Archive for the ‘Products’ Category

Beautiful Women over 50: Paula Jerome Jewelry

Tuesday, May 1st, 2012

Paula Jerome

About five years ago, I was driving around doing errands one Saturday afternoon and for no particular reason, I decided to get a manicure – something I almost never do. I think it’s because the nail polish usually chips the next day and then I feel like I’ve just wasted money. So, there I was in a small nail salon in Asheville, and sitting next to me was an amazing woman/jeweler, Paula Jerome. We talked non-stop the entire time our nails were drying. Paula was passionate about making jewelry and growing her design business. I was excited to tell her about my work with the university advising small and medium size businesses in the region, and we immediately set up an appointment. I couldn’t wait to link her up with resources and organizations like HandMade in America. Sometimes, clients become friends and I’m happy to say that even though Paula moved back to New Jersey to be closer to her family, our friendship endured, and she says I even helped her get her business off the ground.

Paula is 63 now, and it wasn’t until the age of 55 that she ventured into jewelry making. That path proved to be her life’s purpose, and one she feels very blessed to have found because some people never find it. For Paula, that purpose is bringing joy to others through her creations and her passion.

Paula’s collection is made from 100% recycled gold and silver and features precious and semi-precious stones. It’s gorgeous. And by the way, her original Atlantic City Charms were worn on the Emmy Red Carpet last September by cast members of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Not bad for a new designer. Take a peak at her entire collection.

Atlantic City charm bracelet

Instead of a traditional interview, I wanted to give you a unique look into Paula’s personality, so I asked her 6 random questions. Here are her answers. Thanks, Paula.

1. What was the name of the first record you ever bought?

In The Still of The Night by the Five Satins

2. What is the one thing you have to put on or have on that makes you feel good about leaving the house?

My Cell Phone

3. What is your favorite comfort food and how much does it cost?

Turkey Wings. About $2.99 a pound

4. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about being over 50?

Favorite ~ My grandchildren!!! Least favorite ~ Wrinkles!

5. Favorite lipstick? And where do you get it?

Lipstick ~ Chanel Rouge Coco Shine Hydrating Sheer Lipstick, Neiman Marcus

6. What is your most favorite thing to do that is “creative”?

Make my jewelry!!!

Tags: beautifulwomenover50, creativewomenover50, midlife journey, paulajerome, women baby boomers, women over fifty, women's journeys
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Friends, Journey, Main, Products, Products, Shopping, Style | 2 Comments »

Oops50: Do You Know About the Discounts for Baby Boomers?

Tuesday, February 28th, 2012

Annice

A friend of mine at Sheville.org was waiting in line behind an older gentleman at Wendy’s recently, and heard him ask for a senior discount. The young woman at the register apologized and charged him less for his meal. When my friend asked the man what the discount was, he told her seniors over 55 gets 10% off everything on the menu, every day. This incident prompted her to do some research, (thanks Va) and she discovered a list of restaurants, supermarkets, department stores, travel deals, and other types of offers giving various discounts with different age requirements. Below, you’ll find a long list of discounts for us baby boomers, and it’s surprising just how many of them start at the young age of 50.

Just think, when you get that craving for pancakes IHOP is ready with your discount, or on the day you’re having a real ice cream emergency, Ben and Jerry’s will add a 10% discount to that rich creamy cone, and all you have to do is ask.

Hmmmm, it seems to me if Dunkin Donuts is willing to give free coffee to us boomers and you’re paying for a cup every day, you might want to start getting it for free. Oh, and my very favorite is the savings you get with our National Parks – I’m just saying…

Here’s the list ladies. It’s long. Enjoy!

Restaurants
Applebees: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+)
Arbys: 10% off (55+)
Ben & Jerrys: 10% off (60+)
Boston Market: 10% off (65+)
Burger King: 10% off (60+)
Captain Ds Seafood: discount varies on location (62+)
Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee (55+)
Chilis: 10% off (55+)
Culvers: 10% off (60+)
Dennys: 10% off, 20% off for AARP members (55+)
Dunkin Donuts: 10% off or free coffee (55+)
Einsteins Bagels: 10% off bakers dozen of bagels (60+)
Golden Corral: 10% off (60+)
Hardees: $0.33 beverages everyday (65+)
IHOP: 10% off (55+)
Jack in the Box: up to 20% off (55+)
KFC: free small drink with any meal (55+)
Krispy Kreme: 10% off (50+)
Long John Silvers: various discounts at participating locations (55+)
McDonalds: discounts on coffee everyday (55+)
Shoneys: 10% off
Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (60+)
Steak n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday (50+)
Subway: 10% off (60+)
Taco Bell: 5% off; free beverages for seniors (65+)
TCBY: 10% off (55+)
Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (60+)
Wendys: 10% off (55+)
White Castle: 10% off (62+)

