Category: Contests

December 21, 2011

UPDATE: CONGRATULATIONS TO DEBBIE, the winner of our giveaway!!  Thank you to everyone for entering, and we’d still love to hear more of your holiday memories if you’re out there reading.  😉  xoxo, A+A+M

Hannukah has begun and we’re only a few days away from Christmas… I know I’m not alone when I say I LOVE this time of year.  As I anticipate the warm family gatherings to come, I thought I’d stir up some nostalgic warm fuzzies with my Love and Splendor girls.  🙂  I asked Anna and Michelle to send me their personal lists of Christmas memories: the things that are quintessentially tied to their holiday celebrations.  After you have some fun peeking into their memories, we want to hear from YOU!!  At the end of the post we’ll share how you can receive a special sparkling package of goodies straight from us.  😉

{ anna’s list }

  • peppermint mochas
  • Christmas lights
  • ringing of the bells (Salvation Army)
  • Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas”
  • fun wrapping paper
  • ugly Christmas sweaters
  • nativity scenes
  • Christmas movies
  • exchanging Christmas cards
  • Christmas outfits for puppies 🙂

{ michelle’s list }

  • advent calendars
  • annual family Christmas picture
  • white elephant gift exchanges
  • A Christmas Story… “Ralphie, you’ll shoot your eye out with that thing!!”
  • egg nog
  • sugar cookies & gingerbread houses
  • smell of wreaths and trees
  • Christmas songs on KOST 103.5
  • midnight mass
  • giving back to those less fortunate

{ angel’s list }

  • warm roasted chesnuts
  • Ferrero Rocher chocolates
  • Thymes Frasier Fir candles
  • red velvet truffles
  • “O Holy Night” — my favorite Christmas song
  • hand bell choirs
  • Christmas eve at Erik’s aunt house, celebrating festa dei sette pesci
  • buying stocking stuffers at the 99 cents store 🙂
  • “wearing” our Christmas stockings on our feet after we’ve emptied them
  • Miracle on 34th Street — my favorite Christmas movie
me and my buddy feivel on a Christmas many moons ago 🙂

 

Now it’s YOUR turn!!  We can’t wait to hear about some of the things that remind our readers of the holiday season.  Tomorrow (Thursday!) at 12 noon PST we will pick a random winner and send you a special box of surprises.  It will include fun things we all love, like nail polish, sweet treats and more…  Let us surprise you.  😉  To enter, simply comment below with the THREE of your own random holiday “memories.”  Like our own lists above, we’re looking for specific items that jog your memories, not fleshed out stories.

 

Looking forward to learning more about each of you!  xoxo, Angel, Anna & Michelle
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August 29, 2011

Happy Monday!!  I am sorry I wasn’t able to check in on Friday to announce the giveaway winners, but I was out for over 14 hours on Friday… and I didn’t even have a wedding.  😉  That’s the busy life of a wedding planner sometimes!

Anyway, I did already contact the two lucky winners who were randomly selected using random.org: CONGRATS again to Jen and Maya!!  Thank you to everyone who entered.  I especially loved learning about some of your favorite eateries in soCal.

For any of you who may still be interested in checking out The TASTE, I am excited to offer you a special discount code!  You can get 40% off of your tickets by entering the word “family” at checkout.  Woohoo!  (Unfortunately, this discount does not apply to Monday’s event: Picnic in the Hills.)  I hope some of you take advantage of this excellent deal and experience this great event.  I will share my TASTE experience sometime next week…

Enjoy the rest of your day!  I’m diving into lots of final tasks for this weekend’s wedding + a small mountain of emails.  Ready, set, go!

xoxo, Angel

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August 23, 2011

Hello lovely readers!!  I am still reeling from the utter perfection and beauty that was our wedding on Saturday… wait until you see the insanely gorgeous photos from this one!!  🙂 🙂  Today I am happy to share a fabulous new giveaway with all of you!  (I hope you don’t mind all the giveaways… but who doesn’t love free stuff??)  If you have been a blog reader for any length of time, you will know that I L-O-V-E food.  Cooking and fine dining have always been passions of mine.  I love to watch people cook, cook things myself, and eat delicious things other people cook for me!  Well here in Los Angeles, we are gearing up for a huge event called THE TASTE.  It is sponsored by the LA Times and is a fantastic celebration (a self-proclaimed “culinary spectacular,” if you will) of all things food, wrapped up in 9 events over 4 days.

