June 28th, 2010
Growing up, some of my fondest summer memories were the Ossining Fire Dept parade, outdoor concerts on blankets at Nelson Park, and occasional trips to Playland, or to one of the two Drive-Ins, Starlight in Croton (now the Shop Rite Shopping Plaza) or Elmsford Drive-In, now the Sams Club compound.
Time marches on, but happy to share easy connections to some of the classics, and some newer finds.
62nd Annual Mamaroneck Carnival and Fireman’s Parade Carnival June 29-July 5 7 PM-Midnight at Harbor Island Park, parade 7PM on the 30th, FIREWORKS on the 4th, Rain Date on the 5th.
Cool Jazz in the Summertime Mark Morganelli, Founder of Jazz Forum Arts, is in his 31st year of making great music accessible to us all.
He plays year-round with his group, the Jazz Forum All-Stars, but has also he has orchestrated another summer of free music, 30 concerts in all.-different acts, all thru Westchester, all summer. http://www.jazzforumarts.org/Summer-2010.pdf
Westchester County sponsors a ton of events, but their site can be dicey to navigate., so here is link you want to keep handy all season long: .http://parks.westchestergov.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1824&Itemid=4033
It’s your pass to free movies, fairs and different ethnic festivals, more concerts, (DO NOT miss the ones at Lasdon) Playland, fireworks, golf-well, yo
u get the point.
Buying and eating food grown locally is good for us all. Farmers Markets Community Markets has been developing and managing local Farmers Markets since 1991, and while I typically only include links to non-profit and community events, there is just so much good here-locations, schedules, recipes, and-foodies take note-even profiles of the growers and other food artisans http://www.communitymarkets.biz/index.php
Walter’s Hot Dogs in Mamaroneck Since 1928, 937 Palmer Avenue. Just go, ‘nuf said.
Milt Gerver’s Big Band Orchestra Come as you are, whatever your skill level, and dance to the classics under the stars on the Boardwalk, on the water, at Playland. Fridays, 7-10:30, 7/16 through 8/6. And when you’re in the tent, look up.
While not in Westchester, these last two are close enough, reasonable enough and cool enough to be included. 
The Hudson Valley Renegades is a farm team of Tampa Bay.
I love baseball: the history, the rituals, and the consistency it brings to summer. I root for the Yankees, but all costs conservatively considered, it’s a big night out. Do yourself a favor , check out the Hudson Valley Renegades at least once this summer.
Tickets run from $6.00-15.00, $2.00 more on fireworks nights, which there are plenty. They have enough goofy fan events and giveaways to keep everyone entertained and engaged, and who knows, you may just see a future star! http://www.hvrenegades.com/
30 minutes across the TZ bridge will transport you to a different time an place. The Warwick Drive-In is where a family of 5 could see 2 first-run movies for less than $30.00 ($8.00 adults, $5.00 for kids 4-11, and under 4 is free).
They even have that cool cartoon clip they run in-between features to promote the snack bar-where hot dogs are doing tricks, and cups of popcorn and soda dance!http://webusers.warwick.net/~u1006131/driveinmovie/ for features, directions and times.
Happy Summer!!
Tags: a day in the life, cheap fun, fun and smiles, Hudson Valley good life, local events
Posted in A Day In The Life, Better Health/Better Life, Community/Greater Good, Dollars and Sense | No Comments »
June 26th, 2010
Have you seen Starbuck’s latest print ads or commercials? Friends share the secret of good coffee by way of passing individual packets to others we come to know by way of the sayings on their coffee cups.
Clever and entertaining, these ads bring a light-hearted approach to that very intimate relationship many of us do have with our coffee. Even has a hip and catchy name, VIA Ready Brew.
HELLO???? It’s instant coffee!!! It was what my tea-drinking Nana kept in her cupboard for when she had visitors, or it was what you might bring camping, or if you were an astronaut.
I’m not a coffee snob, or overly obsessed about it- in fact, short of diners and my 7am BNI meetings, I rarely have coffee outside of my home, two cups tops, and never ever after 11am-but come on!! You got past the foam on top because it was either the polite thing to do, or it’s an emergency; it was never a good first choice.
We see the packet ripped open, and poured into hot water, so there are no illusions. Yet Starbucks has poured considerable bucks into first engaging us, then with a wink and smile acknowledges how we really live, and the take-away is that when you know what you are doing, are good at it and passionate about it, the end result is a great product that is counter-intuitive, and will defy your beliefs and expectations. 
HELLO??? That’s Home Staging!!
