about helenjane.com
I'm Helen Jane, a Napa Valley based entertaining enthusiast who loves cheese, bocce and throwing an amazing party. My personal motto is "inspire creativity through celebration." I think that about sums it up.
(More! More!)
comments lately
- Petit Elefant: That table decor has me swooni
- Mrs. Flinger: I was *just* thinking about th
- Aimee Greeblemonkey: OH. I'm in AWESOME company. Ma
- Aimee Greeblemonkey: Sniff sniff. You made me cry.
- Marie: I'm so honored that you'd list
- Kristen: So glad to see you at Holidash
- Jessica P: Love that stroller!
- cristiano ronaldo hair: Thanks for posting this post.
- SaltyMissJill: And I'm glad that lady is head
- Sara: Delurking to say: This is so g
Bloggers I love to love
September 1st, 2010
Since axing my blogroll and writing all these articles, I realized I’ve been behind in sharing what I love most about the web.
Other people.
Wednesdays are for sharing the links.
This is the EVO edition.
(Ladies I met or reconnected with at that conference.)
1. Greeblemonkey
Aimee is smart, emotionally together and open. Usually, you get two of the three. With her, you get all of them. A visual genius, photographic wizard and all around Good Lady, she’s one to keep your eyes on.
2. Make and Takes
This site makes me happy to just look at it. It’s open and colorful and cheerful, just like Maria. Go learn something fun!
3. Lucrecer B at Art-Slam
Pretty inspirational. Pretty, inspirational. That’s Lucrecer.
How much more can you love that her banner says “She is known as herself?”
(Not much more.)
And to point this camera back to me, I’d like to show you an article I just finished for Holidash.
Throw a Backyard Harvest Party, yo.
And see those veggies shine!
Party: Harvest Stomp at Hudson Vineyards
August 31st, 2010
We have a friend who invites us to the coolest events.
He gets tickets to these locals-only kinds of things,
the coolest winery-owner kinds of things.
Last weekend, we got a chance to attend the Harvest Stomp.
It’s a fundraiser for the Napa Valley Growers Association.
They grow the grapes here in Napa Valley.
(It’s easy to forget that wine is an agricultural product sometimes.)
Hog Island was there, shucking oysters.
You could walk right up and eat as many barbecued or raw oysters as you wanted.
(Since it was about 42° outside, I wasn’t too worried about oyster-tummy.
There were auction lots like turkey hunting on winery property and catered Thanksgiving dinners for 12.
The creativity that goes into these auction lots is truly inspirational.
Erin Martin from Erin Martin Design designed the party look.
She makes amazing interiors, so there’s no surprise she does amazing exteriors.
(Did you see the giant bandannas draped over the roofs?)
All sponsoring wineries had wines on the table.
You get to try more that way.
Table numbers in chalk on brick.
Jelly jars holding flameless votives.
Bandannas for napkins.
(Following #HJEntertains on Twitter? These tips might sound a little familiar 
)
The evening ended with cookies, coffee and a hundred people cuddling around a bonfire.
As all evenings should.
Thanks friend-who-invites-us-to-the-cool-stuff.
You have no idea how much we appreciate it.
(More photos here if you like to look at photos of how we do this Napa Valley style.)
Elsewhere
August 27th, 2010
I posted an article about avoiding five wine disasters at Serious Eats.
I had a lot of fun making some illustrations for the article.
Celebrating friends is fun.