Life Well Lived, Pinterest Style

As a participant in BlogHer and P & G Life Well Lived editorial blog panel, I was asked to name my favorite resources for inspiration on style, fashion, beauty, and living life well.  I will admit that I've never been a designer clothing fashionista. I attended parochial school from grades one through twelve, where I was always required to wear a uniform. While I attended nursing school and college I lived on a tight budget with little money to spend on clothes, and when I began my career as a Registered Nurse I wore either a nurse's uniform or scrubs.  Since wearing a uniform of some sort was the "de rigueur" for most of my life, amassing an ultra fashionable wardrobe was never a priority.  My closets are filled with the traditional basics and an occasional dressy outfit if I need one for a special occasion.

Most of the time I choose my seasonal wardrobe essentials from Lands' End and LL Bean catalogs, or I shop in J Crew and The Gap for comfortable sweaters, turtlenecks, tee shirts and jeans. I like a classic look and these stores suit me well.

Lately, I have to say that Pinterest has become a major obsession of mine and a tremendous resource for links to blogs and magazine publications full of inspiring ideas. The old adage of "a picture is worth a thousand words" is certainly true on Pinterest, and as I scroll through the "Everything" category, or look at the pins of the many I follow, I happily fill up my boards with more pins.There I  have a board devoted to Beauty, where I pin makeup and beauty tips, hairstyles I like, and nail care and nail polish colors I'd like to remember.  On my Fashion board I pin clothing styles, bags, shoes, and specific items I'd like to buy. I still prefer a casual, comfortable style of clothing which is reflected in my pins, but I also love to "virtually shop" for outfits I'd love to wear if I were a few sizes smaller.  This is where my Healthy Living board becomes important, as on this board I pin diet, exercise, and all around health tips. Perhaps these sources will be the  motivation I need to shed some pounds and get back to my ideal weight?   


 I am also a "foodie,"  so of course I pin lots of delicious recipes on my many food pin boards.  Recently I was surprised and excited to learn that The Huffington Post's "Kitchen Daily" named me as one of their 'Pinterest Users You Should Follow" for the category of Candy! Woo hoo!  I've always had a sweet tooth!


As far as living life well, I look at all my pin boards as a springboard towards leading me to do just that. I was always one who liked to clip ideas out of magazines and newspapers for future reference, and now I can do this easily on Pinterest without cluttering up my desk.  My Get Organized board has helped me de-clutter and organize my house, and my Tips and Tricks board is full of interesting information to reference about how to do household tasks more easily.When I take a few minutes out of the day to pin my interests on boards such as Books, Gardening, Photography, Inspiring Words, Social Media and Blog Ideas and Do It Yourself boards, I feel inspired by all these new ideas.  If I want to take a mini vacation, I pin photographs that remind me of  Places I've Visited and Dream Destinations.  For me, browsing through Pinterest is a wonderful way to de-stress.

Image source

I unabashedly love Pinterest, and I feel it is one of the most enjoyable resources on the web!  

So what are your favorite resources for style,  fashion, beauty, and living life well? Why not share your answer on BlogHer's Life Well Lived Living With Style post, and see what other readers have answered.


Also, if you'd like a chance to win a iPod Touch, please enter a sweepstakes by leaving a comment on this Life Well Lived link*


*The BlogHer Life Well Lived Moments sweepstakes 8 runs from May 17, 2012 to June 30, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec), are 18 years or older and who are registered users of www.blogher.com at the time of entry. Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Click here for official rules. Good luck!

The Colors of Our Lives

I was one of a few bloggers chosen to participate in the BlogHer Life Well Lived Looking Your Best category this week, and given the question: "How do you incorporate color into your look?"

