i am a diva

A thought from diva Vie Chaotique...

Vie Chaotique is not just about style, we are also about substance. I usually try to keep my content light. But humor me as I would like to get on my soapbox. I promise I won't make a habit of it.

Please remember to shop your independents! It's critical! Your crafters, your artists, your small shop proprietors, your local restaurateurs all need you! Maybe that hammer at your local hardware costs a couple of bucks more but there's good reason. Small business has overhead, often much more so than the big guys. Usually independents offer high level of service, are trained and care about their product and how it was manufactured, our employee, and our customer. We could offer mediocrity but many of us consider what the true cost attached to this is.

I don't know why we perceive that the big box stores offer convenience. We have to search for a parking spot, shop through a lot of "soulless merchandise", hunt down a salesclerk if we have a question. No respect is given to the way the merchandise is displayed. The salesclerk, through no fault of their own, has usually not been trained anyway. More often they are just viewed as cheap labor by their employer who has not invested in them with training and motivation. Next we stand in line to make the purchase. Often to be checked out by a computer not even a person. It's all about the bottom line, but should it be?

The merchandise is soulless. Much of it seems to be there just to turn a big profit. Sub-standard, bland, disposable, some of it even hazardous to our health and the earth. I now buy thinking: "Is this going to wind up in a landfill, or is it going to grace my and my customers' homes for many years to come."

I am not in business for completely altruistic reasons. Independents all want to make a profit to sustain a quality life and stay in business. The products I carry are of a good quality and will stand the test of time, without victimizing anyone.

We lived in Europe for several years where the majority of shops were boutiques and I started to develop relationships with shopkeeps. Upon returning to the US I have been speaking with many independents and we all share something in common.

Believe me most of us are not in this to run to the bank. It's a labor of love. It's a romance with finding high quality, thoughtful products. As a merchant you are proud enough of your product to create a warm environment to display and sell it. You stake your reputation on it. I want you to buy something that you are so thrilled with my service and my quality that you tell your friends and even more importantly that you return to do business with me.

Cheap products have huge hidden price tags. Please think about this as you spend your hard earned dollars. Having less is truly more. Quality not quantity. If you don't realize it think about the meaningless clutter we accumulate. The mom and pop cannot go the way of the dinosaur. Small business is what is going to help our economy get back on its feet. Not only that but it conserves individuality which is what is so great about the US in the first place.

Allow small merchants to continue to offer you both material goods to delight your senses and eye candy to tickle your imagination and your intellect.

The Good and Gracious Host

If you are fortunate enough to be hosting overnight guests may I suggest these grace notes to create the perfect oasis. Offering your guest the lap of luxury needn't be expensive, it just requires a little thoughtfulness.

You should make sure to plan some events but not too action packed an agenda that will frazzle them and yourself. Give them the luxury of time to roam alone or take an afternoon nap.

Guestroom Checklist

Offer sufficient drawer and closet space to unpack. Having a place for everything will instantly put your guest at ease.

If possible have a luggage rack available. Bags by their very nature have a host of germs and you wouldn't want your guest to have to place them on your beautiful bed.

Keep neutral sachets such as cedar or lavender to keep the closet smelling fresh. Vie Chaotique carries some nice toile ones handmade of both. A benefit is they protect against moths.  Only $8.50 each.

Use matching hangers-–matching plastic ones are OK if you don't want to invest in the pricier wooden versions. Be sure to include range: padded for knits,pant and skirt hangers.

A comfortable chair and ottoman. Dressing table/desk adds comfort if space allows.

A good reading light, and a single spectacular fresh flower in a bud vase next to the bed.

That necessary evil: the alarm clock.

A small CD player

A spare house key.

A light scented candle, see www.viechaotique.com for a wonderful selection from Durance. .

Accouterments & Amenities

Fine stationery and pre stamped local post cards are a lovely touch. Why not have some fun and create your own with photos of your home.

