I hummed Janis Joplin’s sound-alike song during my drive home after an afternoon spent visiting Bobbi this week.  She graciously agreed to be my very first interview!

Her home is outside of Marble Falls, not too far from where I live. Bobbi designed it herself, and oversaw all of the construction, an impressive feat!  It is open and worldly, while still being extremely comfortable! She gave me free rein to snoop, open drawers, and take photos…and tempting as that was, I stuck to her studio!  I saw that she brings the same attention to detail, and sense of high-style that’s evident in her home, to her custom jewelry.

DO – How did you get started making jewelry?

BMc – Designing the house was so much fun, but then it was done and I needed a creative outlet that wouldn’t cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars…I bought a bracelet in Oregon and thought, “Wow, I can do this! I’m gonna give it a try!”

DO – Do you have an art background? What makes you able to do this so well?

BMc – I’ve always sewn, and done embroidery…and I have really good eyesight, close-up, without my glasses on. I ordered a bracelet and it didn’t look like it would hold up, so I sought out suppliers for the very best leather, the best thread, and learned how to do the stitching for durability.  I love Chan Luu’s work, it’s in the Sundance catalog. It’s so nice to have a role model.

DO – You jokingly called yourself a ‘good copy artist.’

BMc – Yes, I see myself as more of an “interpreter.”  Lately I’ve been doing pieces with necklaces and earrings because people wanted them, so I started monkeying around with that. I have so many beads…and I am intimately involved with all of them! I began making men’s bracelets, too, and I can also redesign jewelry using someone’s own beads and stones.

DO – Tell me about getting into the “flow.”

BMc – When I go into the studio and start playing with the stones and crystals, I envision what I want. And since I live so far from everything and have no distractions, I can just sit for hours.

We talked about her husband – “He loves to shop for stone and crystals, and he’s very knowledgable.  We choose only high-quality stones.”  She brings me a stunning slab of polished stone the size of a dinner plate, “It’s a piece of petrified dinosaur poop that he brought home! Isn’t it beautiful?” (It is, so I photographed this flourite bracelet on it.)

Did I tell you that she’s also funny?

Bobbi’s detailed work, her attention to placement, the braiding and macrame are all stellar. She personalizes each piece with a charm that’s hand-stamped with the client’s initial.

She “hates to have her photo taken,” in spite of her gorgeous complexion and and hair….alas, so after a few attempts, I gave up.  But, she did let me photograph her hands wearing her bead & leather bracelets with some sterling cuffs. You can reach her at bobbimckaybeadworks@gmail.com if you’d like to get more information about her beautiful jewelry.

Thank you for reading,

XO Donna

Wow, it’s been a whirlwind week! And the New Year is just around the corner!

I hope all of you that celebrate Christmas got just what you wanted, rather than coal in your stocking…unless it’s been compressed into diamonds, that is!

I had a wonderful dinner at my house with family and dear friends; both old and new. Great food, great wine, great company!  I always want Christmas to be like Thanksgiving; where the focus is on sharing and gratitude, and this year it really was!

That’s not to say that everything was perfect…there are definitely some challenges that each of the families are dealing with right now, but in this moment, it’s all alright!  Everyone had everything they needed…and we all had each other!

Love, and friendship. Being here now. And gratitude…with a capital “G.”  These are the things I look forward to focusing on in the coming year, and the feelings I will carry with me along the way.

I wish you all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!

XO Donna

…my uncommon solution!

It seems as if everyone is catching a cold right now, so the first thing you should do if you get one is:  STAY HOME!  (Your work-mates don’t want it, and they certainly don’t want to bring it home to their families.  Your clients won’t appreciate the fact that you went to work  ‘just for them’  if they catch your cold…nor will your boss). Please stay home and take care of yourself.

Next:  Skip the Nyquil and opt for this “trinity” that I have been using sucessfully for more than 25 years!    This healing combo is a Goldenseal/Echinacea tincture (1 dropper in a glass of water), plus 1 Garlicin capsule (it’s odorless, and burp-free) and finish off with 1,000 mg. of Buffered Vitamin C. Do this every 4 hours and you will nip that cold right in the bud!  Who needs to suffer for 10 days… “where’s the sexy in that?”

Drinking lots of hot tea is also very helpful, but I recently found out  from www.foodbabe.com that a few of my favorite tea brands have pesticides on them!  I will be sticking with the three that tested clean: Numi, Traditional Medicinals and Rishi, a delicious loose-leaf tea.

Avoid orange juice, milk and dairy products – yes, seriously! They make mucous. Stick with clear fruit juices: cranberry, apple or grape. But sticking to only hot liquids for a day or two will speed up your recovery. Try “a toddy” of hot water with lemon and lots of honey.  Add some fresh ginger if you have it. Both ginger and mint tea are good for a queasy stomach. And a bowl of chicken soup…what else could you need?  

