Right Brained Gal

Lily Simone in Eagle Rock

If you live in the Los Angeles area, and want to go shopping and eat ice cream this weekend, drop by Lily Simone's in Eagle Rock, for their summer sale. A lot of summer clothing items will be on sale up to 50% off and the cutest little ice cream truck in town will be there giving out ice cream treats.

Even if you can't make it to the sale, be sure to visit this darling store.  They have the best clothing and gift items on the East side and they are the most helpful and friendly sales people in town.   

Harper and Mark

My really special friend Paula and her husband Dan recently had a baby son, Mark, and I offered to spend the week with them while Dan went to New York for a Medical Conference. I love helping people more than anything and I knew Paula really needed and would  appreciate my help. I was a little nervous being around a new baby, but it's just riding a bike, it comes back to you immediately.  In no time at all I was changing diapers just like I had done it yesterday.

It was a busy week juggling Harper in first grade and a newborn, but Paula is so easy going and nothing bothers her.  Nothing except the flood we had in her bathroom at 7:00 am on Friday morning. They had been cleaning the pipes at her condo complex the previous two days, and obviously something went awry.  We woke up with two inches of water on the bathroom floor, two sinks backed up with brown water, and everything in the cupboards and drawers soaked. It looked like a holding tank for Costco, with all the supplies she had in there.  Not to mention all the Mac makeup.  Needless to say it was a long day with plumbers, water pumps and fans to dry the hardwood floors surrounding the bathroom. It was then decided that we would all have to move to a hotel because there was black water which could produce harmful fumes.  Of course, since insurance was paying for it, she somehow talked them into letting us stay at one of the best hotels in town. 

The next day when I went back to pick up my things, I saw they had taken out the hardwood floors and opened the whole wall.  I got to go home that night, but Dan arrived from New York and they all had to stay in the hotel all week. 

It was a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I was able to do arts and crafts with Harper and also fell in love with Mark.  I had forgotten how difficult it is with a new baby, especially a new baby and a sibling.  I wonder how I ever survived. 

Illustration Friday - Camouflage

My entry for this week's Illustration Friday .

My Favorite Italian Restaurant

I had dinner at my all time favorite Italian restaurant Fritto Misto this weekend.  If you are ever in Santa Monica, I highly recommend this neighborhood delight. Not only is the food out of this world, but the prices are reasonable. My daughter says the gnocchi is the best she's ever had, and she lived in Italy for a year.  I love the Greens and Gorgonzola Salad and I just happen to have the recipe.

Greens and Gorgonzola Salad

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup olive oil

Salad

3 cups of  mixed fresh baby greens

1 cup of diced Roma tomatoes

1/2 cup roasted walnuts

2/3 cup of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Salt and pepper to taste Whisk first 4 ingredients for vinaigrette dressing in medium bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 8 hours ahead. Cover and chill. Let stand at room temperature 15 minutes; re-whisk before using.)

Mix freshly washed baby green lettuce with chopped Roma tomatoes.  Mix with 1/2 cup of vinaigrette or to taste.  Add additional salt and pepper to taste. Add roasted walnuts and divide evenly on four plates.  Sprinkle with Gorgonzola cheese right before serving.

Serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a first course.

They also have incredible pasta dishes, including a make your own pasta with a choice of ten sauces and pastas.  They make their own pasta - incredible. 
 

 

Pineapple Upside Down Cake

I got together with a group of friends tonight and I decided to bake a pineapple upside down cake.  I only had a small piece because I'm trying to eliminate sugar from my diet eventually (I'm aiming for 2011) but everyone else really enjoyed it. This is an family recipe if anyone is interested. It's also pretty easy to make.

Pineapple Upside-Down Cake

6 Tablespoons (3/4) stick of unsalted butter
1/2 cup of packed dark brown sugar
1 can (20) ounces of pineapple slices (packed in natural juices) drained
    (save 1/2 cup reserve)
Pecan halves
1/2 cup (1stick) of unsalted butter at room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of vanilla
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Whipped Cream (garnish)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Take a nine inch round pan and put it on the stove and melt 6 tablespoons of the butter.  Add the half cup of brown sugar and spread it evenly in the pan.  Take it off the flame and then place the pineapples on top of the mixture. Arrange seven of the slices and save the other three.  Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar in a mixer.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Beat in the vanilla.  Puree the remaining 3 pineapple slices in a blender or food processor and beat into the butter mixture.  Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together.  Beat into the butter mixture alternately with the reserved pineapple juice.  Pour the cake batter over the pineapple slices.  Bake until the center of the cake springs back when gently touched, 30 - 35 minutes. 

