Butch Meets Bakery

What is it about a cupcake that makes a woman's heart go pitter-patter? Is it the miniature size that makes us think we are eating less? Or perhaps it's the gob of sweet, sugary delight neatly swirled on top? No matter the reason, cupcakes are a woman's pure delight. But, why don't men seem to respond in the same way when offered a little perfectly packaged treat? What is it about a cupcake that somehow makes it just a little bit girly?

Well, for all those men out there that believe cupcakes are for women, we have a revolutionary culinary treat for you. From a New York bakery called Butch Bakery, comes a new wave of masculinity in the form of a tasty sweet treat.

Choose from six styles of cupcakes: Woodland Camo, Wood Grain, Houndstooth, Plaid, Checkerboard or Marble. You can also choose from 12 flavors including: Rum & Coke (the pause that refreshes - this rum-soaked madagascar vanilla cake with cola bavarian cream filling is a knockout), B-52 (this one is the bomb: kahlua-soaked madagascar vanilla cake with Bailey's bavarian filling), Campout (you'll be begging for s'more of this graham cracker cake with marshmallow filling and milk-chocolate ganache), and Beer Run (butch meets buttercream in our chocolate beer cake with beer-infused buttercream topped with crushed pretzels).

The ladies are officially jealous.

If you don't live in the New York area, don't fret. Butch Bakery is expanding their delivery options this year and should be able to ship to your neck of the woods in no time.

A Technological Personal Assistant

Everyone can use a personal assistant right? All of us at B&E certainly know we could. That's why we are so intrigued with the new techno-personal assistant tool from Siri. Siri can help you find and plan things to do. You can ask Siri to find a romantic place for dinner, tell you what’s playing at a local jazz club or get tickets to a movie for Saturday night. But, since its a new tool, there are a few hiccups and kinks that need to be worked out. The current version of Siri is built for the iPhone 3GS and the iPod Touch and works only in the US. Soon, Siri will run on iPhone 3G and additional mobile platforms, as well.

Learn more about Siri by watching the video below.

Hot Event Trend: Hanging Buffets

We love creativity. That is why we are absolutely enthralled by this new popular trend in event design: The Hanging Buffet. With just some simple platters and some ties the Hanging Buffet comes alive and turns any food table into an impressive art display. 

You can read more about the Hanging Buffet in the latest edition of Nesting Newbies magazine. In every issue Nesting Newbies shows you that cooking, entertaining and decorating can be easy, fun and affordable. It's one of our favorite sources of inspiration and we know you'll love it too. Check it out!

Water, It Does The Body Good

What does every busy event planner need to do more of? Drink water. No matter what profession you are in, and no matter what your schedule looks like, there is always the need to drink more of nature's juice. And today in the grocery stores we are offered so many varieties of water that there is simply no excuse to not get our full daily dose. But some of us (me included) have trouble getting our daily 8 glasses of water. That's why these uniquely flavored bottles from Herbal Water are the perfect solution. From Ayala comes Herbal Water in the following unique and utterly delicious flavors: Lemongrass Mint Vanilla, Lavender Mint, Lemon Verbena Geranium, Cloves Cardamon Cinnamon, Cinnamon Orange Peel and Ginger Lemon Peel. Not only are these tiny bottles of goodness great for the busy professional on the go, they also make great swag bag gifts for your next event.

Click here to find the locations you can pick up your own Herbal Water and see what all the talk is about.

We Think You'll Love...

We think you'll love this great new way to taste and share your favorite wines with friends, colleagues and clients. From Brixr, comes wine tasting packs containing four 50ml bottles of boutique wines. If you've ever ordered a wine flight in a restaurant, think of Brixr tasting packs as your own wine flight you can conduct at home.

For those of you that make your own wine, be sure to check out TinyBottles.com for information on how you can create your own mini wine packs. With Brixr and Tiny Bottles, there is a new way for wineries to sell wine and for consumers to discover them. Tiny Bottles, coupled with video tastings by influencers at brixr.com, provide a fantastic new environment for trying, learning and ultimately buying wine. For more information, click here.

Once In A Blue Moon - Perfect Party Theme!

It happens only rarely, when small particles in the atmosphere scatter more red light than blue, allowing less red light to be seen from the ground. This makes the moon temporarily appear blue. Although this phenomenon is quite rare, it has altered the meaning of the phrase “once in a blue moon,” which is now commonly understood to mean “every now and then." Roughly every 19 years, you get the blue moon double where you get two blue moons in a year. The last time that happened was in 1999.

*Year: 2009 Month Date and Time: December 31st at 19:11 (or 7:11 pm).

That makes this the perfect party theme for New Year's this year!

*All dates and times are given in Grennwich Mean Time (GMT).

A True Green Environment

How green is my garden? These are some creative ways to become a little more green than other companies, take for example the pictures above from the world headquarters of AstraZeneca’s office in Sweden designed by Michael Hellgren. This is a great example of bringing green all the way into our environment at work. I can imagine that the air has a distinctly fresh feel and scent in this office complex.

