Jan Kish - La Petite Fleur

Jan is La Petite Fleur. A creative fireball whose flair for the fabulous, dedication to design and entrepreneurial spirit led her to start a culinary business. Well known in the culinary circles of sugar art after thirty years of dedication, she continues to grace the pages of the country's most outstanding bridal magazines, appear on national television and has now patented her own set of cake pans. Her decorated cakes, mints, almonds, cookies, and cupcakes have found their way to hundreds of discriminating destinations both near and far. All over the state of Ohio. From the east coat to the west. Across the pond as well ~ she has been retained to return to England this fall to create more memories for a wedding celebration.

In print. In person. Always astounding. Never disappointing.

I have had the wonderful opportunity to work for her. And with her. Know her as my boss. And as my friend. Her wheels spin 24/7. Ideas flow out of her pencil point and become sketches on very lucky sheets of paper. I invite you to discover her world at www.jankish.com .

I just wanted to share her. With you. Today. Just cause.

The Elusive Sweet Spot

The extra-loud volume of your clock radio jolts you awake (once again) with the help of your favorite morning DJ team. Your hand, mimicking The Addams Family's 'Thing', frantically searches for the snooze button to press, gaining ten more precious minutes of calm, quiet before facing the cold hard reality of another day. You settle back into your cozy cocoon, nestling under your soft bed covers. Your mind silently whispering "Ahhhhh...."

When the jarring music pops on again (the purpose is good, the timing is always bad) you realize all the stuff on your list to accomplish for the day has just evaporated. ~ POOF ~ What could be more important than your NEW priority? The discovery of the most incredible position in your 'nest' which you are not about to evacuate. You don't have the motivation or the desire. All your bones feel like they've just melted, sinking into the mattress. Your body is cradled in that extremely rare and oh-so-fabulous PERFECT SPOT.

A shower? Forget it. Pack lunches? Not hungry. Breakfast? Get your own. Take the dog out? YOU take the dog out. (Allowing yourself to wallow in The Moment is worth all the self-incrimination which most certainly will come later as you scramble around trying to accomplish all of the above.)

But, oh my, it is so SO worth it.

Inhale...Exhale...Inhale...Exhale

I am blessed with low blood pressure. Not dangerous-to-my-health low. I have an energy level that sets my friends heads to wagging. It's at that perfect level to juggle family (members~in town and beyond), job, going to the gym, volunteering, writing, church, studying, house and yard work, friends, writing, college kid, errands, appointments, reading, laundry, socializing, ironing, checking emails/Facebook, writing, taking classes, researching websites of interest, baking, catching a movie, passing tests, planning some time away, washing cars & car maintanance, cleaning out closets, burning CD's, praying, writing, being neighborly, taking evening walks with hubby, furniture/carpet shopping.......

Heck, this list makes my head spin. But not my blood pressure!! No sirree! The stubbornness this chick was born with is paying off in a big girl way. I am partnering my independent spirit with what is naturally occurring. Some people count to ten when they get upset. Some people scream and shout. I just don't want 'stuff' to overpower my composure. I want to possess that control over my own body. So my secret weapon is one word: Exhale. It's like pressing that rattling gauge on the top of a hot pressure cooker. Or poking a little teeny weeny hole in an inflated balloon. Ever so slowly the tension drops and all is back to normal again. Just three easy steps: close your eyes; inhale; exhale. Repeat. Feel all the angst slip out of your body? Ahhhhhhhhh.

Figure out what works for you. The best part: you will enjoy less lines and wrinkles as well!. With your genes (nothing you can do about them anyway) and gorgeous sunny days (sunscreen helps but sometimes those rays are just calling your name...) and children (your choice, remember? Crazy you!! Ha!) you will have volumes of opportunities to get some of the above without any effort on your part anyway. Absolutely free! At no cost to you!

So here's my challenge to you: stick your hand right in the mix and see what you can do to slow Mother Nature down a bit. And for those of you that all ready know -- Please share your tried-and-true trick below with the rest of us so we can benefit from your experience!

Trash Day

Along with the title of 'Queen of Recyling' in this house (and, yes, if you must know I actually do own a fabulous tiara which I wear from time to time), I also proudly wear the mantle of taking care of the weekly trash pick-up. I've decided it's a little bit of a control thing. Really? You'd call it a control thing? What?!?

Well, yeah. I can organize it the way I want to. I can make sure it gets out to the curb on time. I don't have to remind or bug .... or complain..... or bug ......or whine....or push anybody else. I get it done as soon as I get home from work the evening before our scheduled day. I'm efficient, neat and calm (the last being the most important of course). Wow. I sound someone I'd want to hire on a permanent basis for all sorts of jobs.

Just another reason this family darned lucky to have me. Think I better remind them more frequently just how much. Toot my horn every once in a while. But....on second thought maybe I'll just keep operating slightly under the radar. That way I can quietly maneuver in and around, smiling when catching a compliment whenever cast from hither and yon, yet all the while keeping the household humming along on my well-oiled wheels.

Wait~~maybe I should re-think that!

