Bijou's first annual Cut a thon and helping hands!

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What I love generally about people, is their willingness to help! This village especially, I'm telling you, just ask and people are so happy to help! I guess people help, because I ask, I'm a firm believer that the answer will always be NO! Unless you ask! So I ask, because I never mind when people say no and I never mind when people ask me for help..I LOVE to help!

So the idea came a while ago about a cut a thon. We've had so many clients who have said to us jokingly...Come on, it's beautiful, can't you just cut my hair outside this time! I always have said, just wait, maybe one day we will! In the back of my mind, I filed the idea...a cut a thon, we cut for specified hours and donate the money to whatever cause we decide! The problem was, we needed a passionate cause....

THEN I read something in the letter to the editor a little while ago, that next day we had a scheduled staff meeting...I let the girls read the newspaper cut out and asked if they wanted to do the cut a thon for that particular cause. Unanimously they said YES! It was perfect! We would donate the cut a thon earnings to the PARCS fund, we will make a collective donation to honor a sweet angel.
BUT we hope to make a huge donation, knowing they have about 40k and the goal for the budget of the playground is 125k, we know we won't be able to pull in that much, but we can give a good start!

So we started planning, coming up with ideas every day...and of course, clients jump in..."What can I do?".....

Then we came up with a plan, with the help of friends.. to add to our donation of cuts...snow cones, bake sale, hair accessories, hair wraps, raffle baskets (most of them valued well over $100)..so much more...everyone started jumping in! Echo on the lake will stay open and donate a portion of their nights sales, Mark from Doug's will give us Ice for the snow cone machines, Bill from Johnny Angel's donated meal tickets! Patience Brewster offered a basket! (She herself came down:) Deb from Mottville Emporium, always jumps in!! Cindy Petters offered her services to make snow cones and hopefull she will blog about it, that will be fun:) And the list continues and is growing!!

Then I started looking online..(because for a moment, I worried about rain..but then I realized..no rain can come on such a day!)..... for tents on Auburn party rental, then I saw it...A DUNK TANK! How fun, I had remembered once in Marcellus, they had one and it was lots of fun to do! Then I had Marty Hubbard, the mayor of Skaneateles down for his monthly haircut. I asked him if he would let us dunk him, out of context, I think I scared him...when I explained...(actually I said this..."Come on, do it for your grandkids, they need a new playground at Austin park!) he said I just needed to clear it with the boss (aka: his wife, Debbie) She was so excited and I think would have cleared the entire day for him to get dunked...I have a feeling, she may even buy lots of balls to throw! Then I talked to one of the teachers at the school, she called the middle school principal Tim Chiavara, and he said he'd be glad to do it...then I called Mr. Williams, a favorite middle school teacher, he jumped right in....Tim Green would have gladly done it, but was out of town for the first football game! (darn!)...Then when I was being interviewed by the Skaneateles Press, the editor Jason Emmerson and he OFFERED to be dunked too! Then I jokingly asked my good friend Erin, the go to girl Erin, if she thought Thom Filicia would be willing to get dunked, she said she would ask...and GUESS WHAT, he said yes!


He's going to dress in a suit and tie and let whoever wants to meet him and dunk him!!

So please, come join the fun, we promise it will be fun, lots of people helping, lots of laughing and lots of haircuts!

And one day, we can all sit up at the new park and know that we had a little to do to make it what it is!

P.S. Bring lots of money!...LOTS OF MONEY;) and please pass this on!

Very "Pin"terest - ing!

Oh my did I find a tool that is changing the salon and consultations! We've always talked about taking old magazines, clipping favorite styles, looks, color inspirations...We're always talking about recipes with clients, but Oh where did we see that, darn it, should have clipped it! BUT seriously, who has the time to get scissor out, clip them, glue them or stick them into a book. It was a great concept I had at a meeting, but we just never had the time to do it.



