A Holiday Giveaway...YAY!!

I am so excited to introduce my first sponsor {who also happens to be a very good friend, since kindergarten, I might add} Wendi Solari Designs. Wendi is a super talented photographer! In fact she is the talent that has captured beso handbags the last couple of seasons...don't the photos on my website look so good? {Thanks Wendi!}

Wendi has recently added jewelry design to her list of endeavors. I love Wendi's sterling silver jewelry because it is simple, delicate AND customizable!

Wouldn't Wendi's jewelry be the perfect gift for a new mom {or any mom for that fact} with the names of her children stamped on? Or maybe for a grandma, with the names of her grandchildren? A teacher gift or bridemaids? The possibilities are endless really!

And wait...there's more! Wendi is all about giving back, which makes her jewelry even more special. For every piece of jewelry sold until December 25, 2010, Wendi will donate $5 to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. How cool is that? So when you buy that special gift for your loved one this holiday season, you are also helping to make the holiday season of a child bright too!

And for readers of Muchos Besos, Wendi is offering an exclusive discount in her shop. To receive 20% off in her etsy shop, enter the code "2010PEACE" at checkout. Offer valid through December 8, 2010.

Guess what? Wendi is giving away a piece of her jewelry to one lucky reader! Whoo HOOO! And...the winner gets to choose ANY piece from her etsy shop...WOW! What a treat!

You can enter up to 5 times. With each entry leave me your e-mail so that I can contact you if you win. Here's how you enter to win:

one...

Go to Wendi's etsy shop {HERE} and then come back here and leave a comment telling me what your favorite piece is and what special words you would have stamped on your piece.

two...

Like Wendi Solari Designs on facebook {HERE} and then return and leave a comment letting me know that you did so.

three...

Visit Wendi's blog {HERE} and while you're there leave her some love, then come back here and leave me a comment and tell me that you said hi.

four...

Become a follower of my blog, Muchos Besos, and leave a comment telling me you did so.

five...

Like Beso Handbags on facebook {HERE} and leave a comment telling me you did so, or that you already do.

Make sure you get your five entries in & share the giveaway with your friends (facebook it, tweet it, etc.). Also...leave me your e-mail with each entry so that I can contact you if you win. The winner will be randomly chosen this Sunday, Dec. 5th.

Good Luck! And Happy December!

A super CHIC giveaway!

Rachel Hollis is a hollywood event planner extraordinaire and the host of WE tv's new show "Jilted" which premieres on WE this Sunday, November 21 @ 10:00 pm PST. It just so happens that Rachel loves beso handbags {don't we all? okay I'm bragging...I'll stop}. She designed her very own Eve bag, choosing the vintage butterfly fabric with the aqua lining...so chic! And speaking of chic, Rachel is also the owner of the super hip blog, MY CHIC LIFE. Typically, at My Chic Life, you will find delicious recipes and great tips to make your parties a success. Today you will find a very cool giveaway...Rachel is giving away an Eve bag just like the one that she designed. You must definitely check out Rachel's CHIC blog and while you are there, leave a comment to enter to win your very own beso bag. AND set your tivos {or just watch, like I will} Rachel's new show "Jilted" this Sunday on WEtv.

enter to win {HERE}

follow Rachel & My Chic Life on facebook {HERE}

check out a sneak peek of "Jilted" {HERE}

Organizing 101

Okay, my house is by no means "neat". I love to decorate and I love to organize. I won't let anyone else clean my son's room (my husband is happy about this) because I think that everything should have a specific place...puzzles with the puzzles, legos with the legos, train tracks with the trains. There is a really good reason for this, in that when my son wants to play with something that has several pieces to it, I don't want to hunting for pieces so that he can play. I'm definitely less anal about my daughter's room. She's nine and she has random "collections" of things that she holds sacred. I do have certain rules for her though, namely:

Everything has a specific place

No baskets, boxes or bags of "junk"

and Only 5 stuffed animals on her bad at any given time.

She cleans her room and I'm pretty much left with the rest of the house, so the easier on myself I can make it the better. I think that's why I LOVE organizing. It makes things easy AND it looks pretty.

I'm always on the look out for a new "system" or some kind of book or magazine that's going to tell me how to organize (like its some big mystery). Well, I recently came across a really cool blog. It's called "Just A Girl"...cute, right? Not only does she talk about her family, decorating and crafts, she has a really cool organizing section. For me, its like inspiration! Check out her favorite pictures of laundry rooms. They have inspired me to fix up my laundry room. Isn't this one great? I think I'll post some BEFORE pictures of my laundry room. I have a goal to make some changes before the new year. I'm thinking TEAL!