Retail And Apparel
Banana Republic: 10% off (50+)
Bealls: 20% off first Tuesday of each month (50+)
Belks: 15% off first Tuesday of every month (55+)
Big Lots: 10% off
Bon-Ton Department Stores: 15% off on senior discount days (55+)
C.J. Banks: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
Clarks: 10% off (62+)
Dress Barn: 10% off (55+)
Goodwill: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Hallmark: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kmart: 20% off (50+)
Kohls: 15% off (60+)
Modells Sporting Goods: 10% off
Rite Aid: 10% off on Tuesdays & 10% off prescriptions
Ross Stores: 10% off every Tuesday (55+)
The Salvation Army Thrift Stores: up to 50% off (55+)
Stein Mart: 20% off red dot / clearance items first Monday of every month
(55+)

Grocery
Albertsons: 10% off first Wednesday of each month (55+)
American Discount Stores: 10% off every Monday (50+)
Compare Foods Supermarket: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
DeCicco Family Markets: 5% off every Wednesday (60+)
Food Lion: 6% off every Monday (60+)
Frys Supermarket: free Frys VIP Club Membership & 10% off every
Monday (55+)
Great Valu Food Store: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Gristedes Supermarket: 10% off every Tuesday (60+)
Harris Teeter: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
Hy-Vee: 5% off one day a week (date varies by location)
Kroger: 10% off (date varies by location)
Morton Williams Supermarket: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
The Plant Shed: 10% off every Tuesday (50+)
Publix: 5% off every Wednesday (55+)
Rogers Marketplace: 5% off every Thursday (60+)
Uncle Guiseppes Marketplace: 5% off (62+)

Travel
Alaska Airlines: 10% off (65+)
Alamo: up to 25% off for AARP members
American Airlines: various discounts for 65 and up (call before booking
for discount)
Amtrak: 15% off (62+)
Avis: up to 25% off for AARP members
Best Western: 10% off (55+)
Budget Rental Cars: 10% off; up to 20% off for AARP members (50+)
Cambria Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Clarion: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Comfort Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
Continental Airlines: no initiation fee for Continental Presidents Club
& special fares for select destinations
Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off (50+)
Econo Lodge: 20%-30% off (60+)
Enterprise Rent-A-Car: 5% off for AARP members
Greyhound: 5% off (62+)
Hampton Inns & Suites: 10% off when booked 72 hours in advance
Hertz: up to 25% off for AARP members
Holiday Inn: 10%-30% off depending on location (62+)
Hyatt Hotels: 25%-50% off (62+)
InterContinental Hotels Group: various discounts at all hotels (65+)
Mainstay Suites: 10% off with Mature Travelers Discount (50+); 20%-30%
off (60+)
Marriott Hotels: 15% off (62+)
Motel 6: 10% off (60+)
Myrtle Beach Resort: 10% off (55+)
National Rent-A-Car: up to 30% off for AARP members
Quality Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Rodeway Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Sleep Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
Southwest Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before
booking for discount)
Trailways Transportation System: various discounts for ages 50 and up
United Airlines: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before
booking for discount)
U.S. Airways: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking
for discount)

Activities And Entertainment
AMC Theaters: up to 30% off (55+)
Bally Total Fitness: up to $100 off memberships (62+)
Busch Gardens Tampa: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)
Carmike Cinemas: 35% off (65+)
Cinemark / Century Theaters: up to 35% off
U.S. National Parks: $10 lifetime pass; 50% off additional services
including camping (62+)
Regal Cinemas: 30% off
Ripleys Believe it or Not: @ off one-day ticket (55+)
SeaWorld Orlando: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)

Cell Phone Discounts
AT&T: Special Senior Nation 200 Plan $29.99 / month (65+)
Jitterbug: $10 / month cell phone service (50+)
Verizon Wireless: Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus Plan $29.99 / month (65+).

Miscellaneous
Great Clips: $3 off hair cuts (60+)
Super Cuts: $2 off haircuts (60+)

Tags: baby boomers, babyboomerwomen, discounts for seniors, senior citizen discounts, women over fifty, womenbabyboomers, womenwritersover50
Posted in Aging, Main, Money, Products, Products, Products, Retirement, Shopping, Travel, World | 5 Comments »

Oops50: Sadhvi’s Apple Charlotka

Friday, January 20th, 2012

APPLES PILED HIGH

After realizing that I only spent 3 minutes, 10 times a day on FB, I decided to try and see how many “real” hours a day I was spending on the computer. It turns out I average around 5 hours. By stopping FB, I had only managed to cut out 3.5 hours per week. Hmmm.

