Sunshine Day

For those of us who grew up on The Brady Bunch, one of show’s greatest highlights is the Brady kids’ talent show debut with the irrisistably, saccharin sweet “Sunshine Day.” I can still remember the first moment, and then the 250th, that I saw the Brady’s perform their poorly choreographed and earnestly sung soon-to-be-mega-hit. As a kid, I could never imagine a rainy day for a seemingly sunnier group of people.

June is supposed to be the start of summer, but for me it’s really just signified some of the most horrific rains, including one incredibly weird, hurricane-like episode complete with hail in the middle of the month.

Given my recent quest for sunshine, it’s no surprise I’ve become obsessed with citrine. Like turquoise, citrine is supposed to transform negative energy into a positive form. It’s supposed to open up your mind, and healers believe it helps create new thoughts.

It’s said that you should wear citrine when you need to TCB (take care of business!) – this includes family matters. Did Elvis know anything about citrine when he designed this groovy Graceland lounge? (Maybe you can’t see here, but this room has “TCB” written all over the walls!)

Citrine is said to encapsulate the sun’s energy, and has been used since the middle ages to treat those suffering from light deprivation syndrome and depression.

It’s supposed to be helpful in all aspects of success, communication, and relationships.

It is also extraordinarily beautiful… And comes in a wide variety of yellows and oranges.

They weren’t expensive, but I recently purchased these modest citrine earrings as a way of carrying a little sunshine with me throughout the day.

What I really want is this gorgeous bauble… (Look at it in all its glory, surrounded my tsavorite garnets…yum…)

Until then, I’ll just have to sing along with The Brady Bunch – and hope that the more citrine I have, the better my luck is!!!

Click here to sing along!

I think i'll go for a walk outside now

the summer sun's callin my name(i hear ya now)

i just can't stay inside all day

i gotta get out get me some of those rays

everybody's smilin

sunshine day

everybody's laughin

sunshine day

everybody seems so happy today

it's a sunshine day

I think I'll go for a walk out side now

the summer sun knows me by name

he's callin me

I gotta get u, gotta get out, gotta get away

I gotta get away, get away, get away, get away

Into the sunshine day....

Cant you dig the sunshine

Now its all but the same

Cant you hear him callin your name?

Oh, I think I'll take a walk everyday now

the summer sun has shown the way to be happy now

I just cant stay inside all day

I gotta get out get me some of those rays

everybody's smilin

sunshine dayeverybody's laughin

sunshine day

everybody seems so happy today

it's a sunshine day

Cant you dig the sunshine

Now its sounded the same

Cant you hear him callin your name?

i think i'll go for a walk outside now

the summer sun's callin my name

I just cant stay inside all day

I gotta get out get me some of those rays

everybody's smilin

sunshine day

everybody's laughin sunshine day

everybody seems so happy today

it's a sunshine day

everybody's smilin

sunshine day

everybody's laughin

sunshine day

everybody seems so happy today...

AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE [A How To]

Well, my friends, sometimes life throws us a bucket of lemons, maybe even a whole truckload of lemons. Not only do they look nothing like a Martha Stewart magazine cover, nor do you feel like making lemonade. When lemons are rotten – there’s no euphemism to make up for it. Rotten lemons are just plain rotten.

Sometimes, there’s so very little you can do. You have to surround yourself with friends, your favorite movies, and, maybe, get a little help from (yes!) jewelry.
So…I did some research to figure out which gemstones help you recharge the positive side of your batteries, and was delighted to learn that they include some of my favorite stones. The first, is fluorite.

Fluorite is a complex mineral known for its gorgeous array of colors. Fluorites specific hue helps focus on your specific center of healing. Green is for healing your heart and mind. Purple fluorite can help you out of a mental rut.

And blue, my favorite, fosters inner peace.

Fluorite’s a physical healer, too, particularly bones and teeth. It’s said to help balance chakras, primarily the Third Eye chakra, helping to create clarity and the ability to see alternate realities.

I was delighted to see that another natural elixir is turquoise. I love turquoise. Its color depends on the region on which it’s discovered; the more copper, the bluer the stone, the more iron, the greener it is.

There is a reason Native Americans regard turquoise as a sacred stone. It is said to absorb negativity and actually transform it into something positive.

