An Abundant Life - Being Cared For

I usually write about smaller companies or individual people I know or meet who are doing extraordinary things, but every now and then I meet someone or have an experience that is part of a much larger and more well known, even world renowned business, and I feel it's important to write about it because not only is the company doing wonderful things but the individual people I meet who are part of the company are wonderful too.

A little over a week ago I heard from a woman who I've written about before who works for Chanel Beauty at Saks Fifth Avenue. She was inviting me to come in for a facial because their salon was newly reopened, and I've had such beautiful experiences there in the past I was so excited and happy to make an appointment.

With everything that has been going on it felt like a dream to be invited to visit the salon and be taken care of by a skincare expert, and for that one hour they encouraged me to just let myself relax and enjoy that time and those moments and leave outside the doors my cares and all the things I've been thinking about and trying to figure out.

From the moment I was in that lovely room, it was as if I could suddenly just be. I had been receiving all kinds of messages for so many days and even that day just before I walked into my appointment there were more emails that I had to respond to. But when I put my phone on silent and began the salon experience it was as if everything simply had to wait and it was all right to take that time and be cared for.

The music and the lighting and the comfort of the room combined with the luxurious skincare and wonderful skill of Brooklyn who is the skincare specialist gave me the opportunity to fully relax in a way that I hadn't thought possible when I walked in. At times I drifted off, not into sleep but into a very peaceful place where I could enjoy the moments of time and the scents and sensations of the experience.

I am so grateful that I was invited to be taken care of in this way, and so grateful for the care that was given to make every moment of my visit so beautiful and so special! Saks Fifth Avenue and Chanel as a company have long been favorites of mine as I've written in these pages before, and it's the quality of the products, the quality of the experiences when visiting, and the quality of the people who create such beautiful hospitality and customer care that make for lovely memories and moments and a luxuriously abundant life.

A Skincare Experience

At Chanel Beauty

At Saks Fifth Avenue

New York City

https://www.saksfifthavenue.com

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Dancing History

I have always loved ballet, from the time that I was a very little girl listening and watching Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker Suite, and later as I got older and I began to take dance lessons and found myself for a few beautiful dream filled summers in Saratoga Springs where the American Ballet Theatre had their summer residency at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.  I had somehow found out about the summer camp that I went to there at Skidmore College through an article or ad I think in the New York Times because I was completely filled with a school girl crush on Baryshnikov after seeing him perform on TV and going to see the movie "The Turning Point" which I think if I'm remembering rightly I went to see because ballet and Baryshnikov were highlights of my life.

Much earlier than that I"d found a book at a favorite bookstore, The Andover Bookstore in Andover Massachusetts where I'd ask my Mother to take me for a treat and she always let me pick out one book for an upcoming birthday or holiday and sometimes if it wasn't too expensive she would let me have it that same day. The book I found was titled "The Royal Book of Ballet" and it had stories of some of the most famous ballets with some of the most beautiful illustrations, kind of like a children's story book but all about ballets. Through reading that book over and over I learned about many of the ballets that I later was able to see when I was at the summer camp in Saratoga Springs.

The American Ballet Theatre was at the time when I was immersed in my ballet summers one of the preeminent ballet companies in the world and it still is. I love going to ballets, even now that I don't dance any more myself, but it is that company and those years that still give me the most beautiful memories because American Ballet Theatre creates such an all around excellent and truly gorgeous and lushly filled experience of performance, with dancers, design, music, costumes, lighting, set design and performance spaces all at the highest and most beautiful level.

On Friday afternoon, just as I was getting ready to leave home and go the YES Gallery, the beautiful Artist Alberte Bernier who I have written about in these pages before sent me a message that she had an extra ticket to go to see "Onegin" performed by the American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center. With everything else that has been going on along with the heat wave that we've been experiencing, I was feeling exhausted, and the forecast also mentioned that rain might be a possibility. At first I was thinking I'd have to say thank you but no, and then I remember the words of a dear friend who has been sending me regular messages every day to encourage and inspire me and in many of her messages she encourages me to enjoy life and be happy. When those words came to my mind, instead of saying thank you and no I said thank you and yes, and I found myself planning my schedule around the evening at the ballet.

