Here are the "sparkle" results from the Curly Girl Design Instagram Scavenger Hunt Challenge #2!. I will be posting "Magic" and "Delicious" over the next couple of days. Challenge #3 is going on right now and it is a colorful one! Please join us!!

Thank you all for the birthday wishes! It was a fabulous one!

xoxo

Hello! Here is Challenge #3 for the scavenger hunt! I have been loving how all the photos look together and think these should be especially breathtaking! Go out there and find some color!! (This will not be hard for all of you... you are the colorful sort) Thank you all for participating in this! It is really swell to see all of the different interpretations of things and how we see the world collected into one place. If you are just joining us, you can get the jist of what we are doing here and welcome along!!

A few notes:

•Photos MUST be your own

•Photos MUST be Instagram photos

Also, I encourage you, if you can, to take the photos for the purpose of this hunt... part of what is special about this is that you go out into the world looking for these things and I think that has an effect on the way you see them. It's like that Proust quote:

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes."

Anyhow, I would love to hear what you think of the project thus far!

Here is how we see the word "inspire":

Isn't it magnificent!? I particularly love the mussel shell in the sand from @ncampos1 and the box of fun from @droozstudio! Great compositions! We take inspiration from so many things, but this really showed me how good we are at inspiring ourselves! To see everyone's descriptions of their photos or comments about them search: #cgdscavenger_inspire on Instagram.

What are your favorites? Weigh in!

xoxo

Happy Monday! I hope this collection of our Curly Girl Scavenger Hunt images for "Inspiring" gets your week of to a fabulous start! I am loving this project more and more! You guys are finding some awesome stuff and I love seeing these words through other people's eyes!

You can join us on Challenge #2 here if you hurry and Challenge #3 will go up tomorrow! Will you help spread the word about this? The more the merrier!

To see everyone's comments and descriptions of their images search #cgdscavenger_inspiring on Instagram.

Couple of notes: You must only enter your own photos for this. It's doesn't feel right to bring in other people's work wIthout them knowing. Also, I cannot get access to the photos if they are not public or if I am not following you, so if you want me to include your private photo, email it to: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Happy Hunting!!
xoxo

Good evening! Apologies for the late post, but I am traveling and that always screws up my sense of time and space.

This Instagram Scavenger Hunt thing is so dang fun!! You guys are crazy brilliant and insightful and I really love seeing what you come up with! A handful of you participated in this first challenge and some of you got really into it! SO GREAT!! Here is how we (collectively) interpret 'inspired':

Isn't it beautiful! For more info, like everyone's description of what they shot, search #cgdscavenger_inspired on Instagram and select individual shots. I loved @Mlsgb's "glass half full" and @Alyssabarr's "teacher who comes to the house". I loved them all!! Which ones struck a chord with you!??

I will post _inspiration and _inspiring over the next few days, but in the mean time, the next Curly Girl Design Instagram Scavenger Hunt Challenge is up!! These should be crazy fun to do!! Will you do this with me!?

Say yes! I know you see magic everywhere.

xoxo

OH THIS IS GOING TO BE SO FUN!!! Ok, so I am sure I am not the first person to think of this, but since I think you guys are so cool and interesting and creative and amazing, I wanted to try it here.

As I am sure many of you are, I am obsessed with Instagram , though only recently ( I know many of you are old pros at this point...) it is changing the way I see things, and making me so much more aware of the tiny beauty and little millimeters of my life that I actually stop and observe every day. It is a real genius outlet for the visually minded! But is also such a nice way to share what you see and how you see it with friends.

So, according to my research quick poll, there are potentially around 150 of you out there that might want to take part. I think that is a great number and could make this stunning if I can pull it off the way I want to. Here's the deal:

There will be 5 challenges, a new one every few days. Each challenge card will have 3 words/things to find on it. Each thing will have it's own hashtag. (ie: #cgdscavenger_inspire)

Interpret the words/things however you want and take a photo of your interpretation. Tag it accordingly and make sure to also include me (@CurlyGirl510) on it so it will be easier for me to find it.

You can do one word/thing or all three, but make sure your photos are in by the deadline on the card. I will then compile all of our interpretations here for all of us to see together. I think it could be beautiful and amazing!

