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Anyone out there with a female on their holiday gift list can rest assured that jewelry always works.  Rings, earrings, necklaces, pendants or braceletts are all appreciated and will be a welcome gift that will be cherished for years to come.  If you are unsure of what type of gemstone to choose take into consideration the skin tone and hair color of the person you are shopping for.  As a rule of thumb when you are at a loss at where to start try using these suggestions: Blond hair works particulary well with blue gemstones.  Red heads look stunning in Green Gemstones.  Warm colors like yellow gold, pearls and earth tone gemstones and sparkling gems like diamonds work especially well with darker color skin and hair.  white gold, sterling silver and platinum work well with lighter, fair skin tones as does pink gemstones, red and purple gemstones.  These are rules that are ment to be broken so  follow your heart when choosing jewelry and remember a woman can never have too many pieces in her jewelry wardrobe.

Flowers are mandatory for any special event or wedding.  Throughout history flowers have stimulated us, enhanced and improved our lives.  They grace all our important festivals, ceremonies and are a token of comfort and compassion on sad occasions.  They infuse color, texture, add jazz to details and bring life into any entertainment setting or wedding decor.  But with so many choices how do you deside what varieties to choose from?  I recomend that you choose the color first, then pick your flowers, then set your budget.  No matter what the budget is you will get a big bang for your buck when you select roses.  They come in a large range of colors and are a great base for all entertainment decor. These little jewels offer the biggest selection for the smallest cost, just avoid them around Valentines Day when their prices skyrocket.   Another favorite of mine is the Hydrangea with its big, bushey shape, if you are looking for the color blue, its the best bet for a lush centerpiece or bouquet.  The carnation is amoung one of the most popular flowers in the world but they often receive less than favorable press.  They are often maligned because they are so inexpensive and unfashionable.  I don’t like floral snobbery and I love these blooms because of their wide color selection and they are one of the most long lasting flowers you can buy.  No matter what flowers are chosen they will add so much to any event they are well worth the cost.

The Holiday Season is moving right along.  I’m really not prepared, are you?  I made myself decorate the Christmas Tree yesterday and I so relieved that I got that chore out of the way.  It really shouldn’t be such an effort but I think with all the media hype out there about the joyful season and all that jazz, it puts us all under pressure.  I’m trying to keep my head screwed on straight, keep all my parties, clients and family taken care of and still be in the holiday mood.  Its tough, isn’t it! I just placed my order for our traditional yule log and I feel better about that at least.  My next project will be to create an appetizer menu and get all of those tasty treats ready and handy in my freezer for those unplanned guests that drop by this time of year.  I love being able to bake, serve and impress with handy appetizers.  I always want to have a supply of Pino Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc on hand as well, nothing says welcome as much as good food and good drink.   Pour yourself a couple of glasses and you’ll survive the holidays in good shape!

Today is the day after Thanksgiving and everyone has deserted me to go shopping at the mall.  Personally I think they are a little crazy to brave the crazy crowds on the busiest shopping day of the entire year, but that just me.  I plan to recuperate and make my Christmas shopping list, then I plan to do my own shopping but I’m not leaving the house.   I know of a great online shopping mall that better fits my plans. I want to find a beautiful leather coat for my husband even though I bought him one several years ago and he made me return it because he said he would never wear it.  Every time he packs for a business trip to a colder area he complains that he needs a new coat.  I hold my tongue but guess what,  he’s getting a blasted coat for Christmas this year.   After I finish my easy, easy shopping I plan to make an appointment for a full body massage, I deserve it after all the cooking and cleaning I just did.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today is such a special holiday.  I love having the aroma of turkey baking in the oven, pumpkin pie baked and ready to slice  Cranberry Champagne Cocktail in hand.  I’ll have a large family group gathered around my dining room table and I always want to impress them with some of the special touches and beautiful details that I automatically supply for my clients.  I always have a holiday Floral arrangement, good food and delicious desserts.  This year I plan to cook something a little different than my usual turkey.  This year I will serve Citrus Herb Baked Turkey and it’s so good I want to share my recipe with you.  Click on “More” below and enjoy!!

