Top Ten Healing Foods Of The Decade Plus 1

Honey

Blueberries

Salmon

Green Tea

Broccoli

Walnuts

Spices

Pomegranate

Dark Chocolate

Yogurt

and my favorite which they did not include - red wine.

For more information about these foods and the research click here.

3 Magazines I Liked That Closed In 2009

It's been a tough year for the magazine business. Quite a few have closed. The ones I will miss are Metropolitan Home, Domino and Country Home. For a list of more magazine closings click here.

Merry Christmas From Lola The Adorable Dog

Christmas Shopping With Friends

Great day Christmas shopping with two friends I had not seen in over a year. Actually it was a little shopping and a lot of talking over coffee and lunch. We come from the wine country, Sacramento and San Jose so met in Berkeley. Fun place to shop along 4th street, including a Crate and Barrel outlet store and lots of little boutiques. We're all photographers so of course we had to take our picture!

Best 09 #1 - Best Trip

Decided to enter The Best of 09 Blog Challenge...writing about 31 "bests" from this year. So here goes.

Best Trip

I've taken several trips this year, one to Las Vegas to attend the SITS conference, one in Oregon and one in the Carolinas and Georgia. All were great but I think the best was the one Richard and I took to the southern part of the U.S. It was my first real trip to the south (except for Virginia and Texas). Here are links about that trip and photos...

Day One - North Carolina

Day Two - The Hotel Compromise and the Waterfront Cape Fear

Day Three - Battleships and Plantations

Day Four - Aligators, More Plantations, Swamps and Key Lime Pie

Day Five - Forts, Porpoise, Ferry Rides, Fried Okra

Day Six - Charleston

Day Seven - Savannah Georgia, Bagpipes, Memorial Day Parade, Pralines

Day Eight - Southern Mansions, Horse Drawn Carriages, White Chocolate and Carmel Apples

Day Nine - Magnolia Blossoms, A Painting That Knocked My Socks Off, The Paris Market

Day Ten and Eleven - Things I Packed and Didn't Use

Back Home - A List Of My Favorites From the Trip

What was your favorite trip in 09?

Camouflage Art

Very cool photography/art by Liu Bolin. He was inspired by how animals blend into their environment. more pictures...

Need A Great Boutonniere?

Forget the old rose bud and baby breath boutonnieres. Fritts Rosenow makes the most original boutonniere's you have ever seen. There are lapel size vintage cars, skis, poker sets, guitars...everything you can imagine and more. Now these are very cool.

Today's iPhone Polaroid

So You Think You Can Dance - Top 8

More great dancing tonight. This group just continues to impress me.

Best routine - Ryan and Kathryn's Cha Cha

Best Male Dancer - Russell - His partner was injured and he danced with two replacement partners. I love watching Russell dance, although Jakob also continues to blow me away.

Best Female Dancer - Mollee - tough call tonight. Kathryn was great but Mollee just lights up the stage.

Most likely to go home - Ashleigh was injured tonight and did not dance. I think it is likely that she will go home. I also think Legacy will go home. I didn't like his solo as much tonight and Ryan danced so well...and Jakob and Russell were great.

Note to choreographers. Please stop doing hip hop routines about aliens. (Actually stop those routines in any style.) The routines suck, the costumes suck and each time you create one, the dancers go home!

Update - Mollee and Legacy went home. I was sad that Mollee will not be in the finals.

Turquoise Top Color For 2010

Turquoise was selected as the color of 2010 by Pantone, a company that supplies and tracks color for fashion and home decor, among other industries. Fashion insiders agreed the color is on the rise. more...

Dancing In The Kitchen To Rock'n Christmas Songs

And the winner is...So Not Mom-a-licious

Win a $25 iTunes card to buy your favorite Christmas music! Just leave a comment and I will draw a name on Friday, December 11th.

Merry Christmas Baby - Bruce Springsteen -

Please Come Home For Christmas - Aaron Neville

Baby It's Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum

Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee

Santa Claus Is Back In Town - Elvis and Wynonna

Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt

Mistletoe - Colbie Caillat

I Saw Three Ships - Sting

Christmas Celebration - B.B. King

Cool Yule - Matt Dusk

Merry "Sitsmas" to all the great women at The Secret Is In The Sauce!

Favorite Vintage Find

sfgirlbybay is asking what our favorite vintage finds are. There have been many, but I have to say the best is the chandelier hanging above my bed!

Stop by sfgirlbybay and win a signed copy of Shabby Chic Interiors by Rachel Ashwell.

This Month's Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - December 2009

I have decided to stop saving my favorite magazines. I have bunches of back issues with corners turned down because there is a recipe or article I want to save. Each month I will do a post with my favorite tips from magazines for that month. Here is December's list...

From Real Simple

1. The Girls from Ames: A Story of Women and a Forty-Year Friendship

This book about women and friendships caught my eye...not only because it looked like a fun book, but because it also might make a great Christmas present for several of my friends.

2. Decorating With Brown - I have been thinking about painting my bedroom brown and have had paint chips taped to the wall for about a year now. This month's issue has a five page article on the best browns to use and great accessory colors. Right now I am leaning towards Acorn by Benjamin Moore

3. Interesting article about free radicals. They suggest Neutrogena Ageless Restoratives¿ Skin Renewal Moisture SPF 30 lotion, 1.7-Ounce Package for the skin damage free radicals cause. They also list 10 best radical-fighting foods: apples, pomegranates, dark chocolate, dried plums, red wine, artichokes, pecans blueberries, strawberries and spinach.

4. Zoku Quick Pop Maker

From Sunset Magazine

5. Great gift idea - USB Flash Drives from Pantone. You can load them up with family photos. Available in 1 GB to 16GB ($13 - $49.99) Fourteen popular pantone colors.

6. Solar powered, hand-blown glass, outdoor string lights. I thought these were wonderful outdoor lights...a bit on the pricey side but they are sustainable.

From House Beautiful

7. Designer Danielle Fennoy, predicts that design is moving toward being "more inventive with what we already have. Salvaging older items, and buying sustainable, reusable items will grow in popularity." I really like that.

From More Magazine

8. Drinking skim milk for breakfast cuts your appetite for lunch. Subjects consumed 50 fewer calories at lunch and reported feeling less hungry between the two meals.

9. Statement-making necklaces. Including BR Monogram pieces from Banana Republic.

10. Be a part of the More Reader Panel