Imagine unlimited food tastings and drinks from some of the best local restaurants and chefs.  Add in presentations from celebrity chefs, cooking demos, and live music… and you have the recipe for quite the tasty weekend.  🙂  Tickets are now on sale but guess what?  Thanks to my super-fab insider at the Times… Not one but TWO of my lucky readers will win a pair (so each winner gets a pair) of tickets to the event of their choice that weekend!!!!  You can pick from these 9 fabulous events:

  • Burgers & Beer (7-10p) on Friday, 9/2
  • Art of Mixing (9p-midnight) on Friday, 9/2
  • Secrets from the Kitchen & Cellar (11a-3p) on Saturday, 9/3
  • Taco Tequila Tryst (7-10p) on Saturday, 9/3
  • Fashion Bites Brunch (10a-2p) on Sunday, 9/4
  • Street Eats (4-8p) on Sunday, 9/4
  • Desserts after Dark (8-11p) on Sunday, 9/4
  • Food Noir (8p-midnight) on Sunday, 9/4
  • Picnic in the Hills (noon-4p) on Monday, 9/5

Check this site out to read about the details & participating chefs and restaurants for each event.  I’m curious to see if one of the winners picks the event I am attending (unfortunately I can only make one event that weekend… but it’s a great one!)… I will keep that under wraps for now.  😉

Here are the simple instructions on how to enter!

  • Make sure you “like” Events of Love and Splendor on Facebook before entering (I really want the winners to be L&S faithfuls <3)
  • Comment below and let me know which of the 9 events you would want to attend if you are a winner
  • Tell me your favorite soCal eatery… it could be a restaurant, a taco stand, a food truck or a cupcake shop!  I just want to add to my list of yummy hotspots!
That’s it!  To ensure you have a chance to win, make sure you follow all 3 instructions above.  Entries will be accepted until this Friday (8/26) morning at 11a.m. PST.  The winners will be announced shortly thereafter, around lunchtime PST.  😉  Of course, the winners will need to be a local soCal-ers or someone who is willing to travel to soCal for the festivities.  😉
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Check back on Friday to see all the great eateries the entrants list for us in the comments and of course… to see if you’re one of the big winners!!  Best of luck and have a marvelous day~
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xoxo,
Angel
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P.S. Love and Splendor is not affiliated with The LA Times or this event.  This is simply a gift to our readers from a friend at the newspaper!  🙂  We are not receiving anything in exchange for sharing this giveaway.  Enjoy!
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August 12, 2011

Happy Friday, everyone!!  I hope your week was fantastic in every way.  😉  I’ve just come out of a terrible sinus infection (my first one — bleh!) and am almost 100% again.  I think the worst part of being sick was watching Erik (who was also sick… who happened to *give* me said sinus infection) take lots of medicine that I couldn’t take, and therefore get a lot of relief I couldn’t get. LOL  Grateful that I never ran a fever and no harm was done to the gummy bear.  I’m also grateful that the sinus infection ran its course now… and not a week from now when I’m in the throes of one of my largest-scale weddings of the year!!

Thank you to everyone who entered our latest giveaway — I will post the winner’s name at the bottom of this post.  If you didn’t win this time around, don’t fret — Anna’s summer essentials will be posted soon, along with another chance to win.  🙂

Today I wanted to send you off on the weekend with some gorgeous engagement photos of another one of our beloved couples: Sara and Bryon.  (Sara rhymes with Zara, btw~)  Are they too cute or what??  The photos were shot at our favorite Saddlerock Ranch, so I thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse of what the venue is like simply as a background for beautiful pictures.  (FYI — S&B aren’t getting married at Saddlerock!  You can pay a special “photoshoot” rate to have photos taken on-site.)  Many thanks to the lovely Suthi Picotte of Picotte Photography who shot and shared these photos with me.  Many of you may know that I was also Suthi’s wedding planner a few years ago.  Feel free to peruse the eye candy of her oft-imitated wedding… Her event was a trendsetter for sure.  xo

sara’s shoes!!!!

