For Japan, with Love

  Leslie and I have been glued to our TV and I Phones watching in horror the unfolding disaster in Japan. We are a couple of busy, busy Grandparents to be, and yet we are reminded that terrible things can happen to the most innocent of us.

 That is why we are participating in the Bloggers Day of Silence created by the incredible Lydia of Ever Ours and the beautiful Ladies of Utterly Engaged.

  As we look forward to our Grandchildren, we also look toward Japan and see many, many children that need our help. Please click on either link to find out what you can do to help.

Naomi V. Goode (sung to the tune of Johnny B. Goode)

   So, I'm thinking about Twitter.
 There are a lot of people smarter than myself that really analyze Social Marketing. They can tell you all about "reaching your target audience" , and " Using Social Media to define and establish your Brand". I love these guys. I read them, try to learn from them, and move on with the goal of being honest, open and true to myself, with a wise eye towards how I can best serve my business and my industry at large. (My personal branding, I guess)

  I have also learned that showing any cracks in the armor, or showing any weakness whatever, is not a great idea within a business tweet. This is where most experts and I part ways. I am not a soulless robot, and I have to believe that to know me is to love me. (or at least choose to do business with me) This is not a universal opinion. There are some in my Twitter stream that are just freakin experts at blowing rainbows out of their butts at all times. The sad part is, I read them on a daily basis, but I don't KNOW them. If I don't know them, then you can bet that I won't be doing business with them, or recommending them to my clients.

  So, as I was saying, I'm thinking about Twitter. To me, my Twitter stream is a lot like my lunch court experience in High School. Some days you walk out and all your friends are there, and happy to see you. Maybe someone saved you a good seat where you have a great view of where the Cheerleaders sit. Other days, you walk out and you are just another part of the gang. Not dissed, but just not all that special. Yet there are those out there that light me up every time I see them in my stream. They never forget to save me a seat.



 There may be no one better at this than Naomi Goodman (@naomivgoodman). Founder and driving force behind the #TWIPS movement and owner of Enchanted Dream Weddings and Affairs.



  MrF: Tell me about how you ended up in the Wedding business?



  NVG: My entry to the wedding industry was quite the “ah ha” moment for me.  After my husband and I were married we knew that we would be leaving the  east coast for Southern California. I knew that once we were married I did not have to work anymore but being the person that I am, I had to find something to do... not just something to do. Something that I loved and was passionate about. Since I planned events my entire corporate life, and loved helping friends plan their weddings and special events it was a natural transition. I think the deal was sealed when I planned my own overseas  wedding in less than 6 months with no help. I am very blessed that I don’t have to work a 9-5 so that I can concentrate on building my little empire...as I always say, “one brick at a time.”  I love what I do so much so that if I ever decide to stop planning weddings, and do something else it would have to be in the wedding community. Hmmm I wonder what that would be?


 MrF: I’ve been told that quite a few Wedding Planners and Bloggers caught the bug planning their own wedding. It seems that planning corporate events is also fertile ground for growing Event Professionals. 
Clear something up for me, if you would. Wedding Planner, Event Planner, Wedding Coordinator, Event Designer, Eventologist, Dark Lord of the Timeline. Is there a difference? What is it, and who’s the most sensitive if called by the wrong description? 
 


 NVG: Great question! I personally think there are too many titles out there. Some are legit while others are just trying to say the same thing in a more chic way. A wedding planner and a coordinator are the same. A Wedding Coordinator/Planner plans and coordinates the logistics  and details of a wedding. She is the person that will map out the plan to get all the logistics coordinated so that your wedding day runs smoothly. She will often refer vendors, help with the design concept, coordinate the delivery, set up, and break down of your wedding. Her role is key because she has the know how, the contacts, the experience to trouble shoot, and connections with the vendors to get you the best bang for your dollar all while she keeps your vision and budget in mind.


  An Event Designer, is not necessarily a coordinator and vice versa. The ED creates the look of the event and ensures it’s visual appeal. You are hiring an ED no to coordinate or plan your wedding. You are hiring them to turn in a blank canvas into a stunning work of art. An ED will work with linen companies, florists, lighting pros, and many more vendors to create the overall affect. You hire an ED for what I call the “Wow!” affect. I do not believe that there is any difference between an “Eventologist” or an Event Designer...I bet many of the EDs would consider themselves an “Eventologist”.  

Bottom line is this; if you already have the idea of what you want your wedding to look and feel like,  a wedding planner is the way to go. If you want your wedding to be designed as well...find a coordinator who also has experience as an Event Designer. Many have the know how to coordinate, organize, and  run your wedding day. Not  every Coordinator/Planner can come up with a design concept that will give you that, “Wow!” affect you may want for your wedding. 



  MrF: Twitter can be such a natural, low pressure and wonderful place to support each other. But, it doesn’t always feel that way to the newbies. They wonder how they will ever fit in when everybody seems to know each other. Too bad there isn’t a group of people, banded together for the expressed goal of supporting each other. Ever think about starting something like that?
 


  NVG: Gosh, now that’s a novel idea? Do you think it might even work? Twitter is a beast isn’t it? You are quite funny. You must be referring {not so subtlety} about TWIPS. So what do you want to know?




