Out of the Woods by Lynn Darling

Moving from your NYC apartment into a cabin in the Vermont woods, you can guess would be a HUGE change of lifestyle. Add to that you are a recently widowed woman, just dropped your only child, a daughter, off at college a few states away and  you have yourself some major life altering events.
Author Lynn Darling is looking for direction, not only so she doesn't get lost in the woods but also for the remainder of her life. Who is she now, who will she become, what does she want, what will life throw at her… all these questions are questions I have asked myself over the last few years. Who am I , really?
She moves into a little house in Vermont, gets herself a puppy, meets a few neighbors and sets off for walks in the woods. To see if she can navigate the trails and the wild, to see if she can survive in solitude after the hustle & bustle of NYC, survive the growing up of a child, to survive the loneliness of widowhood.  To find out what she is made of….
Lynn Darling is a survivor, for just as she is getting her bearings, a diagnosis that will alter her life one more time.
This is an honest memoir, one every woman over fifty needs to read. Well written, almost prose-like and lyrical . Lynn Darling has a way with words and a way with life. Very touching.
Published by Harper/Collins it is in bookstores now.

New Skin Care Must Haves & Something Fun for Spring

Will this Winter ever end? As I write today, they are predicting a Nor'easter with winds 40-50 mph, blizzard conditions..looks like a category 2-3 hurricane on the weather maps…ugh!

Lucky for me to be testing some awesome skin care products..when Spring comes, I want to be ready:)

My hands are a mess. Fall & winter means cold & flu season and I have washed every bit of moisture out of my hands long ago. They are dry and cracked and my cuticles are just awful. I was offered a sample of YU-BE Skin Cream, and I jumped at the chance. 

YU-BE was developed by a Japanese pharmacist back in 1957, for dry , cracked hands. He put concentrated glycerin (a process he developed) added Vitamin B2 & Vitamin E, Sodium Hyaluronate which helps to retain moisture and reduces fine lines, and camphor for it's anti-inflammatory properties.
When you put this on your dry hands, they are immediately soothed, and they look so much better and feel softer. I am hooked. But remember- it is a skin cream..you can use it on your face, your lips, your feet ( divine) , wherever you need it. It is non-greasy, too, your skin soaks it right up because it needs it!
YU-BE Skin Cream is available at Sephora, whole Foods Markets, or on line at : yu-be.com

Adventuress Skin Care introduces two products that I am now currently using. This new skin care line was launched in 2011, and was developed by Michele Carter, an outdoors woman and motorcycle enthusiast. She was looking for skin protection from harsh wind & sun damage and it had to be simple and something you could carry with you.
The You-Vee's Sunscreen Wipes, I love. I keep one in my purse. I love the beach, even on cold days, so I am able to apply sunscreen no matter when I decide to head out and get some fresh salt air. So convenient and it moisturizes as it protects your skin from harmful rays.
I am also loving the Fearlessly Refreshing Facial Wipes. Talk about feeling refreshed. After being in an office all day, I just want to "take it all off" when I get home and that includes my make up.
Convenient, packaged individually, so easy to keep one with you for only the go revival. Seven plant extracts including, willow bark, quince, sugar maple, orange, lemon & olive leaf.  They all help to reduce redness, reduce age spots, soothes, hydrates.. and they are alcohol free so no tight , dry feeling after.
To have a look at this great line of skin care products, stop by www.goadventuress.com for more
information and to order.

Right about now, no matter what the forecast tells me, I am ready to "spring forward' and try some fun products. Color Your Smile is such a fun way to boost moisture in these dry, cracked winter lips. Contains collagen peptides to smooth and plump your lips, and they are highly pigmented so you get great color & shine. The really fun part is that each tube has a small mirror and get this..a little light in the wand so you can apply perfectly, after the big first date and  right before the first kiss of Spring love !! Would make a sweet surprise for the teenage Easter Basket ;)
Go to www.whiteninglightening.com to check out the great colors and to order.