A city guide and map encourage your guest to amble as they please.

Current bestseller and recent magazines.

Notepad and nice pens next to the phone

A basket of fresh fruit

A covered dish with pretty cookies

Mixed nuts

Either Bottled water or a carafe with a cup on top is a must.

A one cup coffer maker with pods, sweetener and shelf stable creamer.

If you can splurge on a mini fridge then stock with glasses and a corkscrew. Add some mini bottles of red and white wines, sodas and bottles of fizzy and flat water.

On The Bed

Start with a good quality mattress

Use only 100 percent cotton sheets.

Iron your cases and the fold-over hem.

A selection of good pillows is most important. Have available soft, regular and hard, as well as non-allergenic.

Extra blankets.

In the Bath

Fresh soap. Either save hotel soaps from your own jaunts or buy small guest soaps and toss them after each visit. Or checkwww.viechaotique.com for Le Peres cologne scented soap flakes which also is not only heaven for your hands but also for your delicate lingerie.

Keep extra toiletries on hand for forgotten items such as toothbrush, toothpaste, Advil, aspirin, band aids, emery board, disposable razors, lotion, small scissors and sewing kit, shampoo and conditioner, and a mini hairdryer.

Check shower curtain liners and ensure that they are fresh.

Plenty of towels.

Place a pretty glass next to the sink.

A fluffy white unisex robe and slippers.

Remember that you might be a guest at their home sometime and you'd like to think that they would reciprocate with a little more than a sleeping bag in the nursery.  Makes sense to hedge your bets! 

Vie Chaotique

How to shampoo your hair

Hi there ladies,

David here again on a wonderful Saturday morning, here's a frequently asked question answered for you, you may be surprised.

How to shampoo your hair.

Simple right, we've all been doing it since the beginning of time, well not literally, but you get the idea. I get asked a lot about oily scalp, having to shampoo a great blow out maybe a day or two early due to 'shiny' roots, it's a common question so here you are,exclusively at diva.

Now, apart from my favorite dry shampoo, chlorine I think that's how it's spelled, (a simple spray that absorbs the unwanted shine and leaves the hair shiny and clean looking for another day, ask for it at any beauty supply store and they'll know it), here's what you can do to make the oil a little more manageable from the start.

Apply the shampoo to wet hair in the shower and leave it on the roots, (I like my own of course available here at www.iamadiva.com or at www.davidgardnerhair.com. but I also love the entire Aveda line, it's important to clean the hair well WITHOUT stripping it)  just apply and leave.Do all your other showery bits and bob's and then gently, very gently lather a little and rinse.

Thing is, the rubbing stimulates the oil glands and by the end of the day,certainly the end of day two, there you are, all shiny again,I have some clients who were shampooing twice a day and rubbing like mad,see the problem now? anyway, let the grease cutting ingredients of the shampoo do the work for you, rather like dawn on dirty dishes, and then rinse out.

Another good tip for you long haired ladies, don't rub and smash your hair together on itself, you are damageing the fragile cuticle layer, imagine rubbing fish together,horrible, let the shampoo clean the hair on it's own, got it?just the water running through is enough to clean the hair.

Always condition mid length and ends ONLY if you have 'shiny' root problems, and that's it.

Easy right? make sense? enjoy!

David Gardner

A Valentine's Contest

Valentine's day just gets me all sentimental 'bout love and chocolate. My husband remembers to gift me with a card and such, but I can't help but remember how my grandfather always managed to take care of my sister and me in the best way imaginable (to us!) by setting a standard that has become sentimentally impossible to match.

