Backstage @ StyleMePretty

A few readers have expressed frustration this week because Style Me Pretty is failing to load for them.

What we think is happening

For those of you effected by this issue, your computer is trying to “look up” the IP address of our “cache.stylemepretty.com” server only to find that the server is not found.  However, your computer can find the correct IP address for “www.stylemepretty.com”.  Therefore you end up seeing a very broken page that looks like the following:

A slightly more technical explanation goes like this: When you browse the web, your computer uses a protocol called DNS to ask a DNS server to translate domains like “www.stylemepretty.com” into IP addresses.  Then your computer contacts the IP address directly to request a web page, image, etc. The DNS server that your computer is talking to does not know how to map the domain “cache.stylemepretty.com” to an IP address.

What you can to do help

If you are having this issue we’d love to get some info from you.  Please help us by answering the following questions:

1. What operating system are you using?

2. What is your public IP address?

To get the answer you may Google “What is my ip address?”.

3. What DNS Server are you using?  Can you resolve “cache.stylemepretty.com”?

If you are using a Mac, please copy and past the following command into a terminal window and click “enter”.

/etc/resolv.conf ; nslookup cache.stylemepretty.com ; traceroute cache.stylemepretty.com

To open a terminal, window click on the spotlight magnifying glass in the upper right hand corner of your mac screen.  A text box will appear below the magnifying glass.  Type “Terminal” and hit return. A black terminal window will popup.

If you are using a PC, please copy and past the following command into a CMD window and click “enter”.

ipconfig /all & nslookup cache.stylemepretty.com & tracert cache.stylemepretty.com

To open a CMD window, open the Start menu.  In the search box at bottom enter “cmd” and click “enter”.

Please take screenshots or copy and paste your results into an email. You may want to expand your terminal or CMD window before taking a screenshot.

Email answers to the questions listed  above to info {at} stylemepretty.com . We’ll use the answers to help find a solution to this issue.  Obviously, we won’t publicly disclose any of the information we receive via email.

A quick fix

If you’d like a workaround for this problem you can edit what is known as your “hosts” file and add the following lines at the bottom.

173.203.60.34 cache.stylemepretty.com
50.16.198.160 isa2.stylemepretty.com

Here are instructions how to edit your hosts file on a Mac and on a PC.  It looks scary but it’s pretty easy.  Your hosts stores domain and IP address pairs on a single line.  By adding the pairs above you allow your computer to skip the DNS lookup and use the information provided in this file.  I know this is not an ideal solution but it will solve your problem immediately.

If you are having trouble editing your hosts file or the quick fix above is not working for you please leave a comment below.  We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused you!

Welcome to the New Internet

Does the web look a little different today? Perhaps you noticed that Google, Wikipedia, reddit, and several other sites are all trying to get you to put down your mouse, pick up your phone and call your congressmen and express your opposition to some strange bill called SOPA. So what is SOPA? Normally I’d provide you with a Wikipedia link to a well written article describing exactly what SOPA is, but if you’re reading this on 01/18/2012 that link wouldn’t work. Wikipedia is blacked out right now in an attempt to get your attention and show you what very well might happen to them if this bill passes.

What am I talking about? Mashable explains the most far reaching aspect of SOPA:

Any site that allows users to post content is “primarily designed for the purpose of offering services in a manner that enables copyright violation.” The site doesn’t have to be clearly designed for the purpose of copyright violation; it only has to provide functionality that can be used to enable copyright violation.

Mashable goes on to explain what happens to sites accused of violating SOPA. Discussing  section 103(b) Mashable states:

Payment providers (section (b)(1)) and ad networks ((b)(2)) are required, upon receiving a claim against a site by a copyright holder (section (4)(A)(i)), to cut off all services to the accused site within five days, unless they receive a counter-notification from the operator of the accused site. Note that there is no requirement that the accused be notified of said accusation, and thus, they would have no opportunity to provide a counter-notice.

