New art supplies always put a smile on my face. None more than Jack Richeson's soft hand rolled pastels. Aren't these colors gorgeous? And the pastels are "smooth as butter".
Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - April 2026
1. The April/May issue of AARP has a list of novels with older characters. They include The Thursday Murder Club (which is also on Netflix), Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt (2022), The of Golden by Allen Levi (2025), The Midnight Train by Matt Haig, Take Me with You by Steven Rowley, and Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth.
2. Do you ever have problems with spring flowers like tulips and daffodils flopping over in vases. March/April 2026 Good Housekeeping has a clever solution. Stack two, different height vases inside each other. Fill each vase with cold water and arrange your flowers.
3. The May issue of Ideal Home has a number of fun ideas. I don't think I ever read this magazine before. I love up cycled projects. Here they have taken plant pots and made them into food covers. We often eat on our covered patio. This idea keeps bugs, and my 3 dogs out of the food I have put on the table. Super easy - choose pots wide enough to cover plates, wash them out, paint outside and inside, slip a rope through drainage hole and tie a big knot on the inside.
4. Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers to grow in the yard. I have always had blue or purple. I discovered these deep burgundy hydrangeas in the Spring 2026 issue of Magnolia. They are called Centennial Ruby Hydrangeas. Definitely going to see if my local nursery can get them.
5. The April/May issue of Reader's Digest has an interesting article about eating more mangoes. I live in Mexico. They practically drop on my head as I walk down the street. They are abundant and juicy. Reader's digest reports that there was a study at the University of California, Davis that found two servings of mangoes a day can help postmenopausal women keep their hearts healthy by lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels. The study included overweight women age 50-70. I love mangoes so that is an easy one for me.
6. I was a Creative Trainer at Apple and have always been partial to Apple products since I bought my first computer - the Apple II. The biggest complaint non Apple people have is the price point. The Macs have always been more expensive than PCs. Well now Apple has released what it is calling its mean machine for $599 - the Mac Book Neo.
It has 256GB of storage and is the cheapest MacBook ever. You have a choice of four colors. It has a 13 inch Liquid Retina display. Apple claims it is still faster for everyday taks than the bestselling PC. You can read about it in the Spring 2026 issue of MacLife.
7. One issue I have with American decorating magazines is how neutral the colors always are. Since moving to Mexico I have an all new relationship to color. I like colors saturated. I was pleased to see in this month's Living Etc, that Burgundy is an "in" decorating shade. They have it paired with powder blue.
Ideal Home's current issue is also featuring Burgundy and gives you 6 suggested colors.
8. Woman & Home is another magazine I am learning about for the first time. It's got a bit of everything - fashion, makeup, food, decorating, travel and all kinds of interesting articles. I love magazine features that show an expensive version and a cheaper version of a piece of furniture. Woman & Home has 6 "Splurge and Deal" pages. I would buy this magazine for those pages alone.
9. Another new magazine I just discovered on Zinio (the app where you can buy magazines) is Bella Grace: Book of Lists. It's a Stampington & Co magazine and is full of lifts of things that will uplift your life. It is a treasure. Some of my favorites are...
The Ultimate Slow Summer Bucket List
Safe Places to Leave Your Heart
A Quilt on the Couch and Other Comforting Things
Permission Granted
Not so Random Acts of Kindness
10. I have been wanting to paint by bedroom. I saw an article in the recent Real Simple magazine called The 12 Best Paint Colors for a Serene Room. Oh but they were boring... beige, grey, cream. Then I came across Salty Dog by Sherwin Williams. I think it is a restful color for my bedroom while still being intense and interesting
Hand Fan Museum
In 2009 I lost someone dear to me to ALS. He was young, It was tragic. It broke my heart. By 2010 I realized I need to discover some ways to lift myself up. I started search out experiences that would bring me some joy. The first experience I came across was the Hand Fan Museum in Healdsburg California. I walked into that museum and felt my heart fill with joy.
It's a small museum devoted to the history, and and cultural meaning of hand fans. According to its website, its mission is to use hand fans to teach history, art and geography. The fans are not treated as just decorative objects but as artifacts of everyday life and ceremony across many cultures. They tell stories of fans used in fashion, religion, battle and ritual. There are both a permanent collection and rotating collections.