As if that wasn’t enough, turquoise fosters empathy, and enhances friendship, love, communication and loyalty.

Why am I not wearing turquoise every minute of every single day???

This three-strand necklace has enough turquoise in it, even for the toughest of jobs.

Here I am wearing my favorite turquoise teardrops, looking, I should say, pretty gosh darn peaceful (and positive).

When in doubt, sing along with Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin by clicking here.

AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between)

(Johnny Mercer / Harold Arlen)

You've got to accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

You've got to spread joy up to the maximum

Bring gloom down to the minimum

Have faith or pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

(To illustrate his last remark

Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they do

Just when everything looked so dark)

Man, they said we better

Accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No, do not mess with Mister In-Between

Do you hear me, hmm?

(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear

About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)

And gather 'round me children if you're willin'

And sit tight while I start reviewin'

The attitude of doin' right

(You've gotta accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between)

You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium

Liable to walk upon the scene

To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark

What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark

Man, they said we better

Accentuate the positive

Eliminate the negative

Latch on to the affirmative

Don't mess with Mister In-Between

No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between

Blonde, Like Me

It’s safe to say that my hair has gone through many, many different incarnations over the last few decades. When I was very little it was as blonde as it could be, and my hair was short to accentuate my little curls.

But, alas, as time took its toll, my hair grew darker and my hairdresser became richer.

There was a period in my mid-twenties when I experimented with dark auburn, which I loved, but it was too far from my natural color, and I found myself having to pitch a tent in the hair salon. It looked pretty rockin’ with my chin-length bob, though.

Statistics say that women with naturally blonde hair are incredibly rare, and (as I think we’ve already established) it’s blondes like me who are keeping hairdressers in the red.

We can’t help it. Our subconscious identifies women with blonde hair are youthful and innocent. Contrary to popular belief, this perception wasn’t initiated with Disney and their string of yellow-haired heroines.

Because of this, Hitchcock was said to have consciously chosen to cast only blondes in his main roles, since they would be the least suspected of wrong-doings, but like thief on the run Janet Leigh in Psycho.

Still, we associate blonde as fun, kind, and, yes, at times – idiocy.

Early folklore forewarned that their yearning for precious golden locks, could cause malevolent fairies to steal light haired babies and children.

Let’s not forget about the girl with the most golden locks of all, and how her (blonde induced?) naïveté put her in some pretty precarious situations…

Maxfield Parrish’s “Sleep Beauty” is possibly one of the most gorgeous paintings of a fair-haired blonde ever created.

I love it when blonde is described as flaxen, and like to believe that Debussy was thinking of a girl like me when he wrote “The Girl with the Flaxen Hair”. (Click here to listen.)

Summer may seem like the best time to be blonde, but it’s pretty fantastic all year long.

Do blondes have more fun? That truly depends on the blonde, if you ask me. But possibly the most famous blonde in history found the transition brought her from anonymous cover girl…

To fair-haired icon.

You decide.

The Birthday Birds

Anyone who reads this blog regularly will notice two recurring themes: my friend Nicole, and my love for birds. Sometime in mid-June I went to pick up a deliciously belated birthday gift from the Milford post office, and when I opened I, a delectably girlish scent came wafting out….I would notice that scent absolutely anywhere. The temple of all women in New York City: Anthropologie.

Amongst the several gifts in the box was a book, but not just any ordinary book – this is How to Paint the Portrait of a Bird by Mordricai Gerstein.

It tells the story of a child who, upon waking, erects an easel, grabs his paint and brushes, and paints all things that make a bird happy, starting with the essentials – sunshine, the sound of the summer breeze, a strong perch.

Finally, the bird comes to sing, and all is right in the world.

The story is enough to grasp one’s heart, but the artwork is joyful, bright, and captivating.

The story is a fable so ultimately universal that it’s officially my favorite, on par with that heartwarming standby, The Giving Tree.

There’s something so warm and universal about the both of them. It’s the best gift for any child – even grown up children like myself.

That intoxicating smell that first came out of the box belonged to another bird-motif gift. Mozi date, fig & olive soap.

Fig is one of my all time favorite scents, and I’ve been known to burn this Votivo Moroccan fig candle down the last trace of wax.