In other words, if a copyright holder files a claim alleging Wikipedia, one of the world’s largest collections of user generated content, somewhere… on one of it’s millions of pages… is infringing on their copyright — any payment providers or ad networks that work with Wikipedia will no longer be allowed to serve it.  No notice or due process need be provided to Wikipedia.

SOPA and the Wedding Industry

SOPA’s impact and support in the wedding industry always intrigued me because I felt that it had a chance to divide two large vendor groups:  photographers and cinematographers. Photographers might be tempted to support SOPA. After all, it’s going to give them more power to defend their copyrighted works. Cinematographers might be a little more leery about supporting  a bill whose  main sponsor, the RIAA, might be empowered to sue them for damages if they use unauthorized  copyrighted songs in the wedding videos they produce and post online.

I’ve always figured that photographers simply capturing still images of a couple’s big day were immune to copyright infringement claims but I can’t say that I know for sure. I do know that SMP has received more than one very threatening letter from attorney’s of stationers telling us that we’d better pull a photograph from our web site b/c the DIY’d invitation featured in the photograph looks just like the copyrighted work of their client. Whether these letters are straight posturing or legit legal threats I have no idea. If they are the former , then photographers who chose to post their work on their website have plenty to worry about too.

Of course Style Me Pretty would never knowingly feature a DIY replica of a stationer’s work. A simple email gets this type of content removed from SMP faster than you can reload your web browser. While cease and desist letters are overkill and make me – and other SMPers – very stressed out, I’m happy to live in a world where notification must precede any punishment brought against us. SOPA, would change all that. No warning. No due process. For SMP and other sites that make our livings online this is one of the scariest part of this legislation.

If you have a few minutes today, read up on the proposed legislation called SOPA. There are lots of great online articles out there weighing the pros and the cons. But on January 18, you’ll have to resort to someone other than Wikipedia as a reference. They are taking a stand against SOPA.  For if SOPA passes, Wikipedia and much of the internet as we know it, will look a whole lot different.

What are your thoughts on SOPA?  We’d love to hear from you.

Wow, I can’t believe how long it’s been since we wrote on backstage.  I’m a little embarrassed for us.

The Eiffel Tower at dawn.  Photography by Tristan Nitot

There’s an interesting discussion happening recently on the web.  It’s especially relevant given the recent developments with SOPA and PROTECT-IP.  Take a look at the following articles.

• This Photograph Is Not Free – hackernews discussion
• This Photograph Is Free – hackernews discsussion

I thought this little debate was relevant to our industry.  Wedding Photographers grant SMP and other blogs use of their photographs in hopes that the exposure they get will bring them new clients.  Even today, almost 5 years after the launch of Style Me Pretty, I still sense a little uneasiness about this practice by photographers.

If there are any photographers or photo copyright holders out there we’d love to hear from you.  Has sharing your photographs on blogs helped your business?  Have you had any experiences where another person has taken your photograph and tried to pass it off as their own? Do you feel that letting the world enjoy your art for free is fair?  Leave a comment below and let us know.

Tait and I recently had the absolute pleasure of speaking at Jose Villa’s crazy awesome Mexico photography workshop. Yes, I know. Our jobs are HARD people. And although I’m quite sure that you already know this, let me preface this post by saying one thing…

In a big, fat way.

Okay, moving on. So here’s what we already knew going into the event.

1. Taking beautiful photographs is hard. Really hard.

2. We are very bad at taking beautiful photographs. Especially with our fancy shmancy camera and $700 lens that we brought down there.

3. Jose Villa is very good at taking beautiful photographs. So good that we were kind of left speechless.

And here’s what we learned while we were there…

1. There is another new kid on the block who ain’t too shabby. And her name is iPhone Sally.

Granted, most of these images are either blown out or too dark. Grainy or not very well composed. But seriously? The iPhone 4s kicks some serious photography booty. So much so, that compared side by side with my Canon, the iPhone won by a landslide (more proof that I am seriously bad at photography). So here is a behind the scenes look at Jose Villa’s AWESOME workshop, all from the lens of my iPhone. Unedited of course because, well, I didn’t have time to mess with them. We’ll have the full, PRETTY post on SMP soon.

