2 Fabulous Shopping Events THIS Weekend

Join Mapel this coming weekend for two

Fabulous Holiday Shopping events.

Saturday December 5th Mapel will be in Issaquah participating in

Eastside Shopping Party and Gift Show for Women and Kids!

Date: Saturday, December 5th 2009

Time: 12pm – 5pm

Location: Blakely Hall 2550 NE Park Drive Issaquah, WA 98029

Assortment of designer jeans, dresses, jewelry, handbags, shoes, beauty products, beauty services, massage services, kids clothing, home décor and MORE!

- Free Swag bags of goodies to first 50 women shoppers

- Raffle drawing every hour!

- Silent Auction

- Food & Drinks

- Music

We have some GREAT items for the raffle drawing and silent auction tab

Sunday December 6th Mapel will be in Seattle participating in the

Boutique Culture Warehouse SALE

Time: VIP Shopping: 9:00 am - 11:00 am

General Admission Shopping : 11:00 am - 6 pm

Clothing Swap: 11:00 am - 4 pm

Place: Hyatt at Olive 8

1635 8th Avenue

Seattle, WA 98101

Participating Vendors:
A to Z Tees

Alhambra
Asher Anson
BCO
CMRTYZ
Deco-Modiste
Katie Kay
Mapel
Moksha
Nuvo Moda
Plane Jane
Purely Paige
Queen Anne Dispatch
Sabrina Loves Handbags
Stella & Dot
Suburban Booty
Sureel
Suzabelle
Totokaelo + Impulse
Zovo Lingerie
 
Holiday Shopping at its Best: Support Local Charities and Find the Best Deals, Steals and Bargains at the Boutique Culture Holiday Warehouse Sale and Seattle’s First Clothing Swap.

Leavenworth Travel Agents - At Your Service

Whenever friends or family are traveling to Leavenworth (or friends/family OF friends/family), Staci and I get to play "travel agent" and give suggestions on where to stay, where to eat, the best places for wine tasting, and other various recreational activities.With the holidays upon us and lots of great opportunities for weekend getaways to Leavneowrth, I thought I would share some of our travel advice with our blog readers. 

Of course we always strongly recommend a visit to Mapel.  Actually, we "expect" you to stop by and say hello after receiving all our free travel advice!

Most people like to choose WHERE to stay first, but I suggest deciding WHAT you want to do first because that should influence where you stay.  If you know that you want to spend a lot of time in the downtown Leavenworth atea - perusing the shops, trying various restaurants, etc. then you MUST reserve one of the lovely suites at Haus Wunderbar located within walking distance to everything downtown.  Oh, and it just happens to be in the same building as Mapel (funny coincidence).  You can book your stay through Destination Leavenworth, and make sure to tell them Mapel sent you so we can get our kickback! (seriously, we want our kickback)
If you're wanting more of a romantic getaway or prefer to be farther away from all the happenings, I would recommend staying in one of the fabulous bed and breakfasts Leavenworth has to offer, such as the.Enchanted River Inn

For food, one of our fav'sies is South.  And of coarse, you will want to stop by Munchen Haus on Front St for a brat and beer.  For dessert, stop by Schocolat for the most amazing hand-made chocolates.

Activities....Staci and I aren't really the "outdoorsy" type, but I know there are plenty of recreational activities listed on http://www.leavenworth.org/ .  We prefer activities that involve wine. - there are over 13 tasting rooms in Leavenworth!

Upcoming events include Christkindlmarkt, Christmas Lighting, and Ice Fest.  Hope to see you soon!

Nickels Worth

Don't you just love those unexpected  special occasions or moment that leave a lasting impression. Those nights that end up surprising you in a memorable way. I was fortunate enough to have just such a night this week. I had plans to meet a good friend for drinks and happy hour- but by the time we got out the door it was after 6 and thus no good happy's to be had.

We wandered her neighborhood (the distinctively hip Clinton area of Portland) and ended up at a very small and inviting restaurant, Bar Avignon.

We ordered a carafe, cheese plate to share and we both got the chicken dish. I know... boring chicken- but honestly after the way the waitress raved about it- we were too curious not to get the chicken. We were highly impressed with every bite- of everything we ordered.

So outside of the fabulous company, amazing food, and ultra quaint setting.... I left with a wonderful morsel of advice. In this case- a shiny Nickel's Worth of Advice.

You see, because I'm "going steady" I forget all of the $%^&*  #$%^ of dating. If you've been following this blog for awhile you'll note that ALL I used to blog about was the single life of dating and working in Seattle. As time has passed so have the humorous happenings of dating. My dear friend and dinner date shared with me a humorous yet amazingly clever story that immediately made me think "I must blog about this".

