Something New!

I want to start a cosmetics company. I want to call it Moxie Make-Up and Cosmetics. I want to use TOMS one for one business model and give make-up and cosmetics to under served, at risk, low income, inner city ladies, beginning here in the U.S. then branching out to other countries and communities. Beauty should not be unattainable. Alas, where to begin? Where to get the capital? How?

I have a student named Renee. She recently went to the dermatologist for some skin irritations. He said she needed to stop wearing perfume or using lotion with scents and so on. As a teenager, she is pretty horrified at he thought of walking through life without the scents associated with being a girl. I was too when my doctor told me the same thing. So as a little present I made her Rockin' Renee. An Eau de Parfum made strictly of all natural products.

I hope you like it, love!

My Cute Town

I have a few "pet peeves." One of them is when folks who live in my town say bad things about it. It ranks right up there with Americans joining in to slam our country with Europeans. Something is just principally not right about that.

Another one is bad grammar, but I'll save that for another post.

How can someone say, "Sacramento = no culture." We have a beautiful and very cosmopolitan museum.

People say all the time, "What a cow town." Apparently they haven't been to Vacaville - actually named 'cow town.'

And why do natives from here say things like, "I hate it here." I say, "Then get out!"

We have excellent recreational trails for biking, hiking and walking, we have outstanding restaurants, we have a thriving art community, we have good hair salons and we have trees second only to Paris. Plus we are the state capital. A town offering all that is much more than a cow town or any other slanderous label a dimwit can put on it.

Have I mentioned the real estate? Look how sweet this is!

So the next time you find yourself or someone else talking about Sacramento as if it was a less than awesome place, I urge you to think of the charm I am showing you here and also, my mother taught me, "If you haven't anything nice to say, then do not say anything." Or move away!

One Flow Yoga

Last year I posted about my love for Bikram Yoga. It's hot, sure but that is not why I had to stop. The rote repeat of the same 26 poses and my constant anxiety begged me to quit. I soon realized that my life seemed incomplete without real yogic principles in my life.

I am a fidgeter. Always have been. People have names for the kind of person I am; Late Night Linda, Pusher, Spaz...whatever. "There is no shame in my game." It's just me and I need a centering philosophy such as yoga to bring me down so my feet touch the ground. Or else I am...well, picture a fat guy in pants too small...he buttons the pants and...POP! The button snaps away from his bulging belly and ricochets off walls. I am the button in this scenario.

I looked on YELP! and One Flow had a perfect 5 star rating. I was skeptical.

I called my friend Lori (we are 25 year veteran friends) and asked her if she wanted to join me at a Yoga studio I've wanted to try. On our own we had been to several studios in the area but never found a "home." For a few reasons, the need for a companion, a lack of "yoga" in the poses being taught, too far from our houses and so on. Both Lori and I need a workout, that goes without saying, but we were looking for the marriage between strength and spirit in addition to a plain old workout. We found it.

Credit

One Flow Yoga is owned and directed by Kate Saal. Her heart is huge and her aura glows with brilliance in many ways. She is a powerful presence but never overwhelming and when she teaches, her voice is like tropical beach; relaxed and warm. But the most amazing thing about her studio, the practice she imbibes in her students, is that there is no necessity to kill yourself or compete with others, instead she teaches that spirit surrounds us, that we know ourselves and that we must love ourselves in order to fully love others and that a Yogic practice is a personal journey. The other instructors drive the same road and it is this cohesion that has made One Flow our home. So, if YELP! had more than 5 stars that is truly the rating this studio should have and I cannot be more emphatic about it!

More photos to come.

Ciao Bella!

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In the springtime, I ache for the old days when I romped around the Lazio region in Italy. I called Rome home but engaged in all things Italian. I went to the green grocer every Wednesday in Campo Dei Fiori. I dined at our favorite restaurant, Suburra with my friends ( Yep, still friends with them). And drank plenty of Roman wine too. EST EST EST!

I sunk into La Dolce Vita, loving a 90 second breakfast of cornetti and espresso. I loved a romantic walk in Trastevere and I even attended the occasional mass.

The culture shock was not when I moved there but instead when I returned back to the states. I yearned for anything even remotely resembling the slow Italian lifestyle of pausa in the afternoon and a slow walk to some where significant.

In about 2006 or so (already 5 years after my return back to California) I found a magazine called Bene. I loved it. It was picture perfect and not pretentious. It was all about the Italian lifestyle. Sadly, I can't find it anymore.

As Spring has sprung here in Nor Cal (Crocus' abound),  I begin to make my usual pasta dishes, think about the tomato garden and create the plan for making my own Buratta. So I looked for pics from this great magazine that I enjoyed so much. It makes me pretty gleeful that I found some cover photos!

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Cookie Chips

Cookie Chips are only the greatest treat I have ever found! The Original Flavor is 120 calories and tastes like you baked them yourself. They are like chocolate chip cookies sans chocolate chips, which personally I love! But wait! There's more....flavors, I mean! I also love the Salted Peanut Butter Flavor. I have only been able to find them at Safeway (which I hate because I think Safeway is sub par, at best). However, I'll use that store anyday for these delicious morsels of goodness. Check out HannahMax Bakery if you can't find them. I'm telling you, they are ridiculously amazingly great!

