Food – a twist on the Classics

Classic dishes are like Madonna: They don’t go away, they just reinvent themselves.damn1

First we’re going to start with 3 basics that have been around forever and probably everyone has eaten at least once in their lifetime.  I’m talking Caesar Salad, the BLT and good ol’ Southern fried chicken.  Then we’re going to put a bit of a twist on them and turn each into a sandwich because there’s something to be said about a great sandwich.  Of course the BLT is already a sandwich…but it’s where the bacon is grilled that’s the ticket.

This is how it’s done

The Caesar Salad
Transformed into a genius sandwich on toasted brioche at Damn the Weather in Seattle.

Damn the Weather, Seattle
Damn the Weather, Seattle

According to Bon Appétit:

Not only does this place win the title of best bar name of 2015, it’s also home to some of the best bar food we ate all year. After being lured to this brick building in Pioneer Square by its outstanding cocktail program, we ended up ditching our dinner plans and hunkering down at the bar for a meal. Would you walk out on a duck chili dog? Didn’t think so. Sure, you can get a killer burger and fries. But you won’t want to miss daring dishes like a spaghetti-and-meatball burger, and salt-and-pepper chicken skins. Should you need more courage to ditch your comfort zone, consult the cocktail list, which is heavy on food-friendly aperitifs like Calvados and tonic or Zucca amaro and soda.

The BLT
damn6This time, the bacon’s grilled at The Polo Bar in NYC. This one is owned by fashion legend Ralph Lauren

Lauren’s third restaurant (after Ralph’s in Paris and RL in Chicago) includes all the ingredients that make his style so quintessentially American. Think equestrian vibes, country club-style leather accents and luxuriously-crafted interiors. It’s an ode to the preppy American, the Wild West (saddle leather & equestrian art) and the stylish sportif Lauren best represents in his collections. The staff is, of course, outfitted in Ralph Lauren.

It would help to dress in RL
DRESS CODE: It would help to dress in RL

Fittingly, the new restaurant is located beside the Polo Ralph Lauren flagship store at Fifth Avenue and East 55th Street, where Lauren launched his own coffee shop, Ralph’s Coffee—serving up organic espressos and Americanos—last fall. But The Polo Bar serves much more than coffee. American fare such as locally-raised steaks and burgers (from his own cattle ranch in Colorado, whenever possible), fresh oysters, crab cakes, Alaskan black cod, corned beef sandwiches, Loch Duart wild salmon and BLT salads are among the choices offered on the menu. The designer’s favorite item on the menu is rumored to be the corned beef sandwich, toasted on rye bread with classic mustard and coleslaw. One thing is clear: the menu and the décor are drenched in tradition. Other options include the dover sole—one of the most delicate-tasting fish available—and the caviar and fingerling potatoes, another classic yet hard-to-find offering. Source: Harper’s Bazaar Magazine

Fried Chicken Sandwich – a la Chicken Milanese 

Photo: Crystal Coser
Photo: Crystal Coser

Apparently L.A. is having a current obsession with fried-chicken sandwiches.  Who knew? Those cravings can be satisfied at Alimento  where  chef  Zach Pollack  makes a killer Milanese version at the bar – a new addition to his Italian menu.

A review in Los Angeles Eater has this to say:  The richness of super crisp fried chicken and layer of prosciutto is perfectly balanced by the bite of pepperoncini and a pleasantly bitter puntarelle slaw.  damn4

But Pollack’s biggest contribution to modern thought might just be his tortellini, a soup-dumpling heist in which rich broth is tucked inside delicate pasta dough. These culinary feats (and others) all take place in a chic, fuss-free room—the kind of grown-up, date-night spot that any neighborhood would be lucky to have.

Oh right; date night….

Well looks like I’ll  start with the Caesar sandwich in Seattle and work my way down or is it up?  Doesn’t matter – I’ll work my way around it all.

Where would you start?

Damn the Weather: 116 1st Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98104, United States      Phone:+1 206-946-1283

Alimento: 1710 Silver Lake Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90026, United States             Phone:+1 323-928-2888

 The Polo Bar: 1 E 55th St, New York, NY 10022, United States

Rolling with Emilio PUCCI

I’m not so sure what to make of this…but would it be so wrong to hang a skateboard on my wall as an ART piece? I mean we hang masks, why not a skateboard?

