Huephoria - hand painted stemware and glass

HuePhoria artists Jen and Lisa first met at their daughters' preschool "Mom's Coffee" in 1998. They quickly found common interests: throwing parties (fun & spontaneous), painting everything (even toilet seats), and wanting to make some extra pocket change. After selling their hand painted goods at local fundraisers and through word of mouth, they were no longer able to keep up with demand.

In Fall of 2004, HuePhoria and has been having a "ball" ever since! Check out their website for some deliciously girly glasses, salt and pepper shakers, and ornaments!

PlumParty.com - gift ideas galore!

Whenever I'm stumped on what to get a friend, I head over to a site like Plum Party for some inspiration. They actually tout themselves as a party supply webstore, but I have found so many good ideas for stocking stuffers and last minute hostess gifts! Some of my favorites:

Peace, Love, Happiness Quick Change Watch, $21

Bag of Happiness Pocket Charms, $10

Tacoma Flower Box with 4 Plates, $16

AskGinka.com - your theme finder for parties, weddings, and more!

AskGinka.com includes hundreds of themes and ideas for just about any kind of shindig you can come up with, including weddings, bridal showers, birthday parties, showers, holiday parties, reunions, retirements, and more! Simply browse through her list of themes or select by topic (animals, flowers, historical eras, careers, etc.) and pick out something you’re interested in! Once you click on a theme, the site takes you to either a list of ideas relating to that theme or to at least one website that might provide you with party goods or thoughts.

Some of my favorites:

1920s/Art Deco/Roaring 20s Theme Wedding & Party Guide – complete with costume ideas, cake designs, and décor!

Fishing Party Guide – perfect for a guy’s birthday or retirement! Love the fishy string of lights!

Hydrangea Theme Wedding & Party Guide – great for wedding or shower ideas and more! The hydrangea themed little girl dresses are adorable!

What is your favorite theme?

What's a Dame to Do?!

During my time here in sunny California, I’ve been so fortunate to meet a great group of girlfriends that I can hang out with and just be silly. Friday night I hosted a board game night where I got to try out a new board gave called What’s a Dame to Do?!

Think of the game Apples to Apples but with a feminine twist. Each player (2-8 players can participate) takes a turn and reads a dilemma card out loud (“I’m doing yoga and my pants split. What’s a dame to do?!”) The other players each contribute a reaction card that can range from practical response (“Hide in the bathroom.) to silly (“Blame it on shrinkage.”). The person who drew the dilemma card awards points for her favorite answer, whether it’s the most realistic or it makes her laugh the most.

We were laughing so hard the whole time, and we played much longer than we intended to (board game night turned into this board game only night). The printed directions were a little confusing, but you can see a quick video on GamesforDames.com that explains the game play in less than 5 minutes. You can pick up the game at GamesforDames.com OR visit The Bean again next week to enter a giveaway to win a copy of your own!

Welcoming President Obama

As many of you may know by now (ha ha), President-Elect Obama is being sworn in on Tuesday, January 20 - less than 4 days from now. Although we can't all attend the 10 official inauguration balls being hosted by the new President, I'm sure many of you may have an inauguration party to attend to Tuesday evening (if not, it's okay because A) I don't have one to go to and B) you can always find one by checking your local newspaper). Even if you are just planning to stay home and order pizza (my version of an inauguration ball for this year), here are some ideas for making sure you show your colors for the big day:

president obama usa america inauguration by thesweetjellybean

Events start tomorrow (see this website for a complete schedule), but if you're looking for the main meat of the action, here it is:

12:00 noon (EST): As specified by the U.S. Constitution (20th Amendment), presidential terms of office begin and end at 12:00 noon on January 20. Barack Obama will take the oath of office, which is this simple, 35-word, statement: I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

12:05 (EST): President Barack Obama will give his inaugural address, speaking to the nation and world, for the first time, as President of the United States.

My pick for this festive occasion? Barack O'Balm, which creator No Nonsense Body Care in Wales describes as "a healing balm for all of us." About $3.70 plus shipping to the US. Perfect for showing you're patriotic...and that you care - about your lips! No Nonsense promises to carry only all natural, organic, fair trade products so you can feel good about feelin' good!

Wine blending at home

I can’t say that I’m a big boozer, but I love all of the “experience kits” that have been popping up on the shelves of local wine shops, such as Crushpad’s fusebox. To give you a little bit of a back story, Crushpad is a San Francisco-based (read “less than an hour from Napa/Sonoma”) winemaking facility that specializes in providing the experience of wine production to the people. Basically, if you’ve got $5,700+ to throw around, you can come to their space in the city and they’ll walk you through the entire process of producing a bottle of wine, from the very beginning to cracking the seal on a Saturday night on your back patio (the price includes a barrel of your wine). For those of us who don’t quite have that kind of cash saved up just yet, Crushpad also offers fusebox, a 15 pound kit that contains everything you + 3 friends need for a wine blending experience of your own. Retailing for $120, the kit contains:

-Six 375 mL bottles of blending wine (including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Malbec, and Cabernet Franc)
-One 375 mL bottle of Mystery Wine
-One graduated cylinder and four pipettes
-Four wine evaluation cards
-Four tasting place mats
-Recipe cards
-Vinography aroma card
-Corkscrew

This sounds like it would be a great activity if you’re having a couple of best friends over for the evening, or even for a shower of some sort. This also might be a good learning activity for wine newbies in general – for example, I know very little about wines BEFORE they are blended, much less once they are (at least I’ve been told not to smell the cork).

Speaking of wine bottle corks, you can now send in your wine and champagne corks for recycling in the USA through Yemm & Hart, a company in Missouri dedicated to converting used wine cork stoppers into a useful, self-sustaining product that extends the useful life of cork for decades. To find out more or to get their mailing address (they request that you pay the shipping for them to be sent in), visit their website.

Things you need at your next party

I've always been a little...different. When my husband (let's call him Mr. Bean, shall we?) and I got married in the spring of 2007, I was quite shocked and disappointed that neither he nor my mother supported my idea of having our wedding reception napkins read, "Did you get any cake in your mouth? -the napkin." Needless to say, we finally all agreed on a more universally appealing design. That said, I continue to be amused by tongue-in-cheek products suitable for various soirees and shindigs.

One such item that I've run across in recent online safaris is the Pick Your Nose Cups set, a set of paper cups with a photo-realistic design of various men and women's noses. Obviously the idea of my very dignified and feminine boss sipping punch out of a hook nosed cup with a mustache is appealing to me. These could be equally as popular if our soon-to-be Commander-in-Chief, Barack Obama, might consider these fine vessels for one of his many upcoming inaugural balls. As in dances.

Another item of unmatched sophistication and swag is the

Fingerfood Party Plate. For those of us who are too VIP to set down our nibbles plate at a cocktail party long enough to shake hands with one much less inferior, these reusable plates are roughly the size of a potato chip and slide onto your pointer finger much like a ring. Couple this with your booze of choice in one hand, and have the other free to wave to, open doors for, and make generally perverse gestures at other guests.

Finally (and this one could definitely double as a hostess gift for those passive-aggressive moments of weakness), may I recommend that you get the fete really rolling with a vintage bottle of Bitch wine? As our friends at KL Wines inform me, This is a wine about pleasure. Subversive pleasure. Not everyone needs to approve in order for YOU to have pleasure. Winemakers will tell you that Grenache is a bitch to grow. And, it's a bitch to make. The Bitch is from Barossa." Love that last line. This is a wine that I really feel was named after me!

Just think - Martha Stewart probably doesn't have these things at her parties! Yet.