Immuni “Tea,” Boost Your Health with this Wintertime Staple
My family is a “tea” family. Our cabinets and drawers are filled with many varieties, and we drink tea to perk up, warm our insides, treat upset stomachs and colds, and to relax. My second article in the February issues of NJ Hills Media’sElegant Lifestyles Magazine focuses on the health benefits of tea and, hon, I learned a lot! (I sense a Top Ten Interesting Tea Facts in the future.) Like the honey we add to our tea, this article was “sweet” to write.
My latest fashion article for NJ Hills Media’sElegant Lifestyles Magazine focuses on traveling to warmer climates, exploring cities, or heading to the mountains. My own family loves skiing, so I had no problem starting with the “base layers” of that section. I always say, “Spending a day outside in the winter is a pleasure as long as you’re dressed properly.”
Speaking of slopes, we recently spent a couple of days skiing Whiteface Mountain, NY. Ski conditions were less than ideal as there was only man-made snow, but the VRBO house we stayed in was great as was spending time with my kids. Lake Placid has a fun downtown and fascinating Olympic sites.
For my second article in Elegant Lifestyle Magazine’s Winter 2022 issue, I was tasked with finding fun drinks for a variety of holidays. I admit it, hon, I didn’t know what making a craft cocktail entailed, and researched ingredients and instructions on how to create simple syrups before deciding which drinks to include. Craft Cocktails & Mocktails features recipes for: Cranberry Old Fashioned, Apple Cider Fake-Tini, The First Fruits Cocktail, Bread & Oil, and Cotton Candy Mocktails. Guess which drink sounds the best to me? Hands down…Bread & Oil. Why? It includes jelly doughnut holes!
Good things definitely come in small packages when the “gift” is made with fresh ingredients, tailored to the holiday, and presented in a unique and imaginative way. Craft cocktails, poured one glass at a time, usually include four or five ingredients, homemade syrups, freshly squeezed juices, and niche liqueurs. In a hectic season, creating and serving flavorful upscale drinks is a way to slow down and drink in the moment.
Pretty Party Pieces: Your Guide to Fashion for Festive Occasions is the first of two articles I wrote for the December issue of Elegant Lifestyles Magazine. Writing this fashion article put me in the mood for holiday get-togethers and, now that’s it the end of December, I’m happy to say I went to a bunch! The directors of the pre-school hosted a Chanukah dinner, my niece and her husband hosted a family Chanukah brunch, we’ve been out to dinner, the owner of The Red Balloon treated us to a holiday dinner, and we’ve had company here. The best? Visiting our dear friends, their children and extended family on Christmas Eve–think trivia games, Left-Right-Center, and tracking Santa on an app–lol!
Usually, New Year’s Eve is mellow as Hubby and I act as chaperones for our youngest daughter’s annual NYE party. She’s having a party, but this year we’re changing it up. Hubby has planned a “night on the town,” and we’ll be dining and dancing at a restaurant overlooking Times Square! We’re staying in Manhattan overnight, so no need to worry about driving back.
Hon, what should I wear? I better check my article!
Though I’m not ready to store my summer clothes just yet, my latest article published in Elegant Lifestyles Magazine is all about transitional dressing–what to wear when the weather is still-summer one day and entering-autumn another. Then there are the days that combine both!
Many years, when heading to our annual Pick-Your-Own-Pumpkin-and-Hay-Ride-Day at Ort Farms in Long Valley, we’d dress for crisp air and then shed layers as the afternoon sun warmed up the fields. We loved deciding which pumpkins would make the best jack-o-lanterns, smell the sweet hay, pet the adorable farm animals, and take home freshly baked apple cider doughnuts. The best part? Spending time together as a family and seeing other families doing the same.
Summer Fashion 2022 is all about bright, candy colors.
As soon as I turned in Sweet Summer Style for Elegant Lifestyles Magazine’s June 2022 issue, I noticed brightly colored, braided, quilted, and puffy sandals and bags everywhere. You know I love a theme, puns and wordplay, so I took sweet and ran with it: “Clothes Dress Up summer in Jelly Bean Brights,” “Shoes Loosen Up in Gummy Bear Flavors,” “Bags Act as Arm Candy in Swedish Fish Colors,” and “Sunglasses Shine in Shades of Ice Cream.”