  MrF: There have been quite a few populist organizations that have started with the best intentions. The National Organization of Women, Noh8, The Columbia Record Club, for example. Tell me about your motivation to start TWIPS, and how it all started. AND, more importantly how many followers do I get for a penny?



  NVG: You’re hilarious!  You are dating yourself! TWIPS started as an idea, more like a way for a few of my fellow blogger friends to communicate with one another. Kate of Ruby and Willow was trying to figure out a way to speak to all of us gals at one time... misunderstanding what she was meaning, I took it a bit further. I  thought, “Why not create a group for wedding vendors that would support each other like we do, except bigger?” By the end of that day we had quite a few tweets from other tweeters in the wedding industry asking, “Where can we sign up?” That was the beginnings of  TWIPS. A talented group of gal pals who consistently supported each other’s blogs, accomplishments, accolades, and work. Guess what? We still do. 

I have to say I totally remember The Columbia Record Club. I remember my dad’s Nova had an 8 track deck in it. Now I am not giving away my age...it could have been a collectors Nova.



  MrF: TWIPS is one of my favorite things going on at Twitter right now. I’ll admit, I’m not very good at it. Partially because I’m not sure who is, or isn’t a member. Have you thought about adding a ribbon, or badge of some sort that can be added to our profile pic, so people can identify us just by looking at our stream?

  NVG: I think with the new stricter criteria, knowing who the members are will be easier. Not only that, we suggest that members create a column for #TWIPS . I use Hootsuite & Tweetdeck to keep up with what’s going in the community. We also made it mandatory as a member to have a badge on your blog. If we make it too easy no one would visit each others blogs. TWIPS is not only based on support it is also based on the art of discovery. 



  MrF: (oops I hope you don’t discover that I haven’t placed my badge yet) I see. It would be much simpler to add a column to our twitter program than to put a simple badge on our profile pics. (Wedding Planners. Everything has to be soooo complicated)  I like what you said about visiting, and hopefully commenting, on each others blogs. I also think that's really important.
How many TWIPS members are there now, and how much bigger would you like to see TWIPS get? 



NVG: Ummm you better get that badge on there all blogs are being reviewed!


  There are about 200 members and that number continues to grow. I’d like to triple that by years end. I might be reaching but why not aim big? I’d like to see more vendors from different areas within the wedding industry join. However, I want quality over quantity. That’s what the new criteria will do. It will ensure current members that actually get it that new members will actually know and understand what TWIPS is about. We are more than  just a hash tag and more than just a badge on a blog. Want to know what the TWIPS slogan is? 



  MrF: Can I guess? “ TWIPS, the tway to tweat Tweeters”? 



  NVG : No silly! “Connecting the wedding industry 140 characters at a time” Pretty shnazzy! I came up with that one day in the shower.



  MrF: I love it! Beautiful! It’s also safe to say that I love you too, and all you bring to our industry. Thank you for taking the time to chat with me.



  NVG: Anytime! It was my pleasure...you have been a great supporter and I love your energy and your sense of humor that gives away my age constantly! xo

 

Toy Story 3 World Premier

  Leslie and I joke about the “toil and trouble” we deal with on a daily basis. Like Florists and Caterers, we actually produce a product. With production comes clean up, and maintenance. Leslie loves to tweet pictures of me mopping, or scrubbing something. Hey, its all part of what we do. And, we wouldn’t change a thing! Besides, sometimes, we get to do some cool stuff.

  This last year we were asked by the Disney to be a part of their Toy Story 3 Fun Zone at the famous El Capitan Theater for the World Premier of Toy Story 3. It happened to fall on Tim Allen’s birthday, so we were asked to make him a Toy Story themed birthday cake also.

  All the characters were there, and it was a Star-studded day.

   Leslie and I love Toy Story! She cries, and I cheer. In fact a case could be made that Leslie is Buzz, “falling with style”, and I’m Woody trying to keep the whole gang together. 

  We have some great friends that are also Toy Story fans, so we invited Holly Durst and Holly Steen to join us for the day. Holly D saved me in our booth. We were swamped from the moment the invited guests joined us in the Fun Zone, till the end of the event. Holly and I passed out desserts to Randy Newman, Carol King, Weird Al, Chris Harrison, Most of the cast of American Idol, Quinton Aaron ( Big Mike from the Blind Side) and almost the entire cast of Toy Story 3. Holly Steen (Cakes and Kisses Photography) took all the pics you see here, plus helped Leslie in the VIP room, setting up Mr. Allen’s Cake.

 

   We had an awesome display of desserts. Four kinds of Cake Pops, three different Cake Shooters, Mini cupcakes, and my special Half dipped chocolate chip and toffee cookies. We didn't have one item left at the end of the day!

   Leslie designed a simple 4 tier square cake decorated to look like a stack of birthday presents in which Buzz is bursting out of the top box, using all the primary colors used in the film. Buzz himself is entirely hand made out of sugar paste, and was quite a challenge. Disney sent us a Buzz action figure, but Leslie wanted to make it all edible. When Mr. Allen was leaving he asked us if he could keep Buzz, and Leslie and I felt great about that!

