01.03.11

Today is the Day.

This morning starts The Detox.  For those of you who are joining me on this journey expect today to absolutely suck.  As you may know from the literature that I have sent you there are a few rules.. and here they are:

-ONLY organic food.
-No dairy.
-No preservatives.
-No alcohol.
–Do not use bottled marinades or dressings. You can use oil and vinegar on your salads. (Grapeseed or Oive Oil are reccommended.) Lemons, Limes, Garlic, Onions and Ginger, and fresh herbs are great for spicing up your meat.
-Salt (just a little) and pepper are allowed.
-In week 1, you can only eat 4 oz. of lean protein (chicken or fish) per day.
-In week 2 you can add 1 serving of beef twice a week.
-Raw vegetables are better than cooked.

Cook enough food and vegetables to help you last 3-4 days so that you are not tempted.  The first day was the worst for me, but everyone is different.  You will start to see and feel results by day 4.  Headaches, dizziness and irritability in the first week are to be expected.  Stick with the plan and if it occurs past the first week, let Dr. Su know.  This is a common symptom for some due to reducing the number of simple carbs and the mere detoxifying effects of the first week in general.  Your body is used to eating simple carbs that your brain typically runs off of.  Give your brain some time to adjust and “re-train” itself to use fat instead.  Most importantly, hang in there.  Do not worry about symptoms such as these, they are caused by the toxins in your body that are being released.   Revel in it.

Here is the shopping list:

12.31.10

Add a Little Sparkle to Your NYE.

It’s well documented that I like a little sparkle in my wardrobe. If there is ever a night to do it up, tonight is the night! So get your sparkle on girls… Here are two looks perfect for a dazzling night out on the town.

 Look # 1
      Dress-TIBI, $400
      Earrings- Express, $22.90  
      Cuff– Jennifer Miller, $1,875
      Shoes– Guess, $99
      Clutch– Anya Hindmarch, $395
      Polish– Lipmann Collection, $18

          Look # 2
       Dress– Halston Heritage, $365
       Earrings– Express, $22.90
       Ring– Jennifer Miller, $3,000
       Shoes– Stuart Weitzman, $335
       Clutch– Kate Spade, $345
       Polish-Lipmann Collection, $20

I hope everyone has a safe and Happy New Year! May 2011 bring you everything that your little heart desires.

12.30.10

Slim Aarons: Once Upon a Time.

Known as a high-society photographer, Slim Aarons captured the likes of Kings and Queens, Presidents past and present and the who’s who of Hollywood. As a lifestyle photographer he worked for many publications such as Life and Town & Country to name a few.
I asked for the Once Upon a Time collection of Slim Aarons‘ for Christmas, and I have so enjoyed flipping through the pages. What an escape- to see how the other half lives with lavish pool parties, royal picnics outside of their castles, and extravagant vacations in the Mediterranean. Aarons passed away in 2006, but this book gives you such a great feel for his personality, as he describes each shot in his own words.
His photographs are so beautiful, many people are using them as artwork in their home. You can buy his prints here.  Here are some of my favorites from the book:
Nice Pool, 1955.
Jackie Kennedy, April in Paris Ball, 1959.
A Man’s Work– a young Hugh Hefner surrounded by Playboy Bunnies at the Playboy Club in Chicago, 1960.



A Lilly Flower– Lilly Pulitzer in 1968. Opposite: The models in Palm Beach, modeling Lilly’s spring line for Town & Country, 1964


All Mine, 1968



Pool Gossip (Palm Springs), 1970.

Joan Collins on her pink bed, with her pink poodle, 1955.
If you are a coffee table book person.. I suggest adding this one to your collection. It’s a great escape into the most extravagant of fairytales.

12.29.10

Not Your Ordinary Holiday.

I think most of you know by now that I love a good bargain. Well, as most of us do before the holidays, I had been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, and realized in the 11th hour that my table clothes were uber-boring and had minor stains.

