If you’re an “Entourage” fan, you may have seen our gleaming Silver Small Tie Tote on the show’s “Murphy’s Lie” episode.  (It first aired August 16, 2009 and re-airs intermittently on HBO.)   We found this out via a great website called The Purse Forum – a place we’re now huge fans of.

Alexis Dziena, the sleek young actress who plays Ashley on the hit show, was the one who wore it.  The show’s a great fit for us because the star of “Entourage” Adrian Grenier is very dedicated to the environment and has his own show called “Alter Eco” on the Planet Green channel.

How did we get this coup? Well, let’s just say we’re very thankful to Lisa Greenfield, who’s a dear friend and a big supporter of our Rebagz. And thanks also go to the “Celebrity Bags and Style” section on The Purse Forum, a part of The Purse Blog, where you can go to get the expert lowdown on designer bags.

Alexis Dziena & our Silver Tie Tote on "Entourage"

We also loved our previous Rebagz “appearance” on TV when our Multi-Color Large Tie Tote was featured on several episodes spanning three seasons of “Ugly Betty.”  The show’s star America Ferrera had received the bag at an Emmy Awards party in September 2007, just a few months after we launched the line.  That January, we started getting calls from our customers telling us they’d seen the bag on “Ugly Betty.”  Sure enough, we discovered America had decided to wear it on the show – and we were (and still are) so grateful!

America Ferrera & our Large Tie Tote on "Ugly Betty"

Things like these TV appearances have really helped put us on the map.  Granted, our company’s based in Los Angeles, so we’re kind of over the whole celebrity thing.  But when Adrian Grenier and America Ferrera are involved, given the stands they take in their public life, we feel extremely fortunate to be affiliated with them.

XOXO Marty

Senator Carol Liu’s Women’s Health Conference last Friday was amazing!  There were engaging speakers, informative workshops and a lot of great people to meet.  Among them were my friends Tasha Oldham, my fabulous attorney Dava Casoni and Rose Cole, who gave a standing-room only lecture about her extraordinary nutrition program.  (Senator Liu, by the way, was the one who gave me the California Small Business of the Year Award back in May.)

Everyone who attended wound up carrying one of the “White Rose” Cinchy Totes we made especially for the event.  Given that the symbol for the women’s health conference was a rose in full bloom, it seemed only appropriate – and, of course, it suited my friend Rose perfectly.

Packing all the goodies into our Cinchy Totes

And here are those beautiful bags lined up the day before the event, just waiting for the attendees.

Our "White Rose" Cinchy Totes, all lined up

We also set up a booth there and our wonderful office manager Alexis and I had a great time selling our beautiful Rebagz to the people there.  Our new Statement Makers were particularly popular, and one of our customers had a particularly touching story.

Carole Young - a true survivor

This is Carole Young.  She wound up buying one of our “Nipple” Tattletale Totes - and the reason she wanted that bag is because she’s a 19-year survivor of breast survivor.  All our “Nipple” Statement Makers Bags support the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund. (I’ll talk more about them in an upcoming blog - promise!)  Like so many other cancer survivors I’ve met, Carole had a delightful sense of humor and you’d never know from how healthy she looked that she has had to battle this horrible disease.  It was an honor to meet her.

When the annoyances of running a business start to get to me, I remember people like Carole and all that they’ve been through.  It reminds me to be so grateful that I even have a business to run, and that I also have my health, a roof over my head and people in my life that I love so very much.

XOXO Marty