Tuesday, February 26, 2013

UNIVERSAL GIFTS...

i love being awestruck (and not just sometimes...
but all the time)
 
Even after all this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”
Look what happens
with a love like that,
It lights the Whole Sky.
—Hafiz
we have so much to be grateful for. Birds sing for us, snow falls, and stars shine. The moon glows, flowers bloom, the rain falls and the sun shines. I appreciate the infinite splendor and magnificence and every wonderful moment of life! And the fact that the word "wonderful" was one of Aunty's favorites!
 
true love doesn't keep score...it's perfect

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

MY FAVORITE POST...

Who's That Lady
 
Since I am a bit under the weather.... not even massive doses of green tea and kale are helping me with this drastic cold... I thought I would share my favorite post with you. Well, truthfully, I put my heart into each one, but, if I had to select a favorite the one below is at the top. Click here to find out who the happy lady with the beret and dark glasses is. 
With much love....
 

Monday, February 11, 2013

"FEEL MY LOVE NOW..."


What the snow brings…

Here in the North East we just experienced a winter blizzard. It was glorious to see what seemed like billions of snowflakes flurrying around town. In those moments of deep silence when the snow is falling and you can somehow feel eternity its amazing what comes up. As I stood on a little wooden bridge at the foot of many tall trees I could feel the profound love from my late Aunty and Uncle D right to the core. Most of you know by now I was exceptionally close with them since birth. The three of us shared a tiny two bedroom apartment for many years and were utterly happy and content.

Uncle D was always looking out for me. Whenever it snowed my uncle would always warn me ahead of time of the icy spots in the road. When he came home from his morning ride to get the Scalia bread (a signature bread of the Italian community in the Boston area) he would help me clear off my car. Aunty would always be inside preparing homemade cocoa and lightly toasting that soft Italian bread and covering it with melted butter every single time it snowed. I think my Uncle really enjoyed the snow too. I can still hear Uncle D saying,  “The snow cleans the air.”  And till this day, with every snowfall I somehow revert back to life with these two benevolent human beings, who even in death, are looking out for me. They perpetually show me love and it's well-received!

Aunty's Hat Protects Me From the Elements

Yesterday, as I trudged through the twenty-four inches of  snow  to get to my car I brought Aunty and Uncle with me. I wore Aunty’s warm and lovely black fur hood. She would always wear this comforting hat in the snow to stay warm. Well it did the same for me as you can clearly see in the above pictures. It felt as if she were still there keeping me safe. She was saying, "Let my hat keep you warm." Feeling her love was tremendous. 

My car was covered in snow and it was going to be hard work to remove it all. 
my car is there somewhere




But, I had some help from my Uncle. Uncle D was an ace with putting things together and puttering around with materials. He made this special brush for snow removal and reinforced it with heavy tape.



 It still works just fine especially for icy windows. Here you can see that with the help from my beloved Uncle I was able to clear off my car a little easier. It was if he were right there with me. I know he was. I could hear him saying, “Over here chicken.” That was his endearing little nickname for me, winter, spring, summer, and fall.

Next time the snow eases down from the heavens, or you have some quiet time…reflect on the love from your dearly departed loved ones. They will show up. You’ll feel it. Many believe they are already here. And they take many forms.

Monday, February 4, 2013

MY BLUE VALENTINE...

MING and I 


My favorite restaurant ever is The Blue Ginger (located in a really nice suburb of Boston). Everything about this establishment is first-class and spectacular! Whenever anyone offers to treat me to lunch or dinner I always choose Blue Ginger.

On several occasions I have been lucky enough to talk with the famous owner/chef Ming Tsai. Here I am after he just signed his new book…Simply Ming in Your Kitchen. He also has a TV show called Simply Ming. Right after the picture was taken I handed him my card and asked him to check out my blog. Remember, we must always be confident. Besides, what I have brewing up my sleeves could make me an international star too. So you must stay tuned. Maybe next year a prize in my comment contest could be a meal made by MingIn the meantime…

It's obvious why Ming cooks for some of the world’s most illustrious people and his ten year plus restaurant is as popular as ever. He is an award winning master chef. Ming’s signature Butter Fish and Black Pepper Lobster (shown below) are two of the best items on a restaurant menu period.
pictures from ming.com

If you have any special occasion coming up, or will be in the Boston area you must go to experience the Blue Ginger. The ever gracious and handsome Ming Tsai is often there to say hello and make sure everything is perfect. And I do mean perfect!
The latest recipe on his site is Maitake-chicken-hot-and-sour-soup. It looks sensational. See for yourself.
To find out more about the Blue Ginger Story go to BLUE GINGER

I gush so much about Blue Ginger right down to their outstanding mushroom coffee (which I have featured here before). My friends keep saying Ming should put a picture of me on his site. I'd love to sit there all day enjoying every impeccable entree during an eight hour photo shoot. Wouldn't you?

Due to popular demand Ming is about to open a new restaurant right in Boston called the Blue Dragon. I can't wait. Will someone forward this post to him? I would love to be invited to the grand opening. See you there….

Ming’s delectable offerings are healthy, superbly delicious, and, the coffee, the mushrooms, and the Feng Shui setting alone will help keep you Ageless. It’s for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AND NOW….I would like to announce the winner of this month's comment contest. After putting all the names of those who were kind enough to leave comments this month, I picked one lucky name out of my big furry hat (you can see the pom poms in the picture above). The winner is a big fan of Ageless named Michael. He has left many appreciated comments. He will receive a ten dollar gift certificate to Amazon!
If you take a moment to leave a comment maybe you will win in February!