An Abundant Life - Stylist Star

I've written about the Hoboken Thrift store, or St. Mary's Advocates Thrift Store as it's officially known, in these pages before, and about all of the wonderful people I've met there and the beautiful treasures and clothing I've found over the years. A while ago I'd heard from some of the gorgeous women who I know who volunteer there that one of the volunteers had opened her own store. I had missed seeing her at the Hoboken Thrift, because every time I was there when she was I had a smile on my face just listening to her talk about the clothing and decorative items and watching her showing things to people, helping them pick out outfits and finding the most wonderful combinations of things to share and encourage people to try on and wear. 

Over time I found out that her name was Joann, and it was so much fun when she was there. It's always fun at the Hoboken Thrift store because everyone who volunteers there has such a wonderful and uniquely kind and joyful way about them, and when Joann was there it always felt like I was shopping in a place where everything and everyone was being outfitted for the best days of their lives. 

There's something about people who love fashion and styling that makes every moment when you are around them and they are around clothing feel like a party. Playing dress up was always one of the things I loved to do, and it still is, so meeting someone like Joann at the Hoboken Thrift made one of my favorite places to go even more special. When I heard she'd opened her own store I knew it would be wonderful, and I planned to find a time to go there to see her and enjoy the new space where she was creating her own kind of sunshine.

The name of Joann's store is OliJon's and is named after Joann and her husband John's two children, Olivia and Jonpierre. Inside it is bright and airy, and filled with the gorgeous treasures Joann finds. As she has experienced the complications and challenges of treatments and surgeries due to a breast cancer diagnosis 15 years ago, Joann also wants to give back to the community, sharing time and donating, helping to give people a smile and encouragement with whatever issues they are facing. When I was visiting and speaking with her, I found out that during prom season she had shared items and styling with prom goers who were on limited budgets to make sure they could go to the Prom feeling special.

Knowing someone like Joann is a treat in so many ways. Her style sense and sense of fun are beautiful to experience, and she is also so strong and resilient underneath her natural beauty and easy glamour. There is a beauty that shines from within that makes a beautiful woman a star, and Joann is one of those beauties who stands so strong in the face of the challenges of her life that she gives others a light to help keep them going.

Joann Saitta

Owner and Stylist Extraordinaire

Of OliJon's Thrift Store

138 Park Avenue

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.instagram.com/olijonsthrift

A Seemingly Effortless

Style And Beauty

Photograph Courtesy Of Joann Saitta

A Corner Storefront

Shining A Light For The Community

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A New York Neighborhood

A number of years ago I lived in SoHo, something that I've written about in these pages before, and something that always brings back beautiful memories whenever I visit a friend in that neighborhood or write about one of the people I know who lives there, works there, makes art there, shows art there, or one of the restaurants, boutiques, galleries or other wonderful places that make that part of the city so special.

I've written about the marvelous Photographer Benjamin Oliver in these pages before, and just a few months ago I wrote about him again because I'd happened to see him in SoHo when I was on my way to an art show that one of the Artists who has work at YES Gallery had his work in. That day was such a wonderful day, and it was such a beautiful time, and seeing Benjamin on the street almost right out front of where I used to live made it even more special.  

This past week Benjamin had an opening party for some of his work that was being shown at a very special and exclusive custom menswear store in SoHo, this time about a block away from where I used to live, and diagonally across the street. It's always so much fun to see Benjamin and his work is so beautiful and inspiring, and the store was really a wonderful place too. I saw some of Benjamin's friends that night that I'd met at his birthday party he'd invited me to on the day that I'd seen him in SoHo a few months ago. As I wrote at that time, they are all such wonderful people, and seeing them again in this place with Benjamin's photographs all around was a very special experience.

It's times like this when New York still feels like my neighborhood home, when I am reminded of how lovely the world can be when wonderful people gather together in wonderful places to celebrate art and design and fashion. That's the New York I always loved, and that I still love when I experience it. It's the place of dreams that is still a neighborhood, an exciting and inspiring adventure that can still be called home.

