Our group of lifestyle experts began this blog a year ago with the collaborative intent to highlight our varied skill sets under the umbrella of lifestyle insights | real women. real life. We programmed, we planned and, most importantly, we wrote — each talented woman contributing her unique insights, observations and stories. As a result, we have a collection of distinctive voices that strikes a harmonious note as it imparts information to women in the day-to-day world.

This blog will remain posted as a viable reference tool for individuals and companies alike. If you’d like to hear about our methodology, feel free to email us. You can continue to follow us on Facebook or Twitter.

As we began this blog with a tale of the town of Sisters, Ore., and their annual quilt show, it seems only appropriate that we end with images from this year’s wonderful fabric fest.

SUSTAINABLE LIVING | by CELESTE TELL

OUR LOCAL FARMER’S MARKET IS OPEN YEAR ROUND, and I generally go almost every Sunday. Jammed with tourists in the summer months, it is quieter, but soggier in the winter months. For years I have contemplated getting a weekly or biweekly CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery instead of going to the market. But I never seemed to get around to pulling the trigger.

© iSTOCKPHOTO.COM

Last winter I was at an auction and there it was, on one of the silent-auction tables. I bid. No one else did. It must have been destiny. Two deliveries of a CSA box. The certificate sat around for months. Finally I pulled the trigger.

For an admitted control freak, the CSA box is an interesting exercise, and while initially intimidating, turned out to be lots of fun. Rather than head to the market with a list or an idea of a weekly menu plan, your box shows up with the best of that week’s harvest. It may or may not be fruits and vegetables that you usually buy, or in combinations that you are used to cooking with. It forced me to get creative, digging through cookbooks and Google-ing to find new recipes. I still have that one head of cauliflower left, but everything else has been used up.

CSA boxes may be more economically sustainable. Our boxes would have cost $35 each, and lasted more than two weeks, compared with the $40 to $50 I often spend weekly at the market. And farmers prefer it too, as it makes their income and growing plans more predictable and, therefore, sustainable.

I still enjoy going to the farmer’s market, for the experience and the community. But I just might start ordering a CSA box once a month, just for the fun of it.

TRENDSPOTTING | by KAT SPELLMAN

GLAMPING: BE IT CANVAS TENT, YURT, AIRSTREAM, rent-a-can or luxe-guided-expedition, “glorious camping” holds a definite allure for not-so-rustic women who want just a little sip of nature.

SOURCE: WILDRETREAT.COM

The travel and outdoor industry recognizes, thank goodness, that not every woman’s ready to embrace her inner Grizzly Adams. Sound familiar? Then check out some of these ways to make the outdoors a lot more fun and just a little more bearable:

• State and national parks often offer overnight digs that are rustic enough to satisfy camping-enthusiast-kiddos while pacifying the kind of mom who likes a door, a floor, a bed, some heat, a light.  Visit your state’s parks website to search for overnight accommodations and book now for popular summer months, as these affordable spots go fast.
• Skip the tent and do some Googling for other options in the region you’re looking to explore: the Vegas Strip via Airstream, perhaps, or California’s wine country in a retro Teardrop trailer, a yurt in Cape Cod or a tipi in New Hampshire.
• Champagne camping on a champagne budget. A gourmet sojourn in Montana is a luxury option for those foodie types while fly fisherwomen will swoon at Tofino, B.C.’s Clayoquot Wilderness Resort.

PASSIONS | by JEAN GALTON

HOW COULD A FERMENTED DAIRY PRODUCT possibly be described as blissful? Greek yogurt breaks all the rules. Even in its nonfat version, this lavishly creamy yogurt is heaven on the tongue.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

What makes it different than regular yogurt? Greek yogurt begins life as the same thing, but then it’s strained to remove some of the whey. After that, you’re left with a thickened, remarkable cream that makes standard yogurt seem watery and flavorless.