And now without further ado… Congratulations to Elisabeth, who won Michelle’s summer essentials giveaway!!  Check your email and we will get your goodies to you ASAP.  😉

Everyone else: enjoy a beautiful weekend.  My plans include lots of family time, lunch with a dear friend and catching up on some scrapbooking.

xoxo, Angel

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August 6, 2011

Hello everyone & Happy Saturday!!  I’m back with a fun double-function post.  🙂  I want my readers to continually get to know the other ladies behind Love and Splendor, so I thought it would be fun to have Anna and Michelle do their own “fab finds” posts for the summertime.  I know it is already August but with the heatwave enveloping our country, I think we are still set with weeks of sunshine ahead.  Read on to learn about Michelle’s “summer essentials” and then enter below for a chance to WIN some of her very favorite things.  xoxo, Angel

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Hello everybody!! This is officially my first post on the L&S blog.  So exciting!!  I will, hopefully, be contributing to the Fab Finds posts every now and again and I wanted to get you my Summer Fab Finds before the season is over!  This summer has been extremely busy for the L&S team and I’m personally looking forward to some downtime this month.  We only have one, albeit huge, wedding this month, taking place at one our our favorite venues, Saddlerock Ranch.  We have had our hands full with some absolutely beautiful and terrific weddings which I can’t wait for Angel to post details on.  In the meantime, enjoy the things I’m currently loving:

1.  James Perse Beach Cord Shorts

 

I bought these shorts in Abyss Pigment about a month ago and I must say, I AM IN LOVE. I’m typically not a fan of shorts, but there was something about the sheer comfort of them the second I put them on. They are a great pair of shorts that can be worn to the beach, running around doing errands, setting up for a wedding or a casual dinner out. I literally could sleep in them! I walked into their boutique, saw the sales girl wearing them with a white James Perse lightweight fleece sweatshirt and left the store with the exact same outfit! I have a slight love for anything or anyone that matches and somehow I felt like she could be my long lost twin a few states over. Whenever I put them on it makes me smile.  

2.  Maybelline The Colossal Volum’ Express Mascara

During the summer I love to be as make-up free, as possible. But there are two products I am absolutely loving right now for their complete simplicity – one being my Maybelline mascara. The eyes are the first point of reference when you meet someone so why not make sure those lashes look long and beautiful!  I have tried many mascaras – Great Lash, Lash Blast, Voluminous, but I’ve been using this one for months now and am thrilled with the results.  No more than two swipes are needed and it adds such length for the dramatic look you want whether day or night!

3.       mark Just Pinched Instant Blush Tint

Welcome to the next product I am currently loving. I have this in Sunny, which they don’t seem to have currently on their website, but it adds such a subtle hint of color to my cheeks while still looking completely natural. It’s easy to apply – simply swipe the stick along your cheeks and blend in with the back of your hand – voila!  With the inexpensive price tag ($8) and the compact size it’s a great product to have in your make-up bag this summer.

4.       Trader Joe’s Gone Bananas

Say hello to my little friend. I discovered these a few months ago and let me first just say I’m sorry to anyone who does not live close to a Trader Joes’s. Because these little bite size bananas are the most scrumptious things ever! Not only is the packaging the cutest thing ever (hello little monkey man!), but it’s the perfect balance of banana and chocolate. I seriously have to stop myself from eating the whole bag in one sitting!

5.       O.N.E Coconut Water

 

It took me a while to get on board with the coconut water craze, but I’ve finally found one and I’m addicted!  O.N.E. (One Natural Experience) Coconut Water in Passion Fruit. It comes in a variety of flavors based on your personal preference – natural, pink guava, pineapple or mango…but passion fruit is divine.  The Splash line still provides all the health benefits of drinking pure coconut water, but like the name says is given an extra splash of flavor.  It’s a great source of electrolytes and has more potassium than a banana.  It’s available at many local grocery stores or can be purchased directly online.  But make sure it’s cold when you drink it – don’t make the same mistake I did by thinking room temperature coconut water will be fine…it’s not! 😉

I hope you are having a fantastic Saturday!  Until the next time. =)

xo,

Michelle

photo by our dear friend amelia lyon

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Michelle is wearing…

–Martin + Osa jean shirt, Aqua skirt, Loeffler Randall boots, H&M black tights and hoop earrings, Lia Sophia ring, Michael Kors watch

photo by our dear friend Amelia Lyon

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INSTRUCTIONS: To enter this giveaway, please comment below and let us know what your favorite “summer essential” is.  It could be a refreshing treat, a charming seaside restaurant, that perfect maxi dress or an indispensable pair of sunnies.  Just let us know what you’re loving this season!  🙂  You have until TUESDAY, AUGUST 9th at 3p PST to comment/enter.  A randomly selected winner will receive a selection of Michelle’s summer essentials listed above.  😉

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!  xoxo, Angel

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June 29, 2011

Hello everyone!  I hope you’re having a marvelous week so far.  🙂  I am stopping by with a quick announcement of the winner of last week’s Stella & Dot giveaway.

