My wonderful friend, mentor and former director Midge is starting a new family today on Mother’s Day. It’s a family investing in its roots by travelling to Italy.
I love this idea. What an inspiration! Check it out. Consider subscribing! I’ve already done that (jealously of course – lol).
and..
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
On April 11, 2013 blogger SoundOfLaughter nominated Gia On The Move for the Sweet Blogging Award. (And it’s taken me forever to get this acknowledgement in order, although I accidentally posted early with an incomplete list)
It’s always an honor to be recognized by your peers and heck who doesn’t like to win an award the has the word “Sweet” in the title.
Thank you Sound of Laughter! Good to be loved.
The rules to this award (for me and all nominees) are:
The 5 sweet questions. (with my answers)
Cookies or Cake. Cake definitely! I’ll always enjoy a cookie, but there is just something so divine about moist, fluffy cake with a fruit or custard filling topped with my favorite icing.
Chocolate or Vanilla. Vanilla! So many more ways to combine Vanilla with other things – including Chocolate.
Favorite Sweet Treat. Rum cake. Growing up Sicilian would have been a crime without one. I mean, if you’ve never eaten a cake dripping with Rum and additionally filled with strawberries and cream, I kind of pity you. lol
When do you crave sweet things the most? After a great meal and unfortunately when I’m stressed. But I follow the Oscar Wilde rule, “The best way to get rid of a temptation is to give into it!”
Sweet Nick Name. Getting it right in a single word is difficult. I think a phrase is better: ”è piuttosta dolce salata” (she’s quite salty sweet)
My Nominations: I had to go through my list. I currently follow a lot of blogs for lots of reasons and everyone is amazing. So it’s taken me a couple of days. But here goes:
Reading online and then watching the footage today of the horrific event that took place in downtown Boston, which happens to be my hometown, was really shocking. As far as I know, I myself am fortunate enough to be able to say, that I lost no one, and no person from my own family or set of friends was harmed. Others were not lucky — the little 8 year old boy, who was waiting to give his runner dad a hug at the finish line when the Boston Marathon bombings killed him.
So I’ve decided not to post on April 16th. I just want to be silent.
Although my heart is filled with fire at this moment, I will offer up a prayer instead.
We’ve been crying all day in my house. This should have been a day of triumph and celebration instead of tragedy.
After living through 9-11 while in New York City for many years, I thought I would be prepared for anything, emotionally. I was not.
Above is a photograph from photographer John Tlumacki, a 30 year veteran with The Boston Globe. John happened to be on the scene as the explosions fired off and captured nearly everything. He later gave a first hand account (interview) which can be viewed by visiting the Time Lightbox Blog. Some of the photos are graphic.
Posted in Blogging, Fashion, Food, Media, Movies, Music
Tagged @CrumbsBakeShop, @PerezHilton, celebrity gossip
Did you even know there was one? Well, this was a first for me. And it seems that according to the below “newly unveiled stats,” the social media bride and “I do’s” have officially become digital – from live-stream Facebook weddings to Pinterest boards to Skype-ing the dress fitting!
The “What’s on Brides’ Minds” 7th Annual Survey Shows Brides Strive to be Social Media Stars on the Big Day
David’s Bridal, the nation’s leading bridal and special occasion authority, says the new tools of the trade are a smart phone or a computer instead of a wedding binder. The 2013 bride will plan, chronicle and culminate all of her wedding details with the help of social media to do things as simple as assemble an inspiration board to making it possible for family and friends that can’t attend the wedding to be part of the festivities. Instagram and Twitter enable the creation of special hashtags for guests to photo share during the big day.
The average newlywed couple will broadcast their wedding to the world in what’s becoming a prominent industry trend. Last month, TheKnot.com held the first-ever live-streamed, crowd sourced wedding, and Brides magazine is following suit with an upcoming live-streamed Facebook wedding. Companies like I Do Stream and Marry Me Live even offer webcasting services to couples looking to go “live” on the big day. What might have seemed “over the top” years ago, is now becoming a common practice as brides look to say “I do” in unique ways and on multiple platforms.
Here are the 2013 stats from David’s Bridal for The social network of wedding planning:
Brides are pinning, posting and texting their way to the altar!
RSVP’ing for the Skype wedding…with a plus one
Can’t make the wedding? No problem! Just pull up a laptop and watch from there.
Social media should come with a handbook
Wedding guests beware! Think twice before hitting send on your mobile!
Status update: Sue Smith went from being “engaged” to “married”
So much for waiting for the paperwork to go through! Brides want their “friends” to know they’re hitched – pronto!
Facebook official: Up 11 percent from 2011, 59 percent of brides will update their acebook status to “married” or update their new name within a day of walking down the aisle.‘
Visit David’s Bridal website for wedding resources, notably the new “My Event” wedding planning app, a social media tool for brides-to-be.
