A TIME FOR BEING THANKFUL

GOBBLE ... GOBBLE everyone - HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!

With it being Thanksgiving, I thought it appropriate to share what I'm most thankful for.

There is a time for everything,

a season for every activity under heaven.

 A time to be born and a time to die.

A time to plant and a time to harvest.

A time to kill and a time to heal.

A time to tear down and a time to rebuild.

A time to cry and a time to laugh.

A time to grieve and a time to dance.

A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.

A time to embrace and a time to turn away.

A time to search and a time to lose.

A time to keep and a time to throw away.

A time to search and a time to mend.

A time to be quiet and a time to speak up.

A time to love and a time to hate.

A time for war and a time for piece.

-ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8

I'm most thankful for this season in my life, where I have the opportunity to reconnect with my father. (it's been five years since the last time we spoke)

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 23

Day 23, a YouTube video

This video is just over eight minutes, but well worth watching in it's entirety!!

It's taken from the show Ukraine's Got Talent where Kseniya Simonova, the contestant, is telling the story of the bombings of Kiev during World War II (which begins around the five minute mark). To tell the story, she draws on a light table covered with sand, while the performance is projected on a screen behind her.

What's even more amazing, other than the story itself, is that she had only been drawing for one year prior to this performance! Truly amazing and inspiring when I'm feeling defeated by the lack of my talent!

30 DAY CHALLENGE: DAY 22

Day 22 of my LETS GET PERSONAL: 30 DAY CHALLENGE - a website

WISH UPON A WEDDING

This amazing organization provides couples, who face terminal illness or serious life-altering circumstances, with the resources to plan their very own wedding.

Wish's motto is 'based on the concept that two people in love should never be denied the chance to marry their soul mate' and was originally inspired, by Liz Guthrie, the founder and executive director, when she was producing a large scale wedding giveaway in San Francisco in 2009. Over 350 couples entered the contest, however, one couple in particular stood out to her (and the winners via public voting) - Vanessa Muza Teskey, who was battling Stage IV Hodgkin’s Lymphoma and her fiance, an officer in the US Air Force who was deployed overseas.

Seeing so many couples in need, and so many vendors willing to give their time and services, Liz - who was a wedding planner, with a background in nonprofit work -  decided to combine the two and Wish Upon A Wedding was officially launched in January of 2010.

If you are in a position of being able to give back, wont you help!

Donations can be made through the PayPal button on their website (scroll to the bottom of the page).
If you are a New Jersey wedding vendor, be a wish granter, and fill out the form here.

LANVIN FOR H&M

The oldest operating French fashion house, Lanvin, is working with H&M to launch a more affordable collection TODAY!!

CREDITS

Designer cocktail dresses usually sell for $1,000 to $5,000 or more, and can be found at high-end department stores like Bergdorf Goodman and Neiman Marcus. Now, the limited-edition collection, can be found at H&M for prices that range from $39.95 to $349. 

CREDITS

Here's a view of the collection

CREDITS

 and ... For your men. {notice the bow ties ;)}

CREDITS

RAE DESIGN GROUP

I'm working with my really good friend, Brittany Lanzone, to help bring RAE DESIGN GROUP,
her Interior Design business, to the next level - including branding, marketing and helping her
grow her web presence.

First steps are creating a brand new website, redesigned business card and a marketing flier that
will be sent out to clients, both old and new.

Here is the landing page we decided on, it will let her business associates and perspective clients
know her new site is coming soon.

What do you think about the overall layout, color choice, feel of the page?
Please leave me your comments below ... I would love to hear your thoughts!

THEN THERE WAS FACEBOOK

So, I finally did it ... after some - well, a lot of himmin' and hawing ... I now have a
Facebook page (both personal and professional)

Introducing DOSSIE-A's Fan Page on Facebook

I'm still in the process of figuring it all out, but will be updating the page with
pictures, designs and photography soon!

MATERNITY SHOTS WITH ALYSSA AND MIKE

Alyssa and Mike are amazing people and about to be parents for the first time. I was
lucky to have this opportunity to spend some time with them to capture these precious
moments before their baby's arrival.

to see more from that day - alyssaandmike.dossiea.com

@DOSSIEA

I'm now on twitter ... follow me @dossiea where I'll be talking about all things to do about weddings, plus some of my favorite topics - fashion,  photography and the social media revolution.

Drop in and let me know your following me!! See you there!

TOTAL LANDSCAPING SOLUTIONS

The other day I told you about the truck we bought for Shelvie's new business. As he is starting
to pick up accounts for plowing, we jumped ahead and started to put together a marketing plan
for the spring - which includes printing on seeded paper, oh boy!

In the meantime, he needed something to hand out. This is the business card I designed for him.

DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Shelvie and I took Alice to the dog park last weekend, probably one of the last weekends
before winter ... so sad!

Here are some shots from that day.

This last one, of Shelvie and Alice walking to the car, is my favorite - my little family!

WEDDING MBA_WEDDING WIRE AND MIT'S SIXTH SENSE

I wrote about the Social Media Revolution not too long ago. Another great video WeddingWire
talked about is MIT's, Sixth Sense.

Has anyone seen the Minority Report? Remember when he uses his fingers to scan through all
the information displayed in front of him? Yeah, well, it's here people!

THE ART OF GIVING BACK

It's my anniversary month ... and I say month, because I celebrate ALL month!

So, to give back - because I hate to be the only one to celebrate - I'm offering all new brides (and grooms, because sometimes they like to have the creative control) 10% off a four piece wedding invitation package!

Visit DOSSIE-A for samples, pricing and to see how things work. Then contact me, so we can get started on your very own special event stationery suite!

THE COLOR MUSTARD

In the mornings, my eyes and my mind have a battle of who will submit first - my eyes wanting
to remain shut and soundly asleep as my mind is screaming, full volume, that it's time to wake up.

One morning, as with most mornings, my eyes lost. As they were trying to lift heavy lids, I caught
the trees shaking in the wind outside - guess they weren't ready to wake up either, I thought.

Amongst other colors displayed, was a wide variety of yellow. Some where full on yellow, some an orangy-yellow (yeah, orangy, I know). I was inspired by one color in particular - the color mustard.

hmmm, I thought, wouldn't that be a great fall color for someone's bridal palette or my wedding
do-over *wink*. A nice change from the standard oranges, reds and golds of the season. It would
also be a nice contrast to the 'guava' color mentioned - in one of the sessions on trends - at the WMBA.