Will you play with me? (Mom! that means you too!)

Today's challenge is above, and starts now.

Ready, Set, Go!

xoxo

P.S.: If you don't have Instagram yet, and have a smart phone and want to participate, you can get it for free online or in the App Store on your phone. I believe it just became available for non-Apple users too.

One year ago Sunday (April Fool's Day, naturally) we opened our shop, Marmalade, in our town center. A bigger and more beautiful location with lots of foot traffic and parking (yes!) has made our presence officially known as a fabulous retail destination in the suburbs of Boston. It was a big risk, a lot of work, a lot more work than that, and frankly, contributed to one of the hardest financial and organizational years Curly Girl has had to go through. But at the year mark, things are looking really good. The community has embraced us whole-heartedly, we are winning awards and getting the kind of press I always thought we deserved.

We are story-telling, community-building and creating an world for Curly Girl to live in that exists beyond the work we do in the offices, or online, or on paper. We have more work to do still, and growth is a moving target but I am really pleased in this moment with what we have done. I put this thought, this intention, this vision out into the world, and the world around me, the people around me and the community around me made it real. It's real and it's bright and shiny, just like I thought it would be. Happy Birthday Marmalade!

We have come a long way...

You can read a little about the beginnings here and here and see photos of our opening week here and here.

Saturday we threw ourselves a little party inspired by Marie Antoinette and piled the sugary treats high! We popped prosecco and put on our party dresses and treated our customers to a storewide sale.

The place was packed with customers (which is always good!) and balloons! Coach even helped bartend! (how cute is he?). The marmalade girls were in full effect and everyone's spirits were high!

It really put a cherry on top of an excellent first year and I couldn't be more grateful to all whose energy and time and love and support went into making this year a success! In particular: Lauren, Emily, all the marm girls, Ethan, Coach and our friends at Glutenous Minimus for all the delicious sweets when we need them! Also, to the Curly Girl staff (esp. Molly) for holding down the fort while we did all of this. Thank you all for making my vision a reality...and continuing to.

xoxo

Hello!! I am back from a little vacation having achieved a dose of much-needed R&R (and a tiny amount of sunshine!) on the beautiful island of Oahu. I am getting caught up here at CGD and Marmalade (back up is the price one must pay for said R&R...) and feeling a little bit more like I know what day it is again.

While I was in Hawaii, I was treated to some of the most lush and incredible landscapes I have ever had the privilege of laying eyes on. I was also able to enjoy some of the magnificent fruits and nuts and fresh delicious fish that are so readily available there. Eating wholly and locally is a growing passion of mine and the more I learn about food, the more interested I become in the people and places who grow it.

For a few years I had been reading about what Outstanding in the Field was doing, and how they were growing and I was dying to get to one of their events. So last year, for a friend's 40th birthday, we treated ourselves (and her) to what would end up being one of the top 5 favorite things I have ever done.

You would think hosting an intimate dinner for 200 strangers in an orchard or on a beach or in a pasture would be something of a fiasco, but with almost 10 years of experience putting these dinners together, the team of food gypsies at OIAF is a well-oiled merry-making machine. The recipe is simple: 1 local farm + 1 local chef (or restaurant) + 200ish local food lovers + a sky full of stars = an evening to remember!

Using only local (most as local as a few feet from your chair!) ingredients and providers and the vision of a local chef, the dinners have garnered something of a cult following. In fact, the night we were there (at a peach orchard in New Hampshire) we met people from all over the country who had made an OIAF dinner part of their yearly travel. In fact, while we met lots of first -timers like ourselves, I was amazed at the number of people who had more than one or two of these under their belt!! OH! And about that belt... mine had to be loosened!! The food was nothing short of divinity. From the local oysters to the peach pork tenderloin...even the wine was made by one of the families in attendance!

When we first arrived on a late August evening, we were loaded onto a little tractor-tram and wheeled through the grounds of the peach farm. It had been raining off and on most of the week, and there was some speculation that we would be under a tent instead of the night sky so we wore our wellies and each brought a plate from home as instructed. Once we arrived at the site, there were sparkling peach beverages, fresh oysters and the afternoon sun graced us with her presence. We chatted with other guests and heard a little OIAF history from founder Jim Denevan. The staff was super friendly (and relieved that they had made a game-time decision to not put up the tent!) and seemed just as enchanted as the rest of us with this glorious evening.