So, do like the Greeks and eat it for breakfast with honey and chopped walnuts, or even topped with spoon sweets (a kind of uber-thick preserve.). But my idea of bliss is plain Greek yogurt with sliced, ripe nectarines and a drizzle of maple syrup.  And in tzatziki, of course, that classic, kicky, garlicky Greek sauce.

FIND IT: Fage yogurt (from Greece) is available all over the country. Stonyfield Farms now makes its own Greek yogurt, named Oikos. And Trader Joe’s and The Greek Gods have several versions as well.

DESIGN | by KAT SPELLMAN

SOMETIMES THINGS LOOK, WELL, JUST MORE ELEGANT AGAINST A DARK BACKGROUND. It’s an easy DIY project and instant update that involves little more than a can of spray paint, a scrap of fabric or a repurposing of things you already have at home.

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• Add visual import to household accessories, nature’s goodies and everyday items. Promote them to a simple thing of beauty by placing them in front of a blank dark canvas. Whether that’s a bulletin board sprayed black, a panel of fabric propped against a wall, or a tiny easel perched on a desk, you’ll look anew at a bundle of moss, a crocheted doily tea-stained with age, or a cancelled postage stamp steamed off an envelope.
• Choose a dark-hued tablecloth or leave that deep-toned wooden table bare for your next dinner party. Simple dinnerware and silver pops against the dark background, conveying a modern, clean feel that’s fresh.
• Transform an eyesore nook or hallway into an instant art gallery by painting it a rich, dark color and accessorizing it with sumptuous picture frames sprayed gold, silver or bronze. A little bit of gloss and sparkle will trick the eye making this once neglected spot a real gem.

STORYTELLING | by MOLLY MARTIN

IN ADDITION TO THE FEATURES EXPECTED OF GENEALOGY SOFTWARE, my  first version of Family Tree Maker had an unexpected one: A place to enter notes for each person.

Over the years I’d heard our mother tell many tales of her parents, aunts, uncles and cousins she’d grown up with in Chicago. I could recognize stories I’d heard before — Oma, as we all called her in her later years, was very consistent in her recollections. But I couldn’t have told them on my own (I hadn’t met even one of those relatives).

So one June when my husband was on an extended work trip, I made a deal with Oma: Each night, I’d call her at 7 p.m., after dinner and before any favorite TV shows. I’d give her the name of a relative, she’d say whatever came to mind, and I would strap on my telephone headset and type like crazy.

© MOLLY MARTIN

After we made it through Uncle Mike and Aunt Delia and cousin Jackie Breen and all the rest, we started in on her life: “What’s your earliest memory?” The next night: “And then what happened?” And onwards. She told about her family, friends, neighborhoods, jobs, moves, houses, children’s births, life, lives and deaths.

Before Oma died, she’d gifted us with more than 50 stories, and I’d started pairing them with old family photos. I try to give one story to my family each Christmas, printing 20-plus copies for my siblings, their children, and now their grandchildren. I put each story in 3-hole-punched plastic sleeves and presented the first (above right) in a binder along with that person’s family tree (also via Family Tree Maker).

Oma’s nine years gone now, but her stories live on, for all of us.

PASSIONS | by SHERRY STRIPLING

AT A BOOK CLUB WEEKEND RETREAT of high-powered women, the topic lingered not on books or jobs or family, but on the enormous satisfaction each had felt from tackling a hands-on project on her own for the first time.

One woman talked about replacing the boards on her front porch under the slightly bemused, then amazed, eye of her husband.

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A top executive told of fixing an office machine late one night after her administrative assistant had gone home. She’d been stuck but she unstuck herself. Nothing she did in her job that week pleased her more.

The book-club members talked of an inner glow, a sense of satisfaction, growing confidence. Yes, there is the joy of saving money, but to these women doing it themselves for the first time was all about personal growth.

And so it is for most DIYers, who may feel that first-time thrill of success with every new project. If you’re considering starting something new, tackle a project that’s within your realm of understanding, perhaps not one that might require the water department to come for an emergency shutoff.

Remember these tips:

• Start with something small
• Know your limits
• Make sure you have the right tools
• Do Internet research
• Ask questions at stores that sell the parts or material you need
• Attend store workshops
• Ask yourself: What would MacGyver do?

