Dawn and Elizabeth are Hershey’s Syrup Summer Celebrations Ambassadors.

Celebrate summer everyday! Hershey’s Syrup teamed up with eight bloggers including Dawn and Elizabeth to share their tips and summer celebration stories.

On Friday, June 4th Elizabeth and I were invited to attend The Drop Dead Diva Makeover On The Move and Season Premiere Screening by LifetimeMoms.com .  Also attending were Lifetime Moms, Katja Presnal  (Skimbacolifestyle.com) and Beth Feldman (Rolemommy.com).

The day was filled with lots of Diva Do’s,  like free manicures and pedicures that many New York Divas passing by Bryant Park received as surprise treat.  The day was a hot one (felt like 90 degrees to me) but the hottest part of the day was meeting Brooke Elliot. As part of our Diva Day, we not only had the opportunity to meet her, but Elizabeth got a quick interview!  The second season of Drop Dead Diva will kick off this Sunday, June 6th at 9pm on Lifetime Television.

Elizabeth Talks To Brooke Elliot: As much as I enjoyed the show before meeting Brooke, I love it and her even more now – she was so sweet and sincere and couldn’t have been any more gracious or kind. She is beautiful inside and out and I’m so glad I had a chance to meet her.

I prefaced my questions, by telling Brooke how much we enjoy watching the show and how nice it is to have a show my teenager daughter and I can watch together, not remotely childish, but not too adult. I also shared with her that Party Bluprints designed a viewing party filled with fun tips and ideas for celebrating the premiere of season 2.  You can view the tips and ideas here>

Elizabeth: Party Bluprints designed a party for viewing Drop Dead Diva all through the summer to make it a Sunday night tradition.

Brooke: That’s great, that’s awesome.

Elizabeth: You are masterful at creating a character who is an inner diva with a huge heart.

Brooke: Thank you.

Elizabeth: How do you do that? Do you find it difficult?

Brooke: You know the role is fantastic and challenging. But that’s one of the things I love that you noticed that. I wanted Deb’s heart that she never had to use before; you know there was never anything that challenged her before. So, I love that when she got presented with challenges of what her true heart actually was, and, you know, in Jane’s body having to understand all these different things. I love that you got that.

Elizabeth: You are so joyful and witty, a pleasure to watch. In the clip for the premiere, your guardian angel tells you need to let go of some emotions and you say, “Zanax or Cheese Whiz”, and I just want to leave you with this, for a lot of fans out there, myself included, you are that. Sunday night you tune in and you just feel so good, so thank you. We look forward to watching you all season.

Brooke: That’s great. That’s amazing.

Elizabeth: I just have to ask a question for my partner, Dawn. How was dancing with Paula Abdul?

Brooke: It was really fun and surreal. I grew up listening to Paula. It was really fun to have her on the set.

Elizabeth: We’re really looking forward to the premiere this Sunday night. Thank you so much for your time.

Please enjoy our video montage of the day!

Note: Party Bluprints Inc. is an affiliate of LifetimeMoms.com. However, the commentary portion of this article is not influenced by that relationship. I was a Drop Dead Diva fan after its premiere last summer, prior to the existence of a relationship with Lifetime.

Recently, Foodspring.com™ asked us to participate as 1 of 8 Food Bloggers in the “Most Exciting Food Experience” food blogging contest.  We truly feel honored to be in the company of these wonderful bloggers and highly recommend that you check out their sites.  The contest is being sponsored by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade (NASFT), a non-profit organization comprised of more than 2,700 producers of hand-crafted, natural, organic and ethnic foods.  NASFT is the amazing organization responsible for bringing the food industry together every year with its bi-annual Fancy Food Show.  Now with the launch of their new website, Foodspring.com™, there are more amazing things to come!

Foodspring.com is a new and exciting online food community where both industry professionals and site members can share entertaining tips and recipes; fabulous finds for new and unusual food products and gifts, hot new food trends and lots more.  Simply put, foodspring.com is about great food! Members are also privy to promotions and discounts from NASFT member companies published on the site from time to time.

To read our entry and vote click here>  Partybluprints Blog ’s NAPA Crush!

Our entry will be published on Thursday, May 27th at 11am EST.  You must register at the foodspring site to vote. Voting takes place until June 6 and you can only vote once for each blogger whose story you enjoyed, rating each post from 1 to 5. The post with the most points will be named the official foodspring.com Fancy Food Show blogger and will have an all-access pass to the show.

Where and how do to cast your vote:

Each blog post will have a button that says “Click here to rate my experience”. You must be logged in to your foodspring.com account to cast your votes, and all votes must be received by June 6. You can vote once for each blogger, giving each post one to five possible points. When casting your vote, we hope you are fair and consider the following guidelines: Quality; Relevance to the theme; and Uniqueness.

