It’s almost here!  Our Summer schedule review is coming on June 2nd.  It’s a unique project review this time because Kathy, being due to have Baby 2.0 in July, will be unavailable for most of the Summer schedule (July-September). You’re stuck with me, kids!  And lo, I am but one woman so your patience is appreciated!

If you have not submitted your Request for Proposal yet for the Summer schedule, please do so before 11:59pm, June 1st in order to make the list for Summer. (Otherwise, your request goes on the Fall review list, which may not suit your timeline.) This does not guarantee we’ll be able to take on your project this season, but we will certainly try!  Kathy will be taking limited projects for July (small blogs, mostly), but everything else goes to me, so if you are waiting for Kathy, you might need to wait until the Fall review. If you don’t mind working with little ol’ me, I appreciate it very much and thank you in advance for your patience while I work through the inquiries for Summer.  Anyone who was on the Winter or Spring lists who asked to be “rolled over” will receive first dibs, of course.

Speaking of schedules, I will be moving the week of May 18-22, so I will be in and out of “the office”. I will be checking emails, but won’t be setting (and may need to adjust some) milestones during the timeframe.  The move was kind of spur-of-the-moment, so I apologize for any timeline adjustments that may need to be made. 

There’s a lot going on around here and we’re very excited to be working on so many great projects. We did a portfolio update recently, but will be doing another update soon with a big project for author Jennifer Crusie, a fabulous new redesign for the premier Gay Love Coach™, a pet photographer, a fashion-centric city guide, a small animal vet, a popular food blog, and a knitting mecca, among others.  We’re working hard to wrap our Winter (we know, we know!) and Spring clients so we can make a fresh start for Summer.

Kathy and I look forward to working with you soon and hope you’re enjoying your Spring.   Now go outside!

Well, the results are in!  Out of all the totally fabulous cocktail recipes we received, we have drawn our 3 winners.

First, the grand prize winner is Katrina W. with her oh-so-delectable Strawberry Pina Colada Daquiri. My blender thanks you.

Strawberry Pina Colada Daquiri

• 4 oz pina colada mix
• 2.5 oz strawberry schnapps
• 1 oz lime juice
• 1 oz Bacardi rum
• 2 oz frozen strawberries
• 1 teaspoon of sugar
• Filled glass of cracked ice

I’m a little unclear on if this is shaken and strained up in a martini glass or if you just throw it all in a blender.  If it’s the latter, I’d stick in a straw, maybe on of those umbrellas and I’m all set.  Use a glass if you must.    Festive daquiri glasses or margarita glasses work great, but any ol’ pint glass will do in a pinch.

Katrina will receive a signed copy of our book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie as well as an 8oz. tube of our current desktop favorite, Jaqua Hand Creme with Meadowfoam Seed Oil (though I’m not positive which fragrance you’ll get.  That’s Kathy’s department!) along with a too-good-to-be-true retro cocktail caddy. Oooo ahhh… perfect for trying out some other new drinks, eh?

Next up are our two 2nd place winners:  Chari (or “CLD”, as she’s often known) and Heather H.!!!  Congratulations! Those extra credit entries paid off, ladies! 

Chari sent us an antioxidant-rich recipe (let me pretend, ok?) for something she calls a “Healthy” Cosmo, which she also re-posted on her blog:

“Healthy” Cosmo

1/2 oz. Key Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Licor 43
2   oz. Rain Vodka
3   oz. Pure, REAL Pomegranate Juice
1       Lime Wedge
1       Mint Sprig

Pour all ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake mightily. Strain into a chilled [preferably frozen] martini glass. Garnish with lime wedge and mint sprig. Sit out on the lanai, prop up your earth shoe-clad feeties on an ottoman and enjoy. Feel proud of yourself for managing to up your antioxidants and get a buzz at the same time!

Heather decided to go all Italian on us with a delicious mix of light, sweet limoncello, tart cran and our ol’ girl the Goose!  She also smartly paired it with a white pizza which if I had my way, I’d have in front of me right now. Mmm mmm… And to make it even better, the white pizza is figure-friendly at only 4 Weight Watcher’s Points® a slice.  That leaves room for another limontini!  Let me have my math.