The photo above was taken with my husband and daughter on the day of my daughter's bridal shower. As you can see I'm wearing a black shirt with a shear black and white jacket. I'm honestly not a big fan of a lot of color in my wardrobe, for a few reasons. The first reason is that I find wearing dark colors more slenderizing, and I'm always conscious of my frustratingly less than svelte figure. Second, I find dark colors more complimentary to my fair complexion. The third reason is that dark colors seem to be the "de rigueur" uniform for most New Yorkers, and I'm no exception.  I'd be the first to admit that things in the city can get very grimy -- all I have to do is clean my outside window sills to see that -- and wearing dark colors work best for preventing big dry cleaning bills.

While I prefer black and other dark colors I do admit that a few other colors are my favorite, and searching through my photo files I saw a few trends.

The first trend I noticed is that I don't take too many photos of myself!  I'm usually the one too busy taking photos and unless it is a special occasion, or a vacation trip, I hardly get in a photo.  The other trend I noticed are that the colors red and blue seem to be my favorite colors to wear if I'm not wearing black.  Just for fun, I snuck in two vintage photos of myself in the collage above--can you spot them?

Even though I prefer black there is another way I incorporate color into my wardrobe. I just wrap a pretty multicolored scarf around my neck! I have quite a variety in all colors and kinds of fabric.  As I was going through my collection of scarves to display them on my bed for this photo someone else thought this was the most marvelous idea...

It was my cat, Bo, who jumped up right into the middle of them purring kind contently and ready to play with the fringes on some of the scarves. When his nails came out he was quickly asked to leave (smile).

What is your favorite way to incorporate color into your look? Come over to BlogHer's Life Well Lived page and join in the conversation at this link, and see how other bloggers add color to their lives.

For a chance to win an iPod Touch and a $50 iTunes gift certificate to go with it, enter BlogHer's Life Well Lived Sweepstakes 8 on this link! *

*The BlogHer Life Well Lived Moments sweepstakes 8 runs from April 6, 2012 to May 16, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec), are 18 years or older and who are registered users of www.blogher.com at the time of entry. Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Click here for official rules. Good luck!

I'm also linking this post to "Mosaic Monday" on Mary's blog The Little Red House and Blue Monday on Smiling Sally's blog.  Thanks to both blog hosts!

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Spring Cleaning Tips

Spring has definitely arrived in New York City! Everywhere I look, both at curbside and parks, bulbs are poking up through the dead leaves on the ground.

Pansies that have revived in planters are aspreading their colorful cheer. Ferns and fiddle heads are beginning to grow in the Brooklyn Botanical Garden as well as the magnolia trees. Check out my post about the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Magnolia trees on this link.

Peach blossoms are in bloom....

....and even some early cherry blossoms are beginning to open, much earlier than in previous years due to the unusually mild weather we have had at the end of this winter season.  You can see my post about the cherry blossoms in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on this link.  The Garden also has a link up called the "Cherry Watch" with updates as to when the majority of cherry trees will be at peak viewing.  It is a glorious sight to see!

So what does all of this have to do with Spring cleaning tips?

above photo sources

Well, like most people, when the Spring season brings open windows to my house and longer daylight hours to my day, I feel energetic and revitalized.  I begin to see the cobwebs that have gathered on my ceilings and curtains and dust balls that have morphed into true dust bunnies.  I want to change my wardrobe over from winter to spring and summer clothes. This entails a lot of laundry and ironing for me as I switch my clothes from basement storage to my bedroom closet. I remove all the items from my closet first, and vacuum and dust.  I  bag up all the clothes, shoes and bags I haven't worn or used to donate to charity, and then replace what I do use and my newly laundered wardrobe.  Since I've been in Colorado for a few days, visiting for my youngest grandson's first birthday (more on that in a future post!) and since my daughter's wedding only a few months away, I am pressed for time for this season's Spring cleaning. So, BlogHer's Life Well Lived post of  Spring Cleaning in 10 Minutes a Day was a timely and valuable one for me!  I especially liked the tip to go through the refrigerator and medicine cabinet to throw away all expired food stuffs and medicines, both prescription and over the counter, that have expired, and to change the batteries on all my smoke detectors. These are tasks that are often overlooked.  I'm sure you will also find some great tips from Alicia's post and the comments she's received, and perhaps you'd like to leave some of your own Spring cleaning tips in the comments.  In any event, be sure to enter BlogHer's Life Well Lived Sweepstakes for a chance to win Kindle Fire by leaving a comment on this link. *

* (The BlogHer Life Well Lived Moments sweepstakes 7 runs from March 1, 2012 to April 5, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec), are 18 years or older and who are registered users of www.blogher.com at the time of entry. Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Click here for official rules. Good luck!)