I thought it would be interesting to find out how I compared with my friends, and found out that working and retired people alike spend about the same amount of time, an average of 8.5 hours a day…reading books, watching YouTube, texting, answering emails, being in chat rooms, playing games, working…whatever. Some were on for around 16 hours per day, while others were just on it an hour.

I am not trying to turn back the hands of time here. I do realize this is the norm now, this being on the computer for hours and hours and hours. I just realized that being on the computer has replaced and surpassed the amount of time spent watching TV. I went to get my eyes examined the other day, and my eye Dr. told me that I should get a pair of glasses that I use just for the computer, to avoid eye strain, which I do have.

So since I can’t cut down much more, I can take breaks: baking, gardening, painting.

Apple Charlotka

Here’s a recipe from the Smitten site (one of the few food blogs that I like) that I have modified to make gluten-free. I’ve also cut back the sugar a bit, and sprinkle some of it on top to get a bit of caramelized glaze on top. You’ll see. It’s easy, not too sweet, and very yummy. The original recipe calls for all-purpose flour, by the way, which of course you can use.

Sadhvi’s Apple Charlotka

Butter or nonstick spray, for greasing the pan

6 large tart Apples, like a Granny Smith
3 large Eggs
1/2 cup Sugar
…and another 1/4 cup Sugar to sprinkle on top towards the end of the baking time in the oven
1 t. Cinnamon
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
1 cup of Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix (this replaces the flour, it is gluten-free, and, it tastes good!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch springform pan with parchment paper.

Butter the paper and the sides of the pan.

Peel, halve and core apples, then chop them into medium-sized chunks.

Put the cut apples directly in the prepared pan.

Meanwhile in a large bowl, using an electric mixer or whisk, and beat eggs with sugar until thick.

Beat in vanilla, then add the cinnamon.

Now stir in Pamela’s Baking & Pancake Mix with a spoon until just combined. (The batter will be very thick.)

Pour batter over apples in pan, using a spoon or spatula to spread the batter so that it covers all exposed apples. (i.e. spread the batter and press it down into the apple pile. The top of the batter should end up level with the top of the apples.)

Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes or so.

Then sprinkle that reserved 1/4 cup of sugar on top.

Bake another 5 minutes or so.

Now move the pan up a rack, and put on Broil. (At this point, watch the cake to make sure it does not burn!)

When done, cool in pan for 10 minutes on rack, then flip out onto another rack, peel off the parchment paper, and flip it back onto a serving platter.

Eat plain, warm or at room temperature, with some whipped cream or sour cream on top to get fancy, if desired.

Enjoy!

It's Good!

Tags: apple sharlotka, easy gluten free recipes, pamelasglutenfree, smitten, women crones, women FB, women over fifty, women who blog, women's journeys, womenelder's
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Living, Main, Products, Recipes/Food, Sadhvi Sez | 7 Comments »

SadhviSez: Preserve the Harvest Now to Enjoy Later

Saturday, October 1st, 2011

SADHVI

I had a lot of Basil plants that I’ve been using in salads all summer long…if you keep pinching back the plant, and never let it start to flower, it becomes very bushy and full. Which means, more Basil! Notice how I capitalize the word: Basil. It’s like a good friend, and I cannot imagine my life without it.

The other day I heard someone say it’s going to get cold, so I harvested all of my plants to make my version of “pesto”, knowing that with just one cold night, all that lovely taste inside those leaves would be gone, and therefore wasted. I never really FEEL like doing these kinds of things, I just somehow start to move in that direction, and IT happens on it’s own. I must have it in me from my Slovenia grandma or something. Or maybe from my other grandma, Mabel Carter? Both women had gardens, sewed their family’s clothes, and both put food up for the winter months.

ONE OF SADHVI'S PAINTINGS

So I got out my Cuisinart food processor, started to pluck Basil leaves (never stems), added olive oil and a little salt, and then blended until I got the consistency that makes it pourable into clean glass jars, labeled them, and voila! A base for pesto that will last a long, long time if it’s kept covered with olive oil, and in the back of the fridge. Just let it sit for an hour or so, to make sure the olive oil comes to the top to “seal” it, which preserves it.

SADHVI'S BASIL HARVEST

I had grown hundreds of pots of different types of Basil my first year that I started to garden, way back in the spring of ’94. I had never gardened before that. I was too busy with my “life”.

Then we got into a terrible car accident, and I slowed down.

And started to paint and to garden.

I didn’t know how to do either before the accident.

That first year I grew Thai Basil, I grew Purple Basil, I grew maybe 10 different types of Basil. And you know what? I only grow 2 types nowadays. The Genovese Basil and the Greek Basil. The other ones are interesting, but really, I don’t waste my energy on them, because the taste is only in those 2 I grow!