THEN....my good friend turned me on to THIS. And now, it's so simple, literally takes seconds and we can collect all our pinned items here. So don't be surprised, if the next time you come in and have told us in the past, like Donna Adamo just did, "Next time I come in Sam, I'm all yours, you can do whatever you want, I'm in your hands!" (She said she has never done that with a stylist:) SO, from that appointment until her next ap
pointment, Sam has been collecting looks for her, color options, cut options and she will have her own special board!




So the concept is this, a virtual bulletin board, with different categories that you create. Please take a look and for goodness sake, make your own pinteresting board, if you need an invitation, reply back, it seems that is the quickest way, as if you ask for your own, there is a bit of a waiting list!

Have fun, browsing at ours, and it changes every day! If you need a tutorial, feel free to come in and I'll sit down with you and teach you:)

Why I love our village...

This village is special, no doubt about it. It's mainly the people, they exude kindness and support. We are all there for eachother, no doubts. Simple things make us happy, it's a great place to live!

Let me share this "around town" scavenger hunt that the sweetest soul ever did for her daughter..A few of her favorite things around town, including our very own Bijou.

THIS IS LOVE~

New and familiar faces...

Okay, I do solemnly swear to give an update on each girl. BUT since it's summer and we can hardly breath..(Thankful for that btw:) I will start with names first, hopefully this will suffice until we can get proper introductions in case you have not met these lovely girls yet!

Starting in the back row from left to right: Kara, Miranda, Amanda, Christina, Kim (Moi) and Courtney
Front row, left to right: Taylor, Lori, Samantha and Jolene (yes I want to sing Dolly Parton's hit too;)

Great crew, along with our new full time front desk coordinator Andrea (Grandinetti) Brzostek, and part time Ellen and Tammy!

Shiney new faces, some old familiar faces..All happy and striving for one common thing, to be the best at what we do!

Tis the season…for frizzy hair!

Whether it’s sunny and humid or rainy and humid or cloudy and humid, summer is never good news for the silky, shiny tresses that we all yearn for, BUT don't worry, we have some products for everyone!

While as of today, chilly enough to wear a small jacket...yes, it's mid June..humid weather is just around the corner, and our clients are requesting frizz-fighting products, so I thought I'd share with you, some daily advice we give to all our favorite people!

On super hot days, avoid the blow dryer all together, especially if you have don't have air-conditioning inside. If your hair is on the longer side, use some leave in conditioners (my personal favorite one is Eufora leave-in) or Moroccan oil and braid your hair, down the back, a french braid, two on the side...when you take it out later,you’ll find yourself in happy low-frizz territory because you let your hair dry in a controlled environment.

If you want a really easy day, wash your hair in the morning, put leave in conditioner and a setting glaze (Eufora is the best one) and towel dry your hair, get some small clips to clip some big Gizelle like curls. (Ah ha...you are wondering what those are, well you will have to come into Bijou and we will show you:)

(See, like how they used to do it;)


Next, apply some sunscreen...(to your body and face silly, not your hair, you should be purchasing products with sunscreen in it, most of ours do!) Now go sit outside and relax for the rest of the day ;) oooh and sip something good too while you're at it! When you're nice and relaxed, bronzed by the sun and have had good thoughts all day, come inside, let your clips out and use some Aveda anti- humectant pomade to make your Giselle like curls smooth and shiney!




If you really insist on trying to battle the humidity and using a blowdryer, consider investing in the Simply Smooth Keratin Treatment and check out Bumble and bumble's "GROOMING CREME" and "LEAVE IN CONDITIONER" applied while hair is still wet. Then fight back humidity with Bb's "DEFRIZZ" (the ultimate frizz-warrior) after your blow-dry.

Acupuncture at Bijou?

I love how the world is constantly revolving. People you meet years ago, that you think are neat and interesting individuals, the ones that stick in your minds and after losing track of what they are up to, years pass by and suddenly they re-enter, and you think, ah ha, there they are!

