Did Someone Say Cocktails & Crafts?

In a perfect world, I would retire to a beach house in Montauk and drink Champagne cocktails all day while doing crafts and designing my home. But mama still needs to pay the bills, so we'll have to table that - for now.

However, it doesn't mean we can't enjoy a night of it! Okay, we won't be at the beach, BUT we will be at the best bookstore in New York City, with the fabulous author and interior designer Janet Lee! You in?

Here are the details and the fancy schmancy press release:

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COCKTAILS AND CRAFTS:
An evening of bubbly cocktail demos and sparkling design DIY’s

With Cara Alwill Leyba,
Founder and Executive Editor of The Champagne Diaries

And Janet Lee,
Small Space Decorator and Author of Living in a Nutshell

Like a match made in heaven, Cara and Janet, who met and clicked in a book writing class, will combine their talent and enthusiasm for living an effervescent life. As a writer and life coach, Cara sees champagne as a metaphor for celebrating every day, flaws and all, reminding us to embrace the little luxuries that life has to offer…no matter the budget. Janet takes the same approach with design in her newly released book, Living in a Nutshell (Harper Design; $25), blog and finding affordable ways to add a little more glamour and dazzle in a small space, flaunting rather than hiding flaws in a room and focusing on what you have…not what you don’t.

Perfect for the season, Cara will demonstrate how to mix, shake and pour the perfect Champagne Mojito, courtesy of Le Grand Courtâge, while she shares her personal stories of trials, breakthroughs and triumphs.

If you ever wondered what to do with those gorgeous champagne corks---Janet will show you how to transform them into decorative paper tassels with pages from vintage books and velvet ribbon.  Everyone will make one while they sip on their bubbly and learn design secrets from the author.  It’s the perfect way to create and craft at the perfect bookstore, The BookMark Shoppe in Brooklyn!

And if that weren’t enough, one lucky winner will bring home an exclusive project designed for the Living in a Nutshell book.

WHERE:         The BookMark Shoppe
                         8415 3rd Avenue
                         Brooklyn, NY 11209
                         (718) 833-5115

WHEN:            May 3rd, 2012   
                         7:00-9:00 pm

GOODIES:      We'll have free gift bags (valued at $25) filled with Command Brand products for everyone  who buys a book on the night of the event. Janet Lee will personally sign all books.   

RSVP:              rsvpcraftsandcocktails@yahoo.com

PRESS:           Please contact Stephanie Scott to schedule any interviews: stephanie@stephscott.com

About Cara Alwill Leyba

Cara Alwill Leyba is a writer, lifestylist and wellness coach from NYC who empowers women to live their most effervescent life and celebrate themselves. Her blog, The Champagne Diaries, has a following of nearly 6,000 loyal readers and has been featured in Glamour, Shape, Cafe Mom, Daily Mail UK, MSN Australia, AOL UK Lifestyle, and a host of other publications worldwide. Cara encourages women to design the lives they desire and deserve, and swears that every woman can live a "Champagne life," no matter how busy she is or how tight her budget. Cara is currently working on her first book based on the popularity and extensive feedback from fans of her blog. She also regularly appears on the “Ask Dr. Fritz” radio show on WWRL New York, where she helps host Dr. Fritz answer questions from callers about love, career, family, relationships and more. When she’s not popping bubbly and penning her Champagne diaries, Cara spends her days leading a digital advertising team at MTV Networks. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

About Janet Lee

An Emmy Award-winning television show producer, Janet has styled and produced for leading home decorators, entrepreneurs, and designers such as Martha Stewart, B. Smith, and Thom Filicia. She spent ten years as a senior producer for The Oprah Winfrey Show, working closely with style legends like Nate Berkus. Since 2008, she has been writing a popular small space design blog, livinginanutshell.com. Named one of the top go-to sites for affordable modern design by the San Francisco Chronicle in 2009, Janet shares her experience from the decorating front lines having lived in a dozen different pocket-sized apartments over the past 20 years: “I’m a serial small space nester with a unique vantage point…Each apartment I’ve lived in—with its laundry list of list of lighting and structural flaws—has become a personal decorating lab where I’ve created and road-tested my ideas.”  Her book, Living in a Nutshell: Posh and Portable Decor with Harper Collins was released March 2012.  She lives in New York City.     

                                                                               
Media Contact:  Stephanie Scott
646.389.5569 /stephanie@stephscott.com