Posted in Blogging, Media, Movement
Tagged @davidsbridal, Digital Weddings, online weddings, social media brides, surveys
On May 15, 2013, Reluctant Habits Managing Editor Edward Champion aims to walk 3,000 miles across America over the course of approximately six months, starting in Brooklyn and ending in San Francisco. It will be an extraordinary, digital age, oral history project that will unfold in real time in the spirit of Studs Terkel, Peter Jenkins, and Charles Kuralt, talking to many people along the way and visiting many overlooked towns across twelve states (and possibly more if you’ve got a couch and are willing to host).
Writing dispatches as he makes my his west, his goal is to forge an unprecedented chronicle of American life in 2013.
Think of this as a microbudget Federal Writers Project for the 21st century.
A six month project like this requires financial resources, which will be devoted to food, lodging, technological services, and equipment that will keep him transmitting communications from the road.
So Ed has started an Indiegogo and being so inspired by this daunting yet exciting journey Gia On The Move has decided to help get him started.
Help make this project possible.You can donate to the Indiegogo page. But if you can’t donate, spread the word and let other people know how one person can start a movement!
Posted in Blogging, Media, Movement
Tagged @drmabuse, edwalks.com, Edward Champion, Reluctant Habits, Studs Terkel, walking across America, writing
Large Hadron Collider LHC, Maximilien Brice / © 2012 CERN
Posted in Blogging, Food, Football, Media, Sports
Tagged Black Friday, Polls and opinions, Soda Head, Thanksgiving favorites
New York ‘cityscapes’ from the eyes of Brooklyn born real estate agent (and former chef) Mark Neuwirth who in his on and off time has been capturing so many of NYC’s best and worst features through his lens. Below is a street view of the Flatiron Building. What a way to start your morning!
Posted in Art, Blogging, Media
Tagged architecture, flatiron building, Photographer Marc Neuwirth, photography
Well yes. Of course it’s the beginning of the biggest week of the year – the most critical week in the life of every single American with our current election. Take a big breath and plunge.
For those of you who are Astrological devotees, this should be a page turner for you…Election Day falls on the very first day of one of the most powerful Mercury Retrogrades we’ve seen in some time. It’s probably going to get messy out there, confusing, electronically defusing or at least be VERY surprising. We’ve decided to go with the flow on this one.
Here in California the Battle of Prop 37 has been raging.
If you’re unfamiliar with the proposition in short it’s to force genetically modified foods to have a label. So far the food industry has spent millions in California advertising against it. Those that are for the bill are not backed by big companies and as such have raised significantly less at this point.
I recently got a couple of videos from Chris at Kinkling Inc. who is donating his time to spread the word. Below is the first of a set of videos. Make up your own mind.
You can can view the rest by clicking the links below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhKmJ5JU8f4&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DlPm6KfLmX4&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ8ZVCSv7NA&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BvnXzWPyQc&feature=plcp
The WoodCutter’s Song… The Poor Man Renewed
Welcome, red and roundy sun,
Dropping lowly in the west;
Now my hard day’s work is done,
I’m as happy as the best.
Joyful are the thoughts of home,
Now I’m ready for my chair,
So, till morrow-morning’s come,
Bill and mittens, lie ye there!
On Saturday evening I visited the Fifth Floor Gallery on Chung King Road in Chinatown and saw for myself how two artists can make a true global difference in theory, craft, skill and marketability.
Dynamic duo Leo and Lishu of El Dot Designs have taken their OTIS educations on the road, country to country teaching local farmers who are living outside of their own communities and globally marginalized, how to use abundant natural and sustainable resources to create home goods while learning better ways of building. What makes this work is that the designers go into a country and live for an extended period of time (so far they’ve visited Nepal and India), teaching modern design and how to apply it to furniture making craft. Local communities immediately benefit educationally and are able to provide lower cost goods to native buyers. On the bigger scale, it’s an opportunity to provide other countries such as the US with sustainable goods that are practical, useful, truly chic and simply beautiful.
“Bamboo in Nepal is considered a poor man’s wood. It is so available that no one wants to use it. But when we show the people pictures and videos about its use and application they get excited. Bamboo is so incredibly renewable. It’s durable, pliable and it converts 30% more CO2 than a regular tree. A big part of our job is just convincing [them] of the benefits.”
And just for the record the El Dot team also constructs a great part of their US made goods from fallen trees. No intentional chopping and cutting. Just by pure donations and left-overs. (They’ve even taken a request or two.)
The yield is amazing.
Sipping and Such…
I woke up on Sunday morning and knew I needed flowers. As visions of outdoor gardens floated through my fantasy, it occurred to me that along with a breezy tip-toe through the tulips, Afternoon Tea was just the thing.
So I threw my spontaneity headlong into a reservation at Chado Tea Room on Hollywood and Highland, put on my prettiest dress and sandals and walked to the 2nd floor hideaway. I got my flowers in the tea.
Scones, cakes and cucumber sandwiches were complimented by my current reading (and properly so) The Whitney Women and the Museum They Made – A Family Memoir by Flora Miller Biddle.
A definite girls afternoon, it was fun making new tea loving friends hailing from India (they really loved their Chai!) and looking forward to being invited to the upcoming festival (to be announced soon).
From the photo album of Eric Ambel via a friend living in New York City…The corner of Avenue C and 8th Street…I used to live right around the corner. Insane!
Gia On The Move
