Social 121 In Frisco Delicious On All Fronts

I've been waiting for the opportunity to visit web design client Social 121 in Frisco, Texas. I got to go last night, for their special Valentine's Day four-course dining event - and was thrilled on all fronts. The food was fantastic, the service was awesome - and what's more - is that the whole place just oozed cool, hip modernity and style.

It's an upscale, and super-hip Frisco Texas restaurant and lounge/bar/club located very conveniently right off of the intersected Highway 121 and North Dallas Tollway in the Southeast quadrant. I might have missed it if I wasn't looking for it, as it's tucked back a bit off of the service roads (if you're on the Tollway's service road, it'll be on the right, but it's easier to see, in my opinion - from the access road from 121). But once you're there - you'll never forget where it is - because it's awesome.

We enjoyed the four-course Valentine's Day special menu. Social 121 does this on certain holidays, and you can learn more about these and other events (like sports-watching events, and special dinner seatings) on their website - or on their Facebook Fan page. The sleek atmosphere was warmed up with candles, and made even more relevant to the theme of the weekend by the Valentine's Red coloring behind the wall-length bottle storage area and on the screens all around the area.

We got there a few minutes early and checked out the bar area, had a drink and then were seated in a cozy table where we started our meal with a salad. I had a 'Classic Caesar" - that was fantastic. Every single leaf of lettuce had just the right amount of dressing, as though the whole thing had been done piece by piece.

We had a second course of appetizers. We all chose separate things, the mom's had Southwestern Crab Cakes, Grilled Lamb Lollipops for my husband, and I chose the Braised Short Rib Potstickers - we swapped tastes a bit, and ALL were just wonderful. I am partial to the potstickers of course, and I loved the Asian flair with the beefy twist.

Two of us enjoyed the steak as our main course, and both of us particularly loved the Mixed-Herb Potato Pave. The other two enjoyed the bone-in pork chop - which I did get to try a taste of, and they agreed - was the most tender we'd had as far as pork chops go.

Finally, we stuck with the program of sharability with our deserts - each ordering with intent to share a taste for experience's sake. We had bread pudding, 'love cake' and creme brulee, all of which were great. The bread pudding was moist, laced with cinnamon and the love cake had a scoop of mocha ice cream to give it an extra kick, along with a side of some awesome toffee-ish candy.

As I said - been waiting a long time to check out Social 121. I don't live very close, although I'm not too far either. It was worth the drive and wait, and I'll be going back very soon! Thanks to owner Scott Siers and staff, for making a fun Valentine's Day event for us to treat our mom's to!

Pinterest Holding Interest

It's the newest hottest thing on the internet - it's Pinterest. An online 'pin board' or, as I like to call it - a 'vision board' - where you can identify pictures, and in some cases, 'do' - things, visually - as well as share and interact with others.

Who uses it? It appears that women, in their 30's-50's - in general, are highly addicted to Pinterest. And - with good reason. It's a gold mine for interior design ideas, recipes (here's where the DO comes into play), crafting, hobbies, hairstyles, beauty and fashion and more.

What's great about Pinterest, is that it's not so much 'personal' - i.e. - pictures of the family dog and family outings - but things you can share freely and comment on without worry that you've barged in on someone's privacy. If it's on Pinterest, it's free for the pinning.

Any business value? For most businesses - I think that trying to incorporate Pinterest into your social media strategy would depend 100% on what you do. Also - it MUST be kept friendly, light, family-friendly and social. Certain businesses just do not fall into this category, and are not a good fit for Pinterest. For example - here are some industries/businesses that would do well to consider utilizing Pinterest as a vehicle for viral exposure:

1/ Hair salons/independent stylists: Showcase your work! Get permission from your clients to present your newest creations on Pinterest. Much inspiration for that next great hair-do comes from here.

2/ Interior Designers/Artists/Designers: Here's where you show off your brands, design ideas, colors, palettes, layouts and also offer great ideas to those who are crafty like to do-it-yourself. Even though they do-it-themselves - they remember where they got help and support - and if/when the time comes, maybe your name will pop back into mind. "How-tos" for art/craft projects and interior decor are a hugely searched - so participate with helpful content and gain some (real) fans.

