www.HOGforKIDS.com • Helping Impoverished Children

A nice surprise last night at the SF NACE meeting was learning more about Gustavo Fernández, an eco-friendly wedding photographer who was one of the guest speakers.

During his presentation Gustavo showed a short video about HOG for KIDS. It's a cross country, motorcycle, fund raising ride that Gustavo created combining his talent as a photographer, his love of riding his Harley and his marketing expertise as an entrepreneur to publicize this charitable project.

From the website:

"First, Gustavo will embark on a cross country tour of the United States on his Harley-Davidson motorcycle (the HOG). This 2nd annual ride will include visits to clients and friends, with stops in at least 18 cities including Phoenix, Los Angeles, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago, Pittsburg and New York. Gustavo will perform a photo shoot of the children of these clients for a small fee. In return Gustavo will ask them to support a needy child in the DR through the sponsorship program of Children International, an international humanitarian organization based in Kansas City, Missouri. "

The website he built and his multi layered philanthropy program reminds me of what I did to try to help my cousin Tami. The Hog For Kids Project is designed to raise awareness and support for impoverished boys and girls in the Dominican Republic (DR). Many Dominican children grow up in extreme poverty, giving them a disadvantaged start in life. As these children transition to adolescence and later adulthood, breaking the cycle of poverty is daunting."

Learn more about the program by visiting Gustavo's website www.HogforKids.com.

A Fanfare Bridal Showcase This Thursday at the Kohl Mansion

Plan your Dream Wedding in one Elegant Evening

on

Thursday, August 13th, 2009

at 6:30 in the evening

Kohl Mansion

2750 Adeline Drive

Burlingame, California

Presented by Fanfare An Association of Premier Wedding Professionals

Some of our Flirty Guide Professionals who are Fanfare members are: Karen Baba - Plan Decor, Rev Ed Holt - A Wedding Ministry, John Woods - Enhanced Lighting & Sound, Jacques Oksanian - Hyegraph Invitations & Calligraphy and Carl Mindling - The Only DJ

In the Great Hall enjoy...

Champagne, Wines, Hors d'oeuvres & Summer Buffet. And a Sampling of Wedding Cakes and Espresso Cart, Music and Dance Instruction. While you're there enter a drawing to win a Romantic Riviera Maya Getaway!

Admission is $15 per person ($20 at the door)

-limited seating -

RSVP by August 9th

More information: 650.595.5444

Below are photos I took at the Fanfare show in February.

Flowers by Plan Decor

Hyegraph Wedding Invitations and Calligraphy

Enhanced Lighting packing up for the night.

Check out the beautiful wall washes of light by Enhanced Lighting. They even lit the ceiling. Event lighting can make a grand venue like the Kohl Mansion even more beautiful and can take an ordinary venue and transform it into something special.

Lance Armstrong's LIVESTRONG Army in San Jose, CA

So this is one way to support Lance Armstrong. LOL Um probably not for most of us though... The tattoo is actually quite sweet. It belongs to a young woman I know who had it made in her own handwriting and placed over her lung as a symbolic gesture to her father who is a lung cancer survivor.

For the rest of us the more typical LIVESTRONG rubber wrist band is probably more our speed.

I picked up two at the LIVESTRONG open house I attended yesterday just so that I could give them away to two of you. The first two people to send me their mailing addresses (CLICK HERE) will receive them.

If you're curious what I learned at the Open House just CLICK HERE to read the blog post I wrote on the Helping Tami Blog.

Martini Madness at The Regency Center, San Francisco

It was a very Happy Birthday for Event Designer Duncan Reyes. Fabulous at Fifty, that's what this Martini Madness event was all about!

CLICK ON this image to view the enlargement of this panoramic view.

It was held at the Grand Ballroom at the Regency Center on Van Ness Blvd. Check out the super cool "Onion" architectural piece from Hartmann Studios in the center of the room. It became the dance floor later that evening.

And the lighting was simply over the top! You'll notice the great special effects lighting by  Enhanced Lighting in every picture I took that evening. The wall washes were simply stunning.

And mmmmmmmmmmm check out some of the birthday cupcakes by Cake Coquette!

The man of the hour, Duncan took the stage to say a few words.

CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE to view an enlargement. Woo hoo the party was well under way when I took this shot.

