New Years Resolutions - Eat Healthy and Enjoy Life

Eat healthy, enjoy life. That's the motto of the newest and most tasty Dallas Chinese Restaurant on the scene - Ming Place China Bistro! Kari and Co. would like to welcome to the web - one of our newest clients!

We are SO pleased to have provided Ming Place a new website design for their business, as well as a takeout & dine-in menu design.

They're getting RAVE reviews, Ming Place has received 5 Stars from customers on www.yelp.com - here's what some of the patrons have said:

-”…this is the best Chinese food I've had in about 5 years, I'm going to Yelp! it.”

-”This is also genuine cuisine, the owners know their food and this family-owned business is run by the nicest and friendliest people you can imagine.”

-”I have found my new Chinese restaurant!!”

Kristy Yang of Dallas Observer says-
“…the combination fried rice was some of the best fried rice I've had in a long time. Dare I say, it's the best fried rice in Dallas proper? Hyperbole aside, it truly is a great fried rice. The sign of a good fried rice (without a better way of putting it) is if it tastes like the wok. Just like how a tasty cornbread is seasoned from a years-old cast iron skillet, the wok should be the main seasoning component of the rice. The perfect fried rice is a very simple thing, but not the simplest of tasks to achieve. Ming's Place's fried rice allows the wok to do all the work, and it results in a perfectly non-greasy and balanced dish.”


Read more about owners Ming and Grace, or better yet, come on down to meet them personally:

Location:
5715 Lemmon Ave, Suite# 3
Dallas, Texas 75209
Phone: 214-350-8188
Fax: 214-350-8088
email them - info@mingplacechinabistro.com or
Download their menu

Hours:
Monday - Thursday
11:00 am - 9:30 pm
Friday - Saturday
11:00 am- 10:00 pm
Closed Sunday

'Tis the Season to Celebrate the Grand!

WOW! I can’t believe Christmas is less than 3 weeks! If you are anything like me, you are not half way done with your shopping. With so many family members, it hard to find that perfect gift for each and every one of them, especially - finding that perfect gift for grandparents.

You want to make sure the special gift you get for them is EXTRA GRAND because they are…so, well - GRAND! One thing I love about my job of web design is having the “inside” scoop on where to find all the best gifts and interesting, unique products on my client's e-commerce websites…it makes shopping much easier. One of my newest clients that I was fortunate enough to get to create their Volusion store design is Grandma and Grandpa Gifts - an online specialty retailer of boutique gifts JUST for Grandparents.

The idea for Grandma and Grandpa Gifts was born not long after the birth of Kelly and Rob’s first Grandchild, Gianna. It's been a labor of love, a HUGE learning curve - but is now a reality! They are located in Illinois, the company is family owned, and like many baby boomers, they are now celebrating the GRAND!

Grandparents have changed a lot since I had the pleasure of spending time with mine... many of today's Grandparents think 'rocking' means attending a concert or climbing a wall...perhaps with their beautiful Grandchild! They think it's time to break a few rules and some long-held stereotypes about Grandparents.

The principles behind GrandmaAndGrandpaGifts.com:

• Reasonably priced, boutique gifts for today's baby boomer Grandparents

• Every item they carry celebrates the unique relationship between Grandparent and Grandchild

• No senior citizen gifts, kitchen appliances, or household tools allowed

• Some fun along the way while celebrating the Grand

With the upcoming Holiday, you must check out their Christmas gift ideas for Grandparents. Any grandparent will surely enjoy these keepsakes for years to come. And of course, EVERY Grandparent loves to brag about their little “grand” bundles of joy and what better way to show them off? By getting one of their memory books and brag books, journals and/or grandparent picture frames.

Grandma and Grandpa, Nonnie and Pawpaw, Gaga and Gramps will love any of these gifts, so please go check out www.grandmaandgrandpagifts.com today - PLUS - you can get 10% off your 'Grand' gifts (use code: GRAND10) and it just time for Christmas!

Hope you all have a very GRAND HOLIDAY! One of the many reasons we LOVE our job. What an awesome idea - now a reality. It's GRAND!

BEWARE - International Money Order Scam

Kari and Company recently fell victim to an international money order scam. We try to be good, and trusting. Because many times our clients feel uncomfortable doing business with people like us (web designers don't have the best rep for being responsive) online without meeting face to face.