Emilio Pucci Limited Edition Skateboards
Emilio Pucci Limited Edition Skateboards

I can ice skate and rollerblade, but I have never skated on a board and my dog barks at anyone who does.  But if I did (and was still in my 20’s or under), I would be attracted to this limited-edition Pucci skateboard collection.  pucci3

It wouldn’t be the first time a luxury brand has put its stamp on a recreational item (Chanel surfboards, Alexander Wang pool toys, Louis Vuitton golf bags, the list goes on). It is, however, the first time a brand tapped art students to reimagine its archives as something entirely new for the younger set. The resulting street decks are emblazoned with seven graphic takes on Pucci’s classic, color-happy prints. And while each one easily qualifies as an enjoy-from-afar art piece, they’re constructed from scratch-resistant Balkan beech wood and equipped with durable, trick-friendly wheels—in short, they’re meant for riding.

Instead of a traditional announcement, Pucci collaborated with NOWNESS on a short film to break the news.  HERE:

https://www.nowness.com/story/emilio-pucci-orangejuice-skateboard

maybe I'll stick to the ART scarves
maybe I’ll stick to the ART scarves which not only fame your neck but can also be framed on your wall.

skate

What MATTERS: Friends who have HEART

This photo was taken 3 days ago with my very dear friend Colleen.  

In a pet store with my dog Jia Jia & an adopted dog from Taiwan, Nina.
With my dog Jia Jia & Nina, an adopted dog from Taiwan at My Fluffy Friend’s pet store.

We’ve been friends for over 20 years and have gone on several adventures together; among them a swamp tour in the bayou where we got to hold a baby alligator, a birthday cruise where we met up with another friend and sailed from Miami to Cayman Islands and swam with countless Stingrays, a side trip from Jamaice to Havana where Colleen taught me how to light up a cigar (first & last time) and a nighttime pub crawl through the mossy tree lined streets of Savannah, Ga. while our guide related creepy scary story after story.  Colleen is an inspiration; she doesn’t take life for granted and she’s the first person to say “YES” to going somewhere and doing something fun.  She has no time for sweating the small stuff. Her family is amazing. The only time I don’t want to be around Colleen is when I’m feeling the slightest bit rundown. But there’s a reason for that.

Saturday at Pirate Joe's getting a bag of TJ goodies for the gala - silent auction table
Yesterday at Pirate Joe’s getting a bag full of TJ goodies for the silent auction table.

We first met 27 years ago, just before she left for London, England to undergo a heart & double lung transplant; a surgery that was not performed here in Canada at the time. She was celebrating her 27 year anniversary which was on October 22nd.  Colleen suffered a deadly disease called cystic fibrosis (commonly known as CF) and London was where her knighted surgeon, Sir Magi Yacoub (of Egyptian & English descent) was located. Along with her mother, Colleen waited there 2 months before receiving her transplant. Colleen always had a good heart but at that time the surgeon felt it better for the lungs to keep same heart attached so he gave her the heart and lungs as one unit. Colleen’s donor was British and Colleen’s good heart went to a Greek man who was so grateful he gave her a gold heart pendant and earrings as a thank you. Organ donors can give people a second chance at life. Colleen is one of only a few living heart donors. She has been back to visit both her surgeon and her heart recipient (he had two kids and lived 17 longer years) since.

Colleen is Canada’s longest surviving heart and double-lung recipient and many stories have been written about her.  At the time, she travelled to London with her best friend Brandy who also received a heart/double-lung transplant but her body rejected it and very sadly Brandy did not survive.  In a few more weeks from now Colleen will be celebrating her donor kidney replacement (from a different donor).  Some may think she’s taking advantage of too many celebrations but she has good reason to celebrate, don’t you think? 

 She posted on Facebook: it’s great to be alive and well.  I miss all my friends along the way that were not so fortunate, but have wonderful memories.  An auspicious and reflective day.

being a bit crazy at
Spooning at Tavola (on Robson) after a tiring long day.

And I have met many people since with this common, fatal genetic disease that affects mostly young adults and children. I met an incredibly strong natured young woman, a  beautiful red-haired actress Eva Markvoort  who tragically passed away after a long fight five years ago.   She chronicled her combat with CF via a daily blog which people from all over the world followed religiously, many whom had no connection to CF.

Eva
Eva Markvoort

It is because of  people like Eva and Colleen that I volunteer  every year by rounding up live and silent auction items for a fundraising event called “65 Roses” to help raise money towards  finding a cure for cystic fibrosis.  As it stands right now there is no cure.

CF is not as widely recognized as Cancer. While I know more people close to me who currently have cancer, or are in remission from it, or people who have died from having cancer, this along with the SPCA, is my charity of choice. We are starting to see some progress here.

