Dress for the body you are today - not what you want to be or what you were in High School.

Dress for the body you are today

Not what you want to be

Or what you were in High School

How to Work with your Curves

• A dress with a belt will cinch you in, focusing attention on your small waist
• Keep necklines open
• A deep V neck or scoop neck lengthens your neck
• Don't cover big curves
• Big clothes on big bodies only make you look bigger
• Dress from inside out - a well fitting Bra and Shapewear will camouflage all lumps and bumps.
• Clothes should skim your body, not cling to it like a sausage casing.  Think high waist, wide trousers and A-line or flared skirts.
• Shorter, fitted jackets will also flatter your legs - and waist.
• Skirts should end just before or under kneecap.  Your legs will look longer.

10 Basic Women's wardrobe pieces - must haves for 2011

With the right basics - you can look fresh and fabulous

1. a basic dress -- wrap dresses or knit dresses are great
2. a great coat - invest in a piece that you love....
3. a great white blouse - it goes with everything
4. turtlenecks - not too dressy and not too casual -wear them with suits and jeans
5. black pants - need I say anything more?
6. accessories -- don't forget thrift stores and consignment stores for great deals
7. cardigans - don't forget the neutral colors
8. tee shirts -- great for layering
9. denim -- so important for everyone....all ages
10. the navy blue blazer - for business or casual as a key piece for the season.

SPANX -- my favorite way to whittle the middle and have great Legs!

Spanx has got to be the greatest invention known to mankind.

• Makes our legs look glamorous
• Invisible to most 
• Wear as underwear to avoid VPL (visible Panty Lines)
• Mega compression zones minimize love handles
• Comfortable waistband stays in place all day long, thank you.
• High waisted shaping sheers with super tummy control
• Helps us get into our skinny jeans - thank you Sara Blakely for helping us look Beautiful.

Also Spanx is now featuring:

• Camisoles
• Bras
• biking shorts

for 2011 - this is my new favorite product !! 

How to greet the Queen of England

Yes, she is royalty, but unless you're a citizen of Great Britain, don't curtsy or bow to the queen.

Over the weekend.....my husband and I saw a great movie and got me thinking about royalty. We saw the King's Speech and what a delightful true story, we both loved it. Listed below are a few bullet

points for all of you, just in case you are in a situation where you're able to meet a royal.

• Address all correspondence to the " The Private Secretary of Her Majesty the Queen," not the queen herself.  Request the correspondence be communicated to her royal person.

• Contact the queen at the following address:     Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Buckingham Palace, London SW1A 1AA, England

• Greet the queen as "your majesty" initially. Use Madame thereafter
• Accept the queen's offer of a handshake, and of course, a bit of conversation if she's willing.
• Don't show the queen your back, if you're following tradition, and leave the room only after the queen does.  Keep in mind that times have changed and formalities have eased.
• If you have gloves on, remove them.

Self Confidence and Self Esteem - Life's not a dress rehearsal

Self Confidence and Self Esteem

"life is not a dress rehearsal"

How many times do we tell ourselves there is no reason to dress up or put makeup when we are home alone?  With the New Year upon us we closely examine the quality of our real lives.  It does take extra effort to put out the good china, and it does take more effort to fix our hair and put on some makeup.  But, we all feel better when we do take those extra minutes to blow out our hair or put lipstick on.  We definitely act different when we are put together.  Just like every good actress knows the magic power of props and costumes to create special moods both onstage and off.

So here is to the New Year ! Let's tap into the excitement of real life and be the leading ladies in our own lives.

The Sephora-to-Go App: Take a tour

Handbags, pocketbooks, purses, bags, clutch part two

Magic, mystery, and money are all wrapped up in the myth of a classic handbag.

We have our traditional business shoulder bag for work, all business all the time. 

We then have our "go-to" Coach Hobo bag -- classic, stylish and our everyday purse.  Looks good all of the time, no questions asked.

Then we want a celebrity inspired purse.....just because.

Here is a fun purse designed by Jessica Simpson below.

.......the little black evening bag......

a must!

Innocence and Experience

the glamour of lipstick and a black small bag for

cocktail parties......Felix Rey is the best!

Friend or Faux....
here is a delicious fake animal print for fun.....
Talbots 2008

A bag that's chic such as the Coach purses you can wear everywhere day or night.  It gives you a sense of style immediately.

Sometimes we purchase a purse for remarkable interiors and openings.

Handbag style is a matter of personal taste..

Coach "Alexandra" 2010 bag

love the lining and all of the fabulous pockets inside...

Decisions --- The Giving Tree

The Giving Tree

by Shel Silverstein

"Once there was a tree....and she loved a little boy."  So begins a story of unforgettable perception, beautifully written and illustrated by the gifted and versatile Shel Silverstein.

This is a tender story, touched with sadness, aglow with consolation.  This book is for all ages offers readers an interpretation of the gift of giving and a serene acceptance of another's capacity to love in return.

I have bought this book many times as a gift and also for my own children....the message in this book is incredible and touching. 

Happy Holidays --

F A M I L Y = the early days

Grandma's Front Yard - Los Angeles, Ca 1963

this is one of my most favorite picture taken of myself with my brother and cousins and Grandma Gertie.  I am standing in the front row between my two cousins, Howard and Paul Zager.

Behind me is my Grandma and older brother Gary Zager and now famous cousin Lynnanne Zager

This photo is taken in Grandma 's backyard - 1981

For different reasons this is one of my favorite photographs of myself with my cousin Howard Zager, my brother and cousin Lynnanne. I am on the left side wearing a cowlneck blue sweater dress and I think it's Thanksgiving Day 1981.

Everyday answers to everyday questions....

