Come June 12, Working Women of Tampa Bay is paying a visit at Tate & Tilly's, that cool collection of chic boutiques. WWOTB is a group of enterprising entrepreneurs that does what it can, which is a lot, to generate synergy for female professionals and women business owners. As a matter of fact, it’s won a couple of networking awards in a contest sponsored by the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The event at Tate & Tilly’s begins at 6.30 p.m., and it’s called Girls Night Out. There will be cocktails and scrumptious cupcakes courtesy of Li’bb cupcake -- and networking and networking and networking. Oh, and everyone will receive a swag bag courtesy of WWOTB. In case you’ve forgotten, Tate N Tilly’s is located at 14349 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa. If you’re interested, and you should be if you are of the feminine persuasion, sign up here: Working Women of Tampa Bay Networking Event
Sponsored Ad
Sharon Britton, an intellectual property attorney, didn't start painting until a couple of months ago. It came about through happenstance. Her 5-year-old daughter wanted an art show at the house, and Sharon, being the conscientious and fun mom she is, obliged by buying a bunch of supplies. At some point the family decided to do one painting together. Then Sharon discovered a kind of yearning in herself: She wanted to paint something on her own. She did one bright, fantastically-colored painting, then another, and she really hasn’t stopped since. Her husband and two children are enthralled with her work, naturally, but so are some connoisseurs.
On the evening of May 24, you can check out Britton’s art work at Kensington Salon and Spa at 715 S. Howard Ave., Suite 100, in Tampa. There’s a special showing, from 6:30 p.m. to 9, with a complimentary glass of wine. Though showcasing Britton's work is the evening’s primary purpose, there will be a couple of other things you can take in. There will be some clothing on display, courtesy of Urban Body Clothing, which is next door at 711 S. Howard Ave., Suite 100, and whose products we’ve featured a couple of times on townspree.com. And there will be some jewelry on display, courtesy of stella and dot. One more bonus. If you go, you will receive a 20 % off gift voucher for any services you might purchase in the future at Kensington’s.
If the word, ali'i, was used to refer to you in Hawaii and the Samoa Islands back in the day, it meant you were a chief of sorts, a member of the nobility. These folks were said to have divine power, and could remove curses, like an exorcist we're figuring. We don't know about that. But we suspect they were rocking the best sandals around. At least back then. Enter OluKai Premier Footware, a company whose shoes and sandals celebrate the ocean lifestyle (especially their flip flops, which are famous, and which can run $90). It makes sense that such a brand would be sold in the Tampa Bay area since there's, uh, a lot of water around here. On the company's web site, OluKai says it spent years researching the Ali'i, gathering the right materials and, finally, designing a shoe fit for a king (or queen). The sandals and shoes in the limited-edition line were made from the finest leather, and were hand-stitched. See for yourself on the company's web site: OluKai Premier Footware. OluKai says on its website that only a few choice retail outfits have been chosen to sell the shoe (probably because it's a limited-edition series). And Urban Body Clothing Tampa is one of them. The chic clothing store at 711 S. Howard Ave. will have the shoes out for show at a special event this Saturday, March 10, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Out of respect for the Polynesian culture, Hawaiian food and drinks will be served, and cool teak necklaces will be given out as a gift if you buy a pair. You also stand a chance to win a pair of OluKai footware for free just by trying on the new product.
Urban Body Clothing, which sells both men's and women's clothing at its sleek shop at 711 S. Howard Ave., has just received a new line of designer shirts from Georg Roth Los Angeles. These shirts are worn by celebrities as different as the comedian Kevin Nealon, the actor Eddie Judge, and the country western singer Sean Patrick McGraw. These lightweight cotton shirts are very, very nice. Because Urban Body Clothing is a relatively small men's boutique, it's probably best to go to the store, check out the shirts and snatch up one if you like it. They start out at $169 apiece and run to about $200. Like we said, these are very, very nice shirts. Georg Roth was born in Bavaria, Germany, and has been in the fashion industry since he was a teenager. He designs his shirts with a particular lifestyle in mind. He has shirts for travel, play, work, a dinner party, or a pool party. He has been quoted as saying he wants his shirt to put a smile a person's face and make them feel good. Urban Body is a good home for Georg Roth shirts, since the boutique markets its products as "Clothing for the Good Life."
We think one of our merchants – Tate & Tilly, a collection of boutiques at 14349 N. Dale Mabry Highway in Tampa – came up with a pretty nifty idea for a Valentine’s Day contest. In order to win a Chamilia bracelet, folks had to submit stories about their worst Valentine’s Day ever. We thought the stories would turn on weirdness, or bad behavior. You know – “My girlfriend told me on Valentine’s Day she found a new lover and it was a woman” (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Or: “My husband forgot to celebrate Valentine’s Day, much in the same way he had already forgotten Christmas, my birthday, and all ten of our wedding anniversaries.” (Honey, you should have moved on nine years ago.) No. Nothing so salacious as that. But Cindy Hegler Stead posted a pretty dismal tale on Tate & Tilly’s Facebook page. It was on Feb. 14, 1993. She and her husband decided to go out to dinner, taking their two-month-old son with them. But, while Cindy was nursing the infant in the ladies’ room at the restaurant, he vomited on her dress and hair. Her husband came to the rescue, only to find their son’s excrement leaking on him, out of the baby’s diaper. Oh. And they left the diaper bag home. It was time to forget the dinner, and leave. Kathleen Rex-Infelice has a pretty good story, too. Her worst Valentine’s Day was in 2009. On Tate & Tilly’s Facebook page, she said New York had a massive snow storm, with downed tree and wires “all over.” Her husband couldn’t make it home, so she and her 9-year-old daughter tried having a “somewhat” happy dinner picnic in the living room with battery-operated lanterns. But neither Cindy nor Kathleen could beat out Raylene Dewan from Nova Scotia. According to Lisa Demmi, who does some social media work for Tate & Tilly’s, Dewan and her husband were getting ready to go out for Valentine’s Day in 1988 when they learned their son got hit by a car. (Don’t worry, he’s okay). But the story takes the cake. Raylene won the Chamilia bracelet.