So I thought I’d share with  you a little bit about CF and the fundraising event called 65 Roses – because I think it’s important to raise consciousness regarding this.

What is CF?

It is a multi-organ disease, primarily affecting the lungs and digestive system. Ultimately, most CF deaths are due to lung disease.  Each week in Canada two children are diagnosed with CF and one person dies from this life-shortening disease. In 2010, half the Canadians who died of cystic fibrosis were under 26 years old.

About one in every 25 Canadians carries a defective version of the gene responsible for CF, and currently there are more than 4,000 Canadians living with the disease. Many people are not even aware that they have this gene.   Here’s the thing; both parents must carry the gene in order for their child to get CF, and each time they conceive they have a 1 in 4 chance of getting a child with CF.  Carriers may pass on the gene without passing on the disease.  For instance, Colleen has a brother and sister and neither have CF, nor do their children.  Although Colleen’s mother lost a baby son and a teenage daughter to this terrible disease .

What is 65 ROSES?

The annual 65 Roses Gala is Cystic Fibrosis Canada Vancouver Chapter’s signature event, and I am excited to announce that this year marks the 15th ‘Crystal’ Anniversary of the gala.  This amazing event, Presented by B2Gold Corp, is set to take place on Saturday, November 7, 2015 at the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel, and to honor this milestone anniversary we have some special surprises and exciting performances lined up which I’m sure everyone will love! Tax receipts will be issued for the charitable portion of each ticket.

Crystal Anniversary.....still some tickets available.
2015 Crystal Anniversary…..still some tickets available.  For tickets: 604.436.1158 or visit http://www.65RosesGala.com

Last year’s Gala was a great success! Over 300 guests gathered to enjoy an evening of fine dining, superb wines, delicious food, and danced the night away. Thanks to guests, sponsors, and donors, we collectively raised more than $400,000 for cystic fibrosis research and care, making this our most successful event to date.  There are still some tickets available.

About the RESEARCH

In 2015/2016, Cystic Fibrosis Canada will invest more than $7.7 million in innovative research and clinical care. Researchers are attacking cystic fibrosis on many fronts.  We know that this research is making a difference in the lives of those with cystic fibrosis because the median age for life expectancy of Canadians living with CF is now 50.9 years, the highest in the world! This research and care is largely funded by our fundraising efforts and events such as this one, and we cannot raise the money that we do without the help of our generous sponsors.

How can you HELP make a difference?

If you are interested in supporting CF by donating an item for auction or purchasing gala tickets,  please contact the Cystic Fibrosis Canada Western Region office at 604.436.1158  Not only will you receive a tax receipt for doing so, but it will make you feel good and *way more attractive too.

There have been great strides towards finding a cure for cystic fibrosis, but we know we can do more, and with your help we can fund critical research and care to help make CF stand for CURE FOUND. 

I’m delighted to do whatever I can to help support CF and it makes me feel good to do something for such a worthwhile cause.  Plus I’m looking forward to another FUN evening.  Because let’s face it, there always has to be some FUN involved. 

*FUN FACT: According to my friend Yanive, DONATING MAKES YOU 65 TIMES MORE ATTRACTIVE TO THE OPPOSITE SEX and adds 125% more goodness to your SOUL.

A MESSAGE from EVA:

Documentary about Eva on CBC’s The Passionate Eye

http://www.cbc.ca/player/Shows/The+Passionate+Eye/ID/1333883430/

Dance at every opportunity

Health MATTERS – go NAKED

 I like to make my smoothies NAKED
20151021_112437Have you tried this juice? As far as juices go it’s pretty complete.  They label it a juice smoothie so you can drink it as is but if you have a Vitamix and add a few extras it’s perfect! It has a high percentage of fruit mixed with all the power greens including garlic & ginger for good measure. 140 calories per 8 fl. oz. so it’s not without calories.   Also has plenty of vitamins but no fibre – although you can add fibre to it. It has naturally occurring sugars (from the fruit) but that’s what gives you the energy boost. It’s perfect right after a run, workout or for a pick-me-up.  I love trying out new healthy smoothie recipes that are simple to make. Here, half the work is already done for you in one bottle.

My own concoction for a quick ‘n delicious Energy Smoothie for two:

NAKED (Green Machine)

ORANGE JUICE

FROZEN MANGO CHUNKS

1 BANANA

SCOOP OF* PROTEIN POWDER

SCOOP OF *FIBRE

FILTERED WATER (adjust to desired consistency)

MONKEYS (optional)

Start with 1 cup each of the juices,  add 1 cup of mango and go from there. *I use Brad King’s Ultimate Vegan FibreLean and Ultimate Vegan Protein Powder.  I also added a couple scoops of Vitamin C with L-Lysine (Medi-C Plus) for additional anti-sickness protection

20151019_19041320151019_190441What do you think?  