I’m wishing you all a Happy, Healthy Holiday filled with Lots of Love! 

XO Donna

(*I am not paid to promote any of these products. I am sharing what works for myself and my family.)

POLITE :  Marked by or showing consideration for others, tact, and observance of accepted social  usage.  Refined; elegant; polite society. 

I am privileged to hear many secrets, confessions and juicy stories in my business. It’s a gift that I don’t take for granted, and one that thrills me, because I’m basically nosy!

For the last few weeks, I’ve been hearing about manners. Good, bad, and ugly.  Thanksgiving has come and gone, but it’s left a bad taste in some people’s mouths!

I hear tales of spoiled, lazy and entitled guests. And unfortunately, these guests are often family!  I know many young people have been raised by very busy, working parents, but still…it’s not like they were raised by wolves!  

One friend told of a beautifully pulled-together guest who never lifted a finger to help, and spent most of her time drinking too much and texting.  Another talked about how “entitled” her grown child acts lately.  Another talked about meeting propective in-laws at  Thanksgiving, and both the girlfriend and her parents acted so badly that her son broke off his relationship with the girl the next day!  And yet another told me how both she and her daughter were supposed to bring something for a pot-luck gathering, but her daughter “chose not to, because she didn’t feel like doing it!”

My parents taught me, “Never go to someone’s house empty-handed.”  But it was my Grandmother who took it a step further and said, “When you go to someone’s house, you should have to knock at the door with your foot!”   

Good manners are just as important as they always were, and, they’re sexy as hell!  I know my readers already know about good manners, but maybe our kids have forgotten, and their friends never learned. Maybe they think, “That’s old-fashioned. Who really cares about that stuff?”

1. The host who invited you to dinner, but probably won’t invite your sorry ass back.
2. The boss who needs to decide who to give that raise/promotion to.
3. The handsome man/woman who just agreed to a date with you.
4. The person who bought you a gift, but never received a written “Thank You.”

Good news!  Many of us grew up refining our manners guided by Emily Post…now the mantle has been picked up  by her great-great grandchildren!  They tackle the latest issues and demands of our society, including all forms of social media. It’s been called, “a perfect guide for Millenials living on their own for the first time, who wish to establish themselves properly in the workplace.”  Emily Post’s Etiquette, 18th Edition is the essential handbook to proper social behavior.

And here’s another by a world-renowned etiquette expert and her grand-daughter.  It’s “an elegant guide to 21st century manners for professionals who want to be confident and successful in the business and social arenas.”  Modern Manners: Tools to Take You to the Top, written by Dorothea Johnson; founder of The Protocol School of Washington, and Liv Tyler, the actress. 

We could buy both and reread them to make sure we’re always nice, and then work manners into conversations….or we can just buy them as gifts for the naughty people on our list!

XODonna

You can’t be very sexy if you don’t feel very well, and let’s face it…the only way to feel well, is to eat well.

Rule # 1 – What you eat matters!

If you’re young;  eating whole, natural foods will support your health – and consequently – your looks as you age.  I love this quote by Coco Chanel, “Nature gives you the face you have at twenty, but it’s up to you to merit the face you have at fifty.”  I would add, “And the figure…at 50, 60 or 70!”

If you’re older; it’s never too late to shed some bad habits, and incorporate new ones.  You’ll look and feel better. You may even become much healthier – which is sexy in, and of, itself!

You ARE what you eat: Lot of white, starchy, processed food will leave you looking like…well, like the Pillsbury Dough Boy.  Leave the pizza, pasta, noodles, rice,  muffins, enchiladas, chips, fries, sodas, diet-sodas and fast-food burgers for a occasional treat.  Not daily…occasional. 

I’d been over-indulging, and having cocktails, way too often recently, and gained weight. My waistbands were way too tight, and I felt miserable!  I’d reached my limit – I allow for a few pounds fluctuation, but anything more than five pounds means it’s time to clean up my act!  Why wait until it’s 10 or 15 or 20?

Rule #2 – There’s only one way to stay fit:  Eat Right and Move!

Curves are beautiful – but fat around our midsection (Apple shape) is not healthy for women: it increases our risk for diabetes, heart disease, cancer, high blood pressure and stroke. If that doesn’t “put a damper on your sexy” I don’t know what will!

I can go into any restaurant and eat clean; I just hadn’t been choosing to.  I could have had red wine rather than  margaritas…I just wasn’t making that choice.  NOW I am back to making those choices again. I have been looking to www.MarksDailyApple.com for inspiration and new recipes. I’m eating lots of gorgeous salads, trying some new protein-packed smoothies for breakfast.  Meat, fish, chicken and pork, plus lots of fresh veggies = energy, clarity and vitality!  Throw in some really good dark chocolate (70% cacao) for a treat!  Add a glass of red wine. This isn’t a diet, it’s a lifestyle.  