But this time, the tables were certainly turned - and we'll be paying closer attention next time the red flags of fraud come up. Here's what happened:

We received an email from a 'potential client' overseas. We've been scammed before by clients overseas - where we spend weeks working on their web design project and then they never pay us our fee. And since they're overseas - there's really no recourse. However, we gave this potential client the benefit of the doubt (first time).

They requested a bid for a small business website design. We offered a quote, reached an agreement and sent our typical statement of work - and requested our standard 50% of our fee as a retainer of our services. Which brings us to:

RED FLAG #1 - Our 'potential client' immediately said that they could not pay by PayPal (which is what we usually use because it's a safe and secure way to pay by credit card online for services such as ours) . Instead, they insisted that they had to send a 'check'. We were informed that their 'associate' in the States would be sending a check directly to us. We asked the 'associate's name' - we were told it 'not important' - that the 'associate' owed them money, and they were going to pay the fees. This is a HUGE red flag - in many ways - both because the 'associate' was the one paying, and also the 'they owe me money' lie. If someone cannot pay via Paypal, (which is so easy to use) there should be a small red flag anyway. Granted: some companies pay by check - which is why we were agreeable to a check being mailed. In this economy, money is money - and work is work. We didn't want to turn away a project.

So - we gave them the benefit of the doubt (second time) and agreed to allow the 'associate' to mail us a check. We did receive a piece of mail a few days later - and low and behold -

RED FLAG #2 - it wasn't actually a check at all - but rather - a money order. This is another lie - as this was to have been a check. We assumed, a business check - but instead we receive a personal money order. And to make matters more weird - we are immediately brought to:

RED FLAG #3 - the fact that we didn't just receive a money order for our fee, or the 50% down we requested - but we received TWO money orders - for DOUBLE the amount of the total services agreed upon. Who does this? Who sends double the money in this economy? Who has funds to throw around without even meeting someone on the internet? Scam artists - that's who.

We knew at this point - as we did in the beginning - that something was just not right. But - we gave them the benefit of the doubt (third time) because we didn't want to be rude, we didn't want to accuse, and we didn't want to turn away a project.

So - we deposited ONE of the money orders, and contacted our 'potential client' to ask for an address to mail the overage money order to them directly. Which brings us to:

RED FLAG #4: The 'potential client' then said it was a mistake on the part of their 'associate' - and that we should go ahead and deposit or cash the money and wire it to them directly via Western Union or Money Gram.

Simultaneously - we checked with the banks involved (my bank - as well as the issuing bank of the money order) and were told - as we suspected - that the money order was indeed counterfeit.

And these money orders look SO legitimate. They are only off by one tiny number. Most everything on the money order checked out - except for the account that pays it. The scammers are hoping that you'll 'have a heart' (as our scam artist put it), and cash it for them and keep your due part, and wire them the overage. We told our scam artist that we went shopping for Black Friday.

The course of the emails has now gone completely away from the project we were hired to do - and all about this overage and whether it's been wired to them.

They are banking on us cashing the money on our account, then our account gets hit once the banks figure out the money orders are fake. Luckily - we followed our gut.

Hopefully you won't fall victim to such a scam. Frankly, we could not believe we were the target of such a plan, but we have talked to many of our clients and friends - and cyber scams including the "Paypal payment email scam" and "Craigslist scam" are rampant.

What should you do?

For starters - listen to your gut - and know the red flags. In our case - we communicated with our bank and notified the local branch of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. There's not much they can do because things are not really trackable. BUT - they can learn from all the experiences and educate consumers and businesses - as well as individuals to be prepared and observant of such practices.

Truly, I wish I'd listened to Kim and nipped the whole thing in the bud before it all started - because it was nothing more than a huge inconvenience and waste of time and effort. Kim had a very strong bad feeling about it from the start, but I didn't want to seem rude or turn away a project. Turns out, she was VERY right.

Welcome Native Juicer

Doing something good for your body always seems like such a hassle especially in the busy world we live in today. Seriously, you think that a couple of crazy web designers like us have time to stop working and juice? With the new Native Juicer they make healthy simple so we just may - and be the healthier for it!

Juicing is when you prepare and drink fresh fruit juice and vegetable juice. This sounds like a difficult and time consuming task, but after you discover the health benefits you will want to juice all the time and that is why we were so excited to be a part of the site building of Native Juicer!

