Color quiz for you! Bronchitis and The Magic day two

Well I did my gratitude practice this morning. Took all of three minutes. I am very thankful for all that I have. Thank you! I am doing 28 days of The Magic (book), if you care.

Here's a link to a color personality quiz. It's for your living space interiors. I found it to be spot on, altho if you take it a few times and your answers vary a bit you will get slightly different results. I did find that all results - I took it three times - had the basic colors remain the same and the accents, while different, to be ones that I know I love. It was developed using analytics,not just someone's opinions, for what it's worth. Here's the link: http://www.loriweitzner.com/odetocolor/#     I hope you enjoy it!

After a bad allergic reaction in October of last year I've developed some bronchitis. It's a weird illness that can be triggered by just about anything. Not fun. I spent a few hours one Sunday night in the emergency room because I had such difficulty breathing my daughter insisted we go. Breathing treatments, chest xray, blood work - $3,000 later (great health care system even for the insured she wrote, sarcastically) I was given some steroids and an inhaler. Eight months later I'm still not 100%. It's not a good thing for anyone, but especially not for a singer.  At first I supplemented with bromlein and lecithin - herbs for lung health and the Castor oil pack. And peppermint tea. Now I'm trying lobelia drops and a honey turmeric mixture, which seem to be helping. And I'm grateful for that. I was a cigarette smoker years ago and quit, but honestly I continued to smoke pot (which should be legalized). Anyway I don't smoke anything now and am concentrating on healing my lungs completely. I do exercise and work really hard at gigs, I also practice some intentional breathing exercises to work my lungs out. I always, year round, run a vaporizer at night. Put some lavender oil or eucalyptus oil in there. Ahhhhh.

Big breath in thru the nose and out the mouth,
La

My Mornings and The Magic day one// Life with Dee blog

Bathroom, big glass of filtered water with a splash of apple cider vinegar, floss/brush teeth, splash eyes with water.

 Black coffee from my french press which I bring to my office/computer to drink from my la Madeleine mug as I write: first my 10 item gratitude list (7 minutes)and then this blog - for which I set a 20 minute timer. Then I  cleanse my face and do a facial massage or use my nuface device, work out (another 15-20 minute block), practice piano (same, 15-20 min). If I keep moving it's about one and a half to two hours.

So I start the day feeling healthy, pampered and accomplished. I do not eat until about noon - I'm not  usually hungry and even if I am, I wait. Intermittent fasting is a good thing. More on that another time.

Today I've added the 10 item gratitude list as part of doing the 28 days of The Magic. This is Rhonda Byrne of The Secret fame's practical book. Excited to be doing this. I, as most of us, have so much to be thankful for and so much to offer if I can just unleash myself. I hope to extend this to my children, especially my son, who tends toward the negative and is job seeking currently.

I wrote a comment to Dee at Life with Dee, check out her blog! I wrote her because she's referred some readers to my blog and is also the moderator of the facebook group French Chic. Since I quit facebook I can't participate but I do miss the like minded community. Might be the only reason I rejoin facebook, but I can't stomach the rest of it...... my issue I know.

If anyone wants to comment or request or ask me anything, please feel free to do so.  I plan to keep this up, maybe even blog (or vlog!?) a little from Europe later this month. I love to write but am thinking that vlogging might work well for me also. Many folks do both and I enjoy many of their channels/blogs. Whose? Well, maybe I'll share in a later post cause my 20 minutes are up and I gotta go do my neck/facial routine. The neck stuff is paying off! Another post? Maybe....

mysteriously,
L

Cats and stuff

I really don't feel like writing today, and since I've begun writing here daily that's a first. Even tho I generally don't know what I'm going to write about I've been happy to sit here, first thing in the morning, and let it out. Whatever comes.

I've never been a cat person - probably because I'm extremely allergic to them. Not all of them, but it's hard to determine why some make me sneezy and stuffy and others don't. As a baby my parents discovered this allergy when visiting friends with kittens and I puffed right up. So I've never been really close to the cats. Till my daughter brought home a stray, who happened to have 3 kittens (it's a long story) and we ended up with Lila (mom) and Earl Grey (son). We kept them in the shed and then the basement and I don't seem to be allergic to Lila, but when Earl was about 6 months I had a bad allergic reaction - to him? or what? It was not like other times with cats - when an allergy pill helped and when I got away from the cat I was fine,  but a crazy swollen eyes and bronchial reaction - for days. I've been struggling with some breathing issues since. It's been almost 8 months.

Needless to say I've become attached to the cats but I can't wait for them to leave.  I am trying lobelia -an herbal remedy - so we'll see. I am a proponent of herbal medicines, arnica is amazing and so under the radar, for example.