Click {here} to read her post about laundry (I can so relate!)

While you are there, check out Just A Girl. I have a feeling I'll be making several stops there myself.

Oooooh, and see if you can find the pictures of her craft rom that she re-did. Check out that super cute zebra rug!!! I WANT IT!!

A sale is coming, a sale is coming!!

Okay Beso fans...its time to grab up those bags you've been eyeing or start your Christmas shopping, because starting tomorrow, all ready-to-ship bags in my Etsy Shop are going on sale.

Do you like this?

Or this?

Well, they will be on sale in my Etsy Shop...20% off...Oct. 28 through Oct. 31. The price you see will be the sale price.

Visit my Etsy Shop {here}

In addition, just in case you don't see exactly what you want in my Etsy Shop, I will be offering 10% off all made to order bags. Just contact me through my website with your order.

Visit my website {here}

And while you're here...pleeeeease take a moment to follow my blog. Its easy! Just find the "followers" section in the left margin, and click the "follow" button. Email me and tell me you follow my blog OR leave me a comment with your e-mail address below...and as a thank you, I will send you a discount code for a future beso handbags purchase.

Muchos Besos!!

A new taste of Fall

So, I wouldn't say that I am a great cook. I have a few things that I cook well, but I love trying new recipes and I REALLY love when they turn out yummy. I am also encouraged by my 9-year-old little food "daredevil" to try new things. For example, she's been begging me to try brussels sprouts! Yep! BRUSSELS SPROUTS!! And, it just so happens that in the latest issue of Country Living there were three recipes for cooking brussels sprouts. So I finally gave in, bought brussels sprouts (fresh & bulk, from Henry's) and tried one of the recipes. My family loved them!

{find the yummy brussels sprouts recipe here}

Browsing one of my favorite recipe blogs, I came across a recipe for acorn squash. It looked rather "fallish" and I loved the fact that they were made with butter & brown sugar, so I thought I'd give it a shot. WOW! This recipe is definitely going in the favorites box. Loved this...almost like I was eating dessert for dinner. The kids even helped prepare them and they loved that because it was like they were carving out mini pumpkins a week before halloween. I served them with mini sirloin steaks and spinach salad. Yum!

The kids loved helping scoop out the goop & seeds!

before baking...

and after...delish!

{Get the recipe here}

Oh, and did I mention, its from skinnyrecipes.com...yea! for a skinny AND delicious recipe!

Funky Fresh Giveaway!!

My friend Shelly of Van Rozenboom Interiors just revamped her blog! It looks great and she is having an awesome giveaway to celebrate! It's a $50 gift card to Pottery Barn..HEYYYYY!!! Click HERE to be taken to her blog, leave a comment and be entered to win! Whoo Hoo!!

Behind the Scenes

Wow! Due to a really busy weekend, I didn't get up my "Weekend Market" post like I wanted to, so I will have to save it for next weekend. But...I did do something REALLY EXCITING! I had another beso handbags photo shoot. We had it planned for a few weeks, and because of the busy schedules of everyone involved, this was really the only day we could do it. So wouldn't ya know, after being a sunny 90 degrees for like five month straight, it was cloudy, overcast and rainy all day. BUT...what a great backdrop the weather provided for a fall photo shoot. We had so much fun. My friend of 31 years, Wendi, of Wendi Solari Photography, took the pictures, my sister did hair and make-up, and my cousin, Meggan was the model. I can not wait to see the final product...so exciting!! Here are some of the pictures that I snapped behind the scenes...Enjoy!

What did you do this weekend?

Good Finds...always exciting!

I always love when I unexpectedly find something fun! I've been wanting to find a cute hat rack to go behind my front door. Yesterday I was at an antique store in Old Town Temecula with my mom & my grandma and I stumbled upon this...for $12.75. Good Find!! And a great place to hang my "grace" bag.

And here's my latest vintage fabric find. Isn't it great? Its thick and textured and perfect for a Fall bag. Wouldn't your beso handbag look so great dressed in this print, with chocolate faux-suede as the lining? A Good Find!! It will be up on my website soon.