Not bad right?

Feel-good Friday: Liberally!

Politically speaking, Canada has made a clear choice. We’re off to a fresh start with Justin Trudeau as our new Prime Minister and his wife Sophie appears an authentic, supportive and truly amazing woman.  Looking forward to what will come….

It was time for a change

Speaking of change, politics in the USA is if anything, exciting; and Donald Trump is if anything, entertaining…so I’ve posted two super funny short video clips you may have missed. Something to start your weekend off with a laugh.

Clip from SNL with Hillary Clinton as bartender:

Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon as Donald Trump interviewing Hillary Clinton:

Hillary Clinton is all for women’s issues & Donald Trump says all the women he knows all have issues.

Yeah, I’m all for Hillary. 

Have a wonderful weekend

World beauty – just slap me!

The latest EXTREMEly beautiful trends from around the Globe  

Photo: Bon Duke
Photo: Bon Duke

I warned told you this was coming!

When you give permission to love something simply because it’s fun and not because it’s necessary, a lot of weird things can go down. This becomes the most obvious in the realm of beauty, where, both historically and globally, anything can happen in the name of getting rid of a zit or two. Parisian spas of the 1920s used to offer muscle-stretching machines and would masturbate you for skin health (the writer Colette was a fan of this technique) but who am I to judge.

These days, you can get slapped in the face in the name of anti-aging and bathe in fermented hay to soothe stiff muscles. Our taste for extreme beauty has only grown, thriving as ever in the sweet spot between the mythic and the scientific. When we want to feel pampered, we’ll try anything once. So here’s a collection of 13 stranger-than-fiction things you can do, all around the word, in the name of beauty. Who knows? Some of them might actually work.  (see credits at bottom)

1)   San Francisco— You can get your kisser smacked around for $350 a session by licensed practitioners in the art of the Thai Face Slap. Their website assures us it is “1 million percent safe.” Sign up a mean or sly ex-boyfriend for the service, perhaps? Yes, by all means.  I tried a regular Thai massage and they don’t kid around.

2)  Lithuania — Stop by the Kempinski Hotel and you can exfoliate and bathe in crushed amber to shed impurities. It’s probably as close to bathing in diamonds as we’ll get… for now. Nothing wrong with being second best. Next time I’m in Lithuania I’ll give it a try.

3)  Maldives — As if chilling on a private tropical island wasn’t dreamy enough, at Velaa Private Island’s spa you can curl up in a cocoon cradle surrounded by light-generated visuals to simulate the feeling of floating on a cloud. Please note: it also happens to look like a rainbow vagina.

4)  London — Bird-poop facials originated in Korea a thousand years ago, and the nightingale variety, appropriately named uguisu no fun in Japanese, has become a favourite among celebrities and royalty: Kate Middleton, Victoria Beckham and members of One Direction are all said to be fans of the treatment. For £180 a squat, you can have skin like Posh Spice.

5)  Israel — At Ada Barak’s Carnivorous Plant Farm near Haifa, you can willingly have nonvenomous snakes of all sizes slither over your body as an interesting method of stress relief. This would make an excellent scene in a Nicki Minaj video.  Hey, I went to Haifa once and all I got was a delicious tasting shwarma with fries.

6)  Thailand — At the Snail Spa in Chiang Mai, you can have little slimeballs crawl all over your face in the name of hydration. If you can’t make the trip, snail-based face masks aren’t hard to find nowadays.  Thank god for that!

7)  Italy — At Hotel Heubad in the hills of Northern Italy, you can be wrapped in a bed of hot local fermented hay to sweat out your impurities. It is evidently great for stiff muscles and arthritis, though the treatment has lost the scientific support it once held.  Hay, who cares?  I would do just about anything to even be in Italy!

8)  China — Huo liao, also known as the fire treatment, involves placing a cloth soaked in alcohol and a serum on the skin and igniting it until the therapist decides to smother the flame with a wet towel. Probably a relaxing treatment for arsonists.  Ahhh think I’ll pass!

9)  Over 75 Regions, including Brooklyn — Of course the weirdest borough would have the weirdest facial. A new treatment from Hydrafacial mines precious cells from baby foreskins to help resurface your skin for a “youthful glow.” Maybe too youthful.  Maaaybe we’re taking this anti-aging thing a bit too far?