What else? Well I've done better on the youtube watching. My mornings continue to be productive: writing, facial, exercise, piano. Then on to appraisal work or other stuff for the afternoon. 
I've lost 5 pounds being mindful of carbs and the linen pants I got from Marshalls fit nicely now. I am waiting for a pair of jeans from Nordstrom to arrive, the first ones were too big, but I liked the cropped yet longer length of these Topshop Moto jeans, so I exchanged them. Here's hoping!

xo,
La

Stay chic

So this blog is to help me write more. Check. Bring more je ne sais quoi/french chic inspired style to my life. Semi check. What have I been doing? Well, writing about the CLE has been cool and I believe that blogging every morning has helped me be more conscious during the day of being slower, more deliberate, less work and more 'life' driven. I take the mornings (because I am self employed and I can!) and write, do 15-20 minutes of movement (yoga or Jessica Smith TV or walking), a facial massage or Nuface and today I'm adding 15 minutes of keyboards practice. If I keep moving that's about 1 1/2 hours of "me" time - right off the bat. So my day begins with me and I feel accomplished early on. I started a modified version of this about 14 months ago with the workout portion and have added the other things. It seems to work for me. Some days I don't do it all - I may have an early appointment for example - but it's a solid routine for me and I'd recommend it. Some people get up really early (5 am!!) to do this before they have to hit the office etc. Thankfully I don't have to do that cause I wouldn't.

We had family dinner yesterday (pizza and beer, not so chic) and watched Game Night with Jason Batemen. Funny enough with a couple of 'turns'. It kept moving, that's for sure. I've enjoyed him in Ozarks.

I am sending it out into the universe:  no more endless youtube. Since quitting facebook (don't miss it) I've gotten wrapped up in the nomadic lifestyle of people who live in an RV, van or even their car - because they like it. Fascinating to me for some reason. Also watching lots of Paris/Amsterdam/Copenhagen planning videos, which I'll allow. But the snowbirds and retirees moving to Mexico, or attending the next RV meetup - they gotta learn their place with me! Those folks have a lot of time to videotape themselves and whatever grabs their fancy and I've been sucked in. Come on, I'll never 'bake' grands biscuits on a wooden dowel over a campfire even tho I now know how to do it. Will I?

Tomorrow I get my 6 -8 week haircut with B. She's a master and charges like one, but I always get a great cut, it grows out nicely and it's worth it to me as I rarely have to do more than dry it and go. I'm growing it a bit longer so tomorrow will be a shape up session. It's all grown out, natural grey, and I get lots of complements on both cut and color.
Chop Chop,
La

Do you have some Mossimo in your closet? NYT and Copenhagen

Ah Sunday. Coffee and the Sunday NY Times. We have it delivered and it stays on the breakfast table all week. J does the word games, I read/skim most all of the paper and get some great book ideas from that section, I like how the children (when home) also peruse the paper and, maybe, get some fresh perspective/ideas/etc. With this subscription we get free access to the NYT all week on line.Our local paper only publishes three times a week now and is pretty useless so this has been an alternative. We watch/listen to PBS during the week as well.

I pulled on a pair of bike/exercise boy shorts that I've had for a while. Label: Mossimo. When the college entrance scandal broke I didn't know anything about Lori Laughlin and her husband. I never watched her tv show(s) and never realized there was a real man behind the ubiquitous Mossimo brand. I never thought about it, but I bet almost every woman in America has a piece of his clothing in her closet, or if she's a real declutter freak, used to have. I mean Target and Mossimo - what a couple they were. In style, affordable and easy to get at your local Target, Mossimo was a giant for years. I guess, obviously, you shouldn't be able to buy your way into college, but am I surprised by it? No. And when you've gotten/made money from every woman (and child?!) in America you can afford to bribe almost anyone.  Ah current events. It's a lovely era we're in. Or is the spotlight just finding all our peccadillo's more easily because of the advent of iphones and security cameras?

We've got our Copenhagen air b&b confirmed. All of the hosts have been lovely and prompt in responding to my queries. In Copenhagen she said to take the metro, about 20 min. to her stop, and walk 400 meters and voila, there! She said I think you'll be here at about 10 am so I'll be at the house to meet you. Wonderful! Also we are a 10-15 min walk from the (Los Angeles based) friend we are meeting in CPH, so we did pretty good on that front. We will have a wonderful time with Jim, always do. He was a writer/script runner on The Golden Girls and has stories and a great wit. Can't wait. (which is how we've been ending our emails lately).