Our seats were wonderful and the performance was the highest experience of excellence and beauty. The space itself is such a very special one to be in, and the whole evening, including the company of Alberte was enchanting. At so many times I found myself completely immersed in the story I was watching unfold, and it was such a beautiful blessing and gift to have been able to join Alberte for this stunning and captivating performance. Though the story is a sad one, it was so beautifully done and the evening was thoroughly delightful. I felt as if I was back in my childhood and teenage years at times, with eyes filled with wonder, and my heart and spirit are filled with so much gratitude to Alberte for the invitation and to those who made the evening such a beautiful and very special one.

At "Onegin"

Performed By The American Ballet Theater

At The Metropolitan Opera House

Lincoln Center

New York City

 https://www.abt.org/

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

     

An Abundant Life - A Treasure Of Time

I've written about the Hoboken Thrift Store, which is also known as St. Mary's Advocates, in these pages before and about the wonderful things I've found there over the years. Now that I have YES Gallery to go to, I try to stop by the thrift store on my way on days when they're open and I have time because although it's a few blocks out of my way, it's just a few blocks away. Taking the extra time to go there is always so much fun, for the people I meet and see and speak to there and for the wonderful treasures, sometimes clothing or shoes, sometimes decorative items, and sometimes things I wasn't expecting at all but that are so wonderful that I have to bring them to the gallery.

On Saturday I stopped by and the first thing I saw when I walked in was a woman speaking with children outside. She was giving them directions on how to behave in the store around adults and giving them the opportunity to choose one thing each they wanted as a gift from her. When I heard her words and the way she was speaking, it reminded me of me with my own Mother when we were going to a thrift store together or to another place where she was letting me choose something, just one thing, that she would give to me. I told the woman at the counter about how overhearing the conversation reminded me of those times with my own Mother, and then I told the woman when she came into the store. The woman behind the counter knew the woman with the children and I overheard as they were talking that they were her grandchildren. As I started my own shopping, I heard one of the little girls saying, "Excuse me," to people shopping as she tried to go by them just as she had been told to do by her Grandmother. There was something so sweet about the whole thing and it made me feel so happy, my own memories mixing in with these new moments of joy.

Almost immediately when I began looking at the shelves that have homewares and decorative items on them, I saw what looked like an antique clock. It was on a lower shelf and not easy to see, but I didn't want to get it out myself in case it was fragile so I asked the woman behind the counter about it and she got it out for me to look at. It was a beauty and of course it had to go back with me to YES Gallery. When I got there I dusted it off carefully and tried to figure out how it worked and if it was still working. It didn't have the keys to wind it and set it, but I was able to move the hands and when I put it to just a hint before 3pm, it began to chime. Then I noticed there was a place where it could open in the back, and it was very dusty inside. As I was cleaning that part of it, the minutes started ticking. I set it to the correct time and after a few moments I heard a single chime because it was at the half hour.

Finding this clock was such a wonderful dream come true because I've always loved them and I think somewhere back in my memory someone in my family, a grandmother perhaps or maybe a family friend or other relative, had one. I remember someone showing me how one worked once, distantly in my long ago childhood days, and I've seen them over the years and always thought it would be so lovely to have one.

I made a short video that I'll share here, with the antique clock on top of the antique dresser that I wrote about a while ago when a dear friend helped me bring it to the gallery when I'd found it around the corner and didn't know how I'd get it there. They're both from around the same period of time and the dresser is where the Souper Dress from the 1960's hangs, so it seems the treasure of time has found a place it can pass the hours in where it can feel right at home.

An Antique Clock

Another Treasure Found At

St. Mary's Advocates

The Hoboken Thrift Store

536 Garden Street

Hoboken, New Jersey

http://www.stmaryadvocates.org/

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

An Abundant Life - Visiting Artists

A few weeks ago I had the beautiful opportunity to go to an art opening for the show "12 In 24" at the Down Town Association that was curated by The Woodward Gallery. I had met the owners of the gallery a number of years ago when a long time friend, the marvelous Artist Tommy Flynn who I've written about in these pages before, had invited me to a show at the Down Town Association curated by the Woodward Gallery that he was a part of. I wrote about that wonderful experience at that time, and I had been looking forward to many more, but then the world as we know it changed in an instant, and when they began to have shows there again my own schedule made it difficult to attend.