After awhile we were piled back onto the tram and ferried into the peach orchard where we came upon the most incredible thing I have seen (in all my days of catering and doing events)...what seemed to be a single long table snaked down a row in the orchard stretching farther than they eye could see set to the decks with service for a 5 course meal! I am pretty sure I made an audible squeal. We ate family style well into the night and left full, newly minted lifers. I (heart) OIAF 4-ever!!

Locations and dates were announced on March 1 on their website. Tickets go on sale on the 20th. TICKETS SELL OUT FAST so you will want to be poised at noon on the 20th if you want to get them. I may have to call in sick that day....

It is a bit of a splurge, but I promise you will not have a more magical dinner with 200 people you have never met before. You will also leave with a renewed awareness of the bounty around you and what the earth has to give in your area. You will also get to enjoy the creativity and genius of a chef in your area that has a passion for that bounty. It is all in all good soul-loving stuff that I couldn't get much more enthusiastic about.

Follow them on Twitter for updates and let me know if you end up going (or have been) ! Coach and I are gonna put our finger on the map this year and try somewhere new!

xoxo

Happy Happy Happy Happy Valentine's Day!!! I am getting ready to put on my red heels and get into the shop to help the hoards of men-folk find the perfect prezzy for their sweethearts (yeep! so fun!), but before I go, I wanted to leave you with a little treat. This is a recipe for my favorite Christmas cookie that I made Valentine'sy by swapping out the sprinkles. I love this cookie and it is so simple to do I thought I would share!

My Minty Valentine Cookies:

You Will Need:

1 package of Almond Bark (Chocolate was used for this recipe...I found it at Target)

1 small bottle of Peppermint Essential Oil (NOT PEPPERMINT EXTRACT!! This is VERY important)

1 box of Ritz Crackers (use only the perfect ones...well, initially)

Seasonally appropriate sprinkles

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1.) Follow the directions on the back of the package of Almond Bark for melting. I have gone the double-boiler route, but honestly, the microwave works better.

Aside: I know that Almond Bark is not the most, um, healthy way to coat something in chocolate. I would much prefer to use real chocolate or at least something with cocoa as the first ingredient, BUT I have tried other things and nothing quite works/tastes the same. Also, it is my Mom's Cookie Exchange recipe and you don't MESS with those ladies.

2.) Once chocolate is fully melted, stir in EXACTLY 7 drops (be very careful here) of the Peppermint essential oil. Stir until well mixed.

3.) One at a time, coat crackers in chocolate. I use a fork here and flip the cracker around until it is coated, then lift it out with a fork and wag it side to side (careful to keep the chocolate in the bowl) to get the excess off and keep the coating even. The ratio of chocolate to cracker is important I think...they want to be sort of thinly coated.

4.) Lay cracker gently onto parchment and sprinkle with sprinkles. Cookies will set up on their own but a quick turn in the fridge will speed the process.

5.) When chocolate has hardend, pick up cookies and clean off the chocolate debris from the sides. Give to your sweethearts or enjoy!

**A note on giving: 3 of these little guys fit perfectly in a standard size cupcake paper. I thought it would be a cute way to bring them to the office or a party!

There you go! I hope you love them (I think they taste like Thin Mints!). Let me know what you think if you make them!

xoxo

Good Monday to you all! It is the day before Valentine's Day and do you know who your sweethearts are?? I love this day because it is an on-the-calendar excuse to write love notes. Now, though I encourage sending love notes all year round, I am not opposed to  a little annual nudge. I think that the ability to tell people how you feel about them is right up there with opposable thumbs and free will on the list of great things about being at our end of the food chain (as you might have guessed given my profession) and here is a whole day to do it!! Yahoo!

This, I realize can cause some anxiety for some folks, so at our shop, Marmalade, we do our best to help. Here are some peeks at what the shop looks like this season!

