Creative Art, Delicious Food

I love food. Correction, I love good food. Catering as a whole has become an artful masterpiece on a plate. Guests are always curious about what is going to be served at an event. When planning your menu for your event keep these things in mind:

Organic, Vegetarian & Vegan are words that are caterers are hearing more and more. I think this is great that caterers everywhere are accommodating to the needs of every guest.

Make your menu interesting. Add new twists and flavors to your food. South American dishes are a great way to introduce new flavors to your food.

And this is my favorite of all the new trends in catering and that is the dishes are shrinking. I personally enjoy smaller desserts.
Bon Appetite!

Bridal Show

The Kentlands Mansion presents thier Spring Bridal Show. The show will be held this Sunday, March 30th from 12pm to 4pm. The mansion is located at 320 Kent Square Road in Gaithersburg, Md. Admission is $5 per person. For more information please visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/kentlandsmansion

HAPPY EASTER!!

Happy Easter Everyone! I hope you all are having a wonderful day. Here are some photos of the boys. My oldest is Kevin (13), Jordan (10), Xavian (5) and the little one is Tylen (3). I always said if Ty would have come first, no one else would have made.

Springtime In the City

In just two short days we will welcome spring (YEAH!). I am tired of the cold weather and could use some temperatures in the 70's. On the other hand, with the flowers in bloom and the wonderful green grass growing, my precious children as well as myself have awful allergies. The sneezing, itchy, watery eyes do not make for a pleasant spring. But I still love the flowers and the green grass. And it means love is in the air as we emabark on wedding season.

Spring in DC also means the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Chief horticuturist, Rob DeFeo predicts peak bloom for the Yoshino cherry trees to be March 27-April 3, 2008. I am hoping to get the boys out to the festival this year. They are such troopers having to put up with a mom who is an event planner.

Nats Stadium

The new Nationals Stadium is scheduled to open on March 30, 2008. If you are a baseball fan this is the night that the Nats will be playing the Braves. You are probably wondering why I am talking about baseball (absolutely am not a fan of baseball) but I do love unique meeting places and that is exactly what the new stadium means to me. A new location to host events!

With it's cutting edge design and state of the art audio and video technology this makes a great location for your next event. Take a look!

Calling all Interns

I receive resume upon resume for individuals seeking employment with our firm. It is our firm's policy that you begin as an intern with our company for a full year before being considered for a position at our firm.

We are currently seeking to hire 2 part time interns to assist us for the summer of 2008. This is a non-paid position. Candidates must be organzied, detail-oriented, have an outgoing personality, flexibility and reliable transportation.

If you meet the criteria above, please forward your cover letter and resume to info@eloquentimpressions.com and please include your availability.

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted.

New meeting Space

New luxury hotel in Alexandria, VA offers new meeting space. The Hotel Monaco offers over 5,000 square feet in seven event spaces for your next meeting or event. The hotel is located just 10 minutes from Washington, DC and a short distance from Reagan National Airport. This space can accomodate up to 200 guests for meetings, weddings, corporate or other social functions.

I'm back

As an event planner it is a must to attend educational conferences, seminars and workshops throughout the year to keep up with industry trends and increase your knowledge in the industry. This past weekend I attended a conference in Providence, RI. I had the a great time and I always come back with so much more for my clients. Photos will be posted in this section soon!

~Jacinda

Favors

THE KATE ASPEN COLLECTION is fabulous. I love their collection of wedding favors and baby shower favors. Check out the photos below for yourself. They also carry favors for sweet sixteen parties and girl's night out. You can view the entire collection at http://www.kateaspen.com/.

Favorite Spa

Planning events can be exhausting, thank goodness for the wonderful world of spas!!!! I love to go and enjoy the spa. Rest and relaxation is a must in everyone's calendar. I wanted to share with you one of my favorite spa's in Washington, DC-The Spa at Mandarin Oriental.

The spa is 10,500 square feet of pure luxury and indulgence. As a guest of the spa you will find everything you need right here to feel like a pampered princess. The ambience is Zen-like and the fragrance of the Mandarin's signature candles are sure to create the ultimate mood of relaxation. The spa using ancient and contemporary techniques to place your mind, body and spirit into a realm out of the ordinary. I encourage to take a break from the hustle and the bustle of everyday life and step into a world all of your own.

What's Hot

The lastest trend in the event planning industry is Going Green. What does this mean? Planners all over world are planning their events with a more eco-friendly mind. The term going green does not mean that your event colors will be dazzled in green linens and plants will be exchanged for flowers as centerpieces at your event, on the contrary we are just trying to do our part in creating a more enviromentally friendly world.

Eloquent Impressions, is doing it's part by not using as much paper and sending most of its correspondence by email. Using less paper means saving more trees that help to produce oxygen. While planning your event think of some eco friendly ways you can contribute to the environment.

Cup Couture!!