10) California — Potheads, rejoice! Or, don’t; the marijuana massage uses topical cannabis oil to get you high on life. It won’t actually get you stoned, but it does purport to help with chronic pain, wounds and inflammation. Free bong hit not included; for that particular happy ending, you might have to go to Denver, where the marijuana massage is also available.  And looking like soon right here at home!

11) Kenya — At the Segera Retreat near Mount Kenya, you can bathe in a rock bath of lavender, sage and camel milk and spy on elephants roaming the wildlife sanctuary Segera is a part of. This is Extreme Self Care: Safari Edition.  I’m IN!

12) The World Wide Web — While the Oculus Rift waits in the wings, YouTube is the latest platform for beauty, or at least for immersive beauty tutorials. ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) junkies can feast on the popular channel ASMR Requests, which offers spine-tingling virtual aesthetician visits, and the interstellar Departure series. They’re like spas for sci-fi nerds.

13) North Carolina — Asheville’s Omni Grove Park Inn, with its 43,000-square-foot subterranean spa, features an 80-minute “Color and Light Wrap with Aura Imaging” treatment. Translation: you sit in a pod that vibrates and changes color like a very expensive and all-encompassing Windows screen saver.  I’m intrigued!

Now, tell me which one (or more) of the above would you be most inclined to do?

Credits:

Photographer: Bon Duke playfully re-imagines (and maybe even invents) a few luxe beauty treatments.

Makeup by Anastasia Durasova at the Wall Group / Hair by Joey George at the Wall Group / Photographer assistants: John Temones and Tiri / Model: Eden Weinhardt at New York Model Management

Source: Arabelle Sicardi for PaperMag.com

style – REBECCA BREE

THE GREAT ESCAPE

?

Last weekend I stepped into one of the most stylish little boutiques in Vancouver.  It was an accident waiting to happen.  So inviting…..and so pretty…..bree9


Chock full of fashion-forward brands displayed between luxuribree4bree12ous French Provincial furnishings, bouquets of roses and gorgeous extras from Lulu Frost and Tocca.  Should I say more?

They offer chic statement pieces and effortless wardrobe staples with a tightly edited collection of the most coveted clothing and accessories from cutting-edge international designers.bree2bree3

And more….

?bree7

bree11
bree8bree6

You can bet that you’ll find the next big thing here.

Not to mention the owner, Rebecca Bree is a very nice lady.bree14Where? 3680 West 4th Avenue, Vancouver.

Websitehttp://rebeccabree.com/

Photos: d. king

 Food/Wine: Almost Lost

I love finding places of interest that are not considered mainstream and are somewhat off the beaten track….pretty much anywhere I travel.

Photo by Liz Kuball A house cured salmon spread at Bob’s Well Bread Bakery.
Photo by Liz Kuball
A house cured salmon spread at Bob’s Well Bread Bakery.

In my hometown I sometimes stumble across a little hidden gem that is noteworthy. Then I’m excited to have discovered something new but they always seem to get found out.  As in me posting this right now.   Here are a few rare places I’ve come across in the past:

Of special note was the time the car broke down in a place outside Davisville,Texas.  First thought was “this is a major drag.” Then my travelling companions and I ended up spending a few nights at an historic and quaint b+b with great tex mex and discovered cowboy poetry.  Who knew cowboys could be so sensitive?  They came from all over the country and read original poems, some set to music in local venues around town.  Now THAT was something I’ll never forget!  They were amazing and I would go back for more of them cowboys that.

Photo by Liz Kuball Hats at Bell Street Farm.
Photo by Liz Kuball
Hats at Bell Street Farm.
Photo by Liz Kuball A drinks cart in an Alamo Motel suite.
Photo by Liz Kuball
A drinks cart in an Alamo Motel suite.

Another time was camping in the Poncho Villa State Park in New Mexico and just walking across the border to have authentic Mexican food in a cute little place in…Mexico.  There are a lot of other places way too numerous to mention but the short of it is …..it’s always a pleasure or at least a surprise to come across the “little finds.” Like Marfa, Texas which is a little art mecca.

Which brings me to CALIFORNIA WINE COUNTRY (which only has a teenly little bit to do with Marfa):

Everyone is familiar with Napa and lesser known Sonoma has reached it’s peak and has become quite established by now.   Then there’s Solveng, the tiny Danish town just outside Santa Barbara where the movie Sideways was filmed (I did a post about Solveng not so long ago).  So tell me “why did I come so close but yet so far to miss this little dusty backwater town with the nickname “Lost Almost”: a former stagecoach stop with a single main street on the fringe of the Santa Ynez Valley??  Properly pronounced Los Alamos.  You know I saw the sign for it too (darn!).  According to Condé Nast Traveller (CNT) it’s a small town big on flavour.