I'm misting up just thinking about how he never failed to get us our favorite Sees boxed chocolate treat. My grandparents lived about 20 minutes from us (we in the Valley, they off of Melrose Place, where my sister Donna lives today,) and Papa Ben would drive out, let himself in the house while we were at school, and leave the heart shaped boxes on the mantel so we would find the blessed tokens when we arrived home from school. Even better, when the holiday fell on a weekend, we would sit around the Formica kitchen table with my grandmother, who would carefully take out each piece (from her own box) and ritualistically cut each piece in half, then half again, to share. Donna was Mocha girl, I was Bordeaux...but we both adored the Chocolate Butter Creams. One year, our dogs (Tootsie & Lucky) somehow managed to get hold of the boxes (fortunately they vomited up the poisonous-to-dogs candy.)

Now I don't have any Sees to share with you right now (I try not to partake of that anymore...it's not the same when Papa Ben doesn't get it for me!) but I do have this special little gift to give to one of you. We'll draw a name from comments on this post at www.suzifiner.typepad.com or www.iamadiva.typepad.com, received by February 21st (that gives ya a week of comment-ability) and I'll send out to you this beautiful decoupage frame of love. It is hand made with vintage Valentine art, and holds a 3"x5" photograph. If you sign up for our www.iamadiva.com email news-list, you'll get another entry for the drawing (a $50.00 value!) If you've already signed up for the email-news list, shoot me a note and I'll add in a ticket for you too...fair is fair! Ah, love.

From Chief Content Diva Suzi Finer

Bambu™: Earth-friendly Entertaining

Give your party an eco-chic boost with organically-grown bamboo Veneerware by Bambu™. Designed for elegant entertaining indoors or out, these earth-friendly plates are much sturdier than their paper counterparts and easily biodegradable!

       

       

I actually used the 11" Veenerware plates a few months ago in a bridal shower theme featuring natural elements and earth-tones....and loved the organic feel they gave the table (see below). For pretty, eco-chic place settings, pair the plates with white cloth napkins embellished with rafia and ivory skeleton leaves.

       

       

       

Bambu's Veneerware is available in party-ready sets of 8 plates, knives, forks, and spoons at Zanisa ($17/set of 8) - or in individual packs of plates or utensils sets at Branch Home

       

The 5-piece Bambu™ Kitchen Essentials Set pictured above is also available at Zanisa and includes a bamboo mixing spoon, slotted spoon, spatula, tongs, and holder. At $29/set, this is a great gift idea for eco-chic entertainers!

   

Jenn Sbranti

A Chinese New Year Treat for you...

We've added a photo-album filled with fabulous diva balloon magic (on the right) to give you a treat for the Chinese New Year. Gung Hai Fat Choi!

What is beauty and how do we get it?

Hi there my fellow diva's, is everyone sitting comfortably??? hmm.

Here we go.

Last week I was getting my ladies ready for the SAG awards. Laura Leighton at 9am, the fab wife of Mr. Doug Savant from desperate housewives and Sydney of course from Melrose Place fame (that's where they met BTW and have been mad about each other ever since, sickening I know) anyway. Jamie Lynn Sigler at 11 at the Four Seasons or the $ as I call it, (so much better and easier right), then onto Marg Helgenberger of CSI fame at 1pm.

The point to my little blog is this. Jamie is in her twenties, Laura her thirties and Marg, her forties, and I had a light bulb moment as I sat watching them all on the red carpet later once home, that they are all EQUALLY beautiful, regardless of their age and what made them that way.

Interesting seeing as they are equally beautiful as a fact to start with regardless of age, so what makes beauty, what is beauty, and how do we get it?

I thought about it and thought about it, and then this last weekend with my brilliant skin expert best pal Kate Somerville in Philly on business, I got it.

Now I'm not going to go into beauty is on the inside, (it is but not my point today my fellow diva's) be good and you'll look more radiant and all that good stuff, NO. Pores, texture, discoloration and breakouts, is what I have decided. With Diane Keaton having a beauty contract in her sixties and actors working well into their seventies and eighties now, Fonda, Sarandon, Dench, Mirren  etc, it is skin tone and color that is beautiful.

