life curation

2018 Goals – An Update

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Back in January, I outlined 3 goals that I have for this year. As a point of accountability, I want to share how things have been going with those goals, as well as the next steps to take in the upcoming weeks.

Goal 1: Publish some of my writing

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Technically, this blog is a way of publishing my writing, but I don’t heavily edit anything that goes on here, and I want to have a consolidated work (like a book). I mentioned previously that editing and publishing are tests of my discipline and focus, as I tremendously enjoy getting the thoughts on paper but don’t really enjoying reviewing what I’ve written. Here are the actions I intend to take before the end of the month:

  • Start on the 2nd round of edits for my novel
  • Complete 1st round of edits for my how-to book
  • Purchase a MasterClass membership to get additional writing assistance

Goal 2: More travel

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I’ve done one of my major trips – Nairobi, Kenya – but I’ve been eyeing a short trip to London sometime this summer (this ties into Goal 3). I also have a family cruise planned in October, and maybe (hopefully!) one more London trip in December. I’ve also been taking more roadtrips over the past several months, and next month will have me taking a trip almost every weekend! Anyway, here are the actions I intend to take over the next couple of weeks:

  • Make a decision on my London travel: whether I will do one or two trips this year
  • Start pricing my London and New York airfare and hotel stays
  • Reserve rooms for weekend trips in May

Goal 3: Dabble in an art career

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I’m not an artist, but I aspire to work in the art world, as either a consultant or a curator. I’ve researched a few opportunities to help me get a feel for the museum/auction world, but other than listing out those resources, I haven’t taken any other actions. That stops this month. These are the actions I intend to take in support of my future art career:

  • Reserve my space in the Christie’s course(s) I plan to take in New York this summer
  • Begin another online art course
  • Narrow down the opportunities I’ve listed to those most advantageous for the path I’m pursuing.

That’s all for my 2018 goals update. I’ll try to remember to post again at the beginning of June, to let you all know how much progress I’ve made. Talk to you all soon!

 

art · luxury

Why Private Tastes Run Public Art Museums

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As an art enthusiast, I enjoy following the trends and learning more about the industry. Nowhere have I seen such a collision of creativity and business as I have in the art world. What I find especially fascinating is how art professionals make their mark or how they navigate these spaces during their careers.

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The Carpet Merchant of Cairo by Jean-Leon Gerome

I recently read an article by Felix Salmon explaining the unexpected termination of Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA LA) curator Helen Molesworth. The article indicates that the firing was “controversial”, so the opinions about the termination are varied. However, the underlying reason why Molesworth was released may be discerned from data related to her time at MOCA LA.

Data analytics were used to determine the difference between curatorial choices made by Molesworth and selections made by previous curators. The data confirmed that, prior to Molesworth’s tenure, the museum’s special exhibits prominently featured art “market darlings”: the artists that patrons regularly purchased for their personal collections and that had sold well at auctions. Artists that commanded high dollar prices at auction ($10+ million gross) were frequently featured in MOCA LA exhibits. However, during the three years that Molesworth was at MOCA LA, only two of her curated exhibits exceeded the $10 million gross amount.

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The Moorish Warrior by William Merritt Chase

This is a simple matter of economics: patrons know that the value of their investments needs to be affirmed by museums. Museums and patrons have a symbiotic relationship: they mutually affirm the value of certain artists’ works. It’s important that art “market darlings” are heavily featured so that art investors can justify the valuation of their investment.

Here lies the problem with Molesworth: she didn’t feature art “market darlings” prominently during her tenure. Her emphasis on display diverse artists that weren’t pulling in high dollar amounts at aucton didn’t win her any fans with the old art vanguard, namely, the trustees of MOCA LA. In many ways, her innovation and commitment to smaller, lesser known, less commercially popular artists sealed her fate.

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The Daughter of Herodias Dancing by James Tissot

An additional point of clarity: MOCA LA has minimal government funding. Donors are quoted as providing 80% of the museum’s funding. This means that it behooves the museum to consider the personal tastes of their financial supporters. Molesworth’s choices didn’t endear her to donors, because her curatorial choices didn’t reflect the work of the “market darlings”. Her curated exhibits didn’t affirm the value of donors’ collections; she was inadvertently setting the tone for a shift away from the “darlings” and a move toward more lesser known artists. A death knell like this could have been catastrophic for the valuation of donors’ private art collections.

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Study of a Moor in Blue by Edwin Lord Weeks

All his being said, I actually am in favor of MOCA LA’s decision. Museums that receive the majority of their funds from private donors are beholden, to extent, to the tastes of those donors. As a museum attempts to steer its collection and exhibits to align with the vision of the supporters, it makes sense to have curators that are also on board with that vision. I’m unsure whether MOCA LA expressed to Ms. Molesworth what they wanted from her in her role as curator, but I can hope that this was explained at some point. If not, some research on previous exhibits would have been wise: a cursory review would have revealed an affinity for certain artists. Molesworth could have gradually introduced artists with lower gross auction amounts while still curating exhibits that would be favored by the donors.

