Wednesday, December 30, 2009

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.

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

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.

Monday, December 14, 2009

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!

Sunday, December 13, 2009

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

What was your favorite trip in 09?

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Camouflage Art

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

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

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

iPhone polaroid

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

So You Think You Can Dance - Top 8

So You Think You Can DanceMore 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...

Monday, December 7, 2009

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 - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band - A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 1 - Merry Christmas Baby
Please Come Home For Christmas - Aaron Neville Aaron Neville - Aaron Neville's Soulful Christmas - Please Come Home for Christmas
Baby It's Cold Outside - Lady Antebellum Lady Antebellum - Baby, It's Cold Outside - Single
Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree - Brenda Lee Brenda Lee - 20th Century Masters - The Christmas Collection: The Best of Brenda Lee - Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree
Santa Claus Is Back In Town - Elvis and Wynonna Elvis Presley - Christmas Duets
Santa Baby - Eartha Kitt Eartha Kitt - Christmas Stars - Santa Baby
Mistletoe - Colbie Caillat Colbie Caillat - Mistletoe - Single - Mistletoe
I Saw Three Ships - Sting Sting - A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3 - I Saw Three Ships
Christmas Celebration - B.B. King B.B. King - A Christmas Celebration of Hope - Christmas Celebration
Cool Yule - Matt Dusk Matt Dusk - Cool Yule - Single

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.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

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


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.

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.

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.

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