There are so many benefits of juicing - and we learned a lot while working on this Volusion store design: your body can absorb larger amount of nutrients from liquids rather than solids. So when you compare eating a orange to drinking the juice, your body is actually absorbing more nutrients by drinking the juice because the digestion process is bypassed. Crazy talk right? So, basically DRINK UP.

The second benefit of juicing is a lot of the vitamins that you get from foods are taken away when you cook them.

When you juice, the fruits and vegetables are raw - therefore the vitamins and enzymes that are absorbed are a lot more beneficial to your body. Absorbing enzymes are a key role in your body’s metabolism. When your metabolic rate increases the amount of energy your body has increases too. Therefore, the more energy you have the better off your body is.

For us ladies, and important factor of juicing is that it provides you with healthier skin, hair, nails and eyes (you gotta see to design websites). When you digest Vitamin C and E it helps protect the skin from sun rays. A good way to provide this to your body is to mix blackberries and blueberries together.

With an abundant amount of health benefits for juicing, the Native Juicer Professional Juicer should now be on your Christmas list. Don’t deprive your body any longer, start juicing with Native Juicer today.

Welcome to the Web - Toni Briggs, CPA

Toni Briggs is a Carrollton, Texas accountant - who specializes in tax preparation and filing, payroll taxes and many other business and personal bookkeeping services. Toni graduated from Texas Tech, and received her BA in Accounting, and then her CPA certificate. She also loves soccer, and is on the board at a state and national level.

What's best - is that Toni is my accountant! I was thrilled when she called needing a new business website, because I know how important it is to have a presence on the internet. Toni's a skeptic - so hit her site A LOT and make her a believer!

Welcome to the internet Toni - and if you need any bookkeeping services or tax planning/preparation services - give her a buzz or visit her resourceful new website design at www.ToniBriggsCPA.com.

Got Dessert?

In case you haven’t noticed, the holidays are right around the corner. Wow, how time flies! Need a little help in the kitchen this year? Look no further than Little Aprons - a Dallas Bakery where desserts are made to order with the finest ingredients available.

From spooky decorated sugar cookies for Halloween, to home-style apple, pecan and pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and quick bread loaves for Christmas, Little Aprons Bakery is the best place in Dallas for upscale, decadent baked-goods.

Want to spend quality time with your family in the mornings? Let Little Aprons Bakery provide the strudels, cinnamon rolls, breakfast burritos and casseroles.

As the author of two cookbooks, Tracy, the owner, has been baking delectable recipes passed down from her own family for generations. Not only can she custom-bake just about any type of dessert, her tried and true favorites of chocolate chip, snickerdoodle and oatmeal raisin cookies as well as lemon and key lime flavored dessert bars are to die for. Yum!

The clock is ticking so save yourself a lot of time and go to www.littleapronsbakery.com to check out their menu and place your order today!

Scrapbooking on Steroids

It's a bug blog to fall in love with...

Congratulations to my one of my classmates from *many* days gone by, and scrapbooking sensation - Stacey, for launching her brand new blog called, I’m In Love With A Bug.

What? A bug?

Stacey is in love with the Cricut line of electronic scrapbooking cutters (which she affectionately calls “bugs”) and is excited about sharing her creative experiences, inspiration and tips and tricks with the whole world.

These cutters are like scrapbooking on steroids as they allow you to get amazing creative results with the touch of a button. Stacey actually owns three different “bugs” or Cricut products. The original Cricut is a machine that cuts beautiful designs and alphabets for card making, home décor, scrapbooking, paper crafting, and more. Of course, she never leaves home without her Gypsy product which gives her the ability to design whenever and wherever she wants - at the dentist’s office, grocery store, or wherever she has a free minute and a free hand. And the third “bug” she can’t live without is the Cricut Cake which is specifically designed for decorating cakes, cupcakes, cookies, and confections in no time at all.

In order to marry the visual design of the blog with the verbiage of her topic, I used scrapbooking design elements in the background and recommended that she use video as well as words to educate whenever possible.

If you’re a scrapbooking junkie, be sure and visit I'm In Love With A Bug for a quick fix and put your scrapbooking on steroids.

Congratulations to Ali's Cookies - Best of Atlanta

Congratulations to long-time Kari and Company client, Ali’s Cookies of Marietta, Georgia, for winning the “Best of the Big A” contest by Accessatlanta.com, Georgia’s online guide to what's happening around Atlanta.