 

The crowd was really blown away with the cake, and quite a few took pictures. Leslie was asked to pose with quite a few of them and the cake. As always, the cake was the star!

                      
  It was a long day, but what a blast we had! Now, it was time for us to play!

  Special thanks, as always to our most special friend and Photographer, Holly Steen of Cakes and Kisses Photography. Thanks also to our pal Holly Durst who brings the party with her! We love you both, and couldn't have done this without you!

Grandpa Frostings

  Grandpa Frostings baby!

  Ok, I’m a nut about kids. We’ll get that right out in the open.

  I have two older brothers, and an older sister. I mean quite a bit older. I was the first child of a blended family. My Father had two sons when he married my Mom, who had a daughter. Growing up I was 5-10 years older than my nephews and nieces, so I was always the one that kept an eye on the kids.  It seems that I was changing diapers my whole life, which was all right with me.

  So, as an adult, I was ready for kids early. Married at 24, and a Father at 25. My oldest son who is now older than I was when I had him, just found out that he and his beautiful wife are expecting their first. Just before Christmas we learned that Leslie’s daughter, and my Step Sweetheart, was having her first baby.

  It’s safe to say that I am just freakin beside myself!

   This whole process has caused a jumble of emotions.  Not the least has been the concern that I show equal Nutty Grandpa-ness to both my children. I love my Step Daughter like she was my own, and I love my son, well, like he is my pride and joy.  If Matthew was having a baby, and he better not at this stage of his life, I would be equally jazzed because he is my baby boy and we know how the little one gets all the attention.  Even at 26.

  Now we also have the whole “Chickens coming home to roost” situation. Can I see the hands of you out there that swore you would never be like your Parents? Yeah, me too.  Now, may I see the hands of those honest enough to admit seeing your Dad/Mother in yourself at the worst possible times? Well, you haven’t seen nuttin yet. Wait until you stare down at the terrible vision of yourself, as your Father, telling YOU how to be a parent. Yeah, makes you wish you had been a little more respectful of their Grandpa nuttiness. 

  Being a Dad is tricky business.  You start out without a clue, and you are expected to just KNOW stuff. Filled with equal parts confidence and fear, you plug away with one overwhelming mission to accomplish. Turning this wonderful, loving lil human into the best adult they can be.

  “Being a good friend is more important than having a good friend” “Having and giving respect is the only way to earn it for yourself” “God loves a good sharer more than anything else” “If you want the girl you like to like you, then be kind and gentle to ALL the girls. Not just the cute ones” “If you are ever asked to dance, you dance like it’s the greatest thing you ever did” “When you meet someone, you always look them in the eye and shake their hand”

  These are some of my words of wisdom that I tried to teach my boys. Just stuff I made up in my feeble effort to teach them to be men of respect.

  Now, the pressure is off. I can let my Grandbabies stay out late and watch scary movies. I can give them Ice Cream before dinner, and let them run with scissors. Ok, maybe not that one, but you get the idea.  I can take my equal parts of pride in my children and fear that they will love the other Grandpa more, and just go with it. I can be the best Grandpa Frostings that I can be, knowing that they have the wise and loving guidance of smart, respectful and competent parents.

  My children are up to the challenge of raising their kids as they see fit.  And, if they're not, I can still ground their asses.

Random Wedding Cake pic, to prove I'm a Wedding blogger.

 

(another awesome Callaway-Gable photograph)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from the beautiful Miramonte Resort, Palm Springs!

  Leslie and I ran away for a few days to get our heads together, take stock of the year that was and talk about 2011. I also managed to get in a freezing round of golf, head bob to a killer cover band and drink too many margaritas.

   I guess the obvious questions are "Why are you blogging, why haven't you BEEN blogging" and the one that concerns me the most " why would I want to read your blog?" Leslie would like to know the answer to that one also.

  There are some amazing, entertaining and informative blogs on the internets. Whatever itch you might have, can be scratched in the Wedding Blog world. What is it that we might offer, that isn't already beat to death?

  Well, says Mr. Frostings in his best third person voice, we will talk a little about our product, and drop some beautiful eye candy now and then. There will be cakes, desserts, and all manner of belt busting goodies available here, so we can keep our Street Blog Cred.

  I also hope to share some cool stuff our friends are up to. This is such an amazing industry, filled with fun, odd, interesting and obsessively happy people. I will try to tell that story too, now and then. We get to attend some amazing Industry Events, and they are rife with stories that need to be told. People watching, gossip and personal observations are a specialty of mine, but, fair warning, I am a firm believer that any story worth telling, is worth exaggerating. The Family refers to that as, “Earl-ing up a story”.

  My main goal here is to continue the relationship we have built on Twitter in a longer form. I would like to chat, share, engage and interact with you. I would like to help, encourage and promote your interests. Of course, that assumes that you will choose to interact with me also. I hope that the comment section will be more interesting than whatever foolishness I post, but that will depend on you, loyal Readers.

  Tell me what you think. What would you like me to talk about here? Any sage advise you wish to share?

  Mr. Frostings