Pow(erful)Wow Women!

Today I had the good fortune of getting together with a group of smart, positive women who all own and operate independent businesses. I've been selling on etsy for years now, and that format is very familiar to me. Selling on OpenSky is new and exciting, but I've found that, for me, there is a definite learning curve. Seasoned OpenSky seller, Pam Gillie of YasuJutaro, offered to help me learn the ropes. Our good friends, Pamela Schuckman and Denise Goodbar of Oak Lane Designs are also new to this selling community, so together we discussed, learned, questioned, and made ourselves a little unofficial local chapter of sellers.

I wanted to take the time to introduce these fabulous women to you, and let you peek inside their companies. 

Us, today.

YasuJutaro Artisan Jewelry, Pam Gillie

The essence of YasuJutaro is simple elegance with a minimalist edge. Each piece is carefully handcrafted in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey, using only the finest quality materials - sterling silver, natural brass, gemstones, freshwater pearls and Italian, Roman, and Czech glass. 

YasuJutaro limited edition and one-of-a-kind pieces are crafted with the most critical eye for design and composition. When you wear YasuJutaro you are sure to receive many compliments and inquiries about your unique jewelry.  

You can visit their OpenSky shop at http://www.opensky.com/yasujutaro or "like" their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/yasujutaro.

oak lane designs, Pamela Schuckman & Denise Goodbar

oak lane designs owners Denise Goodbar and Pamela Schuckman create one-of-a-kind handmade accessories for girls, women and the home using vintage jewelry, repurposed fabric and findings.

oak lane designs aims to make what is old new again and believes that accessories are a great way to express who you are! They love to give an outfit or a room a new look by adding a unique accessory like a headband, hat, cuff, brooch, bag, necklace or frame.

Custom orders are welcome and can help make a wedding or any special occasion unique (think flower girl baskets, bridal or bridesmaids head pieces, brooches, etc.) See oak lane design’s  facebook page by clicking HERE: oak lane designs for wedding and other custom examples. 

You can visit their website at www.oaklanedesigns.com or their shop on OpenSky,  https://www.opensky.com/oaklanedesigns.

Domestic Goddess Ltd., Tiffany Palisi

So, as the writer of this blog, I hope you are okay with my conversational tone (it seems odd writing about myself in a formal manner, after having started casually). Since October 2011, I have been creating hand-poured candles in my home state of New Jersey. I did it because I wanted to have a fulfilling career, while still being able to be home to care for my family. Having been raised on scents -- my father is a perfumer --  it was a natural step for me to make candles.
 
Our small team makes our own scents and labels, and each candle is hand-poured by me! I sell online, in stores, and do special orders (fundraisers, wedding/shower/birthday/bar and bat mitzvah favors). You can check out my facebook page (be sure to LIKE it) by clicking HERE: Domestic Goddess Ltd., shop my etsy store, and visit my OpenSky shop at: https://www.opensky.com/domestic-goddess-ltd

Here's a little product tease...

oak lane designs

YasuJutaro

Domestic Goddess Ltd.

Repurposing (and a great reason to drink vodka and lemonade)

Bottled water is expensive and, more often than not, no better for you than tap water. The plastic from the bottles can leach into what you are drinking, and the water, sometimes, isn't even purified. While there are companies that offer pristine spring water, again, the bottles sort of contaminate what's inside.

However, the convenience factor is valid. It's much easier to drink from a bottle of water while running (though a SIGG filled with tap water is equally effective), and transporting a big bottle to a football game makes more sense that running back and forth to a water fountain.

Years ago, I starting buying Effervé, which is a sparkling French lemonade. It's sold in an embossed glass bottle, with a swing top cap that has a rubber stop and a metal flip. They are beautiful bottles, and great to reuse for other beverages. I started buying Effervé for the bottles, drank the contents, washed them out, and began putting tap water into the bottles. I'd keep them in the refrigerator so that the water would stay cold. 

Next, I picked up a vintage milk bottle carrier and started storing a handful of empty vintage bottles in it, a ball jar to hold napkins, and left a few slots open for our glass bottles of tap water. When I'd bring water to the dinner table, I didn't have to worry about filling a pitcher, or filling (and getting up to refill) each glass individually from the kitchen. Instead, I'd bring a few refillable glass bottles.

