Month: August 2010

Challenges of Travel After 40

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Recently my husband surprised me with a vacation to celebrate our union of 25 years and of course to take note of my unmentionable birthday. He asked earlier this year what I wanted to do to celebrate this glorious year and I told him I wanted to vacation with him since we hadn’t done so for over 9 years. First of all I want to say how I truly appreciated his plans and efforts to make the vacation happen. We were challenged throughout the year in more ways than one to materialize the getaway but in the end and I mean very end, three weeks before the actual vacation, he was able to put something together for us. I was hesitant and worried about making it happen because of the current “American dream/nightmare” we are all experiencing in this land of opportunity and with that in mind, vacation was the last thing on the list of issues to tackle in 2010. But he convinced me that it was important for us to do this in order …

salon de the – parisian tea salons

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A must, while in Paris, is of course the Salon De The (Parisian Tea Salons).  It seems over the years there is one erected  in every street corner, but then again it could just be that I happen to notice alot more of them since I have become an avid tea drinker myself. These tea salons are the most charming and exquisite places to be seen in and to meet up with friends as well as experience the most amazing cuisine and creative and a delicious array of desserts . The history of the Tea Salons go way back and if you happen to be in Paris, make it a point to have dinner there at least one night out of your stay and don’t forget to leave room for dessert while enjoying your cup of tea. Once again, I have included photos of the ones I stumbled upon while walking the streets of Paris and just a note, there are actually coffee table books available in French bookstores about the Salon De The(s) just …

nightfall over paris

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It seems that no matter what time of year I visit Paris, there is always a busy nightlife. Whether it’s in the dead of Winter or early Spring, for sure Summertime and well into Fall, the locals and visitors alike frequent the restaurants and bars no matter what. They dine, drink, laugh and smoke (in some cases) and spend hours talking while enjoying their meals. I love taking photos of Paris between dusk to nightfall, when the lights begin to flicker on throughout the streets and restaurants and it’s as if a magical thing happens, when all of Paris becomes the most romantic place on the face of the planet.

my love, love relationship with Paris

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I once said, Acting is my destiny, Paris is my lifestyle and architecture is my passion. With that said, I want to dedicate the next few entries to all things Paris and share with you Paris through my eyes: One of my favorite things to do, while in Paris, is take photographs of the roof facades of the beautiful buildings all around the city . Most people look straight ahead when walking. I spend the majority of my time looking up as I walk, zooming in with my camera on the most beautiful or unusual and sometimes bizarre rooftops around Paris. I can probably spend numerous days capturing these shots and sharing them with my readers, but for now I have only included a few for your enjoyment.

how much would you pay for a greeting card?

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I am a greeting card fanatic  and a collector and a true appreciator of the evolution of the greeting cards. Get the point?  So with that said, I spend about thirty to forty minutes at the greeting card section in bookstores and visit every Specialty greeting card store in any and all malls. What I have noticed, unfortunately, is the price of the cards ranging from $3.95 all the way to $10.95, making it a challenge to consider purchasing a good one no matter how we appreciate the person we want to give the card to.  I know gourmet cards is a new strategy used by the card companies (kind of like labeling restaurant cooking as Gourmet) in order  to stay in business since MOST ANYONE can make a card now on their computers or from products purchased at an ART store to create a card from scratch. The problem the distributors and designers don’t understand is that how could any (middle now referred to as poor class)  consumer consider purchasing a card well over $4.00? From …

photo shoot – what if?

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Although I understand the reason behind picking certain celebrity to generate interest and sales for magazine covers, I recently had trouble with the current faces on four particular magazine covers on display at your local newsstand and book stores. So I played around with photoshop and quickly came up with who I would have put on the cover of the magazine based on the particular photos chosen for the cover. No insult to the magazines or the photographers but I think the photo (no matter who the actor is) should be a representation of the magazine title. Let me know what you think of my picks for the magazine covers.

mad men casting call – my personal challenge

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I have included some photos of my preparation for the Mad Men Casting Call photo shoot, it was alot of fun and a great experience and although I don’t feel I am photogenic at all, we were able to take over 200 photos in order to vote for the best of the best.  So scroll down o see the best of the best and take a vote on which you think I should post on the AMC casting call for Mad Men site. 

finally a casting chance for me – as i shout from the rooftops

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Out of sheer excitement, I decided this year I would partake in the online casting call for one of my favorite TV series, Mad Men on AMC.  I actually wanted to do this last year but didn’t have the time nor the guts to go through with it. But this year, when I saw the pamphlets and the window displays in every Banana Republic store I visited over the past few weeks, I was pumped up enough to go through with it. So last night I, in preparation for my own photo shoot,  scoped out the suits and blouses as well as shoes and jewelry from my mother’s closet which I feel would best suit me for the casting call challenge. I am excited and hope you would stay tuned as I detail my own personal challenge of “fitting into ”   the “THIS COULD BE YOU”  empty photo slot on the back of the casting call pamphlet.