Dennis took this one!
On hot summer days, one looks forward to evening when it cools down and becomes more refreshing.
I love, last night, going for a super long walk in the woods with my husband, starting out at the end of the day, while the sun is still out and wearing sunglasses. Then it starts to cool, the sun goes down and there we have it — twilight!
In addition to seeing deer and birds and other little critters, we caught the almost-full moon in all her glory!
Beautiful super model Paulina inspired me in the 1980s
It’s a given that when people talk about the 1980s, they have to mock the hairstyles. But are these people BLIND to what is out there today?! The 21st century brought us so many hideous hairstyles, yet no one bats an eye. So, let’s get off the 1980s for a second because what I am showing below is worse — BY FAR!
Emo hair
EMO HAIR: I just found out that’s what this style is called “emo hair.” It’s like they have a bowl cut with hair extensions. Or maybe Justin Bieber met White Snake.
Bozo red hair
Bozo red hair: This color is so awful it looks like it could just come off in your hand if you touch it. What guy would want to run his fingers through hair that is this color? Yuck. (My husband hates this color!)
Modern wedge
Modern wedge: One word, “chicken.”
Half Shaved Head
Half Shaved Head: Now here’s an ugly look from the 1980s that somehow made it’s way into the 21st century. Yet, we never hear people making fun of this. Well, let me be the first — it looks like she got brain surgery! No matter how beautiful you are — this is a ridiculous hairstyle!
The Poof?
The Poof: I get it, you’re trying to grow your bangs out, but in prior decades we were definitely more creative in doing so. This is almost as embarrassing as going out in pink foam rollers in the 1960s.
No! Just, no!
And I’ll end with this one because it’s just so ultra ridiculous words escape me.
Still wanna make fun of 1980s hair?
I think this is enough new material for all of you who have been living under a rock!
Now mock away!
Photo by Me
Today was a thrill because I got to cover a story (to be posted at a future date) at East Side High School.
East Side High School is the famous high school that Principal Joe Clark taught at.
Who is Joe Clark, you may ask? Joe Clark is the person the 1989 film “Lean on Me” was based on. East Side High School was considered the toughest school in the 1980s and principal Joe Clark walked around with a baseball bat in his hand.
Last year I interviewed a few of the students who were at East Side while Joe Clark was there. You can read my article from April, 2012 here and hear how Joe Clark influenced students: http://thealternativepress.com/towns/paterson/articles/stories-of-success-25-years-later-eastside-alum
On the way over there I had to drive on the famous Market Street.
Market Street is famous (in my mind, at least) because that is where I, as a little girl in the 1960s, dropped my Bugs Bunny doll — in the middle of the street amongst traffic.
My grandmother ran into the street and stopped a bus so I could pick up my Bugs Bunny doll!
A few years ago, I found a similar Bugs Bunny doll in an antique shop and my husband got it for me. Who knows, it could be the same doll, right? I always wondered where that doll went! We moved a lot, so I’m sure it got lost along the way and now I have it again. (Proof that if something comes back to you — it’s yours!)
Also, love this old Barney’s furniture building, so I took a shot of it.
(Photo swiped from Google search)
RIP Ray Manzarek of The Doors, died of cancer today, age 74.
I always loved his unique keyboard sound with the Doors. I never met him, but I actually saw him in person at one of the Chiller Conventions. (And of course I was too young to see the Doors perform).
Here's something cool I found on You Tube:
Tomato Chili Soup
Tomato/Cucumber on Whole Wheat with Chutney and side salad
My husband and I spent a few hours in Princeton record shopping and ate, for the first time at Infini-T Cafe, a green and vegetarian-option restaurant.
I’d love to share their website, but there is none!
Infini-t Cafe is basically a tea room with dozens of teas to choose from. I tried none since I already had my caffeine quota for the day and instead asked for water. I had their tomato soup (the chili pepper next to my sandwich was in my soup — which gave it an extra oomph!) and a cucumber/tomato sandwich with chutney on whole wheat. Both dishes were fantastic!
