Monday Munchies

Hey Y'all,

Sorry I've been MIA for a little bit, no Fine Art Friday last week!

But I'm back and ready to blog about all that is fun, social, innovative and quirky.

This pas weekend was filled with maid-of-honor duties (more on that on Wednesday) and crafternoon-ing.

Saturday started out with a group of us gals walking/runing/roller skating (each person did something different) in Fort Greene Park.

Then we went over to my friend Audrey's house for some crafting, eating, talking, and drinking.

My craft was cooking! I made Cinnamon buns, Apple/Peanut Butter/Granola slices, and fresh strawberries (well I didn't make those).

Sometimes something that's so simple is a crowd pleaser. Here's the recipe, which I actually stole from a catered lunch I had at work, and I'm going to name it Apple-nolas...

• 3-4 green apples
• small jar of natural peanut butter, no salt added
• a bag or box of granola, I used Bare Naked apple/cinnamon granola for added flavor

--> Core the apples if you can before slicing them. Slice the apple horizontally (so the stem is facing "west") so the slices are like discs with holes in the middle. Spread the peanut butter thinly on the slices and then sprinkle with granola. A great finger food!!

Perfect for your future crafternoons, garden parties, brunch potlucks.

xoxo

Parties that Wow

So I received a party planning book from my friend Dana for my birthday and I thought I'd take this opportunity to review it.

And by review it, I mean that I will post the helpful hints I found in it. Overall, the book only focused on centerpieces and decorating a table, which is only one small part of the parties that I like to throw. (He's really really into "floating" centerpieces, which is hanging stuff from the ceiling...)



At any rate, this book is called Parties that Wow by Jonathan Fong. He is mainly an interior designer and floral arranger, which is why it makes sense that his tips revolve around centerpieces and the like.

But I did find some cool ideas for invitations and place settings. For example...

• Wrapping candy bars in gauze and making 'yummy mummies'--great for Halloween
• Samiches wrapped in perty floral napkins, tied with ribbon and flowers--great for a fancy ladies garden party!!
• A snow globe invitation--using those DIY snowglobes, awesome
• Using a strawberry pot to serve snacks--this one was for a Fiesta theme so the different compartments had cheese, salsa, sour cream, etc.
• Patron candles as name cards--so funny, you get those patron candles at the bodega and wrap them with the person's picture and name

So the take-away is that you can find inspiration in books, but you should add your own flare to any party.

XOXO
-

Fine Art Friday

I've been following this artist for some time now, her work is ethereal and gorgeous!!

You can take a look at Pomme Chan's work here.


Sometimes it's pure illustration and sometimes it's mixed media, but either way, the outcome is cohesive and elaborate.


Her typography work is similar to that of Hellovan and Si Scott, in terms of typography, but Pomme combines this with fashion illustration and photography and storybook type illustration.

I wish I could get her to design a tattoo for me!! That would kick some serious butt.

Day of Fun!!

In lieu of Snapshot Wednesday, I'm going to give you loads of amazing snapshots from my friend Audrey's Birthday, otherwise known as "Day of Fun."

We went to Maracas in the West Village which has a 90-minute, all you can drink for $6, Margarita special!!




Pair that with Mardis Gras masks and a group of fun loving ladies, and you get, well, you get some naughty plastic animal poses (see below).


We really know how to party it up on a Saturday morning. And then sleep for 2 hours in the mid afternoon.


But most of us (not naming any names...Dana) rallied and made it out that night to the Birthday Celebration Part 2!!

Ask Agmac Time!

Dear Agmac,

I am doing an AIDS ride (bike ride to raise money for AIDS research) from May 31 - June 6! And I need help thinking of fundraising ideas/events to raise money. I want to raise $3k minimum, but want to aim for $4k!

Signed, Marty Rivers

*******************
Dear Marty,

This brings back memories of The OC and all their wacky Chi Chi charity balls! I loved those!

But for us real folks who don't live in La La Land, but in the coolest borough in the world, Brooklyn, I have some ideas:

- Band Aid (with a donation at the door--see my post about Jaime's party for ideas)

- Stoop sale with all your friends donating stuff

- Some sort of "Bake Off" where you split the pot (something hipstery like mac n cheese or chilli)

- A singles auction OC style!! (your hot friends offer themselves up!)

- Clothing drive (again with a 'lil help from yo friends)

- Facebook drive (auction of something crazy like a week of wearing the winner's face on your shirt)
(Welcome to the BK, bitch!)

**Fine Art Friday**

Today's fine artist is Paula Sanz Caballero.

I have seriously never seen anything quite so inventive and COOL in all of the portfolio reviews I've been to.

This illustrator uses embroidery and textiles to illustrate fashion. It looks time consumming, and to those of us who can't sew to save their life, excruciating.


But she's incredible at it. Sometimes she mixes the technique with traditional pencil drawings, but every time it's spectacular.


She comes from a family of four generations of textile merchants, so combine that with talent and art school, and this is the result.

Check out some of the details in these samples--they are impeccable!


Love it love it love it.

Adhesive*Sticking Together

There is a fantastic event called Adhesive that I heard about since starting at McCann. It's a monthly event (usually on Wednesdays, how appropriate that I'm posting on a Wednesday!) that gets together creatives, photographers, photo reps, agency art producers and the like.

The "adhesive" part is that everyone gets a name tag that sticks to your clothes and you go around meeting people.



One of the organizers of this event is my co-worker Wini (pictured below at an Adhesive event at Ace Bar) so I asked her and the other (3) organizers to do an interview for agmacsparty. Answers are below.


If you work in a related field, or would just like to meet creative people, sign up for their invites on Facebook! There's always a great turnout and I've met some great people so far.