Personally, I’m a big fan of wearing all white in the summer and accessorizing with a pop of color. Not everyone is a fan of wearing all white. I had a funny interaction with colleagues at the preschool this spring. For Purim–the “Halloween” of Jewish holidays–the preschool director decided the staff would dress up as Tootsie Pop lollipops. She ordered Tootsie Pop t-shirts and requested we wear white pants since Tootsie Pop sticks are white.
Me: “Sure. Do you want jeans, slacks or cargo pants?”
Teacher A: “I don’t own white pants.”
Me: “How do you not own white pants?!”
Teacher A: Makes a face at me and says, “You can wear white pants. I cannot!”
Teacher A turns to Teacher B: “Do you own white pants?”
Teacher B: “Definitely not!”
Teacher B tells director their “sticks” will not be white.
Director: “You don’t own white jeans, at least?”
Teachers A & B: “No!”
My co-teacher enters our classroom.
Me: “Can you believe Teachers A and B don’t own white pants?!”
Co-Teacher: “I don’t own white pants, either.”
Hon, which camp are you in? Love white pants or would never wear them?!
Where does “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” come from?
Right before the pandemic caused everything to shut down in March 2020, I’d written two articles for Elegant Lifestyles Magazine: one was an in-depth, 6-7 page feature about a fundraiser/showhouse called Mansion in May which included interviews and photos of custom-designed rooms; the other was a shorter bridal article about the history of the saying, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
Though Mansion in May transformed into Splendor in September, ELS was temporarily shuttered and my articles never ran. So, I was pleasantly surprised when the editor of ELS (shout out to Kara Sibilia) included my bridal piece in the Spring 2022 issue. The topic is the saying, “something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” which, it turns out, is based on superstitions surrounding evil spirits and fertility. The most interesting thing I learned?
‘Something blue’ is directly related to the Evil Eye jewelry we wear today. Though Evil Eye amulets dates back about 5,000 years, the earliest iterations of blue as the eye color were discovered in the Mediterranean in 1500 BC. Since blue eyes were a genetic rarity in that region, people possessing them were believed to be ‘uncannily proficient at bestowing the curse.’ Blue glass beads circulated around the world, and people wore their own Evil Eyes to deflect wicked stares. Brides traditionally wore blue garters to ward off, once again, the threat of infertility.
Researching color trends put me in the mood to paint, and learning how to create a butterfly and hummingbird garden has–ummm-planted the idea in my head! “How to Build a Butterfly & Hummingbird Garden” was published in the April-May 2022 issue of Elegant Lifestyles Magazine, and since it came out, I’ve been thinking about starting one. A couple of years back, when I covered a design mansion and then toured it, there was a lovely, four-season garden. Maybe I can combine the two…
As an added bonus, the butterfly pics accompanying the article are mine! When I showed my wonderful editor, Kara, the photographs I’d taken, she said she’d use them instead of stock photography–yay!
Hon, have you ever planted a butterfly or hummingbird garden?Did you get lots of visitors?
Researching color and design trends for the article I published in the April-May 2022 issue of Elegant Lifestyles Magazine made me re-think my own home. There are several rooms I’d like to refresh, painting them in 2022’s land, sea, and sky-inspired colors. I love how the latest subtle-but-saturated greens and blues are being used as “new neutrals,” giving rooms a nature-inspired, serene feel. Just what I need right about now!
Hon, are you re-painting any rooms? What color are you using?
I learned so much researching sustainable fashion for my feature article in the Winter 2022 issue of Elegant Lifestyles Magazine. Though I’d heard of eco-friendly fashion, I didn’t know about innovative fabrics such as “leather” made from mushrooms, “silk” made from oranges, or “cashmere” made from soy. It was fascinating to find out about the processes involved in creating fabric from natural, biodegradable sources, and it was eye-opening to learn what goes on from sourcing to production to shipping to retailing. The business owners I interviewed were happy to describe the merchandise they carry that can be labeled “Ethical Fashion.” And I learned about Capsule Wardrobes, a pared down closet containing quality pieces to mix and match.
Naomi M. Gruer 