Vintage milk bottle carriers go for about $60. I got mine at a barn sale for $7.

Eventually, I had so many bottles that I had no place to store them. I gave most of them away. And of course, the minute I parted with them, I found I needed more. Tired of drinking lemonade but desperate for more swing top glass bottles, I was happy to discover that 360 vodka had a similar bottle. The only difference, really was that the embossing said 360 instead of whatever it was that the lemonade glass said. 

360 vodka makes a nice looking bottle, and practical to boot. Now, to get that label off!

 
Being a vodka drinker, I thought I'd give it a shot (pun intended). As soon as I finished the first bottle, I was thrilled to see that the bottle was both functional and attractive. The label has been a bit tougher to remove, but the drinking of the 360 was far more interesting that the lemonade had been. Not a bad trade off.


Tiffany Palisi is the owner of Domestic Goddess Ltd., a company that specializes in hand poured, scented candles. In addition, she refinishes furniture and sells vintage items through her online shop, Second Chance Vintage. She resides in New Jersey with her family. She can be reached at domesticgoddessltd@aol.com.

To Everything (turn, turn, turn), There Is A Season

You'd think that living with a meteorologist, I'd be more weather aware. Instead, I rely on getting a personal forecast at a moment's notice and, because of that, I don't really think about the weather. He tells me if it's going to rain, or be unseasonably chilly, allowing me to be lazy and not pay attention. But the weather we've had these past few days has demanded my attention.

Autumn or Summer?

It's been so chilly, with temps dropping into the 50s, that I'm physically shocked at how cold it's gotten. My dogs have also taken notice and have new found energy, since the oppressive heat has lifted. The autumnal chill has gotten me deep into thoughts of apple picking, fires in the fireplace (in addition to the fire pit), and (dare I say) pumpkin picking. I've been melting wax to make warm scents like butter pecan, pumpkin bread, and s'mores scented candles.

And while I sit freezing in our home, snuggled in my writing chair in a cozy Jetty sweatshirt and contemplating kicking on the heat, I try and wrap my head around the fact that a warm front is about to push through and bring us temps in the low to middle 90s in just two days. That's a 40* difference.

I'm wondering what I prefer; the revisiting weather of summer, or the introduction into fall. The thought of summer weather again will be lovely, but I am just starting to adjust to thoughts of fall. Add to that the fact that it's getting darker earlier, and the kids are in school... it just doesn't feel like summer to me. How about you? What's your preference?

Tiffany Palisi is the owner of Domestic Goddess Ltd., a company that specializes in hand poured, scented candles. In addition, she refinishes furniture and sells vintage items through her online shop, Second Chance Vintage. She resides in New Jersey with her family. She can be reached at domesticgoddessltd@aol.com.

Getting Creative with Furniture

As my budget is tight, I've tried to find ways to get creative with homemaking. Making big batches of tomato sauce and storing them in the freezer, buying ten boxes of pasta when they are on sale (ten for $10) things like that. So when I needed some furniture for one of my home's bedrooms, I thought about how I could get things done on the cheap.

I truly cannot stand most of the furniture on the market. It's cheaply made with particle board and looks like every other piece of furniture. The nicer stuff often costs and arm and a leg. I tend to buy repurposed furniture, or well-crafted pieces from places like Restoration Hardware (where we got our beautiful new bed).

I used to visit an amazing shop called Savannah Hope Vintage (that now sells at the Brooklyn Flea) whose owner finds amazing old furniture -- high quality, well made wood pieces -- and repaints them to make them fabulous. I had her refinish my grandparents old bedroom set, and also bought six other pieces that she did.

Though there are many pieces that I've wanted to buy from her, my budget didn't allow for more than $20 - $40 for this room. I decided to try and copy something that I saw at Savannah Hope Vintage. It was an ombré effect in shades of grey. Yesterday, I went out and found a dresser from the 1970's, something similar to what I had as a child, and went about getting colors to paint the dresser.

The dresser. Before.

I bought sample sizes of four shades of green, beginning with one that was almost white. Then I lightly sanded the wood, removed the handles, and set up to paint.

Paint shades and sanding sponge.