The "Hotlanta" resident voter who put Ali’s Cookies over the top exclaimed, “Definitely Ali’s. They are worth the drive to Marietta no matter where you are! I can’t even pick out a favorite, because every cookie I have eaten from there is divine.”

The Best of the Big A is a contest where locals nominate merchants for the best food, festivals and entertainment events. Ali’s Cookies rose to the top and was crowned “Best” in the cookie category.

Ali's amazing gourmet cookies come in more than 20 varieties including THE Classic Chocolate Chip Cookie, Choco Choco Chunk (featured as “Snack of the Day” on Rachel Ray), and Toffee Crunch Cookies – YUM!

Other delectables offered at Ali’s include cup cakes, chocolate dipped pretzels and cookie cakes in 8", 12", 16", 18" sizes as well as a super size 18x24" that feeds up to 60. Ingredients are all natural, preservative free and certified kosher.

Is your mouth watering right now but don’t live in Atlanta? No worries. Navigate your web browser to www.shipacookie.com and have them shipped right to your door.

A Hip Website For A Hip Company

"I want something HIP and COOL." That was Beth Garvey's vision for the InStaff website, and so it was - one of the hippest and coolest informational websites Kari & Company has done to date.

Complete with retro dots and bright colors - the InStaff website was designed around a color palate that Beth provided - a beautiful floral cell-phone cover. "These are the colors I want..." hues of purple, pink and turquoise and bold made for a (if I might say so myself...) stunning website.

And, three cheers for Beth Garvey, CEO of InStaff who was recently named by Dallas Business Journal as one of “Dallas 25 women to watch” - and InStaff is also ranked #4 on DBJ’s list of Largest Metroplex Staffing Firms – so that's a double WHOO HOO!

InStaff is a Dallas- based staffing company delivering exceptional service to both employers and job seekers - and making a real difference in people’s lives. They like to say “we’re in the people business – we recruit, we hire, we motivate and we lead.”

InStaff has been in business for 25 years with offices in Texas, Tennessee, Mississippi and New Mexico. This is not like the temporary staffing agencies of the 80’s. InStaff doesn’t just fill in for vacationing employees – they serve as a strategic partner for their customers. From recruiting and staffing to on-site management and human resources consulting – InStaff is the choice of demanding businesses and industries throughout the United States.

So here's a WHOO HOO for Kari and Company - for unveiling our hippest informational website design to date.

Client Featured As TOP DOG With Volusion

Long time Kari & Company client - Jennifer Kirk, owner of Posh Puppy Boutique - an online store featuring upscale dog clothing, dog toys, pet accessories and more - was recognized by Volusion E-Commerce as TOP DOG with growing sales and success - and having been selected as the official outfitter for a cast of canines in an upcoming motion picture - due out in 2011.

Volusion's press release is right on the money as far as their e-commerce platform being cost-efficient, easy to learn - and hands down - the best way to sell online. Volusion is by far the best way to sell anything online because the store comes packed with SEO features, easy inventory management and order processing - and tons of other great features.

In my opinion - having worked with Jennifer on her designs for the last few years - this site's booming success should be credited to Jennifer herself - as she is one of the few e-commerce store owners who really seems to 'get it' with regard to marketing her site. She's all over the web - and it's due to her hard work with regard to social networking, blogging, internet networking and marketing - and getting her name and products in front of buyers worldwide.

Click here for the press release.

Congrats to Jennifer and Posh Puppy Boutique!

LOVING Blogger Right Now

Ok, I just saw and used the BRAND NEW BLOG TEMPLATE DESIGNER - on Blogger.com - (where I proudly host my own blog) and while I'm a little worried that it is SO easy to design your own blog with these tools - (since I offer blog design as a service) I have to say - it's AWESOME.

You can easily select layout, theme, colors and your own elements such as font colors, background pattern or image - to make your blog stand out and be unique.

It appears - that now anyone can have a GREAT looking blog without any trouble at all - and just a few minutes of fiddling around back-end of Blogger. Could life be any better? Blogger is free - and now you can design it on your own in just a few minutes.

Seriously - With all the different layout, customization options - I can't see how any two blogs could be exactly alike using Blogger's new template design tool.

But certainly - (hopefully) people will still need help with custom graphics and special touches on their Blogger blogs.

If not - I can start selling more WordPress customizations.... :)

Happy Blogging!

SEO, Social Media and Your Website

JUST SAYIN'...

