As told by Jodi Murphy

It’s time to tweet about two exciting project in the works – Nesting Newbies and The Lea Show. A team of very talented people have been working to produce two internet shows. Nesting Newbies is a cooking, entertaining and decorating show featuring Lea McIntosh who is using her culinary training to teach newlyweds and those newly out on their own how to cook great food and entertain in style…and on a budget.

We always say “Leave it to Lea” when we need to find great resources for, well, anything and we’re showcasing her discoveries in The Lea Show. Experts and interesting talents show Lea how to do what they do on each episode. Lea asks the questions and the audience learns great insights, tips and “how tos” right along with her.

On Sunday April 19th the team – James Burkart of Burkart Video, Lea McIntosh, Natalie Wi of Allure West Studios, David Braddy of Vine-agra, Vanessa Rockey, Pat Campbell and Betsy Rose (best crew ever!) and I – took over the Rutt of Los Altos showroom to re-film the first episode of Nesting Newbies and the second episode of The Lea Show.

Lea and Vanessa arrived bright and early to begin hair and make-up while Pat and Betsy started food prepping and setting up. Natalie Wi was there to photograph the day’s events, including all the behind the scenes pandemonium. I arrived with the items on loan from Bloomingdale’s Stanford so that we could create our featured “Bella Notte Bistro Chic” tabletop. I had challenged David Braddy, a florist extraordinaire, to come up with something magical. I was doing the “happy dance” when he arrived because he had woven curly willow together anchored by two urns to create an arch over the table with a lantern attached in the center. It was beautiful, easy to make, and inexpensive! Perfect, since the goal is to show “newbies” how to stylishly entertain without breaking their budgets.

Diane Phillips of DK Designs dropped by to deliver two of her floral creations for the set of The Lea Show. Diane was the first guest artisan featured on The Lea Show (soon to be aired) and it was great to have her beautiful work decorate this episode’s set.

We learned so much from the first taping of Nesting Newbies that we decided to redo it and asked our first newbies, Lacee and Tejas Naik to come back again. The energy was high and when it was time for “Quiet on the Set” we were all in awe of what we were seeing. The chemistry between Chef Lea and the newbies was fantastic and the interaction, inspirational. Lea invited the Newbies into the cooking process and I think we all learned something new. Personally, I discovered how to properly cut an onion and hold a knife properly…and I’m not a newbie!

Jonathan Murphy dropped by to meet everyone in person as he will be doing the voiceover opening for the shows.

Soon Jung Wi, Natalie’s husband arrived with their three adorable kids who were quickly called into “crew” duties while Jung prepared for his segment on The Lea Show. Jung and Natalie own Allure West Studios and Jung, a master photographer, also teaches people how to get the most out of their digital cameras. He busted so many “megapixel myths” and taught Lea (and us) what to look for when buying a digital camera. With so much valuable information, Lea invited him back for a future episode to teach her (and the audience) how to take better digital shots.

By the time we wrapped it was a long day but one that was fulfilling and fun! James is editing the shows, the opening illustrations are being created and soon we will launch the first episodes of Nesting Newbies and The Lea Show. Sweet! – JM

The Filming of Two Shows

Leave it to Lea McIntosh to bring a talented team together to each focus on and do what they do best. It begins at 7 AM when Lea and her faithful crew, Pat, Betsy & Aunt Lonni, arrive at the beautiful Rutt of Los Altos showroom to begin setting up a cooking segment for an exciting new internet show (to be announced soon!) aimed at newlyweds, almost weds and those who are living away from mom & dad’s for the very first time.

James Burkart of Burkart Videography shows up with his lovely wife, Amy, to set up cameras and lighting. Filming will take place in three separate areas of the Rutt showroom. Meanwhile, Vanessa Rockey – a rockin’ hair stylist from Updo Artistry/Hair by Ness starts taming Lea’s raven tresses, and Tiffany Chiang, DesignHer Image , gets Lea’s face camera ready. Lacee and Diane (more about them later) wait in the wings for their turns.

Natalie Wi – incredible photographer and co-owner of Allure West Studios – is snapping shots at every turn, documenting the day. She is collaborating with Lea on a future coffee table book. I arrive around 9:00 AM in Penelope (my MINI Cooper) filled to the brim with china, crystal, flatware, & linens I borrowed from Bloomingdale’s Stanford , along with seashells and tea lights for staging a fresh take on a Mediterranean seaside table setting. Just as I show up, David Braddy, floral designer , pulls up – thank heavens, because I need the help to unload. He’s made lovely arrangements for the kitchen set display and tablescape.

It’s a happy pandemonium inside, and you can just feel the creative energy everywhere. Carl Mindling, Lea’s on-air co-host for the cooking show, is working with Betsy to get everything prepped and ready to go. Lacee and Tejas Naik, newlyweds, are joining Lea and Carl on camera. They’re getting miked so they can ask questions while Lea and Carl demonstrate easy ways to cook and entertain. Amy Burkart, the director, is reviewing the script and making last minute notations.

Diane Phillips of DK Designs is setting up in another area. She’s arranging her custom clay floral pieces and laying out her tools to get ready for the filming of the “how to” show. She’s so organized! She’ll be teaching Lea how to create a dendrobium orchid favor box. Diane will be the premiere guest on Lea’s new show (to be announced soon!) featuring creative people & their work..

By 11 AM it’s LIGHTS! CAMERAS!…and NO action! We all hear ‘bleep’ just as the power goes out. I know what you’re thinking…we blew a fuse; but on this sunny Saturday morning there is an anomalous power outage in downtown Los Altos. There’s an estimate of TWO hours until it’s fixed…oh, and did I forget to mention that Lacee and Tejas have to leave for the airport by 12:30?

Well, as the rest of the gang try to figure out a Plan B, Natalie takes shots of the tablescape, and I take advantage of her downtime to do a kitchen vignette shot with sock monkey for Rutt of Los Altos…part of their new ad campaign Lea & I developed. It sounds like an odd idea, but it’s really getting a great reaction after the first ad we recently launched : )

Lea is about to release the newlyweds and send them on their way when – ‘bleep’ – power’s back on! Cooking segment begins, and even with several takes (it was the first time, you know), Lacee & Tejas get out the door at 12:30…okay it’s 12:38, but who noticed?
Diane and Lea are up now and the rest of us watched in awe at how adept Diane is at making flowers out of this unique soft clay. Lea was an impressive first-timer but it is clear that Diane is a master artist, especially when you see how she hand-crafts each flower one petal at a time. It was a great session!
After some pick up shots, a short segment describing the table setting, more photographs, lots of clean up, the day was a wrap at 6 PM. The two new shows will air on The Wedding Chat and soon Newbies will learn to nest and we’ll all learn insights into others’ creative pursuits…yes, Leave it to Lea – JM