And last, but not least...my mom & my grandma have dealt in early American Country antiques ever since I can remember. {click here to see some of my mom's collection and what she has for sale} They recently moved from a larger shop to a smaller space that doesn't fit all of their great country furniture pieces. So this weekend I went "shopping" in my grandma & grandpa's garage and found this old step ladder for my porch. Isn't perfect? A Good Find! Wait until you see what else I found!!! Its not in my house yet, but I can't wait!!!

What Good Finds do you have to share?

Weekend Market

I absolutely Love Etsy! I have so many favorite shops and so many favorite items bookmarked and I am constantly adding more. The creativity of the sellers I find there amaze and inspire me. I have even done a little bartering through etsy, and traded my bags for things that I've fallen in love with. So I've decided that every weekend I'm going to post five of my favorite recent finds from my favorite etsy shops, and share them with you (feel free to purchase these things for me if you are so inclined...hee, hee). This weekly feature will be my "Weekend Market".

Pumpkin Spice Soap by Satin & Birch

These soaps are darling! The flowers look so real!

Its A Wrap bracelet by Lee La La

I am loving these wrap bracelets, but I absolutely love this one with the flower!

Raven Silhouette Pillow Cover by The Shabby Chic Cottage

I totally need this pillow on my sofa for fall. I'm so tempted to use a large orange floral vintage fabric that I have to cover my big pillows and this would be the perfect accent.

Pumpkin Spice Ruffled Scarf by Janny's Girl

I love how this cozy scarf is jersey knit! I love the color for fall and I love the ruffles!

Collection of Curated Vintage Books by Betty and June Shoppe

I know just where I would put these books in my house. They are even in the color scheme of my family room...and I am loving vintage!

Jack-o-lantern Plans

Another great Fall bargain!! Whoo Hoo! So I went to our local Lowe's garden center to pick up some mums for my Fall display on my porch {pictured above}. And guess what? These huge pumpkins were $3.98 each. Lowe's calls them their "medium" pumpkin, but they're large to me. At a pumpkin patch these puppies would be at least fifteen bucks!! And I absolutely LOVE carving pumpkins too, so now we have 3 awesome jack-o-lanterns just waiting to be carved for halloween. Maybe this year I'll go a little Martha Stewart with my jack-o-laterns (we'll see...Caleb already says he wants to carve Yoda in one).

What jack-o-lantern plans do you have for your pumpkins this halloween?

a nice surpise

Don't you just love the nice little surprises that sometimes pop up during your day? Lisa in Arizona purchased this adorable little bag from me a couple weeks ago. Today I received a voicemail (not even an e-mail, but a voicemail) telling me how much she loves her bag. Thanks Lisa, for taking the time to reach out. You made me smile.

What little surprise made you smile today?

{danger} I discovered picnik today!

Each day I work on my blog, I discover something new. Today I discovered picnik. If you haven't tried it, its so much fun. But be prepared to waste some time on the computer. I made a new banner for my etsy shop & I made this cute collage of pictures from the LA County Fair.

We went to the fair on Sunday, it was the last day of the fair, but not as crowded as I expected. All I wanted was something deep fried...as you can tell by the picture we tried the deep fried klondike bar...DELISH!!!! (In my defense, I shared with Carlos, see the two forks?). The kids had fun, they rode some rides and saw the farm animals. A good time had by all, I would say.

xoxo

Boo Banner & A Brilliant Bargain!

My friend Toni is an interior designer and a crafter extraordinaire. She just started offering crafting classes at her beautiful home in Temecula, and so when I got her e-mail inviting me to the class, I jumped at the chance to absorb some of Toni's decorating wisdom. Toni made chai lattes, she had pumpkin cookies, and since we hadn't seen each other in a while, it was fun to catch up and share ideas. Of course, I forgot to take pictures of her set-up and the crafting session (probably because I'm new to this blogging thing).

Later in the day, while doing my grocery shopping at Super Target (a dangerous place to grocery shop, I might add) I stumbled upon a super duper bargain. This mirror was on clearance! It was originally $34.99 and was marked down to $8.74...WHOO HOO! The black inner part of the frame was painted a shabby chic looking aqua blue when I bought it, but I brought it home and a little black paint did the trick. I have this ugly little space in my dining room, that I have been struggling to decorate ever since we moved to our new home in Menifee. But the mirror fits perfectly in this space and my new Boo Banner is displayed perfectly here, awaiting halloween.

Thanks Toni & Thanks Super Target. You made my day!