Simply Amazing #Fashion #Country #Magazine @FashionandFarm

I am so happy that I came across Fashion and Farm Country Magazine.

For as long as I can remember I have been a fan of country music, fashion, really anything along those lines. Even living in Connecticut, and going to college in NYC, I feel deep down I was meant for country living. Once I found Fashion and Farm Country Magazine I knew it would be something I would instantly love.

I connected with someone at the magazine and fingers crossed, we may be working together in the future. I don't want to spill the beans just yet, but I had to start talking about this great publication now. So you'll just have to keep checking back on the blog until I can tell you!

Now... about this magazine...

I received a gift set in the mail today and let me tell you, this was the BEST packaging I have ever seen. Honestly, I was blown away at this magazine.

The cutest ever! The magazine was wrapped inside this burlap sack with a cute horse on it!!! I have to admit, I was talking out loud to myself while opening this screaming "Oh, How adorable!!"

The issue had a sweet note typed up from the editor - which is just such a personal touch, I loved it.

Along with the magazine came a shirt. Yep, a t-shirt! I will be rocking that from now on. Everything about this set made me smile.

The magazine is full of stunning photos, interviews with musicians, actors, and so much more. I poured over every page.

If you are a country fashion type of gal like me, I HIGHLY recommend this magazine. You won't be sorry!

Remember... keep checking back here for more info on this magazine. I can't wait to share what we are coming up with.... but for now- I'll have to keep you waiting.

Gorgeous @RoseFalcon wearing @JewelsForHopeCT's #Charity #Jewelry #SALE #DISCOUNT

We were lucky enough to get in touch with country music singer/songwriter Rose Falcon. She is an absolute sweetheart, which I have discussed in some of my previous posts.

She just recently took a gorgeous photo wearing our charity jewels inspired by her, The Legends.

Rose looks phenomenal wearing this set. We are so pleased she loves them!!

We are offering them ON SALE right now, with an EXTRA 10% off with code:

HOPE10

www.jewelsforhope.net

Rose has also worn a couple of our other bracelets on the red carpet for the CMA Awards when her and her newly married husband Rodney Atkins walked it this past year.

#GBKpreGlobes with #TheArtisanGroup Day 2

Day 2: Golden Globes Gift Lounge

Day 1 of the gift lounge with The Artisan Group (TAG) went amazingly! It was so fast paced and full of fun- I loved every minute of it and was completely prepared for day 2. I wasn't nearly as afraid this gift lounge, compared to last year. I felt confident and ready to take on the day.

Valerie and I were ready to go once the gift lounge started.

Don't we look pretty!? If I say so myself, I mean :)

I had an amazing day. I met some pretty awesome actors/actresses from my favorite shows. Matthew Moy from 2 Broke Girls was so sweet to me! He gave me two big hugs and was just the nicest guy. I am a sucker for that show so when I saw him walking through the door I got very excited!!

The day was again, a blur. We had to get a celebrity photo with each product on the table. As much fun as the gift lounge was, it was definitely work.

I wish I had a videographer taping me the entire time so I could remember each and every little thing from the gift lounge. My memory is so shot, I will never remember it all.

Some other fun celebs I met?

Rebecca Fields from The Client List. 

She was SO nice-- told me I was beautiful. Which was so sweet of her to say!! I got all flustered near her bc she was amazing on that show, I loved her on it!

Tamala Jones from Castle. 

She came up to me and gave me a big hug when I told her I was a big fan! She was stunning! Absolutely stunning. Wearing a gorgeous pair of Louboutins and all bedazzled wearing a lot of jewelry. She loved all the handmade items, and at the end she gave me another big hug goodbye. So sweet!

Omid Abtahi from Argo loved my necklace!

Omid was probably one of the biggest supporters of handmade I met at the gift lounge. He was so utterly impressed with the handcrafted pieces he was in awe. He kept repeatedly thanking me for doing this and for bringing handcrafted items to this gift lounge. He asked me about my necklace I had on and said he absolutely loved it (he was so sweet!!).

GBK really does a great job of having a wide range of celebs go through their gift lounge.

I met so many amazing people, it was a pleasure to be out there representing TAG.

I loved every minute of it.

After the last celebrity left, we packed up the whole display, individually wrapping each display piece to send back to the artist. It took about 1-2 hours to get everything packed up and ready to go. From there, we had dinner and I took the longest bath known to man. It was amazing and the perfect ending to my time in California.

The next morning was a sad one, since of course I didn't want to go back to cold, snowy Connecticut. I wanted to stay in California, and keep having my breakfasts outside like I was enjoying the day of my flight.