Sweaters
Men - you may think you're doing your  sweaters a favor when you leave them on hangers, in dry cleaning bags, until you wear them next.  This is not the case.  Its important to remove them from the hanger and the bag as soon as you get them home.  Sweaters need to be exposed to the air, and folded, not hung. so they don't lose their shape.

Style tip:
Don't be afraid to let your favorite sweater add interest to an outfit in an unexpected way.  You can always layer a fine-gauge hoodie under a blazer or wear a cashmere pullover as a stylish alternative to a sweatshirt.

Handbags, purses, retro, beaded an Accessory with a delicate balance than can make or break an Oufit !!

A bag that's chic is a bag that you can wear everywhere, day or night,  office or date night.

I first fell in love with handbags at age 16....I had always admired my Mother's bags.  Her purses sometimes reminded me of Doris Day or Mary Tyler Moore.

when I was able to afford my own purses, my standard favorite was Dooney & Bourke, or back then the everyday purse was called the Duck purse, since it repelled water.

when my children were little - I carried a Dooney & Bourke saddle stitched, riveted and all leather bag.  It was sturdy and appealed to Soccer Moms that drove Volvo wagons -- which was myself in the 1980's.

Gucci bags were the rage in the mid 1970's with the traditional stripe down the middle of forest green and red.  I was a graduating senior in 1975 and my parents bought me a Gucci purse bucket bag with a metal clasp in the middle, and I still have it to this day.

Later on in the mid 1990's we all grew up and wanted our own Louis Vuitton with the famous logo.

We love our Fendi bags also -- 

Class Acts: ...Elegant Icons

Purses equal power, remember former parliamentary power Margaret Thatcher she never went anywhere without her chunky purse. which she called her trusty companion, more that just political power - a great purse can define a lady.  Grace Kelly is the most famous and fabulous example of this.  Grace  carried a Hermes bag in 1956 to shield her pregnant belly from photographers.

today regardless if you wear a novelty handbag or carry an American classic - we all are obsessed with grand handbags.  It gives us the illusion that a commoner can become a princess with the right BAG!!

Here's hoping you get your favorite bag this Holiday season from your special sweetheart.

Here is a picture of a Birthday CAKE, made to look like a Louis Vuitton,  even the zipper and the handles on the cake look like the real deal.

Updated version of the Dooney & Burke circa: 2010, brought to you my the Mouse. Colorful and practical with Mickey Mouse whimsical and fun.

My every day go to bag -- COACH.....looks classic and holds much of what I need.

How do I love thee?

Start a Tradition

In between tucking into the turkey and tossing the pigskin, create a new tradition.

Give your house Guests and family strips of colorful paper, have each person write a few words or lines of thanks and sign his or her name, and drop the strips into a clear bowl.  Use the bowl as a centerpiece; then , after the feast, pass it around and ask each person to read one note out loud.  You may discover that your teenage son is grateful for you after all.

Merci Beaucoup ...or a memorable outfit for Thanksgiving day

Thank you Elena 

Houndstooth Skirt - Black and white 

with riding boots, paired with a black cashmere sweater

Thank you Patti 
Seen here is lovely Patti wearing a wool animal print cloche hat

Thank you Linda 

Beautiful Linda wearing a black and white bamboo cardigan.

How does life get any better than wearing a Cashmere sweater?  Perhaps wearing riding boots with a Houndstooth skirt, or sporting a classy fedora hat?  Ladies its cold outside, thanks for bundling up !!  Thanks for being beautiful women making an outstanding fashion statement! The better we look, the better we feel. Black and white always one of our favorites to take us through the autumn and fall.

Motherhood and other things.....such as the "Main Street Electrical Parade"

It was 1983, and I was 25 years old and I was happily married to a hometown guy.  I was working as an hourly Tour Guide at Disneyland, in Anaheim.  At the time I had not realized the impact of giving birth to my first son would be.  I attended classes for natural childbirth Lamaze and also attended classes at the nearby hospital on breastfeeding.  But nothing prepares for the moment when the nurse places that small tiny infant into your arms.  Also to my amazement...is that they let you leave the Hospital with the newborn baby, thinking that you know what you are doing.  How amazed I was that the motherly instinct comes into play and somehow you figure it out.  I used the call my first son, the experimental baby because everything you are doing is for the first time and you are learning at a very fast rate.

We brought our new baby home to our small Condo in Anaheim and we lived next door to a music composer, Don Dorsey who originally composed the music to Disney's "Main Street Electrical Parade", called the Baroque Hoedown.  Each night my small son would falls asleep listening to sounds coming from the wall next door (we shared a common wall) it was Don Dorsey's electronic arrangements lulling my baby asleep each night in 1983.  Little did I know that  later on over 100 million Guests from all of the Disney parks would enjoy his music over the next 25 years.  I consider us lucky to have rented that Condo next door to Don Dorsey.  Most recently I ran into Don (freelancing) at work and I stopped by his lunch table to re-introduce myself and say thank you for his fantastic music and helping my son Cameron fall asleep each night.  Cameron is now 27 years old and is living and working in Santa Monica. 

Older dogs, senior dogs, slower dogs

Miss Touchdown Leilani

nine years old

What's her secret for longevity? By her looks - she appears younger than most dogs her age.

Touchdown loves the camera and poses all the time !!

She loves bedtime belly rubs

Family hugs

Her brothers

Her favorite toy "Winnie the Pooh"

sleep soundly, and snore loudly

never miss a chance for another nap

protect the house

protect the yard

Car rides are always the best !!

To sum it up, how come we love our dogs so much?

Sometimes I would rather spend time with my dog than anyone else...

she always understands me with unconditional love