See what I mean? I know, I know. Some of the images are oddly blue or pink or totally washed out. Or really bright or really dark. And they actually looked a lot better on my iPhone. But I don’t care. I love them all. And I now love my new iPhone more than I thought possible. She is officially my new best friend.

But, even with all of the iPhone glory that we had, Tait and I have decided that we’re now in the market for a film camera. Mainly because our kids are at the most beautiful age you can imagine and being able to capture them with the pure gorgeousness of film, is just too much to resist. Plus, we need a really good camera for shooting in house DIY projects, fashion week features and other adventures of SMP. So we’re calling it a business expense. So we returned the $700 lens and are hitting up the camera shop near us very soon.

But before we do, we need recommendations! We want to know what film camera you can recommend for a couple of newbies like us who mainly want to short portrait shots of our babies. Anyone?

Oh and PS…we’ll have lots more goodness that we learned from the Jose workshop in the next few days. So much food for thought that applied to any business person.

We’ve been working hard on our end of year Best Of’s Magazine which means that we’ve been diving in and out of our archives, hunting down the most favorited, commented and liked weddings that have been posted for 2011. Just for fun, Tait crawled ALL of the weddings to see which one had been shared via Facebook the most. And I thought you guys would love to know what we discovered!

It was this San Francisco beauty, thanks in large part to the crazy adorable bride, her awesome red shoes and the genius photography that Tanja Lippert provided, that has been shared the most on Facebook. A WHOPPING 1894 times. Which kicks some serious wedding booty.

Here are few other posts on SMP that achieved facebook fame.

• This video of groomsmen dancing to Justin Bieber – 1524 shares
• This super eclectic wedding of Elise Larson from A Beautiful Mess – 1347 shares
• This proposal with an amazing tri-fold invitation coordinated by Zinke Design – 1175 shares
• This Grand Central Station proposal captured by McKenzie Miller Films  – 1115 shares

One of the things that drives me most mad about running an online business, is the speed at which false information can find its way around the web. On the flip side, one of the best things about running an online business is the speed at which true information can find its way around the web. We experience both each and every day…constantly bumping into things that are simply not true about our brand, and luckily also reading things that are true and positive and support our brand. We try really hard to celebrate the good and learn from the bad…something that is hard to do but that has proven time and time again to only make us better at what we do.

So today, I figured I could tackle some of those tough questions that I’ve seen around the web that are sometimes true, sometimes not so much. I could actually write a novel about each and every one but that would be quite boring so I’ve tried to keep my thoughts short and sweet. Sort of.

1. Why do we ONLY feature weddings from vendors that pay us?

Quick Answer: We don’t.

Long Answer: All paid editorial content is clearly marked with a bar at the bottom of the post that says “Sponsored Post.” The members in our vendor directory are gifted an entirely separate blog called the Little Black Book Blog. All weddings or posts on The Little Black Book Blog feature vendors that are a part of our vendor directory.

There is not a single post on the main page of our site (stylemepretty.com) or on our local blogs that has been paid for by an advertiser that is not clearly marked as such. Real wedding content is 100% unpaid, accepted by our editorial staff without bias. If a wedding is beautiful and we feel that it will resonate with our readers, it is slated for publication. Whether or not the vendor is a LBB member.