The once-sleepy Los Alamos (pop. 1,954) now sees a steady stream of wine-country visitors and day-trippers, many of whom are so taken with its languorous, wine-stoned cowboy vibe that they end up spending the night even if their car doesn’t break down.

You know some of these towns get a bad rap where people believe they attract mainly boozers.  Okay; it truth be told perhaps they do.  But did you know that where there’s great wine there’s great food.  Honestly all of these California wine regions tend to have outstanding cuisine.  I even have friends (who like to drink wine) who came a long long way to visit Napa (I did a whole post specifically on Napa for them) and they ended up not even going to one single winery.  They ate and explored the beauty of the wine region itself.  I have firsthand experience in the food versus wine there because I love grocery shopping in the small towns in and surrounding Napa.  They definitely attract Foodies (the debate is still on whether I’m really one or not) and I brought back stuff I can’t find at home.  So on to LOS ALAMOS not to be confused with “the Alamo” (This new L.A. – I’ll see you sometime soon, I promise):

A town re-invented (taken from an article by CNT “CALIFORNIA’S NEXT GREAT FOOD & WINE DESTINATION”

The town’s re-invention is due largely to a tight-knit community of creatives, many of them Los Angeles refugees, who came to Los Alamos in search of a second act. There’s Bob Oswaks, who ran marketing for Sony Pictures Television and now mans the ovens at Bob’s Well Bread, his artisanal bakery in a renovated filling station. There’s Jamie Gluck, a former fashion advertising exec who spends his days in a ten-gallon hat at the helm of Bell Street Farm, a rustic-chic lunch spot with a phenomenal crispy porchetta. Across the street, journalist turned winemaker Sonja Magdevski runs Casa Dumetz Wines and the nearby Babi’s Beer Emporium. And just down the block, in the 1880 Union Hotel, the sepia-toned, taxidermy-bedecked Wine Saloon is overseen by actor Kurt Russell, whose own GoGi pinot noir is served at the bar.

How on earth did this happen? The first glimmers came in 2004, when Clark Staub—a 20-year music-biz veteran and erstwhile Capitol Records VP—opened Full of Life Flatbread on the west end of Bell Street. With its obsessively sourced local ingredients and massive 900-degree wood-fired oven (blessed on its first lighting by local Chumash elders), the restaurant was soon luring chefs and epicureans from all over the state—and putting Los Alamos on the map as a tiny but legitimate food destination.

You’re killing me right now

A decade on, Los Alamos is again being transformed by an influx of young proprietors and entrepreneurs eager to put their creative stamp on a town they see as having Marfa-like potential (see??) . Zac Wasserman, the 27-year-old winemaker behind Frequency Wines, is part of the recent surge. “Los Alamos is a blank canvas—you feel like you’ll be able to impact its future and grow with it,” says Wasserman, who first considered nearby Los Olivos but found the town too expensive and oversaturated. Opposite his tasting room, the once-scruffy Alamo Motel (a 1950s relic) has been reinvented by motelier group Shelter Social Club. Now, with a stylish spot to stay the night, Los Alamos is seeing its cool-kid cachet grow. Which raises the question: How long can it hold on to its pioneer-town charm?

For now, despite the drumbeat of new development, Los Alamos retains its egalitarian mix of silver-fox boomers, plaid-shirted millennials, and denim-clad ranch hands. (This is a place where a cherry-red Cobra roadster might be parked beside a dented pickup with peeling Sarah Palin stickers.) And there are still discoveries to be made—like the biodynamic Martian Ranch & Vineyard, run by Nan Helgeland, who’s married to screenwriter and director Brian Helgeland (L.A. Confidential, Mystic River). Typical of Los Alamos proprietors, Nan is no dabbling weekend hobbyist: During the harvest, she’s up at 3 a.m., tending to her vines. Pay a visit and she might take you around her produce garden, show off her Irish Dexter cows, or point out a red hawk’s nest. As often happens in Los Alamos, you may linger a bit longer—and drink a bit more wine—than you’d planned.

Sounds like my kind of crazy, eccentric, wonderful town to eat, drink and dawdle. Better go before it gets too well known and too fou fou.