Yes that is right, the title does read cup couture and their the latest fashion for your hot beverages. This is the world that we live in today and I love it! Gone are the days of the ugly brown or boring white sleeves for your hot beverages.

The best part about cup coats (drum roll please) they are reusable. They can be used over and over again. My personal favorite cup coats are the diva collection-go figure.

Would you like to have cup coats at your next event visit www.cupcouture.com

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentine's Day! My day was a little more practical I got up at 5am as usual, it is about the only time I have that is quiet and uninterrupted. I woke all of my valentine faces and got them ready for shcool. By 7:45 am we were off to drop off the first child then back home by 8:20 to whisk the next to preschool. Then it was off to the office to work and back to preschool to pick up the little munchkin. And off to afternoon pre-k for child number three. Back to the office to check and respond to emails and make phone calls. All the valentine's day parties began at 2pm and of course what kind of mom would I be if I weren't there, so it was off to the elementary schools to watch the teacher's give my kids massive amounts of sugar and then prepare them to go home. This really does happen.

Anyone tired yet from reading that ridicoulous schedule I keep. Awh, the sweet life of motherhood! I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world, my precious valentine's.

Walk, Don't Run

On June 26, 2008 The Crohn's & Colitis Foundation of America is planning their annual walk. If you would like to participate for this event and register your team visit www.cctakesteps.org.

I am very proud to announce that Eloquent Impressions is assisting in the planning of this event. I hope see you there.

Destinations

I had the pleasure of joining several fellow planners at the Destination Management Conference at the Washington Convention Center. The conference began with two educational sessions, followed by a wonderful lunch and the President of the Washington Nationals as the keynote speaker. After a fantastic lunch hosted by the St. Petersburg and the Clearwater Florida Convention and Visitor's Bureau, I walked the many aisles of the tradeshow. It was exhausting yet fun and informative.



I have been loaded down with so many new destinations to offer my clients, let's get ready to take your next conference, meeting or wedding away.

National Women's Heart Health Fair

Today, I had the pleasure of assisting with the National Women's Heart Health Fair that took place at the Verizon Center. Even though the weather was not cooperating I was certainly pleased to see so many people come out and take advantage of the free screenings and information that were being offered. Here are a few facts about heart disease:

• Women of all ages are more likely than men to die of heart attacks
• When woman are diagnosed they frequently have more advanced disease than men
• More than one-third of American wormen are 20 pounds or more overweight

Here are the symptoms (in ABC order to make it easy to remember) which may indicate heart disease in women:

Angina(chest pain) if you experience pain or pressure with physical exertion that goes away when you rest

Breathlessness

Chronic Fatigue

Dizziness

Edema (swelling) particularly in the ankles and lower legs

Fluttering or rapid heartbeats

Gastric Upset (nausea)

Please note that the above list are just symptoms to look for and you should consult a physcian if you are experiencing any of the above. Also, to ensure a healthy heart make sure to eat right, get regular exercise and stress management.

MissNowMrs.com

Okay, all of you brides to be, I know you all are thinking about the wedding plans and your wonderful day but what happens after that is over. After attending the bridal show at the Bethesda North Conference Center on January 20th, we found a way to make changing your name easy. With MissNowMrs.com you can change your name on your social security card, IRS and driver's license without even going to the office (except for the driver's license of course) Motor Vehicle still needs to take your picture :-) They can handle name changes in all 50 states. So ladies take advantage of this opportunity and save yourself time and yes there is a small fee associated.

France, Italy & Spain

No we did not travel to any of these countries but we did taste the wine. Yes, this is one of the perks of the job. I must say I do love being an event planner. Finewine in Gaithersburg had a fantastic wine tasting yesterday and I learned a lot about red and white wines from Spain, Italy and France. Each table was represented by each of the three countries with a wine expert from that country to answer all of your questions and graciously pouring the wine. My personal favorites are the white wines. Fuente Elvira Verdejo D.O. Rueda, is a white wine from Central Spain that boasts with lemon, lime and is excellent with seafood or fresh vegetables. Palazzone Orvieto, is a red wine from Italy, this wine is elegant and has a scent of hazelnut. Palazzone Orvieto goes great with meat. And my favorite wine from France is Jo Piton Coteaux de Layon, this is a red wine and a little sweet and taste's great with lobster!

Keeping up with the technologically savvy

We are pleased to announce that we are official bloggers. Yes Eloquent Impressions is keeping up with the big boys and girls in the world of blogging. Now all of my clients and perspective clients will have the opportunity to follow our journey in the event planning world.

Here's what you can look forward to on the journey:

• Learn about the staff at Eloquent Impressions
• Vendor Spotlights
• What's Hot and What's Not
• Highlights of our events
• ...and much, much more

We hope that you will enjoy learning about the life of an event planner and we welcome your comments and feedback, especially if there's something of interest that you want us to post about. Enjoy!