The place was lovely and cozy, reminding me of a 1990s place when coffee shops/tea places were all very poetic looking. Students from the college come here to study and go online, so it was nice and peaceful.
The people who worked there were very pleasant. It’s like another world in Princeton which is why it’s one of my favorite places in New Jersey — there are more nice people than not-so-nice.
If I didn’t have such a filling sandwich I would have loved to try the green tea cupcakes! Maybe next time!
Delicious meal, I am full!
Yesterday I was so happy to be part of a most wonderful charity event, “Walk 4 Will.”
I walked four miles to help raise money to help a little 4-year-old boy Will DeGregorio, fight a rare adrenal cancer.
Over 600 people were there including people from my church and my pastor.
The walk was right in my hometown, right down the block, which was really cool and I did 16 laps around the track (equals four miles). The day before I had a little accident and hurt my back, so I was cranky and out of it, but it was so nice seeing the Pastor and bonding with some other church members I never got to speak to before.
Here is an article about Will (and a picture so you can see how adorable this kid is because this isn’t an article I wrote so I didn’t want to swipe the photo without permission): http://www.nj.com/cranford/index.ssf/2013/05/cranford_and_kenilworth_unite.html
And here is his Face Book page with more photos: https://www.facebook.com/walk4will
They had a nice band that played old rock ‘n’ roll hits like “The Letter.”
They had volunteers giving out fake tattoos (I got a red dinosaur on my hand!)
They had free treats: oranges, water, bagels and ice pops.
They had characters dressed as Wonder Woman and Batman.
They had raffle giveaways.
And best of all — last I spoke with someone at the event, I think they raised 3x the amount they anticipated!
Luscious Zuzu Luxe Make-up! (Photo swiped from their website)
The other night I must have written 10 negative reviews on Yelp because good product and good service is such a rarity.
Well I finally have something positive to say about something — Gabriel Cosmetics Zuzu Luxe line: 100 percent natural ingredients, hypo-allergenic, vegan ingredients, doesn’t test on animals.
I’ve used these products for years and felt it was high time I contact them to let them know their product is loved and adored!
With “FAN MAIL” in the subject line — here is my letter to them:
I used to buy your products at Whole Foods, but they do not offer good customer service (bad management, nasty cashiers) so I stopped going there. I couldn’t find your products anywhere and tried other hypo-allergenic brands that don’t test on animals (some costing twice as much) and was so disappointed, as my eyes teared, burned, itched and hurt.
Then I found your website and ordered online. I got my mascara within days of ordering! I can’t express enough how pleased I am with not only your product, but your speed-of-lightning fast service!
God bless you and may you have many more years of continued business! Expect more online ordering from me soon!
As a side note, I’d like to add, that when you order things online, you sometimes get little samples. They sent me a sample of lip gloss along with my order, which was really nice.
Below I’ve listed their website if you want to order some goodies (and have a good conscious that you are buying something that they didn’t have to put painful liquid drops in bunnies eyes to see if it works because that is just not necessary!)
Beautiful picture swiped from Google
(Note: there’s a copyright in the center if you look closely)
Today was the first day I got to go to the women’s bible study at my church. They have them every third Friday of the month, which is hard because some days I have assignments on Fridays but today I was free all day! It was definitely a day off and felt so good.
The theme today was “Beneath Her Wings,” a bible study article written by Audrey West and published in the March edition of Gather magazine.
When Jesus (in the Gospel of Luke) is on his way to meet his end in Jerusalem and he offers shelter, he refers to himself as a mother hen, to those who remain close to him.
Our pastor spoke of this before in a previous sermon. I like the idea of Jesus as a mother hen because it is a metaphor for someone soft and gentle, yet strong and protective — showing the feminine side of our savior Jesus Christ. With all the other biblical metaphors Jesus could have chosen — a lion, an eagle, a bear — he chose the hen, a mother who loves her chicks so much that she gives them shelter under her wings.
Another soft reference for Jesus is as the lamb of God, my person favorite imagery of Jesus.
