I'll have a blue, Blu-ray Christmas

On the week before Christmas, Santa gave to me -- a Sony Blu-ray player!

Years ago, when there was the HD-DVD vs. Blu-ray war, I wrongly chose to purchase for x-mas an HD-DVD player, which has now become obsolete. I was bitter, but finally I caved and have gone to the blue side and am loving my new Sony BDP-S185, Internet connected Blu-ray Disc Player with HD 1080p playback & DVD upscaling for several reasons:

A. Internet Streaming & Apps. This model is also wifi and Internet enabled, so you can access apps like NetFlix, YouTube, Pandora, and more on your HDTV through the same machine easily. Before, I used to play my NetFlix instant videos through my Wii, but that required using a Wii remote, which was a pain since mine are never charged. Also, hooking it up to my Netflix account was much easier than expected and it played nicely with no freezes and the picture was excellent.

B. Affordable. Blu-ray players are a lot more affordable now. You can purchase players like this one for around $79.99. In fact, this model has been in the top three players sold of all manufacturers since Black Friday.

C. TRON Legacy and Gone With The Wind. I can now watch the Blu-ray versions of films in all their high def glory. I actually already own several discs since I bought combo packs just in case.

D. Compact. This Sony Blu-ray player is super sleek and slim and nearly half the size of the typical Blu-ray players out there today. My old player was a behemoth and now my entertainment stand looks a lot less cluttered.

E. Energy Star Compliant. The Sony BDP-S185 meets Energy Star 2.0 standards, with electric power consumption significantly reduced during both use and standby.

F. Quick. Powers on in less than 3 seconds. My old one would take forever just to turn on. It didn't help that I'm so inpatient that I'd hit the power button again while waiting and turn it back off, just so I'd have to wait again for it to load, grr.

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Wordless Wednesday: Our Holiday Card

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5 Last Minute Holiday Gift Ideas for Friends

This year, I've pretty much did all my holiday shopping online. If you're still looking for suggestions, below are five gift ideas that I came across that I thought were particularly fun for friends and family.
Wine Cork Candles
$22; Uncommongoods.com
These clever candles masquerade as corks, but they'll bring a warm glow to your dinner table as quaint miniature lighting. Place one in the mouth of a used wine bottle to turn it into a candlestick. Sold as a set of twelve cork candles.



Remote Control Container
$20; momastore.org
If you're like me and have four different remote controls on your couch for your cable, TV, DVD Player, etc., then this modern container from the MoMA store is the perfect, stylish solution. Hopefully it will also save me time from always searching for the missing remote.


Frangelico Truffles
$15-$46; Nieman Marcus Stores & mariebelle.com
Created by renowned chocolatier, Maribel Lieberman, chef & owner of MarieBelle Fine Chocolates in New York these truffles are a great gift idea for anyone during this holiday season! They come beautifully packaged in five different assortments to choose from with the ganaches painted in holiday patterns as well. These truffles are smooth, almost velvety with hints of vanilla, hazelnut and coffee. If that doesn’t convince you, apparently Oprah is a fan and for some reason that always seems to motivate people.


Tea Chests filled with Top Brands of Tea
$39.95-$54.95; EnglishTeaStore.com
These solid wood tea chests are perfect for tea lovers, hostesses and those that like to entertain guests. They also come empty or pre-filled with eight different types of individually wrapped teabags from either Stash or Taylors of Harrogate teas. This also helps eliminate all the individual paper tea boxes that might be in the cupboard.


Retro iPhone Covers
$1.75-$13.98; Amazon
Calling all geeks and 80s fans. These silicone cases not only protect your phone, but transports it back to another decade. No flux capacitor needed! ;) Raphael has the cassette player case in blue for his iPhone 4 and he's always getting compliments on it. I'm partial to the old Gameboy skin though and there's also the Zack Morris holder too.

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Roaring Twenties at The Brandy Library

I have a birthday twin. To make it all the more coincidental, her name also happens to be Tara. We've been friends since high school. This year, was her 30th birthday and she threw a grand celebration in a private downstairs room at The Brandy Library in Tribeca. A group of 25 of us, decked out in roaring twenties inspired attire, did a special Scotch tasting of seven rare single malts. The owner also educated us with a lecture all about the history and process of Scotch as we sampled the "water of life."