Heading to brunch soon for Mom's 89th birthday. She really is amazing. About 16 of us will be there.
Mimosa anyone?
La

In and out of the CLE/art scene/L'Albatros

In exactly three weeks we will be leaving CLE and driving to Toronto, spending one night at our friend Andrea's house and leaving the next evening, Sunday, for Paris. Wow.  I feel pretty well organized but of course still have a lot to do. I'm watching videos on airplane security lines and packing your liquids, keeping your tickets on your phone and other helpful travel tips. The travel bit is always the most infuriating part of a vacation and I'm planning on sailing thru it this time. Intentions!

Last evening we met some friends at the Paper Factory downtown - it was an opening exhibit of works made with paper. I've never been there but it was fairly standard with some beer/wine for sale and cheese and crackers offered along with the works on display. We ran into an old friend, Carlo, and it was great to see him. He's been ill - the second friend of ours to get the septic virus when hospitalized, but he's on the mend. Has to go to the hospital every day for a month to be fed antibiotics intraveneously. Sally, on the other hand, wore a pump with an IV for several months. Be grateful for your health, always! When Carlo moved to the CLE from New York  the first writing assignment he had was to cover our band Separate Checks. He wrote a great article, with big photo, for the Cleveland Plain Dealer. We've been friends since then - 1985.  Currently he's writing a book about Terry Gilbert, attorney, who is a well known guy AND was the sax player in my early '80s band, The Fondells, We were a Motown outfit - trumpet (Tommy), sax (Terry), bass (O'B), guitar (Jeff, an emergency room doctor!), drums (John) and me on vocals. What a blast we had - we played all over town in clubs, at Party in the Park, at weddings (one for Matt the Cat, famous WMMS DJ) among other gigs. My life in music has been wonderful and it was interesting to see Carlo and reminisce a bit. Terry is an interesting guy and Carlo says this is probably the best story he's ever told!
Additionally, I should do a post about the Cleveland art scene - it's very healthy.

Afterward we made our way to University Circle to L'Albatros. No cream of mushroom soup, boo, but we all had a cocktail and enjoyed some chicken liver pate and good conversation. We didn't end up ordering more food, no one seemed hungry, so we parted for the West side and they went up the hill to get another drink on their way home to Shaker.  Nice evening.

Tomorrow is brunch for Mom's 89th birthday. She's amazing for her age - does yoga. volunteers at the hospital (retired nurse!), takes care of Dad who's undergoing chemo right now, keeps her own condo clean etc.....We'll have a pretty good sized group - maybe 16 of us -  for that. Of course she was born one week before Mother's Day so we'll figure that out as usual, later.
Sweet!
La

Paris in Cleveland - part two

I realize I forgot L'Albatros in yesterday's post. Located in University Circle, L'Albatros is a wonderful French resto in the CLE proper. I had the best cream of mushroom soup of my life there - I still think about it from time to time. We may have to go this month as it's mushroom season. I'll call and see if they have it on the menu. We've been dining in as a prep for Europe, saving a bit for that splurge. Oh, they have a most excellent cheese board - it's huge and must hold about five thousand dollars worth of cheese at at time.
http://albatrosbrasserie.com/    Yum.

Another place that seems 'french' to me is Mediterra Bakehouse. http://mediterrabakehouse.com/ 
Absolutely delicious bread. Many of my favorite restaurants in CLE use their product and you can buy it at the West Side Market, which is itself a very European feature of the city.

The third place I forgot about yesterday is Cleveland Bagel. A fairly new start up, this place is wonderful. I know that water is the main ingredient (most important anyway) in a bagel and we have great water here. That's the theory anyway - NYC has great water and great bagels - for example.
These are the best bagels I've ever had and I grew up on the East coast and consider myself to be a good judge of these things! Crispy outer layer, chewy interior. A complex crust that, as noted is crispy and then layered finely. Heaven.  They've done so well a second location has opened near the Cleveland Clinic main campus.

So if you are keto, or sometimes keto like I am, these second two are tempting little devils. But I believe in moderation in all things and I'd never, ever give up good bread forever.
Amen,
La

