Monthly Archives: May 2024

………………..As I was walking around WHOLE FOODS supermarket I was looking for inspiration for what I should make for dinner that would be quick and relatively easy…….First I saw some beautiful ASPARAGUS, and since it’s Spring and Asparagus season…I took a bunch…..Then I saw some beautiful BRUSSEL SPROUTS, and thought Okay vegetables done…..Then I walked over to the fish department thinking I would get a lovely piece of Salmon, but frankly I’ve had a lot of salmon lately , and it didn’t inspire me….Then I saw cooked beautiful shrimp! That was it. I would make a wonderful shrimp salad……I already have some small cups of LINDY’S ITALIAN LEMON ICES for desert……Lindy’s was a famous restaurant in Coney Island, Brooklyn. They must still be around if they are selling many different flavors of Lindy’s ices?!……First I lined a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Next I prepared the asparagus, washed them and laid them on the sheet. I drizzled them with olive oil, salt pepper, garlic powder, and Italian seasoned bread crumbs…..DONE…..Then I cut, and halved the Brussel sprouts, washed them and set them aside. In a bowl I mixed olive oil, salt, pepper, white Balsamic vinegar, and honey. I mixed it until the honey dissolved, and then put the sprouts into the bowl and let them marinate for a few minutes…..Next the shrimp…..After washing them and paper towel drying them, I cut them up with a sharp knife and into a bowl they went. Next I put salt and pepper, a pinch of garlic powder, chopped celery, mayonnaise and bits of dill for taste….I love dill so I put a generous amount, but cut it very small. I don’t like the feeling of grass in my mouth….LOL…..I mixed it all up, and it’s ready, and into the refrigerator it went….I then took the Brussel sprouts and put them on the same baking sheet as the asparagus….Later I will put the asparagus and Brussel sprouts into the air fryer for 15-20 minutes, and check them to see if they are ready…I can always leave them in a little longer if necessary, but I don’t want to burn them!…….Then DINNER IS SERVED…..Of course I have to serve it to myself and clean up!…LOL….Not sure what I will drink….If I’m in the mood some Santa Margarita white wine….very cold, or just some Polar seltzer on Ice with a twist of lemon…….It will be a happy meal for me!

………………….After a long disappearance from my LINEA QVC JEWELRY SITE the high polished STERLING SILVER CELESTIAL RING…….WITHOUT  the Diamonique stones….is finally back in the Sterling Silver and the Sterling with the 18 Karat Gold plate…..J421062…….however it is already sold out in sizes 5 and 11 in the Sterling Silver…….The CELESTIAL RING with the Diamonique stones, J429081, is available in all sizes 5 through 11……They are wonderful rings on their own….however….I did design them to be stacked….two or even three…….Mixing the plain ring with the one with stones……..and even MIXING COLORS!…….They really are fabulous rings, and at great prices!

………………….I know I’ve posted this photo a few times already, but I never get tired of looking at it……I have a few, at least three of them framed and around the house……Jac and I were at a party given by Kathy Hardwick, in the garden of her beautiful town house. Kathy was a wonderful designer who Jac worked for. It was at this party that we made it official, and we told everyone we were a couple….I thought this picture would be a good follow up to Jac’s birthday picture when we first spoke….This was a few years later, and my hair was still falling in my face! I wish I still had that hair!!………………We were so happy!!!

