ChaiLife Atlanta Exclusive Social Networking for Vibrant Jewish Singles Ages 45+

ChaiLife Atlanta Planning Temporarily on the Back Burner

2008-07-03T12:32:00.004-04:00

Due to extenuating circumstances beyond my control, I am unable to actively dedicate my focus to ChaiLife Atlanta right now. I still plan to go forward and hopefully, I will be able to jump back in 100% in the next month or two.

I will be in touch with you soon.

Welcome Back My Long Lost Friends

2008-05-29T22:45:00.003-04:00

It's T minus 12 hours and counting. The day has finally arrived. The return to the big screen of my long lost friends Carrie, Samantha, Miranda and Charlotte. Since Sex and the City signed off 4 years ago, I have felt a void; not only in my Sunday night television lineup, but also in my day to day water cooler conversation. As a single woman who grew up in the city, SATC always felt like home geographically and emotionally. Each week I was able to relate to the life lessons in friendship, fashion and another f word.

Tomorrow I am taking the day off and will go to the first screening of SATC with my mother, also a big fan. We are going to make a day of it. Manolos-- check. Chanel bag--check. Fun outfit --check. Good and Plenty...check.The only remaining issue is how to smuggle the martini shaker, glasses and cosmos into the theater.

What to Do in Atlanta This Weekend 5/29/08

2008-05-29T13:43:00.003-04:00

MUNCH
Morelli’s Gourmet Ice Cream
What: Classic flavors like vanilla and nocciola, plus crazy concoctions like praline chili scoops and Mexican malted milkshakes.
Why: You’ll be bowled over.
When: Mon.-Thurs., 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.; Fri., 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-10 p.m.
Where: 749 Moreland Ave., Ormewood (404-622-0210).

Modern Day Masala
What: Kristin Sharma’s expertly mixed spice packs make Pan-Asian dishes a snap.
Why: Eat Indian style.
When: When the transatlantic sky miles aren’t on your side.
Where: Six Beans, 1401 Johnson Ferry Rd., Marietta (770-565-1001).

PARTY
Drop Dead Gorgeous Benefit
What: Thread-House, T., Merino, and more host a night of fashion to raise awareness about child sex trafficking.
Why: Wear your heart on your sleeve.
When: Thurs. VIP reception, 9 p.m.; doors open to the public at 10 p.m.
Where: Amore, 950 W. Peachtree St., ste. 220, Midtown (404-477-0404).

SHOP
Angel Sanchez Trunk Show
What: The architect-turned-atelier and designer’s entire 2008 collection is in-store for two days only.
Why: It’s heaven sent.
When: Trunk show, Fri., 10 a.m.-8 p.m., by appointment; Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Cocktail reception, Fri., 6-8 p.m.
Where: Kelly’s Closet, 1649 McLendon Ave., Candler Park (404-377-9923).

POSE
MethodIzaz Undercover Photo Services
What: Brooklyn’s contract stalkerazzi-style photog is in Atlanta for wedding season.
Why: He can’t take his eyes off you.
When: By appointment this summer.
Where: Over your right shoulder.

James Taylor is Chicken Soup for the Soul

2008-05-27T12:32:00.007-04:00

As I have mentioned in previous posts, one of my favorite summertime activities is to attend concerts at Chastain Park. I love the intimacy of the venue. One of the biggest treats of the summer is to see James Taylor at Chastain. He loves Atlanta! In fact, he had 3 sold out shows. I attended the show on Sunday night. He was in his groove and actually played from 8:10 to 10:45 with only a 20 minute break. JT is looking very, very good and his voice, as always, is flawless! I took 80 incredible photographs but decided to include the one in which he is singing directly to me. :)

Every time I see JT, it brings me back to a concert in the gymnasium of Fairleigh Dickinson University in Hackensack, NJ. There were no assigned seats....we all sat on the wood floor. JT came out and introduced a new artist, Carole King, who was his opening act. She blew us all away. This was pre Tapestry. James Taylor came out with his denim workshirt and long locks, looking just like the cover of Sweet Baby James. We swooned and fell in love and I feel the same way today!

The Weekend Guide..What to Do This Weekend 5/16/08

2008-05-16T14:44:00.003-04:00

LOUNGE:French American Brasserie RooftopWhat: Skyline views, Marcona almond and sea salt small plates, and La Vie en Rose cocktails made with champagne and raspberry puree.Why: Have your head in the clouds.When: Mon.-Thurs., 4:30-10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 4:30 p.m.-1 a.m.Where: 30 Ivan Allen Junior Blvd., Downtown (404-266-1440).
PARTY:Nest Atlanta LaunchWhat: Luxe and 1Five0 host local fundraiser with El Tesoro and Catamarca wines and international artisans, to support craft businesses around the globe.Why: Shop the world over.When: Sun., noon-6 p.m.Where: 1000 Marietta St., W. Midtown.
Chocolate EventWhat: Le Petit Marché and K Chocolat host a night of store-wide discounts, champagne, and cocoa-based samples.Why: Taster’s choice.When: Fri., 7-9 p.m.Where: Le Petit Marché, 1963 Hosea L. Williams Dr., ste. 108, Kirkwood (404-371-9888). Tickets online at thechocolateevent.eventbrite.com.

SPONSORED LISTING
SHOP:H&M Grand OpeningWhat: High fashion at low prices comes to town with H&M’s new North Point Mall location. (Their second store in Atlantic Station opens Jun. 13.)Why: Register online to receive 20 percent off your purchase of $60 or more during Friends and Family Weekend, May 23-26.When: North Point Mall store open now.Where: 1081 North Point Cir., Alpharetta (770-475-1604).

SHOP:Rack-n-RollWhat: Cutting-edge designers and boutiques — Paper Doll, Veruca, Evolve, and more — give discounts to the sounds of a live DJ.Why: Dance, prance, and spend some dough.When: Sat., 10 a.m.-5 p.m.Where: Halo Lounge, 817 W. Peachtree St., Midtown (404-962-7333).
EAT:Just Loaf’nWhat: The much-loved Cabbagetown Cajun shack just opened a full-size space.Why: Why wait for Fat Tuesday?When: Daily, 24 hours.Where: 4894 Old National Hwy., College Park (404-768-7898).

ChaiLife Atlanta Brainstorming Luncheon a Huge Success!!

2008-05-05T18:08:00.008-04:00

I am happy to report that our premiere meeting and luncheon was a huge success. It was attended by a wonderful select group of men and women who are interested in making ChaiLife Atlanta a reality. Many of the group have participated in other similar groups in metro Atlanta and have a wealth of knowledge and great ideas!

The consensus is to plan interesting, fun events. Some of the suggestions include progressive dinners, fundraisers, seminars, turbo dating, karaoke night, casino night, talent/comedy shows, art gallery events, wine tastings, book exchanges, musical events, dances, martini nights,museum events and weekends away.

We decided to make our kickoff event a wine tasting to be held in July. Details to follow.

Thank you to all of the attendees who joined me for lunch. It was a pleasure to meet each and every one of you.

If you are interested in becoming involved with the grass roots development of ChaiLife, and meeting some great people, please email me at chailifeatlanta@gmail.com

ChaiLife Atlanta Brainstorming Luncheon Set for May 4, 2008

2008-04-27T18:33:00.003-04:00

Despite some technical difficulties with Google calendar, please be advised that the brainstorming meeting/luncheon will be held next Sunday, May 4, 2008 at 12 noon in my office.

