The Duel of The Design Designer

If you’ve ever met Todd Pinzuti, you’d say to yourself “here’s a man who was meant to be on television”. Well, guess what? He has been on HGTV as he does a lot of the interior design!

The owner of Bungalow Six is going to be competing against the two “Amy’s” of mimi Design in The Duel of The Design.

Sauve, stylish and super nice!

Not to mention, quite handsome.

Death Becomes Her

This winter has been especially hard on me as I’ve been sick four times now (compare that to the lifetime sum of the flu twice and a cold maybe a handful of times) And getting sick in my industry is especially challenging. Clients try to be sympathetic, but the planner being ill creates so much anxiety.

I’ve been as miserable as I’ve ever been, as I’m not used to being bed-ridden and fatigued. By the way, why is a side affect of antibiotics being knocked out cold? Or am I just especially sensitive to it?

Anyway, to my relief (and probably the relief of all of my clients), the medication seems to be working and I’m starting to feel like my normal self (although, I’m not entirely sure that is a good thing either!), as well as sounding like my normal self (laryngitis is no laughing matter in my line of work).

It’s Better Than a Punch in the Mouth!

A lot of my clients are big fans of Punch Pizza. For those who have some photography talent, click on http://www.ilovepunchpizza.com/

I, unfortunately, do not have any photography talent, so I am going to have to pass on this little contest.

I’m encouraging my clients and my vendors to participate! But only if they send me copies of the photos they submit!

Steak with a Side of Music Please

After months of talking about it, I finally made it to Bennett’s Chop and Railhouse in St. Paul. Tiffany, who interned at The Style Laboratory, seated us in her section after introducing us to her father, the owner.

I started dinner with a hearty cup of tomato basil soup. David and I decided to split a Chop Salad. I’m not a big fan of chop salads, in general, but I have to say that Bennett’s does have a very yummy version(a lot to do with the dressing). I had a petite filet with au gratin potatoes and vegetables (perfectly cooked in that the vegetables were crispy but not raw). He had walleye, which he said was quite excellent. Very enjoyable, straight-forward meal in a relaxed atmosphere.

Tiffany told us about the Friday night Fish Fry (lots of practicing Catholics observing Lent live in the area). It made me think of small town USA (which I miss every once in awhile). I’m going to try to make one of the Fish Fries (its unusual to have a free Friday night in my line of work).

After dinner, we meandered over to the Masonic Temple for the Rock the Cause concert. The Temple is home and studio to a woman and her three children. I just have to say that I felt a little tripped up in the space like we had entered into a different universe.

While the bands were performing, the children were doing aerial acts, as they are training aerial artists. Who knew that there was a school locally teaching aerial arts????

In any case, I think Rock the Cause was able to raise a bit of money, as well as inspire people to get involved.

Attending non-profit events always begs the question.

What are you passionate about and what will motivate you to get involved?

Whew!

To say I had a busy week would be an understatement. In addition to a horrifically busy schedule, I spent the first part of the week fighting off the flu! It would seem that the little bug is flying through the Twin Cities zapping people.

It was a week of birthday celebrations in that friends took me to dinner and lunch and then gathered at my home last night. I love relaxing with friends instead of going out and partying hard.

Michelle and Brian gave me the cutest boxed set of pink cans of champagne created by Sofia Coppola. It has a little straw attached as well…think of an adult version of juice boxes! Too cute!

The presents were nice, but more than anything, my friends’ presence was the best present!

Michelle’s baby bump is getting more pronounced (she’s still so thin!) and I noticed last night that she is the definition of “glowing”. Truly, pregnancy seems to agree with her.

I was with clients this afternoon assisting in fabric and color selection for the groom’s suit. I’ve had a handful of clients go to Heimies Haberdashery and have had pretty good experiences. Upon entering, guests are transported back in time. There is definitely a vibe of a men’s club…partly due to the dark woodwork, but mostly due to the way the staff is dressed in three piece suits, watches on a chain, round spectables.

An old fashioned barber shop is set in the back of the store. I’m asked for recommendations in shops that can perform hot leather shaves and now I can add Heimies to the list.

I’m finally going to Bennett’s for dinner! David and I are planning on going to the Rock the Cause event in St. Paul and thought it would be a good idea to stop in at Bennett’s for dinner beforehand. I’m craving a steak, as with Lent I didn’t have meat yesterday (almost slipped up during a business lunch).

The Duel of The Design Emcee

Lori Bergamotto began her career in the beauty industry at age 19 interning at Glamour magazine. Working her way up, she served as both Beauty Assistant and Assistant Beauty Editor there. Her next stint landed her at Lucky magazine where she served as Associate Beauty Editor and Senior Beauty Editor for two years. In that position, Bergamotto helped oversee and edit all beauty pages, developing their content and layout. Additionally, she worked closely with Lucky’s sales team to develop relationships with advertisers.

Taking a break from the beauty world, Bergamotto’s next project brought her to Italy, where she taught English to the Italian military. Soaking up “la dolce vita”, she freelanced for magazines like Real Simple and The American, and also wrote for the website Gurl.com.

Upon her return to the United States, she took a job as Beauty Director at Teen People where she oversaw the Beauty Department, wrote and edited all of the beauty pages, and did TV for major outlets including satellite media tours across the country for both television and radio.

Since she began freelancing full-time in July of 2006, Bergamotto has helped produce InStyle magazine’s holiday gift guide and written for Real Simple, In Style, San Diego Magazine, In Style Weddings, In Style Makeover, In Style Home, Lucky, and Glamour. She has also taught classes on beauty writing for Mediabistro.com and is developing a teen book project to be published in 2009.

She has been a featured beauty expert on TV with appearances on FOX, MTV, VH1, E!, CNN, CBS’s Early Show, NBC’s Weekend Today, and iVillage Live, as well as local NY network affiliates, including WNBC, WCBS, WABC, WPIX and NY1. In addition, Bergamotto has appeared on SMT’s doing beauty segments. Currently, she’s a contributor to VH1’s All Access and Top 40 Moments programs.

Bergamotto holds a Master’s of Education in Secondary English Education from Rutgers Graduate School of Education, a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Rutgers College, and a TEFL Certification from Interlingue in Rome, Italy.

Miso Mondays

The Duel of The Design Event Designer

One of the competing event designing firms in The Duel of The Design is MiMi Design. The company is headed up by two very creative, very nice designers. So much talent (2006 Ises Award Winners)!

I call them brave, because if the tables were turned and they had approached me to participate, I would have turned them down flat! Instead, when I invited them to participate, with some giggles, they said yes.

I’m looking forward to the competition as I think some major creativity is going to come out!

The Main Reason to Get Happy at Stella’s!

Yes, the happy hour specials are great at Stella’s (especially on Fridays!!!), but that isn’t the main reason to get your drink on.

The main reason I go to Stella’s is I LOVE Janna O’Meara, the sales and marketing director.

I was chatting with Zach from Zeus Entertainment yesterday and both of us marveled over how genuinely nice Janna is. Seriously, how a person is able to be nicer on her crabbiest day than most of us are on our nicest days, I’ll never know.

But thank goodness she is.

The Duel of The Design Chef LaBeau

Jeff LaBeau, Executive Chef and Director of International Chefs’ Culinary Center Operations

• graduate of the prestigious Culinary Institute of America
• trained under Certified Master Chef Hartmut Handke at the Greenbrier, West Virginia
• Chef of the Year, Minnesota Chapter of the American Culinary Federation 2002
• Regional Chef of the Year Nominee 2003
• Co-Owner of International Chefs Culinary Center
• Culinary Instructor Minneapolis Technical College