Bark! In The Park

Last night we had an event called Bark! In The Park, a premiere children's ballet and family benefit for New York Theatre Ballet. We are all breathing a large sigh of relief over here at MK because we rarely do children's events and weren't sure about how many messes and meltdowns to expect. However, after many hours of brainstorming we came up with some children's activities that were each successful in their own way. We included a make your own "pupcake" station, where kids could decorate their own bite sized cupcake. We found this great face painter, Maria Rocco, who made these amazing animal creations on some of the kids. Juan Villanueva made a large mural painting of Central Park where the kids could take different colored chalk and "make their mark on Central Park." There was this one little boy who's mother just could not get him to leave the mural. He spent the rest of the time walking around the party with chalk all over his blazer and gripping a blue and orange chalk in each hand. So adorable. We also brought in large white picnic tables where the children could decorate animal masks. There was a great candy bar, which we are still reaping the benefits of (bags upon bags of leftover candy sitting in our office.)  Our personal favorite, however, was "Nick the Balloonatic,"balloon artist extraordinare. All in all, we think the event was a huge success and hope it put NYTB on the map.

Children's party

Martha Stewart and the adorable NYTB dancers

Muffie Potter Aston and her twin girls

Martha Stewart and granddaughter 

Parties & Paper

Right now at MK we are in the midst of planning a family benefit and have had so much fun coming up with cute event ideas for kids. After many brainstorming sessions we realized that most of our ideas go back to the use of paper. We are printing out paper masks for the kids to decorate and are using fun colored straws for a cookies and milk station.

shoptomkat.com

Pretty Paper Parties by Vana Chupp

shoptomkat.com

paperandpigtailsparty.com

The photo props and the hanging paper flowers are little touches that can go a long way and can easily be made at home.There are a bunch of great websites and blogs that are dedicated to the love of paper and parties, and on some you can even get free printouts or buy custom designs. We love Paper and Pigtails, the tomkat studio, and Le Papier Studio.

A Bark! Sneak Peak

Karen LeFrak and Michael Scales

Yesterday we fell in love with (in our opinion) the most talented and fabulous choreographer in all of show-biz, Chase Brock. We had the pleasure of meeting him at Sarah Frank's Central Park West home, where we got a sneak peak into New York Theatre Ballet's Bark! In The Park. The ballet, with music and story by Karen LeFrak, will be premiered at our February 5th family benefit at El Museo Del Barrio. We had heard Chase's name thrown around our little world of events trillions of times in the past few months of planning, and we had even seen some of his work at the open studio. But we had no idea the kind of fabulosity we were dealing with. Chase, who choreographed broadway's hit, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, was so well spoken as he explained how he developed the identities of each character in Bark! Karen was also beaming as she told the story of two children searching for their lost dog in Central Park. NYTB's Michael Scales shined on the piano. See more in New York Social Diary. 

Chase Brock

Sarah Frank, Michael Scales and Karen LeFrak

Chase Brock, Sarah Frank, Karen LeFrak

Pooh came to watch too! 

MK Who Wore it Best

Black and white and red all over was the fashion theme of the 70th annual Golden Globes Awards. Kate Hudson, Sofia Vergara and Katharine McPhee all looked stunning in black gowns, but we think the real winners donned more fiery tones. Take a look at who we think wore it best:

Ashley's Pick: Jessica Alba. We still aren't really sure what she is so famous for- we guess its for being so good looking. But we love her anyway, especially with the ombré hair. 
 

Katie's Pick: Jennifer Gardner. This couple stole the show. Jen was absolutely beaming when her husband won for Best Director and Best Picture for "Argo." The Gardner-Affleck family should win a Golden Globe simply for being the most adorable hollywood family.

Mary's Pick: Jennifer Lawrence. She definitely seem's to be the hollywood "it" girl these days and although the bust on this dress wasn't the most flattering on screen, we picked her anyway because she is so talented and we loved her "I beat Meryl" acceptance speech.


And we obviously love the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler duo no matter what they wear...