Then stretch a little further with each project, sit back and feel your sense of self reliance grow.

DESIGN | by DEBRA PRINZING

I HAVE ALWAYS LOVED THE LOOK OF LUMINARIES, the traditional lanterns that illuminate walkways and paths for Southwest-style holiday celebrations. Modern re-interpretations use paper bags or Mason jars, weighted down with a layer of sand in the base and holding votive candles inside.

© DEBRA PRINZING

Here’s a fresh twist that takes the luminary idea and improves upon it. The use of 7-Day Candles, also called altar candles, is brilliant. I first saw these Mexican chapel candles displayed by my artist-friend Kathy LaFleur. She lives in Southern California, where it’s easy to dine and entertain out-of-doors all year long. But even if you reside in cooler parts of the country, you can still borrow her idea!

White, red, blue or green wax is poured into an 8-inch-tall cylindrical glass container. “You can burn them 15 hours a day for a week,” Kathy says. “Imagine, 110 hours of candlelight for about one dollar!” You can often find them at Mexican grocery stores or 99-cent/Dollar Stores.

Kathy began decorating with these clean-and-simple altar candles after too many dinner parties where one-inch votives burned out before the evening was over. Her outdoor fireplace mantle is now lined with a row of the 7-Day candles, which glow and sparkle during her al fresco dinners. Kathy also groups three or four candles inside a large, glass vase for impact. She uses a few inches of dry black beans or orange lentils in the base as a stabilizer. Try a variation of your own and you’ll enjoy hours of romantic flickering candlelight.

As for displaying 7-Day candles outdoors, such as on a porch, patio or front walkway, don’t worry that they’ll blow out, Kathy says: “They come with their own little hurricane lamp.”

TRENDSPOTTING | by KAT SPELLMAN

LET’S FACE IT, ALMOST EVERYTHING LOOKS BETTER ON A PEDESTAL: us women, our food, even soap and baubles. Take another look at those cake stands, vintage pottery, antique silver pieces and small pedestals shoved away in the cupboard, and consider them in a new light:

SOURCE: TARGET.COM

• Even something as simple as crackers can be an elegant addition to the table when marched neatly in a row on a simple raised tray.
• Fruit and veggies look like a still life when kept on the counter or kitchen island on a pretty tall tray. Purchase all of one kind, say apples fresh from this season’s harvest or simple lemons, for an especially sophisticated look.
• Earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces will be worn more often when you see their dazzle in a sweet pedestal at the vanity or bedside.
• Bar soap next to the sink in a gorgeous little raised dish adds ritual to the washing, making it a pure little pleasure of the day.
• Even the day’s mail can cause pause when one passes by it shining from a sparkling silver tray on the entry table

In the words of the U2 song “Elevation” (be forewarned: gratuitous hyperlink to funny/lame/campy U2 Angelina Jolie music video), so many household items just seem to scream, “Elevate me!”

PASSIONS | by JEAN GALTON

IT’S 8:30 IN THE MORNING and 83 degrees, potentially headed to 100 by the end of the day. I’m not sure how I’ll cope with the heat, but one thing is for sure: I’ll make lemonade.

© ANGIE NORWOOD BROWNE

My potted Meyer lemon tree (the one that I’ve almost killed umpteen times) is loaded with bright-yellow fruit. And Meyer lemons make lemonade that is fragrant, softly sour and coolly refreshing. It’s one of my favorite all-time drinks. And perfect for a heat wave.

Meyer Lemonade
Makes 3 cups

1 cup sugar
2 cups water
Pinch salt
1 Meyer lemon, thinly sliced
1/3 cup Meyer lemon juice
Ice

Combine the sugar, water and salt in a small saucepan over high heat. Stir until sugar is dissolved (about 5 minutes) and add the sliced lemon. Let stand 10 minutes covered. Pour the lemon juice into the pot and transfer to a pitcher. Chill. Serve poured over ice.