Please email me your full name and telephone number before April 30 if you would like to attend.

Hope to see you then!

What to Do in Atlanta This Weekend 4/25/08

2008-04-25T14:49:00.003-04:00

SEE

Waiting for My Growth SpurtWhat: Fourteen-year-old Jason David’s one-act take on everything from his love for girls named Jessica to what he and his friends are really up to most of the time is a barrel of laughs.Why: The kid stays in the picture.When: Thru May 10. Thurs.-Sat., 7 p.m.Where: 14th Street Playhouse, 173 14th St., Midtown (404-733-4750). Tickets at 404-733-4738.

Form .02

What: Kaleidoscope, Squash Blossom, DressCodes, and more team up for fashion and fun on Decatur Square.Why: It’s a clothed set.When: Sat. Doors open at 7 p.m.; show at 8:30 p.m.Where: Old Decatur Courthouse, 101 E. Court Sq., Decatur. Tickets at participating boutiques.

EAT

Straits What: Chris Yeo and Chris “Ludacris” Bridges team up to bring Chino-Thai-Malay-Indian food to Spice’s beloved old space starting Friday night.Why: A tasty disturbance to your peaceful weekend.When: Mon.-Wed., 5 p.m.-midnight; Thurs.-Sat., 5 p.m.-1 a.m.; Sun., 11 a.m.-3 p.m. & 5-11 p.m.Where: 793 Juniper St., Midtown (404-877-1283).

courtesy of Daily Candy www.dailycandy.com

Happy Passover!

2008-04-17T16:42:00.003-04:00

May this holiday

bless you and your loved ones

with good health

and abundant peace and

bountiful happiness.

ChaiLife Atlanta Brainstorming Luncheon Set for May 4, 2008

2008-04-15T23:52:00.005-04:00

I am hosting a brainstorming/planning meeting for ChaiLife on Sunday, May 4, 2008 at noon.

We have a handful of enthused peope who are interesting in jumping on the ChaiLife planning bandwagon. and I am confident we will make ChaiLife a reality!!

If you are interested in attending, please contact me at chailifeatlanta@gmail.com. I promise you a good lunch and who knows? You might make some new friends!

Hope to see you on the 4th!

April 10 2008 What to Do This Weekend in Atlanta

2008-04-11T12:52:00.002-04:00

Courtesy of Daily Candy... http://www.dailycandy.com/

Practice your “I’m a clever patron of the arts” speech.

EATCrepeMastersWhat: The new pop-up food stand operates during weekend shows at Dad’s Garage Theatre.Why: You’re sandwidextrous.When: Thurs.-Sat., 7:30 p.m.-midnight.Where: 280 Elizabeth St. , ste. C101, Inman Park (404-523-3141). Catering info at 404-661-7688.

SEEBigWhat: Atlanta Ballet dancers interpret Big Boi, Outkast, and Purple Ribbon jams through music and movement.Why: Bump that through your speakerboxxx.When: Thurs. & Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 2 & 7 p.m.Where: The Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St., Midtown (404-881-2100).

The Mother of All EnemiesWhat: Political satirist Paul Zaloom’s new adults-only show is in town for just one weekend.Why: Eighteen to party. Any age to think.When: Fri. & Sat., 8 p.m.; Sun., 5 p.m.Where: Downstairs Theater at Center for Puppetry Arts, 1404 Spring St., Midtown (404-873-3391).

BUYDolce & Gabbana Trunk ShowWhat: Spring menswear (wovens, denim, and sneaks) hits shelves with a cocktail and Ducati bike reception.Why: This one’s for the boys.When: Sat., 5-10 p.m.Where: Moda404, 254 Pharr Rd., Buckhead (404-869-3398).

DOHenri Jova Home TourWhat: The architect’s private residence is open for self-guided tours, guest lectures, and design day dreaming.Why: Midcentury modern in Midtown? That’s a brainful.When: Preview party and tour Fri., 7-10 p.m.; tour, Sat. & Sun., 11 a.m.-3 p.m.Where: 861 Mentelle Dr., Midtown. Tickets online at ticketalternative.com.

And you thought your last online date was bad?

2008-04-09T22:47:00.003-04:00

I came across the following Q & A while researching online dating . Have you had a similar experience? Let's discuss............

At their first meeting, she was already planning the wedding.... in other words, big red flag.

"Dear Rosie & Sherry,

A few weeks ago I took a trip to meet a woman I had been corresponding with for six months via a Jewish dating website. Unfortunately the trip was not a success. In my mind I had developed an image of a perfect person that I had heard over the phone and read over Internet text conversations.
But upon meeting, I could not foresee her as my potential wife and the foundation of our home. Besides that I did not find her physically attractive.
To compound the problem, she had jumped many months into the future by already thinking that we where engaged and she was even planning our "wedding." I hadn't even met this person yet!
After our first date, I was ready to say goodbye. But since we had a weekend planned together, I decided not to break the news right away, so that the weekend wouldn't be ruined for her. On Saturday night I told her that unfortunately her thoughts of marriage would not become a reality.
Besides her desperation to get married, I found her lying about a previous broken engagement and exhibiting poor treatment of customer service personnel in stores and restaurants.
She took it very hard and asked me for a second chance but I refused. I ended my trip much earlier than expected and proceeded to return home then.
I don't know where to go from here. I corresponded with this woman for six months and now I have to start all over again. I'm very busy with school and work, and I don't have much time to go out and meet people. I got a really bad feeling and no longer want to continue online dating. (I live in a city with few regular dating opportunities.) Not only that, but I am very reluctant to travel long distance for a date.
I'm ready to start a long-term relationship, but I feel stuck in a hole and unable to come out. I fear that years will go by before I meet my soul mate.
Your advice?
Jack