I always find that the ones that stick in my head somehow, always re-enter. And sometimes I feel myself knowing that they would.

Which brings me to tell you about the latest service we can offer you. Have you ever wondered about acupuncture. Yes, I KNOW...the thought of it is a little scary! BUT trust me, it's only because you don't "know" about it. The fear or apprehension of the unknown. I once threw my back out terribly, this was suggested to me and willing to try anything, but a teeny bit afraid, I threw caution to the wind and tried it! The needles are not really needles per say, they were so small and thin that you couldn't feel a thing. I enjoyed the whole process and had I not been in so much pain, would have enjoyed the relaxation even more. Read more about it here, here and here.

My nephew, probably about 7ish years ago, lived with me and was dating a really sweet girl, she had a brother who was going to college in Montana that came back for occasional visits. Since my nephew was living with me at the time, I met him too and I remember he was so interesting because I gathered that he was studying Eastern type medicine and that he had been in college for a long time and would be in college for an even longer time. Well that brother of the girl (that I wish was not the ex of my nephew:) just finished at the NY chiropractic college, finishing his Masters degree in Acupuncture and before he returns out west, he wants to spend the summer in his hometown! Lucky us (I really am lucky when it comes to things like this, I would have never sought out an acupuncturist, but since everything happens for a reason, someone that is affiliated must "need" one:) , he came to Bijou to ask if we would like to offer this service for the summer.

So we had a chat and I suggested some ideas for letting you experience it. We have a couple of events coming up. The baremineral event on May 20th and an Aveda event on June 1st that he will be hopefully attending. We will also set up a whole Sunday where we will be having a contest of some sort to let a certain amount of friends of Bijou to try it. I will have a jar to enter names and you can also enter your name on facebook, watch out for that!

So please, read on and learn about Michael Peluso and ask any questions you'd like about acupuncture!

What is Acupuncture and How Can it Help You?

Acupuncture is one of the oldest medical practices in the world. It involves the painless insertion of tiny, pre-sterilized, single-use-only needles into key points of the body for the purpose of correcting energetic and hormonal imbalances which can lead to illness. Acupuncture has been continuously practiced and refined for over 2,500 years. Because acupuncture is holistic in nature, treatment focuses on the entire person and consequently, ailments or conditions which may not be the main focus of the treatment are often alleviated or corrected as well.

The World Health Organization as well as the National Institutes of Health concluded that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of: back pain, knee pain, neck pain, shoulder pain, elbow pain, wrist pain, headaches, nausea due to chemotherapy, menstrual disorders, allergies, stress, anxiety, depression, even high blood pressure as well as a wide variety of other ailments, so don’t be afraid to ask!

Many patients find the experience of acupuncture so relaxing that they fall asleep during treatment and wake feeling rested and renewed!

About the Practitioner

Michael J. Peluso, M.S., L.Ac., Dipl.Ac is a graduate of the Fingerlakes School of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine of New York Chiropractic College. He is a licensed and board-certified acupuncturist. Acupuncturists must complete a rigorous 4 year graduate level medical education which includes the study of anatomy, physiology, chemistry, pathology, and diagnostics as well as intensive study of eastern medical theory and application. Michael also completed 5 clinical internships including one at the Veteran’s Hospital in Canandaigua, NY where he treated a variety of patients with emotional and physical traumas from armed conflict, as well as 4 internships in two integrative medicine centers alongside chiropractors and other health care providers.

Easy updo you can do at home!

Tired of the messy pony tails and buns? To me, they are getting old, I feel like the polished look is right around the corner. But still simple..

Here's how you can create one at home!

1. Smooth hair back with a FLAT BRUSH into a low ponytail in the back or off to the side, securing with an elastic band.

2. Smooth a dime-size dab of Bb GROOMING CREME throughout the lengths of the ponytail for soft, smooth control...with shine!