Benjamin Oliver

Sharing His Inspiration

And His Photographs

On A Very Special Evening

At The Very Inspiring Acustom Apparel

330 West Broadway

SoHo, New York City

https://acustom.com 

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Pizza Of Dreams

When I was a very little girl, my family used to go to a restaurant in Massachusetts called Kitty's for special occasions and sometimes just because we wanted to have pizza. I used to ask to go there all the time, and we didn't ever have much of the menu, our choices were always pretty much the same. We'd order two pies, one mushroom and onion and one other one, it's escaping me now but I don't think it was just a plain one. Maybe we'd try different things for the second pie and that's why I can't remember, but it was always at least one that was mushroom and onion. Along with the pizza we'd have an Antipasto, and to this day that's the only Antipasto I really ever want whenever I see it on any menu. Sometimes we'd get the pizzas to go and have them at home which was very nice to do too, but going to Kitty's and sitting at a table or in one of the booths was always the best.

Over the years as I grew up and went back to Kitty's on occasion I'd try other kinds of pizza and other things too. I've always loved onion rings, and I think I began my love for them there. Other places just don't know how to make onion rings like Kitty's does, and although I sometimes will order them in other places, it's always Kitty's that I really wish I was having.

I've had pizza in New York, New Haven, Oregon, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Long Island and New Jersey. I think I may have even had it in Europe and possibly London. There are some wonderful pizzas I've had, don't get me wrong, but there is no place like Massachusetts for pizza. Any hole in the wall place you walk into, any bar, any place that is making pizza makes a wonderful one. Some are fancier than others, but they're all really wonderful. Kitty's is the creme de la creme, at least in my book, and in a way I'm very lucky that I don't live near there because I'd probably have it every day along with an Antipasto salad and some onion rings.

Last week I had some meetings in Massachusetts, and I shared some time with some old and new friends. We were all in the mood to get together with all of us at one point and decided that we'd have dinner. When I was talking to one of my friends about places we loved to go to, she mentioned Kitty's and I asked her if it was still open. I seemed to remember looking it up a while ago and seeing that it was closed, but she told me it had closed for a time and was now open again and just as good as ever. I said that all I ever really wanted when I went there was pizza, and she said that's what she liked to get too, along with an Antipasto and onion rings. I told her that was always my favorite choice and we decided that we'd check with the rest of our group to see if Kitty's would be all right with them. We laughed when we said there's lots on the menu so they could have something else if they wanted but we knew what we were having. I sent messages to the others and Kitty's it was.

When we arrived it looked exactly the same, as if no time had gone by at all. I remember it being darker inside at night, but perhaps that was just in my childhood memories. We all decided on the same things which made me smile that here we were after all these years and we all thought the idea of pizza, Antipasto salad and onion rings was a great one. So much fun to be there with these friends, and so wonderful to have these flavors and textures that I've dreamed about be with me as part of my life once again.

A Night With Friends

At Kitty's

123 Main Street

North Reading, Massachusetts

https://kittysrestaurant.com

Time Shared With Beautiful Friends

So Sweet

And An Antipasto

So Wonderful

I Forgot To Take A Photograph

Until The Salad Was Nearly Finished

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Art of Design

I wrote a few weeks ago about a visit to the marvelous Italian Design Showroom Rimadesio in Manhattan, and this past week I had the beautiful blessing of being a part of an event there with the marvelous Artist Marco Luccio who has been visiting from Australia and the marvelous staff as we collaborated within this beautiful space to show Marco's art within and around the lovely design pieces there.

For many years I have worked with Artists of all kinds, producing events and helping Artists to find spaces and audiences to showcase their work and their performances, films and objets d'art. Since I opened YES Gallery in Hoboken in August of 2022, much of the work that I do with Artists has been in and around that space, but I still always have my eyes and heart open to finding new places and people to collaborate with to bring art and design to ever new audiences and geographies.