How can something be so calming to your body, and so invigorating to your mind – all at the same time? That’s what everything mentioned here does for me.

I’m going to go read my book now…the sun is starting to finally come out…

La Noce di Cocco

Nothing smells like summer more than the wafting scent of coconut. Here I’d like to share some of my most beloved coconut products that keep me smelling (and dreaming of!) summer all year long.

It all starts, as most summers do, with Coppertone. Coppertone’s worked so hard to create a bazillion products without oil, and with ultimate UVA protection, but it’s the original with its strong coconut scent that I love so much. Just so long as you don’t leave the beach looking like this:


The first time I went to St. Martin (for Thanksgiving in 2006), I picked up this coconut deodorant at the local grocery store. On days when I don’t feel like wearing perfume, this deodorant gives off a subtle and soft scent that reminds me of the St. Martin sun, even in the chilliest days of winter.


I recently discovered this Organix coconut leave-in conditioner in the most genius spray. It does wonders for unruly hair like mine, and, again, leaves a lingering smell that forces everyone who hugs me to say, “You smell amazing! What is that?”

This Skin Trip coconut soap smells good enough to eat. I keep them in drawers all over my house to capture their authentic, intoxicating island scent.

To this day I’m not sure exactly how or why you’d ever put the lime in the coconut and mix it all up, but I do know that La Samanna in St. Martin makes the best pina colada I’ve ever had in my life.

If you’re not as lucky as me to be able to visit the Coconut Man in the market of Marigot, where he’ll split a coconut right in front you, and allow you to drink the juice with a straw…

Then perhaps try this pina colada recipe to get you through the dog days of summer (if dogs drank rum with pineapple). Enjoy!

Pina Colada recipe

Old-style recipe for this popular drink. The coconut cream needs to have the right consistancy, some find the alternative, coconut milk to be too thin, however you can add condensed milk to coconut milk to bring up it's thickness. Add pineapple juice if desired.

3 oz light rum3 tbsp coconut cream3 tbsp crushed pineapples

Put all ingredients into an electric blender with 2 cups of crushed ice. Blend at a high speed for a short length of time. Strain into a collins glass and serve with a straw.

She Sells Sea Shells

When I was very little, long before I’d ever set foot on a tropical island, I would lament the end of summer as though it were a dying friend, stealing even the coldest, rainiest days to run along the beach and brave the frigid Atlantic Ocean.

Not much has changed all these years later. I am still stealing every hour the beach has to offer, along with its greatest natural treasures.

The earliest hours are my favorites, and if I had my wares, I’d be up with the sun. This is my favorite time because it is often the calmest. The perfect opportunity for a private stroll, where I always stop to collect sea shells.




The shells themselves of course vary by indigenous location. Some of my favorites are these very perfect and tiny clam-like shells.

Shell jewelry is beyond a doubt the most perfect beach accessory. I have a strong of the most remarkable shells which, despite their varied sizes and shapes, create the ideal bikini co-conspirator.

For centuries, certain cultures believes that shells were gods and embodied mystical powers. I love shells of all colors, but these are the ideal iridescent white, and go with just about everything. Because they’re shell, I never worry about maintenance, sun exposure, perfume, or suntan lotion – nothing is going to penetrate these sturdy suckers! Sea or sand, my shells go where I go.

I recently fell in love with these olive, round shells which nearly, at first glance, look like freshwater pearls. While most shells often signify summer, these weather the seasons, and look as great in a business meeting as they do with a bright summer cocktail.

When I first arrived in NYC 12 years ago, a friend gave me the most beautifully perfect shell. It was a delicate, pure white conch-shaped shell, the kind which, when the mood struck, I could hold up to my ear and attempt to hear the ocean’s mysterious hum. At that time the shell was the most meaningful gift as throughout each and every city move (and there were a lot of them) I carefully packed the paper thin mollusk and carried it from place to place. Apropos, as shells have to make a similar weathered journey of survival before they land on shore.

For so long that shell made a valiant pilgrimage from box to bedside, borough to borough, until it met an untimely domestic demise 10 years after its purchase. While nothing can take its place, I continue to search for shells wherever there’s a water’s edge. And no matter how old I get, whenever I see a conch, I hold it up to my ear, close my eyes, and listen to the sounds of the sea.