C’mon, grab a cup of whatever, and really- let’s talk about your home!!
Tags: good idea, home staging, market info, start the conversation, the right attitude
Posted in A Day In The Life, Home Selling and Home Staging, Smiles | No Comments »
June 16th, 2010
What Does IDS, ASP, And IAHSP Mean For You?
Lot of talk in the trades lately about designations-what is worthwhile and helpful, what has meaning? I look for, believe in, and support professional accreditation; here’s what’s behind mine:
Interior Design Society, Professional Level This was my first, achieved almost 25 years ago. IDS, created in the 1970′s an an alternative for home design professionals in the retail field; it’s members, unlike ASID, do not deal with semi-engineering /structural things like moving walls, electric, plumbing or other house systems.
Professional training and hands-on field experience was required to even take the test; between my business degree, time at Parson’s and about 5 yea
rs at Ethan Allen, I qualified for Professional, their highest-level designation.
Exam was 100 short answers in first part; still remember triumphantly, jubilantly knowing what a ‘clerastory’ was…yes, one of those architectural terms I had learned, that was actually on the test!!
The second part was a 6 hours, also proctored. You were given the shell of a house plan with plumbing (kitchen and baths)already in place, and the ‘story’ of who lived there.
You were required to block out the space/construct all interior walls,. Create a reflected ceiling plan, place outlets/switches, place/draw in all the furniture, and do an elevation of entire long side of house (scale drawing of walls, with furniture and decorations on it). Then decorate it, including a room-by-room explanation of why you chose what your chose; how it all related to and served this phantom family. If you didn’t finish, you failed.
I completed/passed it on the second try, and beyond the obvious, lessons learned were time = money, how to prioritize, and above all, solutions must suit the clients’ needs.
Had been helping client prepare and get houses sold for probably the last 10 years, but “Staging”?
Lots of schools and organizations out there, but researched and found StagedHome.Com. In 1972, Barb Schwarz was a Realtor is WA, and as the story goes, she coined the term ‘Staging’ when trying to persuade a seller to spiff up her home a bit. The homeowner was resistant, but Barb got inspired by some of the posters/playbills/theater memorabilia that was in the house, and the rest is history.
StagedHomes.com is the original: Barb is CEO, and holds the trademark on the word ‘Staged’. They are a REALTOR affiliate member, and a BBB Accredite
d Business with an A+ rating, and I was trained by the VP.
ASP (Accredited Staging Professionals)-certified Stagers take an intensive course that focuses on good business practices as much as Staging skills, actually Stage a local house on the market, pass a comprehensive test, and agree to be held to a code of ethics.
If ASP is the educational/training arm, then IAHSP(International Association of Home Staging Professionals) is the organizational, fraternal association that most ASPs belong to.
The same standards exist, but have chapters that hold community service events, and work together to educate consumers, support each other and further further Staging in general. 
Lastly, BNI is a professional business networking organization. Both global (5700 chapters, 125K members, in over 50 countries), and hyper-local (3 dozen chapters right here in Westchester/Rockland alone), these are people I love being associated with, see my connections webpage. People who refer me are actually putting their own professional credibility on the line.
Prospective members provide references and are thoroughly checked out by the group’s membership committee. They commit to attend weekly meetings, usually at 7 am, (yes, 7AM) and adhere to a set of standards that include truthful communications providing full, complete and satisfactory service to those they are referred to, at the agreed-upon price. Each group holds its members fully accountable, and any non-compliers are asked to leave.
Yes, these organizations are businesses, but none just take your money and give you letters to use. Professionals who are proud of their designations are happy to explain what they mean and what it took to get them, so don’t hesitate to ask…hopefully, it’s be the start of a great relationship!
Tags: avoiding anxiety, my business, professional designations
Posted in Decorating, GTK, Home and Professional Services, Home Selling and Home Staging | No Comments »
June 13th, 2010
Every time I come out of a movie from Jacob Burns, I always remember-again-how much I enjoy that theater, and on several levels.
Easy to get to, easy to park, and Magic Wok, our favorite Chinese restaurant right around the corner. It’s local, it’s quality and it’s different. It’s also nostalgic, as I saw many movies there as a teenager, way back when it was the Rome Theater. It also has a very cool piece of wall art, past Theater 1, by the rest rooms, a perpetual motion machine made from scrap metal and ping pong balls.
Just saw ‘Please Give’, an indie I only heard of today, but seems a lot of people have heard about this. ANYWAY
It’s real slice-of-life, dealing with life, death, furniture, money, stuff, giving, receiving, wanting, taking, family, real estate, love, guilt, AND the the desire to make a difference, to make the world a better place. Often very funny, and sometimes achingly sad, but 100% real. Wow, it hit all my buttons, see it if you can.
