On March 13 Target presents
Go International Designer Collective -
A reissue collection of 34 designer name dresses coveted by many a fashionista during the last 5 years of Target's designer collaborative efforts.
Prices start at $24.99
Monday, February 28, 2011
Did You Know...
That The International Center of Photography (NY) has Pay As You Wish Fridays?
(click on title to go to site for details)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Saturday, February 26, 2011
A Weekend of Rest
Two weeks ago I found myself in Target on a Thursday night standing in front of the rows and rows of face creams, lotions and potions confused out of my mind.
In past posts I have claimed my love of Oil of Olay, I come from a long line of users, but in recent years the line has expanded beyond my ability to comprehend which item is right for me. And with all those options the line's pricing has increased so that I have no excuse not to move on and experiment.
That evening I finally decided to admit that time is marching on and that I need more than a moisturizer and sun block to fight off its effects. Luckily I am blessed with good genes and my skin is in pretty good shape but as they say "prevention is the best medicine" After reading almost every package in the aisle I decided on -
Garnier Ultra-Lift Daily Targeted Wrinkle Treatment
and
Garnier Ultra-Lift Anti Wrinkle Firming Eye Cream
I will be honest, I purchased them because they were on sale and because the packaging was small - uhm we all have our own methods of decision making - don't judge!
It's been a week since the purchase. I have used them as directed and though I have no great expectations of the promised vast "improvements" I am surpised with how soft and "firm" my skin feels. Just yesterday a work associate turned to me and asked me if I had a good dermatologist that I could share.
Items available in your local drugstores
(click on title for more info about the Garnier line)
I'm Baaaaaaaaaack...
I have spent the past week trying to push pass this Winter. The cold season has been brutal this year and it's still with us though the hope of spring is within reach. But I am back with loads of stuff to share...stay tuned
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Friday, February 18, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Tuesday's Mental Musings
Time has a funny way of romanticizing our past. Sometimes we need to place people and events in such drastic light in order to move on and get over the end. Sometimes, with time and patience, we can stop and truly see who and what was in our lives as they were rather than as they needed to be. The more important thing is that if we are patient and forgiving with ourselves we can accept who and what was in our lives and be grateful even when gratitude seems too much.
Monday, February 14, 2011
Yesterday's Card...
It's been a while since I've found a card
I found this one walking from the bus stop on Sunday
It Was A Soup Sunday...
Yesterday I ventured out to Ikea. Though still cold in NY the weather was brisk and sunny. I enjoyed the afternoon and came home just in time to make one of my favorite quick and tasty soups.
I hope you try it -
Heat your soup pot over a medium flame
(I use my dutch oven)
Add 32 oz of low-sodium chicken stock
Allow to simmer
And one chicken breast, cleaned and thinly sliced
followed by 3 cloves of finely chopped garlic
Let simmer about 15-20 minutes
Skim any fat that floats to the top...almost there
Add 8 thinly sliced Shatiike Mushrooms
8 oz of soft tofu, cubed
(place soft tofu on paper towel about 15 minutes before cubing)
Plus 2 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger
2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro
1/2 cup sliced scallions
2 tablespoons of Soy Sauce (Low- Sodium!)
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Let simmer for another 10-15 minutes
Spoon into bowls
Now here's the part you CAN NOT forget
Squirt soup with fresh lime juice
(It's a MUST, the lime heightens all the wonderful flavors)
The soup is enough as is but I have added spinach, fresh chinese noodles, baby bok choy.
Enjoy!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Waiting for Spring...
Chrystie Street, February 2011
Laying in bed February 2011
All Images © Simone Rene 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Oh La La...uhm...
Finding and jacking a French sailor aside, replacing a French Sailor's Boatneck 3/4 Sleeve Shirt is harder than it might seem. I searched and searched until I found the perfect one on LL Bean's site. The ratio of white stripe to black stripe (slightly wider) is perfect and the fit sits without clinging..I will wait until late April to begin my search for the perfect white pant...
click on title to go to site
Maybe..Just Maybe...
posting a picture of Manolo Blahnik's Chierata shoe will warm me up a bit...I am so over this New York winter....
(Welcome back pretty...)
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Keeping An Eye On You...
When I was 16 my grandmother passed me a hand made envelope so tiny I thought it was for my Barbie dolls, which I had stopped playing with years before. I opened it to reveal a blue eye encased in gold. It was smaller than a shirt button and hanging on a chain so delicate I feared handling it. My grandmother promptly instructed me to always wear this charm as protection and good luck. For years I religiously wore it never knowing that she had given me a part of my family's history.(click on title to read some history).
I am not certain if the recent trend of wearing an "Evil Eye" charm is still popular but the pieces I found on http://www.maxandchloe.com/ make me want to purchase a lot of protection...
Tuesday's Mental Musings
Ask most American’s what they are rather than what they identify as and most will say “my mother’s family is this and my father’s family is that”. Explaining the complexity of our history can become tedious and boring to those who prefer the simplicity of pigeonholing everything and everyone. It is often easier for us to identify with one group and if the selection of that group cannot be determined by the hue of our skin, the skew of our features, the texture of our hair or the carry of our person who we identify as is often determined by our own selection. Because of this many multifaceted beings can “pass” without issue and most of us do.
And then there are those of us so mixed that we begin to reflect too many peoples and ideas. We proudly claim our heritage and refuse to allow others to make us be who we aren’t. We explore our history and accept our varied faiths and customs creating a personal story that makes us no more or less than those who hold fast to one claim. But because we refuse to define ourselves in a simple manner there are those who find us ambiguous enough that we given both the privilege and pain of being exposed to their prejudices and fears.
