Eye Candy
Several years ago on a weekend getaway with 5 girlfriends, my friend, Beverly disclosed that she was showing her kids eye candy. I immediately stopped what I was doing and looked at her perplexed as her twins were about 8 years old at the time. I remember asking her what exactly she was showing her kids and she said something to the effect “oh, the Washington Monument, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial.” Read more 
Abe’s Market
Where do you go on-line to find a wide selection of healthy foods at reasonable prices and free shipping? Abe’s Market – the newest on-line resource for consumers looking for all types of healthy foods: organic, gluten-free, vegan, tree-nut free, nut-free, kosher, sugar-free, raw, and natural. Nearly 3,000 food products are currently offered with the selection growing daily. The prices are competitive and the shipping is free (and fast) on all orders of $49 or more. Read more
Nature’s All Freeze Dried Fruit
Nature’s All Foods recently introduced nine organic and fair-trade certified freeze-dried fruit products to the market: raspberries, blueberries, bananas, mangos, apples, strawberries, pineapples, and a blend of bananas and strawberries or a tropical blend of mangos, pineapples,and bananas. Each packet of delicious crunchy dried fruit contains the organic fruit listed “and nothing else but love.” Read more
Alma Chocolate
Alma Chocolate was started seven years ago by Sarah Hart who initially sold her chocolate creations at a Farmer’s Market in Portland, Oregon. In 2006, Sarah opened up a chocolate shop in northeast Portland and has been creating and selling her confections ever since. One of her specialities is toffee and she makes three kinds: Pistachio, Hazelnut Cherry, and Ginger Almond – all made with organic butter, turbinado (a natural brown sugar that looks like light brown sugar crystals), fresh nuts, dark chocolate and sea salt. Read more
“The Trial”
Nearly 100 years ago, The Trial was written by Franz Kafka, a german language writer who was born in Prague in 1883 and died in Vienna in 1924 at age 40 from tuberculosis. Educated as a lawyer but destined to be a writer, Kafka’s works were not well-known until after his death when a friend had the author’s writings published. The Trial was originally known as Der Process and is the story of a young man who is accused of a crime he knows nothing about. Read more
Top Ten List for Runners
Runners can be an opinionated lot as every road running enthusiast has a system that works for them regarding training, diet, clothing and yet, there is a lot of crossover. Consider shoes – most runners agree the foot needs some type of cover especially for distance but the recommendations vary depending on the type of arch support, stability and cushioning needed. No one shoe works for everyone just as no one set of recommendations work for every runner. That said, I have learned a lot over the past few years and although I’m not an expert, I wish I knew then what I know now: Read more
BAKED Brownies
Brooklyn, New York is the home of a bakery called BAKED that specializes in brownies and “American Classics Served Fresh” – meaning cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies, tarts, bars, and Brooksters (a combination brownie and chocolate chunk cookie). It’s the brownies though that take the cake, so to speak. Rich, dark (except for the Blondie) and intense, BAKED brownies are moist, sweet, and unforgettable. Read more
Farm to Table Oatmeal
Farm to Table Foods is an organic food company that provides real and earnest food offerings to customers hungry for products that do more than just pay lip service to the organic food movement. We’re people who believe in traditional farming methods. We reject the notion that big agri-business is the only way to feed a community, and at every opportunity, we attempt to give back to the earth as well as to those farmers who work our earth in order to feed and nourish us. From Farm to Table Foods Read more
“Villages”
A village is woven of secrets, of truths better left unstated, of houses with less window than opaque wall.
At the center of our lives is where we have lived and where we live – not the geographic place per se but the people who inhabit the villages, towns, and cities that influence us and become a part of our history. Villages is the story of Owen Mackenzie who has spent his whole life in three villages: Willow, Pennsylvania where he grew up, Middle Falls, Connecticut where he spent most of his adult years married to his first wife, Phyllis, raising a family and building a computer company with his partner, Ed Mervine, and Haskell’s Crossing, Massachusetts, a community where he lives in his later years with his second wife, Julia. Each of these places is defined by happiness and heartache, great joy and deception and ultimately in the realization of failure and death in old age. Read more
Girlfriend Weekends
Every year or so, I leave my husband and daughter (and the animals) for a long weekend with a group of girlfriends from college. The planning of the event starts a year ahead of time with primary consideration given to our geographic locations (Washington, Virginia, Florida, New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts) and the ease of travel to the destination chosen. We all enjoy the outdoors and are drawn to places that offer hiking, walking, and sunshine – the Adirondacks in upstate New York, Tucson, Arizona, Newport, Rhode Island, and most recently, Portland, Oregon. Read more
Paddock Post 