One More Day to Enter! Ideeli Offers Best in Shop Contest

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Online retail is not immune to Olympic fever, as women-owned small businesses can go for the gold here at home by entering ideeli’s “Best in Shop,” a contest celebrating women entrepreneurs and small businesses. Created in partnership with New York Times bestselling author and small business champion Tory Johnson, the contest, which is accepting entries through August 7th, invites women entrepreneurs to enter for a chance to have their business featured on ideeli, the online retailer that was named to the top of Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest growing private companies in 2011.

Whether running a business that sells gorgeous gowns or fabulous flatware, women entrepreneurs across America are invited tell their story, share their creations and win a moment in the spotlight. Best in Shop is open to women nationwide whose small companies sell apparel, accessories, or home décor, with a chance for their company and products to be featured on ideeli, the popular online retail site with more than 5.5 million members. Best in Shop entries will be featured on ideeli’s Facebook landing page, and best in shop winners will be featured on the site.
Business owners or authorized representatives can learn more and enter the contest at www.ideeli.com/bestinshop. On August 20, ideeli and Tory Johnson will announce 20 finalists and voting will open to the public. The three companies with the most votes will be announced on September 5^th, and will work with Johnson and the ideeli team to curate a sale of their products to be featured in a special fall edition of ideeli’s "Tory's Shop" (www.ideeli.com/tory), a series of sales curated in collaboration with Tory Johnson, featuring women-run small businesses from around the country.
For more information on ideeli’s Best in Shop contest, visit www.ideeli.com/bestinshop

Chef Hora Fires Up Engine Co. No. 28 in Downtown Los Angeles

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Pictured: A 1912 Firehouse turned Restaurant (photo: M. Hall)

What do you get when you combine a renovated 1912 Fire Station with Chef Christopher Hora’s unique sweet and savory fare? A winning combination that fits in beautifully with the renewal and renovation of Downtown Los Angeles. This little gem of a restaurant was once a 1912 Firehouse replete with fire engines, alarms  and a brass pole (see above) for fire fighters to slide down. Today the  historic setting at 644 Figueroa St. is home to the cuisine of  Chef Christopher Hora.  A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and native Californian, Chef Hora inherited his appreciation of fresh food and savory ingredients from his Italian mother and Czech Father when he was growing up.  That influence carries over to the hearty menu at Engine Co. No. 28.  The restaurant serves breakfast during the week, brunch on the weekends plus lunch and dinner.  There’s also a well-priced happy hour for those working in Downtown looking for relief from office stress.  Other offerings to alleviate stress  include a wine dinners and beer tastings.

Pictured: Cali Benni, a delicious twist of Eggs Benedict

I visited the restaurant on Sunday for brunch to get a feel for Chef Hora’s cooking skills prior to his two  appearances at this week’s LA Food and Wine Fest.   Brunch is a new addition to the Engine Co. 28 menu, and the fare is literally both sweet and savory.  Dishes like the French Toast with Bourbon soaked Orange Marmalade offer a new twist on traditional breakfast fare.  The dish is sweet but not too sweet,  with just the right subtle flavor from the Orange complimenting the French Toast. “ I don’t like anything to be too sweet, “ says Chef Hora. “If it’s too sweet it just stays in the front of your month and you don’t taste all the favors.”   The Cali Bennie of smoked salmon, avocado, spinach, poached egg and sauce cherone is simply a revelation.  It’s just the right twist on the more traditional eggs benedict with a cherone sauce that is more robust than a hollandaise offering hints of tomato, spices and shallots swimming in a rich sauce of egg yolk.  A less subtle dish is the Chicken and Waffles served with a heavy sauce that updates southern “red-eye’ gravy.  While the Cali Bennie tickles the taste buds with delicate flavor, the Chicken and Waffles is pure comfort food that assaults the mouth with a heavy cream sauce laden with bacon and hints of coffee.  It’s delicious, but it’s difficult to each too much of it, at least in one sitting.   It goes without saying that you won’t find this dish on any menu of recommended healthy diet foods.

Pictured: Delicious desserts on are the menu too.

Other menu highlights include rich desserts like Bananas Napoleon, cream pies and a rich Cheesecake served with fresh fruit.  Brunch at Engine Co. No. 28 offers everything from Porridge with toppings to Omelets, plus Bread and Butter Pudding.  The simple ingredients  don’t prepare the visitor for the deliciousness of the dishes.  “Anything is good if you begin with great product and sound technique,” said Executive Chef Christopher Hora.  His dishes are proof of his culinary talent for skillfully combining what might be considered unlikely ingredients.  Who else would conceive of Hamachi Ceviche complimented with blood orange, grapefruit and cactus? (This will be one of the the Chef’s dishes at the LA Food  and Wine Fest this week.)