The full article written by Emily Poenisch includes places to eat, drink and stay:

http://www.cntraveler.com/stories/2015-10-08/californias-next-great-food-and-wine-destination

My blog post about MARFA, Texas:

https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2012/12/09/scene-in-a-giant-of-a-sleepy-little-town-in-texas/

My blog post about SOLVENG, Ca:

https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/2015/03/15/travelculture-a-tiny-taste-of-denmark/

My DESTINATIONS folder (more to come):

https://girlwhowouldbeking.com/category/destinations/

 

ART – Gogh Figure! Splendor in the grass

CROP ART?vangogh1

One of Vincent van Gogh’s olive tree paintings has literally sprung to life, reproduced as a large, growing field in Minnesota. Last month the Minneapolis Institute of Art (Mia) unveiled a 1.5-acre work of crop art by Stan Herd, a Kansas-based artist who has planted many earthworks around the world, including a re-creation of one of Leonardo da Vinci’s sketches of gliders. Commissioned by Mia to celebrate the museum’s centennial, this most recent piece replicates van Gogh’s “Olive Trees,” one of 15 known paintings of the trees the artist produced in the fall of 1889. That specific work actually hangs in the museum, but Herd’s has sprouted on a site belonging to media firm Thomson Reuters, near the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport.vangogh4Herd has cultivated the field since spring, and his sprawling artwork will remain on view through the end of the fall. Prior to the planting, he had to carefully determine which specific plants and soils to incorporate in order to best represent van Gogh’s particular palette. The painter’s brushstrokes, too, demanded the mowing and digging of many serpentine paths.vangogh2“You can see this is darker, so I’m planting these kind of more verdant, green plants, he explained in a video about the crop artwork’s creation, pointing at a gridded version of the painting he used as a plan.

“The amazing thing about van Gogh’s painting is that there’s not a single straight line in the whole canvas,” he added. “Everything is organic and curved and flowing, and it’s like a pulse.”

The result, just slightly muted in tone, is impressively faithful to the original painting. Mia chose the site specifically so planes arriving to the airport will pass it, so you’ll be able to see it from above if you’re flying into the city — just be sure to choose a seat on the left.vanghogh3

Source: Claire Voon for hyperallergic.com

Photos:  all images courtesy Minneapolis Institute of Arts unless otherwise stated

Health MATTERS – the benefits of being Happy

far outweigh the non-benefits of being unhappy.  But who is happy all the time?  Being happy all the time is just as not normal as being sad all the time!happy7Life throws you some curveballs and it seems almost everyone I know right now is carrying a heavy personal load in some way be it with their family, love relationship, health, finances or job.  I know a family whose house burnt down on Thanksgiving day no less.  They’re just thankful that they made it out alive & now they’re lucky to have found their cat that ran out when the firemen arrived.  Their personal belongings gone.  The situation is not a happy one but they themselves are generally happy people and other than being shaken up by this devastation they’re dealing with it in an emotionally stable manner even with having to soon face starting all over again from scratch.  It will not be as easy as looking for a new job. Which leaves me with the conclusion that aside from family, if you strip yourself of all your worldly belongings and material goods you are left with only yourself in your own skin and your bare emotions That is really all you have that is your own. My thoughts are if you are an emotionally balanced person you will be able to face any negativity that comes your way in a more graceful and stable manner to be able to get through it faster than someone who is not.  happy3I believe your emotional health is at the crux of your quality of life. Without happiness, hopefulness and well-being, it’s difficult to reach your full potential and embrace each day as it comes. Even though some days leave you listless and it can be really hard to get through them. But you’ve got to suck it up and get on with it or get over it! If anything, I’ve always been hopeless hopeful.  Hope gives you; well….it gives you possibilities.  You can see yourself succeeding instead of failing.  Maybe you’ll end up failing but the thing is you expected not to.  You’ll pick yourself up, brush yourself off and start again because you have faith in yourself and your abilities.  Mainly you have faith in yourself that you can and will overcome temporary setbacks. This is what John Lennon had to say about it:happy8The following is what Dr. Mercola has to offer on the subject:

Your emotional health is also intricately tied to your physical health, such that an emotionally imbalanced person will be at a greater risk of chronic diseases and acute illnesses like colds and flu.

It’s thought that genetics account for about 50 percent of your “innate” happiness while life circumstances make up another 10. The rest is under your control, and the first step to harnessing it is to choose it and believe you can be happy.

Research shows, for instance, that when people were told to attempt to feel happier when listening to music, they were (as opposed to those who were told to simply relax).