Dear Jack,
We're sorry that your first on-line dating experience was not successful. It appears that you made some key mistakes that contributed to that. But don't get discouraged. Many people experience similar problems. The solution is to become educated how to identify and avoid the pitfalls in the future. Our article, "Maximizing Dot Com Dating" gives guidance about Internet dating that should be helpful to you in the future.
For now, we would like to focus on a few ideas for how you can make future on-line dating more successful:
(1) Arrange to meet earlier. Corresponding for six months over the Internet is way too long. You gave yourself too much time to develop an idealized image of what your e-pal was like. Even if she would have been an attractive woman, yet did not live up to the fantasy your mind had produced and then reinforced over several months, you would have been disappointed. In the future, don't keep up a virtual correspondence for so long -- try to meet within a month or two, if at all possible.
(2) Do advance research. Once two people get to the point of considering long distance travel to meet, we recommend checking references. Find out her name, city, the name of her rabbi, where she went to school, and whom she views as her mentors. Then, contact a number of these people, or have your own dating mentor (someone you confide in from time to time) help you make the contacts.
Checking out a potential dating partner is not a hunt for negative information. If you hear something negative, don't rush to pass judgment. You may be receiving incomplete or inaccurate information from someone who doesn't know the person or the situation well enough. That's why we recommend speaking to a few people, especially since no one person will likely be able to answer all your questions.
Here are some questions you could ask:
What are his/her family and siblings like?
What kind of relationship does s/he have with them?
Where is s/he headed in terms of spiritual growth?
What does s/he like to do in his spare time?
What are his/her friends like?
Have you ever seen him/her deal with challenges or crisis? How did s/he react?
Do you have any reservations about recommending him/her as a potential marriage partner?
In your case, a little advance research might have saved you a disappointing trip to a distant city. You would have learned about your e-pal's misrepresentations, the reasons behind her broken engagement (that in itself wouldn't be a problem, but you would have discovered that she did not tell the truth about it), and possibly other information that would have made you reconsider going to visit her.
(3) Don't ignore the red flags. This woman was planning your wedding before the two of you even met. We're always wary of anyone who decides that someone they have never met is "The One." Physical attraction and face-to-face compatibility are such important components of a relationship that people who ignore their importance may have difficulties with judgment and emotional maturity. Certainly, two people can develop an emotional connection over the Internet, but meeting face-to-face is obviously a prerequisite to moving forward.
Although you say that you are so busy with school and work, we would like you to make a firm commitment to set aside a certain number of hours per week for networking and dating, and spend the time making telephone calls, reading dating advice, talking to a mentor, and going out on dates.
In order to do this you will have to reassess your priorities. It seems that you are having difficulty doing this because dating seems a bit daunting. It is a lot easier to retreat to the "comfort" of a set routine of work, school, learning, and friends than rework your schedule and enter into the dating arena. If you stop for a minute and consider that unfortunately the dating scene is difficult for almost everyone, but is an inevitable stage you must go through in order to get married, it might give you incentive to make it your priority.
Keep your eye on the ball. The time you spend networking, checking people out, and dating may cut into your time... but it is the only way you are going to get married.
Wishing you success,
Rosie & Sherry

Static Over Banned Jewish Ad

2008-04-08T13:55:00.002-04:00

Published in today's New York Post:

April 8, 2008 -- WQXR, the sleepy classical radio station owned by the New York Times, likes to avoid upsetting listeners with anything remotely controversial - and that has a prominent Jewish group crying foul.
The Manhattan-based American Jewish Committee, founded in 1906 to help "safeguard and strengthen Jews and Jewish life worldwide," says station brass unfairly killed a paid 60-second commentary about bombings carried out against Israel by the militant Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas.
"It's unbelievable. At the end of the day, WQXR listeners are interested in Israel," AJC spokesman Michael Geller told Page Six. In the ad, AJC Executive Director David Harris says: "Imagine you had 15 seconds to find shelter from an incoming missile. Fifteen seconds to locate your children, help an elderly relative, assist a disabled person to find shelter. That's all the residents of Sderot and neighboring Israeli towns have. Day or night, the sirens go on. Fifteen seconds later, the missiles, fired from Hamas-controlled Gaza, hit . . . Their aim is to kill and wound and demoralize . . . This is what Israelis experience daily."
In a letter to the AJC, WQXR general manager Tom Bartunek said parts of the spot were "outside our bounds of acceptability. First, the opening line . . . does not make clear that the potential target of the missile is not our listening area, and as a consequence, runs the risk of raising anxiety in a misleading way. Second, the description of the missiles as arriving 'day or night' and 'daily' is also subject to challenge as being misleading, at least to the degree that reasonable people might be troubled by the absence of any acknowledgment of reciprocal Israeli military actions."
Geller said Bartunek told the AJC the "general tone" didn't meet WQXR guidelines for "decorum," and the station also bans ads for "hemorrhoid cream or sexual potency pills." CBS Radio had no problem with the same spot, which it aired nationally on newsman Charles Osgood's "The Osgood File."
"We are finished with QXR. We've canceled our contract," Geller told us. "It's a shame, but we can't allow ourselves to be edited on a whim."
In the past, some media critics have accused the Times of having a pro-Palestinian slant. Times flack Catherine Mathis told us the paper "had no role in determining whether to run this ad." She noted WQXR had run eight other AJC spots read by Harris over the past 12 weeks.

Springtime in my 'hood!

2008-04-06T19:35:00.004-04:00

My yard is finally coming alive. I love springtime in Atlanta!

Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad

2008-04-05T11:58:00.003-04:00

The following is the review of a new musical review in New York City about Jewish girls....check it out......

GIRLS BAWDY AND NICE
By FRANK SCHECK

April 4, 2008 -- I'VE spent a good part of my adult life searching for "Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad," so it wasn't hard to entice me to the Zipper for this bawdy musical revue, playing Saturday nights.
Featuring an alternating lineup of female performers delivering a mixture of comedy, music and fairly tame burlesque routines, the show is good kosher fun.
The evening is hosted by "The Goddess Perlman," whose increasingly daring outfits ("I'm bringing camel toe back") are topped only by her risqué commentary.
"I put the whore in hora," she says, before explaining that "You get dinner on JDate, but you get laid on Craigslist."
She also delivered several amusing musical numbers, including an ode to gefilte fish, which she calls " 'Fear Factor' for Jews."
At the show I caught, the acts included a trio of comediennes, including Mindy Raf, whose routine included a hilarious song delivering the female perspective during a bout of bad sex; Rena Zager, explaining that "Jews are like an emotional Weather Channel and Jessica Golden, complaining about constantly receiving pictures of her friends' babies ("I'm not sending them pictures of DUI's I've been getting").
All were very funny, even if they were thrown off their comedic rhythms by the noisy interjections of some drunken women in the front row.
Rousing musical accompaniment is delivered by a four-piece klezmer rock band cheekily dubbed the Four Skins, while the scantily clad Sister Schmaltz delivers a series of provocative dance numbers, including a Hasidic strip routine.
Admittedly not for everyone, "Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad" has the outrageous feel of a bat mitzvah gone terribly, terribly wrong.

My search has ended....I found a great pizza in Atlanta!

2008-04-03T00:07:00.004-04:00

I am most definitely a pizza snob. Having been raised in metropolitan NY/NJ, I grew up on great pizza....nothing like a great slice from a neighborhood place. Nirvana. I have been on the constant crusade for great pizza since moving to Atlanta in 1983. I am proud to announce that I have found a great pizza from Galla's on Peachtree Industrial Blvd. in Chamblee. http://www.gallaspizza.com/. They also have a restaurant in East Cobb/Marietta.

Galla's actually found me. I received a flyer from Galla's in my mailbox. One rainy night I was in the mood to treat myself to pizza and decided to call Galla's. I questioned the person who answered the phone like a DEA agent.....describe your crust.....your sauce...where are the owners from and so forth. I was told that the owners were from Buffalo, NY so I decided to give Galla's a shot because they deliver.....and boy, did they deliver....a wonderful, delish veggie pizza with a thin crispy crust, delicious sauce and covered with black and green olives, mushrooms and peppers. I was hooked from that day on! As a serial dieter, this has cut into my weight watchers points for the week. I highly recommend Galla's. Tony Soprano would be proud and certainly would have a slice or two or three...bada bing!

The Cutest Birthday Cake Ever....

2008-04-01T23:49:00.002-04:00

It was Ellie's birthday yesterday. She is the consummate fashionista. This cake was so on point and also, so delicious. In my opinion, Publix makes the best birthday cake in town and the butter cream icing can't be beat!

