Happy New Year, Ladies!
Girl Power Hour is dedicated to making 2010 your most successful, fun and fabulous year yet. In fact, our theme this year is “emPOWERyou2010,” and we want you to start this year feeling as great as you look and looking as great as you feel!
On Thursday, February 18th, Banana Republic on 5th and Pike will be closing its doors early and rolling out the pink carpet for an exclusive Girl Power Hour fashion show event, “Love You- Boost Your Wardrobe, Boost Your Biz”. Seattle’s top style experts and fashion bloggers will join forces to show you realistic and affordable style tips. Enjoy delicious appetizers from Il Fornaio, Trophy cupcakes, Pearl cocktails and O Wines as you learn how to revamp your wardrobe and boost your style confidence.
We’re also running a very special contest this month. The Power Team will select ten deserving women, each of whom will receive a makeover prize valued at over $1,000, currently including (but not necessarily limited to):
To enter: Answer the following questions in an email, attach a current photo of yourself and send to info@girlpowerhour.com with (Subject: I want a makeover!). All entries must be received by midnight on Friday, February 12, 2010. Please include contact information including phone number. Winners will be notified by noon on phone Sunday, February 14, 2010. If we choose you to be one of the 10 winners, please note that you will be required to walk in the fashion show at the event.
Good luck, and cheers to a stylish new year!
-Darcy and The Power Team
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Official Rules:
One entry per person. Must be 21 or older. Contest Dates: 1/25 to 2/11. No purchase necessary. Entry must be emailed at entrants expense to Girl Power Hour, info@girlpowerhour.com. Contest subject to all federal, state, and local laws. The odds of winning are dependant upon the number of entries received. Prizes are non-refundable, non-redeemable for cash, and non-transferable. The winner is solely responsible for federal, state and local taxes, licenses, fees, and insurance. Girl Power Hour employees, ownership, agents, and participating sponsors are not eligible to win. By participating, entrants agree to these rules. Complete rules available at www.girlpowerhour.com.
We meet extraordinary women in a variety of industries at each and every one of our events. In our efforts to highlight these women we will be blogging about a Girl Power Hour Women of the Week on our website. We are super excited to introduce you to these amazing women!
Our first woman of the week is Cheril Cruden the owner of Bling! Bling! Jewelry.
Cheril Cruden is the designer of Bling! Bling! Jewelry. If you received any of our swag bags for the Seattle December 09 event or our January 10 Eastside event, you received a pair of Bling! Bling! earrings. The jewelry designs are inspired by the artist’s eye for quality materials, her love of color and her playful side of owning one-of-a-kind fun, casual and often times very elegant jewelry at affordable prices. Cheril uses sterling silver, 14k or 18k gold, gold fill, gold vermeil, Swarovski Crystals, freshwater pearls, vintage glass beads from all over the world.
Cheril has been busy with her designs for the last 6 years. It started when she was invited to a friend’s home jewelry party. At the time Cheril was involved in a quilting business, her love for handcrafted items bloomed even more when she discovered handmade jewelry. Soon all her friends and family members were wearing her jewelry pieces. The sales portion followed quickly by a best friend’s sister’s boutique in Juneau, Alaska. She quickly sold dozens of bracelets and was in high demand….thus started Bling! Bling!
She is now selling through various craft shows, street fairs, local shops, online and home jewelry parties. Coming soon is an etsy.com based website and selling through more local shops and salons. You can find her on twitter: cheril101 and cherilcruden on Facebook.
Her advice for up and coming entrepreneurs….
“Love what you are doing and don’t give up too quickly. It takes time and a lot of patience. Plus listen to advice from others in the same field…they speak from knowledge and experience”.
You can find awesome jewelry pieces to compliment your wardrobe at www.blingxtwo.com .
Come meet Cheril at the Girl Power Hour Eastside March Event! Her earrings will be in 50 swag bags! Thank you Cheril for letting us put highlight you as our Woman of the Week!
This January, The Power Team was looking forward to kicking off our exciting 2010 line-up at BoConcept’s Seattle showroom for “Design You – Creating a Space That Reflects Your Style.” BoConcept is an international urban design retail store, and their Seattle showroom on Western Avenue was the perfect spot for Girl Power Hour’s January chic networking for women. From turquoise blown glass vases to beaded lamps and shag carpets – BoConcept is a design dream. We were more than thankful they were willing to shut down for the night for our private event – and let our Girl Power Hour attendees eat, drink and mingle among the fabulous room displays. I swear there wasn’t an item in the place that I didn’t want to take home for my apartment!
