and a fun time with family and friends.

Have a great weekend!

Just In! Whitney English Designer File Folders

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:53:00 +0000

One of my goals at the National Stationery Show this year was to come home with a bigger selection of designer file folders. I loved these brand new designs by Whitney English and have been anxiously awaiting for them to arrive so I could offer them to my customers. They come in packages of 9 and have 6 designs to choose from. They are even cuter than what I remembered!

My Favorite Sales Story- The Driinn Mobile Phone Holder

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:43:00 +0000

I have been selling online for 8 years now, but my favorite sales story is within the last year. In October I launched my new and improved website and was so excited to be able to add all of my favorite products to my online customers thanks to an awesome web designer-Cgonsa. I held a sales contest for my 3 sales associates who consist of 2 sisters and a close friend and challenged them to come away from the 2007 National Stationery Show with a new product and offered an incentive to whichever product was most successful on my website by end the of 2007. Amy chose the personalized coasters, Mary Ann chose the designer file folders, and Lori chose what I thought was the oddest product ever. As you see here, it is the Driinn mobile phone holder.

It is a weird little plastic gadget that you lodge between your cell phone (or any small electrical device) and the wall socket. It serves as a little shelf for your device while it charges. I immediately ordered what I needed to sell the coasters and file folders and kept putting off the investment of the mobile phone holder display and 100 units that were required to be able to place my first order of this product. After telling myself that these things were sure to be a free gift with purchase during the next holiday season, I reluctantly placed the order and put all three products on my website. I admit that while I thought it was handy and cheap for my customers ( $9 and free shipping), I also felt it really wasn't a stationery product and thought it was out of place on my website. Well, immediately orders started coming in. Every day, more and more people were ordering this product. I was flabbergasted. I sold all of my initial 100 units before I had even received them in the mail! As it turns out, they were featured in Real Simple Magazine the week I put them online and savvy shoppers surfed the net to find the best price. Charming Cards was one of the few U.S. businesses selling them (they come from Europe) and with the free shipping it was the best deal out there (still is). A few weeks later they were featured on the HGTV Holiday Gift Show and........well you can say the rest is history. Charming Cards sold more mobile phone holders than I would have ever dreamed of and my sister Lori laughed all the way to the bank. Some people ordered 20 at time for stocking stuffers and those miscellaneous gifts for the person who has everything. We celebrated after the holidays and along with her incentive, Lori proudly brought home the following trophy which now will be passed on to the winner every year-

Taking the advice of my sister who was willing to go out on a limb and the unexpected free advertising really paid off!

Getting through midlife with a little rock and roll

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 16:17:00 +0000

One thing I have loved doing since my teenage days is attending concerts of the bands from my youth. I am a proud fan of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and look forward to seeing them every time they come to town. Last night a friend and I took our 14 year old sons to the Hollywood Bowl to see them play and we all had a blast! On a warm summer night under the stars of Hollywood we had not a care in the world and found ourselves dancing to tunes like "American Girl" and "Running Down a Dream." This special one on one time with our teenagers is so important and he can see firsthand that you are never too old to have fun! I hope you all enjoy some carefree time this summer.

Summer Chores

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 03:21:00 +0000

I know a lot of the country has been out of school for awhile now, but here in Newport Beach, California, we are finishing up this week. My son graduated from Junior High today who is pictured here with his sister who is now officially a senior in high school. Do you ever feel the years are just flying by?

While I want them to have a fun and enjoyable summer, I also plan on setting some rules and expecting more from them as far as chores. When I saw these chores charts at the National Stationery Show in NY, I jumped on them because they will benefit me personally.

There is space for up to 5 children and 5 chores per day. There are 50 weeks of tear off sheets and a handy magnet on the back if you want to post it on the fridge. They sell for $15.99.

New Item at Charming Cards- Takeout Menu Organizer

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 23:03:00 +0000

With one more week of school left for my 3 children I am looking ahead to getting organized this summer. During the summers I try to catch up on my photo albums and scrapbooks, clean out some junk drawers, and make my kids go through their closets and drawers to donate items they won't wear anymore. At the stationery show this year I selected quite a few products dealing with planning and organizing. The Takout Menu Organizer by Knock Knock is a handy new product to help you organize your takeout menus for those days you just don't feel like cooking. It has handy pouches to store restaurant menus, an ordering pad, tip chart, tabbed dividers to organize your menus and a place to log all those phone numbers and keep track of what you like. At $20 I am thinking ahead that this will make a great holiday gift exchange gift.

Project Runway Girls Night Out Party

noreply@blogger.com (Charming Cards) — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 19:32:00 +0000

Every girl loves fashion, food, friendship and fun. Put all of those into a 1 night event and you have a recipe for a memorable occassion. I have a girlfriend who is one of the most creative and fun people I know. She is a wonderful friend and is always extremely generous and thoughtful to her many girlfriends. She threw a girls night out party last weekend which turned out to be such a hoot, I had to share it. The theme and general idea was very clever and it could be adjusted to work great for a teenage party, a bachelorette party, or any special birthday ages 16-75! She was inspired by Heidi Klum's Project Runway, and my friend being a fashionista herself had a ball throwing a party with a fashion theme. We had no information about what the party would be about, but were told to dress trendy and we were picked up by a party bus.

Our first stop was a local strip mall that had a grocery store, pharmacy and few random shops. First she acknowleged 2 of the women's recent birthdays and presented them with a bag of supplies. They each got 2 partners and were told to use the items in the bag - $15 and supplies (scissors, velcro, safety pins, etc) to create a "fashionable and durable" birthday hat. They had 15 minutes while the bus drove the rest of us to a nearby restaurant where she had a table in the bar ready for us. While we ordered our cocktails, the bus left to retrieve the hat group. Our hostess solicited 3 guys from the bar (very good sports) to be the judges. The girls returned and presented their hats while the judges contemplated the contestants and gave a funny and descriptive presentation of the winner. They had to wear their hats all night.

While we enjoyed cocktails and appetizers, she passed around a bag of bracelets (1 each) and a name tag of a fashion designer we were to wear. I was Nanette Lapore. The rule was that if anyone used real names and not your fashion designer name, you took their bracelet. I lost mine right away, got one back a few times, but was not as clever as "Ralph Lauren" who captured many bracelets as you see here-

The bracelet contest went on all night. Our next stop on the party bus was a discount t-shirt store that sold all kinds of inexpensive clothing. The teams were given a bag of supplies again, including $30 and told to create an outfit they needed to modify in some way (cut, sew, pin together) as well as a list of criteria that must be kept in mind including a theme or inspiration. The assembly was to be done later. We had 15 minutes to do this, and when it wasn't your group's turn, you got to enjoy a little gourmet meal on the bus.

Our next stop was the local mall. We had an envelope with instructions to go into a specific department store to find 5 items (shoe, necklace, pj's, hat, dress) that she had printed a clear picture of each exact item. Your group needed to take a photo of the 5 items including all members of your group. This was a timed test and the team with the shortest time was the winner. Seeing us run through the parking lot you would have thought we were running from a fire! From there we went to a nice restaurant and sat in the piano bar. One by one, each of the 4 groups went into the bathroom and altered their outfits, then presented them to the rest of us. A few groups got the piano player to modify his tunes to go with the presentation. It was very funny to see how different the 4 outfits turned out, none of which would have made real designers proud!

We finished the night off there, enjoying the music and each other until the bus returned us home. She even had "Project Runway 2008" hats made for us! It was a blast and so cleverly planned which made it all the more fun. What a treat!