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Fresh Inspirations! March Newsletter!
Volume III Issue III - March 2006

Dear Melissa,

Happy St. Patrick's Day, albeit belated! Well, I do hope the luck of the Irish was with you this St. Patrick’s Day. This year is truly flying by. I can hardly fathom where January and February went and I feel like April is already upon us. Been busy with design, speaking is taking off, and travel is making for a life of true adventure.

West Coast Red Carpet WOW! I did it, I actually walked a red carpet (shocked to learn they use red astro turf)! It is really a bit daunting, and this was nowhere near as long as the one that the Oscar Nominees and assorted Celebrities walk annually. This was for the Walk of Style awards that I attended to receive honors on behalf of my late godmother, Hollywood costumer, Edith Head. Jacqueline Bisset and Martin Landau presented to me, and Brittany Murphy kicked the whole event off.


Quite an extraordinary experience meeting Angelica Huston, her husband and sculptor of the award itself, Robert Graham, and sharing the stage with fellow honorees Milena Cannonera and James Acheson. Made some wonderful new friends, rekindled old ones, and can’t wait to return.





Paris Beckons! I can’t believe it really, but a friend has a business trip involving a weekend in Paris, so I decided to blow a wad of frequent flyer points and head for the Eiffel Tower. I haven’t been in some 30 years and never got to see the Louvre (Mother thought we were too young, so took only my older sister). I’m looking forward to a river cruise along the Seine, the Arc de Triomphe and much more. Only gone 4.5 days, but what a wonderful whirlwind!

Check out the changes we are making both on the website and our blog additions regularly: www.melissagalt.com

Live well and beautifully,

MG


Fresh Inspirations: As You Like It

Do you have a useless niche, a room without a reason, an available closet? Transform it into a space with a purpose! No, of course, it doesn’t have to fit anyone else’s definition of useful, only yours, but let’s consider some fresh ideas . . .

Conversation Station: Finding yourself constantly on the phone but tired of using a cell phone or an ear piece? What about having a good old retro rotary dial or even just a normal sized cordless but in a designated niche just for calling? You can create a calling corner, as it were, beneath the stairs or even in a closet that isn’t storing useful goods. Consider adding a small desk complete with your choice of desk accessories, and I mean the good stuff. Go find a divine desk blotter, an old fashioned address book, a card holder, and even an inbox and outbox. It is a mini conversation station and a great way to renew the art of correspondence and keeping in touch.

Tis Better To Give and Give Beautifully: Whenever I have a gift to take I am always running about madly searching for the last bit of wrapping paper, tape, and scissors two minutes before I am to be out the door. How much nicer it would be to have a dedicated space stocked with creative wrapping elements and the room to use them. So consider devising your own gift niche. Even when going to a party and taking a bottle of wine, the presentation counts and so does originality and effort. Sure you can use one of those gift bags, but why not dress it up, personalize it with charms, sequins, notes and more all available at the local party supply store. If you regularly attend baby and bridal showers, anniversary celebrations, birthdays, and corporate shindigs, presents with all the trimmings really make a statement.

Zen for Better Balance: I actually know a couple of clients that have meditation rooms on their wish list, and what a great idea! A space of quiet and calm designed solely to wind down and synthesize the pressures of every day into positive energies for every life. It can include a chaise or day bed, or even just long floor cushions, an étagère with space for soothing elements of inspiration including crystals and scented candles. A mirror to witness your transformation, and a source of relaxing sounds or music are essential. Think of this as creating a way station for better balance and re-energizing.

Of course there are other rooms, niches, and nooks you can create; it depends on what you want. So take a good look around - is your house missing the haven you most want? Make it happen!


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Simply include the text here, with a link to www.melissagalt.com. Online entrepreneur Melissa Galt, "The Lifestyle Diva," publishes “Design Destinations” a monthly ezine with 1500+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your life, create comfortable and personal home interiors, define your personal image and style, plan exciting travel and adventure, develop the career of your dreams, and pursue your past times and passionate pursuits, learn how now at www.melissagalt.com


Book Reviews

The Dark Side of the Light Chasers, Debbie Ford
This is a terrific internal look at some of our most challenging issues. Ford forces us to look at what we are hiding from ourselves or what we avoid looking at. She shows us how our “dark” side can actually bring us more into the light of our being. This is a truly enlightening guide at how we can reconcile the parts of ourselves we like least with our best sides, to become truly whole individuals. It is by acknowledging and respecting ourselves completely that we can find our path and release ourselves from patterns of self doubt and punishment. Ford is an easy read with compelling thoughts and positive outcome.