I was away last week for my birthday at a work related event. I was meeting people for dinner and I wanted to added a little sparkle to my outfit in light of the special day. I remembered I had packed Mia Beauty's Hair Stickers and I thought, now there is a bit of fun! These peelable, reuseable stickers are just the ticket to liven up your do. I put two sparkly flowers right by my ear where my hair was tucked and it was just enough to let people know..yeah, I am special today :) Another great idea for the Easter Basket…www.miabeauty.com

Clever Girl by Tess Hadley

Tessa Hadley has done a good job with Clever Girl.

 Stella, the main character, a child born to a single mom in England, dad disappeared and Stella's mom doesn't tell her much..she is told he is dead, basically.
She loves being the only person in her mom's life, sleeping together in one bed, being close. But that euphoria is rudely interrupted by her mom's new husband, Gerry.
Stella is smart, but gets mixed up with a kid named Valentine who leads her down the path of alcohol, drugs, sex, quirkiness..until she ends up pregnant and he heads to America with out knowing he will be a dad. Single mom with one baby, she ends up in a commune , in a relationship with a great guy named Nicky, ends up pregnant with son number 2, but soon Nicky is murdered by a deranged friend of a friend….you suspect that Stella will never catch a break.
This book is so well written, it is like reading Stella's diary. While it may have started a bit slow, soon I did not want put it down. And at the last few words..I was hoping there will be a sequel.
The book is in book stores this month, and the way this winter is going, there appears to be plenty of time to spend curled up by the fire reading.

Post Cards from Cookie by Caroline Clarke

Imagine you were adopted at birth, had great adoptive parents and a good life. Never entered your mind to look for your biological parents, would never hurt your mom & dad by looking. You are now grown with kids of your own and a minor medical issue comes up. You start to wonder if there is any information in your file about your bio-parents that you should know.
You contact the Home for Unwed Mothers, where you were born and arrange a meeting. You go in and sit down and think that you don't expect to hear much of anything. Back in those days, not a lot of information was kept about birth mothers. A woman walks in carrying a file folder, a kind of thickish file folder…she begins to read it to you. She begins to describe to you the mother you never knew…and it sounds familiar…the young girl, the dates, a reference here or there….and you walk away from the meeting and realize that your birth mother was very likely your friend Timmie's older sister. AND your friend Timmie was Nat King Cole's daughter…your grandfather was Nat King Cole.
Sounds like I made it up doesn't it? It is a coincidence of the wildest order, fate, karma..magic?
Caroline Clarke discovered this truth and decided to contact her birth mother , Carole  "Cookie"  Cole. Over a period of seven years they wrote postcards, telephoned, emailed and met face to face seven times, until Cookie's death from cancer. This memoir is their story.
As you read along, you can feel author Clarke's raw emotion, as if she is sitting down with you and recounting the story in disbelief…it is like a fairytale, with not the happiest of endings. Written from the heart, the best kind of book.  
The book comes out in April and I recommend it whole-heart-edly.

Priscilla by Nicholas Shakespeare

It is always so interesting, this period of the 20-30-40's, to read about it's women.There were a few very strong, very surprising women who did not fit the mold. Priscilla Mais was one of these women. Her nephew Nicholas Shakespeare, through a series of love letters, photos and a draft of an autobiography, pieced together a fantastic tale of his aunt, quite different from the one the family passed down.
She was beautiful, of that  there seems to be no question..but the "survivor" of the French Resistence story seems to be just that, a story. Born in England and shipped off to France after her mother ran away with a lover, she befriended another English school girl, Gillian. Back in England after school, she was a young woman headed back to France for an abortion. There she met & married an older, impotent aristocrat, but her marriage didn't last. While her husband was off fighting the Germans, his family sent her packing so that they were not attacked for harboring an enemy alien.
Priscilla was indeed interred for a few months, but was released due to pregnancy…she was a good actress. Along came a string of lovers, single & married who were charmed by her beauty and seemingly fragile nature. Shady characters, black marketeers, German officers..you name it. She did survive, and showed up in England, on her old pal Gillian's doorstep, having "survived" the occupation. (Gillian ended up discovering the truth and wrote about it, unpublished however)
Shakespeare uncovers the not so noble truth about his aunt in this interesting story.
In his  words:
" At first glance, it was embarrassing to discover what Priscilla got up to. Of course, I wished for my aunt to be heroic. I wanted her to be an exception. But she was not an exception, she was just an ordinary woman in extraordinary circumstances".
There is no doubt that Priscilla was a survivor, and I think you will come to that yourself after reading the book. If you like to read about strong, resilient women, then this one's for you:)

Great New Skin Care Products!