3. Braid the ponytail and wrap the braid around the base of the ponytail, then tuck the ends under. For a slightly messy look (start with Bb sea spray before drying), you can take your pony tail, divide it into 3 sections to get it ready for the braid and "rough" up each section with a pick or teasing brush, smooth the outer layer out gently to keep the "poof" and proceed with the braiding. Do whatever you feel like or whatever your style is!

4. Finish with Bumble's SPRAY DE MODE for perfect hold and shine!

As always, if you need help, at your next appointment, ask your Bijou girl to help you with this easy trick, that way you can wow your friends at the next event you go to!

Simply Smooth keratin treatment

How did our lovely Bijou model go from her BEFORE to her AFTER???? SIMPLY SMOOTH Keratin Treatment...that's how.

Keratin treatment is the new buzz word on the streets and in salons. Many of us have struggled with hair that just won't behave due to curl, kink, over processing or simply~age. Keratin is a protein that naturally coats our hair from birth and that over time breaks down which allows splits in the cuticle which leads us all to questions, "Why can't I have hair like when I was young?".

There has been some concern over the formaldehyde content in some of the Keratin treatments that were initially introduced to our industry but with our clients and stylists best interests (and health) in mind we did extensive research and found SIMPLY SMOOTH! It is Formaline Free!! (approved by the tough nuts at Health Canada). It is also the highest quality and purest keratin that is more compatible with human hair and actually goes deeper into the hair shaft leaving your hair smoother longer (from 12 to 16 weeks if maintained properly). Vitamin enriched apple pulp is one of the key ingredients, along with two types of keratin, that allows the molecules to sit both inside and outside the cuticle to create greater smoothness.

As if that wasn't enough.....SIMPLY SMOOTH also restructures and reconditions hair fiber, adds shine, makes hair stronger and humidity resistant. What more could you ask for!

Anyone can use Simply smooth and all types of hair can benefit. It is compatible with other products such as thio straightners, relaxers and all color, including lightners. You would however want to get this done directly after a color to LOCK the color in! (another great benefit!)

Guess what is THE hottest thing? Feathers and Tinsel

Get them both at Bijou salon in Skaneateles!

Hair tinsel is that little sparkle you see in women's hair, it's incredible how many people have been asking, I've seen it on the red carpet, we actually add sparkle (glitter and hairspray) to our littlest guests almost all the time when they come visit us, this is just like it, only lasts slightly longer and any age can wear it!

Oprah mentioned the new product on her show in January. The new hair bling goes by names such as; hair flairs, hair shimmers, bling strands, hair glitz, and hair tinsel which is the standard name they seem to go by. The tinsel has also showed up on the red carpet like Beyonce and also in Adrienne Maloof's Hair from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. It's fun and hot and most important, super inexpensive, $2 per strand!

Now, the feather extensions, I saw these first on Steven Tyler on American Idol, I immediately thought, oh I remember getting those in the 80's at carnival's, I loved them, they were on roach clips...WELL, guess what, they have been improved, you can purchase them on little clips so you can wear them when you want, or you can be really daring and get feather extensions that Bijou will apply directly in your hair!

Among the celebs sporting feathers are Reese Witherspoon, Blake Lively, Selena Gomez, Fergie, Cameron Diaz, Lea Michelle, Hilary Duff, Taylor Swift, Christina Aguilera and as I mentioned, Steven Tyler!

No longer the chunky clip-in style, these are thin and styled along with the wearer's hair! They look totally natural....in an "uber-fashion-way"!

Designers like Betsey Johnson, Juicy Couture and Alexander McQueen are just a few of the A-List designers hopping on the FEATHER EXTENSIONS trend!

The best thing about these feathers is they can be WASHED, BLOW-DRIED, STYLED and even CURLED just like your hair.

Durable and low-maintenance, they are easily installed, removed and reset in 5 minutes! Installation and removal causes no damage to hair, and they last up to 3 months!

