Welcome Back

I've been away. Paris. Greece. Exhausting! All those men, dinners, the opera, and the chocolates and champagne. Not to mention the suitcases I returned with to accommodate the wardrobe purchases. And all those shoes. I never have enough. Ever.

Okay, just kidding. I've been hanging around home cooking, designing, investigating a few things, and enjoying whatever came into focus. 2009 lingered at first, and is now far away. With gratitude, 2010 is off to a great start. Slow, yes, but great. Lesson from 2009: Get rid of the day job, keep the sense of humor.

Anyone who is connected to me on Facebook knows about Le Chat. She is the Queen of the Domain. The Diva. The one with the fan club. I'm just the one who runs her errands and cleans the litter pan. I feel largely that this is an honor. Le Chat is here to say hello and to let you know that we are working on a few things and are doing very well. We are both content, healthy and happy.

Until the next post, let her bring a smile to your face. As you can see by the new chapeau she has chosen, she wants to work for Barnes & Noble. I say "Rock On". Things are good.

Happy Valentine's Day

Want to make something delicious for Valentine's Day?

How about White Chocolate and Raspberry Rose Petal Cheesecake?

You can find the recipe and many others by Chef Susan S. Bradley at The Luna Cafe, one of the best food blogs I've found.

Want something more simple and family friendly?

How about White Chocolate Rice Krispie/Strawberry Pop Treats?

This is a pretty and appropriate version for Valentine's Day by Mandy Mortimer, a blogger in Ireland. You can find the recipes on her blog, What The Fruitcake along with other wonderful treats.

Feel like something bubbly?

Champagne Philipponat - a 1009 Clos de Goissses Brut at $240 a bottle....yikes!

Check out Novus Vinum to see the top 10 Champagnes and find something in your price range.

Want something non-alcoholic?

Try a punch recipe from All Recipes - numerous non-alcoholic punches to choose from and you can be creative with this and make it to your family's taste preferences. Go ahead....take a peak....

Personally, I think Valentine's Day is incomplete without chocolate so here is a link to my absolute favorite chocolate shop ever......Cocoa Bella. This wonderful purveyor of fine chocolates has two locations in San Francisco. You can build a box of 20 online, or a box of 40.

You can select one of their pre-boxed holiday selections such as the 5 pc. Valentines set above. They have bars, bags, and below you will see two individual pieces I think are sublime. They are named first by the chocolatier and then the description.

Michel Cluizel Cappuccino - Not your ordinary cappuccino, this dark chocolate espresso infused ganache is poured into a dark chocolate cup and swirled with milk chocolate hazelnut "foam."

Yes, it is a miniature cup of cappuccino to pop in your mouth, delicious......

Recchiuti Ginger Heart - Rich Dark Chocolate Infused with Ginger. Cast in White Chocolate and Gold Leaf.

Or, for something less intense and completely eco-friendly but just as good from Sweet Earth Chocolates

Adorable Valentines Bags of Hearts$2.50 - A really nice price for a bit of yummy....

Something for the kids? Try the Family Fun (Disney) for interesting cards to make and other family projects.

So enjoy Valentine's Day and make someone happy including yourself!

Namaste'

The Flu and You

Apparently flu season is nearly over. I don't follow it so I don't really know but this is what I've heard. And I don't follow flu season because I don't often have a flu or cold....so far.

I have two wonderful sisters-in-law. I had a conversation with one today during which we discussed the fact that she felt as though she was getting a cold, maybe a flu. So I'm making a suggestion, not medical advice of course, but just a suggestion on what to do when you feel a cold or flu coming on. This is what I do when I feel those annoying things such as aching, runny nose, feverish feelings.......remember, its just a suggestion on how to help yourself feel better when you feel as though you're getting a cold, nothing official and, of course, positive feelings always help along with some love and tea with honey (and maybe some Scotch, or Bourbon, up to you). And, if you know someone who does energy work, get it done.