Boy, this winter has been a harsh one. I am so happy to be able to have sampled lots of new skin care products because my skin has been taking a beating with dry, heated air inside and cold, below freezing air outside! 
Here are just a few of the new products I love:

First let me begin with Apothederm's Brightening Cleanser. Patented Smart Peptides target specific areas of concern such as crow's feet & laugh lines. These special peptides act as cellular messengers to stimulate and restore critical skin functions.  
Brightening Cleanser brightens, tones and refines pores as it sloughs off dead skin with malice acid and vitamin C. Loved how clean and smooth my skin felt without feeling dry. What a beautiful canvas for make-up! Shop at apothederm.com

Next , I love this serum by Sublime Beauty,  Ageless Line Smoother. It is a wonderfully luxurious serum that glides on your skin and is quickly absorbed. I used it morning and night for two weeks and  I have noticed a positive difference in my skin. It is made from three key ingredients, Hyacare Filler CL, a topical alternative to dermal fillers... Argireline, a natural botox that relaxes wrinkles... and Matrixyl, a peptide that boosts collagen production. It has plumped those tiny lines and wrinkles in my face, I am so much smoother. Love it.
Shop at sublimebeautyshop.com and amazon.com



And lastly, a product for a part of our face that we overlook so much of the time but takes a big hit in winter. ….our lips. Miracle Skin Transformer has come up with a lip balm, 
Lip Rewind infused with antioxidants that condition, smooth and create a barrier against the elements. It also includes a broad spectrum sunscreen which protects against damaging UV rays.  Love the feel of this lip balm,  and love the look… smoother, moisturized and with less visible lines, they look fuller. 
Comes in great colors and is available at miracleskintransformer.com, ultra.com, nordstrom.com

Scientific Organics Skin Care by emerginC

This winter has been so harsh..so cold & snowy and I usually get through it just fine…… BUT this Polar Vortex thing is a real downer:(
My hair, my skin..everything is so dry and lifeless looking. So when I received samples of Scientific Organics , I decided to wait for a snowed-in weekend to try them. It turned into a Spa weekend for me!
I have used emerginC products before. They are great products and used in some of the best spas nationally like Miraval, Wynn and Caesar's Palace because of the advanced anti-aging benefits of emerginC products.
So I took a nice hot shower, wrapped myself in a thick robe & slippers, put my hair up in a towel and sat in front of my mirror.
I started with the Kombucha cleanser. It was amazing that even after a shower, I still had traces of makeup that were removed by the cleanser..so I was starting with really clean skin. Next on to the Phytocell Detox Mask. It is a French green clay mask and I tell you after leaving it on for ten minutes, I could actually feel it drawing impurities from my pores.
Removed the mask and next I applied Phytocell cream. What luxury, how soft and smooth my skin felt.
Knowing I was not going out, I did not apply make-up. I just let my skin drink in all the antioxidants, algae extract, teas, and moisturizers for the day..my face was glowing !!

Next afternoon, while I watched more snow fall, I decide to try the Facial Peel & Clarifying kit. So easy to use..peel pads & clarifying pads, how simple. They are full of fruit acids so dead skin is removed and skin is brightened. Used more of the Phytocell Cream after the peel and I really felt like I had been to a Spa.

Scientific Organics products are at least 70% organic ingredients and paraben free, synthetic fragrance free and petro-chemical free. So good for your skin.

You can order emerginC products from the web site at emerginC.com..check out the other great products, too!