Lauren, our shop manager, got her hot little hands on the window display this month while I was at market. This was a big leap for me, because I am kind of a visual control freak when it comes to the shop displays and windows, but I was at market, and it had to be delegated. Check out this adorable scene:

We got in these hilariously cute sock animals and Lauren made them the "Valentine's Day Decorating Committee". She made it look like these little critters were decorating the window and getting into all sorts of mischief in the process. It could not be cuter or more "Marmalade". Great job Lauren!! It brings a smile to everyone who passes by!

That's what's going on in the shop at the moment. Also, we had a cute little write up in a local rag. Despite the poor grammar-check, it is a cute piece about the greeting card industry and my place in it.

Love to know what you think!! Do love V-day?? Not love it? Why?

xoxo

Hi All!! I am back from the New York Gift Show and getting caught up. Phew! January is a bit of a blur... a lovely lovely blur.

Between gift shows and catching up after the holidays, I had the pleasure of throwing a dear friend a baby shower. I really really love doing events and parties and have not gotten too many chances recently so I was giddy that I got to do this one! Babies somehow always make me think of spring, so I was challenging myself to make the event seasonally appropriate as well as unique to the new mama (and papa...who was in attendance!). I also didn't want to just make everything blue because they are having a boy and I promised there would be no embarrassing games involving nipples of any sort.

These two love hiking and camping (well, I think he might like camping more than she...) and being outside and will no doubt be out and about on the trails and in the world with their new little boy. I decided to go with a "happy little camper" theme and keep it woodsy and casual.

It should come as no surprise to you at this point that I actually had many of the props and supplies that I used for the day. The vintage cooler was an etsy find many years ago and actually graced our Curly Girl catalog pages last year. I used my collection of vintage stadium blankets as tablecloths and borrowed some vintage wood boxes from the shop. A vintage picnic basket that my mom gave us was used as a centerpiece and a ball jar-esque water decanter was a wedding gift.

My friends and I made 's'mores pops' (super easy and cute) and 'campfire weenies' (crockpot cocktail weenies). The girls at Glutenous Minimus made this gorgeous chocolate cake with marshmallow layers to look like a tree stump. Complete with meringue mushrooms! Barbara at Derby Farm did the beautiful 'woodsy' flower arrangements.

We had sandwiches (provided by the new mama's sister) and chips and veggies and dip. All with champagne and Izzys of course! (Casual + Fancy = Love.) I did find a set of enamel camping mugs at an outdoors store that I had to have for the event and the party store had cute red plastic picnic food baskets that we used instead of plates.

One of my favorite parts was the "Happy Little Camper" garland that I made using sticks and yarn. Unfortunately I couldn't get a great photo of it because it hung between rooms. But here are a few shots of the process (ignore my messy kitchen):

Basically just made the letters with sticks and hot glued them together, wrapped them with random yarn to make it look like I made it at camp and glued them to a long piece of braided yarns. It is actually still hanging in my house it is so cute! Coach will probably start to wonder about it here in a minute.

Like I said, I did promise no embarrassing games, but a friend suggested something she had done at another shower that I thought was a really sweet idea. I labeled cards with numbers 1-30 and asked people to choose one. We handed out pens and then asked folks to write the baby a letter to be opened on the birthday that coordinated with the number on their card. So, for example, I got number 12 and wrote a letter to the little boy to be opened on his 12th birthday. It was a strangely moving experience, with lots of laughs and some good advice.

As a little take home, I begged asked Bridget over at Bake at 350 to make me her adorable camper cookies. I could not have asked for anything more perfect (and DELICIOUS...I may have had one or two...) or beautiful. They came beautifully wrapped all the way from Texas and were a total hit! In case you can't tell, I am plugging hard for her to come out of retirement (wink)! Even though she does not technically sell her beautiful creations anymore, she does have an amazing blog that you should check out tout de suite!

At the end of the day we sat around chatting (and eating the rest of the cocktail weenies) and talking about when the baby comes. We were surrounded by diapers and wrapping paper and champagne corks and good friends and love. My favorite kind of day!!

Thanks to my friends for their help with everything and to Lizzy for some of these photos!

Happy Monday! I would love to know what you think!

xoxo