Pinterest, eh.

I use Pinterest DAILY! On some days, ALL DAY! I expect quite a lot from this little Palo Alto based Kingdom! But I do not think my expectations are unreasonable at all! When I find a photo I want to hoard, I expect to be able to use the pin it button and glue it to my board (with rhymes like that...Eminem, move over)! Today I have tried and tried and tried. I can scroll down the list of my boards, I cannot write in the message box, lastly and most importantly, I can't pin the pic....So...


This is what I wrote to them, today. How I really feel: Fix your effing $%#&!!!!!!!


Hi guys! Let me preface this expression with the fact that I absolutely love Pinterest and the entire team that makes it go. With that said, because the team is so small, it can be frustrating when things don't go right. My pinmarklet today will not pin. And I have been asked twice to rate the pinterest app, which I have. My answer: glitchy at best. Everyone else says, "I love it." "It's wonderful!" I say, "hogwash!" The site is great but the app is slow and when I repin another pinner's image, I get kicked off the app and have to re-open it on my iphone. Boo. Finally, today, I tried to pin something to a secret board - no go. Then I tried to pin it to a shared board - still, no go. Now, I'm writing to you. I know you are regularly pummeled with myriad requests and complaints, but would you mind (before moving forward) fixing these wee cockroaches? They're a real drag.

3/2/2012 Addendum:
I got an email today from Pinterest. They said I posted nudity and that it would have to be removed. I never pinned nudity and there is no link so I can see the pic. They are really pissing me off!

Blackbird Kitchen and Bar = Superb Seafood

Seriously, it is very difficult to find extremely high quality seafood here in Sacramento. And no, McCormick and Shmick is not quality. It is a high volume frozen fish factory.

But the husband and I seemed to have stumbled upon a gem with a capable staff and talented chef/owner. Blackbird is so extraordinary that it's worth the extra shift at work just so we can go once a week. The raw bar is amazing. They have created a mignonette for the oysters that is out of this world and the baked trout is mouthwatering. The thing that is so penultimate about this place is the expected good food of course, but the story behind the existence of it is really intense and worth a talk to the owner. Also, for a fresh seafood restaurant and an amazing atmosphere, the prices are reasonable. And, bonus, it's modern and hip without the hipster pretense. Needless to say, I love it!

Street Style - Anna

This one is a little cutie!

Her dress was thrifted as a long sheath and she hemmed it into a sixties, vintage amazement. Her shoes are Seychelles and are timeless and charming something you'd likely see on Zooey Deschanel. Her earrings are made by Shendoe Ceramics. But the sweetness of this ensemble is all Anna.

Et Voila! The finished product!

Orange Essence Butter Cake With Honey Buttercream

Yummy!

I made this delectable dessert for a holiday party and it was a smash. I'm a big fan of enhancing box cakes with other ingredients.

In this one, follow the directions on the back of the yellow butter cake box but instead of using water, use orange juice instead and add the zest of 1 orange to the batter. Bake as directed.

Also, I home made the candied oranges. It's a simple process which creates a marvelous presentation for this cake. But you can skip it if your short on time and use thinly sliced fresh oranges instead. Boil equal parts sugar and water. Simmer thinly sliced oranges for about 45 minutes. Remove slices from sugar water and dry on parchment. Arrange on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake at 250 for about 20 minutes checking often so as not to "cook" them. This step is simply to dry them.

Honey Buttercream

Ingredients

• 1 Cup butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 4 cups confectioners sugar 
• 1 Tbs whipping cream (optional)

Instructions

1. Take butter out of the fridge early to ensure that it is at room temperature when you begin making this icing.
2. Use your kitchen Aid if you have one and with the paddle attachment mix the butter and honey until it is smooth. (If you do not have one beat these two ingredients together with an electric beater).
3. Begin to slowly add the confectioners sugar. Continue beating until it's all been added to the consistency you like (you might use 3 cups or you may like a stiffer frosting and add and extra cup. 
4. If you've added that extra sugar, and it's too dense, add the heavy cream until its thinned to the consistency you want.

Street Style - Me Again!

Ok, so I don't ordinarily like it when bloggers post themselves in their own fashions. It is somehow narcissistic and self centered. But since I haven't posted in a while and I got a new top that begs a position on Poppies, I had to share. Do I think I'm some kind of fashion maven? Well, in an effort to exude humility I'll say no. But I can put myself together alright. See?

Top: Forever 21 (Only $9.99!) Jeans: Walmart (Only $11.99) Boots:  Naughty  Monkey ($99.00)

This jacket is one of my all time favorite wardrobe picks. My friend Charlene found it at Target. It was originally $99.00 and I left it. It was simply to dear for me to justify a purchase like this from Target. When I went back 3 days later, It was on clearance for $38.00! Needless to say, It's mine! 

I've taked about Cadi in posts past. I got these in Gumusluk , Turkey at the only Cadi store in the world. Turquoise and Gold with tiny seed pearls and onyx beads. I like them, but wish they weren't so heavy.

Good Stuff From Where?