It was the intention to become happier that made a difference.

It might help to consider your emotions as a form of energy. According to Dr. Bradley Nelson, when you feel an emotion, what you’re really sensing is the vibration of a particular energy. Each emotion has its own vibratory signature, and when intense emotions are felt, they can become trapped in your body, much like a ball of energy.

These “balls of energy” can become lodged just about anywhere in your body, where they can then cause disruptions in your body’s energy system, which underlies your physical system much like an invisible matrix.

Your body cannot tell the difference between an actual experience that triggers an emotional response and an emotion fabricated through thought process alone—such as when worrying about something negative that might occur but has not actually happened, or conversely, thinking about something positive and pleasant.

The latter, of course, will help your body to express many of the health benefits associated with happiness, while ruminating or focusing on negativity can literally manifest disease.

The Health Benefits of Happiness

Happiness not only feels good… it’s physically good for your body, too. For instance, past research has found that positive emotions –including being happy, lively and calm — appear to play a role in immune function. One study found that when happy people are exposed to cold and flu viruses, they’re less likely to get sick and, if they do, exhibit fewer symptoms.

The association held true regardless of the participants’ levels of self-esteem, purpose, extraversion, age, education, body mass or pre-study immunity to the virus, leading the lead researcher to say:

“We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk.”

Further, in a study of nearly 200 heart failure patients, those with higher levels of gratitude had better mood, better sleep, less fatigue, and less inflammation, which can worsen heart failure, than those with lower levels.

What this means is that investing in your own happiness should not be viewed as a self-indulgent luxury. It represents an important piece of the puzzle when it comes to piecing together your overall health.

Your mind can only take so much stress before it breaks down, yet many neglect to tend to their emotional health with the same devotion they give to their physical well-being.

 Strategies to Stay Emotionally Healthy

It’s clear that your emotional state is intricately tied to your physical and mental states. So what can you do to stay emotionally healthy? Like achieving physical fitness or a healthy weight, this is an ongoing process… something that must be tended to each and every day. The good news is that small steps add up and can make a major different for your emotional health. Tips for emotional nurturing include:

  1. Be an Optimist

Looking on the bright side increases your ability to experience happiness in your day-to-day life while helping you cope more effectively with stress.

  1. Have Hope

Having hope allows you to see the light at the end of the tunnel, helping you push through even dark, challenging times. Accomplishing goals, even small ones, can help you to build your level of hope.

  1. Embrace Your Quirks

Self-deprecating remarks and thoughts will shroud your mind with negativity and foster increased levels of stress. Seek out and embrace the positive traits of yourself and your life, and avoid measuring your own worth by comparing yourself to those around you.

  1. Stay Connected

Having loving and supportive relationships helps you feel connected and accepted, and promote a more positive mood. Intimate relationships help meet your emotional needs, so make it a point to reach out to others to develop and nurture these relationships in your life.

  1. Express Gratitude

People who are thankful for what they have are better able to cope with stress, have more positive emotions, and are better able to reach their goals. The best way to harness the positive power of gratitude is to keep a gratitude journal or list, where you actively write down exactly what you’re grateful for each day. Doing so has been linked to happier moods, greater optimism and even better physical health.

  1. Find Your Purpose and Meaning

When you have a purpose or goal that you’re striving for, your life will take on a new meaning that supports your mental well-being. If you’re not sure what your purpose is, explore your natural talents and interests to help find it, and also consider your role in intimate relationships and ability to grow spiritually.

  1. Master Your Environment

When you have mastery over your environment, you’ve learned how to best modify your unique circumstances for the most emotional balance, which leads to feelings of pride and success. Mastery entails using skills such as time management and prioritization along with believing in your ability to handle whatever life throws your way.

  1. Exercise Regularly

Exercise boosts levels of health-promoting neurochemicals like serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which may help buffer some of the effects of stress and also relieve some symptoms of depression. Rather than viewing exercise as a medical tool to lose weight, prevent disease, and live longer – all benefits that occur in the future – try viewing exercise as a daily tool to immediately enhance your frame of mind, reduce stress and feel happier.

  1. Practice Mindfulness

Practicing “mindfulness” means you’re actively paying attention to the moment you’re in right now. Rather than letting your mind wander, when you’re mindful you’re living in the moment and letting distracting or negative thoughts pass through your mind without getting caught up in their emotional implications. Mindfulness can help you reduce stress for increased well-being as well as achieve undistracted focus.

All we can do is try to do the best we can

Source: Dr. Mercola – articles by Mercola.com