my new favorite

I have a lot to say.  My work life has been filled with exciting and engaging new clients (yeah, I’m looking at you Swink Style Bar & Urbanspoon!).  I feel as if I’m being tested in new and exciting ways — and some that just freak me out.  

However, as I continue to move forward with my social media life I can’t help but miss producing events.  So I’m opening the door to participating and organizing some events in the next year — large or small, nonprofit or for profit — make me an offer!

In non-work news.  Here are a few of my favorite Friday things:

Trace Bundy - Canon in D (got weddings on my mind)

I’ve been on a hunt for a new laptop bag for almost a year.  Just can’t find the right one, or the right one is $500.  Here is my current fav and yes — it’s $$$, but she is sooo pretty.

And finally a sunny winter day in Seattle so pretty — you have to leave your computer to go stand in it.  Here I go!  

Enjoy the weekend. 

Fall is one of my favorite seasons — the chill, the boots, the excuse to eat food from a crock pot. So this weekend, we went to Goodwill, and bought a West Bend vintage crock pot — so cute.  Here is my fiance Ken’s newest — delicious creation.

Cassole of Farro & Chicken Sausage

• 1 cup of Farro
• 1/2 cup white beans
• 14 oz chicken sausage
• 3/4 butternut squash cubed
• 3 small onions
• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 1 tablespoon Marjoram
• 1 teaspoon of sage

Directions:

1. Brown sausage and butternut squash in a deep fry pan.  Toss in sage & marjoram . Cook until browned (they don’t have to be cooked through). Throw browned squash and sausage into crock pot.
2. In the same browning pan, caramelize 3 small onions along with thyme. Throw it into the crock pot.
3. Put Farro, chicken broth, and white beans into crock pot.  Pinch of salt & pepper.
4. Cook for three hours on medium or high.

Enjoy.

Ken and I are planning our wedding, and as with any event there are a ton of decisions to make.  Although sometimes there is tension, in general, we have our true values in common.

One thing we have in common — is a love of technology.  There are a ton of sites & vendor to choose from, including paid and free options.   As a social media & events consultant I was excited to use all of these resources to celebrate my own event on and offline. Here are social media tools we are using for our wedding:

Building a Wedding Website.

Tool: Google Sites.

Why?

Well, luckily I’m tech savvy, but even more important — my fiance is a web designer.  We wanted an easy site structure that we could just add content too.  So there are lots of great wedding site vendors to use if your not in love with someone who knows html.

Extra hint: Treat yourself to a custom domain name. We’ll use it for our wedding blog and then continue to update it as our personal blog site.

Buy a domain at: Dotster or Go Daddy

Social Group for your wedding party or intimate family

Tool: Facebook Group

Why?

Our Facebook group is private and includes just our parents, and my bridal party.  This is a group that will allow me to deal with more specific details of planning, and to get advice from a small group to help me make a decisions.

Also, I’m planning a wedding in upstate NY when I live in Seattle, so social media is a great way to involve several people in conversations.

Couple’s Twitter Feed

Tool: Twitter

Why?

We’ve had a twitter handle for quite a while, but this will be a great way to ping our guests with last minute details & instructions.

Dance Mixes - First Dance.  Dinner Music.  Reception.

Tool: Spotify

Why?

There are a great number of sites (like here & here) to get lists of wedding songs for every moment of your special day.  Spotify is a great way to find all of the songs, create playlists, and choose your favorites.  Give it a try.

We will give you a sneak peak of all our sites once they are completed.  Stay tuned.