While the cake is still hot, invert the cake into a platter. You can use a spring form pan, but I find a regular 9” pan works perfectly.

Nick and Vicki

One of the great advantages of having children, is you get to be a part of their friends lives.  I have gotten so much enjoyment watching their friends grow up and now having the pleasure of knowing  them as adults.

Nick and Vicki are two very special people and one of the happiest couples I know.  They had a wonderful wedding reception on Saturday and I was proud to attend.  Vicki's gown was one of the prettiest wedding gown's I have ever seen and of course she looked  fabulous as always.  I wish the two of you all the happiness in the world.

Happy Father's Day, Dad

                                                                                             Anyone who knew my father, knew how badly he wanted a son.  He had to settle for my sister and I and that explains why we are both such avid sports fans, especially football. I don't think there is a woman alive who understands  football as well as I do. That's because I spent most of my youth watching games with my dad and asking him questions every two minutes.  This was not a man who had  a lot of patience, but he was thrilled that I took an interest in sports, unlike my mother, who didn't know the difference between a football and a basketball.

My father enlisted in the army when he was only 19 years old, during World War II. He was shipped off to Africa and then entered Italy where he was in the battle of Anzio.  All of my Dad's friends were killed in front of his eyes, and he was shot in the leg and had shrapnel in his back.  He was lying on the battle field for a few days, going in and out of consciousness, all the while hearing German soldiers walking around him. Luckily the Red Cross came in and transported him to a hospital in France and he was sent home on crutches, to marry my mother.  My dad spent the rest of his life in and out of the Veteran's hospital, because of his shot-up leg.  He had a terrible limp, and most of the time, they wanted to amputate his leg, but he persevered.  He did receive two Purple Hearts for his bravery, and I cherish it more than anything I own.  Luckily for him, he and my mother were able to visit Italy years later and return to the scene of the crime.

Like most fathers at the time, my dad had a hard time showing any emotions other than anger. It was hard on me, and made for a challenging puberty.  There were times I resented him for being so strict, but other times he was incredibly indulgent.  I probably learned more about cooking from him than I did from my mom, especially how to make fudge.

My father lived for twenty years after my mother died, and he never remarried. After some rough years, we both mellowed out and I can honestly say that at my father's death, we were best friends. 

Illustration Friday - Rejection

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is Rejection.  Remember that one person's reject is another person's prize. One of my best dog's ever, was one that I got from the pound.

The Flag is Up!

I went to Hollywood Park the other day to check out some race horses with a friend of mine. I have a special place in my heart for thoroughbred horses as they are so elegant and spectacularly beautiful.  We only saw one race, but spent most of the time watching them warm up in the practice track. The good thing about that is, I didn't have to witness them getting beat with a whip as they approach the finish line.

I am fortunate to live close to one of the most beautiful race tracks in the world, Santa Anita Park, where Tobey Maguire filmed Seabiscuit. My ex-husband was a horse racing freak, I have a friend who is a trainer, another who is a Steward, and friends who own horses, so I have spent numerous hours watching races. Why is it that I still choose a horse by its name or the color of the silks? And never win any money?

Another Shower

It may seem as if I am a professional events person, but it's just that I have such an explosive personality, people love having me at their events. Now that I have run out of friends getting married or having babies, I get to start over, with friends of my daughters.  This last Saturday I attended a baby shower for Bridget, a friend of my daughter's since pre-school. 

It was so much fun seeing everyone again, and reassuring that the mothers and daughters all aged gracefully, considering the melodrama we went through for all those years. It was one long dance recital, starting with the duck dance and ending with West Side Story. We mothers supported each other while the girls committed all sorts of emotional misdemeanors, as they made the transition from adorable toddler ballerinas  to hormonal overdrive teenagers. It was a long adventurous road, but in the end it was worth it.  I only hope they have as much joy and excitement with their children, as we did with them.

Ten Rules for Being Human

The Ten Rules for Being Human from the Website My Success Company

by Cherie Carter-Scott

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the entire period.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial, error, and experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the process as the experiments that ultimately "work."

