Goodbye 2008... Welcome 2009!

The countdown to 2009 has shifted into high gear as we begin to say our goodbyes and farewells to 2008.

It would be very easy to create a recap post of the years top stories; but nearly every news station has had a recap sprinkled in their newscasts since mid December. I don't think we need to look back once again at the scandals, the losses, the election and the tragic news stories.

2008 truly brought this blog to life. While I started this small space in 2007, the blog has experienced tremendous growth during 2008. When I first started this space my friends and family would check in and see what was going on. As we wrap up the year, over 1,000 people visit each week and many are now regular visitors who stop in for their 'cup' of House Blend. I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to share this space with so many great people from all over the world.

The turning point for House Blend was the interview with Dr. Brent Ridge. The interview that appeared here in June of this year, generated the highest number of page views and single day visits. (You can still read the interview.. look for Dr. Brent in the topic section on the sidebar) It is still one of the most 'searched' pages. Thank you again, Dr. Brent for your generosity and your time to make the interview such a success!

We often hear about the 'power of the media' and 2008 brought that power to life for me. During the course of a call in segment on "Morning Living" (Martha Stewart Living Radio), Tracie Hotchner, host of Cat Chat received a call from a woman who was in need of help with two cats that belonged to her sister. Her sister had been hospitalized and she needed to find a foster home for the cats until her sister was well enough to take care of them. Tracie made the connection that maybe I could help her through the animal rescue I'm affiliated with. She made this connection not even knowing if the caller was close to me. All within 24 hours, the caller made her plea for help, Tracie made the connection to me with the caller, I made contact with the caller as well as the animal rescue, and help was on the way. Within two weeks, the cats were safely housed at the shelter as foster cats. They will return to their owner soon. I'm thankful for Tracie, who has been a wonderful friend and supporter of our rescue.

In October, my friend John and I spent the day together to see Martha at a book signing in Birmingham. It was a complete "Martha day" that began in the early hours of the morning as we stood outside in the cold to get our wristbands to secure our place in line. We met many wonderful people that day, who shared in our enjoyment of all things Martha. The highlight of course was getting a couple minutes with Martha as she chatted with us as she signed our copies of "Martha Stewart's Cooking School." Above all, it was great to spend time with John.. we just don't do that enough.

What will 2009 bring? Who knows... but one of my New Year's Intentions is to make sure I take sufficient time to experience the good things. Work/life balance is much more important to me than it used to be. It's time to find that balance.

To each of you I wish you the very best for the new year ahead. Don't forget to stop in and visit. The coffee is always fresh, and you're always welcome to sit at the kitchen table and talk about living. Happy New Year!

Valentine's Day Crafts

So... you thought you were safe from the holidays for a while, eh? Not so fast!

While visiting family in Florida, my friend Elaine found this small selection of Martha Stewart Crafts Valentine's Day items at an area Wal-Mart store. Blank cards, stickers, confetti, and ribbons seem to be part of the holiday fun for Valentine's Day.

I'll have to scope out local stores to see if anything is popping up here locally. If you recall last year, the crafts line had very little in the way of Valentine's Day merchandise. It looks like this year will be a bit more interesting!

Start purchasing your Valentine's Day items soon! Nothing says, "I love you" like a homemade card! Well.. maybe some bling and chocolate will do the trick.. but the homemade card is nice too!

Martha Kicked it Up a Notch in 2008

While most of us will remember 2008 as the year of the economic downturn, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia kicked the year up a notch and continued to position itself for long term growth.

January2008: “Everyday Baking,” the new PBS series premieres. “Everyday Baking” is the companion show to the very popular “Everyday Food,” MSLO’s fastest growing franchise. The show, starring John Barricelli features multiple baking segments centered on a central theme.

January 2008: Martha Stewart 'On Demand' became available to digital subscribers to Comcast and Cox Cable. A variety of segments from Martha Stewart Living television and the Martha Stewart Show are made available to viewers on a variety of topics. Video clips change each month.

February 2008: MSLO announced the expansion of its Weddings franchise with an investment in WeddingWire, the online wedding planning company. The acquisition of approximately 40 percent of the equity in WeddingWire and a commercial agreement related to software and content licensing and media sales helps MSLO position itself as the ultimate resource for brides to be who are planning their special day.

February 2008: MSLO announced in what was probably the biggest news of the year, the acquisition of the media and merchandising properties of famed chef, Food Network personality and restaurant owner Emeril Lagasse. The contract was signed in April 2008. The deal brings together one of the biggest brands in food-related content with MSLO's well-established expertise in the lifestyle arena. Under the terms of the deal, MSLO acquired the rights to the Emeril Lagasse franchise, including television programming, cookbooks, emerils.com website, and the licensed kitchen and food products.

April 2008: MSLO and 1-800 Flowers, the nation’s largest on line flower retailer announced their partnership and the new Martha Stewart for 1-800 Flowers collection. The 1-800 relationship replaces the long running marthastewartflowers.com which shuttered its operations in January . Martha Stewart for 1-800 Flowers collection opened with a wide array of floral arrangements and live plants all presented in beautiful vessels inspired by Martha’s own antique collection.