2009 was a big year for Girl Power Hour. We re-branded, turned 2 years old, launched a new website and our 2nd Chapter on the Eastside, hosted 13 events, featured a guest speaker who blogs for the Huffington Post, were sponsored by Avelle – The New Bag, Borrow or Steal as seen in the Sex and the City Movie, we hosted our 2nd Annual shoe drive for Soles 4 Souls and our 2nd Annual Breast Cancer Awareness event, we saw live Botox injections, we hosted gift drives and featured charities, we gave away shoes, theatre tickets, skin care products, airline tickets and LOTS of swag, we hosted a SWAP, helped launch the Elaia spa, we dressesd up, made connections, new friends and we had ALOT of fun! We hope you’ll take a look back at 2009 with us and plan on joining us in 2010!
Click Here to see all the best pics from 2009.
Girl Power Hour is lucky to work with some of the best photographers in the area! One of those photographers keeping our photos picture perfect is Barbie Hull with Barbie Hull Photography.
Specializing in photographing people, Barbie opened Barbie Hull Photography in 2001. Her philosophy when taking photos is to have fun. “If you are having fun, the pictures turn out fabulous”, spoken by Barbie.
Along with her love of photography she is also one of the founders of a local non-profit organization called Get Hitched Give Hope (http://www.gethitchedgivehope.com) the company raises money to help grant the wishes of women with stage four breast cancer.
Barbie loves photography, people, networking, champagne, laughing, volunteering, parties, new shoes, party dresses, bangs, traveling, the sound of a shutter, chocolate, popcorn, dancing and being silly!
We’ve included her three favorite photos as well as a photo of her below. You may have seen her at our events taking photos, possibly even a photo of yourself networking and mingling, so next time you see her make sure you give her a fun smile!
Her portfolio can be found on-line at www.barbiehull.com
Thank you Barbie for your wonderful talent and your great sense of humor!
We fell in love with O Wines fine tasting chardonnay as well as their story. When we discovered one of the charities they supported, “The Crimson Scholarship” it all came together for us. In a snap of a second we had our first wine partner ever and our 1st quarter charity.
We are ecstatic to feature O Wines as our partner for 1st quarter, not only because the wine taste amazing, but also because this women owned company rocks. Founded in 2006 by Stacy Lill and Kathy Johanson, O Wines is located here in the Pacific Northwest in Woodenville. These two women jumped into the wine business with a focus on incredible tasting wine at resonable prices. O Wine is dedicated to making great wine as well as funding scholarships. Portions of their proceeds are given to funding scholarships for underprivileged and at risk young girls in Washington State. They support many scholarship charities in the Northwest including; Oregon State University’s SMILE (Science and Math Integrated Learning Experience), College Success Foundation, The Crimson Opportunity Scholarship, as well as their own scholarship called, “Opportunity for Success Scholarship”.
After learning about O Wine’s commitment to education, Girl Power Hour was drawn to helping them with their mission of funding scholarships. Proceeds from Girl Power Hour’s 1st quarter will be given to their charity, The Crimson Opportunity Scholarship. This scholarship is available to Washington State University students who are low income and high potential students of all diversity.
If you haven’t had a glass of O Wine, I highly suggest you go out and get a bottle. Better yet come to a GPH event during January-March and receive a complimentary one! For more information about O Wines visit: http://www.owines.com/index.htm
We look forward to networking working with you over a glass of O Wines!
Every year, the start of a new year brings with it the obligatory New Year resolutions — lose weight, get fit, & pay off debt are the goals we usually set for ourselves. But why not use a new year as an opportunity to reinvent yourself into a better version of you? Small changes in your home (reducing clutter, painting a room, rotating artwork) can help keep you motivated on your path to being a happier, healthier you!
If you’re looking to revamp your space on a tight budget, remember that money is no substitute for innovation. True style doesn’t have a price.
