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By Sami, on January 24th, 2012
Hello friends! I just wanted to let you know about a few events that are near and dear to my heart coming up next weekend. The Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford is putting on two benefit performances of Eve Ensler’s Vagina Monologues on Friday, February 3rd, and Saturday, February 4th, both at 7:30pm. At 6pm before the show on Saturday, they’re also hosting UNCORKED!, a girls’ night out event where local artisans will be vending and hors d’oeuvres will be served. It’s 21+, free, and BYOB! Stop by and check out the Poor & Pretty table and watch my sister Suzi perform a monologue! {I hear she will be using a German accent!} Buy tickets online here or by calling (860) 249-1207. Proceeds from the performances and UNCORKED! sales to benefit Interval House, My Sisters’ Place, and TransAdvocacy.
By Sami, on January 23rd, 2012
Sometimes, Mondays are wonderful, and boyfriends even more so. I woke up to find this waiting for me in the living room:
Guys: the way to a girl’s heart is planning sweet surprises on random days. You too, ladies! Don’t wait til Valentine’s Day to do something nice for your sweetie.
PS to Stan: This still doesn’t change the fact that I kicked your butt in Scrabble with the word “equinox” for a word score of 62 points. You know I never beat you at Scrabble. Just let me have this one. <3
By Sami, on January 15th, 2012
Guess who’s obsessed with French Macaroons now? Me! I bought these today at La Petite France Bakery & Café in West Hartford. I ate the vanilla one, which is why it is not pictured, but I’m trying to be good and wait until after dinner to daintily devour the rest.
Who am I kidding? I will devour these suckers after I post this. In any case, you should stop by La Petite France! They’re right in West Hartford center and they have delicious sandwiches and desserts, of course. My sister Suzi took me out to lunch there today and we wanted to eat everything.
By Sami, on January 12th, 2012
I published this today on the Jennie Fresa blog.
Even though there hasn’t been any snow this winter, we’ve certainly felt the effects of the season, especially on our lips! Dry, cracked, chapped lips are very common during cold months due to cold winds and the lack of moisture in the air. Here are a few ways to keep your lips happy:
1. Drink water. It’s always important to keep your body hydrated, but especially during the winter when the air is so dry. Drink lots of water and other fluids, and run a humidifier in your home if you find that you often wake up with a sore throat.
2. Apply lip balm regularly. A lip balm made with natural waxes and oils is a must-have during the winter. My Coco Balm is a good choice because it’s made with Candelilla Wax, Cocoa Butter, Coconut Oil, Certified Organic Jojoba Oil, and Vitamin E Oil — all skin-nourishing, natural ingredients. You can buy Coco Balm in my Etsy shop, at Jennie Fresa, or Brazen Betties.
3. Use a lip exfoliant. Many of us exfoliate our face, feet, and other areas of dry skin, but we don’t always remember to exfoliate our lips! Here’s an easy and natural lip scrub DIY I found on Pinterest:
By Sami, on January 6th, 2012
This holiday season was my favorite so far as an adult. I had so much fun gifting! Most of my gifts were handmade and the few things that I bought were mainly fun gifts. Here are a few of my gifting highlights:
My all-time favorite gift was the Hogwarts acceptance letter that I gave to Jill:
I bought it from this Etsy seller who customized it with Jill’s name and address {right down to “The Loft in the Tiny Apartment”}, and I sneakily left it clothes-pinned next to her door while she was at work. See her reaction here. This was my favorite gift because it had nothing to do with the money I spent, it was 100% about how perfect it was and how crazy excited I knew she would be when she found it unexpectedly. That is my favorite thing about gift-giving and surprises. Images courtesy of {totally stolen from} Jill.
As I said before, many of my gifts were handmade, including these holiday-themed soaps, made possible by an early gift from Michele and Jeff:
I also made these two necklaces with the help of Ali from Birds and Beads. The one with just the sparrow was for Stan’s sister Danielle, and the one with the sparrow and scissors was for Mish.
Another thing you must know about me: I am a prankster, especially when gift-giving. One year, I got my brother an iTunes gift card and I put it in about 4 layers of wrapped boxes. It was great! My prank gift of this season was actually a gift box from Prank Pack. They sell gift boxes that look like the packaging to “real” gifts. The products on the boxes aren’t actually real, but they’re crazy enough that they just might be. The one I got for Stan was for iDrive, a supposed mount that you use on your steering wheel to play with your iPad while you’re driving. Ha!!!!
The idea is that your recipient thinks they got this whacky gift, and you let them think that for a while, then you tell them that their real gift is inside. Prank Pack has some other hilarious ones like a shower coffee maker, slipper speakers, and a griddle alarm clock, which reminds me of The Office episode where Michael burns his foot on the George Foreman grill that he kept by his bed. I bought the iDrive one because Stan doesn’t have the best driving record {that’s putting it mildly…} and he’s pretty obsessive about his Apple devices.
I made a few candles and some bath salts and sugar scrubs for friends and family, and I made a mix cd for my Dad, but I didn’t take photos of those things before wrapping them. What were some of your favorite things you gave this holiday season? xo
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