June 2008: For the first time since the magazines inception, Everyday Food featured Martha and Emeril on the cover and premiered his new column in the magazine. Emeril and Everyday Food was a perfect match for the newly acquired MSLO franchise.

June 2008: Martha Stewart Podcasts became available to iTunes users. Similar content to the 'On Demand' library, but with the ease of having them on your home computer.

June 2008: SVP Worldwide, owner of Singer®, Husqvarna®, Viking®, and Pfaff® sewing machine brands announced the new Martha Stewart Embroidery Line. Classic Embroidery Patterns, the first in a series of embroidery designs produced by MSLO and SVP Worldwide, provide designs for monogramming and frame, border, and corner artwork that allow for further enhancement and personalization of sewing and embroidery projects. These patterns include Scallop, Laurel, and Twist, three simple, graceful embellishments inspired by timeless embroidery patterns, as well as an elegant font--custom-designed to Martha's specifications--for creating clean, beautiful monograms.

July 2008: The Martha Stewart Crafts line expanded with Martha Stewart Create and Martha Stewart Celebrate collections available exclusively at Wal-Mart stores throughout the United States and Canada.
Martha Stewart Create features crafting essentials and memory-keeping products such as paper, cutting mats, tools, pens, markers, glitter, and ribbons. The assortment also contains craft and activity kits including jewelry-making kits, pipe-cleaner-animal kits, memory-keeping kits, party decor kits, and card-making kits.
Martha Stewart Celebrate showcases ready-made, paper-based weddings essentials such as stationery, guest books, embellishments, favor boxes, cake toppers, and customizable centerpieces, as well as flower baskets and ring pillows.
The expansion of the craft line which debut in 2007 fulfilled a need in the mass market distribution channel. Immediately upon the announcement, analysts and consumers speculated whether or not Wal-Mart would become the new distributor of Martha Stewart Everyday once the contract with Kmart expires in January of 2010. While no new announcement has been made to date, one could easily be expected by third quarter of this year.

September 2008: Martha Stewart Television went in two different directions in the Fall of this year. First, Martha opened her Bedford Farm for the season opener of the syndicated “Martha Stewart Show.” Filmed entirely on the property of the gorgeous New York farm, the show featured a number of guest chefs and glimpses into her stables and gardens.

“Whatever, Martha” also made its debut on the Fine Living Network. The show concept was created by Martha Stewart and inspired by the cult classic “Mystery Science Theater.” “Whatever” radio show personalities, Alexis Stewart and Jennifer Koppelman-Hutt host the new show. The unscripted TV format provides a provocative platform for the radio duo to reveal their very colorful, witty and sometimes shocking opinions about Martha Stewart, Martha's performance, appearance and approach to projects in memorable segments selected from the Emmy-winning program "Martha Stewart Living", which premiered 15 years ago.

September 2008: MSLO’s portfolio of home decorating products expanded with the introduction of the Martha Stewart Good Bed line of luxury mattresses. Designed by Martha Stewart and the MSLO design team and manufactured by The Good Bed LLC, an entity formed by MSLO and Columbus, Ohio-based Schottenstein Stores Corporation, the line is comprised of twelve mattresses, each covered in woven or knit tickings of 100% cotton and starting at $1,000. The mattresses are available in twin, full, queen, king, and California king sizes, and in comfort levels of firm, medium-firm, and plush. Each includes proprietary dual-directional coil innerspring support, a supportive soy foam comfort edge that makes it more comfortable to get into and out of bed, and continental tailoring for easier placement of fitted sheets. Select mattresses feature tight, Euro, box, and pillow tops, as well as layers of soy and visco foam.

October 2008: MSLO announced an agreement to invest in, and enter a commercial agreement with, Pingg Corp. (www.pingg.com), an online event management site that offers stylish invitations and easy-to-use event planning tools. The move reflects MSLO's strategy to broaden its digital footprint.

December 2008: MSLO and NBC Universal, the syndication distributor for the Martha Stewart Show announced that the Emmy-Winning Syndicated Series Sold for 5th Season on Stations From NBC Local Media, Fox, Hearst, Scripps, LIN & More, Representing More Than 60% of U.S.

And you thought your year was busy?

In other MSLO news this year, in a move that shocked the business world, CEO Susan Lyne stepped down to pursue other opportunities. Susan is credited with taking control of MSLO during the massive company downturn following Martha’s personal legal problems and turning the company around to a profitable status. A number of restructuring moves at MSLO also made headlines in 2008 with the most recent announcement of CFO Howard Hochhauser stepping down.

Looking toward 2009

Speculation has been brewing about what could be next for MSLO. Additional licensing agreement announcements are expected in 2009. MSLO has hinted at an international expansion of the brand as well as domestic expansion (there are already international editions of Martha Stewart Living and Martha Stewart Weddings magazines). The buzz is a new garden line to be available at one of the big box home improvement stores and home improvement tools for the DIY’er at the same location. With the Martha Stewart Paint line available at Lowe’s, it would seem to be an obvious choice for further expansion of the brand in the home improvement arena.