Tags: cheap fun, fun and smiles, Jacob Burns, Pleasantville, supporting local business
Posted in A Day In The Life, Community/Greater Good, Smiles | No Comments »
June 5th, 2010
Earlier this year I read an article about disasters, and how those who are not directly involved absorb and process it all. Wish I could remember where or when I saw it, but the gist of it was that studies show when the scale of a disaster is so massive, the human brain-psyche-is just not capable of grasping something on such a large scale, and will, instead turn their attention on something more in
dividual, perhaps where success or happiness is a more likely outcome…like posting a link to video of baby moose playing in a sprinkler?
Have been searching online for how regular citizens can help, nothing. Not even on the EPA or White House websites; seems the people from BP, the US military and civilian science and technology professionals are all working very hard, while Uncle Sam is keeping a running tab for BP.
Even the International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) website notes that because BP is committed to paying for the cleanup, your donations will go for future episodes/help.
Got this email today and wanted to share. Frustrating as it is, seems the only thing we can do now, as regular citizens is to let our leaders to know we support a better energy plan for our future, so please, please-let’s get to it. Right now. Please sign the petiton and pass it around. You can see 7 other pictures at this link. Thanks.
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear MoveOn member,
Island, LA on Thursday. It’s hard to look at.TerreWe struggled with whether or not to share this photo, taken of a bird on the beach at East Grand
But we have to face where our addiction to oil has taken us—and this photo brings that home: (Click here if you can’t see the image)
The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is heartbreaking—but if an image like this can do anything, it can sear into our minds the fact that we need a real plan to get America off of oil.Forward this to ten of your friends, and sign the petition to Congress and the White House today:
Tags: what greed begets
Posted in Community/Greater Good, Enviorment, Ruminations | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2010
This video WILL make your day!
If you listen really closely, in the background of the audio, you can hear the woman who is recording this, trying to keep her kids quiet. Hope you all enjoy.
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Tags: fun and smiles
Posted in A Day In The Life, Enviorment, Smiles | No Comments »
June 3rd, 2010
It’s Not If You Win Or Lose…
Last night I attended my first high school Lacrosse game. LAX to non-neophytes, it was the Section A Championship Finals, Yorktown vs Walter Panas/Lakeland.
My husband Doug is from Yorktown. Lacrosse is big in Yorktown, very big. And ’full disclosure’-it is actively very big in his immediate family as well.
Game was fast-paced, teams seemed closely matched, and crowd was really into it. Score see-sawed til the 4th quarter. Lakeland went up by 2 goals. Then Yorktown came back, tied the score, but lost in OT.
Obvious reasons aside, it was a very tough loss to take, because it seems there were a number of controversial calls that went to Lakeland. (See, lucky for me I was sitting in the rowdy adult fan section. Ignoring Section 1 rules on sportsmanship, the rest of us were kept apprised of this by some very loud, potty-mouthed yahoos).
Don’t understand the game, can’t speak to the validity of their claims, but every time these faux-adults booed the refs, or screamed out a number of other un-sportsmanlike epithets, we saw dozens of young kids wearing Yorktown green jerseys-who were certainly disappointed themselves, turned and just looked up at these belligerent, rude people in the stands.
Many from the town’s Youth Athletic league, probably a lot of future players in this group. Their expressions said it all. In a moment I saw things shift: I felt this collective, very bad lesson learned, and I ached for 
them all.
Come home to the TV news, only to see the story of Detroit pitcher’s Armando Galarraaga’s perfect game, blown by a call the ump who later, tearfully, admitted was wrong. Photo to the right is of Armando, a split second after the call went against him.
Baseball I know and love. Historically there are no do-overs. In the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of professional baseball games, there have been 20 perfect games. This morning there is quite the firestorm, and the debate is re-ignited for instant replay. As I write this, it is being reported that the Commissioner’s Office is having a meeting to review this call, but it remains to be seen what, if anything might happen.
If you haven’t already seen it, google Galarraga’s post-game interview. Such class and grace, a lesson for us all. In the words of one morning news anchor, it should be required viewing for all youth sports players, their parents and coaches…from his mouth, to the dinner tables in Yorktown tonight.
Tags: a day in the life, lacrosse. lessons learned, local events, playing nice, the right attitude, Yorktown
Posted in A Day In The Life, Community/Greater Good, Ruminations | No Comments »