On a tight budget? Remember to be selective. Pick the most important rooms you wish to revamp and the specific elements and concepts that are most significant to your lifestyle. Carefully analyze your current home, furnishing and decorations and make a plan. Improve upon what you have, instead of starting completely from scratch. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: it’s not just for your newspapers and plastic bottles anymore, people!
The following ideas are a few more simple and inexpensive ways to liven up a room without breaking the bank:
1. Add mirrors to reflect light and create space. Be sure to place them strategically, however—there’s no sense in reflecting a dark corner!
2. Repaint cabinets instead of replacing them. Paint will clean up, freshen up and liven up your kitchen or bathroom. Just check with a local paint supply store for advice on painting unusual surfaces.
3. Cover imperfections instead of fixing them. For example, place a rug over a discolored spot on your floor or a piece of art on a rough wall. Or, if you’re like me, hang something over that god-awful electrical box in the hallway—who needs to get in there anyway?
![GPH-January-E-Flyer[3]](http://girlpowerhour.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/GPH-January-E-Flyer31.png "GPH-January-E-Flyer[3]")
We’re kicking off our 2010 Seattle Launch at BoConcept on January 21st with networking, sips and tips to create your space, your style for “Design You.”
Join Craig Williams Interiors for budget-friendly design tips to creating a space that reflects your personal style. Bring photos of your “space delimmas” to the event to be entered to win an Interior ReDesign grand door prize using items already in your space and an item from BoConcept after the event. Enjoy OWines, Dry Soda and Pearl cocktails, bites from Nijo Sushi, swag bags for the first 50 through the door, New York Cupcakes and door prizes with your well-heeled and social counterparts.
*SIDENOTES*
-Support our Quarterly Charity – “The Crimson Scholarship” (through OWines) by signing up for your free Celebrated Chefs membership at the event.
-Swag bags will be given to the first 50 through the door.
-Enter to win Door Prizes with your business card when checking in.
-Photos will be taken by Barbie Hull Photography – www.barbiehull.com
-Tickets are on sale now at www.girlpowerhour.com.
-If you would like to donate swag, door prize(s) or sponsor an event, email us at info@girlpowerhour.com for info.
*Thank you to our Sponsor Craig Williams Interiors and our Partners BoConcept, Nijo Sushi, New York Cupcakes, Pearl Vodka and Dry Soda!
Our first Eastside event of 2010 blew us away – more than double the attendees that we expected showed up to toast to “Transform You” with fitness tips from David Barton Gym and wine from our partners, O Wine. We packed nearly 250 women into the swank David Barton Gym in The Bravern in Bellevue – holy cow, wow! We’re so excited to see our spirit of connecting women take-off in Seattle’ sister city across the bridge.
If you think networking in a gym can’t be chic – well then you haven’t stepped foot in the David Barton Gym. Everything from the lighting, to music, gym members and employees (especially the employees) are hot, HOT and hotter. Us girls couldn’t stop drooling over the trainers walking by (see pic to right). And we were all treated to one of the best motivation speeches I’ve ever heard from the Vice President of Training for David Barton Gym at The Bravern, Mark Cohen. Mark brushed aside the need for a microphone to speak to our room of more than 200 women and proceeded to shout his words of encouragement to us. Darcy, our Style Director was overhead saying, “The Power Team is a little afraid & a little turned on.” True story. That man has power – imagine what he could do to your fitness routine! Pssst – by the way – if you go into David Barton Gym to sign up for a membership as a Girl Power Hour member, they’ll give you a special deal for being part of the chicest women’s networking event in all of Seattle! (We don’t lie). 
![DBGym_GirlPowerHour[2]](http://girlpowerhour.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/DBGym_GirlPowerHour2.jpg "DBGym_GirlPowerHour[2]")
We’re kicking off the new year in seam-busting style at David Barton Gym in the Bravern in Bellevue on Thursday, January 7th from 5:30pm – 7:30pm.
Learn how to transform your body with signature techniques and tips from David Barton himself.Additional trainers will also be on-site to answer questions on how to acheive your fitness resolutions over a glass of wine from O Wines and networking with your galpals and other fabulous women.
Get a swag bag full of goodies, indulge in all of the scene-setting style that GPH and David Barton Gym have to offer and enter to win door prizes from Neiman Marcus, Trophy Cupcakes, Avelle and David Barton Gym, including a 6 month membership with training to DBG!
