Monday, July 27, 2009

Truman's Gentlemen's Groomers

Trumans's Gentlemen's Groomers, located on 56th Street between Park and Lexington, was "created by three mainstream professional men who are tired of visiting female-centric salons in order to get a good haircut." They offer a wide range of services including a la carte services such as "cut and finish," "wash and finish," shaves, beard trims, manicures and pedicures, as well as packages and memberships. Check out their website trumans-nyc.com for more information!
This is a great place for a groom-to-be to get all cleaned up for the big day! It also could be a fun spot for the groom to take his groomsmen as a pre-wedding thank you! Here are some of the products that they use, only the best!

Photographs courtesy of trumans-nyc.com

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Elizabeth Hodes Custom Cakes & Sugar Art

Elizabeth Hodes Custom Cakes & Sugar Art is based out of New York City but has done work all over the world! They create beautiful cakes and sugar flowers. Look at these wonderful flowers, you would never know they are made of sugar!


Each cake is custom made to the client's needs and they use organic and local ingredients whenever possible. With a variety of cakes, fillings and icings, the possibilities are endless and anything is possible! Take a look at their fabulous website, www.elizabethhodes.com or give them a ring at 212-942-6000.



Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Wednesday's Money Saving Tip

Do you want to save money on flowers at your next event? Incorporate seasonal organic elements such as grapes, apples and artichokes - this will cut down on the floral bill and create texture and depth all the while creating a unique and special arrangement! At this particular wedding we used green apples to accent the floral centerpeices!

Cheers!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cakes, Cookies, and Cupcakes!

Want great cakes, cookies, and cupcakes for your next upcoming event? Check out the Cake Studio NYC at their website thecakestudionyc.com for wonderful treats! Jill has a wide variety of cake and filling flavors and does amazing work! She also offers classes both at home and in her cake studio.

Friday, July 17, 2009

Shawn's End of the Week Treat!

It's the end of the week, so one of my Specialty Cocktails is in order! This week try my Key Lime Pie Martini! It is absolutely delicious and refreshing, and tastes just like a Key Lime Pie! To start, crush graham crackers on one plate, and pour honey onto another plate. Carefully dip the rim of the martini glass into the honey, and then into the graham crackers. Now you have a tasty graham cracker rim! Next, the most important ingredients!
Photo Courtesy of Bulldog Photography

3 parts Vanilla Vodka
1.5 parts Key Lime Juice
1.5 parts simple syrup (recipe to follow)

Pour liquid ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into the chilled cocktail glass that has been rimmed with crushed graham crackers. Sip and Enjoy!

To make your own simple syrup is quite easy as well! All you need is...

1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
Dissolve in sauce pan on stove on the low heat setting
Do NOT boil
Stir continuously
Let cool

This batch of simple syrup should last you for up to two weeks if you keep refrigerated! You can use it to make more Key Lime Pie Martini's or other specialty cocktails!

Happy Friday! Cheers!

Thursday, July 16, 2009

"Beautiful (And Budget Friendly) Rustic Decor"

Shawn Rabideau is featured on the blog for www.preownedweddingdresses.com for creating fabulous decor on a budget. Check out their site to see what they have to say.



Photo Courtesy of Cialone Photography
Also, check out our website at http://www.shawnrabideau.com/ to find out more about our signature decor packages!


Wednesday, July 15, 2009

The Highline

The other day I went to a walkthrough of the new Standard Hotel at the Highline here in NYC as a potential venue spot. The Standard Hotel now has 4 locations; NYC, Miami, Hollwyood, and Downtown Los Angeles. The building in New York is truly unique and has incredible views. Check out their website at http://www.standardhotels.com/new-york-city/



If you are in New York City and you get a chance on beautiful days like today, take a stroll on the Highline. It is one of my new favorite spots in the city and may eventually become a place to have events which would be fabulous! The newly opened elevated park has a beautiful garden; it used to be an old freight railroad in the Meat Packing District that has been renovated and transformed into this great park!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful day and enjoying the gorgeous weather!
Cheers!

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Happy Bastille Day!

In honor of Bastille Day, the French national holiday which is celebrated every year on the 14th of July, I have come up with the Bastille-tini!
Photo Courtesy of Bulldog Photography
2 parts Absolut Citron Vodka
1 part Blue Curacao
1/2 part Grapefruit Juice
1/2 part Simple Syrup

Pour all of these ingredients into a shaker filled with ice. Shake well and strain into a chilled cocktail glass that has been rimmed with white sugar. Garnish with a maraschino cherry! This festive red, white, and blue drink can be used for the 4th of July as well!
Cheers!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Casual Clambake


Summer is the perfect time for casual entertaining! Why not have a Clambake with your friends? I have lots of tips for a simple, easy, and fun Clambake all for under $250! Even if you don’t live near the water or don’t have an outdoor space to entertain, you can bring the beach to you with an intimate, elegant, and simple setting, indoors or outdoors!

