Blog

    Two weeks ago, Brian and I had a fantastic weekend visiting a few of the many wineries in Northern Virginia.  There are so many delicious wines to taste!  We even picked up a few of our favorite bottles to bring home and enjoy on special occasions – or on a regular Wednesday...

I’ve spent the last couple days working away at the website and doing my best to improve the look and quality of the products.  It’s actually pretty fun, though tedious.  I keep kicking myself each time I post up at the local coffee shop and then realize I left my mouse at home.  My poor little wrists!  I’m not used to all this typing!  But again, I have to say it’s pretty fun.  I definitely regret never taking any computer classes in school… well, I did take typing class in 7th grade, but I don’t think that counts, somehow. I miss making hoops this week!  But I have some really cute new hoops to add to my repertoire and upcoming Christmas bazaars.  I’ll be vending hoops at the Key Elementary Christmas Bazaar on...

The other week I had the pleasure of teaching a hooping class for the kids and parents of Key Elementary School in Clarendon.  We had a super-creative class, with tons of movement with the hoop, as well as integrating various activities along with hooping.  Who knew so many kids could hoop and play basketball at the same time? I think we all learned something that night, as well as had a fantastic and fun workout. And as promised, here’s the music playlist from that night: One Evening (VV Mix) – Feist Under Pressure – David Bowie/Queen Love Foolosophy – Jamiroquai Love Today – Mika Canned Heat – Jamiroquai Just Can’t Get Enough – The Saturdays Bulletproof – La Roux Groovejet (If This Ain’t Love)...

Back in May, pre-website, post-getting my first spot selling hoops at the Ballston Arts & Crafts Market, I decided that it was time to get some good pictures of my hoops.  Not just pictures taken with my FinePix Z5 digital camera with optical zoom (I’ve taken plenty of those), but professional pictures taken by a professional photographer.  I realized this would be an investment, but absolutely one that I was willing to make – especially since my photography skills are sub-par, to say the least. I have a co-worker that happens to be a professional photographer with his own photography business, so I decided to speak with him about helping me out before looking elsewhere.  Explaining that I needed some sharp, colourful still shots of my hoops, as...

I believe I’m living the dream here – a hooping blog?  What!?  And a website?  Even better!  Let me introduce myself and say WELCOME!  The pretty.hot.hoops. website is finally here!  My name is Carolyn Bream.  I’m a chef by profession, run a small cafe, and love cooking.  However, as with anything you do day in and day out, you usually try to find other outlets to keep you sane.  Enter hooping.  I picked up my first adult-sized hula hoop a few years back and fell head over heels.  There’s something about a hoop spinning around your body, moving effortlessly in a spiral and encapturing your whole being, that I can barely put into words.  The fact that I started losing weight and toning up a bit did not hurt, either. That said,...