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The Old Blue-Tiled Mosque Outside of Delhi, India by Edwin Lord Weeks

The practical application in this case is this: when entering a new space, always do your research. The discussions among colleagues are great but the numbers don’t lie. Gather data and look for trends. See what the similarities are and plan accordingly. I don’t know that Molesworth could have completely avoided this – after all, she had to stay true to her own vision as a curator – but her research may have revealed that she wasn’t as good a fit for MOCA LA as she originally believed.

 

 

(This post featured art that had a Middle-Eastern/Indian theme. All photos courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum, as shown on archive.org)

Glass Skin Challenge – Final Results
beauty · luxury

Glass Skin Challenge – Final Results

Mstldelano2 Comments

In a previous post, I talked about the Glass Skin Challenge that I planned to do in the month of March. I also mentioned small tweaks that I made in my routine during the month. I did this routine for a month and recorded my pre-experiment and post-experiment skin. Here are the photos of my results for the Glass Skin Challenge!

Before the routine:

After the routine:

I loved the results and, though my camera can’t quite capture the difference, just know that my skin has clearly improved. I’ve even been complimented on my skin, which let’s me know that the products are working. As a quick recap, my skin type is combination, sensitive and acne-prone. So I wanted to see if this routine a) made my skin too dry or too oily, b) aggravated my skin and caused additional sensitive issues, c) made my acne flare up, and, most importantly, d) made my skin look its best. I’ll list the pros and cons of the routine below:.

Pros:

  • It doesn’t take as long as you would think. It took me about 5 minutes longer to do this routine than my old routine.
  • You don’t have to literally do 10 steps twice a day. The most that I did during any singular skin care session was 8 steps.
  • It didn’t make me break out. All that product on my skin, and not once did I have a clogged pore or pimple.
  • It helped fade dark marks. The combination of consistent exfoliation and regular sunscreen usage seemed to make a big difference in fading the scars.

Cons:

  • You go through a LOT of products. You do have 10+ of them that you’re using, after all. The essence, which I used twice a day, seemed to really go pretty fast.
  • It can get pricey. My exfoliant (the Alpha Beta Ultra Gentle Daily Peel by Dr. Dennis Gross) was $88 for a 30-day supply, and, depending on where you get your essence (I used SCINIC), it may cost you $20-30 for a bottle that won’t last for much more than a month. My Caudalie toner wasn’t cheap, either, though I LOVED it and will definitely purchase again.
  • The exfoliant I used gave me the “Hollywood star”, super-shiny skin look. You know how some actors and actresses have waxy looking skin that has been botoxed and chemically peeled to the max? Yeah, I was starting to get that look. I’m glad that my skin has a bit more density to it: the look only lingered at night, after exfoliating. My daytime routine didn’t have me looking like a sculpture.

After doing the Glass Skin routine, I realized that some of the imperfections I tried to correct were actually small flesh moles that couldn’t be removed via an at-home skin care regimen. Also, I learned that overall brightness and clarity in a complexion can really make you look more alert and healthy.

While I can’t promise that I’ll adhere strictly to the regimen in the future, I am comfortable saying that I will stick pretty closely to the 10-step program and see if I can further perfect my complexion.

life curation

Living Your Best Life: Take Control of Your Financial Condition

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Happy Monday! Nothing like talking about money to get the week started LOL!

I previously mentioned how my divorce was the catalyst for my personal growth. Part of that growth journey included getting to know all aspects of myself all over again. I had to do some HARD work, mainly in the realm of facing my reality without letting that reality depress me.

I eased into this work by starting with the things that felt truly neutral: in my case, the most neutral things I could work on were my money and my career. I know that money is usually a charged topic when it comes to married couples,, but I handled our household finances, and I felt pretty competent when it came to budgeting. So, starting here seemed like a good idea.

April 25, 2025

I realized that, while I paid our bills on time and had automatic withdrawals for our retirement accounts, I really didn’t know much about our finances. And, now that I was handling my finances solo, I needed to get a grip on what I had already in place, and what I still needed to address.

Enter a financial binder.

A financial binder organizes your financial information, so that you have all of that data at your fingertips. You can make copies of it and provide it to trusted family members, put it in your safe (and your safe deposit box), or drop it off with your estate attorney (assuming that you have one, which you probably will, after completing the binder and realizing that an estate attorney is a wise investment). The binder is particularly useful when you’re trying to figure out the “gaps” in your financial life, be it a lack of certain advisors, under-tended accounts, or backup plans that need to be established.