Thank you GG and LN!!

2008-03-30T22:33:00.004-04:00

GG and LN-it was great speaking with each of you today. Thanks so much for your thoughtful insight and ideas about launching ChaiLife. We hope to get together for a planning meeting in mid April to brainstorm. If you are interested in attending, please let me know.

In Treatment Finale

2008-03-29T22:59:00.003-04:00

Is anyone else an In Treatment viewer? I was so happy that Paul did not end up with Laura in the season finale. And if he said "mmm" one more time, I was going to throw something at the television. My final word..... a man in midlife crisis...egocentric and narcissistic. And I will leave it at that.

What exactly is a Baby Boomer?

2008-03-28T16:07:00.002-04:00

I found this definition at Baby Boomers Headquarters.com http://www.bbhq.com/

" Stated very simply, the demographers, sociologists and the media define baby boomers as those born between (and including) 1946 and 1964. (There is no law or constitutional amendment so stating; and other boundaries have been suggested. But this is the time frame most commonly used.) In 2007, that would make us between 43 and 61 years old. There are about 75 million boomers in the U.S.; we currently represent about 29% of the U.S. population. (In Canada, we are sometimes known as "Boomies"; there are 6 million of us there. In Britain, our generation is known as "the bulge.")
The term is used (nobody knows who coined the phrase) to define the "boom" in births after WWII. Our Boomer Stats page identifies the number of U.S. births during the 40s, 50s and 60s.
The 1960s is the decade that defined the boomers. The music, events, and the social changes made a permanent impression on us. Those of us born during the "peak" boomer years, '52-'57, were in our formative years during the sixties. There were so many changes in the sixties that how old you were during the decade greatly affected how you turned out. 1961 was a whole lot different from 1969!
Those born at the early end of the spectrum were in our early 20s by 1970. The deaths of President Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy, and Dr. Martin Luther King; the Vietnam war and related protests; and the Watergate scandal... all made deep impressions on us.
At the other end, those born after 1959 have no direct recollection of the assassination of President Kennedy; they were not yet listening to rock music by the time the Beatles broke up. They were much more likely to use illegal drugs.... often to a great and disturbing excess. And they were never subjected to the military draft. So any attempt to lump us all together probably won't work. We can tell, by the e-mail we receive here at BBHQ, that there is much that ties us together, but also much that separates us.
Our e-mail indicates that many of us are committed to marriage and are still happily married to our high school sweethearts. And many of us have been married and divorced... more than once. We are the generation that pushed the divorce rate up to 50%... and made it seem "normal" and thus acceptable.
Many of us went to work for a company, worked our way up the ladder, and are now enjoying the fruits of our labors. We will retire in a few years, and live a life of leisure, or embark on a second career. But many of us are entrepreneurs, and have never worked for a big company. Many of us plan never to retire."

My favorite bargain wine..Norton Malbec Reserve 2004

2008-03-26T19:27:00.003-04:00

Another Costco deal, $12.99 for a Wine Spectator 91pt. wine.Well worth the time to let this wine open, besides the aromas expanding and the flavors maturing & concentrating, a slight hotness to the finish mellows. Mellow cherry-cranberry aromas and a trace of fresh cut wood that adds to the fruit without over shadowing it. The color undeniably purple. As with most Malbec's I've tried, soft yet lush structure. Medium body and finish yet firm, nice tannic feel. Earthy dark plum, dark mocha and a slight exotic spicy flavor.

And never a headache the next day! What is your favorite bargain wine?

Fingers crossed......Wednesday at noon!

2008-03-26T00:10:00.002-04:00

WE EXCEL AWARDWomen Business Owner of the Year
A Woman Entrepreneur who has owned her business for at least 5 years and has demonstrated exemplary business achievement, customer growth, community leadership, industry influence and entrepreneurial success in the past year. She is also a woman who has earned public recognition and serves as a mentor for other women.

Jewish Humor

2008-03-25T23:01:00.002-04:00

1. The High Holidays have absolutely nothing to do with marijuana.
2. Where there's smoke, there may be salmon.
3. No meal is complete without leftovers.
4. According to Jewish dietary law, pork and shellfish may be eaten only in Chinese restaurants.
5. A shmata is a dress that your husband's ex is wearing.
6. You need ten men for a minyan, but only four in polyester pants and white shoes for pinochle.
7. One mitzvah can change the world; two will just make you tired.
8. After the destruction of the Second temple, God created Neiman Marcus
9. Anything worth saying is worth repeating a thousand times.
1 0. Never take a front row seat at a Bris.
11. Next year in Jerusalem . The year after that, how about a nice cruise?
12. Never leave a restaurant empty handed.
13. Spring ahead, fall back, winter in Boca.
14. WASP's leave and never say good bye; Jews say good bye and never leave.
15. Always whisper the names of diseases.
16. If it tastes good, it's probably not kosher.
17. The important Jewish holidays are the ones on which alternate side of the street parking is suspended.
18. Without Jewish mothers, who would need therapy?
19. If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it. But if you can afford it, make sure to tell everybody what you paid.
20. Laugh now, but one day you'll be driving a Lexus and eating dinner at 4:00 PM in Florida .

Gone in an Instant...Say Goodbye to the Polaroid Picture

2008-03-24T23:57:00.005-04:00

I am lamenting the near extinction of the Polaroid Instant Camera. Some of my favorite photos are Polaroid black and whites.....capturing special moments in time. I will always remember the smell of a developing Polaroid picture and the accompanying words of my father telling me NOT TO TOUCH IT until it dried. The odor was not pleasant but you still had to sniff the developing picture anyway. It will stay in my olfactory memory somewhere near Playdoh, prescription cough medicine, Crayolas,Tinker Toys, Golden Books and the Weekly Reader. The following is a story from the NY Times regarding this genius invention:

"It was a wonder in its time: A camera that spat out photos that developed themselves in a few minutes as you watched. You got to see them where and when you took them, not a week later when the prints came back from the drugstore.
But in a day when nearly every cellphone has a digital camera in it, “instant” photography long ago stopped being instant enough for most people. So today, the inevitable end of an era came: Polaroid is getting out of the Polaroid business.
The company, which stopped making instant cameras for consumers a year ago and for commercial use a year before that, said today that as soon as it had enough instant film manufactured to last it through 2009, it would stop making that, too. Three plants that make large-format instant film will close by the end of the quarter, and two that make consumer film packets will be shut by the end of the year, Bloomberg News reports.
The company, which will concentrate on digital cameras and printers, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2001 and was acquired by a private investment company in 2005. It started in 1937 making polarized lenses for scientific and military applications, and introduced its first instant camera in 1948.
The Lede remembers fondly how magical it was to watch the image gradually manifest itself from the chemical murk right there in your hand. But truth be told, the Lede’s own scuffed Polaroid SX-70 camera, which used to get regular use in all manner of situations, from producing a quick step-by-step primer on how to do the Ickey Shuffle to documenting a problem with a house he was buying that cropped up the day before the closing, hasn’t come out of its cabinet drawer in years.
Loyal users take heart, though — Polaroid said it would happily license the technology to other manufacturers should they want to go on supplying the niche market with film after 2009. "

Happy Bark Mitzvah Coco Sue!