One of the questions we discussed was what keeps people from desiring to be gathered beneath Christ’s wings … what gets in the way of our own acceptance of God’s shelter?
My answer was that people may not be rejecting Jesus, but rather how the church is viewed. Remember a few months ago when Pastor Bell didn’t want to tip a waitress and wrote a nasty note to her that read, “I give God 10 percent, why should I give you 18?” I blogged about it here: http://maryannemistretta.wordpress.com/2013/02/02/pastor-bell-do-the-math/
Ridiculous things like this can turn people off to church. So it’s best, as Christians, to be more careful and not do silly things like this. It’s very hard to be sin free and perfect (I am the first to say because I can get very mean when provoked), but I feel that those in high places in the church have a responsibility to their flock and need to be on their best behavior when out in the public eye.
I also said that people may fear going to church because they could fear being judged. Unlike our church where people are so accepting. I shared that I felt comfortable from the get-go. Others in the church had tattoos like myself. Everyone is down to earth. I truly get so much comfort and joy going there because I can be myself. If this is how God loves me, so should everyone else — and I get that impression that I am very loved in my church, as I love everyone there too. Even if I wasn’t Christian, I can honestly say we really do have a good group of people who are positive, cheerful, polite, smart, fun, funny, joyous, happy, good hearted, kind and giving. (And I’m a fussy person who doesn’t take much to people — trust me on that!)
As June, who ran the bible study, said, “We have saints and sinners here alike … and you can’t beat that!” Not sure if those were her exact words, but that’s the gist of it, meaning no one is perfect and that’s fine!
Young girls in our church wear pretty dresses, some are short and that is fine. No one judges. I’ll never forget when I was young and I was wearing a short skirt. I got out of my car to go the bank and an old biddy yelled at me, “You have a Billy Graham bumper sticker on your car, but you are dressed like a hooker!” That was so mean. And I will never be that judging to another person, as long as I have my wits about me.
Another positive thing I learned about my church was that back in the 1960s the pastor who was at my church did a lot for the civil rights movement, which was absolutely great.
Being with this group of senior ladies for just a few hours really made my day. It takes me back to when I was just 18 and working my first job at Scribner Book Company. All the older ladies looked after me, like mother hens. Now I have this wonderful group of church ladies to converse with and share and grow with.
Perhaps this is a way Jesus manifests through other people … another way to interpret the “mother hen” reference.
Yeah, God is good that way … showing that He’s near in many creative ways and knows which way you personally will resonate most with.
Westfield High School cast and crew of “Bat Boy: The Musical”
Photo by Maryanne Christiano-Mistretta
Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of interviewing some students from the cast and crew of “Bat Boy: The Musical.”
This play received many nominations for the Paper Mill Play House Rising Star awards which will happen on June 4.
Note, Jersey girl and Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway received a Paper Mill Rising Star award, back in the day!
Enjoy my full article here: http://thealternativepress.com/articles/westfield-high-school-students-shine-as-paper-mil
Bunnies (photo swiped from Google search)
This morning I had to interview students in a theater class and ended up parking several blocks away from the school on a side street. Going back to my car it was so cute, I saw four bunnies chasing each other and two chipmunks. So adorable. It was a perfect morning, cool and pleasant and a little overcast.
I wrote one story, was all caught up and able to go to mid week service.
I was totally honored when the pastor asked me to assist in communion!
As I said before, I love the Thursday service because it’s more personal. It’s only about 15 people, all seniors, and we get to share stories that relate to the service, which reminds me of a Bible Study.
Thursday’s service always reflects on what Sunday’s service was about. Since Sunday was Mother’s Day the pastor was asking us about a story where we felt our mother comforted us as a child.
Since my grandmother raised me, it popped into my head just one of the things she did to show unconditional love.
When I was little I was so shy and so attached to my Grandmother I didn’t want to be separated from her. Not even to go to school — which I loved as a little girl.
So she would wait on line with me until it was time to go into the school. I loved that. It was sweet and comforting. I’m so happy I remembered that today and had a moment to remember my Grandmother’s love.