4. Lessons are repeated until they are learned. A lesson will be presented to you in various forms until you have learned it. When you have learned it, you can go on to the next lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There's no part of life that doesn't contain its lessons. If you're alive, that means there are still lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better a place than "here." When your "there" has become a "here", you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than "here."

7. Other people are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects to you something you love or hate about yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie within you. The answers to life's questions lie within you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

If it's Wednesday, I Must Be Staying at Dad's House

My life has been unpleasantly impacted by another woman and I am so tired of having her be a part of try to control the major events in mine and my daughter's lives. My children have a stepmother, and as much as I'd like to say we are one happily blended family, I cannot tell a lie. I know everyone tends to be sympathetic towards the poor step-mother and her thankless job of helping to raise someone else's kids, but it can be brutal for the children if the woman is child-adverse. It is difficult to have someone they would probably not want to have lunch with, be a permanent fixture in their lives. 

Granted, some step-mothers are great and have a wonderful relationship with the children, but it has never been that way with us.  From the beginning she came on like Attila-the-Hun, getting involved with  the divorce and trying to take control of all things financial. Even before they were married, she was the one who signed and sent the child support check, always late.  By marrying my ex-husband, she gave up all rights to have children of her own, and we have all suffered because of it. Her motherly instinct was a black belt in discipline.  To this day, my daughters and I are uncomfortable around her. She is definitely not someone I would want to party with.

I know it is difficult dealing with children that are walking around with 1/2 of my face and lots of my personality.  I'm sure I drove her crazy by constantly asking for more money to supplement the two jobs I already held because most of my child support went to paying half of the private school tuition. The fact that my ex-husband could not give me an extra penny without her approval, made for one long dry spell of deprivation. I could go the rest of my life without hearing "that's what child support is for".

My ex-husband and I were friends when we parted, because we realized that we could no longer live together without my dying of boredom or him dying of high blood pressure.  After all how can you expect a marriage to last when all you have in common, is the fact that you both like anchovies on your pizza?  An artist and a tax attorney do not mix well. It's like wearing pearls with a sweat suit, drinking a dry martini with a maraschino cherry, or putting ketchup on your pancakes. We admitted we made a mistake and were ready to move on. In fact, he and I have gotten along really well throughout the years, making the children our main priority. He just isn't allowed to be nice to me in front of her.

I know it could be much worse, and I have mostly left the years of her bullying behind me.  When I do have to be around her, I am a model of civility.  I just hate the fact that I raised my kids with so much interference by someone who had nothing better to do than try to undermine me. My advice to all my friends who are stepmothers, is just try to be their friend and nothing else.  You can never have too many friends, but you can only have one mother. They are children and you have to earn their love and respect. You are the adult. But most of all, leave the majority of the parenting to the bio-parents.

I promise that I did not intentionally have the sprinklers go off at my daughter's engagement party where their stepmother was sitting.  After all, my daughter's future father-in-law and my good friend and her new husband were at the same table. I would never have intentionally done that. But sometimes we just have to laugh at our mistakes.

 

Flower Power

Nothing lifts my spirits like flowers, and I am lucky enough to have all these beautiful ones growing in my yard.

Vintage Labels

I was recently given the book Vintage Labels from a Lady's Dressing Room from someone who knows how much I love vintage design. There are so many great examples and a CD-ROM is included. This has advanced to the top of the list of my all time favorite books. 

They Say it's Your Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday and had a nice dinner at Briganti Restaurant in South Pasadena which has wonderful Italian food. Everyone's food was fabulous, but being the dessert-obsessed person that I am, here are a few samples of the desserts we had: tiramisu, flourless chocolate cake, lemon sorbet and pannacotte. These were not all for me, but I did sample all of them.

Memorial Day

Had a great Memorial Day with good friends. 

Illustration Friday - Paradise

This week's topic for Illustration Friday is Paradise.  Any time I am in a sailboat, I am in paradise. Sailing is my favorite mode of transportation.

Once

I recently saw the movie Once and I really wanted it to be like my all time favorite movie The Commitments, but it wasn't.  It had all the components: Glen Hansard (lead singer for the Frames who was also in The Commitments), an endearing sceenplay, great songs integrated into the story and fresh acting. I would highly recommend it and I plan on downloading the soundtrack, but as a movie it left me unsatisfied and wanting more. I can smell a sequel.