I have heard ethnic slurs, sometimes followed by “oh, excuse me; I hope I’m not offending you”. I have listened to the opinions of others in regard to “those-people’s” tendencies and behaviors as if embracing more means I am “neither/or” and gives me carte-blanche to their “privileged” thoughts. I have been shocked by comments of ignorance made in the name of religious beliefs and political views and I can tell you I am never grateful. I have had people befriend me believing that my choice to be “me” is exotic and odd and that I, not my friendship, would add to their bland collection of friends. And I always find myself shocked, angry and finally saddened by being privy to such behavior.
Sometimes I believe because of my ambiguity (“What are you anyway?” I mean, we’re all American”) I am seen as someone who can take these spiritual and emotional assaults but that is not the case. Each time I run across someone with such ingrained prejudicial views a part of me suffers for them as well as for those they have chosen to push outside their understanding and acceptance. Each time I am privy to others who believe that each of us has a place that is not based on personal choice but is based on the color of our skin, the ethnicities of our ancestors or the religious customs of our forefathers and mothers and that place is beneath theirs a part of me dies. And the fact that they often do so by by holding themselves superior in the belief that “those people” are the issue makes me even more angry and insulted.
I tire of discussing our similarities, the often linear history and development of our faiths, the mistreatment of all groups at the hands of the privileged and the current repetition of that history. I tire of trying to ease in understanding with hope that a wall will crack so that the choice of allowing it to crumble is easier than it was before. I have come to a point where all I can do is say a prayer for peace and understanding for all of us involved and move on in the best way I know how.
I tire of discussing our similarities, the often linear history and development of our faiths, the mistreatment of all groups at the hands of the privileged and the current repetition of that history. I tire of trying to ease in understanding with hope that a wall will crack so that the choice of allowing it to crumble is easier than it was before. I have come to a point where all I can do is say a prayer for peace and understanding for all of us involved and move on in the best way I know how.
Sometimes it’s not easy, fate plays a cruel hand and forces me to be in the presence of those who wear their prejudices like shields far longer than I care to and must learn to stand without reaction while not being silent.
I still can’t decide if that lesson of tolerance is for me or for them.
I still can’t decide if that lesson of tolerance is for me or for them.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Net Yogi's
click on title to go to site.
Namaste
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
Target Free Sundays at
The Studio Museum in Harlem 144 West 125th Street
(between Lenox Ave and Adam Clayton Powell Junior Blvd)
click on title to go to site
click on title to go to site
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Recipe with Pomi
Heat a skillet over a medium flame
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil
Once heated add 1 medium onion, diced, and
2-3 cloves finely chopped garlic, stir
Add 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh Rosemary to oil
Pour 1 box of Pomi's Marina Sauce (it's seasoned!)
Add 1-1/2 teaspoons of lightly salted capers
and 1 lb of a firm white fish fillet (I use cod) that has been
cleaned and cubed
Add 1 large or 2 small bay leaves
Cover and let cook for 15 minutes or so, fish should be flakey yet firm
Salt & Pepper to taste at the end
(watch the salt, the capers may add enough)
I have enjoyed this stew alone
with a crusty French bread
Over a hardy pasta
Over grits
Over polenta
Over rice
Added cleaned, cubed potatoes
(5 minutes before adding the fish)
Switched out the fish for cubed chicken breast
(cooked for 30 minutes)
Added cleaned shrimp and clams
(about 5-8 minutes before it was ready)
Added basil instead of Rosemary
Added diced olives
Sooo many options to play with..
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Tuesday's Mental Musings
We talk of peace as if it is so easy to achieve.
We talk and talk and talk and the days turn to years and the years into decades and centuries and still we don't do the one thing we each need to do to usher peace to our doors. We never let go of our egos.
Instead we believe that others are responsible for wars. We trust that discontent is only on the other side of where we live and don't see that pointing out "those people" causes separation and creates the very basic justifications of most wars - invasion.
We believe that the corruption that lives in our neighborhoods and the very institutions we support aren't the issue because they don't affect much.
We neglect to support and give to those in our communities believing that we aren't well off enough to "share" what we "don't" have and that they should know "better".
And when we do "share" we continue to help those far away from our day to day living because we believe they live beneath our standards and we are "privileged" enough to help them live a standard of life we believe they should.
But in my opinion our real crime against peace is that we never put aside our individual egos to see pass our fear of being wrong.
We hold strong to our national pride, social customs and ethnic traditions in the belief that doing so will guarantee that the "right side" will win and that the peace which materializes will be the peace we wanted.
We never leave room for interdependent living or for a path that will lead to the acceptance of others as they are not as we want them to be so the very idea of peace continues to remain elusive ...sigh..
We talk and talk and talk and the days turn to years and the years into decades and centuries and still we don't do the one thing we each need to do to usher peace to our doors. We never let go of our egos.
Instead we believe that others are responsible for wars. We trust that discontent is only on the other side of where we live and don't see that pointing out "those people" causes separation and creates the very basic justifications of most wars - invasion.
We believe that the corruption that lives in our neighborhoods and the very institutions we support aren't the issue because they don't affect much.
We neglect to support and give to those in our communities believing that we aren't well off enough to "share" what we "don't" have and that they should know "better".
And when we do "share" we continue to help those far away from our day to day living because we believe they live beneath our standards and we are "privileged" enough to help them live a standard of life we believe they should.
But in my opinion our real crime against peace is that we never put aside our individual egos to see pass our fear of being wrong.
We hold strong to our national pride, social customs and ethnic traditions in the belief that doing so will guarantee that the "right side" will win and that the peace which materializes will be the peace we wanted.
We never leave room for interdependent living or for a path that will lead to the acceptance of others as they are not as we want them to be so the very idea of peace continues to remain elusive ...sigh..
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