Some people say that because we choose to feature vendors that have paid to be a part of our Little Black Book, we are indeed putting up paid content. Although I don’t agree with that reasoning because a wedding is never selected because a vendor is part of our book, I suppose I can see where that comes from. But let me just say this. When we are looking at a wedding it is ONLY checked for Little Black Book members if it is not slated for publication on the main page and we want to see if there is a book member so that we can publish it on our Little Black Book blog. Being in the book is never, ever, never, ever a reason for accepting a wedding for publication on the main page of our blog or on our local blogs. And as a quick side note regarding the LBB blog, we don’t guarantee coverage to our vendors there either. The LBB blog is also curated for the most beautiful weddings we can find and ALL vendors, whether or not they are in the book, are always credited and linked to.

To illustrate that further, here is a breakdown of our posts over the last 60 days:

• Number of real wedding blog posts written in the last 60 days (Aug. 24 – Oct. 24): 136
• Number of times a wedding on the main page of SMP featured at least ONE Little Black Book member? 55% or 75 weddings out of 136 posts
• Number of times a wedding on the main page of SMP was titled (meaning submitted by and noted in our post title) for a Little Black Book member? 36% or 49 weddings out of 136
• Number of weddings featured on the main page that did NOT feature at least one Little Black Book member in any of the credits? 45%

2. Why do you feature photography that doesn’t reflect the highest standards of photography? Namely, why do you feature vintage or washed out images?

We are not a photography blog, we are not a floral blog, we are not a DIY blog. We are a wedding blog pure and simple and we feature weddings that we love and know our readers will love. Although we value beautiful photography in a huge (read: HUGE) way, we try not to overlook the work that another vendor has done even if the photography isn’t perfect. This is one of those topics that can and will be discussed at length very soon. It has many angles and many stances and if the photography forums are any indication of the disconnect that is going on between photographers and bloggers right now, it’s one that will take a while to tend to.

There are many issues when it comes to the level of photography. Giving the other vendors a chance to be featured despite the fact that the photographs might not be perfect, allowing photographers who are still learning to be a part of the site, things like that. But here’s a bit more food for thought…

My understanding is that a really knowledgeable, skilled, experienced photographer is also at the higher end of price points. Which means that either the bride put a weighted portion of her wedding budget on the photographer OR the entire wedding will be high end. When we show too many high end weddings, we get a TON of push back and frustrations from brides who want ideas for moderate to budget weddings. So how do we reconcile this? Are there amazing photographers who have set their price points to a more budget crowd? The goal on SMP is to show a lot of different styles and budgets so this is something that I am having a hard time wrapping my head around.

And I would LOVE your feedback.

3. Why do you favor some photographers over others?

I can see why you might think that, as we have been working with particular photographers from the very beginning and their work is very much a part of Style Me Pretty. The process with these photographers is easy because they knows the style of weddings that we gravitate towards, we know that our readers respond based on comments, shares, links and likes and they know to package everything up in one swift submission to make the “yes” and “published” that much faster. There are quite a few photographers that value publication and that make it a part of their work flow to submit, even if their submissions are declined here and there. Those are the photographers that have the best chance of being featured on SMP

4. Why do you think it’s okay to decline my weddings submission then turn around and ask me to be a part of your vendor directory? Or on the flip side, how can you accept my real wedding for publication and then decline my application to your vendor directory.

Let’s tackle the first question. We decline about 90% of all weddings. It’s a nauseating amount and we often decline weddings where the photographs are gorgeous but the style isn’t right for our readership. It’s quite common actually. Remember that we’ve blogged more than 6,000 real weddings over the course of 4 years. We see the comments come in, the traffic go up and down, the facebook likes, the favoriting, the sharing. We KNOW what our readers respond to and what they don’t. So you have to trust that as editors so intimately involved with our content, we are declining weddings that we really don’t think will resonate. That doesn’t mean we are declining vendors. We’ve declined weddings from top notch photographers, we’ve declined weddings from world renowned designers and florist. We know they are crazy, crazy talented and yet the particular wedding that they chose to submit, wasn’t going to work with our readership. We believe in the vendors that are a part of our book and just because we haven’t found the right wedding of theirs to publish, doesn’t mean that we don’t think their work is wonderful.