Home Therapy: Fast, Easy, Affordable Makeovers, Lauri Ward
Ward is the doyenne of one day makeovers and this book is an inspirational compilation of case studies from a wide range of clientele. Whether you are downsizing, shifting from renting to owning, making the most of temporary quarters, merging households with another or creating a specific home environment, there is something here to look at. Neatly laid out with each scenario including background and challenges, diagnosis and remedy, and follow up commentary, Ward provides detailed solutions and floorplan sketches to implement immediately. So much of design requires a fresh view, and professional expertise without breaking the bank is always welcome.


Book Reviews
For more of Melissa's brilliant book reviews, check out her Designer Book Reviews Blog.


Movie Reviews

Rating system of one to five stars
5 Stars

"Pride and Prejudice" - Keira Knightley, Brenda Blethyn, Donald Sutherland, Matthew MacFadyen
4 Stars
A remake of Jane Austin’s classic tale, this was better than expected. Blethyn and Sutherland were really stellar. Knightley was wonderful though not big enough yet for Oscar honors. The fascination was the social mores of the day, and the intricate social graces and delightful mannerisms. If only we could live in such a gracious age now. The story holds up, boy falls for girl, girl spurns boy, girl chases and gets boy back. Even with a happy ending for all concerned.


"Freedomland" - Samuel L. Jackson, Julianne Moore, Edie Falco, Ron Eldard
1 Stars
What was this? Singularly some of the worst performances by great actors I have ever had the misfortune to see. The screenplay was dismal, directing bizarre, and just generally could have been missed all together. Julianne does do glazed and dazed very well, but the idea of her as a former drug addict, no money, no self worth, sleeping around was a stretch even I had trouble making. Jackson could have been good but the director added an inappropriate sexual tension into the whole racial tension and nothing really fit. Even the ending was anticlimactic, and I was left wondering why bother, who cares?

Movie Reviews
Be sure to check out the Designer Movie Reviews Blog for even more films!


In this issue...
  • Fresh Inspirations: As You Like It
  • Book Reviews
  • Movie Reviews
  • Newsletter Signup
  • Trends: Eclectic is Everywhere
  • Audience Quips
  • Life Philosophies

  • Featured Blogs

    Decadent Design Trends

    Detailed Decorating Tips for Free

    Terrific Travels by Design

    Brilliant Book Reviews

    Marvelous Movie Reviews

    Rave Restaurant Reviews

    Action and Adventures from My Life

    Newsletter Signup

    Online entrepreneur Melissa Galt, "The Lifestyle Diva," publishes “Design Destinations” a monthly ezine with 1500+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your life, create comfortable and personal home interiors, define your personal image and style, plan exciting travel and adventure, develop the career of your dreams, and pursue your past times and passionate pursuits, sign up now for her free newsletter.


    Trends: Eclectic is Everywhere

    What does eclectic even mean anymore?! It is probably the most overused terminology in design today and seems to be the stock answer used when a client is asked about their style. Essentially everything and anything goes these days. It is all about making it personal and making it count and for some that means mixing great grandmother’s antique armoire with more modern elements such as a Natuzzi leather sofa and a retromodern cocktail table. For others it means a minimalist environment focusing on each piece as a functional art form. Great design still is about dichotomy and duality. It means function and style, comfort and classicism, durability and elegance, low maintenance and luxury. It is about having it all and living well and beautifully!


    Audience Quips

    Little Things Can Make a Big Difference
    “We love the wallpaper. It turned out even nicer than we had hoped!”

    - Gwenn Weiss on recent bath transformation


    Life Philosophies

    “Success is a matter of buying your experience cheap and selling it at a profit.”
    - Anonymous

    “If you tell the truth you don’t have to remember anything.”
    - Mark Twain

    "Choice, not chance, determines destiny."
    - Anonymous





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