A Gift Tailored to Your Valentine

Ladies, if you want a pampering gift for your guy this Valentine's this is the one! J.Hilburn custom clothier has some really amazing high quality menswear for an absolute steal! Lucky for us, they were kind enough to offer some special Valentine's deals just for Houston's Weekly Chic readers. Yippie! Here they are...

The Ladies Man Package

A pair of J.Hilburn Cuff links, custom shirt fitting, and a 30 minute Très Chic style consultation.
$119 (regular price $199)

The Wardrobe Starter Package
Includes $150 J.Hilburn gift card, complimentary polo ($59 value), a custom shirt fitting & 30 minute Très Chic style consultation.
$150 (regular price $240)

OR $20 off your first J.Hilburn order
(above packages not included)

Contact me (beth@treschicorganizing.com) for details...

2nd Annual Wiener Races

Oh my, this has made my year.

2nd Annual Wiener Races

February, 13th 2010

wiener race, costume contest, and all the sloppy kisses you can handle

(all breeds welcome to attend & enter costume contest)

Sweetie have a sweet tooth?

Mmmmm...the Dessert Gallery just posted some photos of their Valentine's treats. These are far and away the most perfect Valentine's gifts for virtually everybody on your Vday list (Mom, Dad, sister, brother, husband, wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, anybody!). Are you kidding me with how gorgeous these are? Almost too beautiful to eat...almost.

Way Out Cut-Out Cookies

Long stem chocolate-dipped strawberries

Heart-shaped Dessert For Two

Fanci-Pants Cupcakes (the name alone makes me love them)

Olive Barn

Have you visited the online eco-friendly garden oasis that is the Olive Barn? They offer a mix of chic eco home decor and super cute gifts for green thumbs! These blown glass vases are definitely inspiring my first purchase, as those birdies must eventually come live with me at my house.

Organizing Vice

Everybody has an organizing vice. An organizing vice is that one thing (or group of things) that you love so very much, parting with the excess is always difficult. For the clothes horse, it's the outdated frocks and shoes they swear they will wear again. For the mom's, it's the baby clothes and artwork that are full of memories. For me, it is magazines.
Who knows why. It's just paper..mostly ads..I realize that. I'm not sure where my love of magazines comes from (thanks Mom), but I do know that it is always hard for me to say goodbye. Gorgeous pictures, delicious recipes, and tons of information I'm sure that I'll reference again. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but for the special publications I do keep, I need a pretty way to store them. Etsy has some fun ideas...



How cool is this coffee table?

Happy Anniversary Hello-Lucky!

On my way home from jury duty today I dropped by Hello-Lucky in the Heights. If you haven't had a chance to bop in, put it on your to-do list for 2010. It is one of the prettiest little boutique gems hiding in Houston.

Tomorrow, (Saturday) January 23rd they will be celebrating their 2nd Anniversary from 6-9pm. There will be a fashion show, drinks, music..the whole shebang. And ladies, if you need a unique V-Day gift for your man friend, you will find something perfect at this place (or on their website.)

For the Music Lover...

As requested, I've started tracking down some hot Valentine's presents for your dudes. I thought some of you might have a musician in your house like I do, and if so, he will go ga-ga for these.

Lucky You!

Angie is the winner of the Bad Ass Texan Gift Certificate Giveaway! Thanks everyone for the lovely entries! It was fabulous hearing from so many proud Texans/Tejas fans! Have a wondrous Wednesday!! -B

Handmade Organization

Etsy just had a little contest for the best handmade items to organize for the New Year. I love the three above. Which are your favorites? See them here.

Best Dressed Golden Globes 2010

Slim pickings at the Golden Globes tonight. Here are the few ladies that actually got it right.

Wild Card - I know many may disagree with me, but I loved this daring artsy LV number on Zoe Saldana. Way to go Louis.

Don't forget about the gentlemen (who put the ladies to shame this year! )

The Winter is Cold...

...make sure you are keeping all of your family members warm:)
Mulberry Boutique Houston, TX

Ask the Organizer: China Storage

I often receive emails from readers with specific organizing dilemmas, so I've decided to start sharing my answers with all of you fabulous readers.

Dear Beth, I have a ton of Christmas dishes and glasses, and every year I struggle with how to store them. I usually wrap them individually in newspaper, and store them in boxes, but doing this for each individual piece is just too tedious. Do you have any suggestions?


Dishes
Quilted china boxes don't just have to be for your finest pieces. The quilted items are a little investment, but definitely worth the time saved by not wrapping with tissue paper. Try something like the photo above, or this...
Or if you are on a budget, use a regular box with paper plates (or foam) in between each regular plate, and coffee filters in between salad plates. Once all of the dishes are in, stuff newspaper or tissue around the edges for a tight fit (note: this is for storing, not packing for a move).
Wine Glasses
Glasses are tricky, and if you want to avoid individual wrapping, these compartmentalized containers are perfect!
Too pricey? UPS and other specialty stores offer cardboard cell boxes that are reasonably priced. Also check your local liquor store for free cell boxes.

Silver
If you have flatware that is in fact real silver, I highly recommend investing in a silver chest. Most have a tarnish-preventative lining that will save you a little time in the polishing department. Storing silver in plastic, newspaper, or wrapped with rubber bands will only increase the likelihood of tarnishing.



Have a pretty teapot to store? Place it in a small box, cover the spout with a TP roll to avoid nicks and dings, and wrap the top separately. And Voila! Easy storage that you won't mind packing (and re-packing) year after year.
**All storage items can be found at organize.com

Chinchilly

I'm loving the latest nail color trend trend: putty. So much more subtle than last years navy blues and blacks. Neutral, wearable, and just lovely. As usual, Essie gets it perfect with their Chinchilly. I love you Essie!

A giveaway for the Texans in the crowd!

You don't have to live in Texas to know that Texans are, well,...proud to be Texans. This is why I am super amused by the bawdy apparel at badasstexan.com, the "in your face" way to show off your Texas pride. They've got items for every member of the family, including your off-color brother and your perverted uncle. My favorite t-shirts of theirs are a bit too racy for this family blog, but if you are over 18 you can check them out here.

So here's the part where you get free stuff. Leave a comment below by Monday, January 18th, and you will be entered to win a gift certificate to Bad Ass Texan ($22 value) for the item of your choice.

Want multiple entries? You can add extra entries for any or all of the following:
Become a follower of Houston's Weekly Chic (2 extra entries)
Become our fan on Facebook (1 entry)
Follow Bad Ass Texan on Twitter (1 entry)

If you win, you can be proud all the way down to your skivvies (sorry, I try to keep this a classy blog, but sometimes I fail miserably).

A perfect Houston Sunday

It started with my favorite sliders from here...


Then off to see my special friends Miles, and the Maned Wolf (a.k.a. "stinky fox") at the Houston Zoo.



It was freezing at the zoo, but lucky for me, the gift shop had the worlds cutest hat...



Then the literal icing on cake, a big slice of Toll House Pie from the Chocolate Bar