As for the second part of the question, this is a bit trickier. We accept submissions because we see a detail or a moment or a style that we know our readers will love. The vendors involve deserve the publication and we then know to make it a point to get to know this vendor even better. Sometimes we find that the vendor is very early on in their career and hasn’t really had time to develop a portfolio or relationships with peers, two things that we really care about when asking someone to be a part of the book. But we know that we want to keep our eye on that vendor and over time, our hope is to add them to the book when we feel like we can put our name behind them.

5. Why don’t I see much diversity on SMP?

Short Answer: We’re working on it, I promise!

Long-ish Answer: We WANT brides of all different colors and styles, cultures and sizes. Though because we simply don’t have enough manpower to scour all photography blogs right now, we are  at the mercy of our submissions box. We have put out content calls and we always have our eyes peeled for brides that bring a fresh look to SMP. Diversity on SMP is important to us and believe me when I tell you, we are working on it. Our challenge is time. We need to find time, amidst the hundreds of weekly submissions that we get, to go back to our roots and scout out weddings. Weddings that allow the REAL modern bride to shine. So trust me when I tell you that we are indeed working on bringing more diversity and interest to the pages of SMP.

6. What is the traffic for your site?

Last 30 Days Unique Visitors (through Nov 3) - 1,024,477

Last 30 Days Pageviews (through Nov 3) – 13,318,244

5. Your content is starting to all look the same. Why does every post have a mason jar in it?

Well, with all do respect, you aren’t reading all of our content. I will be the first to admit that we post a lot of outdoor, DIY, garden style weddings. Many of which have mason jars. But we also post modern weddings, classic weddings and many other different styles. The bottom line is that we post A LOT of weddings. On the main page, we feature at least 3, usually 4-5, every day of the week. The Little Black Book blog gets 1-2 per day. The local blogs get 1 per day. So there is a lot of content going up and if you really look at each wedding, they are unique and beautiful in their own right.

Oh and just for fun, guess the percentage of weddings that featured a mason jar in the last 60 days? 33%…is that more or less than you thought?

So there you have it. I’ll try to tackle questions like these more regularly here on backstage because we really do want to be transparent with our readers and the vendors that are a part of SMP. And everyone else for that matter.

For naysayers and critics, I only ask one thing…spend some time really reading our blog. Look closely at the photographs, READ the stories that the brides provide, find the love tucked into each and every detail.  Every person that is a part of the SMP team genuininly strives to make our site a better place every single day and although we have misteps, just like anyone else, we always try to find the joy in what we do and bring it back to what’s important. The brides. The weddings. The love.

There has been a lot of engaging around the web lately about a couple different frustrations that some members of the wedding community have over the importance of “details” documented by blogs. One, the focus should be on the vows. Two, blogs are beginning to look all the same because they only focus on the details. I want to make sure we are addressing both issues that are colliding into one here.

Here is an anonymous letter that Hindsight Bride posted last week. And here is a beautifully written piece by Jonas Peterson. One that definitely made me stop and think, as I too have been up all night the last few weeks trying to figure out if there is a disconnect between what blogs are doing and what our audience wants. More specifically, what the wedding community wants.

And yet I haven’t responded or commented on any of the blogs. After all, Style Me Pretty embraces all those details that are becoming the trigger for so many frustrations. Those mason jars, those bales of hale, those picture perfect garden details. And when someone asks me if I ever tire of weddings, the answer is always the same… no, I don’t. Because amidst those details that may seem redundant to certain people, I see something else.

I see that bride, much like myself, who sat with her mom and her sister sifting through every last jar they have collected from garage sales and thrift stores. Tying every last bow on the program that their guests will read. Finding quilts and typewriters, fabric for photo booths, milk glass for flowers.