The Best of 2012

Before diving headfirst into our 2013 year of events, we think it’s important to reflect on all of the fabulous- and even not so fabulous- goings on at MK. 2012 was the year the world was supposed to end, and if it had, we like to think MK would have gone out in style.

It was a year of once in a lifetime experiences and a year of firsts. 2012 was the year we listened to Roberta Flack belt out"Killing Me Softly" live in Lincoln Center. We saw Henry Kissinger speak about the Middle East. It was the year in which we pulled off an event one week after a major hurricane and one day after a nor’easter. In 2012, a "day at the office" could mean working on an LA rooftop with a panoramic view of the city. Katie and Ashley learned that one of the biggest advantages to west coast living is having In-N-Out Burger anytime you want. 2012 was the year of colored denim and Alex and Ani bracelets. At MK, Frozen yogurt breaks became more common than coffee breaks. And in 2012 we discovered that there are few things better than an evening cocktail and conversation on the Roger Sherman Inn porch.

So it’s that “out with the old in with the new” time of year again. And while we could do without the hurricanes, power outages and certainly the colored denim, we love what 2012 brought to each of our lives.

Ultimate Tourist Pic of 2012

Best Event Trend of 2012, DJ Chef

Best Event Entertainment of  2012, Magician Kevin Nicolas

Best Celeb Sighting Event of 2012, Time 100

Happy 2013 from MK Event Studio!

A Merry Mixture of Holiday Sweets

Last week at MK we had holiday get togethers on the mind and wanted to come up with festive cookie ideas to share. We each made our favorite holiday treats and brought them into the office for an exchange. We haven’t been able to stop snacking on them since!

Katie’s Ginger Cookies

*Makes three dozen

¾ cup shortening

1 cup brown sugar

1 egg

4 tbsp molasses

¼ tsp salt

1 ¼ cup flour

½ tsp cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ginger

1. Cream shortening and sugar
2. Beat in the egg and molasses
3. Stir in all dry ingredients together
4. Chill dough overnight*
5. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
6. Mold the batter into small balls
7. Dip the tip of the balls into the sugar
8. Use a fork to flatten the ball for desired look
9.  Bake at 375 for 10 minutes

Ashley’s Toffee Pretzel Bark

*Makes 1 ½ lbs of bark

14 oz dark chocolate

¾ broken pretzel pieces

¾ heath toffee pieces

14 oz white chocolate

1. Line baking sheet with parchment paper
2.  Melt dark chocolate, stirring until smooth
3. Stir in ½ cup pretzels and ½ cup toffee
4. Spread mixture on baking sheet
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
6. Melt white chocolate, stirring until smooth
7. Spread white chocolate on top of the hard dark chocolate
8. Spread the remaining pretzel and toffee on top, pressing them firmly into the chocolate
9. Refrigerate for 30 minutes
10. Use a sharp knife to break into pieces

Mary's Merry Mixture!

Mary couldn’t chose just one and went for a mixture! She decided to make a few family favorites, Carmody's Choco-Chip Bars, Meltaways and Holiday Meringues. Want the recipes? Email mary@mkeventstudio.com.  

Holiday Celebrations!

Last Thursday was a whirlwind of an evening!!! One of our clients, Casita Maria Center for Arts and Education and Roberto Cavalli teamed up to celebrate a special edition tote bag designed by the talented Casita Maria ArtWork Interns. The party took place at the Cavalli store on Madison Avenue, so of course we had to do some holiday window shopping before heading into the party.  Cavalli has absolutely gorgeous gowns this season- perfect if you are looking for something to wear to a winter gala ;) See more of the party in the New York Social Diary! 

After the Cavalli party we whipped over to one of Mary's favorite spots in midtown, the Royalton Hotel, located on 44th between Fifth and Sixth. With the fireplaces blazing, it was a perfect spot to
go for holiday cocktails and some light bites. We highly recommend the calamari and the risotto poppers- so delicious!

MK's night out at the Royalton