Oscillococcinum

(Oscillo...who?)

Oscillococcinum is an amazing homeopathic preparation which I've been using for several years. Check out the official website for information if you are not familiar with this product. It works! Even if you are in the middle of your cold, my experience and that of many other people has been that your symptoms are greatly reduced. You can purchase this over the counter at any pharmacy. Ask for "Oscillo" since no one seems to be able to pronounce it. Find it here.

Garlic and Red Peppers

Lightly saute' them in olive oil - yes, you want to taste the "bite"

Plenty of Sleep and a Few Good Books

Lots of Fluids

and anything else your mother taught you to do.........

Stay healthy,

Namaste'

New Jewelry and A Way to Be Of Help

New Jewelry

New jewelry at the jbaxstudio Etsy store, and more coming during the following week.

You'll find sterling silver and gemstone earrings and a few necklaces to come (see below).

And now the helping part

You'll notice when you are in the Etsy store, that several items are marked for 100% of the proceeds to go to Hope For Haiti Now. This is the channel through which I have donated to help the earthquake victims. If you purchase a piece from jbaxstudio which is marked as such, I will provide a receipt for your donation when I send your purchase as well as lagniappe. New pieces will be put up weekly January - March of this year.

I would like to encourage you to donate, if not through me, then directly at the Hope For Haiti Now link below, or any of the links beneath it and, if not to this cause, then to another. There are so many people who can use our help. You can give through your house of worship, your school, your business, etc. Credit card companies and banks have links on their websites. The Hope For Haiti Now telethon, broadcast on January 22nd raised in excess of $57 Million. Most of the donations were small.

Here are a few of the new pieces at jbaxstudio - or you can see them on this blog at the Etsy store thumbnail set up.

Sterling silver earrings with flat oval chain (3 graduating lengths) and smokey quartz.

Sterling silver earrings- hammered - with jade coins

Sterling silver earrings with labradorite

(My new favorite earrings!)

The silver is hammered, then folded and formed with a ring supporting the labradorite

All ear wires are hand crafted

_________________________

HOPE FOR HAITI NOW

OXFAM

AMERICAN RED CROSS

UNICEF

SALVATION ARMY

ACTION AGAINST HUNGER

AMERICARES

CARE

DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS

SAVE THE CHILDREN

Or you can text "Haiti" to 90999 from your cell phone

(Several organizations have different numbers to text to. You can check with the particular organization)

Namaste'

A Day of Service

I'd written what I thought was a good blog entry for today. I've decided instead to say little of my own and quote a few people of merit. You can put it all together as you'd like. I will say this without political or religious agenda: Today was to be a day of service. What have we done today to serve the world?

An excerpt from Martin Luther King's 1967 speech, "Where Do We Go From Here"

"John Kenneth Galbraith said that a guaranteed annual income could be done for about twenty billion dollars a year. And I say to you today, that if our nation can spend thirty-five billion dollars a year to fight an unjust, evil war in Vietnam, and twenty billion dollars to put a man on the moon, it can spend billions of dollars to put God’s children on their own two feet right here on earth."

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

John F. Kennedy

"I believe that every human mind feels pleasure in doing good to another."

Thomas Jefferson

“When will our consciences grow so tender that we will act to prevent human misery rather than avenge it?”

Eleanor Roosevelt

_______

Gift Of The Seagull
by Munda

A lonely seagull flies the winds

Majestic... soaring...gliding wings

A single screech sounds from the sky

Come fly with me... come here and fly

My spirit floats to be a part

I feel the beating of its heart

My soul, one with this bird of sea

Now knows the meaning to fly free

I feel the winds caress my soul

And soar the streams without a goal

My being trembles of delight

A treasure I received tonight

The seagull's flight of soaring high

The gift of what it means to fly

Namaste'

Art In New Places

I'm excited about 2010. I'm looking forward to new things, new art, discoveries that cause me to feel refreshed. I'm grateful for 2009 for many reasons but now I'm ready to be surprised in a different way. As always, I'm inspired by art that I find in unsuspected places, art done with a twist, or simply done well. We live in such a technological age. Our brains race, our days rush by like a swarm of bees on fire and I think, for me, it feels good to see an old thing made new again without all the embellishment of technology although I do love technology so.