I'm linking this post to the Mosaic Monday event on Mary's blog Little Red House -- please check out all the beautiful mosaics joining in today's event on Mary's blog.

Life Well Lived: Hairstyles For Women Over 50

When BlogHer asked me, along with other bloggers, to contribute to week 25 of  "Life Well Lived Looking Your Best" with the topic of our favorite hair tutorials, I had to smile to myself.  This very topic has been on my mind lately as my daughter's wedding is coming up in a few months, and I have been on a search for a solution towards the best way to style my hair for the occasion.

As you can see from this photo of the back of my head....

I have a lot of thick, wavy hair!

I've worn my hair long in layers for a few years, mainly because I can easy grab it up in a pony tail when I'm in a hurry and whenever I feel hot -- a condition that seems to go hand in hand with being over 50 years old, if you know what I mean.  Now that a wedding is in the near future, I need a more contemporary style, but I didn't want a drastic change.  How can I manage my frizz and tame my tangles? Do I lighten or color my hair darker, or add highlights? Do I wear it up or leave it down? Perhaps cut it short?  Should I invest in a expensive keratin treatment and try to straighten it? Get a perm and curl it more?  Help! So off I went on a computer search for a solution to all my questions

First, I asked for helpful suggestions on my facebook page. So many friends told me to find a photo of a hairstyle I Iiked and begin there.  That sounds easy, and off I go to pursue the "Hairstyle" category on the wonderful resource website Pinterest, where thousands of hairstyles must be pinned every hour.  Click on this link to see what I mean.

Photo sources: Found on Pinterest

Here are a few of the many hairstyles I found on Pinterest that I'd LOVE to have.  I would love to have soft, shiny straight hair, but past experience of a few unhappy haircuts has certainly taught me that that's not possible with my type of hair.  I also have to be realistic and accept I am not in my twenties or thirties any longer. My hair is changing, along with the rest of me, and I didn't want to try adding another treatment to try to straighten it chemically, along with the hair color I already have to apply every six weeks to color the gray.

Photo source: Makeup and Beauty Blog

So, through further online searches, I found a fun Makeup and Beauty blog that had a catagory of 101 hairstyle tips and tutorials. This is a fabulous resource for all kinds of hair tutorials!  Lots of wonderful advice and videos and clear instructions on hundreds of topics, such as how to grow out bangs,  how to use a pencil to get an up do, and what products to use on problem hair.  There were also many wedding hairstyle examples to peruse.  I really enjoyed spending some time on this blog looking through all their categories. I saw I have a lot to learn!

Being a realist, however, I also wanted to search for what hairstyles look good on "a woman of a certain age," like myself. Surely we have special hair issues and needs that require a unique approach.

Photo Source; About.com Beauty

I did a search for "hairstyles for women over 50" and this lovely lady showed up among the photos -- actress Michelle Pfeiffer -- on the About.com Beauty website in their category "Hairstyles of Women Over 50"  This is a hairstyle my wavy hair would easily cooperate with! The only thing I'd change from her style is that I would keep my bangs.

photo source: About.com Beauty

Some more photos of lovely actresses that were examples on the About.com Beauty website's "hairstyles of women over 50," that gave me a much better idea of what would be practical for me. I liked Glen Close's bangs and the soft way curls of Susan and Blythe.

In addition to hairstyles of all ages and occasions, there was a lot of good information on the About.com Beauty website for makeup, skincare, fragrances, nail care, etc.  It is another wonderful resource!

After all this information I went to my hairdresser and trimmed my hair from long and wavy to a shorter style based on the photos I liked. It's not much, but it's a beginning!