The process was cathartic. I loved the process (except, maybe, sanding). Seeing the colors come together, drawer after drawer, excited me. I couldn't stop until I was done. I wanted to see the finished product. After a few hours of sanding and painting, here is the final piece (drawers open to allow for optimum drying). I am so excited about it that I think I'm going to do more. Baby, we're gonna need a bigger home.

The Creamiest Macaroni & Cheese

Rainy nights like tonight are made for comfort. I've lit a fire and cozied up on the couch, but only after making the creamiest macaroni and cheese.

I made it on the stove top for my son, and will be baking the casserole portion of it tomorrow afternoon, for my boyfriend. The recipe is surprisingly easy, no roux required, and it tastes too good to be true.

Here's the recipe. I hope you enjoy it.

Take a 1 lb. box of your favorite noodles (I used rigatoni) and boil. While the noodles are cooking, brown 1 cup panko bread crumbs in a pan with melted butter (about 2 T worth of butter). Once it turns golden, remove from heat, salt to taste, and add a little bit of paprika for color.

Take small casserole dish and coat the bottom of the dish with melted butter. Pour the panko over the top to form the bottom crust of the mac and cheese.

Butter fried panko coats the bottom of casserole

Once pasta is cooked, drain water and return to stove top. Add about 2 cups of freshly shredded sharp cheddar, and 6 slices of deli sliced yellow American cheese (the American cheese binds the cheddar and makes it creamy). Stir until creamy. You can add a little milk, salt, and pepper. I add about 1/4 cup milk, and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg.

Cheesy rigatoni

Spoon cheesy pasta into the casserole dish, being careful not to disturb the panko crust. Pack it tightly to the top, then put remaining butter fried panko over the top. Take a small square of wax paper, put it over the top, and press to flatten. Discard after using.

Ready for the oven

Bake in the oven at 350* for 10 minutes. Serve warm and fresh.

Dirty Girls

Recently, I started running. I began to run because my dog, Rocco, has endless amounts of energy and running with him was the only way that I could tire him out. And then, of course, my boyfriend runs, my friends run, and the weight I've been wanting to lose will come off faster if running is involved.

So today, when my friend Lina, posted a question (something to the effect of Dirty Girl or Spartan?), I knew I had to run the Dirty Girl race. It's a mud run that is only for women, but men are invited to watch and offer moral support.

Moral support and kisses.

Aside from the fact that the name is just fabulous, Dirty Girl is a 5K for people of all levels and abilities. They have named the water section H2OMG, and another one PMS, pretty muddy stuff. If you want to avoid an obstacle, you can (no burpees as payment). You can run in a tutu, a bikini, whatever you'd like. It's all girls. Pink is the main race color.

This Dirty Girl goal forces me to get my act together and get back in shape (it is also just two weeks before my beach vacation, so it cracks the whip just in time). I'm so excited about this race that I've started a team, hoping to run with lots of fun women. To join my team, Dirty Domestic Goddess Girls, register using Team Code: VHLVW. Everyone who runs with us gets a specially made Dirty Girl candle. Just for our team!

A huge thank you to the beautiful, fit and motivating Lina Catanzaro, for putting it out there and getting the wheels in motion. Run, girl. Run.

Privacy, Please

I've always been an open book. I'd tell anyone who asked what was going on in my life, even the personal stuff, if they cared to know. I always thought that it was just being honest, authentic. Why not spill stuff about my childhood, my finances, my romantic interludes?

As I've gotten older, I've found myself having deeper feelings that I like to keep to myself. Some of the sweetest moments in my life are the ones that I want to keep for myself. Why share the beauty of private, intimate moments that were really only intended for me?

I've started lifting the drawbridge and keeping the important stuff on my side of the moat.

Some of the things I choose to keep private are feelings, others are emotions. And then there are observations, thoughts, actions that grow bigger and more special when they are kept protected. Truth be told, it's hard to hush up about moments that are so amazing I'd like to share them with the world. It's hard to be bubbling with excitement and keep that to myself. Doing so, however, elevates those special, joyful moments to a new level, and keeps them protected.


Clearly, there is something to be said for keeping things private. I've learned this firsthand, and while sometimes people have a hard time accepting this change in me, it's a good one and I'm glad I've implemented it.