3/ Chefs, Restaurants, Cooks: Share recipes on Pinterest - it's a great source of people who cook EVERY SINGLE DAY - and like above, they'll remember where they got the recipe. What's great about Pinterest - is the viral shareability of this content. Your recipe has the potential to get shared to hundreds of people, within minutes. Talk about free exposure!

4/ Photographers/Scrapbookers: Pinterest is a place for the crafty!! You can not only showcase your work, but also provide those handy-well searched-how-to's to get even more exposure. Play up the holidays and special occasions - Valentine's Day, Birthdays, Weddings - as people are continually searching for ideas and maybe - vendors - for these special occasions.

5/ E-Commerce: If you're selling something in the world of beauty, fashion or style via an online store (of course you know we specialize in e-commerce website design - close shameless plug) - then Pinterest will allow you to 'pin' individual items. Do this when you get something particularly relevant to these industries, or new items - or even if you have something on sale.

6/ Food, Fashion Writers/Mom Bloggers - ladies, unite. 'Nuff said.

And that's not to say men aren't using Pinterest. They are. Just not like the ladies. Plus, for the most part, I know better how ladies think than I do men; and I know this is a smorgasboard of home, beauty and family inspiration. It is what it is, and right now, it's more about the women on Pinterest.

Tips for using Pinterest: Pin Often, pin relevant, take special care to categorize and beef up your specific boards - and add your own description to reach image. Then, share it on Facebook and Twitter, Linked In and anywhere else you can.

There's not a lot of SEO value for Pinterest pins, because each pic pinned has an id number, and nt a real 'title' per-se - which makes sense, because there's just so much content. It's the loyal followers, share-ability and genuine inspiration that exists on Pinterest that make it so valuable.

If you know your market, and pin for them, (and yourself) it'll be a fun and interesting way to increase exposure for your business or your name.

Welcome Generation Flirt - Flirty Intimates and Apparel For Women

Got curves, ladies? Show them off with Generation Flirt intimates and tees!

We have had a wonderful experience with Sibelle - and are so glad they hired us to be their Volusion Designer – Welcome to the internet... Generation Flirt clothing! For ladies t-shirts, tanks, and super-cute undergarments for ladies - this is the place to go. Look out, Victoria's Secret!

Visit The Website - Find Them On Facebook

Sibelle and Josue started in their garage researching the perfect 'feeling' fabrics and even taking sewing classes – they learned all about what makes good quality clothing and what it takes in the clothing industry to be successful.

Generation Flirt has come a long way! For GF, hard work and a labor of love has taken them to a large warehouse where all the products are now made - and we're pleased to announce - a brand new online store. (one of the PRETTIEST website designs we've done to date!)

Generation Flirt clothing is for the flirty, fun and free spirit. Not only does Generation Flirt have great form-fitting sexy tees that show off your curves but there are three types you can choose from – Baby T-shirts, Cami’s and the Swoop low neck t-shirt. The tees appear to be cut longer than typical - which is an asset that many women LOVE in a soft-sexy-tee!

The Generation Flirt panties come is Sassy Chic, Playful Chic and Flirty Comfort.

Visit Generation Flirt for some great clothes for the curves you have and want to show off! Thanks to Sibelle and Josue for their business, and Good Luck!

LipoGarments - Clothes To Help You Heal From Surgery

What exactly is a Lipo Garment? We found out as we began the journey of doing a new e-commerce design for Lipo Garment’s new website with owner, Wendy - and we got to do their new logo design, too.

Lipo Garments products are designed to physically compress a specific area of the body, to resolve pain and keep things 'in place', if you will - during recovery from cosmetic or reconstructive surgery garments such as – c-sections, breast augmentations, breast reductions or liposuction.

These innovative compression garments are made from light weight, stretchy and latex free fabric to assist in effective compression.

The facial compression garment provides compression and support to surgical areas after procedures such as face lift, chin lift, neck lift or any surgeries involving the chin or neck area.