Stay tuned as the wedding approaches and I learn more about what color I decide on that that will be best for me and my complexion, and what products I should use to tame my frizz, and what style I will eventually chose to waer for the wedding. If you have any suggestions I'd be pleased to read them.

So, what does the "Life Well Lived" Blogher expert recommend for "How To: Find That Perfect Hairstyle"? Click on this link to see, and please leave a comment there on what your favorite hairstyle resources are.


To enter the "Life Well Lived Moments Sweepstakes 6"  for a chance to win a Kindle Fire, take a moment to leave a comment on this link.*

* Please note:  The BlogHer Life Well Lived Moments sweepstakes runs from January 26, 2012 to February 29, 2012 and is only open to individuals who, at the time of entry deadline, are legal residents of the United States or Canada (excluding Quebec), are 18 years or older and who are registered users of www.blogher.com at the time of entry. Winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries. Click here for official rules. Good luck!

 I'm also adding this post to the "Mosaic Monday" event on Mary's blog A Little Red House -- thanks Mary!

How Do You Stay Happy....$250 Sweepstakes!

A window in Coney Island, Brooklyn, NY

Do you ever feel like this? 

You have a million tasks on your "to do" list, errands to run, deadlines to meet, reports or blog posts to write.  You have much work to be done, yet you feel tired, worn out, and just plain blocked?

Windows along the NYC Highline Elevated Walkway

BlogHer posed the question "How do you stay happy and engaged while working?" to bloggers on their "Life Well Lived" editorial panel, and asked us to name in a few sentences one tip that we use to do just that.

Can you guess my answer?

Castle window in Ireland

The first thing I thought of was to open my windows -- pull up the blinds -- pull back the curtains and let the natural light and air fill my work area. 

Doing so never fails to invigorate me!

Window in Montauk Lighthouse, Long Island, NY

Even the smallest window can let in a large amount of natural daylight which helps chase away the doldrums and boredom which can drag me down. I always feel more productive when I work in good light.

Do you feel the same way?

 Window in Montauk, Long Island, NY

Taking a few moments to look outside my window and virtually stretch my vision and my thoughts to a distant vista can be as relaxing as a mini vacation.  It leaves me feeling refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Window in Officer's House, Governor's Island, NYC

Blogher's "Life Well Lived" Sustainable Happiness expert, Dr. Aymee Coget, shared her valuable tips for "4 Steps Toward Serenity While Working" which were:

1. EMPOWER yourself to take charge of your own happiness
2. FOLLOW YOUR HEART and ENGAGE your MAPS
3. CONTROL your environment to the best of your ability
4. BOOST your mood using positive mood boosting techniques
Intrigued?  You can read more of what Dr. Amyee wrote on this link.  

While you are there please leave a comment and share the ways you help yourself, stay happy and engaged at work in the BlogHer comments section.  It is also a nice way to introduce new readers to your blog and find other interesting blogs to read!

You can also read the "Happy at Work" tips that other bloggers on the "Life Well Lived" panel suggested on this link.

Window of a house in Greenwich Village, NYC

Enter to win a $250 Visa gift card on the BlogHer "Life Well Lived Moments" Sweepstakes by leaving a comment on the general little moments in life that make you happy on the Sweepstakes page on this link.  The sweepstakes runs until November 16, 2011.  Wouldn't winning a $250 visa gift card be a happy occurrence, especially with the holidays coming soon?

Window of the American Indian Museum,

 formerly the Customs House, NYC

One of the things that brings me many happy moments in my life is to travel and discover new things -- whether it be in my neighborhood, in my city, or on a vacation far away.

In fact, I have been away the last two weeks in California, having a dream opportunity of driving up the Pacific Coast Highway with my husband from San Diego to San Francisco! 

It's always good to return home and now I have quite a bit to catch up on -- especially on all I missed on your blogs while I was away!  As soon as I download all my photos I'll be back with all the wonderful sights and some sounds that we experienced in sunny California -- even a earthquake tremor or two!