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I just checked my e-mail and the holiday party invitations are already starting to roll in.  I absolutely love this time of year and I look forward to it all year.  There is only one problem and that’s finding time to shop for something beautiful to wear.  This year I have the perfect solution to this problem.  This year I plan to do my shopping on line.  I tend to lean towards the color black, so that’s were I’ll start and maybe by some twist of fate I’ll find something in formal cocktail attire that is another color besides black!   I always want some different and unusual jewelry to set off my holiday dress too.  This year, I think, will be much less stressful when it comes to holiday attire.  If I find that I’m still stressing out I’ll just have a fabulous Holiday Cocktail while sitting at my computer!!

The Austin Area Alumnae Association of Kappa Kappa Gamma hosted this year’s 11^th annual tabletop extravaganza, now called Austin Settings at the beautiful Palmer Event Center.  Forty-Four of Austin’s premier special event planners, florists, designers and assorted party gurus participated to help raise more than $200,000 for local area non-profits.   Allison’s Events was one of the fourty-four local  Austin designers that participated.  Each participant takes one table to design in a good natured competition.  Although there is no official winner, the finest designs have the opportunity to be featured in a local design Magazine.

  The two day event, which included a “Marimba & Mojitos Preview Party”, a silent auction and a luncheon where guests pay to sit at the designer tables, each one as varied as the design personalities that created them.   Our participation in this event was a charitable contribution which landed the photographs of our design on the pages of Austin Monthly Home Magazine.  We also had the honor of being nominated for the 2007 Texas Star Award in tabletop design for this creative display.

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Real Life Budget Planning for weddings….yea! Let’s get real!!!

Yes, I know you’ve been pouring over every bridal magazine, book and website you can find for months on end.  You’ve read every article about wedding budgets you can find.  They all seem to have a magic formula where you spend a certain percentage on this that and the other.  You’ve looked at your funds, you’ve looked at the things you want and what their cost will be and said “Guess what?” that formula just will not work for me.  Okay, don’t panic.  I have a system that I have been using with my brides for the last 23 years.   It’s called the Allison 5 step program: visualizes, prioritize, budgetize, research and decide.  I use the suggested percentages as a guide line only.

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Next week begins the long line of family and friend that show up on my door step around the holidays.   I love, love, love having everyone and I’m thankful that they feel so welcome at my house.  I have some Holiday Goodies that I love to cook myself and then there are things that I buy because they are so good I couldn’t make them any better myself.  That is always the true test for me, if I can’t cook it and make it better, then I buy it.  I have never been one that bakes the most beautiful cakes, yes they may taste good, but they just are not pretty and I like to serve beautiful desserts.  I have a favorite source for buying Yule Logs for the holidays so I don’t even try to bake cakes.  My favorite dessert that I can make and make well is Pecan Cheesecake Pie.  This easy recipe always comes out perfect and it is beautiful and delicious.  Try it, its a gift from Allison’s Events  and it is perfect for any holiday dessert.

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 Attractive packaging for your wedding favors is everything.  Now & Forever has Polka Dot Take Out Boxes, Pyramid Boxes, Popper Style Favor Boxes and a unique hexagonal shaped box that I just love.  The Italian Saccheto bag is great too! My all time favorite is the bright colored fortune cookie favor that can be personalized for your wedding or event, choose the flavor and color, I want to try them all.  Rexcraft has a textured 2 piece favor box that is available in black, ecru and mocha, it’s a little pricy but very elegant.  If you love it as much as I do but feel it cost too much maybe think about doing a special favor for the guests at the head table and choose something lower priced for the other guests.  JeanM has an extensive collection of colorful favor boxes, bags and tins check out the sleek black box or the colorful square favor boxes with the embossed hearts.  Hanson & Ellis has some great selections such as their personalized chop Stix’s, Origami Fortune Cookies and the herbal tea-licious bag.  My wedding Favors has a wonderful selection too.  I do love their monogrammed clear acrylic box and the brown snap favor box.  There are so many to choose from and I want them all!  Then when you are ready to fill those luscious little boxes check out Lake Champlain Chocolates for the most wonderful chocolate ever.  You can purchase their Ballotin Box favors with the distinctively designed gold gift boxes already filled with goodies.  Chocolate Source offers unique personalized wedding favors filled with Belgian chocolates of your choice

So, do your guests a favor, choose with care, beautifully presented, thoughtful favors will go home with each of your guests, appreciated, enjoyed and remembered with affection and will always remind them of the experience they had on your special day.  They will know without a doubt that you meant it when you said “Thanks for sharing our day”.