I am thrilled to share that the winner of a fabulous Renegade Cluster necklace is Marie — a former L&S client!  Erik thought it was funny that one of my former clients ended up winning, but many of the entries were from current and former clients.  As always, winners were selected using random.org. Hooray!!  Thank you to everyone who entered; I loved checking out your fave picks on the Stella & Dot site.

I will be back soon with a fun peek at some photos the fabulous Amelia Lyon shot of me, Anna and Michelle last month.  Enjoy your day!

xoxo, Angel

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June 23, 2011

Hello everyone!  I hope you are having the most wonderful week!  Here in southern California, the summer sun has finally made its appearance and we’re enjoying gorgeous blue skies and warm temps.  Surprisingly, however, I’ve spent most of the past few days indoors, just getting geared up for an incredible July chock-full of gorgeous wedding plans.  🙂

Today I want to share a new fab find in jewelry with all of you, and then GIVE IT AWAY to one lucky reader!!

A couple of  years ago, I was introduced to Stella & Dot, a stylish jewelry company that sells their baubles via independent “stylists.”  Think of it like the Avon-lady of jewelry… without the cloud of rose-scented talc following her.  😉  My former client (Hi T!) was a Stella & Dot stylist and I was always complimenting her on her jewelry.  Every time I would say something, her response was the same — “You’ve GOTTA check out Stella & Dot!”

About a week ago, I received an email from a former bridesmaid from one of my weddings (yep, that’s right!  Not a client, but a client’s bridesmaid!).  She said she had been following my blog since her friend’s wedding (years ago) and wanted to offer one of my readers a chance to win a piece of Stella & Dot jewelry… no strings attached!  I was thrilled, of course, and asked if I could pick the piece to add a bit of a personal touch to the prize.  I had the hardest time picking the giveaway piece, because there are sooo many beautiful things in the shop right now… from coral and jewel encrusted bangles to chunky statement necklaces to delicate earrings.  I settled on one of the newest pieces (actually from the Fall line) — the “Renegade Cluster” necklace.  It is a fabulous gold necklace with floating charms that remind me of bullets… in a feminine-meets-edgy way, of course!!  The necklace is of excellent quality and came adorably packaged.  Anything that has “hello gorgeous” printed on the box is a winner in my book.  😉

here i am, “modeling” the necklace in 3 diff outfits — casual to dressier.  it goes with EVERYTHING and the chain has 3 catch points so you can wear it at various lengths.  i’m wearing it on the “tightest” setting.

Now on to the fun part!!  One of my lucky readers is going to win this fab find!  Here’s how to enter:

  • Visit Ellaine’s Stella & Dot page and tell me what pieces draw your eye…
  • Comment here on this post and let me know what your picks were.  I can’t wait to hear about your fab finds!
  • You have until Tuesday, June 28th, at 11:00 p.m. PST (8 p.m. EST) to enter.
  • Check back on Wednesday, June 29th, for the announcement of the winner!
  • **Remember that the winner will get the Renegade Cluster necklace as seen above… not the fab find you comment about (unless it happens to be this necklace!  haha).

As a sidenote, if you find something that you *have* to have on Ellaine’s site, make sure to check out her Facebook page for info on a “mystery trunk show” she’s currently running through July 2nd.  Basically, each purchase you make earns a raffle ticket to win a Stella & Dot shopping spree!  woohoo!

Looking forward to hearing what you guys find on the site… As for me, that sunset bangle + paige enamel bangle are calling my name…

xoxo, Angel

**Please note that I am not affiliated with this company in any way, shape or form, nor am I being compensated for this post or giveaway.  Anything you see on my blog will always be 100% my thoughts — my opinions are not for sale.  😉  Ellaine is offering this giveaway for one of my readers with no strings attached — no purchase necessary!!

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June 10, 2011

WOW!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for the overwhelming response to the new blog!  I cannot tell you how delighted I was to get so much positive feedback.  The ultimate compliment is that the blog is “so me.”  I really appreciate each one of you taking the time to write me a little comment — I look forward to sharing more of my heart (work, life, and otherwise) here!