Compliments...or...'My Way'? Hmmmm. 'My Way'...or...Compliments? (give me a sec; juggling/juggling/juggling the these two concepts in my mind....) And here's the Master of Ceremonies with the announcement of the unanimous decision: "The win-ner iiisss... : 'My Way'!!!!" and the crowd goes wild.....!!!!!

Kick Ass Shoes

I wore a pair of turquoise, very pointed toe, embossed lizard pattern, inch-and-a-half heeled mules to work today. My neighbor gave them to me about a year ago. They were in her closet and she decided after buying them that she wasn't going to wear them. No receipt -- Did I want them? You bet. Way, way cool. An opportunity not to be missed. And to be honest I wouldn't have even have given them a second look, let alone purchased them because with the way they are cut I never would have thought I could keep them on my feet, let alone wear them any length of time.

All I can say is I am glad I proved myself wrong!! Have I worn them before today? Yes, maybe two or three times. But, oh, baby, for some reason today was THE day! Coworkers commented on them. Customers commented on them. One of my bosses even commented on them. I am telling you I felt like hot stuff today. All day. There is nothing that makes a girl feel more fabulous than an outrageous pair of kick ass shoes. Put me right over the top. I know I wore a slightly bigger smile and my hips swung just a little teeny bit more because of it. That "Hey! I am looking so cute and I know it and I am enjoying every single minute of it" kind of look. I was oozing (maybe that's a bit dramatic but you understand, don't you) that oh-so-wonderful warm and fabulous feminine confidence that feels really, really goooooood. And we all love to have those standing on the bow of the Titanic with our head thrown back and the wind blowing across our outstretched arms cause we just conquered the world kind of moments. Oh, yeah, we do.

These puppies will be a tough act to follow and I realize I do have to pace myself. Can't startle the folks day after day after day. But I can't let them down, either, now can I? Such a quandary. Well, we all have our burdens...and one must maintain expectations. It's a social responsibility I take quite seriously. Sooooooo.... I'll just have to rely on my stylist ( that's rich ~ that would be me, of course!) to pull something absolutely marvelous together in the morning. A little bit of this and a little bit of that. And VOILA! The makings of another fashion triumph. It is tough to be me....or that evil twin I was telling you about just days ago....

Olay Regenerist Night Recovery Cream

The BEST investment ever. Has B3 vitamins. Light not heavy/oily. You don't need gobs of it. $17.99 at my store. Coupons for $3 off appear frequently in our Sunday supplement.

This pale purple cream is incredible. Gets rave reviews from morning talk shows and consumer groups. Try it for two weeks. An hour before you go to bed, wash your face and gently rub it into the lines at the corners of your eyes. Around your mouth. Between your eyebrows. Glides right on.

Now relax. Read a sexy romantic novel. Look at Vogue. Watch reruns of Glee. Whatever floats your boat. Let it soak in nicely before you start nestling into the fabric of your pillow.

After two weeks let me know what you think. This product is fabulous, inexpensive and feels so smooth. You're gonna love it!!

I am SO not ready for this yet!!@#*!*

I thought all this aging stuff, and change in general, was supposed to start happening to people in the 70's. Or 80's. Not now. And certainly.... CERTAINLY.... not to me.

My nails stop growing at about a quarter of an inch long because at that length they break off (bad thing). I'm getting those little red skin spots (ugh--really bad thing). These little 'thick' spots are appearing on my collar bone (weird bad thing). A few white eyebrow hairs have shown up (pluckable bad thing). My upper arms started looking just a little like cottage cheese (dimply bad thing). When did the erosion lines appear running down into my cleavage (now come on! bad thing)?? What happened to perky by the way (bewildering bad thing).Eyelashes fall out (not-great-for-mascara bad thing). I remember stuff half of the time on one day(frustrating bad thing) and everything the next (frustrating good thing). And those red-old-lady-skin-dots (UGH! bad thing).

In all fairness I feel compelled to balance the argument: The hair on my head is growing faster than ever before (my stylist even mentioned it good thing). The hair on my legs hardly grows at all (time-saver good thing). I weigh 2 more pounds than I did at high school graduation (no joke good thing). I am lifting weights to combat the dimplies (take that! good thing). My knuckles aren't big yet (alleluia good thing). My nearsidedness is sharper than ever (great for reading good thing). And speaking of cleavage (underwires: priceless good thing). Still have tons of energy (fantastic good thing).

The few gray hairs on my head never bothered me because those can be hidden in so many clever ways, right, everyone? I've tried a few and praise the inventor of dye. Obviously your gene pool is ever so important to give you the interior framework to support whatever gilding you prefer to apply to the exterior. Eating right, exercising, drinking water all help. (blah blah blah) So be smart and treat yourself right, Girls.

Oh, ah, could you wait just a second or two while I...crunch chew chew crunch chew swallow. There. Sorry! My peanut M&M's were calling. Scientists will one day prove what I already know. Chocolate is a food group all its own and eases all sorts of stress and angst. Personally I find it more soothing than wine. Takes the edge off for me. Gives a person a much better perspective, makes the world a little bit brighter and their little anxieties easier to handle. Now, where are those tweezers of mine.....?