Couture Chairs For Home Or Office

Looking for new and creative way to spice of your home or office for Spring and Summer without completely redoing a space? Consider a home-fashion-forward couture chair with style and pizazz. A couture chair can be bold, soft, curvy, classic, contemporary, or better yet, why not all of these? A new trend in home and office space design are couture chairs. Yes that's right, we said couture. Doesn't that word just roll of the tongue so nicely?

Afraid to step in with both feet? Here are some amazing pieces from Chair Couture that will show you just how easy it is to add some flair to your space without going overboard. Their entire concept is to "re-dress" vintage French and Italian pieces in bold, modern fabrics (and sometimes paints) making every bergere, fauteuil, settee and boudoir bench a striking one-of-a-kind art piece. They are designed to bring the outdoors indoors and become a focal point for contemporary environments. Don't look for any style numbers, with one of a kind there just are not any!

Since they are original French and Italian styling we decided to pair them with an upbeat contemporary version of Italian glass chandeliers from a beautiful designer in Milano Italy, Viaggio. The lighting pieces range anywhere in price from $795 to $6500.

New Business Trend: Video Resumes

The unemployment rate in the country seems to increase every week which means thousands of business professionals are finding themselves on the job hunting search once again. With so many out of work, how can you set yourself apart from the pack?

A rising new business trend for professionals is to create a video resume. A Seattle based company, 4th Avenue Media, is aiding professionals in the creation of video resumes. The team at 4th Avenue Media believes the only thing that sets you apart is your story. By integrating new media tools like web videos, websites, blogs and other social networking tools like Facebook, Linked In, Plaxo and others, you send a message to the employer that your technical and social skills will be an asset to their company.

The key to utilizing new media tools most effectively is to make certain that all content available online, including personal sites you may have on social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter & MySpace, are professional and non-incriminating. Screen all your online personal content including friends sites that may have anything questionable about you and remove all content and images that may translate a message you wouldn't want a potential employer to receive.

Once you've verified that all your social memberships are professionally representing you, create your video resume and place it on all social networking sites. You never know how a contact may lead to a potential job. Also, email your video resume in advance of your interview to your potential employer along with a paper copy of your resume. Your video resume will certainly set you apart from all the generic resumes in the employers inbox.

Here is a sample of a video resume:

Does Anybody Know What Time It Is?

Clocklink is a website that is provides one simple or complex product, depending upon what you want - it is all about clocks for your website. These clocks are free and can be easily embedded in your web page or in your blog. All you need to do is simply paste the tag on your web page. You can choose a time zone for your clock so it will show the correct time, or choose our unique count down or count up clocks. So what time is it right now anyway?

Green Idea

The Netherlands based company, Royal Boon Edam Group Holding, has created the world's first energy generating revolving door that is currently installed at the Driebergen-Zeist railway station in Holland. The door stores power generated in a capicitor bank and illuminates LED lights in its ceiling, while a large scale display outside the building shows pedestrians how much overall power has been generated by the door. This commercialized door is not to be confused with the "Revolution Door" project which still remains a prototype.

Source: InHabitat

Pie In The Sky

We recently read about this innovative branding company from one of our favorite blogs, Mix Mingle & Glow, and we just had to share the idea with you. If you are looking for a new and innovative way to brand your company logo, name, icon or image then consider a Flogo. What is a flogo, you ask? SnowMasters research and development facility in northern Alabama became the home of what is now known as Flogos, or "logos that fly." A flogo is a cloudlike, balloonlike object created out of proprietary surfactant (soap) based foam formulations and lighter-than-air gases such as helium. Flogos are designed to last for as long as their visual impact is needed. Specific formulations are available to provide a life expectancy of a few minutes to an hour or so. The visual impact also greatly depends on atmospheric conditions such as wind and relative humidity. On average, Flogos last for 30 to 40 minutes. Flogos are Green and 100% environmentally safe.

Click here to view a demo.

Gone In A Flash

The holidays are officially over and that means you probably have a whole new collection of digital family photos to weed through. And if you are anything like us, you take close to a thousand shots and later realize only a handful actually turn out. There are always those dozens of photos that must be deleted because Uncle Jim was making a funny face or Aunt Grace was looking away from the camera. If this sounds like you, then you are going to love the new technology available on the Sony Cyber-shot camera. The Sony Cyber-shot camera is equipped with a feature called Smile Shutter. All you have to do as the camera user is select the Smile Shutter mode and press the shutter button. When aimed at your subject, your camer will actually detect a smile and automatically snap a picture when a grin appears.

How great is this for doting parents and grandparents who take endless shots of a newborn baby in hopes to capture that first smile?

We love the idea. Great job Sony.

Zoom, Zoom With Style

The economy is calling for all of us to "think creative" - More and more people are riding the scooter scene which is loaded with character from the classic original "Vespa" to the hot new entries in the market. Don't stop there - why not show YOUR style if you ride or are thinking of riding. It's just not "vanilla" anymore. The local Vespa store website is: http://www.vespaseattle.com/


Since you can easily customize your scooter - why not the helmet?