Ending my trip with one last bathroom selfie, because really- you need bathroom selfies, especially when you're in a gorgeous LA hotel bathroom.

Thanks for following along on my trip! Hopefully I'll be out there many more times!

#GBKpreGlobes Gift Lounge with #TheArtisanGroup Who Loved What?

Over the full two days of The Golden Globes Gift Lounge - so much was going on, I tried to remember just exactly what each celebrity had to say about which items. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember every single thing- even if it wasn't so fast paced, my memory is shot so I'm surprised I even remember what I do.

Here are some of the products I do remember and what celebs had to say about them... Now, just to be clear, I may be paraphrasing since I didn't have a tape recorder or anything with me haha.

Before I start, I have to say almost every celeb was completely blown away when they found out these items were all handmade. They loved each and every item and really took their time looking through the numerous products. I wish with all my heart I could remember something about each and every item- but again, my memory isn't that great. If you did have a display item at the table and I do not mention it- I apologize for my shotty memory. All of the items were VERY well received and every single one of you should be proud of your amazing work.

Okay, let's begin..

Brett Dalton from Agents o S.H.I.E.L.D., loved Bizzy Fizz's men's shaving lotion. He was so pumped when he saw it, he said he has been looking for a a good shaving lotion for a long time and is excited to try it.

Pablo Schreiber was obsessed with this photograph taken by MScottPhotography! He wanted to take it right off the display and I felt horrible saying I didn't have the authority to do so. Saying no to a very handsome man was extremely hard for me to do haha. Just know Michelee if you're reading this, he LOVED your photo!

Barrett Foa from NCIS absolutely loved the sweet smelling soap of San Diego Bath and Body! He kept saying how great it smelled and kept going back to it throughout his time at the table.

Mateus Ward from Hostages LOVED Loud Waterfall Photography. He told me about how he lived in Hawaii for 5 years and how this photograph reminded him of it. He was instantly drawn to it.

Dot Marie Jones from Glee, is a big supporter of TAG. She came right over and started looking through all of the products. She already was a huge fan of Magic Senses Soap and was thrilled to see that she was getting more of it. It was the first item she picked up on the table and she kept saying it was one of her favorite products from previous bags.

Ming Na Wen was truly in awe that Fizz Candy Jewelry was created by a teenage girl. She loved her necklace that was on display and really couldn't believe that a 14 year old created it.

Nadine Velazquez from Major Crimes wanted to take one of Villain Accessories's rings right off the table. Again, we are not allowed to do that- but she truly loved that ring! She kept swooning over it!!

Almost every single male celebrity that came by our table had to stop and ask "what is this". Rachel from Genuine Leather Designs displayed mini-shirts. She makes actual men's shirts and made a miniature version to display. HUGE HIT! Grant Bowler and his wife really loved them. She thought the one on the main stand was "rad".

See any products you just have to have from this post? Go visit the shops! You won't be sorry. All of these artists are so talented- go check out their items!

To see all of the amazing items that were on display, look at the event guide below!

#GBKpreGLOBES Gift Lounge Day 1 with @TheArtisanGroup

Friday 01/10/13:

Today is the day of the Golden Globes Gift Lounge. I am lucky enough to be in California with The Artisan Group (TAG) representing the fabulous handcrafted members, showing off their products to celebs and members of the press!

I woke up in my heavenly hotel suite and got ready for the day...

Little black dress ready. Shoes that are not broken. And of course, I had some Jewels For Hope bedazzled jewels on the my mother made special for this event....

Now that I'm ready for the day to start, we head to the rooftop, where the celebrity gift lounge is taking place.

TAG's exhibit has 24 displays set up ranging from bath and body products, jewelry, fine art photography and much more. Everything is so well crafted I was in awe the whole time I was looking through everything. 

The whole gift lounge was buzzing with energy while we wait patiently for the first celebs and press to come walking through. 

The whole day went by in a fast blur. We had roughly 40 celebrities come through on Friday and loads of press people stopping by our table. I was up, on my feet, schmoozing away all day. It was amazing. I love absolutely every minute of it. 

Some of my favorite moments from Day 1: 

Willie Garson called me skinny. 

Yes, you read that correctly. Willie Garson, known for his roles as Stanford in Sex and The City and Mozzie on White Collar, called me "petite". I ran up to him screaming "I a such a big fan of yours!" His response? "You're not a big fan, you're so tiny, very petite. I've seen much bigger fans then you"

He will forever have my heart after that line. Forever.

Kirsten Nelson sprayed dry oil on me.

