Urban Unveiled

I am so excited to be participating this year in the Urban Unveiled wedding show!  It's taking place the evening of Wednesday, October 12^th at Benaroya Hall in downtown Seattle.  That's the week after next, in case you haven't looked at a calendar lately.

The show will include lots of incredible wedding vendors, a Luly Yang bridal fashion show, live music, and an astounding raffle.  A raffle ticket is included with the price of admission, and guests will receive a second free raffle ticket when they visit the Founders Room. So all guests receive two free raffle tickets. It's called “The Art of Giving”  and includes some really great stuff.  Pssst...be sure to notice the Seattle Sundries contribution near the end of the list.  Purchase tickets to Urban Unveiled, and maybe you will be the recipient of one of the following items:

• T. Anthony Jewelers: Custom designed chandelier earrings. (Value: tbd)
• True Colors Events: 10 hours of consultation services. (Value: $1,250)
• Luly Yang Couture: $1,200 towards the purchase of a gown. (Value: $1,200)
• John & Joseph Photography:   Engagement Session.  1-hr Session in Greater Seattle or Los Angeles Area.  Includes High Resolution Disc with 75 edited photographs. (Value: $1,150)
• Roche Harbor Resort: Two nights in a luxury suite, Dinner for two in our fine-dining restaurant, Couple's retreat at our Afterglow Spa. (Value $1,000)
• Belathee Photography: Either and Engagement session, bridal shower coverage or any other type of portrait shoot. (Value $550)
• Willows Lodge: Do Not Disturb Package. One night’s accommodations for 2 people in a luxurious NW style room; Dinner for Two at Barking frog followed by exclusive “In-Tub” dining experience for a relaxing soak in your room. (Value: $520)
• The Woodmark: Gift certificate for an overnight stay in a lakefront guest room, includes dinner for two at bin on the lake.  (Value $500)
• W Seattle: 1 complimentary weekend night stay in a wonderful room. (Value: $400)
• Seven Salon: Gift Certificate (Value: tbd)
• Seattle Sundries: Two gift sets, one for a bride and one for a groom.  (Value: $100 each)
• Rented Elegance & Design: Gift Certificate for Prop Rentals (Value: $200)
• Michael Bride: two hour makeup lesson (Value: tbd) 

Pretty nice, huh?!

Great Games

School has started again, so it seems like a good time to sing the praises of two "educational" games that my kids and I love.  They're both great family activities, or for the kids to play on their own.  Good Christmas gifts too... 

The first game is Take Off.  It's a simple concept where 2-4 players get four colorful little airplanes each to use as playing pieces.  Multicolored dice are rolled to determine which direction your plane gets to fly.  The goal is to be the first to have all four of your planes travel from Hawaii across the map, and back to Hawaii on the other side.  Players follow color coded paths and learn geography and world statistics as they go.  If you roll a "take off" you get to choose a card from the stack, locate the city it describes on the map, and jet to that location.  We love reading all the information included on each card, right down to how to pronounce the name of the city that we're flying to.  It's been a fun and colorful introduction to the countries of the world.

I'm sorry to report that it seems the company who manufactures this game recently stopped production for some reason, so it's hard to find at online stores right now.  There are lots still on ebay and at smaller toy stores, so I would snap one up if you can find one.  Hopefully they will be back in production soon!

The next game is Quiddler.  It's like a cross between Scrabble and Gin Rummy, for kids.  Players build words using cards drawn from the stack and add up the points over several rounds to see who wins.  I recommend watching this video that describes how it's played because the written directions are a little confusing.  The words don't have to be long and complicated, which makes it ideal for early language learners (or adults with very small vocabularies..hee hee). It's also very compact since it's just a stack of cards, so it's great for travel.

I just love the beautifully illustrated letters too.  They seem to be inspired by the Book of Kells, which I have always thought was an incredible contribution to our graphic lexicon.  So the game is not only educational, but inspirational! 

Spirited Lava Lamp

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Fabulous Photos

Recently I had the pleasure of working with a young photographer here in Seattle who does great portrait and event photography.  I've known Kristin Boyett since she was a little kid, and I'm so pleased and impressed with the talent she displays in her work.  She has a great eye and artistic sense, along with being very friendly and fun to work with.  She also has awesome red hair.

These are some of the images she captured for me...

Kristin Boyett Photography

Kristin Boyett Photography

Kristin Boyett Photography

Kristin Boyett Photography

Kristin Boyett Photography

Thanks Kristin!

4-H Ranch Camping 2011

Our 4-H club had another fabulous camping trip in Idaho this year.  The weather was perfect.  The kids all got along.  Nobody got hurt.  We tried some new things, as well as some old.  Here are a few highlights:

The swimming pond was a constant source of entertainment. 

We did a little fishing and a little catching...though all the fish we caught were released to live another day.

We cleaned some saddles and practiced sitting on them. 

We learned some basics about horses, horse safety, saddle parts, and how to ride.

We got to take a few spins around the ranch on Whisky and Brownie, our two faithful steeds.

We learned how to make, and then ate, some really good ice cream.  We made plain vanilla, but then had huckleberry and chokecherry preserves to drizzle over the top.

We tried orienteering for the first time.  The kids loved it.  They had to find nine locations on the ranch by using maps and compasses and race to see who could do it the fastest.  See the big finish?  Murdoch even got in on the action. 

More fun on the pond...

 Roasting marshmallow, of course.

This year's Pack: 10 tired and happy kids.

Dead Fiddlers Society at the Five Suns Bluegrass Festival

This is my brother John's band Dead Fiddler Society.  Awesome.  I LOVE it!

And here are links to the rest of the performance: Part 2  Part 3

Feelin' the Love

I have to brag a little about some positive press I've received recently.  Two great interviews have been done of me in the past month, and I'm very excited about it.  The Soap Queen Blog, courtesy of Anne-Marie Faiola of Bramble Berry did a fun post about me and my company a few weeks ago. And then today, a great feature on the Seattle Met Magazine blog.  Thanks so much for all the attention!  It makes me feel like I'm doing something right.  

Kristin Boyett Photography