The helmet company, Ruby, designed by Honet, has painted a schizophrenic character he named: Pale Rider vs Surfin' Zombie." These are the tree helmet views at the bottom of the photo. The price tag on this pure style component is running anywhere from $500 to $1100. These are exclusive designs of the famous helmet designer in Paris. If you haven't checked these out - feast your eyes on their website: http://www.ateliersruby.com/. One of the closest dealers on the West Coast is VESPA OF CALIFORNIA. Enjoy the ride!

A Lot-o Gelato!

All of us at banquetevent.com have a hidden sweet tooth, so this ingenious idea we are about to share with you is right up our alley. eCreamery allows you to create custom flavored gelato and have it shipped right to your door, still frozen and ready to eat.

eCreamery’s ice cream & gelato artists can be found churning classic flavors and your own imaginative masterpieces in a small boutique ice cream parlor in the heart of the Midwest in Omaha, Nebraska. Their natural flair for exceptionally delicious & creative flavors has brought them recognition throughout the region!

The gelato is most definitely a spurge as the costs are pretty steep, but this unique idea does make a great gift for thoses with an affinity toward ice cream.

A Hostess Gift With The Mostest

With all those holiday parties you'll be attending this year, here is a great idea for a hostess gift to accompany a great bottle of wine. Check out these completely eco-friendly wine bags from Grassroots Gallery. These stunning wine bags make a statement. Carefully crafted of sumptuous, eco-friendly handmade papers, the bags feature exquisite floral embossing, velvet flocking, hand silk-screened prints and real rose petals. The finishing touch are beautiful velvet or soft cotton handles, a mark of true distinction.

On The Plane, On the Train, In A Boat, While You Float

When it comes to event planners, we are often on the go, go, go, so reading the next great novel isn't always an easy task. Until now. It's already been endorsed by Oprah as her new favorite thing, and we must admit, the new Amazon Kindle is worth all the buzz.

Utilizing a new high-resolution display technology called electronic paper, Kindle provides a crisp black-and-white screen that resembles the appearance and readability of printed paper. The screen works using ink, just like books and newspapers, but displays the ink particles electronically. It reflects light like ordinary paper and uses no backlighting, eliminating the glare associated with other electronic displays. As a result, Kindle can be read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room.The screen never gets hot so you can comfortably read as long as you like.

The Amazon Kindle retails for $359.

A Computer Like You've Never Felt Before

HP is introducing a whole new option for PC lovers. And even we Mac users have to admit, it's pretty darn cool. Meet the HP Touchsmart IQ804 and IQ816 All-in-One Desktop PC that works similarly to your iPhone or iPod touch, only it also has all the conveniences of features of a regular desktop computer.

What The Retailers Are Saying:
Redesigned with a next-generation, touch-enabled 25.5-inch high-definition LCD screen, the HP TouchSmart IQ804 all-in-one desktop PC is designed to fit wherever life happens: in the kitchen, family room, or living room. With one touch you can check the weather, download your e-mail, or watch your favorite TV show. It's also designed to maximize energy, with a power-saving Intel Core 2 Duo processor and advanced power management technology, as well as material efficiency--right down to the packaging. It has a sleek piano black design with elegant espresso side-panel highlights, and the HP Ambient Light lets you set a mood--or see your keyboard in the dark.

The touch-enabled 25.5-inch widescreen BrightView LCD offers height/tilt adjustment for optimal viewing. It offers a native resolution of 1920 x 1200 pixels. Video is powered by the Nvidia GeForce 9300M GS HD graphics/video card, which provides 256 MB of dedicated video RAM and offers up to 2047 MB of total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista. Enabled by PureVideo HD, movies come to life with outstanding picture clarity, ultra-smooth video and vivid color. The lifelike images have up to six times the detail of standard DVD movies. Delivering state-of-the-art graphics performance, GeForce 9300M GS graphics card is sure to give you the power and performance you crave to play the hottest DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 titles. Its 16x full-screen antialiasing technology delivers superior quality along with astounding performance and since it's optimized for Windows Vista. The integrated audio card is configurable to 6-speaker surround sound, and it can provide two-channel audio via its integrated speakers.

Watch the ad below:





The Touchsmart is not available yet, but you can pre-order yours at Amazon.com.

Blonds Have All The Fun

There is just no denying it. The staff at banquetevent.com loves animals. And in honor of Halloween, which is just around the corner, we wanted to share some photos with you of an adorable dachshund named Honey. We dare you not to fall in love.

View more pictures of Honey and her furry friends, check out Honey's flickr site.











Are you planning on dressing up your pooch for Halloween? Send us your pictures and we'll post them on our blog! Email us.

We Think You'll Love...

We think you'll love this local website that helps you connect with local teachers so you can learn just about anything. Meet teachstreet.com where you can search for teachers of a certain craft in the Seattle and Portland area. So if you want to learn to sail, cook, sew, dance, play the piano or just about any other craft you can think of, Teach Street helps you find the skilled professionals in the area that can turn you into a pro yourself.

Once you have found a teacher you can then go onto teachstreet.com and write a review that will help others find a teacher that is right for them. We also like how the site recognizes what craft you want to learn and offers books about the similar trade that are available for you at Amazon.com.

Check out Teach Street and let us know what you think.