Women have an amazingly strong "instinct" about things. We don't always listen to that instinct- but it's there hovering inside of us. My friend could not let go of this resounding feeling that the guy she had been seeing was older than he told her. She asked about it a few times- almost joking and making light of it- but he kept to the original story. Her instinct continued to press on her - so like any amazingly fabulous woman she took matters into her own hands.

She had plans to meet him at a nearby pub. She showed up early,  ordered her drink at the bar, handed the bartender a $20 and said she would cover her drink and her dates drink. Before sitting down at a table she casually mentioned that he could keep the change after the two drinks were deducted - with one favor in mind. Would he mind asking her date for his ID and at a later time informing her of his birth year. He agreed.

When her date arrived she mentioned she had a tab running at the bar and he could order with the bartender. He got his drink and returned to the table. They stayed for a while and had a pleasant time (although curiousity was of course eating her alive). Once they were done she went up to the bar to get her receipt (along with the anticipated info). All the bartender said was "No way was I doing to ask that guy for his ID- he's way to old to even consider ID'ing... and way too old for you".

That was the last time she went out with that guy (possibly the last time she went into that bar too). So.... my shiny Nickels Worth of Advise is to listen to your instinct, take matters into your own hands and hopefully come up with an idea as brilliant as my friend.

Glazed Doughnut Hamburger & Receding Hairlines

"To get back my youth I would do anything in the world, except take exercise, get up early, or be respectable."     Oscar Wilde

Today I celebrate my 31st birthday. By "celebrate" I mean composing this week's Happy Hour Menu, designing Mapel's email blast, stirring up something funny for this week's blog and PuShInG out holiday orders.  There is no doubt you are married to your work when you spend a lovely birthday afternoon just the two of you. Unfortunately work is a cheap date and yet has the means to buy me a glass of bubbly for my birthday. One day.......

In all fairness I'm Birthday Spoiled this year. Last Friday Brandon and I hosted a dual Birthday and House Warming party. Some of my absolute Fav'sies from Seattle drove up to Portland for the occasion. We also had good friends from high school, college and close family show up for the occasion (we boasted lots of candy in advance- so you can only imagine the crowd that showed).

We had a fabulous party and afterwards I was left with a warm fuzzy feeling about my life in Portland. We were also showered with wine. Against my gentle note of "No Gifts Please" we received numerous bottles of wine and a jug of the finest cranberry juice. If you don't already know.... Brandon leaves the wine drinking to me and he has acquired quite a palatte for cranberry juice.

The next day we packed up ALL of our Orange and Black gear and headed to Corvallis for the OSU homecoming game.

 I know what you're thinking..... I know... "What's so great about football?" and I would ask the same thing- except that I was with great friends and had an orange tumbler of bubbly in one hand. It also helped ease the football pain when I received an early birthday present from Brandon- a perfectly OSU orange arm candy from Cole Haan (seconly only to Mapel handbags).

Leading up to today I battled a terrible case of Piglet. It's a lesser version of Swine and often goes by the name of "common cold". I barely recovered from Piglet before my birthday date with Brandon last night. He is a crazy - concert going - music obsessed - dude. I feel bad cause 5th row front and center Dave Matthews tickets at the Gorge seem like a waste on me. I like Dave... but if you had seen the crowd we were sitting with.... It's a culture unlike any other... well any other that I've seen.

So the point is... I'm not obsessed with music like he is. I do however wuv'les a small handful of musicians. These musicians are on constant repeat at Mapel and have possibly been mentioned before in a few of our blogs (Jack Johnson). Brandon got us amazing seats to last nights David Gray concert at Portland's Arlene Schnitzer Hall. I was beyond excited. I love David Gray (always have) and could not wait.

For dinner he suggested a new restaurant called Original downtown Portland. Oddly there was nothing Original about this place. We dined on Glazed Doughnut Hamburger (you read that correctly), Pigs in a Blanket with Fondue and Chicken & Ham Fritters. It was funny, memorable and perfect!!!!

After a few glass' of wine (whose counting) we headed to the concert. The opening band was Fabu' and might just be the star of Mapel's holiday playlist. David Gray was as wonderful as I hoped. Absolutely amazing in concert and honestly..... outside of the perfectly booming voice I think he's more of a poet than anything else. I did however have a few observations that got me thinking about the big 31.

 All of the band members had receiding hair lines. I've seen David in concernt before- and there's nothing wrong with receding hair lines, really- nothing, but it was interesting to think that instead of mosh pits and festival seating there was three piece suites, balcony seats and receding hair lines.

And that brings me back to now. Here I am on my actual Bday dreaming up a tasty happy hour menu (hopefully as tasty as Glazed Doughnut Hamburgers) for all of yous. What does the rest of today hold.... likely a glass of vino and some chocolate (immediately following the release of this blog).