TCC's 3rd Annual Training

The past few months have been insanely busy, but my Cinderella Company partner, Jennifer and I manage to pull off our 3rd Annual training this Sunday. Although this is our third year for this event, our second anniversary for TCC will be August 12th. Our first party was in Tiburon two years ago. So each year we invite our staff up to Napa Valley for our annual photo shoot and training day. This year our usual meeting spot got booked up early, so we were quite fortunate to be at the beautiful Auberge du Soleil in Rutherford. The day was well, hot--extremely hot. The temperature soared to about 103 and we were outside the entire time! My poor staff really pulled through for us though, but that doesn't surprise me because they are quite committed which we appreciate so much. I think Lisa and Nicole endured the most with their Elphaba and Glinda costumes. Afterwards a few of us took refuge indoors and enjoyed the cool air and an iced drink. One of the things Jennifer and I love about our company is the closeness of our staff; everyone truly enjoys spending time with each other

We've Found Peter Pan!!!

Tim, is the latest addition to my Cinderella Company family. Welcome! He hails from the East Bay and has been brought on board as Peter Pan! He has arrived just in time because with my trip to Britex fabrics a couple of weeks back, we just had a fabulous new costume made. The stars could not have aligned any better for that one! Jennifer and I are so very excited to have him. He has a love for children and comes from a strong theatrical background. He is even a former Disneyland, Tokyo cast member. We are fortunate to have him.

Costumes, Costumes, Costumes

I'm so happy I can cry. Yesterday I spent the morning with my TCC partner Jennifer, down in the East Bay. We spent time sorting through our new costumes, wigs, and accessories. This Sunday is our third annual training day up in Napa Valley, and we are busy getting ready for our lengthy photo shoot. As I looked through the costumes for the first time, I felt like a child in a candy store. Our seamstress did an AMAZING job. I especially love the Tink faerie costumes. Each costume is made out of a silky fabric that has been airbrushed and tiny gemstones have been attached. We cannot wait to unveil everything!

Alice, 2010

As our costumes come pouring in for our annual meeting this weekend, here are a few pictures. Nicole is modeling the new dress that she wore this weekend for one of my regular clients down in Palo Alto and Jim his Madhatter costume. The detail on both is pretty impressive and I cannot wait for the professional photos soon to come.

Felecity, the American Girl

Yesterday I had the opportunity to host an American Girl tea party for one of my regular clients down in Marin. The character was Felecity and the performer Andrea. I always love it when I get to work with my performers because I have such a talanted cast. I find that everytime that I work with them, they give me 110 percent of themselves and for that I am extremely gratful. They also always amaze me with how fabulous they look in costume, wig and makeup. Andrea is absolutely beautiful as an adult Felecity.

The American Girl theme is one of those parties that is near and dear to my heart. I find it very rewarding to be able to convey a piece of US history to our children by presenting it in a fun and magical way. For an 1.5 Andrea did just that with her Colonial storytelling, period props, interactive Colonial games, simple dance instruction and tea etiquette. I hope you like the pictures.

I loved watching how every girl at this party insisted on hugging her goodbye

Happy Birthday Ella!

Faerie parties are my all-time favorite, and today I had the chance to host one for a beautiful little girl named Ella down in Larkspur. The day was beautiful and the garden quite lovely for this theme. When I left my house this morning, the car was stacked full of tables, chairs, teapots, plates, costumes, centerpieces and a fabulous table top tree house. How I manage to fit everything in is beyond me, but I am so grateful that I can. Faerie Rose (Nicole) arrived promptly at the party start and was on hand to enchant the crowd of 14 with her face painting, storytime and beautiful violin playing.

Our New Ariel Shells Are Here!

For those of you who know me, I go nuts about costume design. It's what lead me to have the "Just Breathe" gown from the movie Ever After made several years back. When choosing fabric,

I always opt for quality. So yesterday my TCC partner Jennifer and I, spent the day at Britex Fabrics down in San Francisco. For those of you who know Britex, it is fabric heaven. (Well, for those of us in San Francisco that is.) We spent hours walking through four floors with our seamstress. We were kids in a candy store looking through the finest fabrics and notions.

As we gear up for our annual photo shoot this month, we are busy completing all of our new costumes. This past week our new Ariel shells arrived. We went a little crazy with these. They are custom seashells hand-carved and then molded. Each shell is cast in a plastic resin and is airbrushed and topped off with an abundance of swarvorski crystal and pearls. Since we ordered them plain, we will be have the job of placing the crystals on ourselves. Each set has over 500 stones--ugh!!.