winning rocks!

Congrats to the big winner of our Party at the GRAMMY^®s sweepstakes, Justin Fratt (pictured above with his lovely wife, Hannah). He'll be getting the VIP treatment at the 51st GRAMMY Awards in 2009 -- two tickets to walk the red carpet, attend the big show and hit up the official GRAMMY Celebration after-party. (We're totally jealous!) It's the perfect prize for this self-described music junkie who listens to everything from country to contemporary gospel to old-school rock.

Keep checking Evite because we've got lots of sweet prizes coming up soon. You could be our next winner!

who loves ya, baby?

Send this Evite eCard!

Love. Whether you're in it, getting out of it or over it, there's a song that sounds like it was written just for you. Here are our suggestions for a Valentine's Day playlist, based on the different moods this day elicits. Please add your own song suggestions in the comments!

The good mood (aka I heart you): Loving You — Minnie Ripperton (la la la la la); Let's Stay Together — Al Green; Never Tear Us Apart — INXS; Lovesong — The Cure; I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend — The Ramones; God Only Knows — The Beach Boys; In Your Eyes — Peter Gabriel; Can't Help Falling in Love — Elvis; Songbird — Fleetwood Mac; I'll Be Your Mirror — Velvet Underground; Can't Fight This Feelin' — REO Speedwagon

The bad mood (aka I hate you): Tainted Love — Soft Cell; Piece of My Heart — Janis Joplin;  Ever Fallen in Love — The Buzzcocks; Someday You Will Be Loved — Death Cab for Cutie; Train in Vain — The Clash; Something I Can Never Have — NIN; I Want You — Elvis Costello; These Boots Were Made for Walkin' — Nancy Sinatra; F*** It (I Don't Want You Back) — Eamon; Love Will Tear Us Apart — Joy Division; Two Out of Three Ain't Bad — Meatloaf

The ugly mood (aka I will die alone): Love Stinks — J. Geils Band; Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me — The Smiths; Somebody — Depeche Mode; Everybody Hurts — REM; Goodbye to Love — Carpenters; Love Hurts — Nazareth; Only the Lonely — Roy Orbison; You Can't Always Get What You Want — The Rolling Stones; I Hate You So Much Right Now — Kelis; Love Bites — Def Leppard; All By Myself — Eric Carmen

question of the week: be my valentine

Valentine's Day is almost here. Can you feel it? Can you dig it?

Tell us what you're hoping Cupid brings you this year — and get some gift inspiration if you're stumped on what to give your loved ones. Choose as many answers as you like....

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bonkers for v-day bunco

It’s true — single folks can feel a little left out of the fun on Valentine’s Day. (Not that I know from experience....) My suggestion? Gather a group of single friends for a rollicking game of Bunco, a dice game that’s a cross between YAHTZEE  and musical chairs and has infiltrated groups of all ages. (It’s not just for the The Real Housewives of Orange County, yo.)

I’m not going to go over the rules because you can get those here. But I will tell you how to throw a totally awesome Valentine’s Day/pink/red/super-fun Bunco party:

can-do cookie recipe

Ready to woo your sweetie on Valentine’s Day with a tasty treat but find yourself clueless in the kitchen? Whether you’re a cooking klutz or just up against the wall, practicality rules. Ingredients that come straight out of the box can be your best friends, as long as you know how to present them. Here’s a recipe that forgoes the fussiness and keeps it simple with only three ingredients.

how many licks does it take to get to the center of a cake pop?

So I love cupcakes. Of course. But sometimes I'm not feeling the cup part. There's all that unwrapping to do, and it's always so sad that crumbs and frosting stick to the wrapper so that when nobody's watching, you have to stick your whole face in it to lick them off. You all do that too, right? Right?

Enter these cake pops, perhaps the next big thing in mini desserts. Tiny frosted cake nibbles on a stick. So brilliant. So CUTE. So very, very perfect for Valentine's Day, a birthday or a baby shower.

I found these pop stars on Bakerella, land of gorgeous and often mini dessert extravaganzas.

Big Game Giveaway Winners!

Congratulations to the winners of our Big Game Giveaway! Each winner received a party pack with food and drink for their Super Bowl^® party and a trip for two to see any NFL team in '08. Sweet! Our lucky grand prize winner, Christina Melton (that's her and her friends partying above), also got a 50-inch high-definition TV — so watching games at her place will totally rock.

Rocking the Year of the Rat

I assume you and I are the same boat in that we don’t have $350,000 to throw a party. The clients of MGM Mirage Events in Las Vegas are not in that same boat. That said, there are plenty of ideas we can steal from a high-end MGM Chinese New Year party for 2,300 guests:

• Pair red with gold and don’t look back.
• Place paper lanterns of every size everywhere. If you can get them in the shape of pagodas, even better. Try World Market for a good selection.
• If you’re serving dinner, forgo chargers in favor of woven mats. It’s easier to fit tons of tableware: forks, spoons, knives, chopsticks, soy saucers, teacups, etc.
• Serve the Chinese celebratory delicacy shark fin soup. Or serve some other soup and put a fake shark fin in there. Or, ignore me.
• Use lighting to create ambience. If you're on a budget, some strategically placed red light bulbs in your lamps do the trick.
• Incorporate (real or fake) Chinese lucky coins into the décor. With a hole in the center, they’re perfect for stringing. Find some at Eve's Garden Gifts.
• Place white and pink orchids in striking red vases of various shapes.
• Provide toothpicks, a traditional Chinese touch for dinner (so I’m told).
• Feature the Year of the Rat in whatever way possible — posters, stuffed animals, The Secret of NIMH playing in the background, etc. (Clearly, I’m improvising here — there were no posters, stuffed animals or cartoons at the MGM event.) And if you want to replace rat imagery with cuter mouse imagery, I don’t think anyone would blame you for taking liberties....

Photo by King Dahl Photographers

oysters on the half shell

Here’s your last chance to get the good life out of your system before the solemn season of Lent begins. Make your Fat Tuesday a little more hazy by succumbing to the power of the oyster. Oysters on the half shell are a classic dish that harks back to old New Orleans, when local families fished for their suppers just down the Bayou. Legend has it that many fishermen dined like Rockefellers, eating nothing but the bivalves during the Great Depression.

Today, many a relationship has begun over a half dozen or so of these little guys. Enjoy their delectable (and magical) powers unadorned, or, if you like, serve bowls of spicy cocktail sauce or mignonette alongside.

question of the week: love is in the air

Valentine's Day is only ten days away. No, you can't avoid it. And no, you can't make it get here more quickly. You can, however, take our poll about how you plan to spend the big, red, chocolatey day. And you can choose more than one answer, because that's how much we wuv you. xoxo

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