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Take time to get organized (but don’t put your croissant directly on your desk!)

Financial binders are a great way to get your money organized and to give you some peace of mind. This is especially useful if you’re navigating a breakup and you need to know what areas of your financial life need to be addressed now that you’ve “uncoupled” (oh how I love that term). The best part about a binder is that you don’t have to address all of the gaps in one day: you can pace yourself, knowing that you’ve got time to get it done and, with determination and focus, you can get it all done well.

I’ve had a few versions of these, but the one available online for free through Utah State University is by and far my favorite (click on the link to download it). It’s clearly written, captures a lot of information, and has a great set of instructions on the first page, so you have some solid guidance for what you’ll need before you undertake this project.

As tax day creeps closer, make it a point to start getting clear on your financial condition, whether you’re navigating a divorce/breakup, happily coupled, or satisfyingly single. Having knowledge of where you stand financially is extremely empowering and can really help you to feel inspired to improve your condition, or relaxed about where you are currently.

life curation

The Best Year of Your Life: the Dream It Section Follow-up

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A few weeks ago, I gave a brief recap of my revelations while working through the book, The Best Year of Your Life by Debbie Ford. I completed my notes on Chapter 1, but I hadn’t finished fleshing out my thoughts on Chapters 2 and 3. Here, I’ll follow up on what I learned from doing the work outlined in those chapters.

Doing the Work to Create my

 

Chapter 2: Exposing the Fantasy -I thought deeper about the feelings I associate with my “fantasy” life: I often fantasize that I will feel joy, eagerness (happily looking forward to the good stuff to come) and calm. Activating joy will be easy, since I’m doing the Joy Challenge and will be regularly activating that emotion on a daily basis. Eagerness will come from taking more chances and affirming the goodness of everything that comes across my path. I can engage the feeling of calm by instituting relaxation practices for different scenarios. Right now, I can only think of two situations that would greatly benefit from the relaxation practice: I’ll need one for when I feel stressed about work, and one that I can engage to set the tone for a good night’s sleep. Once I finalize the details of those practices, I’ll make another post describing them. That takes care of Chapter 2’s exercises!

Chapter 3: Stepping Into Greatness – I allowed inspiration to come to me, and I created my vision for this year: I will become a well-known influencer, using my reach to encourage people to supporting the arts, move past relationship disappointments, and create the most enjoyable, luxurious lives that they can experience.  The traits I mentioned in the previous post – discipline and boldness (extroversion) – still apply. Creativity is also required, as is excellent communication skills. Focus will be big for me: I tend to get sidetracked. I could easily list about 5 – 10 additional realms that I want to influence, but my primary love is the arts, so I’m going to focus on that, with healing from relationship trauma and living high-quality lives as secondary and tertiary goals.

I’m glad I got a chance to review these chapters and get clear on what I’m dreaming up in 2018. I’ll be sharing more on how I plan out this year’s activities in a future post. Ciao for now!

hollywood glamour · style

Make Your Own Hollywood-Inspired Ensembles

Mstldelano3 Comments

One of my goals within the next few years is to learn how to sew. I can do simple repairs with a needle and thread, but I can’t operate a sewing machine, and I’ve never made a garment using a pattern. However, for those of you that are skilled at sewing (or if you’re working on mastering this skill), I have a treat for you.

Recently, I came across an article on ArtFido that announced that there is a Vintage Patterns wiki, with more than 80,000 vintage patterns. The best part? There is a subset of patterns titled the Movie Star collection. These patterns recreate the looks worn by the stars that we’ve adored for many years.

Now, here’s where things go a little wonky: the patterns aren’t actually in the wiki links. For that reason, I have to admit that ArtFido did some clickbait shenanigans. The original article presented the wiki as having patterns when all that’s there are photos. That being said, I’m mentioning the vintage pattern wiki because the organized photos make it much easier to search for the patterns using the identifying information listed in the photo.

Here are a few of my favorite patterns listed on the wiki:

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Lucille Ball’s princess coat is the thing dreams are made of

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Olivia de Havilland’s dress is sweet and innocent

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The crisp tailoring of Gloria Stuart’s dress would be flattering on a lot of different body types

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Grace Kelly’s dress is fit for a princess (naturally!)

Do any of you sew? I need a good seamstress (really!), but I’d also love some sewing tips, too. Feel free to comment below and let me know what you think of these patterns.

reading list

Reading List: April’s Book

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creativity is Intelligence having fun (1)

As part of creating the best year of my life, I’m committed to doing the internal and external work that will help me realize my intentions and create the lifestyle that I desire. In support of this journey, I am focused on reading books that will enhance my life, either through providing inspiration, knowledge, or entertainment, all for the sake of crafting a wonderful year.