For so many, the planning part of the wedding, the DIY, the collecting, the crafting, the imagining, the designing… is just as meaningful as the wedding itself. More than 6 years after I got married, I still have not thrown another party. My wedding was my party. It was time that I got to spend with my mom and my soon-to-be-husband, it was time that I spent with my best friends and my grandmother. That year that I spent scouring ebay for a million different champagne saucers gave me such a giddy sense of anticipation and made the day, that will forever be the best day of my life, that much more special. And seeing my husband standing at the altar was far and away the highlight. As it is for so many brides who spend hours and hours filling mason jars with candles and fresh from the garden flowers. The two are not mutually exclusive.

The thing is, we’ve been staring at details for years. But we aren’t the ones getting married. Brides are. Brides read our blogs. Brides who haven’t been poring over mason jars for the last three years. They are new and seeing things for the first time. Sometimes, they look at blogs like mine and get totally overwhelmed. Other times, they look at blogs like mine and get so totally excited. They see girls in dresses and they imagine being that girl in that dress. They see mason jars or mercury glass lining tables and they want to be the one sitting at that table, kissing the boy they love.

I won’t say that it isn’t about the “stuff.” It is in part. When it comes to SMP, we have been writing about the stuff from day one. Not much in terms of content has really changed over the last four years. I think the main difference is that where there were only a couple of wedding blogs four years ago, there are now hundreds so the “stuff” feels that much more overwhelming. But, just like you want to design a home that makes you happy, a wedding should be a beautiful moment where you get to design a day that reflects you and the one you love. Which may or may not include stuff. But let that be up to the bride and as a wedding community, we shouldn’t make her feel guilty for buying mason jars in bulk.

I’ve read all of the words out there and this response is by far the most well written and the most impactful. Jonas, you are a beautiful photographer and you have a talent for capturing the emotion that is rare and special. When you scroll down the pages of Style Me Pretty, you see a lot of detail. But you also see so much emotion. So much love. Just today, I looked at a bride wiping a tear with her napkin, a kiss that would almost make you look away, a boy looking at his new wife, a group of bridesmaids so excited to watch their friend walk down the aisle. And I saw mason jars and peonies and bird cage veils. It’s all there and it all can come together to represent the same thing.

I want to say more on this because I think there are numerous issues going on here. I don’t think it’s simply about showing too many details or seeing too many mason jars. It’s bigger than that and I understand. I just need the time to really think about how I feel and between Halloween costumes for my daughter and my little boy with the croup, I haven’t had enough time to really thoughtfully put my words together… But for SMP, the bottom line is this… we can do better at showing the pure love that should always be the focus of a wedding. We can always do better. We do get caught up in the details because as girls that thrive on design, that is what gets us excited. But on that same note, we should also give brides and grooms permission to go all out with mason jars and hay bales and vintage typewriters if that’s what they want. Whether they create a wedding that is two people and two beautiful vows or they create a wedding that is two people, two beautiful vows and peonies, table linens, candles and every other detail in between… it’s their day. We are there to capture it, to write about it, and to inspire other brides who are planning a wedding of their very own.

Last Friday, Erin, Libby and I hopped a train to NYC for a whirlwind trip to Bridal Market that included meeting some fabulous designers like Mark Badgley & James Mischka, Lela Rose and Romona Keveza; sitting front row at dozens of gorgeous runway shows like Monique Lhuillier, Reem Acra, and Claire Pettibone; and attending a handful of private appointments to view dresses from the collections of Jenny Peckham and Callie Tein of Modern Trousseau to name just a few. I know, I know. It’s a rough job. Here are some of our faves.

We stayed at the absolute cutest hotel in Hell’s Kitchen called The French Quarters Guest Apartments and Colin and Stephanie took insanely good care of us. We had an amazing two bedroom suite with an even more amazing balcony overlooking dozens of great restaurants and tree lined sidewalks.

It was the perfect retreat to come back to after two long days of running around the city in heels and begging for cabs to take us downtown when we were uptown and vice versa. Even though we never really got the hang of the whole getting a cab situation and we racked up a $114 bike cab bill (sorry, Abby!) racing to Monique Lhuillier, I’d like to think we’re a bit wiser and tougher when it comes to hailing a cab in the Big Apple. Who knew it could be so tricky?