Bijou will have the clip in feathers on sale for $25 starting Tuesday April 26th and the tinsel and feather extensions will be available next week!

Joelle's french bistro

Have you had the food at Joelle's french bistro?? Not the hoity toity french cuisine, where the bites are like mouse bites. BUT real french cooking and even a bit of Moroccan twists! It is truly my special place to eat, and I have a lot of places that I really enjoy, but going to Joelle's is like visiting family, they are special and make you feel that way.

Now is your chance to try it if you have not . During the week of April 25th through 29th if you visit the restaurant you will also be helping the Ootm team that is world bound! (of course I made a blog to follow their experience, won't you join us:) 10% of your check will be contributed to the Ootm team. This is why I love this village, she didn't even hesitate and even contacted me on how to help my son and his team.

We can't thank Joelle and Alain enough for being so generous. I know I will be going to have a bite to eat that week! (Wednesday to be exact, at 7pm, join us?) Be sure to get a flyer or print this one out or stop at Bijou salon in Skaneateles, I will have plenty of them there!

Thank you and enjoy the dinner, here are a few pictures just to get your taste buds watering!

Inspiration - Part two

One type of inspiration...

So to inspire my creative mind when it comes to hair designing, I mentioned that most of us find inspiration everywhere and anywhere, sometimes in the least expected places.

But there are other types of inspiration depending on what is important to you, the older and wiser I get, the things that inspire me are people.



For me, this is something that I guess has always had an impact on me, even from a young age.

Starting with my Mom and Dad, I remember my Mom always volunteering, so much at school, she was room Mom, the art lady in school, they volunteered at church and even now she has a special "senior" who she visits and takes places.
I remember my Dad and the company he ran, he was known to be really tough on his employees, and he expected only the best, but he worked really hard and fought really hard to have nice things for them.


I get inspired by good people, people who do good things, are good friends, have ethics, strong character and sound morals. I'm inspired by how they have come to be that way, rarely do people just start out that way, usually its a winding road that gets them there. I'm inspired by people's stories, by their hardships and how they came out of them. I believe that mistakes are essential in life, and when you learn from them, they are golden medals. I've made mistakes, everyone has, we live, we learn, we fall down and wipe ourselves off, we jump and sometimes build our wings on the way down.

Thomas inspires me, my friends inspire me: I thank heavens every day for those friends and new friends, even old and dear friends. (I'm not calling any of my friends old;)

In my business, we have some really great icon's and undoubtedly they inspire me. Vidal Sassoon is one of them, Horst Rechelbacher of Aveda, Michale Gordon of Bumble & bumble, Don Bewley from Eufora and Frederic Fekkai to name a few. Those are the creators of styles and products.

Now recently there is Tabatha Coffey, every person that owns a business or even just works in a hair salon should pay very close attention to this woman, she isn't afraid to tell it how it is, if you can't watch it and work in a salon, if she annoys you and you can't stand her....I would make the assumption that you are doing everything that she says you should not. It's simple basic laws of professionalism and customer service skills, she knows them and every girl in the salon watches her, we have discussions on her shows, I have pictures of her with reminders..W.W.T.S..(what would Tabatha say?) She is an inspiration!

Another woman is Beth Minardi, a color goddess, truly an inspiration.


While I have been thinking since yesterday about this blog post and a different type of inspiration, I happened to be cleaning up in the backroom of the salon, low and behold a collection of torn out magazine articles that were neatly pinned and clipped for everyone's viewing, some were pinned up and highlighted next to my signs and inspirational quotes.

I was so glad and tickled to see that, because I know...that not only am I inspiring them, but they are inspiring each other. And THIS makes me feel so good! We are a great team at Bijou, so grateful for that!