For April’s book of the month, I’ve selected Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life by Cassie Parks. I’ve read this one before, but I didn’t execute all of the exercises mentioned in the book. I have, however, read another of Cassie’s books, Manifest $10,000, and I got phenomenal results, so I am confident that Lifestyle Design for a Champagne Life will be truly life-changing for me.

However, as you all know, I’m doing the Joy Challenge for April, so I am going to read Lifestyle Design but I may have to save the exercises for May, when I have a bit more time and can give it my full attention. That being said, if I find that I do have a bit of time, and inspiration leads me to completing some of the exercises in April, then I’ll do so. I believe in not “overworking” my conscious creation muscle by doing too many things at once. But I also believe in following inspiration, so we’ll see how it goes.

Have any of you read Cassie Parks’s books before? Let me know in the comments below!

art · luxury

Art Collectors Conundrum: Unpredictability

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In the Art Collectors Conundrum series, we continue to explore some of the topics of interest for inexperienced art collectors/appreciators or aspiring art world professionals. Instead of simply noting the issue at hand, we ponder some ways to mitigate some of the invisible barriers of the art world.

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(all photos by James Van Der Zee)

One of the biggest stumbling blocks on the road to art connoisseurship is unpredictability within the art market. Many would-be collectors are unnerved at the thought of investing significant amounts of money into art, only for that art to potentially never appreciate in value.

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Here’s the problem with that logic: it assumes that art is purely an investment, when, in fact, art, is a tangible item that can be enjoyed now while also possibly growing in monetary value in the future. Let’s face it: we choose to invest in different things all of the time. We invest in our homes, our cars, our personal appearance, our careers, and our families. Many of these things are depreciable assets (cars will lose value, we won’t look 22 forever). However, art is one of the few investments that can be potentially monetized at a future date, though you can enjoy it right now, while you own it.

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The key to weathering the unpredictability of the art resale market? Only purchase art that you completely enjoy NOW. As a new collector, there’s no need to speculate about how much the art will be worth in the future if you’re enjoying the art right now, as it hangs on your wall or stands in your living space (in the case of sculptures).

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There’s no concern over how a piece will appreciate if you’re “appreciating” the piece right now, as it holds space in your collection. Focus on purchasing the art that moves you, the art that lights you up or makes you stop and think. Only buy the art that invokes feelings in you. Then, no matter what the art is worth today or tomorrow, you will have enjoyed it and you will have gotten immeasurable value from it right NOW.

(all photos courtesy of the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts digital exhibit, The Black Photographer’s Annual, Volume 1)

 

food

Recipe: Easy Naan Pizza

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Sometimes, when I work from home, I have lunch delivered to me. One of my favorite cuisines to eat is Indian food (but based on my Anokha review, that shouldn’t surprise you!). At the end of my meal, I always find that I have a lot of naan (Indian flatbread) left over.

I adore naan, but I usually can’t eat rice, naan and pappadam (lentil wafers) in one setting: it’s too many carbs and I feel physically uncomfortable after overindulging. Trust me, I’ve done this enough to know the routine. I have to limit it to one carb serving per meal: 1 pappadam and half the rice serving; half the rice and half a piece of naan, or the full serving of rice.

That being said, I hate waste, so I wanted to find a new way to enjoy my naan.

Enter naan pizza.

As it turns out, naan makes an excellent pizza crust. It’s buttery, perfectly suited for pairing with sauces, and reheats beautifully. I sprinkle the leftover naan with a little water (so that it doesn’t dry out during the reheating process) then I make my pizza: I add sauce, cheese and toppings.

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Plain piece of naan bread, cut in half. This is perfectly sized for making two slice of pizza.

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Usually I spread one tablespoon of pizza sauce on half of a piece of naan.

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I then add about 1/4 cup of mozzarella cheese (I LOVE cheese!) and a little bit of parmesan mixed in.

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Next, I add the toppings (in this case, mushrooms). I always sprinkle some extra herbs for additional flavor (my Sicilian Bread Dipping blend). Yum!

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I toast the pizza in my toaster oven for 6-8 minutes at 375 degrees, until the cheese is melted in the center. I make sure that the oven was preheated.

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Here is the finished product, with some sprout salad on the side. So tasty!

 

Have any of you ever used naan to make pizzas? Let me know in the comments below!

international · travel

My First Safari!

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No trip to Kenya would be complete without a safari. There are many safari options at different price points, but I decided to go to Nairobi National Park, since it was located within the city limits and is easily accessible. Don’t let the fact that the park is within the city deceive you – it is quite large and many African animals can be seen there. The only noticeablly absent animal is the elephant, though pachyderm devotees can check out the elephant orphanage within the park that gives care to orphaned calves.

There isn’t much to say: the animals were majestic, and I can’t put into words how much I enjoyed this experience.  Here are the photos. Enjoy!

 

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