Limon-tini

• 3oz Grey Goose
• 2oz Caravella Limoncello
• 1oz cranberry juice

Pour over ice, shake, and strain into glass.  Enjoy!

White Pizza

22 min | 10 min prep | SERVES 4

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1/2 vidalia onions or other sweet onion, coarsely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped spinach or arugula leaves
• 1/4 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 4 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 (8-inch) prebaked pizza crusts (such as boboli)

1. Spray grill rack with nonstick spray and prepare grill for medium-hot fire.
2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, sugar, and 1/4 tsp of the salt.
3. Cook, stirring until onion is a rich golden brown, about 8 minutes.
4. Stir together the spinach or arugula, ricotta, 2 tbsp of the parmesan, the basil, and the remaining 1/4 tsp salt in a small bowl.
5. Place the crust on a pizza paddle or rimless baking sheet and spread the spinach mixture over it to cover entirely.
6. Top with the onion and sprinkle with the remaining 2 tbsp paremesan.
7. Using the paddle or baking sheet, slide the pizza on the grill, away from the heat source.
8. Cover and cook, rotating the pizza a half turn every 5 minutes, until the pizza is hot and the cheese is fully melted, about 8 minutes.

4 WW Points per serving (1/4 pizza).

Reposted from Weight Watchers.com

Chari and Heather will also each receive a signed copy of our book, The IT Girl’s Guide to Blogging with Moxie as well as an 8oz. tube of our current desktop favorite, Jaqua Hand Creme with Meadowfoam Seed Oil.

We’ll be reporting back about these recipes, along with others that weren’t drawn, in the coming weeks. Plus, stay tuned for the launch of our new website, TheMoxieGirls.com where we’ll be covering cocktails, entertaining, beauty and lifestyle.

Thanks for all of your awesome entries! 

The Cocktail Contest ends in just under 4 hours, at midnight EST.  We’ve gotten a bunch of lovely submissions and we’re excited to draw our winner on Monday.  I’m not 100% certain what time on Monday we’ll be doing the drawing.  Most likely after Kathy’s bambino is tucked in and we can open the bubbly!

If you’re still interested in submitting your entries, you better get on it. Scoot!  Here are the prizes, in case you forgot. It’s a lot of good schwag, so bring on the recipes!

We’ve gotten quite a few fabulous entries, but we’d love some more!  Hit us up with your favorite summer cocktails!  You can read all about the rules and prizes here.

And don’t forget! There’s extra entries in it for you if you blog it (and send us the link) and/or include a “pairing” or a snack or amuse-bouche (aren’t I fancy?) that would go well with your cocktail.

We’re looking forward to drawing a winner and are loving all these delicious-sounding drinks. Keep ‘em coming!  Contest ends at midnight EST, Friday, June 6th.

Helloooo!  Just popping in to post a wee reminder that The Moxie Girls Summer Cocktail Contest shindig is still going on until June 6th.  If you haven’t already, send us your favorite summer cocktail recipes to enter to win one of theeeese fabulous prizes:

Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• A Cosmo Caddy, which includes a cocktail shaker, 4 cosmo glasses and a retro-esque carrier valued at $55.00 courtesy of LiquidPlanet.com
• A signed copy of The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie!
• A tube of Jaqua Hand Creme (flavor may vary!)

Two Runners-Up Winners will receive:

• A signed copy of The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie!
• A tube of Jaqua Hand Creme (flavor may vary!)

Rules here... hop to it kids! Time’s a runnin’ out and these Jaqua hand creme’s a burning a hole in my pocket.  Ok, they’re not actually IN my pocket, more like in a bag on my desk… but they’re taking up space!