I will announce the winner of the giveaway at the end of this post.  🙂  Before I do that, however, I want to tell you about this AMAZING couple that is getting married this weekend.

photo by the lovely Nina Brav

How adorable are they, right?  I have enjoyed every moment working with these two creative, passionate, all-around-wonderful individuals.  We have a gorgeous celebration in store, and one aspect of the day that I’m really excited about is their music.  The have selected some beautiful and personal picks for their ceremony and reception.  I’ve written about this topic before (see here), but I never tire of seeing how couples infuse their tastes into the music used for their big day.  This weekend’s clients have exceptional taste because, well, I love every.single.song they picked out (and many are by my favorite bands/artists).  Here is a peek at the music behind the day…

{Ceremony}

{Reception}

  • Grand Entrance – “You Make My Dreams Come True” by Hall & Oates
  • First Dance – “That’s Where It’s At” by Sam Cooke
  • Father/Daughter Dance – “Harvest Moon” by Neil Young

What are YOUR favorite music picks for a wedding?  I’d love to hear what you used or plan on using.  🙂

What else is in store for this wedding?  Oh you know… ruffled crepe, a citrus-inspired colorway, modern glass… and a dream team of vendors including The Food Matters, The Flashdance spinning records, Hollyflora making things beautiful, and the talented Nina Brav behind the lens.

I’ll be back with more loveliness next week, including my engage!11 recap.  Enjoy your weekend!!  xoxo, Angel

P.S. CONGRATULATIONS to the blog launch giveaway winner: Kim!  (Winner was selected using random.org)  Check your email so I can get your box of goodies to you right away!  😉 For everyone else, I will have some other fun giveaways coming very soon, so be on the lookout for those!  xo

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June 7, 2011

Hello everyone!  I am absolutely THRILLED to be writing my first official post here on the new blog.  😉  I am smitten with everything about it and it perfectly reflects the new branding I am currently rolling out!  You’ll see that I wrote a little post below last week, but I knew it would not be seen until my launch.  If you are reading this post in Google Reader, make sure you click over so you can see the layout in all of its loveliness.  Also, you WILL need to update your feeds (loveandsplendor.com/blog).

After 5.5+ years in biz, I knew it was time for a “brand makeover.”  I was ready for something fresh and unique, and more aligned with my personality and style.  I decided to start with my blog, since it is the place where I share my most current work.  A website makeover is underway, too!  My inspiration for the new branding (and of course, this blog):

–Colors: watermelon-tinted coral, muddled turquoise, pure white, cool gray

{from design editor}

{from creature comforts}

–Patterns & motifs: ikat, chevron stripes, ribbons, bold typography, calligraphy

–Overall feel & layout: modern, whimsical, playful, feminine

I had some incredible friends helping me with the design + transition, so I want to send my deepest thanks to…

  • Xandra Zamora, of XYZ Ink, who painstakingly worked with me to create the perfect hand-lettering for the word “splendor” in my logo.  Here is a look at the “two-line” version that appears on my vertical biz cards:
  • My in-house graphic designer (and former client!), Kristin, who designed my brand new biz cards (which I L-O-V-E) and provided thoughtful feedback as I tweaked the blog design.  More on her to come!
  • And last but not least, Steph Anne from Yellow & Savvy, who helped me with numerous revisions with the layout and design, and brought my vision to life!  She is exceedingly patient and creative and working with her was a complete joy.

With the new blog comes some new blogging habits.  😉  Now that I have such a gorgeous place to share with you all, I want to do it more often!  I look forward to sharing more content in the weeks ahead.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on the new layout and “look” for Love & Splendor!  In fact, I’m so eager to hear your thoughts that I will randomly select a commenter on FRIDAY, June 10th, at 10 a.m. PST, and give away a little package of my current fab finds.  Make sure to get your comment in by 10a PST on 6/10, and I will announce the winner later that day!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the new blog!  We couldn’t be more excited to finally share this with you.

P.S. Don’t forget to click the Facebook link on the right and “like” us there!  You can also follow my mind’s eye at Pinterest, where I curate things that move me in one way or another.

xoxo, Angel

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September 10, 2010

Happy Friday evening, everyone!  Congratulations to the winners of the {elude} $100 gift card giveaway, selected via Random.org.  🙂

–Aileen

–Weezermonkey

-Bethany

Ladies — I’ll be emailing you shortly to get your info and will send off your prize right away!  😉  Thank you to everyone who entered; I hope you all get the chance to visit {elude} soon!  I will be doing more contests down the line so keep an eye out.

And as a consolation prize, let’s all admire this adorable photo that has kept me laughing for over a week.

Dying!!  (I tried finding the original source of this photo but it is all over the internet.)

Enjoy the marvelous weekend and make sure to come back on Monday for a very special post.  Hint: It involves lots of adorable childhood pics…

xoxo,

Angel

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