Coquette Maman

Maker Parent Happy 1/2 Hour: Maker Moms Panel Wed, April 15th

 

Diana Eng and I will be part of a small panel of Maker Moms for this week’s Maker Parent Happy 1/2 Hour from Make: Community’s Family Maker Camp series. Join us on Wednesday night at 5:30-6pm PST for the live Zoom/FB event. You don’t have to be a mom to participate. We are all in this homeschool life together now as parents and we can help each other out — not only with ideas, but also support.

On the panel with Diana (top left) and myself (right), will be homeschooling moms Nathalie O’Donald from ladynod.com (bottom left) and Katie Rosa Marchese (bottom right), who is the wife of Mario “the Maker Magician” Marchese. Both of these women have a ton of experience in homeschooling and will be sharing their tips. We will also have Gillian Mutti and Katie Kunde from Make: Community.

It will be a casual event (bring your favorite beverage) broadcasted live via Zoom and the Family Maker Camp Facebook page.  We can all chit chat about projects to make with our kids, what’s working and what’s not right now in homeschooling and anything else! We will also be answering questions too.

Maker Parent Happy 1/2 Hour

Wednesday, April 15

5:30pm-6pm PST / 8:30pm-9pm EST

Read the panelist bios and see all the details for the event on the Maker Parent Happy 1/2 Hour: Maker Mom page.

 

Chronicle Books Warehouse Sale in SF

Chronicle Books is having their epic Warehouse Sale. Everything is 80% off in store! Due to the recent rain, this two-day event is happening starting this Wednesday, December 14th. It's a great event to do some holiday shopping!

Here are the details:

Chronicle Books Corporate Headquarters ONLY
680 2nd Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Wednesday, December 14, 9:00 am-7:00 pm
Thursday, December 15, 9:00 am-7:00 pm

For more info, visit their Facebook page for the event.

Minted's October DIY Workshops and Events

Minted Pop-Up
222 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108
Hours: Monday through Saturday from 10 am-7 pm
Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm
www.minted.com

Minted's Pop-Up on Grant St in SF has more events coming up this month. If you missed my last post about this amazing store you can read it here. The online shop's brick and mortar store is a dream come true with prints, paper, home goods and more.

Fall Wreath Workshop
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
5:30pm - 7pm
$55
(Sold Out)

You'll leave the workshop with a beautiful wreath to dress up your front door and learn how to make fall wreaths with a variety of autumn foliage, branches and berries. Taught by Oakland-based florist Heather Lee of Hello Flowers.

Live Art Night
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016
5:30pm - 7:30pm
Free

This is a free monthly event at Minted. Natalie Groves, Melanie Severin, and Kelly Autumn are this month's featured artists who will be painting and drawing throughout the store while you shop. You are also able to purchase what they make during the evening. This is a fun event for the entire family! Free wine and cheese is provided.

Jealous Curator Book Signing and Collage Party
Wednesday, October 26, 2016
6pm - 7:30pm
Free

Celebrate Danielle Krysa's new book, Your Inner Critic is a Big Jerk. Krysa is the writer and curator behind the contemporary art website the Jealous Curator.

Embroidery Basics
Thursday, October 27, 2016
5:30pm - 7pm
$60

Learn the basics of embroidery taught by Lisa Anderson Shaffer of Zelma Rose. Share will show you how to take a modern approach to embroidery design and technique. You'll create a stylish home decor hoop sampler to adorn your home.

Watercolor Painting, Geometric Shapes & Patterns
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2016
11am - 12:30pm
$35

Local illustrator and graphic designer Liz Conley will teach you how to create beautiful watercolor paintings featuring geometric patterns and shapes.

Don't forget the Minted pop-up shop is only here until the end of the year. It's centrally located in prime shopping area downtown (near Banana Republic) so don't miss out on all the amazing things in the store!

Hello Kitty for President 2016

Need a super cute break from the real election? Here's a candidate your kids can really stand behind. Hello Kitty is running for President with her trusty friend Chococat as her running mate. She's leading the "Friendship Party" with a message celebrating friendship, fun and happiness.

To celebrate the campaign, there's the most adorable capsule collection of merchandise. The Hello Kitty for President collection includes unisex t-shirts featuring colorful campaign slogans, as well as a Hello Kitty for President 4-piece button set ($9), canvas tote bag ($34), beverage koozie ($7), and trucker hat ($22). You can view and purchase the products online at Sanrio.com or at select Sanrio stores. (I am still bummed we lost the Sanrio store in San Francisco.) A campaign bumper sticker will be given free with any Sanrio purchase through Election Day (while supplies last). Also, if you make a purchase of $40 or more from the Hello Kitty for President collection at participating Sanrio stores will receive a special presidential rosette featuring Hello Kitty and Chococat.