One more thing, I received this note from one of our dear clients telling me how Jen, our front desk coordinator inspired her, she wrote:

I wanted to have you let Jennifer know that her briefly mentioning her Mother-in-Law's passing has
inspired me to carryon in her place.  Jennifer had talked about how her MIL was a knitter and
that she had done charity for a number of groups including Afghans for Afghans. 
The thought that there was now one less contributor really got me thinking.
I logged on to the A4A website, and sure enough they are gathering newly knit children's items
for a early May shipment to Kabul.
I am now making as many pairs of 'bright woolen mittens' as I can before the deadline.

I thought it would make Jennifer (and her husband) smile to know that I was inspired to pick up
the torch and some little ones
will have warm hands as a direct result of her mentioning her Mother in Law's past good deeds.   : )

What or rather WHO inspires you??

Inspiration - part one

Being a hairdresser these days is so easy, since the internet arrived, it's so easy to be inspired visually. How was it done before? OH yes, fashion and hair has come a long way, since the internet has exploded..it's available to everyone who wants to search for inspiration, a good hairdresser will always be on her toe's, looking for inspiration for each guest!

So, recently as I mentioned before, I had the girls fill out little questionnaire's for our team bio page on our main webpage (they are not completely done, but if you click on each one, you can see what I am referring to). One question was, how are you inspired? All the girls answered various ways of being inspired, but I know one way is internet, this was one reason I got an ipad in the salon, to be able to when taking a break, do a bit of research as well, food for the hunger.

I was thinking about color specifically this dreary morning. (Which did I mention as I speak, it is snowing? Oh yes, big fluffy flakes. I'm not sure if anyone has told Jack Frost, but it IS April, the robin's must be so confused and cold!)

Okay color...So sometimes I'm inspired by nature, I can look at a wood grain, especially cedar...and when I have someone with red hair, I cannot resist to add some really subtle grains of blonde in it. I mean look at all the possibilities of color in nature!!Stunning, right?

Some of the other girls will just go to pictures of color, just Google things like, blondes with lowlights, dark hair with highlights, or multi color highlights. Literally it's like a magic 8 ball for inspiration, google answers all questions, gives you a fistful of answers or examples and voila, inspiration!

Not to mention blogs. I heart blogs, take a look at this one, she is a great, and I mean great fashion expert with a flair for writing, and other bloggers, even from Italy, who get inspiration from reading those other ones. Careful, they are addicting!

My point is, inspiration, I have found is, everywhere, there is no excuse for not being inspired, just open your mind and let it wander:) but my question to you is...

What inspires you?

Next I will post about what...or WHO inspires me..so the next question will be...(I'm sure you can guess:)

Bangs or no bangs?

So as I am sitting here on this dreary "spring" day...The so-called Spring day in Upstate NY. No really I prefer to be positive. (Must repeat several times to believe) I was trying to figure out what in the world to blog about. Usually, I'm blogging in my head daily, and when I sit at my computer I have plenty to say, even whipping out a few blog posts for the week. BUT today, the weather has me down.

So to inspire me, I started researching what is in style currently, on my mind specifically was bangs, or fringe, whichever you prefer to call it. I've had several clients that have worn their hair without bangs forever come and insist on me giving them bangs. And even myself, am toying with the ideas of cutting a section of bangs. BUT the dilemna is what kind of bangs, I mean it can get overwhelming to decide. I found this great blog, this girl took pictures of celebrities wearing fringe or bangs and put it next to pictures of them without the bangs/fringe. I'll have to start doing that.

While I am writing this it is making me think of the series of questions I passed around to the Bijou girls for our team bio's page, I wanted to really hone in on what people are looking for in a stylist, and ultimately while I believe it takes talent to make a client happy, it also takes a like minded individual to please them. I can see it when I think of my own clients, they are all similiar in some ways to me, so I may be wrong, but I believe it's a bigger personal connection that allows a client to see a stylists greatness. I say this all the time to new clients; I could be the best hairstylist to my client 'Judy', and she could recommend all her friends, most likely they will like me too, but her friends that are not that much like her, may wonder what the heck Judy see's in my skills. I believe (I may be totally wrong) that talent is subjective to whoever is the judge. The exception to the rule is someone who really does not know what they are doing, I've rarely worked with someone like that, but judging by some of the mistakes we fix from various places, I have to believe they exist, or it could also be a communication error, maybe they said symmetrical, but the stylist heard asymmetrical. It's so much about communication. Oh my goodness, I have to stop digressing, do people actually read all this? Ok back to the subject at hand.