2008-03-21T16:45:00.004-04:00

Today is Coco's Bark Mitzvah, 13th birthday. She hosted 25 of her favorite people for lunch. Mazel Tov, Coco! xxxxxoooooo

Love Is All You Need!

2008-03-20T00:44:00.004-04:00

Hello, my name is Debbie and I am a Beatlesaholic. I am obsessed with everything Beatles. Their music resonates with me more today than as a musically savvy teenager. The lyrics are brilliant. The musical arrangements genius. I can’t tell you how many times I have listened to the White Album, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Peppers and Abbey Road on LP, cassette tape, CD and Ipod.

My addiction led me to Love, the Cirque de Soleil homage to the Beatles, at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas. I have seen this show 5(!!!) times and each time I can’t get enough of it. The theater was built specifically for the show and the configuration is theater in the round. There is not a bad seat in the house. The audience is comprised of Beatles fans of all ages, mostly baby boomers who sing along and a lot of children of boomers, who have discovered that the Beatles is the best band of all times ! All of the music is digitally remixed and remastered by legendary Beatles producer, Sir George Martin and his son, music producer, Giles Martin. The sound and mix is phenomenal. The soundtrack received two Grammies this past year. If you don’t have it, get it immediately. You will not be disappointed. Add incredibly talented performers from all over the world, mostly young dancers in fabulous clothing reminiscent of the 60’s, coupled with great cirque type stunts and interactive special effects and this show will blow you away. ……better than the effect of any mild altering drug. As cliché as this may sound, this show is a life changing, joyous experience in sight and sound.

The following is a review of the show by Phil Gallo in "Variety", June, 2006:

"Everything about "Love" is done in service to the Beatles; there's not a single moment in which a visual element overrides the audio. It's Cirque trying to find a new pace that responds to the music, meaning measured movements on ropes in one scene, zippy skateboarders in another. The rope climbers and bungee jumpers seen in Cirque shows are present; the balancing acts, clowns and aerial daredevils are not.
The star is the Beatles, and the point is driven home when superbly edited footage of the Fab Four is shown during the closer, "All You Need Is Love." The band's producer George Martin and his son Giles have taken a "mash-up" approach to the Beatles music, overlapping rhythm tracks from one song onto the melody of another, squeezing incidental background noises from three or four tunes into the coda of another and even segueing from a demo of a song into its final version. The reworking of the tunes reveals a richness, depth and pliability that reinforces their place atop the rock 'n' roll canon.
The joint music directors have gloriously reinvented -- through added color and rhythm -- "Within You Without You," "Lady Madonna" and "I Am the Walrus," making them viable singles to introduce the Beatles to a new generation. Using only sounds that John, Paul, George and Ringo recorded at EMI in the '60s, the Martins have spectacularly refreshed staples of oldies radio. It's the element MasterCard would label "priceless" in this $125 million production.
With more than 6,000 speakers at the ready, sound designer Jonathan Deans has made the music majestic in spots and intimate in others, toying with the occasional fun gimmick -- single words from "Come Together" emanate from the speaker in each audience member's chair -- but never getting carried away with the technical options.
Music showers down from the ceiling -- "A Day in the Life" is a powerful example -- or swirls around the room and envelops the listener in a manner that no 5.1 system could at home.
Presenting the show in the round -- there's probably not a bad seat in the house -- helmer-writer Dominic Champagne has sets, characters, screens and props floating to center stage from every angle.
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite" is the masterpiece of the production. Faceless characters in vivid costumes, a half-dozen song snippets dropped into the main tune and the combination of frivolity and acrobatics make it the evening's most compelling vignette.
At other times, to quote a Beatles lyric, "It's all too much." It's a madhouse, for example, during "I Am the Walrus," as the eye scrambles to find a focal point among the multitude of performers interacting with one another. Once the eye settles on a dancer or some kids in a bed, there's an element of disappointment; yes, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, but the parts can be lacking on their own.
Champagne has fashioned a story that begins in darkness with the Beatles harmonizing a capella on "Because." Rope climbers, at least seven of them, begin to ascend as a bandstand arises with Sgt. Pepper at its center and, in what seems like little more than a heartbeat, the scene is shifted to the final Beatles performance, on a London rooftop in 1969.
Concert footage from "Let It Be" has been converted to silhouettes, and "Get Back" puts the show on an uptempo path until the psychedelic orchestration of "Glass Onion" drives the story back to the Fab Four's childhood in war-ravaged Liverpool. (Cirque, whose best shows expand the imagination, has needlessly printed times and places on the screen during these segs, a bad move.)
With the exception of a medley of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "Drive My Car," "What You're Doing" and "The Word" that chronicles the heyday of Beatlemania, the boys' story is over, fairly early in the show. Characters from songs -- Dr. Robert, Sgt. Pepper and the underutilized quartet of comic Nowhere Men -- dominate the action until "Love" goes into literal mode.
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" (with a fun aerial exercise), "Octopus's Garden" and "Here Comes the Sun" are played as strict, visually attractive interpretations of the lyrics; "Lady Madonna," featuring a pregnant lead dancer, is the lone tune that sidesteps the lyric to allow for some sweetly choreographed tap-dancing in rain boots.
Tone of the piece then makes another dramatic shift, this time explaining the Beatles' effect on the counterculture with a cops-and-protesters battle during "Revolution." Well-choreographed, it makes absolute sense until the song segues into "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the action doesn't change. The political tone of the song, of course, is vastly different -- a missed opportunity to bring in classic Cirque touches in costumes and ethnic dance.
Multitude of costumes by Philippe Guillotel are colorful, whimsical and, when necessary, rooted in Beatles lore; Jean Rabasse's sets range from the sublime to the outrageous and consistently impress; Yves Aucoin's lighting is effective in mood-setting but less impressive in guiding the audience around the good-sized stage.
Kudos to the creatives who made the white VW Beetle from the cover of "Abbey Road" a key part of the show -- complete with "LMW/28IF" license plate. Toying with Beatles trivia like that could add some extra levity to the production.
Evening closes with a sing-along, clap-along, feel-good trio of "Hey Jude," the reprise of "Sgt. Pepper" and "All You Need Is Love." It delivers the goods in the manner of the best Vegas shows: The senses are overloaded, spirits are high, and there's an urgency to spread the word."

Holy Divinity!! The Divine Miss M Ignites in Vegas!!

2008-03-19T01:24:00.006-04:00

I had the privilege of seeing Bette Midler perform her new show

"The Showgirl Must Go On" , a $10 million dollar specacular, this past weekend at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas. Bette Midler is a nice Jewish girl from Hawaii. At 62, she defies age and is the consummate poster child for the notion that age is only a number. She looks absolutely gorgeous....svelte, toned, great hair and dare I say....great facial plastic surgery....not a wrinkle on her face. In fact, she looks better than she did in 1972 when I first heard her debut album "The Divine Miss M". Add in her illustrous film career from "The Rose" to "Beaches" to "Down and Out in Beverly Hills" and "The First Wives Club" together with her philanthropic act of love for the city of New York ,The New York Restoration Project, and she continues to shine even brighter than ever in every facet of her life. As she sings her entire catalogue of ballads and hit songs, her voice is strong , soulful and just perfect....live and actually no lip syncing!! "Wind Beneath My Wings" and "From A Distance" still bring tears to my eyes.