When I first saw the space at Rimadesio it was for a beautiful art event that I'd been invited to, and I'm so grateful to the gorgeous Curator Adrielle Nicole who extended the gift of her welcome so that I could be a part of that beautiful evening and meet the wonderful staff there. After that event I was in a meeting to discuss future events with the marvelous CEO and others marvelous people who are in charge of the space and the events that are planned there, and on the day we met, I had just heard from Marco Luccio that he was in New York. 

In thinking about the space and his art, it just seemed like it would be a beautiful combination, and I share some images and links from his website and Instagram in the meeting that day. Later, he and I met in the space to take a few minutes with some of his pieces to see what they would look like there and the result was so lovely! With the blessing of the wonderful CEO and other wonderful staff, we planned a date and Marco made a beautiful invitation, and this past week we celebrated this gorgeous collaboration of art and design during an afternoon and evening.

Everyone involved in this beautiful event was truly wonderful to work with. It is so rare to have things go so well every step of the way unless you are working with the best of the best which I was blessed to do. I'm so grateful to everyone who went out of their way in so many ways to create the beautiful collaboration of art and design that we experienced in that space during those lovely hours we shared together, and to the wonderful guests who brought their beautiful light to shine in this glowing place.

At The Marvelous Rimadesio

For An Art Event With The Gorgeous Work

Of The Marvelous Australian Artist

Marco Luccio

https://www.rimadesio.it

https://marcoluccio.com.au

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Canadian Beauty

This past week I saw a post on Instagram that Halifax in Hoboken was having a special Canada Day menu with specials to celebrate that holiday on Tuesday, July 1. I had been wanting to go back to Halifax again after my most recent visit that I wrote about a few weeks ago. It is always so delightful there, and everything is always so wonderful, with the most beautifully prepared and served delicious tastes created and curated with the utmost care by the marvelous Executive Chef Seadon Shouse, and served with the excellence of the wonderful staff. It's lovely there too, and every moment is a pleasure for sight, sound and palate.

I arrived in the late afternoon, hoping to catch a glimpse of Chef Shouse who is always so busy creating wonderful things in his kitchen, and I sat at the bar so that I could sit leisurely and enjoy my time there and not take up a table for one right before the dinner rush. The light of the afternoon as it began to glow before the rain that was forecast was a beautiful time to enjoy this lovely space that was also designed with the care of Chef Shouse. I've written about this restaurant and this Chef several times in these pages, and each time I marvel at the beauty and beautiful experience on every level that is there to be enjoyed.

The Canada Day specials were a specially created strawberry rhubarb spritz, lobster rolls, and seaweed baked oysters. I couldn't have asked for a menu that was designed more for my own special loves and tastes. As I savored each, I remembered other times when I'd had flavors and creations that were echoed in these very special menu items, thinking about a summer years ago when my Father had bought crates of strawberries somewhere on a special and my Mother in trying to make strawberry jam made a solution that was delicious but too liquid and so we poured it into jars and had strawberry sparkling water all day long. Lobster rolls always remind me of summertime in Little Compton on the beach, with my beautiful Mother bringing her special touch to a pot luck shared with friends, spooning fresh lobster from a cooler into rolls toasted on an open fire, and of dinners with my Father over many years when he and I would share a lobster or sometimes more than one, and he would show me how to clean each one thoroughly so that there would be enough after our meal for leftovers of lobster salad sandwiches. Oysters at Halifax are always so wonderful, so fresh and prepared with the most joyful flavors, and they remind me of so many dinners over the years, at so many wonderful places with so many wonderful people, and when I am at Halifax, the oysters I have there are always the best.

Being a Chef is not an easy life, and working in the hospitality industry is not either. I admire the wonderful Executive Chef and staff at Halifax for all they do to make every moment so beautiful and so special, and I am so blessed and grateful to know them and have this wonderful place to visit and enjoy.