Hello Kitty is going to hit the campaign trail and you can meet her too! She will be visiting select "Friendship Party Headquarters" (Sanrio stores), where fans are invited to take photos with the candidate and pose with election-themed props.

Appearances:
October 2, 2016 - Queens, NY at Skyview Flushing
October 15, 2016 - Sunrise, FL at Sawgrass Mills
October 22, 2016 - Arcadia, CA at Westfield Santa Anita
October 23, 2016 - Costa Mesa, CA at South Coast Plaza

(See the full list of events and Sanrio shops participating)

The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck will support the pop icon’s candidacy with a specially designed Hello Kitty for President cookie available through Election Day. The super limited edition frosted cookie will be limited to only 50 per stop. Guests who purchase the special cookie will receive a free bumper sticker at these select locations:

October 1, 2016 - Atlanta, GA at Atlantic Station
October 8, 2016 - Tampa Bay, FL at International Plaza
October 15, 2016 - Boca Raton, FL at Town Center at Boca Raton
October 22, 2016 - Miami, FL at Dadeland Mall
October 29, 2016 - Orlando, FL at Florida Mall
November 5, 2016 - Houston, TX at Woodlands Mall

The Hello Kitty for President cookie will also be sold at the Hello Kitty Cafe Pop-Up Container at Irvine Spectrum while supplies last.

Visit the Hello Kitty for President site for more info.

Minted Pop-Up's DIY Events

Minted Pop-Up
222 Grant Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94108
Hours: Monday through Saturday from 10 am-7 pm
Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm
minted.com

If you haven't had a chance yet to visit Minted's pop-up shop in San Francisco, you still have time as the shop is open now through the end of the year. You probably already know Minted as an online destination to buy cards or artwork but did you know there's so much more? In the shop, you'll find not only modern prints but fabrics, pillows, journals and lots of inspirational decor for your home. There's also an area where you can have a Minted stylist help you work on the perfect card whether it's for a wedding, baby announcement, holiday cards and more.

But one of the really cool things about the Minted pop-up is the many DIY classes that are offered in the shop.

Here are the classes for September/October:

Bridal Workshop: One Invitation, Three Looks
Tuesday, September 20, 2016
5:30pm-7:30pm
$15

Minted will be doing bridal workshops twice a month, so this is the first of many. The workshop will show you how one wedding invitation can spark many different design directions for tablescapes. Sip champagne whil learning how to bring elements from your invitation to life at your wedding.

Live Art Night
Thursday, September 22, 2016
5:30pm-7:30pm
Free

This is a free monthly event at Minted. There are 4 artists working throughout the store and you can watch them paint and draw. (Last month's event drew over 100 people!) You can also purchase what they make during the evening. This month there will be an artist who will be doing quick portraits during the event. This is a fun event for the entire family! Free wine and cheese is provided.

Floral Design Class
Thursday, September 29, 2016
5:30pm-7pm
$75

Learn the basics of flower arranging by Heather Lee an Oakland-based freelance florist and writer. You will learn how to care and prep for your blooms and work with the seasons. Leave the class with a beautiful centerpiece, plus know how to create more arrangements at home.

Watercolor Painting: Exploring Geometric Shapes and Patterns
Thursday, October 6, 2016
$35

Learn how to create beautiful watercolor paintings featuring geometric patterns and shapes taught by local illustrator and graphic designer Liz Conley.

Introduction to Embroidery
Thursday, October 27, 2016
6pm-7:30pm
$60

Needlework artist Lisa Anderson Shaffer of Zelma Rose will give you an introduction to the basics of embroidery. In this class, you will create a stylish home decor sampler hoop on gorgeous Minted fabric.

These are the classes so far listed for September and October. I'll update you on more of the offerings for the rest of fall and winter when I find out. There will most likely be a Halloween event in the shop for kids and family photo shoots for holiday cards.

Here are more photos around the Minted pop-up:

Bookshop in West Portal is Celebrating Harry Potter This Saturday, July 30th

Harry Potter fever has been in our home for a while now. Chloe and her group of girlfriends all aged around 7-8 years old have been addicted to the series since the beginning of the year. She's currently halfway through book #4 and for a girl entering 3rd grade, I'm so impressed that she's hooked on reading these dense (and heavy!) chapter books.