SOOOO many clients ask me about search engine optimization, and then I spend an hour typing out this extensive twenty-three paragraph email on "tips and tricks" to help their site be seen on the search engines. While my typing skills are great, (ok, maybe not great - but good enough) this was taking a lot of my time, and I don't have much to spare. So, I just decided to write a blog post about it.

When I do a website for any client (informational website) I do my best to make sure that the markup is up to W3C Standards, I will plug in the META data, try to use useful file names and all that jazz. And certainly - you can hire me to help you with site optimization.

In fact, I am going to put together a basic "SEO/Social Networking Support" package in the next few weeks to support my clients with who have SEO and social networking support needs. While I can NOT guarantee rankings - I CAN guarantee that EVERY SITE OWNER should be already be making sure these simple (but time consuming) things are done - because along with valid markup and META data, they are things that will help keep your site in the natural running for rankings.

So, before I get to putting together a package - and - if you are a 'do-it-your-selfer' - you can use these tips to start a basic SEO/Internet Marketing plan for your website.

Everything I learned - I learned from trial and error, fiddling around with my Google accounts, and books. Great websites like SEO BOOK (GREAT tutorials, forums, articles tools and such!). Testing what people like, what they don't like - what they click on - what they don't. It's been several years in the process, putting websites online, watching how search engines pick them up, index and rank them - and the parameters that control rankings constantly change and evolve. And - every site and it's needs, target audience, etc - is different. But there are some basic things that I can tell you EVERY website owner should be doing to promote new traffic to their website.

1. Get This Book.
The Ultimate Guide To Search Engine Optimization - this book speaks volumes about both the basics, and tons of tricks to help enhance your site's visibility on search engines. What's best about it - is that it's written in easy-to-read language. You don't have to be a rocket scientist (or HTML expert) to read it. Read it from start to finish - because it covers the basics of beginning with an accessible, optimized website, then on to cover the basics of SEO, (META data, titles, alt tags, keywords, linking) PPC management, (Pay-Per-Click) internet marketing, article writing, and conversion testing and tracking. Jon Rognerud - the author, is quite the expert. And while you're there - sign up to download his FREE SEO Guide, and his FREE SEO TIPS by email. They're gems.

2. Get Online.
Use the free stuff, BABY! Get a BLOG (we can design a really nice blog design for you) - and get on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bizzy.com - create a page (or, lens) on Squidoo - and then (THIS IS IMPORTANT!) spend a few hours every week doing something with it! For your blog - write something about your business. Write something about what you do. Offer a special, a valuable piece of information, educate your reader or audience on something they want to hear. But keep it relevant! Don't be writing about tennis - if you're selling telephones. Unless of course, your telephone is a special telephone that is just for tennis players. Then, share your blog post on Facebook, Twitter - anywhere you can! Scream it to the world!

AND HERE'S A BONUS - Jon Rognerud - the author of aforesaid gotta-have SEO book - is offering a FREE GUIDE to Facebook called FAST FACEBOOK right now on his website SocialMediaYeah.com - Learn how and why Facebook can promote your business on the internet.

3. Get Listed.
Submit your site to directories (again - relevant ones!). Get listed in the general directories (DMOZ is free, Yahoo! Directory has an annual fee) in the proper categories. There are also content-specific directories where you can get listed. For example - Kari and Company is listed in the Website Design Directory. Obviously, I wouldn't want to be listed on the top Hungarian Basket Weaving sites. Find directories of websites that are relevant to your business and check out their listing options. Some are free, some are paid. But even the paid ones are usually pretty reasonable.

4. Use the SEARCH ENGINE's FREE tools!
I am talking about Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools - and most importantly - if you have a brick and mortar - Google Places! (formerly Local Business Center). Sign up for your free account, integrate these free tools (and any others you can figure out!) and do the same thing on Bing.com, and anywhere else you can do it.

Most people don't have time to do all this stuff, and for some people - it doesn't come easy. That is where I have decided to put a package together to support people who own websites and don't have time to track the traffic, write blogs, network and promote. Until then - hope these tips helps the do-it-yourselfers.

Time For A New Website Design - FOR US!

Well, the time came - and so it was - for a website redesign of our own little place on the internet.

Kim was reviewing our site - and our visitors to our site. She felt that our site was boring and a bit outdated. She thought it needed to 'pop' a bit more.

We spend so much time designing other small business websites and Volusion Store website designs, that we haven't even really taken the time to update our site - it's layout or look and feel - in over two years. And you know what - she was right. Our website needed some attention.