BANGS or no bangs?!

So the trends still are all over the board, but I will tell you, a lot of people in upstate New York are choosing to cut those long layers shorter in the front, the side bang is still popular, but it is going shorter, some people are opting for blunt bangs and some are really going for it with short and textured bangs. I think we are passed the era of only one thing is popular, I mean really people wear bootcut jeans, capri's and skinny jeans all in the same week (when originally it was spanned over several different decades), so where are the rules and who really follows them?

Sharing and taking the long way to telling a story, it's all good!

*Be forewarned...this is a post that may ramble..quite a lot!

If there is one thing that I can say about myself, it's that I love to share. (I also love to connect people, and used to love matchmaking, but I can admit I'm not all that great at that..but connecting people..yep, I'm great at that..that's a whole post on it's own!)

When I like something, I can't shut up about it....I find a restaurant that I love...(here, here and here..oh and here..just can't resist to tell you about here too)...I'm telling everyone, I find a product that works in my hair...(like this one, that one, or no, this one!) ...everyone knows about it..I finally find shoes that are comfy and trendy...(they are here, and these too)...everyone that can hear me shout it, will hear it!

It becomes obsessive, I need to tell everyone!...Songs, (you hear them all at the shop).. tv shows, (I'll talk the whole time about Glee or Kyle XY if I think you're interested) movies, (foreign movies that I love)...Books...documentaries, theories, conspiracies..I'm sharing with everyone...You can thank my Mother for that, she gave me the gift of gab and she may be the only person I know that can talk about everything and nothing, better than me.

Hmmm, I've mentioned plenty of times, that I digress. As Thomas would explain it, when telling a story, I stop here, smell these roses, pet that puppy, buy a cocoa...then finally get to the point, painstakingly..much later than most people would like:) Which is why I always add pictures, a picture speaks a thousand words, if you care not to read mine..

Okay now where was I? Oh yes (see Cindy, I do babble too and that there punctuation/grammar is atrocious) oh la la... not there yet, but wait, have I mentioned blogs or people that I adore? Like this guy...he's my new inspiration! (I'm getting closer to my point of this whole post, I swear..I can hear the ending of this post..saying warmer, she's getting warmer..HOT HOT)...just read these blogs, one, (the writer of that blog is the one who is featured on this video and who also helped me design Bijou) two (so excited to just find his, can't wait to catch up and follow that one;) and three.

So all of that brings me to my favorite new obsession. It's like people watching, or people creating, bringing a picture to life, by one of my favorite people, her name is Hetty Easter, a third generation Skaneateles girl, who is a classic artist. You can contact her here and contract her to do a photo of your choice, by clicking here - I love it when I see people I know on portrait a day!!)

We hope to be working on a Bijou project one day soon, when both of our busy chaotic lives grant us that wish. It will involve a contest or something fun!

She will be donating a portrait a day (meaning you will get to give her a photo that you choose) to the Odyssey of the mind fundraiser, because it would not be keeping in the whole theme of this post if I didn't sidetrack to say, my oldest son's Ootm team placed second at the state finals and he will be attending the world championship for Odyssey of the mind at the University of Maryland, this will be his second time, the last time was in 2007, before I opened Bijou and started this blog, I had done a blog for their team, we go back and look at it every once in a while!

(Just a tip for this "loaded" post, when you click a highlighted word, don't get lost, come back with the back button, it's fun:) explore a little!)

And by all means, enjoy the little movie of Shelly, here is the original photo that I took, it's to show you comparison of how great Hetty is!