She Looks Good For Her Age

100 years of Hollywood royalty: Beverly Hills Hotel celebrates a century as a star-studded hotspot

Like any Grande Dame in Beverly Hills, she's had some nips and tucks over the years
But she's never lost her original charm

Living on the west side of LA where everything is green and lush I've always assumed that it was always this way.

But I was wrong.

Now, when I look at photographs of LA landmarks from 100 years ago, I can see how barren and desert-like the landscape was.

Look, not a tree or shrub in sight, except for the palm trees that were planted. 

Amazing isn't it.

For more on the history of  Beverly Hills Hotel and Los Angeles architecture

check out this great blog

Paradise Leased

Say What?

"Civilized people don't buy gold"
Say what?

According to this article Warren Buffet's partner Charlie Munger recently declared
"Gold is a great thing to sew into your garments if you’re a Jewish family in Vienna in 1939," the Berkshire vice chairman said, "but I think civilized people don’t buy gold, they invest in productive businesses."

Well, in a perfect world I agree with the billionaire.
In a perfect world investing in businesses that employ people and create wealth is a good thing.
But I don't live in a perfect world, do you?

Munger lives in a billionaire's utopia where his wealth is so vast that a little inflation here or there will have zero effect on his life.
And worse, Munger and Buffett have sheltered their assets from inheritance and other taxes by funding family foundations, and then proposed raising taxes on the rest of us.

In my world inflation exists and the value of the dollar is decreasing.
Tax rates matter.
I'm not endorsing an asset allocation that would make Midas proud
but it doesn't hurt to diversify your portfolio and own a smidgen of gold.

Truly Becoming - The Blog

Always one to share the loveI wanted to tell you about Cynthia Sliwa's new blog
Truly Becoming
Conversations about Authentic Style for Women over 40

Cynthia, an ex-attorney, saw the need for style advice for so many women that she opened her own business as a image consultant,

In addition to being a style maven, she is a jewelry maven as well.
Not only has she written the Jewelry Fashion File blog on the JCK website
(JCK is a jewelry trade publication that everyone in the industry reads)
She authored the book
Jewelry Savvy: What Every Jewelry Wearer Should Know

Here is my copy of her book...it is like my jewelry bible.

If you want to know what kind of necklace looks best with a certain neckline or body type,
or what earring design you should wear with a particular hairstyle or face shape,
this book is for you.

Check out her blog

Sofa on Wheels - Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid

Well, I guess that we all knew that it was only a matter of time

Toyota unveils sofa on wheels

So this is where we are going...

one step further to becoming the non walking humans

from one of my favorite movies, Wall-E

Another step towards devolution

Yes, be afraid, be very afraid.

Beauty Bender

Perhaps I've mentioned to you in the past that I know absolutely nothing about make-up.
The whole world of foundations, mascaras, lipsticks and all the rest of that face-y stuff has always been a mystery to me.
Just stepping into Sephora brings on a headache because I'm overwhelmed by all the products. 
One would think that by now, at my very advanced age...I would know something about all of this
but I don't.
So, why am I telling you all of this?
Well, because two very smart young women started Beauty Bender

I can't say that I'm ready for my close-up yet but I am happy to have found this website.

Check it out.