So - we took the week and redesigned the website, added some of our favorite colors and updated our content to keep it fresh. We kept the filenames the same, as well as most of the copy - in hopes that we don't lose our SEO rankings. Redesigns can often hurt or 'reset' rankings on the search engines, so we tried to change only the stylesheet and graphics - and then we pruned the rest of the files that were outdated on our server.

Every website needs to be freshened up from time to time. But this doesn't mean you have to totally redesign your entire site. In most cases, you can simply change out a few graphics here and there - change the font, colors or homepage a bit - and your visitors will know that you are on the ball when it comes to monitoring your website and keeping things new and exciting.

We hope our visitors will like what we've done!

Kari & Co. Featured on Core Commerce Design Gallery

Kari and Company is proud to have designed the Fly Jumper site that is featured in the Core Commerce Design gallery. Fly Jumper is a Canadian based company that provides you with the ability to “fly” without getting in an airplane, yes that is right - “fly”!

With these flying stilts, it is a known fact that you can literally jump up to 6 feet in the air! They are capable of powerblocking (a new extreme sport), which is performing the actions of walking and jumping all in one step. The fly jumper makes this possible because they are made of spring loaded stilts.

In need to run a marathon? Why not try it on Fly Jumpers? It was discovered that you can run over 20 miles per hour on them. Now, don’t forget that these stilts are spring loaded and it is very important that you buy the right ones for your weight, otherwise, well you might be spring loaded into your neighbor’s house.

I don’t know about you but on these beautiful spring days, I am ready to “Spring” on outside with a new set of fly jumpers.

To view our work in the Core Commerce Design Gallery - just follow this link and select "Fly Jumper Canada, LTD".

Only The Best For Dallas Interior Designer

Have you ever walked into someone’s home and the home furnishings and accessories literally took your breath away? A space where every piece of furniture is a unique piece perfectly placed, and beautiful art and interesting pieces from around the world adorn the walls? Where everything fits into a clean and distinctive design? If you've walked into a home like this - and you're in the Dallas area - chances are - it was an interior design by J. Douglas Bradford of J. Douglas Design, Inc.

Kari & Co. is proud to present one of our newest websites - J. Douglas Design Inc. - This is the place to visit if you are ready to transform your home into the one described above - you know - the one that takes your breath away.

They offer the most exclusive brands in fine furnishings and accessories, window treatments, fine rugs, and interior design services to help you take decorating your home to the next level.

J. Douglas Bradford has been creating award winning interior designs in Dallas for over 30 years. He or one of his designers will meet with you with one on one during your consultation to help you envision your “perfect” palace. From suggestions on colors & textures, furniture selections, fine art options, window treatments, and accessorizing - J. Douglas Design has it all covered where designing interiors is concerned.

So the next time you have that 'feeling' that transforming your house into a true showplace is what you need to be doing - visit the showroom at J. Douglas Design, we are certain that you won’t be disappointed.

Who Wants To Support A Great Cause?

For most people, our high school senior year holds many fun memories, lots of activities and planning for your future. But, for Grand Prairie High School Senior Alex Puente, he spent a lot of his senior year in the hospital fighting Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL).

Alex continued his fight and graduated from High School as Cum Laude in 2008. Alex pursued his college career and moved forward with his aspirations, but unfortunately became ill in October of 2008 and lost his battle to Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) on October 8, 2008.

Because of Alex’s grace and dignity and his family & friends' love for Alex, a scholarship fund was established to keep his memory alive.

The Alex Pete “Bo” Puente Memorial Scholarship will help a teen have the opportunity to fulfill their dream of attending college and build on their future.

Kari and Co. has been blessed with getting to know the family and Alex through creating their new website design. We feel that while listening to the stories of Alex and how he fought and showed great bravery, we have become better people by knowing his story. And - it's a cause near and dear to our own hearts - as Kari's husband, Kelly was diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukemia in 1997. He currently receives treatment (and a miracle treatment indeed..) from Oregon Health and Sciences University, under the medical direction of Dr. Brian Druker - and is currently at 0% cancer.

Please join Kari and Co. by supporting the Alex Puente family and their dedication and support to the Alex Pete “Bo” Puente Memorial Scholarship. You can get additional information on this wonderful foundation and their upcoming golf tournament by visiting www.apmsf.com.

It has been a wonderful pleasure to be a part of the making of their new website and meeting such a wonderful family.

