Gift of the Day: Collegiate Tervis Tumblers

With October almost here, college football season is in full swing! Whether your team is winning or losing, fond tailgating memories will get you through your work week.

Keep your team spirit alive throughout the year with Collegiate Tervis Tumblers.

1. Choose from 5 different tumbler sizes
2. Select your favorite team emblem
3. Personalize with your name, monogram or nickname (no numbers, please)

Everyone loves Tervis Tumblers! In case you were wondering how it all started, the world’s first insulated tumbler was created in 1946 by Detroit engineering duo Frank Cotter & G. Howlett Davis. Using the insulating properties of air, the two engineers created a permanently sealed, double-walled tumbler that kept cold drinks colder & hot drinks hotter longer than traditional drinkware. The only thing missing was a name but with a simple combination of the last three letters of Cotter & Davis’ names, the brand “Tervis®” was born.

Personalized Tervis Tumblers are dishwasher, freezer and microwave safe. Order them now to enjoy during this football season or think about them as a holiday gift.

Collegiate Tervis Tumblers will be 10% off for a week beginning today.

You can see all 140 school choices here http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/category.php?category_id=369

Things We Love...

...Week of September 17th edition...

JON McLAUGHLIN We here at the merch do not get any work done without a little background music. I'm half surprised the ipod speakers haven't started smoking from overuse. Anyhoodle, one gentleman we have yet to get tired of is Jon McLaughlin. I have yet to meet a single soul who doesn't like his music, and if you don't know who he is, head over to your itunes and start downloading. Personal favorites of the Merch are: Blue Skies, Throwing a Line, and Until You've Got Love. If this is your first Jon Mclaughlin experience, then all I have to say is; you're welcome in advance.

TERVIS TUMBLERS This may seem like a no brainer, but I am sorry, there is seriously nothing better than Tervis Tumblers. I am personally a big fan of the Big T because it can actually hold an entire diet coke AND ice, which I have yet to see the average cup accomplish. Plus the best part of the Tervis is they don't ever sweat, so you're not leaving rings of water everywhere. They keep your drinks colder, longer, not to mention you can have them monogrammed or personalized with your favorite school. I realize they aren't exactly fine china or anything, but as everyday wear, you can't beat them. You can pick some out at The Merch.

TELEVISION WITHOUT PITY I love my TV shows. I'm not all about watching aimless television, but the shows I follow, I follow RELIGIOUSLY. My friends know not to call me during LOST, I am obsessed with Project Runway, I'll probably cry if Friday Night Lights gets cancelled, and don't even get me started on Prison Break. However, I've found a website that completely feeds into my addiction, http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com/, is any television junkie's dream. Personally, I mostly just read the show recaps, which even if you've seen the episode are downright hilarious. The people who write recaps for TWoP add their own snarky comments, definitely worth hours of entertainment.

Toast the Happy Couple with a Classic Keg Party: Hostessing an engagement party in red-letter style!

THE KEG!

When the groom-to-be requested a keg for this summer party, it set the tone for the entire evening! How do two traditional-type hostesses honor a Manhattan bride and her fun-loving fiance?

We started with a pony which needed a little fixing up. The Bud Lite was perfectly chilled thanks to our keg king, Chris, who fought the summer heat and iced it for over 6 hours by the time the party started. The keg, however, left much to be desired in the looks department. Our solution? Add a monogram bar towel! As you can see from the before and after photos, the towel was the perfect accent and a useful one too!

With the keg as inspiration, I think I've come up with a great engagement gift idea for this couple....personalized, collegiate Tervis Tumblers...perfect for keeping beer cold in the summer heat. By sharing this with you, I'm blowing the surprise ... L & D, I hope you don't already have these!

The set of 4 Ohio State 16 oz tumblers personalized with the bride & groom's initials or last name can be found here http://www.themonogrammerchant.com/item.php?item_id=784

For those of you who are wondering where the party went after the monogrammed keg, here are a few highlights....the theme of the evening was 'Toledo meets Manhattan' to include the hometowns of the bride and groom as well as honoring the city where they met. We had sort of fancy hors d'oeuvres, a comfort food Midwestern dinner, and a dessert to cover both...buckeyes and cheesecake. We decorated with Ohio State and I Love NY and used black, white and red to tie it all together. Some of the recipes were requested by the party guests so they are included here as well.

Barefoot Contessa Virginia Ham http://www.barefootcontessa.com/recipes/1.html (We used 2 cloves of garlic instead of 6; after all, this party was celebrating romance!)

Buckeye Candy http://www.cooks.com/rec/doc/0,197,159178-224192,00.html ( We did not use nuts but we cheated and used the chocolate dipping shell)

A good time was had by all and the party went well into the a.m. Some highlights I will share that made our evening extra special.... an iPod loaded with great tunes brought by a thoughtful groomsman; a volunteer bartender; and a happy couple we all were thrilled to celebrate!

A few suggestions for all those late-night hostesses out there...if someone happens to bring you a bottle of your favorite wine, there is no reason you need to share it -- its perfectly polite to drink it all yourself! For entertainment, make sure you have some fun DVDs or something which appeals to a crowd on your DVR (thankfully I still had the Concert for Diana from Summer 2007 which led to an Elton John sing along at 2:45 a.m.). My usual program line-up of Oprah, General Hospital and the like drew ridicule from my late night cohorts! For your perhaps unexpected but most welcome overnight guests, clean sheets in the guest room, water glasses and a few new toothbrushes.

With several of us sleep deprived on Sunday, we came up with a new motto "We sure aren't as young as we used to be, but we are just as fun!" I think I will order some cocktail napkins printed with that saying for hostess and holiday gifts!