Kirsten Nelson, from Psych was such a sweet woman, and of course as soon as she goes to spray some dry oil from one of our members ( La Maison Du Papillon), it goes all over me! It was hysterical! The dry oil actually made my skin feel very soft, so I was laughing about it and Kirsten was apologetic. She was so sweet she tweeted me about it after!

Along with those shining moments, I met some amazing celebs that I love on my favorite shows.. to name a few.. Anthony Anderson,  Tony Denison (from The Closer & Major Crimes!),  Holly Robinson Pete, Khandi Alexander (from Scandal!!... I actually have a photo with her from The Oscars Gift Lounge last year!),  Mark Feurstein and many many more lovely celebs!

The day lasted from 10am until 7pm. I did a ton of interviews and schmoozed with the celebs all day. After the day was coming to an end, our sweet photographer brought us over some yummy drinks.

It was a great day- but a long day! I was happy to sit down, have a drink, eat dinner and go to sleep. Had to get ready for day 2 of the gift lounge! 

Stay tuned for my post on Day 2 of the gift lounge!!

La La Land, Part 2

So, I left off on my last post finishing up the setup for The Golden Globes Gift Lounge and finally relaxing that night......

Thursday 01/09/14:

The Artisan Group (TAG) dinner time. I love going to California and hanging out with TAG members before the event. It is so nice to meet and talk to people in person, after interacting with them online for so long.

So, after the drink in the hotel bar after setup, I head to my room and relax. I put on some tunes, lay in bed and just feel amazing. I love this place. I finally had to get up and start getting ready.

For the dinner, I got all fancy schmancy'd up and was ready to go.

I love this outfit. This was my first time wearing it and I felt so great in it... You know what I'm talking about; a hot outfit can make you feel like a different person. You walk with your head held high, a pep in your step, and so much confidence it radiates off of you... I felt like a million bucks! Or at least I did when I took this picture. Later on in the night is a completely different story... but you'll find out why later in the post.

We had a lovely time out that night. Drinks, food, great conversation and amazing people!

I look like a demon took over my body for the photo, but I swear it was just the flash of my phone! 

These women are all so sweet and it was an absolute pleasure to spend a night out with them. I wish I can spend more time out there with them... hmm maybe one day.

After the evening out with the girls Valerie and I went back to the hotel bar. You know how I said I was feeling so great in my outfit? That went right out the window once this happened...

See that right there? That is a broken Manolo. Yep,a broken Manolo Blahnik. I thought that was the worst of it. Until about 20 minutes later when the OTHER shoe broke. BOTH SHOES. BROKEN. MANOLOS. I kept saying that over and over in my head, thinking "this can't be real". These shoes are as much as a month's rent for me.. and both of them break in one night. Talk about embarrassing. 

Welcome to my life. It's a good thing I am used to this sort of stuff happening to me-- I laughed and called it a night. Went straight to my nice comfy bed and said goodbye to these gorgeous shoes. I needed a goodnight's sleep to prepare for The Golden Globes Gift Lounge the next day!

Stay tuned for more!

Oh, how I love La La Land

This past weekend I was lucky enough to leave cold Connecticut and make my way to sunny California with The Artisan Group, to represent the amazing handmade artists at GBK's Golden Globes Gift Lounge! The next couple of posts will be all about my 4 day trip.... Here it begins!

Thursday 01/09/14:

I am a horrible "flyer". I freak out days before hand whenever I have to go on a flight. So Thursday morning, I was somewhat a mess, but I was ready to go.

Nothing like taking a bathroom selfie in JFK to calm your nerves, right?

After taking my valium, reading a new book and jamming to my ipod for 6 hours, I made it to LA.

Beverly Hills, here I am.

Right when I got off the plane I had to go to my room, drop my bags off, and head to set up. Of course, after I took some pictures of my fabulous room at The L'Ermitage Hotel.

A whole suite, just for me? I felt like royalty in this place. One of the best hotels I have ever been to. As I am writing this cuddled up in freezing Connecticut, I am dreaming of going back to this hotel. *One Day*

Amazing, right? Like a different world.

Now, after I took some photos, work was to be done. Time to set up The Artisan Group's display at The Golden Globes Gift Lounge.

We had to set up 24 displays and get all the celeb and press bags situated.

The even as on the rooftop of The L'Ermitage. HOW COOL! This was the view....

Setup took awhile. But it was worth it in the end. It looked amazing! Below you can see Valerie, The Artisan Group's founder, and Rachel a TAG member, owner of Genuine Leathers Designs.

Loving it!

After the setup was complete, it was time to relax. And how better to relax then with a nice big drink!

From there, we went out to a fun TAG dinner.......

But you'll have to wait for my next post to read all about that.

Until then!