Greek Food & Great Photography

Kari and Company is proud to have provided the markup for the website design of a brand new Addison, Texas restaurant - Volos Taverna. It's a hip twist on it's sister restaurant - Ziziki's - greek cuisine menu and atmosphere.

What's even cooler - is that I got to meet yet ANOTHER very cool Dallas photographer (maybe I am in the wrong profession - because I am LOVING photography and the art of it these days...) - Matt Callahan. The pics he took of the food at Volos & Ziziki's - seriously didn't help my hunger pangs while testing and validating the HTML for the site.

If you're in the Dallas area - and you're not already a Ziziki's customer, then you need to be. And if you're in and around the hot night spot Addison area - be sure to check out Volos - it's destined to be a Dallas Night Spot.

Zilch Mixers ... a great margarita!

We all know that we love a GOOD Margarita with our Mexican food, especially here in Texas! I am not a stranger to trying out different restaurant’s Margarita’s just so that I know who has the best but will tell you, I certainly don’t like the calories or need the extra calories.

Zilch Mixers is a Sugar Free Margarita Mixers, and they have given dieters and diabetics or people just wanting to watch their calorie intake a exciting alternative! Zilch Mixers are popular on online stores across the country and now available in retail stores all around the US. If you would like to find a retailer in your area visit their website at www.zilchmixers.com. These great mixers come in Gallon packets and individual packets for on the go and travel or just one margarita, just add tequila and water!

This great sugar free Margarita Mixer made their splash in 2004 and has had great success and great reviews. A regular 8 ounce margarita contains up to a whopping 540 calories and 50 carbohydrates. Zilch Sugar Free Margarita Mixers contain zero carbohydrates and zero calories but I will tell you from experience the taste is just the same as a big old wonderful Margarita with all the fixins!

Kari and Co. had the wonderful opportunity to assist in their new and updated website and from experience, a great company, a great Margarita and a great group of people to work with!

Visit Zilch mixers website and see for yourself how great these wonderful sugar free Margaritas are! You won’t regret it and neither will your waistline.

Living 4 Zachary - Stop Sudden Cardiac Arrest

During the last month or so, Kari and Co. has had the pleasure of working with the Living 4 Zachary Foundation. Many times building a website is just that, a website. But working with Karen Schrah (Zac's mom) and the Living4Zachary family has been something that has touched our lives and will forever stay with us. We are so very proud to have been a part of their new website.

Living4Zachary.org is a foundation dedicated to spreading the awareness of SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) in youth.

On April 2, 2009 Karen and Troy Schrah lost their 16 year old son, Zachary due to SCA. He was a healthy, vibrant young man who loved life... and, after a normal off-season football workout with the Plano East Football Team, he collapsed and died. Zachary had no prior history of heart problems an no family history.

SEC (Sudden Cardiac Arrest) IS a silent killer and strikes at least 10,000 young people a year, according the American Heart Assocation. Approximately 28 of our children die each day from SCA and often can be prevented.

Simple heart screening can detect a heart problem in the early stages and can help parents make the best decisions for their child’s health.

At Baylor Heart Hospital in Plano, TX they are offering a L4Z screening for youth for 100.00. You no longer have to wonder, worry and wait, the screening will detect any heart issues and if further treatment is needed.

We have enjoyed our time working with Living4Zarchary and feel that as parents, we WILL live for Zachary and have our children screened and encourage you to as well.

Have a DivaGirl Game night!

All women would like to think of themselves as a Diva from one time to another. When we are little we put on our boa’s, our Mom’s makeup and high heels and strut all around the house dreaming of being a DIVA!

Now, whatever age you are, you can be a Diva~with just a few friends and the DivaGirl game. You can dress up in your favorite Diva Wear and prepare for a night of fun, food, gifts and lots of laughs! All you need is the Diva Girl Game and some girlfriends and you can certainly have a Diva Girl Game Party!

Diva Girl Game is a game that is easy to play, involves things that all Diva’s love ~ champagne, diamonds, red lipstick, sun tanning and big feathery boas! The dealer shows a card and the Diva with the matching card turns it over and the first Diva to turn all of her cards over wins the round! Its not just about the game either, each Diva brings a wrapped “Diva” gift to the party and the winner of each round, wins a gift.

Kari and Co. received a Diva Girl Game in the mail for helping with their new website and we think it is so much fun, thank you Nancy and Liz!