If you are a Bette fan, this show is a must see!

The following is a review of the show by Laura Rauch for The New York Times on March 10 :

"Bette Midler, who ignited a career by giving a good name to bad taste, has arrived in this sprawling gambling mecca, a steroidal temple of tackiness. And she claims to be right at home.
For as she merrily boasts in her new extravaganza, “The Showgirl Must Go On,” she has been telling dirty jokes for three decades, and flashed her flesh way back in the day. (Not for the paparazzi either, like these crazy kids today, but for paying audiences, thank you very much.) Sin city, antiseptic and corporate though it mostly feels today, is her kind of town.
Ms. Midler has lost little of the verve, bawdiness and originality that first captivated gay audiences back in the early 1970s. That hip-wiggling strut — how many entertainers can be said to have a trademark walk, by the way? — is every bit as manic, even if the heels are a tad lower. The voice still throbs with palpable feeling, even when the sentiment would sound ersatz sung by almost any other performer.
But Ms. Midler’s movie career has brought her a wide audience, and the culture has happily embraced all that once seemed transgressive in her act. By the standards of today her winking brand of vulgarity — the old-school Sophie Tucker gags, the jubilant camping — seems positively wholesome.
So it is that Ms. Midler is now installed in the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, where Celine Dion recently held court for a five-year stint. Ms. Midler has moved in with her own $10 million spectacular, playing five nights a week for a total of about 100 performances a year for two years. Beginning in May, Cher will alternate with her in this cavernous space of more than 4,000 seats, where Elton John is also in residence. Noting the appeal of this showbiz trinity, Ms. Midler quipped, “Does it get any gayer?” Well, possibly — O Barbra, where art thou? Is it a little dismaying for longtime fans of Ms. Midler to find her installed in Las Vegas as the latest luxury product for high rollers in a city awash in them? (Ticket prices top out at $250, which could also buy dinner for one at Guy Savoy in the same hotel.) Well, possibly. And “The Showgirl Must Go On,” a career survey offering a sort of Midler 101, is clearly aimed at the masses who flock to this city in stupefying numbers in fervid search of ways to get rid of their money.
In a speedy 90 minutes (apparently the maximum time audiences here will agree to be entertained away from the slots and tables), and backed by a strong 13-piece band, Ms. Midler performs virtually all of her hits and signature tunes. She sings with a polish — and in a few cases, an emotional intensity — that belies the passing of the years and the many occasions on which she has been called upon to perform them before. Now 62, she makes self-pitying sport of her supposed infirmity in the course of her dash through her songbook, but when the encore arrives — the inexorable, the inevitable, dare I say the infernal “Wind Beneath My Wings” — Ms. Midler hits all the notes with breath to spare.
After a somewhat uninspired entrance — the diva ascends from under center stage atop an enormous pile of Louis Vuitton luggage. Ms. Midler, trim in a silver sequined pantsuit, her hair a nimbus of tight blond curls, hurls herself into high gear to perform the blazingly funny title song, a new composition that pays witty homage to that great Las Vegas institution of the showgirl.
Racing back and forth across the truly colossal Colosseum stage (it is 120 feet wide) Ms. Midler showers the audience in tart patter — she laments that she’s got an adjustable rate mortgage on the place — and introduces her latest trio of backup singers, the Harlettes (2.0? 3.0? 12.0?), and the 20 leggy chorines who back them up. “The best thing is, not one of them is a French-Canadian circus performer,” she exults, referring to the ubiquity of the Cirque du Soleil brand in the city.
Interspersed with performances of all her standards — “Do You Want to Dance?,” “From a Distance,” “Hello in There,” “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” — are affectionate nods to entertainers associated with Las Vegas. The city was once a refuge for the oddballs and also-rans of showbiz, so Ms. Midler’s Delores DeLago character, the wheelchair-riding mermaid with the odoriferous lounge act, is naturally right at home.
She is introduced, via video, by the arbiters of “American Idol,” and sings a medley of Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra hits. Soph, the naughty jokemistress modeled on Sophie Tucker, is reimagined here as an indomitable showgirl, encumbered by a headdress “half the size of Tennessee,” in another standout segment.
Ms. Midler’s outsize persona — the Divine thing — serves her well here. Staging a show of this kind on a long strip of stage must be like putting a Broadway show on a subway platform. The strain sometimes shows; even 20 leggy women aren’t quite enough to eat up the space, and the choreography by Toni Basil, delightful in the Soph-and-the-showgirls segment, flounders at other points.
The set designs, by the opera veteran Michael Levine, are dominated by a series of shimmering curtains of gold coins that pay elegant tribute to the tradition of Las Vegas glitz. But there’s no escaping the flattening influence of the giant video screen that looms over the stage and makes the space feel a bit like a supersize Imax theater.
That Ms. Midler is capable of instantly warming up a room this daunting and filling a stage this forbidding is a testament to her consummate skills as an entertainer. The temperature dips now and then, but she keeps the antiseptic at bay with regular infusions of the down-and-dirty earthiness that is so central to her appeal.
Flinging herself on her back at one point, in mock exhaustion, she crankily observes that her predecessor “must have been a robot.” Having seen Ms. Dion’s show, I can attest to the perspicacity of that assessment.
Nobody leaving “The Showgirl Must Go On” will confuse Ms. Midler with a mechanical contraption. She still tears into the soulful ballad “When a Man Loves a Woman,” to cite just one example, with a fierceness that excavates every ounce of pain from it.
Like all great showgirls, she may wear sequins like a second skin, but the woman underneath is all flesh and blood, humor and heart."

Sweet Tooth...Candy from the 60's

2008-03-12T00:03:00.006-04:00

For some reason, the other day when I tapped into my long term memory bank, I suddenly thought of a candy from my childhood "Chocolate Babies". Why did I think of them? I don't know. Chocolate Babies are from the candy corn family, but in chocolate. So I googled Chocolate Babies and actually discovered that they are available on the website http://www.oldtimecandy.com/.

The following is a list of candies which were popular in the 60's. A stroll down gustational memory lane............

100 Grand Bar, 5th Avenue, Anise Squares, Astro Pops, Atomic Fire Balls, Bazooka Bubble Gum, BB Bats, Bit-O-Honey, Black Taffy, Boston Baked Beans, Bubble Gum Cigars, Butterfingers, Candy Buttons, Candy Cigarettes, Candy Necklace, Carmel Creams, Charleston Chews, Charms, Chick-o-Sticks, Chiclets, Chuckles, Cinnamon Bears, Dots, French Chew Taffy, Gold Mine Gum, Good & Plenty, Hot Dog Gum, Indian Brand Pumpkin Seeds, Jaw Breakers, Jelly Nougats, Jujubes, Jujyfruits, Junior Mints, Kits, Lemonheads, Life Savers, Long Boys, Mary Janes, Necco Wafers, Nik-L-Nips, Now & Later, Pay Day, Peanut Butter Bars, Planter's Peanut Bar, Rainblo Gum, Red Hots, Red Vines, Root Beer Barrels, Saf-T-Pops, Sen Sen, Sixlets, Sky Bar, Slap Stix, Slo Pokes, Smarties, Smith Brothers Cough Drops, Sourballs, Sugar Baby, Sugar Daddy, Swedish Fish, Sweet & Sour Pops, Sweetarts, Teaberry Gum, Tootsie Pops, Tootsie Rolls, Vanilla Caramels, Walnettos, Wax Lips, Whoppers and Zagnut.

