The Art of "The Mix Tape/Playlist”

Recently I came across my collections of mix tapes.

Some I had made myself, some were given to me by friends and old beaus…now those were the ones that struck my curiosity.

I went up into my attic and pulled out my old receiver, the one with the duel tape player, hooked it up and listened.

The particular tape I was listening to was from my old beau Alain. Listening to it made me think about how much time he spent making it and the thought that went into it.

Hours were spent selecting the songs, arranging them, timing them out and then recording them onto a cassette. It really touched me. It was truly a gift from his heart and a gift of his TIME… my favorite type of gift.

For those of you who have never recorded to cassette, you would have had to be there to really understand how much time it took.

My relationship with Alain was a short one. And, no, this is not where an Adele song starts to play! We both understood going into it, this relationship had an expiration date of 9 months. Maybe that is why it was so much fun. I had plans to move back to LA from Boston to start my hand made shoe biz and he was on his way to graduate school. And we left it at that.

So for those of you who have a LOVER on this day Feb 14, think about giving a gift from the heart a "mix tape/playlist.”

With a few suggestions from me, iTunes and basic drawing stills it will not take long and it will leave a special place in your LOVER’S heart.

Let’s get started

Know your audience and what you want to say.

Theme -

Themes are extremely important in the art of "mix tapes and playlist." Only you will be able to choose the appropriate theme for the occasion. After your theme is chosen, you will have to whip up a clever title. My recommendation is to keep the theme and title simple.

Playlist –

Ok here we go… this is the tough part. For a LOVE playlist you need to dig down deep into the bottom of your heart, expose the bloody organ for all it's worth. It's as personal as stripping down naked and saying, "This is me, take it or leave it."

Just remember the first song is the most important.

This song will set the tone. You need to hook your audience in with the first few notes. Once this song is chosen trust me it gets easier….

Hints…include songs that the two of you share….your make out song, a song from a band you might have seen together, or the song that was playing in your head when the earth stopped it’s rotation for a what seemed like hours when you first set eyes on this person.

I reached out to a few friends and we put together some suggestions for you. A few are my favorites but remember this is YOUR playlist… these are only suggestions.

Ray La Montagne – You Are the Best Thing, great opening, it will set the tone

Come Rain or Come Shine - Eric Clapton & B.B. King

When I’m Sixty-Four - The Beatles, whimsical and catchy

Brighter Then Sunshine - Aqualung, LOVE THING SONG!

(You’re My) Wildest Dream - Nick Lowe

La La I Love You - Pixies


I’m Sticking With You - The Velvet Underground

You and I - Wilco


Everyday - Buddy Holly

In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel

Let Love Rule - Lenny Kravitz

Say Hey (I LoveYou)  - Michael Franti and Spearhead

Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer

            And my very favorite… I Want a Sunday Kind of Love  - Etta James

Presentation –

Think about how you’re going to present this CD of your raw emotion to your LOVER. You MUST personalize the packaging. Some printers will allow you to print a photo or artwork on your burned CD. But if that is not available to you at least you need to personalize the jacket of the CD with a photo or drawing, and don’t forget to write down the song titles and artists on the jacket.

Good luck...xoxoM

A Dogs Life

Who says 13 is an unlucky number? Not me!

You see today is my dog TESS'S 13th birthday (that's 91 in dog years). There have been many stories written about dogs and how they have changed peoples' lives. I don't know if TESS has changed my life but I do know one thing she has greatly enhanced it.

Besties...Tess and Sofie

I met two of my dearest friends, Lee and Paul, while walking TESS.
Their dog, Sofie, and TESS hit it off right away, and once the guys figured out which of us was TESS and which was Mitzi our friendship blossomed. 

TESS was a shy 5 ½  month old yellow Labrador when I met her. I said to my friends who went with me to meet her for the first time “I am NOT coming home with a dog today.” Well…an hour later I had a dog in the back seat, had booked an appointment. with a dog trainer and was driving to the pet store to get her accessories.


One thing they don't tell you about labs is that they're chewers. TESS never chewed my shoes or the furniture but she did do a number on the kitchen floor.

Roscoe and Sofie. Sofie after a battle with a cat...I think the cat won!

TESS has never been territorial about her home. She has always been more than excited when friends brought their dogs over for a visit.  

Two of my friends have even dropped their dogs off on the way to the hospital to have their babies.

Trent and Duke

Two of those babies were Trent and Duke. TESS is obsessed with them and any time they come over she will not leave their side. I think with a little training she would make a great nanny.

Tess with Garbo at Stinson Beach

TESS and I travel to SF often to visit my friends who also had a yellow lab Garbo. TESS and the late Garbo… those two dogs were two peas in a pod.

TESS has been through a lot. In fact today on her 13^th birthday she is in surgery having a cancerous tumor removed. She has had three out of four legs operated on, and she has arthritis and disc issues.

I have had a few friends suggest that I need to start preparing for her death. I know they are coming from a loving place when they say this. 

I do truly believe that we start our lives with one foot in the grave and we need to celebrate life each and everyday.

SO I cherish every morning when I wake to TESS bouncing her chin on the side of the bed to wake me up to feed her and I smile when I drive up to my house and see her smiling face in my front window.

 and I know now..... 13 IS MY LUCKY NUMBER!

Making the Change!

Every year before I make my New Years resolutions I always take inventory of the previous year. Things that went well and things I need to work on.

This year is no exception. A very wise woman in my life, LILY, asked me not long ago while I was going on about some relationship in my life not working out -“why do you always go to the same well expecting a different result?” This question hit me like a ton of bricks.  Wow! She was so right. This piece to the puzzle has been right in front of me but I couldn’t see it clearly. Was it because that well was so familiar and comfortable, or was it because I just wasn’t up for the challenge to make the change?