Paris in Cleveland

Bonjour,
Today I'll write a bit about places/things in CLE that could be remotely considered to be somewhat French/Parisian.    I'm writing at my desk with my french press coffee and small white cup and saucer with 'la Madeleine'  and some red and blue stripes around the rim. This refers to the famous Proustian cookie but I am generally sans cookie. Last evening I met with Laurie at a farm to table resto in Gordon Square. I feel Spice is rather Euro in it's concept and approach. The resto has it's own farm and locally sources most of the food they prepare. We sipped - I had sparkling white wine and picked at chicken liver pate followed by fish and chips. Both delish.   Another place in the CLE is Le Petit Triangle - a creperie. Coincidentally Jake and I thought about buying this place 20 yrs ago but realized that we couldn't do it with three small children. More recently our daughter's boyfriend was the chef there (as he attended nursing school). The Triangle serves crepes of course and other traditional french foods in a charming small triangular space!
If we go east of the city to Chagrin Falls we have The Paris Room. I can't recommend this place as they actually make the food in one location and then reheat it at the resto. I love the ambiance - old building, exposed brick walls, gravel patio, but can't get over the reheating thing. I also didn't think the food was that tasty, but I 've only been once.
Third times a charm and this place is the best! Chez Francois in Vermilion. About 40 minutes west of the city is this three level/three dining rooms resto built on the Vermilion river with water views from the wrap around Cafe deck, interior dining in the more formal Paris Room and at street level the bar Touche. The service is wonderful, the food divine, the atmosphere terrific - we finally made it out there about a year ago and have been going fairly regularly since. Our first visit was the two of us and we sat at a small table waterside. Lobster bisque, french onion soup, cheeses, lobster and filet - we went nuts. Then we took the kids when M was in from California - they loved it. We took C when she was home from Baltimore and sat in the bar. Pretty much the same delicious menu (some exceptions) and great service.
A note on our gig yesterday: we played 70 minutes at a fine arts center on the East side, very nice venue with theater seating, big stage and pro lighting. The audience was so appreciative. One woman told me "you made my day" and I said "you just made mine". Another woman ran over to my car as I was exiting the parking lot "why didn't I know about you girls? that was wonderful!" etc. Just makes me feel good to make other people smile, laugh and maybe even dance.
Cheers.

A Bronx Tale and How to make your Estrogen Patch Stick!!

Went to see A Bronx Tale last night - highly recommended. They bill it as a 'cross between Jersey Boys and West Side Story'  which is a good analogy. My sisters and I have been going to the Broadway Series at the Playhouse for about 6 seasons now and it's one of the best shows we've seen. Singing and dancing - which is always so great at these shows - plus a good story, which is true! - some sage wisdom and a tight script so the show didn't run overly long. One of our biggest critiques is that most of the plays go on about 20 minutes too long - they need to be edited better. We think.

Today I have a PopTart gig at 1pm and girl's night with Laurie later. We're finally having a warmer day, up into the 70's but it may rain so no patio dining probably.

So how am I making my little corner of the world more 'french chic, euro, like Paris etc' lately?
uhhh. Not doing so great on that front. We've been eating somewhat haphazardly which is normal for us as J's been umpiring and I've been gigging more.  I have been pondering some wardrobe additions and planning for our upcoming trip, both of which inspire me to be pickier and to contemplate what I'd really like to see and do when there. I have been intermittent fasting and watching the carbs - guess what? It works. Looks like I'll be keeping the soft army green cropped pants.....nice.

Would you like to know who I watch on youtube? Bloggers I enjoy? Movies or programs that inspire me? What a PopTart is? lol.  I get some views, according to the stats section here, but very rarely any comments so I just ramble on.

Incidentally I have a great way to make sure your estrogen patch sticks, really well, for the week you wear it. Wipe body area with alcohol, take a piece of tape and place it over the area, pat down  and then pull it off, this exfoliates even more (I use a roll of packing tape - I swear by the dispenser that you use to tape up packages with - so handy) - then apply the patch. Cover with one sheet of toilet tissue for  30 seconds to blot any adhesive from the edges. Voila. Mine have stayed on thru a week of sunning and swimming in Mexico after learning this method.

Keto

Today I'll talk about keto. I was introduced to the concept by our kitchen contractor, Paul. He lost some weight and told me he had gone "keto". I didn't even know how to spell it, but soon was pretty well informed due to some judicious google-ing. Basically you avoid sugar and carbs which are one and the same. The healthiest keto diet features lots of green veg and a good balance of healthy fats and protein. Dr Eric Berg on youtube has lots of informative videos.   In my situation I realized that I was generally eating toast and drinking coffee, with sugar and milk (my delicious homemade latte) for breakfast. Toast = carbs and sugar is sugar = carbs. I love potato chips. Lay's potato chips btw. They are carbs.
  I also have never been much of a breakfast eater - for 15 years (thru 2005) I was a traffic reporter on radio and TV and was on the air at 5 am. I drank coffee non stop and almost never ate a thing until I got home at 9:30 am.  So when I read about intermittent fasting (which is also recommended on keto) I realized I naturally did that for years while working (almost, the sugar and milk in the coffee broke my fast somewhat) and I have always been slender. My bff is slender and she never eats until dinnertime. She's an intermittent faster and doesn't know it! She just follows her body's signals and eats when she is actually hungry.
The benefits of keto are weight loss and less joint inflammation - which is arthritis.  In my case I lost 10 pounds almost effortlessly and could feel that my aches and pains were definitely lessened.  When I stopped watching carb intake I gained back the weight and felt the joint pain again.   I don't follow the 'diet' religiously but I do my version. I don't eat until about noon, just my apple cider vinegar in a big glass of water and black coffee till then. I don't buy Lays. I read labels and choose my food more thoughtfully. I have my favorite keto friendly foods: egg salad - really anything egg, poached, scrambled etc. Avocado, broccoli, asparagus, cheese/salami (who doesn't love a good cheese plate? - just avoid the crackers!, almonds and other nuts..and again an emphasis on green veg. I have never been a big fruit eater and fruit is very sugary, so I don't miss fruit. I do have keto friendly blueberries on my yogurt sometimes.
xo,
La