What is your favorite childhood candy? In the interim, I think I'll grab a Twizzler.

In Treatment.....the Doctor is in!

2008-03-09T13:02:00.006-04:00

I am just enthralled with the new HBO series "In Treatment". It airs nightly, Monday through Friday at 9:30 pm. Here is a synopsis from the HBO website:

"An innovative and emotional new series, ‘In Treatment’ brings dynamic focus to a staple of modern society – the psychotherapy session. Adapted from a popular Israeli series, the show follows psychoanalyst Paul Weston through his week, capturing a session each night with his patients – Laura, Alex, Sophie and married couple Jake and Amy – before concluding each Friday in the office of Paul’s own therapist, Gina. Stepping inside the tangled mind of a man who counsels others for a living, ‘In Treatment’ renders an intricate portrayal of the experts we rely on for perspective.
'In Treatment' is based on the Series "Be 'Tipul" created by Hagai Levi with Ori Sivan & Nir Bergman. Other writers for the series include Yael Hedaya, Ari Fulman, Daphna Levin, Asaf Zippor and Maya Heffner.
Executive-produced by Hagai Levi, Rodrigo Garcia, Steve Levinson and Mark Wahlberg, ‘In Treatment’ stars Gabriel Byrne (“The Usual Suspects,” “Vanity Fair”) as Paul, Josh Charles (“Sports Night,” “Four Brothers”) as Jake, Embeth Davidtz (“Schindler’s List,” “Junebug”) as Amy, Melissa George (“Alias,” “30 Days of Night”) as Laura, Blair Underwood (“L.A. Law,” “Dirty Sexy Money”) as Alex, Mia Wasikowska (“Suburban Mayhem”) as Sophie, Dianne Wiest (Oscar® winner for “Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Bullets over Broadway”) as Dr. Gina Toll and Michelle Forbes (“Kalifornia,” “Battlestar Galactica: Razor”) as Paul’s wife Kate."

The series includes 43 shows. We are now at the end of Week 6. All of the actors are superb but the dynamics between Paul Weston and Alex are really intense. And then throw in a tryst between Alex and Laura, with whom married Paul Weston is in love. And Paul's wife has just ended an affair.....ad nauseum.

Alot of people are blogging about the show...even psychiatrists! http://psychiatrist-blog.blogspot.com/.

A very tangled web. Tune in for some intense therapy.

Do you want to be in the bloglight?

2008-03-06T23:29:00.005-05:00

Tell us about yourself......

Who are you?

In which part of Atlanta do you live?

What is your favorite restaurant in Atlanta?

Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks?

Publix or Whole Foods or Kroger?

Do you kiss on the first date?

Your favorite movies? Books? TV Shows?

Inquiring minds would like to know so please share!

Growing up Jewish...................

2008-03-05T13:58:00.002-05:00

WHAT DO YOU REMEMBER????

If you are Jewish, and grew up in city with a large Jewish population, or are gentile with Jewish friends or associates, the following will invoke heartfelt memories, so read on.........

The Yiddish word for Today is PULKES (PUHL-kees) Translation: THIGHS. Please note: this word has been traced back to the language of one of the original Tribes of Israel , the Cellulites.

The only good advice that your Jewish mother gave you was:"Go! You might meet somebody!"

You grew up thinking it was normal for someone to shout "Are you okay?" through the bathroom door when you were in there longer than 3 minutes.

Your family dog responded to commands in Yiddish.

Every Saturday morning your father went to the neighborhood deli (called an "appetitizing store") for whitefish salad, whitefish "chubs"), lox (nova if you were rich!), herring, corned beef, roast beef, cole slaw, potato salad, a 1/2-dozen huge barrel pickles which you reached into the brine for, a dozen assorted bagels, cream cheese and rye bread (sliced while he waited). All of which would be strictly off-limits until Sunday morning.

Every Sunday afternoon was spent visiting your grandparents and/or other relatives.You experienced the phenomenon of 50 people fitting into a 10-foot-wide dining room hitting each other with plastic plates trying to get to a deli tray.

You had at least one female relative who penciled on eyebrows which were always asymmetrical.

You thought pasta was stuff used exclusively for Kugel and kasha with bowties.

You were as tall as your grandmother by the age of seven.

You were as tall as your grandfather by age seven and a half.

You never knew anyone whose last name didn't end in one of 5 standard suffixes (berg, baum, man, stein and witz).

You were surprised to discover that wine doesn't always taste like cranberry sauce.

You can look at gefilte fish and not turn green.

When your mother smacked you really hard, she continued to make you feel bad for hurting her hand.

You can understand Yiddish but you can't speak it.

You know how to pronounce numerous Yiddish words and use them correctly in context, yet you don't know exactly what they mean. Kaynahurra.

You're still angry at your parents for not speaking both Yiddish and English to you when you were a baby.

You have at least one ancestor who is somehow related to your spouse's ancestor.

Your grandparents' newly washed linoleum floor was covered with the NY Times, which your grandparents couldn't read.

You thought speaking loud was normal.

You considered your Bar or Bat Mitzvah a "Get Out of Hebrew School Free" card.

You think eating half a jar of dill pickles is a wholesome snack.

You're compelled to mention your grandmother's "steel cannonballs" upon seeing fluffy matzo balls served at restaurants.

You buy 3 shopping bags worth of hot bagels on every trip to NYC and ship them home via FedEx. (Or, if you live near NYC or Philadelphia or another Jewish city hub, you drive 3 hours just to buy a dozen "real"bagels.)

Your mother or grandmother took personal pride when a Jew was noted for some accomplishment (showbiz, medicine, politics, etc.) and was ashamed and embarrassed when a Jew was accused of a crime ...as if they were relatives.

You thought only non-Jews went to sleep away colleges. Jews went to city schools ... unless they had scholarships or made an Ivy League school.

And finally, you knew that Sunday night and the night after any Jewish holiday was designated for Chinese food. Zei gezunt!!

TALK ABOUT MY GENERATION.........

2008-03-04T11:36:00.002-05:00

Last night while channel surfing, I came across a great show on Georgia Public Broadcasting....."My Music..My Generation".
The latest production in the My Music series focuses on the years 1965–1969 and includes essential 1960s folk rock, Rhythm & Blues and pop hits from the decade of change, peace, love and protest music.
I have always loved music from the 60's.........and always feel happy when listening to The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, the Association, Tommy James and the Shondells, The Turtles, Herman's Hermits, Janis Joplin, The Turtles,Mitch Ryder, Steppenwolf and so many more!
I highly recommend this 2 hour television concert for those of you who also love the music of the 60's. Check out the Georgia Public Broadcasting schedule as this show will be replayed throughout the month of March. http://www.gpb.org/

And yes, I did become a member and got the 8 CD set of all of the oldies but goodies.

CAN WE TALK?

2008-03-03T21:50:00.004-05:00

I would like to update you on the evolution of ChaiLife Atlanta. The good news is that people are interested in joining! We have had a very positive response to the flyers which have been disseminated within the past week.

Please spread the word. Our first ad in the Jewish Times is running this Friday.