Since we have our new Moxie-a-Go-Go look in place we thought we’d kick off the summer with a fun little contest giveaway!  Yay!  Free Stuff!  But hang on there, Bucko, you can’t get something for nuthin’ these days.  In this case it’s something for very little effort so that’ll just have to be good enough!    Lets cut to the prizes:

Grand Prize Winner will receive:

• A Cosmo Caddy, which includes a cocktail shaker, 4 cosmo glasses and a retro-esque carrier valued at $55.00 courtesy of LiquidPlanet.com
• A signed copy of The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie!
• A tube of Jaqua Hand Creme (flavor may vary!)

Two Runners-Up Winners will receive:

• A signed copy of The IT Girls Guide to Blogging with Moxie!
• A tube of Jaqua Hand Creme (flavor may vary!)

Here’s how to enter:

• Send us your favorite Summer cocktail recipe… your tried-and-true, your awesome party punch, your blended fruit favorites… whatever!  Send us your favorite Summer-themed cocktail recipes.  Drink recipes must include at least three (3) main ingredients (Garnish doesn’t count!  No rum and coke with limes you sneaks!)  For extra credit, include a recipe for a “pairing”, or a tasty snack to go with your cocktail.  You can get even *more* extra credit by posting your entry on your blog and sending us the link.
• Then, send an email with the subject “Moxie Girls Summer Cocktail Contest!” in the subject line to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).  Please include your full name (and nickname for announcement purposes if you would like to remain private) and a full address where your prizes will be sent.
• One entry per person.  You can get an extra entry into the contest if you include the aforementioned “pairing” or snack idea.  Like a 2-fer!  Make it a 3-fer by posting your recipe on your blog and linking back to our entry here. If you blog it, be sure to include the link to your entry in your submission so we know to give you an extra chance.  That’s up to three chances to win!  Winners will be drawn at random.

The winner(s) will receive full credit in our blog postings and mad kudos for their win, but any and all submissions become property of The Moxie Girls™ and we reserve the right to reprint, rename, or modify original recipes at our discretion for future use.  Trademarked and/or copywritten recipes submitted must contain the source of the recipe in order for it to be considered. Multiple entries, or entries missing information will be disqualified so make sure you include your recipe, name and address!

Contest will end at midnight EST June 6, 2008, so please have all entries in by then and we’ll announce the winners here on the blog on Monday, June 9, 2008.

A big thank-you to our friends at Jaqua Beauty and Liquid Planet who helped sponsor this contest.

Winners will be drawn at random out of a hat… or ice bucket, whichever we can find first.  The drawing will be recorded via video or webcam for authenticity.  So start mixing, and start sending those recipes!  Yum!

Hi hi hi!  Well, as you can see, we’ve been doing a little housekeeping around here. It’s been a long time coming, but we finally have our new look in place.  We loved our Air Moxie pink and blue girls, but it was just time for a change, so we’ve taken our girls to a cocktail lounge with a go-go twist.  We call it “Moxie-a-Go-Go”. We’re still making some tweaks and ironing out a few weensy details here and there, so pardon any dust you might see.  Overall, it’s finished and should be displaying just delightfully in IE7, Firefox 2.0+ and Safari for both PC and Mac. If you’re using IE6, either upgrade your IE, get a better browser and/or tell your IT department to get with the program.

Some of the new features on this site are a new and improved FAQ section, which breaks down the most popular questions we hear monthly, weekly, even daily.  We’ve also made the proposal process so much smoother by creating a detailed Request for Proposal form that provides you a guideline for pricing and add-ons. 

We have a new portfolio, too! After 5 years and over 450 projects, we realized we had to pare it down a bit, so we’ve removed anything that’s not currently online (for now, though we’ll be bring back our Design Graveyard eventually for retired designs that we really like a lot). We also wanted to showcase only our most current and best work.

As you can see, our blog does allow comments now and we’ll be doing a lot more blogging over here, so please feel free to chime in.  We love a good conversation and meeting new people.   We’ll also be sharing some of our favorite blogging tips and editorials on blog design in our Blogging with Moxie category.  And while we did have a semi-hidden feed before, be sure to subscribe to our new feed here.

Kathy has some fun and exciting news for you later, too, so keep your eyes peeled. You may want to get in on it! 

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