After harvesting all those different types of Basil that first year, I mixed them with garlic and pine nuts and olive oil and salt and put the mixture in sterilized glasses. Much to my horror, after a month in the fridge, they were all moldy and had to be composted – my heart almost broke in two! All that work for nothing. Well, being the type of person that has to make a big mistake the first time I do something, I’ve since been told how to do it the right way.

BASIL, OLIVE OIL, SALT!

So here’s a very simple way of preserving Basil from Martina, my Swiss-Italian girlfriend.

Martina told me to never add the garlic and the nuts. Only do that when I am making the meal, she said. This is the way her Italian grandmother taught her and I’ve been doing it this way every single year since, which makes this year my 15th year.

1. Take a big pot and fill with water and bring to boil and then add the pasta.

2. While that’s cooking, take a big mixing bowl and spoon out some of the “Basil, Olive Oil and Salt” into it. Let it sit on the counter for a while, and then, take a paper towel and wipe the sides of the inside of the jar, removing any of the mix, and make sure it’s covered with some olive oil; not a lot.

3. Add some fresh-pressed garlic cloves and some chopped walnuts or pine nuts (or whatever nuts you have), and mix.

4. Once the pasta is “al dente”, ladle out some of the water from the pot and mix in with “Basil, Oil, & Salt”/garlic/nut mix until it’s the way you like your sauce.

5. Drain the pasta, rinse, and add to the mix and toss.

Grate lots of the best Italian Parmesan cheese you can afford, get a good bottle of red wine, put some Frank Sinatra music on, and maybe a candle or two, and savor the taste of summer, preserved!
p.s. if you want to see how other people make and preserve their pesto, Culinate, which is one of the food blogs that I subscribe to, shares their tips. Just Click This!

Tags: culinate, easypestorecipe, foodblogs, for the love of basil, franksinatra, preservingbasil, womenwhoblog, womenwritersover50
Posted in Beautiful Women >50, Gardening, Home, Journey, Living, Main, Products, Products, Recipes/Food, Sadhvi Sez | 17 Comments »

SadhviSez: My Favorite Face Creme

Saturday, September 24th, 2011

SADHVI

There’s a lot of time and money spent on face creams. Both by us women, and in advertising dollars. To make us look younger, flawless…perfect! Just pick up any magazine while you’re waiting to check out at the grocery store and flip through the pages. The beautiful faces that look at you are simply stunning, aren’t they?

As I see myself getting older, I’ve noticed that there has been the thought that if I get this or that face cream, I will look like I did when I was younger, or at the very least, better. I have tried samples of Estee Lauder and felt like I’ve been putting something with silicon on my face. Interesting, but too weird. I’ve tried Lancome, and nearly got knocked out by the strong perfumed scent. I’ve tried Chanel and Guerlain, and could not justify the price tag. Then I thought the drugstore products, like Roche or L’Oreal would be good. They stung my face, and smelled too strongly of synthetic perfume.

I’ve been big into the natural and organic movement since the ’70′s, way before big companies got interested in the movement, and bought most of them out. Those were the days when being a vegetarian was considered very odd…cult-ish even!

WILD SAGE BOTANICALS Rose Geranium Face Lotion

So I just wanted to let you know that one of my 2 favorite face creams* is made by Wild Sage Botanicals. Every product is hand-made by Garima, the woman behind this very cool “company”. I think I have to say that again: every product is made in small batches, by hand, by Garima! With most of the herbs from her own garden. Pretty incredible, really. With wonderful smells that are euphoric and make me happy. Wild Sage’s Rose Geranium Face Lotion is my pick for the best moisturizer for my skin. Check out Garima’s site and see if you don’t just love her products. She has drawn all the plants and things on the site herself too. And her prices are very affordable. Which is so important these days when most of us are watching every penny that we spend.

If you do happen to order some of Garima’s products, please let me know. I wonder if you will become a loyal fan like I have been for the past 20 years!? When something is good, I don’t think you have to shout it from the top of a mountain – you just know.

And if you have a few moments, check out this informative clip below. I think we need a little reminder on why the stuff that is being mass-marketed and fed to us, and readily available is not something that we want to buy!

*P.S.: The other face cream that I use is one that is not available for sale, yet! It’s made by a close friend of mine, in small batches, and it is what I call, “The Perfect Cream”. It’s based on a recipe by one of my favorite herbalists, Rosemary Gladstar. It smells like a bouquet of roses (real ones), and it goes in and makes my skin feel so good. I keep saying she should sell it. Maybe one day she will… I will let you know.

Tags: Beautiful Women >50, facecreams, mature women over 50, thebestfacecream, wildsagebotanicals, womenover50facecreams, womenwhoblog
Posted in Aging, Beautiful Women >50, Beauty, Living, Main, Products, Products, Sadhvi Sez | 6 Comments »