Canada Day

At Halifax Hoboken

With So Much Gratitude

To The Marvelous Executive Chef Seadon Shouse

And The Marvelous Staff

225 River Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

https://www.halifaxhoboken.com/

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Modern Art

This past week, my dear friend Stephanie O'Neill, a gorgeous Mixologist who I've written about in these pages before and who I hadn't seen in a while called me and asked if I would be around in Hoboken because she was planning on being there and she thought that maybe we could have lunch. I was going to be there, but I had a meeting at my gallery during the time when she was available, and so she suggested that instead we could meet the next day for lunch in Manhattan at The Modern, the wonderful restaurant that is at the Museum of Modern Art, which is fondly known as MoMA.

My Mother's favorite museum was MoMA, and though she went to all of the museums and loved all of them, that one is the one that whenever I go I always think of her and feel as if she's with me. A few months ago I was there with a friend and it was so beautiful, but on that day we had lunch somewhere else. I hadn't been to the restaurant in years, and not since it was completely made over into the new version that it is now. The way it has been done is truly lovely, keeping the history while updating to the times we are in now. 

In the past I have had evenings in the garden, listing to chamber music performances in the summer. My Mother and I also sat in the garden sometimes when we visited, and the restaurant looks out onto it which is a beautiful and nostalgic view. On this visit with my friend, she suggested that we sit at the bar, and when I arrived there was a wonderful seat on the banquets just behind it. I chose that and it felt so luxurious to sit there on that wonderful furniture, the designs of which I've known all my life because of my Mother and her taste for mixing modern furnishings into our antique historic home. That way of designing space is something I've inherited and made my own in so many ways, mixing in the new and the old, adding art and design from different times together to make a space that has history along with a very present day life.

The food was really wonderful, and I could have had everything on the menu. We did order quite a few things, something this beautiful friend always does with me. The treat of this afternoon reminded me of a scripture, "You lay a banquet before me," from Psalm 23. I felt so taken care of by the wonderful staff and welcomed and loved and feted by my beautiful friend. I know that the staff would treat everyone with care, but I also know that because of who Stephanie is, and the kind of person she is, we were treated like gold. Everything that happened on that beautiful afternoon brought such joy and peace, and I am so grateful in every way for the opportunity that was given to me to visit this old and lovely place that has lived in my memory and now has been made completely new.

At The Modern

With A Beautiful Friend

The Gorgeous Mixologist Stephanie O'Neill

With So Much Gratitude

A Beautiful Blessing

On A Beautiful Afternoon

At MoMA

9 East 53rd Street

New York, New York

https://www.themodernnyc.com

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - A Tree In A Brooklyn Garden

I remember my Grandmother said to me that when she was still fairly young her parents moved the family to Brooklyn and she saw trees for the first time. She had lived in Manhattan, downtown on Hudson and Gansevoort Street, and her Father had been a Baker. They lived in a building that is still there, on the floor above the bakery which was below. In summer time she told me it was so hot that they slept on the fire escape and sometimes went to a nearby park. It may be that there were trees there, but somehow when she moved to Brooklyn, she felt that it was moving up in the world because of all the trees and greenery.

The other day a beautiful friend I hadn't seen in a while invited me to go with her to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I hadn't been there in what feels like a very long while, and it was just the kind of trip I needed and just the kind of day with a beautiful friend that would give me some much needed joy.

We walked and talked and sat in the various gardens and took time to look at all the beautiful plants and shrubs and bushes and trees, and we also saw so many wonderful animals and saw and heard so many beautiful birds. At one point we saw a rabbit, what seemed to be a baby, learning how to cross the asphalt path. It darted out and explored a bit and then went back into the shrubbery, darting out again after someone on foot had passed and running back after touching its feet on the pavement.

I had been so enchanted all day that when I saw the rabbit I realized I hadn't taken any videos, and so that was what I decided to try to capture. You can see this sweet visitor as I pan around through all the trees and green leaves and undergrowth. My Grandmother I think would have loved the day we had, just walking and talking and being in nature with so many lush, green trees and the beautiful blue sky above.

A Walk In The Brooklyn Botanic Garden

And A Sweet Rabbit Friend

Learning To Cross The Road

Blessings,

Jannie Susan