When the winner will be announced and grand prize:

The blogger with the most points by the end of the contest will win a free trip to attend the 56th Summer Fancy Food Show in New York City as the official foodspring guest blogger with exclusive media access to the show floor.  The winner will be announced on Monday, June 7.

Deemed “the Oscars of the food world,” by Time magazine, The James Beard Foundation Awards are the country’s most coveted honor for chefs; food and beverage professionals; broadcast media, journalists, and authors working on food; and restaurant architects and designers. Last night, May 2nd,  The James Beard Foundation announced the 2010 winners for Books & Media. Party Bluprints attended this invite-only event, and we thank our gracious host, Lenox Corporation, a premier sponsor of this year’s event, for the opportunity to enjoy this very special evening.  Lenox has a long-standing relationship with the James Beard Foundation as a proud supporter and sponsor.  The Manhattan, James Beard House features two of Lenox’s patterns, Aspen Ridge and Tin Can Alley.  Below we have included some highlights from the event. To read and learn more about the James Beard Foundation >

Video Highlights: ( Sherri Chrisenbery, Andrew Zimmern, Kelly Choi, Lidia, Thomas Keller, Ed Levine)

Images:

1.) Elizabeth and Sherri Crisenbery, VP of Lenox Brand

2.) 2nd Course: Redfish Court-Boullion w/ Brown Shrimp and Blue Crab Pearls 

3.) ESPACE NYC venue for JBFA  

4.) 1st Course: Poached Asparagus with Perfect Blonde Vinaigrette

5.) JBFA Medal

6.) Main Course: Braised Short Ribs Baked Ricotta, Pine Nuts Black Olives and Crumbled Feta

7.) Hosts Kelly Choi, Andrew Zimmern and Susan Ungaro, President of the James Beard Foundation 

8.) Dessert: White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Morello Cherries and Cherry Sorbet 

9.) Elizabeth with JBFA Winner Andrew Zimmern     

Here are some of the winners you may know!

• TV Food Personality: Andrew Zimmern (twitter handle @andrewzimmern)
• Food Blog: Serious Eats
• Cookbook of the Year: The Country Cooking of Ireland by Colman Andrews
• Newspaper Food Section: The Washington Post
• M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award: Francine Prose, Saveur, “Faith and Bacon”
• Craig Claiborne Distinguished Restaurant Reviews: Jonathan Gold, LA Weekly
• Website Focusing on Food, Beverage, Restaurant, or Nutrition: Chow.com
• General Cooking: Ad Hoc at Home by Thomas Keller

Woman’s Day Article - 3 Mom Bloggers Share Their Stories > see full story

See how these women turned their passion into a profession. We thank  Katja Presnal of Skimbaco.com for her recommendation of The Partybluprints Blog!

Excerpt….

Mom Bloggers’ Favorite Blogs
See what they’re reading when they aren’t writing

Katja:
ChicShopperChick.com
“Erika knows fashion and is really funny.”

PartybluprintsBlog.com
“I go here to get great entertaining tips”

LifetimeMoms.com
“I’m biased because I’m the Home channel editor there, but we have so many talented bloggers writing great content. I love that I can read about so many different topics on one site.

See our report from the NYC Table Top Market week launch of Marchese By Lenox Colletion at Lifetime TV Networks, Digital Group site LifetimeMoms.com>

A Mother’s Day to Remember Tips

SEE FULL STORY>

View our “Valentine’s Day TIps” and the full article at MoneyTalksNews.com .

To view the video on Yahoo>  GO

Throw A Great Super Bowl Party – On A Budget!

CBS 2 New York > To view full story and video

Reporting Cindy Hsu

If you’re throwing a Super Bowl party, there’s no need to spend big bucks. CBS 2 has tips on how to kick off the big game on a budget, by getting the whole family involved. Get in the game by asking your guests to come in their favorite team jerseys and colors.

“Make it a team effort, you know, tell everyone ahead of time show up dressed and bring your paraphernalia, pom-poms, those little fingers,” Dawn Sandomeno says.

When it comes to food, rein it in.

“Don’t go out and feel you have to buy every Super Bowl food under the sun,” Elizabeth Mascali says. “Pick one dish that’s easy to make.”

Mascali says that, for less than $15, she whipped up a pulled pork recipe with four main ingredients in a crock pot that’ll feed about a dozen football fans. Ask your guests to bring the side dishes, and be specific about what you need.

Dawn, Cindy Hsu and Elizabeth