Asiel Design created these cool lucite photo boxes that were spread across the ballroom atop lit tables.

And the food! Looked fantastic. There were several catering companies that had stations set up. They were: Absolute Barbecue Company, Betty Zlatchin Catering, California Rose Catering & Events, Thomas John Events, Travelin' Joe Espresso Catering.

There were no fewer then 4 of these lit bars/stations set up around the ballroom. Gorgeous right? They were from Hartmann Studios, a special event rental company.

I had about 4 of these little fruit kabobs. The front ones were dusted with seasoning salt and the back ones were just plain melon pieces. Yummmmmm...

And plenty of places to sit. Thankfully since my ankle has been doing better I was able to spend the evening on my feet instead of sitting down.

And there was David Ethridge from A Video Reflection hard at work. I can't wait to see the video he creates of the evenings highlights.

David and I

LOL Jewel Savadelis and I posed with the man on stilts, Bronkar Lee from AEC Marin.

Note my new demi-Frankenboot ankle brace. It's a noticeably smaller one then the original Frankenfoot. Thank goodness!

Clockwise from left: Duncan Reyes and David Ethridge, Caroline Winata, Tony White and Nattie Pierce-Thomson.

And that's Armando Sarabia's gift to Duncan. A custom "Golden Girls" t-shirt +1. Oh my gosh it was so cute and hilariously funny. And that's Armando enjoying a monogrammed cupcake he found later that evening.

The cupcake and cake display was provided by: Cake Coquette, Jen's Cakes and Edith Meyer Wedding Cakes. And that was Spintronix onstage behind the cake and cupcake display.

This was a phenomenal display blending the talents of multiple designers to create this knock out arrangement.

And the photo booth was provided by Dennis Menendez. Here James and Amy Burkart and Armando and I hopped in for a few fun shots. Um, looks like Armando fogot to tell James and Amy he hit the start button. And why am I wearing that hat? And why is Armando wearing my hair? LOL

The night became a blur. There were so many people there I knew that I couldn't possibly say hello to all of them!

And one last parting shot of the ballroom from the balcony. 

As always Duncan created a phenomenal event that showcased the talents of his colleagues and another great wedding venue. I'm already looking forward to the next Martini Madness and this one just happened 3 nights ago. It sounds wrong to say that Duncan is 50 years old, it's for sure that he's 50 years young. It was so much fun! I hope I can be as fab as Duncan when I turn 50 :o)

Marian Days - Vietnamese Marrow Donors are Urgently Needed August 6th-9th

With the help of multiple recruitment programs Team Anh is holding a massive marrow drive at Marian Days to save the lives of Vietnamese patients and particularly Asian patients of all ethnicities. Please look for their large orange sign, stop by and sign up. And tell anyone you know who is at Mraian Days.

Hosted by the Congregation of the Mother Co-Redemptrix in Carthage, Missouri. The 4-day Vietnamese Marian Days event consists of masses, conferences, adoration, concerts, food (lots of food) and much, much more.

For over thirty years, tens of thousands of Vietnamese Catholics have been making a pilgrimage to the small town Carthage Missouri in devotion to the Virgin Mary in a festival called Marian Days. Many at Marian Days attributed their miraculous survival from the Vietnam War and exile to Mary's divine grace.

This year, the Vietnamese people's spiritual journey grows. Asian marrow organizations, churches, and patient groups from all across the world are coming to Marian Days on behalf of the many Vietnamese patients suffering from bone marrow disease to ask the 60,000 attendees to join the National Marrow Registry.

Whether you or someone you know is attending the Marian Days in Carthage, Missouri or not, everyone can join the National Marrow Donor Program to increase the number of Vietnamese ethnicity donors to help the many Vietnamese in need here in America and around the rest of the world!

Please consider joining the National Registry in celebration of the Marian Days Event. If your are full, 1/2, 1/4 or even 1/8th Vietnamese your participation is needed. Did you know that fewer then 0.2% of the current donors in the registry are Vietnamese? That means that of them 7.4 million donors fewer then 18,000 are Vietnamese.

To order a FREE registration kit online go to the Asian American Donor Program website by CLICKING HERE. Registering is pain free and donating marrow is almost pain free. You can learn more about the donation process by CLICKING HERE.

These are just a few of the Vietnamese Americans who urgently need to find marrow matches before they run out of time.