Author J.K. Rowling is taking Harry Potter to London stage and the script for the play will be available in book form by midnight this Saturday. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story with Harry Potter all grown up with three kids and working at the Ministry of Magic.

Bookshop
80 West Portal Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94127
phone: (415) 564-8080

To celebrate the book launch, Bookshop in the West Portal neighborhood in San Francisco is hosting a Midnight Release Party that starts on Saturday, July 30th at 2pm and goes until the book is ready for sale at Midnight.

There will be tons of activities for the kids and adults alike! It doesn't just happen at Bookshop, there will be lots of wizarding displays and photo opportunities all throughout the West Portal neighborhood. Visitors will be given a (marauder’s) map to all participating restaurants and merchants.

There will be prizes throughout the day for the best wizards and witches. In the evening, BookShop West Portal has teamed up with the San Francisco chapter of the Harry Potter Alliance (I Left My Wand in San Francisco) to produce a most wondrous evening as we count down to the midnight release of the book. Among the activities scheduled are a live staged reading by San Francisco’s renowned Word for Word Performing Arts Company, as well as adult trivia and costume contests.

Bookshop is currently taking pre-ordered of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at a 20% discount. (Support your local SF bookstore!)

Schedule of Events

Outside in Diagon Alley:

• 2:00 – 3:00pm Magical crafts, activities, and possibly a little spell casting?
• 3:00 – 4:00pm Meet a live owl! (Scientist from The Randall Museum)
• 4:00 – 4:45pm Costume parade around West Portal
• 4:45 – 5:30pm Kid’s costume contest


Dinner Break


Inside in Flourish and Blots:

• 8:00 – 9:00pm Performance by Word for Word Performing Arts Company
• 9:30 – 10:15pm Adult costume contest
• 10:30 – 11:30pm Trivia contest with the Harry Potter Alliance
• 12:00am – 12:30am Harry Potter and the Cursed Child release!

Outside in Diagon Alley:

• 9:00pm – 12:00am Film screening(s)

See you guys at Bookshop on Saturday!

SF Public Library's Summer Stride 2016 Has Begun!

(Photo: Chronicle Books)

School's is almost out for the summer and that means summer reading! The SF Public Library has a wonderful program that my daughter has been enjoying for the last two years. The Summer Stride 2016 program runs from May 7 - August 14 and gives summer readers of all ages a prize after completing 15 hours of reading for the summer. The featured artwork this year is created by children's book illustrator and Bay Area based artist, Christian Robinson who's characters in the recent Leo: A Ghost Story (published by Chronicle Books) adorn all of the posters, bookmarks, prizes and more for this Summer Stride. I'd like to also mention that this program is open to everyone, not just kids so the librarian convinced me to do it also. Why not?! I've been reading up a storm myself and it's a great way for Chloe and I do to this together. Pick up the Summer Stride 2016 guide at the library or click the link to view the PDF to see all of the events happening around the various libraries in the city. This year's program includes National Parks so there are activities such as Nature Walks and visits to parks in SF and in the Bay Area.

(Photo: Chronicle Books)

Prizes
Readers can pick between two prizes: a Reading Ranger badge or a tote bag featuring Christian Robinson's artwork.

Tracking Tree
To keep track of the books and time spent reading, make sure you pick up your Sumer Stride 2016 Tracking Tree. Color 1 leaf on the tree for every 20 minutes spent reading. Bring this sheet to the library throughout the summer to earn stickers.

Weekly Raffles
You can visit the library each week to enter one of their weekly raffles. They have separate raffles for kids and adults. Prizes include museum passes, gift certificates and more. Chloe has won twice last summer: a Matilda book and two tickets to the Children's Creativity Museum. It's really great encouragement to keep kids reading! The first raffle starts Friday, May 27th.

Computer Wallpapers
For more adorable Leo artwork, head to Chronicle Books to choose from six different Leo wallpapers to download! Wallpaper #2 is my favorite above as it's putting me in a fun, summer reading mood!

Visit the Summer Stride 2016 page and head to your local SF library to get started!

Chronicle Books Fall 2016 Children's Book Preview

A photo posted by Natalie Zee Drieu (@coquettenatalie) on May 3, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT

For the last five years, I've been attending Chronicle Books' amazing book preview events each fall and spring. It's one of the events I most look forward to each year. I'm a total bookworm and I'm so glad that Chloe is too. At this event is where I get to preview what's coming up for the next season with Chronicle Books' kids division. I don't think I've ever really posted about this event aside from tweets and Instagram pics when I'm there. So, I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures from the event and mention what books I'm most looking forward to come fall.