Happy 2012! I have my New Years resolution. Make the change!

 LILY is not just any woman asking me this question… LILY is my 90-year-old life coach, spiritual adviser and dear friend. LILY knows my life, she knows about my family, my friends and the stories of my broken heart.

LILY came into my life in an unexpected way. When I first moved into my house 12 years ago I started to see this 4’8” 90 lb Louise Vuitton backpack wearing JEWBU (Jewish Buddhist) walking all over town. I would offer her a ride but she would always refuse saying “walking keeps me young.” She was in her 80s then.

It wasn’t until 2008 in the heat of the presidential election that our friendship blossomed. At my yard sale for the Obama campaign LILY was front and center. She held her own with naysayers that came for a good debate and was her charming self when the Huffington Post interviewed us that day.

I had closed my wholesale handbag biz that year and I had some time on my hands. While waiting to find my next big biz adventure LILY and I started to spend more time together. We would walk up the street and have tea or sit in her living room and talk about mediation practices, the ego, politics and life.

 LILY has lived a very colorful life. She was a stage mother traveling with her children as they sang and danced across the country, lived on an Ashram and studying Shinzen meditation.

When you walk down the street with LILY there isn’t a person that walks by without smiling or stopping to say hello. She radiates energy.

It’s hard to believe that LILY spent a portion of her life with no friends. First as a child because her family was the only Jewish family in town and as a young adult because she married a man in 1944 whose skin was a different color.

What has always stuck me with me about LILY is her clear mind and that she is always so positive. She gave me a book to read that changed her life…Living Love. After she read it she took a leave of absence from her job and drove across the country to study with the author. The book was very clear in it’s message…JUST BE HAPPY. 

                                             

                        

 LILY turns 91 this year on the first day of spring. We spend our time together a little differently now and the topics of our conversations have mellowed.We spend time together on weekly movie outings and I go to her house to do her hair and nails. We tell each other stories of our lives and talk about boys like we’re a couple of teenage girls.

   No one has the Joie De Vivre like LILY!

My favorite Christmas decoration is the WREATH

I have a WREATH on my two front gates, one on my front door and for the last three years one in my front window, which has placed my Christmas tree. 

Maybe it’s the shape I love so much, the circle, without a beginning or without an ending.

The earliest CHRISTMAS WREATHS were made from holly during Roman times. Holly was thought to have magical powers to the ancient Celts, as it was one of the few plants to survive and look beautiful in the winter. The Celts picked holly branches and arranged them in a circle then hung them in their homes to ward off the evils they believed lurked about in the darker months.

Christmas WREATHS also have a seasonal connection with the pagan feasts of the winter solstice. Winter solstice happens on the shortest day of the year, TODAY, when in the northern hemisphere, the earth is tilted farthest away from the sun. The sun has its lowest arc in the sky of the year on winter solstice.

Wreaths have become a way of welcoming guess into our home and adding a bit of WHIMSY over our fireplaces. Friend and designer PAUL SLIGHT created this wreath for his Mid Century home in the Hollywood Hills. WOW!

The eight large windows in the WHITE HOUSE EAST COLONNADE are decorated this year, in honor of the First Lady's theme, "Shine, Give, Share,” ARTISTS have incorporated recycled paper WREATHS along with the enormous Pine WREATHS to bring a new holiday spirit to the space.

SO ECO CHIC!

Interior Designer DANIEL PONTIUS inspired by the gusty winds we had a few weeks ago in LA constructed this WREATH of Palm Stems, Himalayan pine cones. INCREDIBLE!

 
 

 

ZESTY LEMON ICE CREAM

There have been three flavors of ice cream I have had in my life that I have never been able to forget.

The first was my childhood favorite, BLACK LICORICE from Swenson’s on Coast Highway in the town I grew up in. It was black as the night and made my mouth the same color.

The second was on one of those beautiful sunny days in SF at Bi-Rite Creamery. I had visited Bi-Rite many times before but this time I ordered a scoop of HONEY LAVENDER. It was heavenly!

The third was in the South of France at Alain Ducasse’s restaurant where I had one of THE BEST meals I have ever had….that’s another blog entry.  I was served a scoop of LEMON and a scoop BASIL ice cream side by side in the same dish. After my initial taste bud extravaganza all I could think about was ....I NEEDED TO KNOW HOW TO MAKE THIS!

I spent the summer making Italian Ice that matched the flavor of the Lemon and the Basil but without the dairy. Next thing I knew it was Fall and quickly moving into Winter so I needed to step it up a bit.

I finally purchased an ice cream maker and received “The Perfect Scoop” by David Lebovitz as a gift from my friend T.  I haven’t stopped creating ice cream since.

I started with Vanilla Bean because I’m a Vanilla fan... AAAMAZING! Next was Chocolate for my  weekend guests. It was rich, creamy and truly decadent. The Basil was unusual and delightful. Then came Chocolate Peanut Butter, Apricot Pistachio, Mint Chocolate Chip and my ultimate favorite so far…ZESTY LEMON.

It’s light, airy and so refreshing after a heavy holiday meal.

Zesty Lemon Ice Cream

~ Zest of 2 lemons

~ ½ cups sugar

~ ½ fleshly squeezed lemon juice about three lemons. I use my citrus juicer so I can use the scooped out rind to serve it in.

~ 2 cups half - and - half

~Pinch of salt

Zest the lemons directly into a food processer or blender (I use a blender so it can chill in the glass container) Add sugar and blend until the lemon is finely chopped.

Add lemon juice and blend until sugar is dissolved. Blend in half - and - half and salt until smooth. Chill for one hour and then churn. In my ice cream maker this takes about 10 minutes.

My friend Paul came over last night to help me put up my Christmas lights and I made a batch of this zesty delight for him to sample!

I think he likes it!!!!