Within every one of us is the power to heal, to save a life at Marian Days and all across the country.

To locate a live marrow drive in your area please visit the Be The Match website and enter your zip code.

A New Flirty Wedding Blog Roll for the San Francisco Bay Area

What's new on the Flirty Blog? If you look about midway down on the right hand side bar of this blog you'll see a new blog roll. The list is comprised of Flirty Guide Professionals and contains the ten most recent posts made by them on their company blogs.

I'd noticed that Blogger had added this feature a few months back but what with everything going on with helping my cousin Tami adding one here was put on my things "to do" later list. Yesterday I was reading Robbie Schlosser's blog for the Magnolia Jazz Band and saw he had added a blog roll to his blog. Robbie has a thoughtful blog that delves into his career in the entertainment industry as well as some philosophical musings about how to be the best business person one can be.

It was a great reminder to add one here so here it is and this is how it works... Even though I have more then ten blogs listed on my blog roll only the ten blogs that have the most recent postings will be displayed in the side bar. This keeps things very current for my readers so that you can always catch the latest and greatest wedding and lifestyle news here on The Flirty Blog.

Michelle Maykin's Memorial

I took this picture on Saturday as I was driving home from Michelle Maykin's memorial service in San Jose.

I find myself looking up towards the sky more frequently when people I knew have passed away. So while I was stopped at a red light I pointed my camera out of my car window and quickly snapped this picture. I didn't even have time to look at it until I got home. I think it captured the way I see Michelle perfectly... A bright and beautiful light that will shine brightly forever.

I have to admit it felt a little odd to go to the memorial of someone I didn't actually meet in person but I, as did many others, got to know Michelle by following her blog during her battle with Acute Myelogenous Leukemia. And I was overwhelmed when after messaging with her husband Van following Tami's diagnosis, Michelle offered to speak to Tami if she had any questions about the transplant process, particularly at The Hutch, as that is where she had received her double cord transplant last fall. The fact that she was reaching out to help Tami even as her own transplant failed and she had relapsed just a week before... Well to me that said it all about what kind of giving person Michelle was.

I know the sadness of everyone who had the privilege of knowing Michelle is profound. At her memorial I learned she was a prefect daughter, grand daughter, sister, wife, auntie and friend. She had a wonderful sense of humor as evidenced by the "rap" her sisters wrote and performed to honor her at her memorial. She was a go getter who didn't wait for life to happen, she was out there making it happen.

And where I know she and I could have bonded had we ever had the opportunity to meet and become friends? She was also a devoted doggie mom spending hours doting on her pup Marshawn who she would often say was "The Cutest Dog." Well, I think I'd have to agree that Marshawn ties Kitai for the title so we will be making him an honorary Cutest Dog on Kitai's friends' page in honor of Michelle.

To Michelle's family and friends you have my deepest condolences and most heartfelt sympathies.

Did you know that only 30% of patients in need will find a match within their own family while the remaining 70% will turn to the National Regsitry to seek help from a stranger?

70% of the 6000 people in need here in the U.S. will not find a marrow match in time :(

While Caucasians have an 80% chance of finding a match less then 30% of minorities will.

Part of the reason Michelle was unable to find a marrow donor was because she is of mixed ethnicities. I don't think most people realize how poor the odds of finding a match are for people of 2 or more ethnicities. It's not impossible but much more diffiuclt. In today's day and age it feels un-politically correct to say that ethnicity or the color of your skin matter when everything we've learned about combatting racism is the exact opposite. While that may be true in racism it isn't true about marrow donation. The National Registry URGENTLY needs more people of minority ethnicities and more people of Caucasian ethnic groups to join as well.

To learn more about why and how to join the National Marrow Donor Program please visit www.BeTheMatch.org.

Or visit the website I built for my cousin Tami at www.HelpingTami.org.

Save the Date Movie Tickets

A very fun and flirty Save the Date idea. When John and I got married we used Save the Date magnets. But if we had chosen a movie theme for our wedding day we probably would have sent out these fun, 2 part, Movie Tickets... There are 2 samples to view that will hopefully inspire you and help you to think of your own unique way to set the tone of your wedding from the moment your guests receive your Save the Date. Check out this idea and view the other hilarious sample in the Flirty Idea Gallery.