I want all of you to think about loving your wrinkles, love them, enjoy them, work on the pigmentation and blotchiness and pore size and health of your skin. It's not going to be long now before we catch up with Europe as far as what is beautiful, and I can tell you this. Peachy, glowing skin with a full face of wrinkles is beautiful.

Ellen Burstyn, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith don't lift and pull and stretch to look younger, you don't anyway, you just look different at best, weird at worst, get your skin healthy and age beautifully.

I think of Annette Bening, Marg Helgenberger, Mary Steenburgen, and Michelle Pfeiffer. Not pulled, not worked on, aging beautifully with one thing in common. Beautiful peachy skin.

Now the shameless plug. I really do believe that my vitamins for the hair skin and nails are superb, I want all women to be able to afford them so I put a two months supply in one bottle for a one month price. They work, start from the inside and work your way out. You can read all about them on my website and they are available here and at the fab www.iamadiva.com.

David Gardner

Valentine's Yum...

Can you see the smile on my face? Our chocolate covered Oreo Cookies just arrived!!! They are of the mostest-premium quality out there (Neiman Marcus carries them as well!) and the taste?....OOohh yummers!

Luckily I AM A DIVA has the cookies in stock!!! If you'd like to buy this awesome Valentine's Day gift for your sweety, friends or family, you can do so here. After all.. tis the season to be sweet!

Suzi Finer

Sexy Tips for Valentine's Day OOH-LA-LA

Los Angeles goes all kissy-poo on Valentine's Day. Ocean view dinners at Geoffrey's in Malibu. A spa for two at the romantic Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. Candlelight picnics in the park (any park). A private chef-catered meal for the boudoir. You get the picture.

So .... you've got to prepare for this day with a passion. A knowing. A wisdom that you've got it all going on. Because you do.

Enter Rochelle Scott, the owner of Godiva's After Dark, a romance boutique in Woodland Hills. Rochelle is on a mission, committed to empowering women about romance. She loves what she does.

Recently, Rochelle started "Girls Night In" private parties at her store. And the spirited woman that she is, she is hosting a special event for Spirited Woman - pre-Valentine's Day on Sunday afternoon, February 10th, called "Sexy Tips for Your Most Romantic Valentine's Day Ever." Rochelle will give us tips on scenarios to stimulate and ignite romance in our lives. We'll learn about a lot of fun and naughty things. And there will even be champagne and a very special chocolate cake in the shape of a p......

I asked Rochelle if she had any romance tips that she'd like to share pre-event. She just coo-ed.

Rochelle's "Putting Romance Back In your Relationship" Tips

** Set time aside for “romance” on your “to-do” list. It’s too easy to get lost in day-to-day chores.  Sunset on the beach with snacks and blankets will do.

** Find ways to bring fresh, unexpected ideas to your partnership.  Dress differently, buy a wig, create a mystery date or try a new toy.

** Stop pre-judging what you haven’t yet experienced.  Be open to change-no whining allowed.  Say, “Yes, I’d love to” and see where it takes you.

** Introduce your lover to a heightened awareness of all their senses, not just vision.  Let them listen, sniff, touch, and taste with eyes covered.  Experiment with feathers, chocolate kisses and juicy fruits.

** Your romantic partnership has a personality all its’ own.  Is it happy, content, peaceful, or in turmoil-bored and disinterested?  Chances are your mate feels the same way.  Step out of your comfort zone for the possibility of creating an adventure that will provide new levels of joy and exhilaration for both of you!

Ooh-La-La.

I invite you to join us for Spirited Woman's Feb. 10th,  "Sexy Tips for Your Most Romantic Valentine's Day Ever," special event from 2-4 pm at Godiva's After Dark, 22700 Ventura Blvd., Woodland Hills 91364. To sign-up visit:  www.thespiritedwoman.com/events. Or call 888-428-1234. I also invite you to subscribe to the free www.thespiritedwoman.com Spirited Woman Newsletter - it's fun and chock full of inspiration and information.

Nancy Mills