First off, can you see that I got to hold a 2 week old kitty?! It made me miss my cat and kitten I had to give away when I was 4 years old because my mom was severely allergic. That was just about the softest, cutest cat I have ever seen. (Just don't tell my pom, Lulu.) The kittens were there for the upcoming book They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel.

We spent the beginning mingling and eating bagels while browsing all the current and new books before we were given presentations by the editors and designers on key books coming up this fall for the different age levels.

Original artwork from books adorned the walls so we could see everything up close.

The highlight for me was seeing author Annie Barrows speak about the 10 year annivesary of Ivy and Bean!

Author Annie Barrows and illustrator Chris Turnham from the upcoming book The Wish Tree were on hand to sign materials and talk to the attendees.

Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda is an adorable, interactive book where kids can move the book to help the bunny ski. We had delicious cupcakes after the event featuring the little skiing bunny.

Hope you enjoyed experiencing the fabulous Children's Fall 2016 Book Preview at Chronicle Books. I have some spring children's book reviews coming soon on the blog. Stay tuned!

A photo posted by Natalie Zee Drieu (@coquettenatalie) on May 3, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT

For the last five years, I've been attending Chronicle Books' amazing book preview events each fall and spring. It's one of the events I most look forward to each year. I'm a total bookworm and I'm so glad that Chloe is too. At this event is where I get to preview what's coming up for the next season with Chronicle Books' kids division. I don't think I've ever really posted about this event aside from tweets and Instagram pics when I'm there. So, I thought it would be fun to share some of the pictures from the event and mention what books I'm most looking forward to come fall.

First off, can you see that I got to hold a 2 week old kitty?! It made me miss my cat and kitten I had to give away when I was 4 years old because my mom was severely allergic. That was just about the softest, cutest cat I have ever seen. (Just don't tell my pom, Lulu.) The kittens were there for the upcoming book They All Saw A Cat by Brendan Wenzel.

We spent the beginning mingling and eating bagels while browsing all the current and new books before we were given presentations by the editors and designers on key books coming up this fall for the different age levels.

Original artwork from books adorned the walls so we could see everything up close.

The highlight for me was seeing author Annie Barrows speak about the 10 year annivesary of Ivy and Bean!

Author Annie Barrows and illustrator Chris Turnham from the upcoming book The Wish Tree were on hand to sign materials and talk to the attendees.

Bunny Slopes by Claudia Rueda is an adorable, interactive book where kids can move the book to help the bunny ski. We had delicious cupcakes after the event featuring the little skiing bunny.

Hope you enjoyed experiencing the fabulous Children's Fall 2016 Book Preview at Chronicle Books. I have some spring children's book reviews coming soon on the blog. Stay tuned!

Go Behind the Scenes in Children's Book Publishing at Chronicle Books

Chronicle Books 1846 Union Street San Francisco, CA 94123 July 23, Wednesday 7pm-8pm This Wednesday, Chronicle Books at their Union Street store in San Francisco is hosting a special event that will take you behind the scenes on how their successful children's books are made. Meet Children's Publishing Editor Melissa Manlove (she's amazing, btw) and Children's Publishing Designer Ryan Hayes. Both Ryan and Melissa have worked on award-winning children's books such as Josephine: The Dazzling Life of Josephine Baker and Steam Train, Dream Train. If there is anything you ever wanted to know about how children's books are made, this is the event for you. Bring your imagination and questions. Visitors will also enjoy 25% off everything in the store!

Little Passports 5th Birthday Celebration at Bay Area Discovery Museum on April 26th

Bring your entire family to help celebrate Little Passport's 5th Birthday at the Bay Area Discovery Museum! Little Passports is an innovative, creative, and fun subscription service founded by two SF moms. Kids are inspired to learn about the world with monthly packages filled with souvenirs, letters, activities and more, each from a new destination! (Look for a review on Coquette Maman soon!)

The Birthday Celebration is a free event where kids (recommended for ages 5+) can go around the world and participate in hands-on crafts, science experiments and educational activities. There will also be a "globetrotting" photo booth. Don't miss the fun!

Little Passports 5th Birthday Celebration
Bay Area Discovery Museum, Discovery Theater
557 McReynolds Road
Sausalito, CA
baykidsmuseum.org

Saturday, April 26, 2014
10am – 12pm
Snacks will be provided