I came across Nate Holmes Trapnell while looking for something else which, I think, is the preferred way to find anything. because we tend to find what we need. At least that is how life works for me.

Born in San Francisco, my family moved to New York when I was three years old. This might explain much to many about my wanderlust and my split addiction to both coasts. My New York childhood included growing up in small neighborhoods packed with Jewish and Italian delicatessens, streets alive with cafes, bakeries of every ethicity, movie theaters, pool halls and bowling alleys, not to mention street chalk and pizza parlors and diners. The walk from one business to the other was always a short one. Trains and cars weren't needed. Nate Holmes Trapnell, "The South Paw" has brought back to life the art of pen and ink, the medium I began with when I was a young girl leaving images on all surfaces in an attempt to figure out who I was. Although I was never quite this good.

Take a look at these illustrations so brilliantly placed on bowling pins. I saw these and immediate remembered the first time I shocked local "boys" by winning at pool. Nice memories. Isn't that part of what art does? Take us someplace wonderful? Maybe someplace sweet or sad, but surely wonderful? I think so. My goodness. Pen and ink. Basic and brilliant. Even if its not your type of art, look at what the man's done. Original, art on something that doesn't hang on the wall, that isn't contrived or complicated. It is, however, a show of real talent. Like tattoo art, it is alive in a way that is unexpected. I hope you enjoy these and if you are curious about what else Nate Holmes Trapnell puts his images on, please check him out at the link at his name.

It's January. I'm happy already......

Namaste'

Happy 2010

My goodness, its 2010. I think about the year of my birth and I'm astounded to be here, and grateful. Of the list of people I know who read this blog, several faced great challenge in 2009 and others have prospered. For me, 2009 was split down the middle and I'm reminded that with all challenge, opportunity seems to be right there along with it depending on how one approaches their life.

I don't make New Year's resolutions. Not really. But I do take stock of things and consider what to let go of: habits that don't serve me, false expectations, superfluous relationships, and what to develop: an ethical income stream, passion for new ideas, improved resilience, healthier relationships. And, as always, I revisit my health and how to tweak it, how to take what I've learned in the past year and be kinder to my body, my mind, my "self" because if I've learned anything it is that I'm the only one who can.

Embarking on my annual enlightening re-read of what has moved me in the past and still resonates, I want to mention A Joseph Campbell Companion - Reflections on the Art of Living....

Don't think of what's being said,

but of what's talking.

Malice, Ignorance, Pride, Love?

The goal of a hero's journey

is yourself, finding yourself.

(Page 154)

Campbell, as you may know, was a celebrated scholar and mythologist and so much more. Even if you don't read his works, reading about his life is fascinating and inspiring (at the link above at his name).

The privilege of a lifetime is being

who you are

The goal of the hero trip

down to the jewel point

is to find those levels in the psyche

that open, open, open,

and finally open to the mystery

of your Self

being Buddha consciousness

or the Christ.

That's the journey.

(Jacket back and elsewhere)

I've always loved Campbell. He was not a religious man. He was a man of profound belief in the mystery of life. He is always a comfort on long nights of contemplation and sunny days when I want to celebrate all the beauty I see around me. Unlike many philosophical fads, Campbell never fades. His words age and seem to me to be a breath of support at the beginning of another year of economic uncertainty as we move along our own paths. Life truly is our journey, at least in my mind, and all that we do is ours. If you haven't read Campbell, you might want to now. And if you have, isn't it wonderful to have an old friend to come back to.

Namaste'

(and Happy, Happy New Year, we begin again......)