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).

Pumpkin Patch Attire

It's that time of year again....BOO! Now that O'fest is over, I have a little (and boy do I mean "little") time to think about the next big event - Halloween! One of my favorite Halloween traditions is visiting the pumpkin patch.  This year, I have my own little pumpkin to bring with me. 

The BIG question before visting the pumpkin patch is what do I wear? (Not really - no one cares what you wear to a pumpkin patch, but since this is Mapel's blog, I like to tie in some fashion, so just humor me)  I spent hours and hours trying different outfits on baby Cora and me before finalizing our pumpkin patch "look".  (again, just humor me and know that I am using extreme exaggeration for the sake of this blog). 

A cute and cozy coat is perfect pumpkin patch attire.  Since I am ALWAYS freezing, I chose my favorite hooded wubby jacket from....oh, what's the name of that place? it's right on the tip of my tongue....hmmmm......oh, yes - MAPEL.  Since I am loving anything plaid this season, I chose to wear this reversible jacket with the warm wubby material on the inside and the bright plaid on the outside. 

I chose a bright orange hat with a flower for Cora, so that A. the public would know it's a GIRL and B. so that she would perfectly match the surrounding pumpkins.  (note - matchy-matchy is okay for babies)

It's cold, so baby Uggs are a MUST.  Cora is sporting hers with giraffe print leggings peeping out - there's no such thing as an "over-stylized" baby.  (okay, maybe there is)

Of coarse our family trip to the pumpkin patch would not be complete without our dog, Wrigley.  The dog doesn't necessarily need to be stylie, but I wanted him to make sure he looked adorable too, so I let him borrown one of Cora's bibs - go bears!

My final tip for pumpkin patch attire is for the dude.  NO, most of them will not let you dress them in anything with pumpkins or color-coordinated shades of orange.  So you have to get a little creative and find something in their closet that they already love that will go with your family's "look".  I chose my husband's Chicago Bears jersey since their colors blue and orange.  Luckily it was Sunday (football day in case you weren't aware), so I didn't even have to ask - he picked it out himself.  (or so he "thinks")

SPUN: Mapel's Featured Designer

Hi Friends!

I’m Sara, an eco-conscious mother of two and the face behind SPUN. The girls at Mapel were kind enough to let me take over their blog so I could tell you a little about me, SPUN and my own personal style. I am excited for the opportunity to be Mapel's first guest designer/blogger!

I launched SPUN early last year with the simple goal of making eco-fashion accessible to all women. I work to ensure all of my pieces are designed to flatter a range of body types, are made sweat shop free, using 100% Certified Organic Cotton and dyed with low-impact and environmentally safe processes. But most important of all – I don’t want any of my pieces to break your budget!

Being a wife/mother, an entrepreneur and designer of organic clothing is a daily juggling act. I am on the go, driving from place to place, doing a million things at once, and all the while trying to come up with ideas for future collections. SPUN pieces reflect my lifestyle: comfortable yet versatile. And I think most women agree with me that this is the best way to dress! Mapel is exactly the kind of place where I can find those special pieces that help me stay stylish but true to my personal style.

I want to share some of my favorite items, found currently at Mapel, which can be paired with SPUN basics and easily incorporated into your wardrobe:

Black Plush Car Coat: Next to the little black dress, this is a classic wardrobe staple. I love the simple yet elegant collar and shoulders of this black peacoat. Pair this with your black boots, knit tights and a SPUN “Diane” Wrap Dress. A simple and beautiful outfit for any holiday party or event.

Dojo Jeans: Every woman needs a great pair of jeans! The dark wash of Seven for All Mankind’s Dojo Jeans not only stand the test of time but create versatility. Wide legged jeans work well with heels or flats so they’re easy to dress up or down. I actually own this pair of jean and wear mine with a SPUN Boat Neck Top layered over one of my tanks for a comfortable day with the family or my girlfriends.

Stevie Wrap: The shape, color and soft fabric (100% Pima Cotton) just emanates comfort and style. What a great centerpiece for an outfit while running errands – or just to spend a lazy Sunday. Layer a SPUN Tank or two underneath with a pair of yoga pants and your pick of any of the BearPaw Boots available at Mapel. Comfortable, warm and stylish!

Mod Onseam Pocket Top: As you guessed by now, I’m a big fan of versatile yet fashionable designs! This hemp knit top by Prophetik has beautiful pleating detail and a trapeze shape that opens into pockets. Yes, pockets!!! A blend of hemp and organic cotton is used in the fabric which make it eco-friendly and soft! This works great with a simple pair of leggings and some chunky jewelry. You can even wear it under a SPUN Classic Cardigan for extra warmth and help pull it all together. It’s just one of those pieces that you can wear dressed up or down.

Detailed Leaf Tote: Have you heard of a “mommy bag”? Well, I carry one and let’s just say that I am ready for anything my girls may need in a day. Bandages, hand sanitizers, snacks, hair accessories, lotion…you name it, it’s in my bag! So I can really appreciate the deep pockets and gilded leaf handles of this sweet tote. It works well with a SPUN Gathered Neck Navy Top (SPUN’s best seller!) and a pair of jeans. The SPUN top is an A-line style, so it’s roomy in the tummy area and flattering on every body type. Which means that I can eat those smashed up cookies I found at the bottom of my mommy purse!

I’m sure you are ready to incorporate some of these pieces into your wardrobe. To help you save a little “green”, the girls at Mapel are currently having a sale! From Friday, October 23rd thru Halloween, you can help celebrate Mapel’s 2 year anniversary with a gift! Enjoy a 20% discount in-store and online on both new and sale items – so take advantage and make a few of my favorite pieces your new favorite pieces! The best part is that almost everything on the site is less than $150 and the discount is already adjusted so you don’t have to worry about remembering a discount code. In addition, each customer who makes a purchase during Mapel’s Anniversary Sale will be automatically entered to win a Night Away in Leavenworth, Washington – including a one-night stay at Boutique Rental Gasthause, dinner at South and a Mapel boutique shopping certificate. When was the last time someone gave you something on their anniversary?!?

Thanks Mapel for letting me take over your blog! And thanks to all of you for supporting Mapel, SPUN and your local businesses. It’s more important than ever to support local and Mapel makes it easy by carrying local designers like me!

786 Peas in a Pod

by: Staci Stevens

Statistically (according to the Bavarian Village Business Association- Oh YES- you read that correctly) the last two Leavenworth Oktoberfest weekends have been the busiest in years. I believe it. In store, walking around town and in the festhalle it just feels consumed and alive.

Everyone of every background and every interest is having a good time together and getting along like 786 peas in a pod (literally).

Highlight of last weekend would be when my mom and I waited in the keg line for what felt like a comfortable 10 minutes. Once we reached our final tapped keg destination my mom kindly requested a "taste" of each of their beers. She carefully savored each of their offerings before kindly explaining she didn't like any of their beers and walked away.

With two down and one to go I can't wait to celebrate the last weekend of O'fest '09 with some of my best friends from Seattle and Portland. Looking forward to "Rocking Out with my Brat Out" one last time.