To get into the theme, the guys donned vests, pocket watches, fedoras and the ladies recreated old fashion hair styles and brought out their vintage jewelry and dresses. I found a black flapper girl-like dress, borrowed a feather headband from my mother and ordered a platinum blonde bob wing from eBay. Take a look:

 

If you're a Scotch drinker like me, definitely visit The Brandy Library! I've been to Scotch bars like Seven Grand out in Los Angeles, but this blows them all away with its upscale lounge resembling an old English gentleman's club laden with hundreds of rare and expensive bottles of Scotch, Whisky and Bourbon reachable only by sliding library ladders. They also offer on-going scotch tastings and spirits schools, just check out their event listings for the next one.

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Most requested celebrities for plastic surgeries

Who is the most requested celebrity that women want to look like? According to Dr. Tim Abou-Sayed of Plastic Surgery of Palm Beach, it depends on what body part! Who do you think makes the cut? (pun intended).

"Angelina Jolie's lips are probably the most commonly requested facial feature in my practice - a result that can often be closely mimicked by judicious use of fillers like Restylane," said Dr. Abou-Sayed in an email interview with me last week. "Other popular lips are Jessica Alba's or Katherine Heigl's. Also, Halle Berry's cheekbones, J Lo's and now, Pipa Middleton's backside are very popular requests as well," he added.

I was curious of the age range for these kind of procedures and the doctor responded, "Typically, patients in their mid-20's to mid-30's request gluteal enhancements (Butt lifts, lips with fillers, etc.). Patients in the more mature years though are often interested in looking like Rene Russo, Raquel Welch, Michelle Pfeiffer, who are all aging so gracefully and beautifully. Jane Fonda is an example of a popular lady in senior years who has admitted to having a facelift, with a great and natural result, and many patients want that look."

I had to ask though, if he ever tells clients that a certain celeb feature just wouldn’t make sense for their face? For example, I have very thin lips, so can't picture those overly inflated Hollywood lips making sense for my small face anyway. To which he answered, "Yes, I sometimes have to tell a patient that the feature they are seeking will not fit well with their face, body frame, ethnic features, or health profile. Just because you can do something, that does not mean that you should."

Along these lines, Dr. Abou-Sayed mentioned that Ashlee Simpson seems to be a standard request for rhinoplasty that clearly improves the patient's aesthetics without changing their overall facial features or recognize ability. On the other hand, he brought up actress Jennifer Grey who publicly has made it known that she had a nose job, which despite being an attractive, aesthetic result, may have hampered her career because audiences did not recognize her. "So, even a good result must be judged in the context of the purpose for which a patient is seeking a cosmetic procedure," said Dr. Abou-Sayed.

It's not just women going for these celeb look-a-like surgeries though, but the numbers are smaller as only 8-9% of cosmetic surgeries in the U.S. are for males.

Which celebrity has the best features in his professional opinion?
"I have always thought Salma Hayek has natural beauty with curvaceous features without being unnaturally thin, with a gorgeous face and she is aging wonderfully. Among men, I think George Clooney is the new Cary Grant - the women want him, the men want to be him," said Dr. Abou-Sayed. Amen to the GC comment!

What are your thoughts? I was surprised by some of the celebs mentioned. Who is your celeb ideal? Mine has always been Jennifer Aniston, but as a whole, not broken down by body part I suppose.

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Beach Vacation Home Makeover

As you might remember, we bought a 2 bedroom, 2 bath condo down in Naples, Florida that we've been refurbishing and decorating. Since we're looking for seasonal rentals and to use it in the off-season when we can, we had to furnish the place completely down to every utensil and cleaning supply.

In just two months, working both remotely and finishing up over this Thanksgiving holiday, we got the entire place painted, the tub resurfaced, a new front screen door and glass shower slider installed, the carpet and tile power cleaned and much more. My mother also helped clean the lanai windows extensively and Raphael put new knobs and hinges on the kitchen cabinets, which gave the kitchen a much-needed facelift. I also rummaged all the good consignment shops in the area for furniture, combed DIY tips and searched for the right final touches.

Since the condo is only 2 miles from the beach, I wanted to go kitsch with seashells and palm trees, while also staying modern and classy. Here are some shots of the wall art that I went with and other details too:

Now, without further ado, I'm proud to share our Before & After pictures:

Living Room Before & After:

Dining Room:

Kitchen:

Lanai:

I even used palm tree contact paper in the cabinets!

Oh, and I found the wooden wine rack below for $5, but it was brown, so I spray painted it white. This was my first time spray painting anything and it's not as easy at it looks. I got paint all over me and it kept forming bubbles or dripping on the wood itself. I missed a few spots too, but it luckily gave it a vintage look that way. I don't know how taggers do it!

The Bedrooms:

What do you think?? We even created a website for our Southwest Florida vacation rental: www.napleswinterrental.com

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