Smoking
“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” Mark Twain Along with dieting and exercising , another popular New Year’s Resolution is giving up smoking. In decades past, smoking was considered sexy and sophisticated, and later, cool and hip. The Marlboro Man commanded the prairie with swagger and bravado. Holly Golightly flirted and flattered with her gloves up to here, and her cigarette holder out to there. “Strange as it may seem, there is nothing in which a young and beautiful female appears to more advantage than in the art...
Read MoreNew Orleans
It’s no surprise that a city as diverse in culture, cuisine and citizenry requires multiple monikers to capture is magic. New Orleans is known by turns as “The Big Easy’, The Birthplace of Jazz”, “The Little Paris of the New World”, “Mardi Gras City” and “The City that Care Forgot”. The current favorite sobriquet? – “The Big Easy”. In the early 1900’s New Orleans had a dance hall named The Big Easy, but it wasn’t until 70 years later, when Betty Guillaud, columnist for the Times-Picayune used the term to compare New York (The Big Apple) to New Orleans (The Big Easy) that the name took...
Read MoreLove and Marriage
For some, true love is their heart’s desire, the prize they seek. For others, romance is merely a prelude to the main event – marriage! The ultimate, nonpareil, pinnacle of achievement. Hmmmm. With success rates hovering at 48% for first marriages, 33% for second marriages and a grim 27% for third marriages, one wonders about those convinced they can beat the odds. Perhaps they’re just incurable romantics. These handkerchiefs reflect the era when marriage was considered the zenith, the ultimate victory in the world of love. Yet, the artists are well aware that romance, for some, is akin to...
Read MoreAdolescence
“Fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, lemme tell you. Those are big years. Everybody always thinks of it as adolescence—just getting through to the real part of your life—but it’s more than that. Sometimes your whole life happens in those years, and the rest of your life it’s just the same story playing out with different characters. I could die tomorrow and have lived the main ups and downs of life. Pain. Loss. Love. And what you all so fondly refer to as wisdom.” Lidia Yuknavitch, Dora: A Headcase We’ve all heard school reunion stories about the nerd who’s now a...
Read MoreSki en Francais
“Thank goodness for the first snow. It was a reminder—no matter how old you became or how much you’d seen, things could still be new if you were willing to believe they still mattered.” Candace Bushnell, Lipstick Jungle From Chamonix to Courcheval, Val d’Isère to Gstaad, the French/Swiss alps offer breathtaking curves to negotiate, both on and off the slopes! We’ve already seen some lovely hankies inspired by brilliant blue skies and bold mountains in Ski Sun Valley. Now we take a turn (pun intended) toward the lighter side of skiing – silliness on the slopes, and who better to lead the...
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