Castor oil packs?

Happy Monday.
Today we are meeting a financial planner/lawyer. We have a will, living will etc but the move in 2019 is to shore everything up financially. I'd like to travel more and work less (at some things) and 'work' more at others. She may refer us to someone else ultimately. We need someone who is knowledgeable in rental properties, avoiding medicare charges, when to collect social security. Not glamorous but gotta be done.

In other news, I've been suffering all winter with bronchial issues. Awful breathing issues. Inhalers, antibiotics and breathing treatments. Things finally settled down a few weeks ago and then resurfaced. I have to say I found a treatment on the internet/youtube that works for me.  Yesterday I inhaled steam and nothing expectorated.  So I remembered to do this at bedtime: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLqwHJnANUg    It's the Edgar Cayce castor oil pack. The video's fairly simple, I simplified even more last night as I couldn't find the heating pad. I put the caster oil on my chest, an old t shirt over it and a hot water bottle on my chest. This morning I had a very productive coughing session clearing my lungs considerably.  Odd but true.

Taking lunch to Dad before the lawyer's appointment. Tomorrow we see Dear Evan Hanson at the Playhouse and Wednesday I have a girl's night with my friend L.  PopTarts even have a day gig this week and one on Friday night. I have a few appraisals to wrap up as well. Cinqo de Mayo is Mom's birthday and we'll all go to brunch.

Jake just informed me that tickets to the Anne Frank House are sold out! A month in advance?! Bummer, that's one of the main attractions in Amsterdam, obviously I guess.

Lazy Sunday yesterday. Jake painted the inside of the linen closet and I am happy. We have a lovely older home and I don't think that closet interior has ever been painted. Can't wait to get all the (curated) items put back away. BTW I love the word curated. Curated closet, curated everything! Curate your life!!
Curate something today :)

SnoT

I do crack myself up sometimes. Like with the title of this blog. SnoT is my acronym for "Sensations no Thoughts" - snot. It's easy to remember and it's how I help myself fall asleep sometimes.   Often when trying to sleep you experience mind racing thoughts. I've found that my snot mantra is a good reminder whilst I conciously relax every toe etc. -  relaxing all muscles and tendons - all the way up to my face. If I start thinking about anything but relaxing I say snot and go back to feeling sensations of relaxation not thoughts.
I've tried to find a prettier mantra but this is what I've got. And it works for me.  As my blog says 'your thoughts create the world you see'.  True dat.

In other "news" I've been so super 'on' about blogging everyday. Don't think anyone else is reading this but that's not the main thing for me. I just want to write and get into a rhythm. Set the timer for 20 minutes and GO.  I'll share my thoughts, hints, ideas etc and hopefully they resonate with someone else, but the reality is that I'm currently doing this for me.  I used to belong to some french chic groups on the net/facebook but am not currently on facebook so I don't have a (possible) group of readers to reach out to. I also don't know if I have anything interesting to say or if I say it particularly well.  No promises but I'd like to do this everyday until we leave for Europe.

I want to remind the family to get a good book for the trip and a travel dairy. I have some colored pencils that we can use to dress up our entries if we're into that. I love reading my travel dairies from my previous visits to Europe. As an aside, we'd like to do more exploring of the N.A. continent, perhaps starting this  summer with a trip to Montreal. We can borrow my sister's camper van and try out road life. Stop in Boston to see relatives, stay with them or at the yacht club and then up to Montreal  to stay (perhaps) in a campground for a few days and see how we like it. Then we could swing thru Toronto for a few days on the way home. Big Circle Tour I'll call it. I do enjoy Canada.
Home of Alex Trebec - who is married to a playboy bunny btw - I never knew! Go Alex, lol.
love,
La