If you have had a recent c-section or having one, we would recommend the Abdominal Binder. Believe us when we say this, you must have this! This abdominal compression binder is a 3 panel, 9” high abdominal binder that is flannel lined. No panel rolling and is available in white. This abdominal compression binder can assist in supporting after tummy tucks, post hernia surgery, c-sections, abdominal strains and so much more!

LipoGarments.com sells their products on the popular Volusion platform. We are pleased to have assisted in the Volusion store design of such a useful and helpful product. Good luck LipoGarments!

New E-Commerce Store Design - ModStraps.com

We're excited to have helped mod. (a very modern designer camera accessory store) move their website to an e-commerce platform by integrating their look into a Volusion store design.

mod. sells hip camera straps, drop-in camera bags, and the best accessory ever for a camera owner - a camera lens cover cap saver - and I must say - these straps are the best made, and the bags and especially the cap savers - are the handiest things ever made for anyone using a SLR camera or digital SLR or SLR style camera. And now, they have fun and fresh camera accessories for compact cameras as well.

All of the mod. products make a great gift for photographer this holiday!

Park Place Dealerships Launches Company Blog

Park Place Dealerships announced the launch of its automotive blog, referred to as "The Expert Blog" following the lead of the company tagline, “Experts in Excellence”.

The blog is designed to provide weekly tips, photos, videos and news/articles on Park Place luxury automotive brands, location news, new and used car sales and service research, as well as local community and event stories. Content will be developed from Park Place members who are truly experts in their respective positions within the dealership. The Expert Blog will provide a platform where members and clients can share and interact with the contributed content.

The blog design makes efficient use of advanced drop down navigation, and interactive and social media widgets designed and developed by a partnership between us, and Lee Chestnutt of Design Chemical. Developed on the popular WordPress blog platform - social media widgets will help make the content more interactive and shareable. We had a vision for a ultra-beautiful and highly-usable blog, and the dynamic WordPress mega menus conceptualized by us, and brought to fruition by Lee - are a huge part of what takes this blog 'over the top'. Thank you Lee!!

Over the last several months, Park Place has made a large effort in increasing exposure across social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Foursquare, and Pinterest. The addition of the blog will make relevant and interesting company and brand news easily accessible to readers. This social media initiative is expected to continue as the company realizes the increasing need for social media interactions and exposure for clients and members. To view the Park Place “Expert Blog” please visit http://blog.parkplace.com.

Saving Taxpayer Money - Lightening The Load On Jail Cells

Pretty cool concept - new site launch this last week - E-Cell - is an offender home monitoring system. What's great about E-Cell - is that they charge the offender for the convenience of being monitored at home. So the costs to Taxpayers and court systems are extremely minimal - if any - and suffering from jail overcrowding declines.

These guys have a state-of-the art call center and the best equipment available (as far as technology) - they provide 24 hour GPS monitoring for non-violent offenders who meet eligibility requirements - and complete documentation for the court system.

And - what's more - is that E-Cell needs sales representatives interested in having their own business. They're offering a business opportunity for great sales people to have their own, protected area to service court, attorneys and offenders nationwide to sell and service the E-Cell system (both the devices and monitoring services).

For more information on the system itself, or the business opportunity in your area, visit their website at www.e-cell.com for more information.

Fall is Officially HERE - Vintage Couture Launch

Well fall is officially here with the launch of the newly-re-branded Vintage Couture, Inc. website. With some of the most beautiful and creative vintage-inspired clothing designs for kids (and now, ladies too!) - Vintage Couture offers very well-made high-end designer apparel.

This year, they've launched a new look with their website design that speaks more to their 'brand' and not so much the season.

Moving forward, look for eye-catching graphics on the homepage, and Fashion Stylists' sites to show off the lines from season to season.

As most of you are probably aware, Vintage Couture offers more than just the super cute apparel. They are also the exclusive manufacturer of Trista Sutter's apparel line as well. In addition - they offer exceptional business opportunities as an independent Fashion Stylist - offering direct sales of the product at in-home trunk shows for hostesses. It's just one more way that Vintage Couture is truly an exclusive apparel line - you can't get it in the store.