……………………Today, May 5th is my sweetheart Jac’s birthday…..She loved that her birthday was on Cinco de Mayo….a happy holiday!……..I chose this picture, because this is exactly how she looked the very first time I met her…….She was just seventeen…….a baby!…….Without makeup she looked like she was twelve….She had peaches and cream skin, corn silk blond hair, and “eyes as blue as the sky”, as her Mom always said…She had a soft beautiful voice that was just perfect…..She was 5’10” and 1/4 as she always liked to add the 1/4 inch….A true statuesque beauty with the most gorgeous legs…..She had natural grace and moved beautifully…..She was the sweetest and kindest person I ever knew…..The day I met her I actually talked to her by chance. Of course I knew her as one of the beautiful models we booked for our shows, but I really didn’t KNOW her….Jac and two other models were booked to do our showroom, which means they would be there the two weeks the buyers came in to write their orders, and model the clothes for the clients…..One evening about 7:00 or so, I needed to get out of my studio where I had been cooped up the entire day. I knew everyone would have gone home by now so I could walk around freely, and enjoy my cigarette….Yes, in those days I smoked…….I happened to walk into the models room and Jac was sitting by herself. All the other models had left, and Jac had just finished showing to the last customer of the day. She looked startled when I walked in…I said…”Hello…you’re Jac aren’t you?”….she shyly said “yes”….I thought she was adorable, and we started to talk and talk and talk. Before you knew it almost two hours went by, and I was starting to be missed, and knew I had to get back to work…She said she had to leave too. I later found out she missed two trains to Larchmont where she lived, and where her mother was waiting to pick her up at the station…..just so she could keep talking to me!….From that evening on we became friends….I made it my business for the rest of market week to stop into the model’s room and say HELLO….Jac eventually moved into the city when she became 18 or 19, and lived two blocks from me…..We went out for dinner and to movies, and clubs, but mostly in a group….She was still a child to me , and not even legal yet…so I knew better, and kept a distance…However, she had no trouble getting into clubs. They always wanted the beautiful models to come in………As she got older and more mature….I started to look at her differently….She wasn’t a baby anymore, and she, in her own way, let me know it…..Eventually we started to seriously date, and I stopped seeing other people….That’s when she confessed to me that the minute she saw me, and spoke to me that evening in the model’s room….for her….”it was love at first sight”…She remembered exactly what I was wearing….my blue chambray shirt with the sleeves rolled up and khaki pants….She said I kept brushing my hair off my face, because it was long and always falling….She thought that was so cute…..It took me longer to have those kinds of feelings for her….Her age had a lot to do with it, but she was patient until I came around…..and when I did…that was it…..We moved in together in 1984, and were always together from then on….until that devastating day six years ago when she passed away…….I know NO ONE will ever love me more than my Jac…..She truly taught me the meaning of loving………..It’s so unfair that she had to leave me at such a young age…when there was still so much we wanted to do together……I miss her every day, and I’ll  miss her until my dying day…..when we will be together again……………………………….HAPPY BIRTHDAY in HEAVEN my ANGEL…………………………………………I LOVE YOU BABY, OVER THE MOON AND BEYOND THE STARS

………….On a Spring AK collection where DOTTED fabrics were a theme…..I also incorporated SEQUIN DOTS………I used different size sequins to achieve the look I wanted. The GIANT ones had to be specially custom made…….From left to right starting at the top left….The short jacket had an open portrait neckline with a notched narrow collar and lapel,  with a cutaway bottom. The two button jacket had four darts front and back for shape, plus a back center seam, and 3/4 length sleeves. The entire jacket was banded in black, and had black piped besom pockets…..The dress below had black sequins covering a black empire bodice, and GIANT sequins on the white A-line bottom to look like GIANT POLKA DOTS….These sequins had a single hole close to the edge so they didn’t lay flat on the dress….They flutter a little….The white hand bag had a black sequin flap……The RED short jacket had three large flat black jet buttons. It too was banded in black and the jacket, and white skirt had the GIANT SEQUIN POLKA DOTS…..These sequins had holes at two opposite edges so they laid flat…..The solid black and white dress had an A-Line body. The black top was covered in baby size sequins with the single hole GIANT sequins sewn on top so they fluttered…..The white tank dress had the GIANT two holed sequins on the top, and the bottom was a printed dot on a stretch cotton sateen. A black gross grain ribbon trimmed the empire bodice…..The little waist length black banded jacket was in the printed cotton sateen…The short skirt was also in the stretch cotton sateen with an interesting banded bottom…………..The cropped sweater set in the black and white stripe….tied at the top with a small bow…..The short cotton sateen skirt had the two hole GIANT black sequins….All the tights were printed for me by my hosiery licensee, and the shoes and bags were planned to be in the cotton sateen stretch dot……The use of the sequins was a whimsical way to extend the dot group……I think the sketches look a little bit like Anna Wintour…..bobbed hair and sunglasses!