I went to the fabric store for another project and found this fabric in the remnants pile for $5/yd. I loved how unexpected the grey and cream would be. I bought some red grosgrain ribbon to add around the hem to make it a bit more festive. After going to several cleaners and receiving quotes as high as $80 to hem two tablecloths, I decided 1.) I need a sewing machine and 2.) how much I love my mother-in-law. Since she was here without her sewing machine, I bought some no-sew hem tape and Grammy attached the ribbon on Christmas Eve morning and had it at the house just in the nick of time to set the table.

I didn’t have time to go to the flower market, so I used a mixture of whatever I could scoop up from Wegman’s and Costco. I added cranberries to the vases of all of the arrangement for a festive touch.
.
I love the look of fresh fruit in floral arrangement. Just buy a pack of wooden skewers and pop the fruit on top.

Our monogrammed china.

My Christmas color palette is red, cream and apple green. It goes so well with my decor.

Remember these vases? They were reused here.
.

I used pomegranates as place card holders. Not only is it my favorite fruit, but it has significant religious meaning and is thought to bring good luck.

12.28.10

Christmas Traditions.



One of my favorite things about Christmas is the beauty of carrying on family traditions. Every year, it brings me joy to open up the boxes of the many ornaments, each with a special meaning.

Many of these ornaments were given to me by my mother, and I now carry on that tradition by gifting ornaments to my girls each year so that one day, when I am not around they can have the same warm feeling I get each year when decorating our tree. This way a piece of me will always be with them.

Here are a few of my favorites:

1. Our dear friend Sherri came over to one of our Christmas celebrations and gave us this ceramic ball to celebrate Declan’s Journey. Now we will always remember not only Declan and his journey, but the journey of so many others who are suffering as we celebrate Christmas each year.
2. E for Elizabeth.
3. Our tree is adorned with butterflies.
4. My Baby’s First Christmas ball from 1977.
5. A shell ornament that we got this year in Venice, it makes me think of the drowning incident, and how lucky we are to have our Lou Lou bug.
6. Another gift from Mom- a life preserver that says Siesta Key, the place where Mike and I met.
7. My family used to receive White House Christmas ornaments each year from our friends in the FBI. Once we were married, Mom started passing them along to us. A reminder of just how amazing it is to live right outside of DC.
8. A pisanki ornament that we bought when we went to my brother’s wedding in Poland.
9. A for Anna.
10. Anna’s Baby’s First Christmas ornament from 2008.
11. A Christmas ball that I bought when the Ya’s and I went to St. Maarten to celebrate our 30th birthdays.
12. A ZTA ornament given to me by my mom.
13. Bailey’s Puppy’s First Christmas ornament from 2001.
14. Given to us by Mom- a replica of our china pattern.
15. E’s Baby’s First Christmas ornament from 2005.
16. An I Love My Daughter ornament, given to me by Mom. I will never forget, when she gave them to my sister and I we made fun of her for how cheesy they are…. now I am so grateful to have it.
17. A crystal angel given to me by my amazing mother-in-law in 2005. The year that Mom died, and E was born. It reminds me that we now have our very own guardian angel.
Another family tradition in my family was that my father would read The Night Before Christmas each Christmas Eve… Even when we were in college. Now we all snuggle together as Mike reads the story to our girls. What makes this so very special, is that I have this copy of the book given to me when I was 17 by my parents. Notice that it is complete with a note from Mom.
So no matter how difficult and stressful it can be to think of these little things, make sure to give your children the gift of traditions so that you too will always be with them on Christmas.

12.28.10

Snippets….

We are still recovering from the many Christmas celebrations here at the Salmon house… here are a few snippets of my favorite moments.

Approximately 2:00 am on Christmas morning.

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care.

Mike reading The Night Before Christmas.. on the night before Christmas….

Lou and Nanny clowning around after Christmas Eve dinner.

The look on those faces…