The last exhibit was "Love is in the Air" focusing on how fans express themes of courtship, marriage and even thwarted love. The latest exhibit, showing through September first 2026, is "Garden in Hand"
The museum is opened Friday through Sunday 12 - 5pm. It is located at 309 Healdsburg Ave, Healdsburg California. It's website is http://www.thehandfanmuseum.org
I AM BACK TO IT
So sorry I have not posted for so long. I have been sidelined by my beautiful life in Mexico, art shows and teaching. I missed What Makes Us Come Alive and am diving right back in. Thank you all for sticking with me.
Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - June 2024
I am so very happy to see home design magazines start to use color again. Seems like everything has been cream, white, tan and grey for a long time.
1. The June issue of Real Simple asked its readers what the brightest, most colorful thing in their home was. The answers were great. They included a quilt made out of Indian saris, a small turquoise bathroom, book shelf, a mug collection, a retro mini fridge and someone's 6 year old granddaughter. Most colorful things in my home are my yellow walls and my paintings. What about you? What's the most colorful thing in your home?
2. In the Summer Escapes issue of Sunset Magazine (June 2024), I read about a small Mexican town that I have never heard of. It's called Todos Santos. They called the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel the crown jewel of this surf pueblo. Looks like a fabulous place to hang out on the beach. Here is the town's website. Here is the link for the Todos Santos Boutique Hotel.
3. I always find good tips and tricks in the AARP magazine. This month they said you can get red wine out of fabric with white wine. As soon as possible blot white wine on the fabric to dilute the stain. Then use a wet cloth to get out the rest. Don't rub.
4. I love cocktail umbrellas. I love them so much that when I first moved to Mexico I put them all over my Christmas tree. This month's Better Homes and Gardens likes them too. They have a list of several cute ones in their article Summer Party Playbook. There are lots of fun options on Amazon. I especially like the cocktail umbrella straws.
5. I saw this photo in the summer issue of Magnolia. It wasn't an article but an advertisement for Target's Hearth and Hand dishes. However what caught my eye was the color of the outdoor table and chair. I remember years ago when my friend painted her backyard fence that shade of green. It works so well in a garden, blending with plants and flowers. I think it works well with outdoor furniture as well. I see some furniture painting in my future.
6. For many many years, every Christmas I would order chocolate dipped cherries from a little candy store in Los Gatos, CA. Cherries are readily available in Mexico where I live now. The Magnolia magazine has a couple of cherry recipes, including one that is cherries double dipped and frozen. First you dip the pitted cherries in melted white chocolate. You freeze them and then dip them in dark chocolate. Yumm.
7. Zoomer magazine features little rechargeable lamps and said they are "popping up at all our favorite restaurants." Two friends gave me one for my birthday a couple of years ago. And boy do I love it. Where I live the electricity frequently goes out when it is windy or rains. I leave my little lamp plugged into the USB connection on my computer. When the lights go out I just unplug them it and carry it room to room with me. Amazon has a bunch of them to choose from.
8. The June 24th First For Women Magazine has an article called "10 Brilliant Uses for Paper Bags." I don't have stacks of paper bags any more as I tend to bring my recyclable tote bags. However there are some clever ideas. My favorite was to cut them to the size of picture frames, hang bag cutouts on the wall. When you have your photo wall arrangement decided, tap nails through each bag. Perfect placement. Since I don't have paper bags, I think any kind of paper or newspaper would work. Just cut to size for each photo, piece of art.
9. Anyone who has a dog probably knows this. Good Housekeeping features "Summer Feel Good Secrets" in their latest issue. They report on how a study published in the journal Psychogeriatrics found that "holding, stroking, walking, talking to and playing with dogs" improves depression by a whopping 50%. It even helps those with dementia. My life would be a lot less joyful without Micky and Benny.
10. Oh I adore this tiled fireplace. I saw it also in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping. The tiles are zellige tiles from Emery and Cie.
Play Back Your Favorite Memories
"Being able to call up positive and detailed memories helps us to deepen our inner sense of well-being and joy."
She also gives you a trick to enhance your ability to bring back good memories— a technique called the "method-of-loci" strategy.
Sun Rooms
I love sun rooms. There is something about them that just lifts you up.
My Office on My Patio
It is a dream to someday have one. Really I am pretty close to having one as I have a covered patio and live where the weather is pretty perfect all year round.
Chocolate Makes Me Happy
I have discovered three chocolate shops in the small village of Ajijic Mexico. The picture above is my latest stash. I highly recommend Margarita Chocolates.
It wasn't until the cacao seeds were imported to Europe by the Spanish that sugar and honey were added. Chocolate was primarily a delicacy for the wealthy until the late 1700s. The invention of the steam engine made the chocolate process faster and available to the masses.