The shows were amazing and just how I had imagined they would be. Lots of fabulous people in amazing outfits, tons of photographers, gorgeous models, even more incredible gowns and super cool beats blasting in the background. We were totally loving all the new tends we saw like delicate, sheer sleeves and necklines, applique-a-plenty and loads upon loads of fun textures. And oh, the hair and make up was to die for. Think chic and tousled with sweet side braids and buns. I can so get down with that easy, breezy, just fell out of bed look.

Overall it was an amazing weekend and we found ourselves pinching one another yet again, asking, is this really our job? We are some lucky, lucky ladies indeed.

Credits: Board 1: Badgley Mischka / Board 2 and 12: Claire Pettibone / Board 3: Lela Rose / Board 4: Jenny Peckham / Board 5: Modern Trousseau / Board 6: Reem Acra / Ines Di Santo / Board 7: SMP / Board 8: Monique Lhuillier / Board 9: Peter Langner / Board 10: Romona Keveza / Board 11: Watters /

This past weekend marked what just might be our very first no-internet vacation since starting SMP. Craziness, right? I actually saw an article on CNN the other day about how Americans work too hard and should be taking more vacations. Well, I officially agree. This weekend at the Cape, relaxing with fam and having nothing more to do than think about what we were going to have for lunch, was so much fun. And Audrey, the reigning Boss of the Larson Household, clearly had a good time.

Dancing like no one was watching…

Making sand angels…

Burying her very patient Dad…

Filling up her water pail so that she could make sand stew…

And just being generally adorable…

Which made mommy and daddy very, VERY happy…

But sweet little William? Well, he’s still trying to figure out what he thinks of the beach and why he can’t cram mouthfuls of sand into his mouth.

After about an hour, he decided he would be much happier indoors, eating puzzles…

…and being just as adorable as his sister.

Untitled from Abby Larson on Vimeo.

So after three blissful days (okay, we definitely had a few stage five meltdowns and I actually spent the bulk of each night in bed with my daughter so that she could sleep which meant that I couldn’t)…we’re sad that the weekend is over and it’s back to the grind. The saving grace is that we are officially on the “someday we’ll be able to afford a cape house and do this every weekend” bandwagon so work seems that much more exciting!

As I’m sure anyone in the blogging business can attest, you tend to log a lot of hours behind your computer. Since we all work remotely here at SMP, it’s sometimes a little hard to tear ourselves away from our laptops. But every now and then the stars align and we get to put on something besides our yoga pants and do a little socializing.

On Tuesday night, Crema Cafe, one of my fave Harvard Square establishments (which also happens to be down the street from my hard-to-leave-home-office) was throwing a bash to celebrate the launch of their new dessert tables and catering business. Now I don’t know about you, but when you’re almost 6 months pregnant and your fave neighborhood bakery/coffee shop invites you to a party with the word cake in the invitation, You. Go.

Besides dreaming about macaroons and mini croissants, my little adventure down the street also had me marveling at what a great business, the owners, Liza and Marley have created. It was a real treat to see them add a new (and might I add ridiculously tasty) aspect to their already fabulous Cambridge cafe.

As SMP grows, we’re always thinking about what’s next. I’m sure you’ve heard but we have our first print magazine in the works. But since we’re spread out all over the country (and we’re a blog) we tend to do our marketing digitally. Sure, every now and then we get to break out the bubbly and toast some SMP success, but a lot of our big news and latest projects are celebrated and announced via the web. It obviously depends on the type of business you have, but what do you do when you have something big you want to tell your community? How do you celebrate your latest achievements?? And yes, you can say eat cupcakes.

A big thank you to the fabulous ladies at Crema Cafe for your sweet treats. Congrats on your newest adventure.