Pictured: Chef Christopher Hora

If you work in Downtown Los Angeles, or you are going downtown for the theatre or a sporting event, put Engine Co. No. 28 on your list.  Shuttle service to  the Ahamanson theater is offered and the Staples Center and LA Live are within walking distance. Prices for Brunch start at $11.00 with bottomless Mimosas and Bloody Mary’s (with the Chef’s own spicy mix) offered for $20.00.  There’s nothing pretentious on the menu, just simple ingredients and delicious fare that’s reasonably priced, served up in a historic setting.

Bring your morning Starbucks receipt back to the store after 2 pm for a discounted drink

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If you're a coffee lover, here's a deal from Starbucks that you will love, especially if you like both a morning jolt and an afternoon pick me up.  Bring your morning receipt in after 2 p.m. at participating stores and Starbucks will serve you up a Grande cold beverage for just $2.

That's any cold drink: iced coffee, tea or Frappuccino®(R) blended beverage, a new Starbucks Refreshers beverage or even a sinful  Caramel Frappuccino®(R) blended beverage. This offer is good from now until 9/3.

Announcing Teeology a new T-shirt site, curated by JLo

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She may be leaving American Idol, but Jennifer Lopez clearly has other things she is working on. One of them is a newly announced T-shirt site called Teeology. So what's this all about?  It sounds like crowd sourcing plus affordable fashion. The value proposition is that the site will gives its members the ultimate power to decide which designs are produced and sold. “We saw a huge opportunity to jump into the luxury tee market by offering the same high-quality product you can buy at a Nordstrom or Bloomingdales, but for a fraction of the price,” says Eng, Teeology’s Co-Founder and CEO.  “Because of our voting/pre-order mechanism, focus on social buzz, and limited-edition runs, Teeology isn’t saddled with a huge inventory and excess merchandise. By rethinking the traditional retail model that can often require a 3-6 month lead time on production we are able to remain nimble and on trend.”

Honestly, the idea reminds me of T-Shirt site Threadless.  With Teeology, designers will submit designs to be reviewed by Teeology’s curators (like Lopez), who come up with bi-weekly themes to guide the process and then select the best designs to go up for vote.  Teeology members then vote for their favorites and share them on their social networking channels to ultimately choose the tees that get produced in limited runs and sold in Teeology’s online store. The brains behind this start up obviously hope that social media influencers, Tweeps and Facebook fans will fuel this site.  I'll be interested to see how this does.  If J.Lo wasn't shilling it, I think it would fly under the radar, especially since Threadless has already built a strong community and established itself.

Tune In -- Tori & Dean's Home Sweet Hollywood Season Premiere

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Images courtsey of Oxygen

Lucky for us, we received the season premiere episode of Tori & Dean's Home Sweet Hollywood a few weeks earlier, and lets just say, we've watched it three times now. We know, a little obsessed to say the least! This season begins with a heartwarming (grab your tissues!) moment as the beloved Guncles Bill Horn and Scout Masterson anxiously await the arrival of new baby girl, Simone -- the baby of their dreams. It was so amazing to watch the joy and we just can't get enough of the Guncles we love! And it doesn't stop there -- The Gunles aren't the only ones with with big news to share. Tori gives Dean a surprise gift on Valentine's Day -- news that they are expecting their third child. Can we say exciting? We are jumping up down thinking about what this season has to bring! 

The Guncles everyone LOVES!

Sweet Simone
Image courtesy of Bill Horn

With a brand new business in the works and a brand new baby -- this season is action-packed.
The family that plays – and works - together stays together, and this season Tori, Dean, Liam and Stella show viewers again what a family living and working in Hollywood is all about. With a new store opening – an antique furniture and lifestyle store aptly named “invenTORI” - a book deal, dual acting careers and a third baby on the way, Tori and Dean once again prove that they can do it all, even under the spotlight of Hollywood.

Lehla Shop's Magneblooms inside invenTORI

With plenty of laugh out loud moments it is defintely one of the best premiere episodes so far and we are counting down the days until November 29th when it all begins -- full swing! Tori and Dean have captured us once again as they open their doors to a humble home and let us into a glimpse of their lives. The Spelling-McDermott's never let us down!

Tune into Oxygen for the Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood Season Premiere on Tuesday, November 29, at 10pm ET/PT. Don't miss it cupcakes! And while you wait, shop invenTORI now.