I have yet to discover a chocolate that I don't like. It's still possible but I would say unlikely. Below are a few favorite chocolate recipes.
Rice Krispy Peanut Butter Balls have been a Christmas tradition since I was a kid. My grandmother would send them to us in a coffee can. My mom would put them into the freezer so they would last until Christmas day. Then we discovered that they were quite yummy frozen as well.
I found my "go to" chocolate cheesecake recipe years ago in Maida Haetter's Book of Great Chocolate Desserts
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My favorite ice cream is Ben and Jerry's Cherry Garcia (with dark chocolate chunks of course.) You can get Ben and Jerry's recipe for home made ice cream in their book
Ben & Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book
Chocolate Dipped Cherries were always another holiday favorite at our house. Mom used to order them from a local candy store that is long gone. I found a recipe however, in Epicurius.
Beatles With a Cuban Twist
The other day I was out to breakfast with my friends here in Mexico. My friend Bonnie suddenly said... "Is that Hey Jude with a Calypso beat they're playing?" The music was pretty soft so I took my iPhone over the the speaker, reached up and said "Hey Siri who is this playing?"
Sure enough it was a Cuban version of Hey Jude. The album is Here Comes...El Sol! with a variety of artists. Kind of a kick.
Ten of the Most Beautiful Gardens In the World
It was hard to limit my list to ten. I easily could have made it 50. But here are 10 that are on my "must see" garden list.
1. Keukenhoff Gardens, Lisse Netherlands - Virtual tours available
4. Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew England - Has a virtual tour.
6. Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, New York - Virtual Tour Available.
7. Longwood Gardens Kennett Square, PA - Virtual Tours Available.
9. Chicago Botanic Gardens - Phone Apps Available
I have been to a few of these but would love to visit the ones I have not seen and go again to the ones I have. Let me just mention that I attended a classical music concert at night in the Versailles Gardens when I was 17 and a student studying French in Paris. It still is a memory I treasure.
I also want to mention Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. For me, this is home. The park has many gardens including a botanical garden, Japanese garden and Conservatory of Flowers.
Ten Things I Will Never Do Again
As we age we often think of the things we still want to do... what we want on our "bucket lists." I think one of the benefits of aging is knowing what you never want to do again.
Top Ten Tips From My Favorite Magazines - April/May 2024
#1 I saw this stacked planter in the latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens Container Gardening. I thought it would make a fabulous divider to hide the hose, tools and other garden junk.
#2 I always love High/Low articles in magazines, where this list an item that they liked that was one the expensive side and then list a similar item they found that's much cheaper. I thought this mid-century retro birdhouse was cute buy out of my budget at $249. (pleasant ranch.com). The $21 version is out of stock on amazon.com. But I found it for $40.86 Canadian dollars (about $30 U.S.) on amazon.com.ca
#3 I loved the white ceramic face vase on this month's cover of Prevention magazine. I did not find that exact one but there are dozens to choose from on Amazon.
#4 I found this article about dahlias the Modern Gardens Small Gardens Special. I have had a love affair with dahlias ever since I moved to Mexico. Did you know they are Mexico's National Flower?
#5 The First For Women magazine always has so many good tips and tricks. My favorite in the May 20th issue is to rub silverware with the inside of a banana peel to lift tarnish. Who knew?
#6 I am so happy to see color returning to interior design. Seems like everything has been white, gray, tan for a very long time. I have had a a completely new relationship with color since moving to Mexico. The May issue of Better Homes and Gardens combines peach and a wine red in a bedroom. Loved it. Peach Fuzz was names Pantone's color of the year for 2024. I never thought of pairing it with a deep red.
#7 Also recommended by BH&G is to skip social media one day a week. I really like that idea. I am thinking of skipping it on Saturday or Sunday.
#8 Real Simple magazine has a special issue about dogs. In it they have a list of human food that are healthy for dogs including... apples, bananas, carrots, green beans, sweet potatoes, peanut butter and plain green yogurt.
#9 Psychologies Magazine mentions that May is National Walking month. They say walking is one of the best ways to keep not only your body, but also your mind in shape.
#10 And of course HGTV magazine always has some of my favorite ideas. I love how they painted the inside of these shelves a different color.
Note... I usually buy my magazines online. I find the easiest way to have access to lots of magazines is with the Apple News+ app or with the Zinio app. Your subscription to Apple News+ includes a huge number of magazines for you to read. Zinio was the first magazine app I ever read and I still like it. You pay for each magazine, so I usually only buy the magazines I cannot find on Apple News+
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