mad (dad) men

Mad Men has started, and it's hard not to watch this show. You know, I knew 'Don Draper', our Don had a different name, though. We knew a lot of 'mad men', they came for dinner parties in our Bayside home. For each party, I put on a great outfit and went in to greet the guests, then my brother and I would watch from the top of the stairs. When he was older, he tended bar, whipping up rye and gingers, bourbon old fashions and mai-tai's. The refrigerator was full of maraschino cherries and tom collins mixer!
The madison avenue husbands and wives really looked like the cast, we wouldn't notice anything funny if they'd been transported back in time and dropped into our house at one of moms dinner parties! Well, the pics below don't have the drama that comes with the real 'Don Draper', I think they are from a sales meeting my dad went to in 1964. The look is right, it's so cool. See where I get it from? ciao!

Caption: Joe Chiarella, from Ad Graphics clarifies advertising policy. With a beer in his hand, at lunch. Seems perfectly fine, if you really want to know!

Caption: "Tell me another one". This looks like a meeting i'd
go to anytime!

The storyboard begins here....

"Joe swapping stories with Doug Blow and
Jack Ware." Dad was pretty cool, and a great
artist as well.



We still have drawers full of Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, the only pencils we ever had. No other brand would do, 'cause it was his account!

what i did on my summer vacation

Isn't that what your teacher asked you to write about the minute you got back to school in september? If I was going back to school in a few weeks, I would be able to write a nice book report, it's been an action packed couple of weeks. We have some great new items in the pipeline, we're shipping our fall merchandise and even though we just got finished with a great show for HSN, we have penciled in design time for my next appearance, tentatively scheduled for October.

One of the most exciting things going on in New York this summer is Wendy Williams! You know, as a girl from queens, it made my ears perk up when she describes herself as a girl from New Jersey. We 'outer borough' girls stick together! I first heard her years ago on the radio, there was a time when everyone listened to KISS-FM, and she was on WBLS most recently. Well, she is back, with a great TV show, she's literally exploded onto daytime television with a great talk show. And, she's a great dresser- so many tv personalities these days come on the set in god knows what, so I can tell you that ms. Williams has style. If you check out the "wendy's wardrobe" section of her website, she puts up a pic of what she was wearing on each show.

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And that's right folks, more than a couple of those lines pointing to her jewelry have my name on the other end, as Wendy is fond of some of my designs. She had on a wonderful print dress by Adrianna Papell the other day, which made my crystal earrings look great! Last week, she wore a beautiful Ralph Lauren polka dot dress, and my secret garden mosaic crystal earrings. Check it out !! I've put a link here so you can go directly to the site, the show's staff were so helpful they supplied the info and her promo photo, but don't take my word for it, watch her show!"

Even though we've not had much of a summer, with rain and cool weather most of the time, it was a beautiful day today to visit the beach. Jones Beach, on Long Island is the place I love to go to hit the waves. The best time to go is mid-afternoon, after the most-burning rays of the sun have dissipated, and armed with a SPF 50 sun blocking umbrella (only $29.95, what will they think of next) I had a great time with no sunburn whatsoever. We took in the sun and surf at Field 5, directly across from the Jones Beach Theater, where we saw Jason Mraz last week. I love this guy, the show was great, and Donna, Denise, Brian and I all had a great time.

Today we will stop by Henri Bendel to check out the retail jewelry counter, with New York City filled with tourists, I like to spend time there, making sure we have lots of jewels and to meet a customer or two. New York City has made some roads car-free, and people are really taking to them during this whole summer- it is nice to walk a whole block without having to jump to escape a flying taxicab, and you don't have to stick to a crowded sidewalk, but can walk from one side of the street to the other, or even walk right down the middle, just for fun. Thanks, Mayor Bloomberg, being able to walk or bike on these streets is a great way to see the city, and I am liking it. Ciao.

July 31- the last entry has been recorded

and the summer of luxury contest entry period has ended. We are amazed at the response, so many entries have come in, I worried that the database would fill up. Fortunately, it did not, and we have heard from the hosting service that the final entry was recorded at 11:59:23 tonight. The excitement of the contest has livened up what has been a strange summer in new york.

My friend Janice Huff, meterologist at WNBC TV tells me there has been almost 20 inches of rain in june and july, which is not a record, but it is a lot of rain. There have been floods, and if I was in the umbrella business I'd be a millionaire. You see these guys all over manhattan the moment a drop of rain starts to fall, with their cries of "ummm-brella, ummm-brella 3 dollars, 3 dollars". Rain does keep you indoors, so that means my place is cleaner than usual, we've watched countless netflix, read every book on my reading list, all the things one does when they are not outside enjoying summer.

But, being August, we're happy that the horses are running at Saratoga Race Course. Our favorite race track is known as "the august place to be". I didn't get any reservations this year, though, so likely won't be going up- this is a track where you really want to have reserved seats and have your meals planned well ahead of time, otherwise you sit on benches and eat hot dogs. If you plan ahead, it is so much fun as it is one of the few race tracks I've been to where you can walk right up to the horses and say hi to them before the race. As a handicapper who decides who's going to win by the cuteness of the horse or the color of the tail, Saratoga is really the perfect track for me.

So, we will be staying close to home for a while, maybe visiting friends and relatives and just enjoying new york city. Next week, I've got an appointment with the folks from the Wendy Williams show, she is coming on strong and it seems she likes my jewelry. If I get the chance to work with her that will be really exciting. Meanwhile, check out this week's issue of OK magazine, they are featuring my medium emerald CZ earring, one of my favorites. I've got my magazines and am going to relax, waiting for the sun to come out. Ciao!