• Rather than bake cookies this year, buy and give fruit and nuts 
• Skip the eggnog and open a bottle of red wine or sparkling water 
• Make new choices about what to serve at the dinner table to keep yourself feeling gorgeous
• Go for long walks alone, or with friends and family after a meal
• For inspiration, google “Images of beautiful food.”

I want you around for a long time…the choice to live a happier, healthier  life  is ours…and it begins with what we eat!

XO Donna

…because I am going to discuss aphrodisiacs.  

The “doctrine of signatures” keeps coming up, (no pun intended) so allow me to indulge us both, won’t you?

In the beautifully written and photographed book  ‘Intercourses,  an Aphrodisiac Cookbook,”  by Martha Hopkins and Randall Lockridge, it states: “the Law of Similarities  says that if one thing looks like or is reminiscent of another, then it will improve or aid that which it looks like.  So if a food looks sexual, then it is said that it will improve or aid your sex life.”  

Jacob Boehme, a German mystic (1575)  brought forth the concept of the “law of signatures” after  having visions which revealed to him the spiritual structure of the world. Plants look like the things they designed to heal.

I am reading the new book by Elizabeth Gilbert, who also wrote Eat, Pray, Love.  It’s called The Signature of All Things.  Publisher’s Weekly called it “an unhurried, sympathetic, intelligent novel.”  It is that, and much more. You will love it, I promise.  (I wasn’t paid for this,  I won the book courtesy of Linda Sivertsen, the Book Mama)

Which brings us back to aphrodisiacs, plants, and food.   Thanksgiving is next Thursday, skip the over-cooked, fake-food madness that is called “green bean casserole” and opt for asparagus instead! 

Depending upon who is coming to dinner, you can wear it,  or you can prepare it properly and feast upon it  I’m not saying you can’t have your asparagus and wear it, too…  (photo: Ben Fink)

Notice the “prepare it properly” portion of the previous paragraph?  This is imperative!  Overcooked, olive-green, limp asparagus is about as useless as…well, you get the idea. (You may as well throw it out and serve green-bean casserole).

To do this, you must either blanch it (drop in boiling, salted water for about 3 minutes. Yes, only 3!) or you can roast it by tossing about a dozen trimmed spears with  a tablespoon or two of good olive oil, some salt and pepper, and roasting it in a 450-degree oven for about 15 minutes. 

Let it cool completely, then wrap in 6 exquisitely thin slices of prosciutto that have been cut in half length-wise, making 12. Place on a platter and sprinkle with a bit of parmesan cheese.  Serve at room   temperature with a small amount of a vinaigrette dressing, or a squeeze of lemon juice. You can easily double, or triple this based on the number of people you’ll be serving.  (No, I don’t know how many spears it takes to make that beautiful skirt) 

Asparagus is loaded with potassium, calcium, phosphorous, calcium and Vitamin E. It’s also a lot of fun to eat with  your fingers!

XO Donna

Holiday photos….

some of you love this, and some dread it. I’m going to give you six sure-fire ways to  say, “Cheese!”  without it being a cheesy affair!

This photo, which The Chicago Tribune called “an all-out team blitz of holiday awfulness” is our don’t.   Unless, of course, you go in for this sort of thing. If that’s the case, skip my blog this week,  do what you wish, and I’ll see you next week!

If you want to look great, maybe even sexy, it takes just a little bit of coordination to be immortalized in style.  Start here:

1. Choose a color scheme that everyone in the portrait agrees on. It could be red tops, black tops, black & white, or denim.  If you are going to wear prints, keep them on the small side so they don’t overwhelm you.  (Note: Pastels generally wash everyone out, and are not autumn/winter tones.  Save them for springtime.)
2. A v-neck is flattering, and can be sexy, on every woman. In general, so are cowl necklines.
3. It’s cold out, but I’ll say it anyway: wear sleeves. Unless you work out and have upper-arms that you’re really proud to show off, a 3/4 sleeve, or long sleeves will look best!   (Men – sleeveless is never an option!)
4. Wear a touch more make-up than normal. Use a bit of under-eye cover-cream, lots of mascara, a fluff of powder and some blush and color on your lips. If you color your hair, have it done. You want to look and feel your very best!
5. Wear heels:  They give a you a boost of confidence, and make your derrierre and legs look fantastic…as do sheer, black hose.
6. Keep your accessories simple and elegant: Wear chic jewelry, beautiful belts, and polished shoes or boots.

These family portraits all work because of the thought and planning that went into them beforehand.

Besides providing visual continuity, the unified colors also create a unity among the people in the photo. 

 And isn’t that what it’s all about in the first place?

XO  Donna