Let’s start with décor. I always like to start off with my number one rule, Shop at Home! I love to incorporate items that are easy to find around the house; often using these items again and again while putting a new twist each time I use them. So, start with shopping around your kitchen, cupboards, garage, attic, or wherever in your house that you store items that you are not using. For example, maybe you have glass hurricane vases that you use during Christmas time on the mantle of your fireplace. You could use these same vases, fill them with some play sand to anchor them down and place a large candle in the center. You could even dress up these candles by hot gluing seashells onto them! Seashells.com is an amazing website where you can purchase all sorts of shells such as starfish and sand dollars and other festive items for an incredible price, and they ship quickly! If you are entertaining outdoors and are worried about summer bugs getting in the way of your Clambake, buy the Citronella scented candles to help keep those pesky insects away from your food!

Another easy addition to the décor that you may have found lying in the shed or garage is old terra cotta pots. If you don’t have any of these, you can find them at pretty much any garden center. White wash the pots with white paint, and use a glue gun to attach sea shells onto them! Again, seashells.com is a great resource! Use these terra cotta pots as holders for your Clambake tools. Place one of these terra cotta pots in between each guest in the center of the table so that they can share the lobster picks, crackers, and mallets. I actually found some very festive lobster shaped shell cracking tools at a local discount store! Oh, and don’t forget to include lobster bibs!

To add a punch of color and texture to your table arrangements, accent the candle and terra cotta centerpieces with daisy and mum heads. Also, place some extra terra cotta pots at each place setting so people can dispose of their food shells. It keeps everything in one place and it makes the clean up a sinch!


Worried about getting your table dirty from all this shell cracking? Simply cut garbage bags so that they cover the table, then cover the bags with sheets of your daily newspaper. You have just created a table cloth perfect for a traditional clambake and it makes cleaning easy. All you have to do is just roll everything up in the paper and toss it into a trash bag! If you are entertaining outdoors, my personal favorite replacement for a tablecloth at a clambake is to use netting from seashells.com as a decorative beach-setting option. Use newspaper for the placemats and terra cotta saucers as plates!



Since Clambakes do tend to get a little bit messy, I recommend using bar towels as napkins. They are cheap, super absorbent, and you can wash them or throw them away at the end of your party. Tie these towels with a little bit of rope to keep consistent with your beach theme and place them at each table setting with a shell or starfish! Also, to add some comfort and flare to your seating, place brightly colored beach towels around the table. Another great way to incorporate sea shells in your décor is to take half of the lion’s paw seashell and place salt and pepper into each half. You can place one at each setting for individual salt and pepper servings!
Guests are usually always asking, “How can I help?” “Is there something I can bring?” Take your guests up on this offer and have them contribute to the décor or to the food. This keeps the costs down for you and makes things more exciting! Ask them to bring what you need and what will help make this a fabulous party for all!
For the food, believe it or not mussels and other shellfish are not that expensive, they don’t stink up the house like you’d think, and there are plenty of wonderful side dishes that are inexpensive and get your guests in the summer spirit. I usually recommend mussels, clams, sausage, and potatoes. Throw everything into a deep pot with some water (or for flavor a cheap white table wine) simmer until everything is cooked and viola you have a hearty meal for not a lot of money! Serve it with some baguettes of bread and your guests will go gaga for this easy dinner! Have guests with allergies? No problem! Serve hot dogs or burgers. You can even do a Create Your Own Station for these favorite American Foods!
No party is complete without a specialty cocktail. For this summer occasion, I recommend my famous “Blueberry Tart.” All it takes is 2 parts Blueberry Vodka, 1 part Sour Mix, and 1 part Club Soda. Fill a ball jar with ice and pour contents in. Garnish with a bamboo skewer of blueberries and you have a refreshing cocktail! Tastes like blueberry lemonade!



For kids, or those who don’t drink, use blueberry seltzer and sour mix for a fun fizzy drink. Tastes just as good! Another fun drink for the summer is a “Creamsicle Martini.” Just take 4 parts Vanilla Vodka, 4 parts Orange Vodka, 2 parts Countreau, and a heavy splash of orange juice. Pour the liquid ingredients into a shaker filled with ice and shake, shake, shake! Strain into a chilled martini glass and garnish with an orange slice!

To help put a little spin on this, have your guests bring their favorite beer; not the traditional Coors or Budweiser, but have them bring some unique micro brews. You would be surprised how many different beers there are and how many go great with this Clambake!

Now that the adults have fun cocktails, we can’t forget about fun for the kids! It is always important to have something fun to keep the kids occupied! A fun activity is to make sand art! While at the craft store picking up other supplies for the party, buy sand in a variety of different colors. Help the kids pour different colors of sand one at a time into ball jars and decorate with seashells! You can also use your lobster tool to push through the different color layers of sand to make neat shapes! Guests can take these home at the end of the evening to remember what a wonderful time they had at your Clambake!

All of these tips can help you prepare for an inexpensive, yet elegantly done Clambake! You are going to enjoy this so much that you will want to make it an annual event! This can take up to a full day of preparations, or you can choose to spread it out over a few days. Up to you! And it only takes a few hours for this easy set up! At the end of the night, don’t forget to save your seashells and other decorative items for another event! You never know when these things may come in handy!

Until nest time...Cheers!

My New Blog!

Welcome to my new blog!! I hope you will all enjoy my daily posts! Cheers!