Designer

……………………This warmer weather is bringing back memories of my family’s vacations……..Almost every summer my family and I would spend 10 days in the country……Here we are….I think the person taking the picture forgot to say “SMILE”! My brothers, Mauro and John look great, however I look like a refugee. My haircut looks like another one of my Dad’s specials, and don’t ask me what’s going on with my pants, and those shoes! I guess they didn’t have sneakers in the 50s??? The best word to describe me is….GOOFY!…The place we stayed at was somewhere in the Catskills? The name of the place is The Laurel House. I  remember I thought it was a beautiful place with very large rooms, and a very nice dining room……like a southern plantation…..There was a large pool that was located by a stream, but I don’t remember ever going into the pool even once…..it was dark and ominous looking to me…..The owners of the hotel always organized special activities and events. I remember a funny hat contest….How 50s is that!……I actually hated going to the country because I had terrible allergies, and I really suffered, especially at night….Usually we went with some cousins so I always had someone to play with. As you can see my brothers were older and BIGGER than me so we didn’t do much together…..I was the pesky little brother….There was a big baseball field, but I was too small to play so I would go exploring down by the brook that ended with a pretty steep waterfall…..There was a three foot stone wall outlining part of the driveway that my cousins and I used to sit on until one day we were hanging out there, and I was sitting of the wall. All of a sudden my cousins ran away!? I felt something tickle my leg? It was a snake that I guess lived in the wall and had come out right between my legs!!!!! I HATE SNAKES!!!! and ran like blazes. I never went near that wall again. After that everywhere I went I was on the lookout for snakes….This was not my first run in with a snake….They always seemed to find me!!!..I hated the country, and as an adult I never went on a summer vacation in the country………..Give me the water and the beach anytime!!!

………………..The FREE FORM DOUBLE PENDANT with CHAIN……..J421049…….sold out so quickly when I first introduced it a few months ago that we had to reorder it to keep up with demand! It’s once again available in the three colors…….STERLING SILVER……STERLING SILVER plated with 18 KARAT GOLD……and BI COLOR in the STERLING and GOLD…………..It makes a strong impression without being over whelming, and is the perfect “GO TO” necklace!…..Wear it with a tee shirt, a sweater, a tunic or a silk or cotton button down shirt……It will work with everything!

……………………Cathy came to spend an overnight visit with me. I picked her up at the railway station after her trip from PA. We decided to get breakfast first before heading to the house…….We had planned to bake one of Cathy’s special cakes! She had made one for me before, but I wanted to learn how to do it, because it was SO GOOD! I had all of the ingredients lined up so Cathy could show me step by step how to make it. It’s a little more complicated than it looks because it’s done in two layers with mini chips, and a combination of sugar and cinnamon in between the first layer and the top. The ingredients are: 2 cups flour, 1 cup salted butter [2 bars] softened, 2 eggs room temperature, 1 tsp vanilla, 1 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 cup sour cream, 1 pkg [8 oz.] mini chocolate chips, 1/2 cup of sugar plus an additional 1/2 cup to mix with cinnamon, and 1 tsp cinnamon

1-cream butter and 1 cup sugar together….2- Add eggs one at a time, mix well…..3-add sour cream and add vanilla mix well……..4-On a separate plate sift, or not, flour, baking powder and baking soda. Add small amounts slowly into batter and mix….5-Pour half of the batter into a greased 13 x 9 inch pan, and spread out with a spatula….6- sprinkle half of the chips all over the batter….7- Combine 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon well…. then sprinkle half of it over the batter and chips……..Next is the difficult part……Take all of the remaining batter and make 6 dollops, one near each corner and two in the middle so you have three rows of batter [if you want to do 8 dollops that’s OK too]. Then with a spatula PAT the batter so it spreads out over the bottom layer…..Don’t worry if it’s not perfect, because when it’s cooking it will spread. Do your best to spread it. Then sprinkle the rest of the mini chips. With your finger tap the chips into the batter [not all but most], then sprinkle the remaining sugar and cinnamon all over……Bake at 350 for 30-35 mins or until when you stick a fork into it….the fork comes out clean…..Take out and let it cool…………..Then it’s ready to eat!

……………………….The CELESTIAL RING, J421062, that sold out in a flash, is back in stock in ALL SIZES….5 through 11………….This HIGH POLISHED STERLING SILVER RING has a beautiful distinctive wave shape, and looks graceful on the finger. It also coordinates perfectly with the BRAND NEW CELESTIAL CUFF…..J422016……This is the perfect ring for stacking!…..A little birdy told me that an 18 Karat Gold plated version on Sterling may be on its way in near the future. Wouldn’t the two of them stacked look incredible!

……………………………I’m not one to miss history in the making! I got up in time to see Camilla and Charles get out of the golden carriage and enter the cathedral through to their appearance on the balcony……It’s still on and I’m enjoying the chatter!