Adhesive consists of:

Shabnam Azadeh, Agent, Kate Ryan Inc.
Wini Barron Alcorn, Senior Art Producer, McCann Erickson
Brian Bergeron, Assistant Creative Director, The Museum of Modern Art
Tim Willis, Partner, Lockbox Productions LLC

Q: What exactly is Adhesive and how did the idea of it come about?

Wini: Well, “It was a dark and stormy summer night...” The story is Shabnam and I were trying to setup two mutual friends. Neither wanted to go on a 1 on 1 date, so we organized a small happy hour of about 10 people, with the “couple” as part of the ten. We all had such a good time,and even though the matchmaking was a bust, we decided to do another one the next month, invite a few more friends, and then again the next month with more friends.... and there you go. It has just been growing ever since. We started the name tag idea at maybe the 4th one. As more and more people came, we thought it was a fun way to introduce yourself, and make it known you were at the bar for the Adhesive event.


Q: How long have you been doing it and what is the role of the organizers?

Wini: The first drink night was in August 2007, and we have been fairly successful with doing one every month. As for our duties as organizers, one of the biggest challenge is picking a date and finding a venue. Also, as the mailing list has grown, we are now using facebook and a website to announce the next dates.

Brian: We are the public faces of Adhesive and welcomers/greeters. Shabnam is in charge of flirting with everyone.

Shabnam: I think we have all 4 do a pretty good job of splitting the months playing Host and all support each other at the events writing nametags and introducing people.

Q: Are there any criteria or commonalities among the bars you guys choose and any special activities or things that set the Adhesives apart from the rest of the bar scene?

Wini: Dive bars, inexpensive drinks, and a BIG space, and food is always a nice bonus.

Shabnam: We are always asking for recommendations.


Q: Do you have a website?

Wini: Yep, my husband designed it. It is REALLY basic as we think simple is best. There is some discussion about expanding the content, but we haven’t really decided where we want this to go. Check the site out!

Shabnam: David has been so patient and knowledgeable with designing and maintaining the site....as far as expanding the site we are open to people that can volunteer their time and skills to help!


Q: How do you envision Adhesive expanding or evolving in 2009?

Wini: Adhesive has been asked to co-host events with other groups, and we have hooked up with Casey Kelbaugh from Slideluck Potshow a few times, as we both speak to the same NY creative community. As a group, we are excited but unsure how we will grow and change, but with the volume of people attending our events, it seems like we have found a niche. The random, organic quality of the drink nights is a big plus to us, as we feel it is not an overly produced, high profile networking event with member fees, sponsors, our agenda. Adhesive is about chilling out with friends, making new ones, and getting to know the people you talk to all the time for work, but have never met.

The Billy Mo Show

Yo Yo Yo, it's Billy MO-tion...And Ludacrazy and the Bahama Mamas.

Two Friday nights ago was the second show of the Bahama Mamas with Billy, and it went awesome!!

Billy did all his hits like 'Caribbean Queen' and 'All Night Long,' and the BM's joined him on 'When the Goin Gets Tough' and 'This Heart of Mine.'




And then Billy went a little out of character for a hilarious rendition of BBD's 'Poison' and Paula Abdul's 'Opposites Attract' with LudaCrazy.


The Bahama Mamas thank Billy Motion from saving them from a life of performing on cruise ships and hope y'all come out to the most fun dance party, sing-a-long next time Billy performs.


Ex's and Oh's

agmac

**Fine Art Friday**

Today's Fine Artist is photographer Melissa Kaseman.

I first came across this photographer because her rep called me to ask if I'd meet with her. After seeing her work, I said YES! Then I picked up PDN's "30" issue, which is all about emerging photographers, and there she was!


I had the privilege of meeting with her yesterday and she's adorably little and cute. And very nice on top of that!


Her work is subtle and simple, with a quiet elegance to it. A lot of photographers out there try to photograph the "mundane" but they do it in a way that shows no sense of lighting, composition and technical prowess. Melissa Kaseman is not one of those photographers.



Her images of an ailing woman, of a small town, of a modest house, are all touching and artful.

Happy 30th Anniversary Mom & Dad!

This Saturday I threw the best surprise party ever, because I surprised the people that for my whole life were un-surprisable--my parents!

For the longest time, I couldn't put anything past them. They always knew when I was up to something ;-)

So this was no small feat. And let me tell you, they were floored! And most importantly, they were ecstatic.

It all started with a custom-made invite, a picture of my parents when they were dating in high school. It was sent to all of their friends and our family. The only problem was I didn't put an RSVP number!

Good thing I knew all their friends would come!


The venue I chose was in Middletown, CT, a 15-minute drive from my parents' house and also a convenient middle ground for all their friends. The venue was a restaurant so the ruse was that I was taking them out to dinner for their anniversary.


I also got a custom-made cake at Stew Leonard's with another vintage picture of them when they were young. They did a fablous job, and it cost about 1/4 of what it costs to get photo cakes done in CT!!



Lastly, I decorated the place with a vase on each table (on sale for only 69 cents from Ikea) and a few yellow roses in each, gold and silver balloons from Party City, a place card with important events of 1979 (including their marriage and my birth!), and most importantly, a table of pictures of my parents and my parents and me over the years. This was the best received part. I've said it before and I'll say it again, people love looking at memories.


I got a lot of praise from their friends on the great food and the great party, but what meant the most to me was that my parents were so happy. I'm so glad I could do this for the people who have done so much for me.

My only regret was not asking for the leftovers! I was so pre-occupied and they never asked. But oh well, now I know and so should you--you have every right to take the extra food home!!

(You can check out more photos on my Flickr page.)

XOXO
agmac, ultimate party girl