I have a number of things I’d like to see this year:

• Martha Stewart Organizing Tools: Online or paper calendar, reminder, and daily organizing tools. (ala Franklin/Covey)
• An expansion of the food line to move beyond Costco. While Costco offers great value, it’s rather limited in consumer scope.
• Martha Stewart Baking: A line of cake and baking supplies. It makes sense since MSLO owns a portion of Wilton Industries.
• Martha Stewart Homekeeping: A line of cleaning supplies and laundry supplies available through mass market. While some items are currently available at Macy’s as part of the Martha Stewart Collection, I’d like to see a larger scale distribution of such products.
• Martha Stewart Pets: A line of all natural foods, supplies, and care items for pets.
  Martha Stewart Garden: A full line of gardening items including tools, pots, planters, shoes (bring back garden clogs!), and work clothing.
• Martha Stewart Home Office: A line of tools available to keep organized and keep the home office running at optimal efficiency.
• An expansion of the craft/create line to include software tools to create your own cards, stationary, announcements, etc without having to use online services.
• Martha Stewart Digital: Digital availability of their publishing library by subscription. Make all current and past issues available through a digital medium.
• Martha Stewart Living – The Seasons: While the first run at DVD’s didn’t fare well for the company, I’d love to see all the seasons of Martha Stewart Living made available in a DVD collection. Don’t separate it out by ‘topic’ – rather, the entire season.

Hey, a Martha admirer can dream, can’t he?

A New Year is Coming

I have finished picking the last bit of scotch tape off the floor, put the rolls of wrapping paper back into the storage container, and noticed that my project table looked like a bomb went off on it... Christmas is over.

Soon, it will be time to get organized again, clean every room from top to bottom, and pull out the 'winter white' bedding. I'm so organized when it comes to decorating FOR the holidays... but it seems to take me forever to remove and pack everything away for another year. It's a task I don't enjoy as much as I do putting it all up!

This week, we'll wind down 2008 and I can't say I'm sorry to see it go! While there were many good things that happened this year, there were also a good many challenges that tested my 'will' and tapped danced on my very last nerve. Having faced those challenges with determination and a strong will (some say I'm bull-headed), I'm ready to celebrate the incoming year and all the promise it brings.

I'm not one to make new year's resolutions. Why set myself up like that?! Instead, I make new year's 'intentions' which seem like less of a failure if I'm not totally successful. I am not a big party boy on New Year's Eve. We usually go out for a nice dinner (all gussied up in our finest), and return home before all the drunk people are on the roads. For years and years I've spent the Eve with Dick Clark and in recent years with Ryan Seacrest (no complaints). My New Year's' Eve party days ended nearly 20 years ago.

One of the things I do recognize about myself is that I get rather 'reflective' during these last few days of the year. Did I accomplish all I set out to do? Can I say I was successful this year? Did I fulfill my personal mission? It's my time to take my personal inventory and evaluate my life. That's a good thing, as it sets the direction for the coming year.

All the reflection does make me want to celebrate, however. Perhaps I'll throw on a rhinestone tiara and dance about the family room with wild abandon. Ahhh... the good 'ol days.

On this Christmas Eve, I wanted to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. Thank you for taking a moment or two out of your day to share time with me through this blog. It's been a pleasure to create a place you enjoy visiting.

I wish you all peace and great blessings. --Kenn

And Then it Snowed...

When the alarm went off at 4:30 this morning, the news was all about the winter storm that was heading our way with an expected 6-10 inches of snow. By the time I was ready to leave for work at 5:45, the snow had already accumulated 2" and it was near white out conditions. Short of the blizzard in the mid 70's, I don't recall the snow ever falling so fast and furious as it did this morning.

Conditions continued to worsen throughout the day until about noon, when the storm was pulling off to the east, leaving behind a 9" coating of snow in most of our immediate area. As beautiful as it is, I hated driving in it! I'm glad to be home and now enjoy seeing it from the comforts of the great indoors! I did tiptoe outside to take one quick photo. We have to go out in a little bit to do some holiday party shopping. I may take my camera along to catch a few more snow moments.

David is clearing paths to the barn and clearing out the driveway while I give encouragement from the front door. :-) More snow is expected on Sunday and again on Christmas Eve. I do hope Rudolph has his nose at maximum wattage!

A Package of Cookies Arrive!

I received a package today... from Martha Stewart for 1-800 Flowers. It was a tin of cookies!

The tin is wonderful! In all the pictures you would think that the brown ribbon and label were 'attached' to the tin.. but alas, they are printed on. A nice sized tin!

When you open the tin, you have a little 'gift' note from Martha and recipe cards for all the various cookies inside.

The cookie varieties are individually wrapped to retain freshness. It will be interesting to see how they compare to homemade!

It's Raining (Snow) Men...

My Thursday night project: completing the decorated sugar cookies for friends and family. To coordinate with my Christmas cards this year, I decided to deck the snowmen out in teal blue hats and scarves. Two dozen snowmen later, it's time to let them dry and then start packaging.