The commandments of blogging!

When I started blogging, I wondered about the rules. I am not good with no rules. When I was a kid and they said, here is a some paper, imagine and draw anything, I wondered huhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! I needed the teacher to give me a hint or a direction! On the same note i'm terrible at movies that involve fantasy, remember Ghost with Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze (may he rest in peace) it was pure torture for me. My mind just doesn't function that way.

I love this blogging thing, it happens at such random times. I can be at the gas station or the office or shopping and I see something or talk to someone and it gives me a spark of an idea to blog about. The problem is there are tons of things I'd like to blog about but I wonder, wow, is that appropriate blog content? That got me thinking, so I started to look at other blogs to see if the things in my head (kinda like that voice in my head, which i've learned not to act on, especially if I want to keep my job in order to continue paying my mortgage!!!) were being blogged about by others. NO LUCK! So, here are my commandments of blogging!

1. If you want to blog about someone that pissed you off, wait until you are officially no longer friends, so it doesn't matter if they get mad when and if they read it.

2. If you want to blog about sex with a partner, but you don't want them to know about it, you need to change a lot of facts so they don't figure it out, in reality, BEST NOT TO BLOG!

3. Write your blog the same way you speak, if people love your wit and your conversation they will love your blog if it sounds like your voice! (the great thing being punctuation won't matter!!!)

4. Don't blog about anything you don't want your parents or their friends to know about because their friends have big mouths ( my mom is constantly telling me that people are telling her what i post on facebook)!

5. Don't be afraid to be honest about yourself in blogging, as an example, there are people who would say I am tough and not particularly warm and fuzzy. I constantly remind my employer, they hired me to get a job done, not to be nice! That's why i'm good at my job!

6. Blog about what you know! I like to shop, I have a vast knowledge about xanax (I crack myself up!!) and I love travel, hotels, good food, good books, great websites!

7. Mix it up, nobody wants to cry everytime they read your stuff, believe me too many tears and they won't be back!

The power of a good quote. . .

I have always loved a good quote. When I was in middle school and high school I collected advertisements, I loved the Nike Ads from magazines, they always made me stop and think, put hope in my thoughts. I enjoyed the clever play on words in Abosolut ads! I had a folder stuffed with torn pages from magazines, poems that seemed at the time powerful.

As I got older, I grew to love card stores, both garden variety hallmark stores but also little gift shops and book shops that held cards to buy and send. Cards that made me laugh, described friendship and heartache. My desk drawer to this day is stuffed with cards to mail.

I guess part of me was always destined to be a litigator by trade because I got to use words to tell a story, to pull on the emotions of people, and yes often to get the last word! I also found that words were important with my love affair with jewelry and gifts and clothes. Much of items you find at http://www.bdazzledjewels.com/ are filled with messages. Stationery with cute phrases, pads of paper, shirts.

I love scouring gift shows and accessory shows and am always fascinated by the creative side of the designers and never more so than when I see a display with quotes and words and images that pull me in and on some level resonate my own story.

So here are two of my new favorites. Lizzy Flannigan at Pieces of a Girl has the most beautiful necklaces, each simple and delicate but full of inspiration and hope and truth. I love selling her pieces because they translate to so many girls and women and to their stories in life. Another love of mine is Ben's Garden! His decoupaged trinket trays carrying phrases in vintage typeface are so delicate and special and I am so happy when a customer picks one up and just "gets it" right away!

So I hope you enjoy the two phrases that i've added to this post and that they stop and make you think and make you smile and fill you with hope, even if for just a moment!

What to do on Easter if you are Jewish

It's easter sunday in Miami, well actually it's easter sunday everywhere! Every year I find that we forget most things are closed on Easter, it is of course a huge holiday to the majority of the world. As jews, we are used to Christmas, it's movies, chinese food and friends.

Here in Miami, if you are lucky and its a sunny day, it's pool or the beach. I have also found that Borders is open and so is Whole Foods. Movies are a good option too! Restaurants, last year surprisingly PF Changs was packed with people!

The bad news is, no days off until Memorial Day! At least then everything is open!

Once in ahile

I like TV, even more so now that TIVO exists. It relaxes me after a long day at work, it brings me back to the days of college since I can still watch mindless Melrose Place, and relate to gossip girl, epecially late at night when i'm having trouble sleeping!

There are a few shows, that actually make me stop and think. They make me think not so much because of the storyline but but from a brief interaction among characters or from words to a song or for a proposition that they stand for. They remind me to be the best person that I can be, to stop and breathe and not sweat the small stuff when I seem so caught up in it.

The Good Wife is beautifully written, and one scene in particular really reminds me of why I chose to become a litigator. A firm lawyer is in federal court and he is out of his comfort zone, he appears before a Judge who is rarely reversed. The Judge is smart enough to know that if she does not rule on objections, then there can be no appeal since there is no ruling. The lawyer has done his homework and pushes in court to get a ruling and not let things continue on status quo.

It's a powerful scene, although maybe only to those who litigate and appear before Judges who have similar traits. The message to me comes through loud and clear, don't accept things just because they are, fight for what needs to be fought for, don't be afraid of the tough battles.

Parenthood is a new show that is also very moving but the best part of the show for me is the credits which roll accompanied by Bob Dylan's Forever Young. The song so powerful and true and such a reminder of how to live life! So, here's the lyrics for you:


May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young
,Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.

Copyright © 1973 by Ram's Horn Music; renewed 2001 by Ram’s Horn Music

Moxie the Dog

Many, many years ago long before my husband and I were even thinking about having children, we adopted a wonderful dog. She was a precious beagle/daschund mix that a dear friend dubbed a Rare Himalyan Deagle. She was an AMAZING dog. She died a year ago last August. For several months now, my husband and the children, occasionally have been trying to talk me into getting a new dog. I resisted. Arguing that I didn't need anything else in the house to clean up after and take care of. It was my mantra.

But Saturday, I took a temporary leave of my senses and suggested to my husband that we go and take a look at a dog some neighbors had taken in and now were trying to find a home for. Needless to say, one look at that sweet face and it was all over.

We called her Sweetie for a few days, but I realized that not only did it not really fit, but couldn't imagine 10+ years of calling the dog Sweetie. And so, Sweetie became Moxie. And for better or for worse she has come to stay.

She got a great report from the vet, and as soon as she stops chewing on everything, I think we'll have a wonderful relationship. But I will say this, it is nice to have a dog in the house again.