When I received the invitation to this new show opening, I made a plan to be there although my schedule was very full with events for Design Week. It had been such a long time since I had been able to attend one of the wonderful art opening events that the Woodward Gallery hosts at the Down Town Association, and I wanted to visit and share some time with them and the beautiful art and the beautiful Artists from their gallery in this beautiful space.

This show had a combination of a variety of Artists and work from some of the history of the gallery. It was a beautiful experience to see the work in that space and to have a chance to reconnect with the owners of the gallery and some of the Artists again. I took a video at the beginning of the evening before it began to get crowded, and at the very end there is a moment when a child arrives and is running into the room I'm in just as I'm walking towards the door. There's such a lovely expression of joy and excitement in being in this space and seeing the art all around, and it reminded me of how wonderful it is to be surrounded by beautiful art and beautiful Artists in every day life. Visiting with Artists and having regular experiences of being in spaces filled with their work is something that brings such joy and beauty to life.

The Woodward Gallery

At The Down Town Association

"12 In 24"

60 Pine Street

New York City

https://woodwardgallery.net

Blessings,

Jannie Susan

  

An Abundant Life - A Very Special Kitchen

A number of months ago I saw that there was a small grocery store opening up on the street where I walk almost every day. It had a sign that said La Estrella Mexicana, and when I first saw it I was on my way somewhere but took a moment to stop in and tell the lovely young woman who was working there that I was so happy to see them in the neighborhood. I asked how late they would be open because I thought that maybe I'd stop by that evening, but though they were open when I was walking by again I didn't have a chance to stop in. Every time I walked by after that I looked in the windows and read the sign out front and sometimes there would be hand written signs in the windows or on the door that described that day's specials. Each time I thought how much I wanted to stop in and try something because everything sounded wonderful, and when I saw a sign that said they had tamales, I knew I'd have to make a special plan to go there when they were available. Over time I saw that they posted a sign that tamales would be available on weekends, and so finally, just yesterday I decided that it was time to give myself the treat of going there.

Anyone who knows me well knows that tamales are one of my favorite things in the world. The first time I had them my Father made them for a special dinner for me, and ever since then I've ordered them wherever and whenever I see them. There's something about them that to me is exactly everything that I enjoy eating. The fact that they're cooked in corn husks that you have to peel away to find the inner center of soft corn meal that surrounds the different wonderful things that are used to make them, sometimes beef, sometimes chicken, sometimes cheese, sometimes pork, sometimes jalapeños, sometimes a sauce, sometimes spicy and sometimes mild, they are for me always an adventure and a kind of comfort food that  I could eat every day happily.

When I walked into La Estrella Mexicana and asked if they had tamales, the owner told me yes with such a nice and friendly smile that I immediately felt welcomed. Of the three varieties they had I chose two, chicken with salsa verde and chicken with mole sauce. I was thinking that I'd get all three because the third was cheese and jalapeño, but I decided on two, knowing that I'd want to come back to try more things another day.

They gave the tamales to me and they were so warm and lovely, wrapped in tin foil to go. I brought them to YES Gallery to enjoy for lunch there, and they made my day even brighter. In my view tamales are always enjoyable, but these were exceptional. Made with white corn meal, they were very delicate in flavor, while being so well made that they held together so well that I could pick them up with my fingers and eat them that way instead of with a fork once I had unwrapped the corn husks. I think they may have simmered them in chicken broth because they had that combination of light and rich layered flavor that in a way made me think of a good homemade chicken soup. The two different sauces were freshly made and flavorful without being overpowering. The window says Moma's Kitchen, and there is something about these tamales that made me feel like they were really home cooked and so carefully made that they were very special and a wonderful experience to enjoy. I'll be back for more soon, and to try more of the offerings on the menu, because La Estrella Mexicana is a five star kitchen.

La Estrella Mexicana

47 Franklin Street

Jersey City Heights, New Jersey

Blessings,

Jannie Susan