Why don't you jump right in and become involved in the birth of the premiere social networking group for the finest Jewish baby boomers in the metropolitan Atlanta area?

It's That Time of Year Again!!

2008-03-02T10:47:00.001-05:00

We are rapidly approaching my favorite time of year in Atlanta.....Chastain Park Concert Time!

Today Live Nation announced and placed on sale Part A of its series which includes The Moody Blues,Santana, Sheryl Crow, Duran Duran, ZZ Top, True Colors(Cyndi Lauper, The B 52s, Rosie O'Donnell), Chicago and the Doobie Brothers, REO Speedwagon with Joan Jett and the Blachhearts, Donna Summer, Robert Plant and Allison Krauss, Earth , Wind & Fire, Mark Knopfler and the hardest to get ticket in town....James Taylor. I was lucky enough to score 8 tickets for each of James' 2 May concerts and tickets to the Moody Blues and Sheryl Crow.

Classic Chastain, sponsored by the Atlanta Symphony, has not announced its lineup. I have been fortunate to have a pit table for the Friday night series for over 10 years. Bring a delicious meal and some great wine and even a disappointing performer will be music to your ears.

So, maybe, concerts at Chastain would be fun activities for ChaiLife Atlanta. What do you think?

What is the best concert you have seen at Chastain? My top four are Traffic, Henry Mancini, Tony Bennett and Brian Wilson performing his symphony, Smile.

It's Official!!

2008-02-28T16:40:00.000-05:00

It's Official!! Award Finalists!!

NAWBO Atlanta has named the finalists for the 2008 Women Entrepreneur Awards

WE EXCEL AWARD

Georgia Women Entrepreneur of the Year

Mizzy Mod is one of 5 finalists for this coveted award. The winner will be announced at the NAWBO Atlanta meeting on March 26 at the annual WE Gala Luncheon. Do I follow the mantra of Obama...."Yes I Can!" Details to follow.

A Woman Entrepreneur who has owned her business for at least 5 years and has demonstrated exemplary business achievement, customer growth, community leadership, industry influence and entrepreneurial success in the past year. She is also a woman who has earned public recognition and serves as a mentor for other women.

http://www.nawbo-atlanta.org/weawards/weawards.html

Attend Limmud Atlanta March 1-2..Be Your Own Jew!

2008-02-28T00:28:00.000-05:00

"Something newish and Jewish is coming to Atlanta. It’s Limmud SE + Atlanta, March 1-2, 2008, at Oglethorpe University. Limmud is a festival, a learn-in, a place to explore. Now spreading across the globe, Limmud is a gathering, a happening, a way to connect with Jews of all ages."

Dating Over Fifty...How to Avoid the "Crazies"

2008-02-28T00:08:00.000-05:00

I read this article about Dating Over Fifty and found it quite interesting. Any comments?

"Dating over fifty can be a carnival. First, there is meeting someone. That, in itself, can be a Ferris wheel ride. You go round and round, trying Match.com, then eHarmony, and sad to say, even SeniorFinder.com. Finally, you find someone that has a little bit in common with you and they don’t seem to be too crazy. For some reason, a little crazy has started to seem interesting. What is safe? Do you really want something long term? Or is this just entertainment? After all, when it comes down to it, your life has become pretty full; maybe you don’t want a love interest. Maybe you just want a date now and again. I believe in order to find the right relationship, you have to actually know what kind of relationship you want, if, indeed you want a relationship. Some of us don’t really. We just don’t want to be lonely. Knowing the difference is the key. But, high on the priority list is being sure of what kind of person you let into your life. Where you meet them can actually be unimportant. Crazies can be found anywhere. The Internet gets a bad rap, but, you know, you can find crazies in church, at your grandson’s school, even at a relative’s party. Maybe the crazy wasn’t a crazy until he/she met you! The two of you together can make a crazy! Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? Suffice to say, that the person who needs to figure out who is crazy and who will end up on Unsolved Mysteries is you! No one can tell you if the person you begin to go out with is going to steal all your money, play mind games with you, or convince you that your family is a bunch of car thieves! However, I have devised five ways to access the possibility of a crazy entering your life.

1) Forget the circumstances of how you met and look at this pattern: Too much immediate attention. This means if you met online--100 emails a day. If you met through a friend or relative---10-15 phone calls a day. Too much attention. Too many flowers. Too much. Too soon. Too often.

2) The new person in your life wants immediate intimacy, and if he doesn’t accomplish this, continues to push for it. He begins a campaign for closeness that you feel uncomfortable with. If your buttons are being pushed and he/she has figured out what they are already - you are in the presence of a crazy!

3) The person wants all of your attention and does not want to share you, with your friends, your family, your cat or dog! I had an aunt who was trying to get away from a crazy and used the excuse that her cat needed her to take her occasionally outside for a walk. Within a week the cat was found, dead. Strange? Or crazy?

4) Your friends, family, cat or dog, find this person weird or wanting. They don’t like the way he fawns on you, and doesn’t want them to take too much of your time. And they say it, more than once. Some kids in a family will go so far as to do background checks on people like this. I really don’t think this is really such a bad idea. A lot is at stake when a person is a baby boomer. And besides, who wants to make mistakes at this age? Sometimes, loneliness leads us to mistakes we would not make if our lives were full with activity and good friends.

5) Finally, the new love of your life, begins to use put downs, and verbal abuse. This can start out in a kidding way - at least that is how they will state it. ‘I was only kidding!” If, “kidding” hurts, it’s not kidding any more. Abuse of any kind is never acceptable! People who are in abusive relationships often say that the other person “didn’t mean it!” Don’t let them off that easy. They did mean it. Run; don’t walk, away as fast as you can! These are five ways you can access new people in your life. However, these are glaring examples, and should stand out to someone who is just entering a new relationship - or just beginning to enter the dating world again. Remember, you are the one who controls your world now. Here is the best advice for a new relationship, and basically, a new life. GO SLOW! Don’t let anyone hurry you. Believe it or not, you have all the time in the world. And if you think you don’t - well, soon - you won’t! "

A Brewster Smythe, Editor of The Geopolar MotherExperiencehttp://www.gipolar.blogspot.com/

Why ChaiLife Atlanta?

2008-02-26T21:30:00.000-05:00

Why ChaiLife Atlanta? I am a fun,vibrant,successful single Jewish female living in Atlanta. I lead a very busy life wrapped up in career, family and friends. There is a piece missing.....a social life with like-minded individuals who are burnt out and disillusioned with online dating and the lack of an active social scene for those of us who are over 45. I am tired of JDate and would venture to guess that at least 50% of the JDaters ages 45-60 have all dated the same people.

My lightbulb moment? Why not get back to basics and meet the "old fashioned" way? In person! No hidden agenda....no profiles.....no old pictures. I envision ChaiLife Atlanta as an adult version of the Jewish Community Center Youth Group or summer camp (Go Indian Trails and Towanda) to which I belonged as a teenager........friendship,comraderie, fun, activities... or maybe even more!
The downside? Maybe you will make some new friends with similar interests and backgrounds.

I am testing the waters...... if you are interested in joining this grass roots organization, please write to me.....I would love to get your input in making ChaiLife Atlanta the exclusive social networking group for Atlanta's premiere baby boomers!