Author: sandrashart

Welcome to my world! I have always loved to write, but I have spent most of my adult life in front of either a television or film camera. First as a Romper Room Teacher, then in television series and movies where writing took a backstage place in my life. I am now over 50 and have the freedom to get back to expressing myself through writing. I muse about my life and thoughts and just about everything under the sun. The only order to it is life itself as lived. Natural chaos! I am married and have three grown children who are interested in breeding horses, flying and creating. My youngest is the lead singer/songwriter of the Grammy nominated band, Tonic, Emerson Hart. So here I am, wanting to read about you and at the same time bringing you along with me to mine. I hope you will find me just as interesting as I do you! Hop aboard for the ride.

Stepping Out Of The Box

One big positive about being a mature woman is that the bonds of restriction that had me tied in knots most of my life are untied. I am finally free to be me.

As a young woman, I followed the trends, was afraid to be different and never stepped over the line when it came to fashion or being proper. Sure, I took some risks career wise, but I never dared to be out of step as to what was expected of me.

I don’t think I was alone in that mindset. After all, it was the early 60’s, my childbearing and mothering years, before Woodstock and the hippie generation. All that ‘freedom-to-be’ passed me by with diapers and nurturing others.

It must have been in my fifties when suddenly a light bulb went off in my head and I started taking risks. I started to realize it was okay to be me. It was okay to step out of the box.

Knock. Knock. Let me out of here!

Dreams Aren’t Accidental

I can be alone at a table of one. I can be alone in a crowded room. It’s all good.

If anything has taught me the biggest life lesson, it’s aging. I am finally comfortable with who I am. It took me so long to get here, maybe longer than most, but I have arrived at that place where it’s okay to be the imperfect me.

Although our culture encourages otherwise, as a woman, it is not all about the outside. Cosmetics, surgery, hair extensions and designer clothes are not the answers to becoming visible again. How we live our lives is the answer to keeping and growing your beauty.

If we have the joy of waking up each morning with gratitude, if we actually look around us and drink in our surroundings, if we live our lives with wonder, if we live with purpose we remain beautiful and forever young.

My view is that living life to the fullest hands down beats all the man-made beauty treatments. Immerse yourself into life doing what makes you passionately happy, whether it is growing by educating, writing, creating, giving to others,

Dreams are not planted by accident. They are there to be nurtured and realized. If we don’t feed them, instead of blossoming into reality, they wither and die a torourous death.

Today start living your beautiful life. It is never too late to make your dreams come true.

Believe It Or Not… You Are Creative

Who me? Creative? Don’t think so.

I have news for you. Everyone of us has some type of creativity inside of us, whether it be singing, playing an instrument, cooking, gardening, or creating a beautiful vision through makeup everyday.

Life is more satisfying when we use our creative souls with an outlet. Expressing yourself boosts your brain, gives you satisfaction, boosts energy, relieves stress and most of all, brings us joy.

There are five types of creativity:

• Artisan

• A-Lister

• Activist

• Game Changer

• Sensitive Soul
Let me explain the types and how important using our creativity is to us.

It’s Hard To Be A Writer

I know it’s much more difficult to write about ones life than it is to pen a novel. The latter is fantasy, make believe. Journeys you take in your mind that release you from your own reality.

Facing the truth in front of your typewriter is another story. Sometimes is extremely painful to write about ones own life’s reality. Those events are never erased, but lived over and over again. Pages ripped from your past that come back to haunt you and resurface things that you had hope were buried so deep that they would never resurface.

It’s hard to be a writer. It’s hard to write about the truth.

My Aging Story

Someone asked me the other day how I feel about aging and the physical changes that happen along the way.

I didn’t have to even think about that when I replied, “Time.”

I want more time. I want to watch my children and grandchildren experience more milestones in their lives. I want to be a part of their journey longer than probable lifespan allows.

There are so many things still on my bucket list that I want to do. Time, not the physical changes, is what I think about.

Now I know this person was talking about our physical losses as we age. Our beauty. Basically, our aging morphing us into something we never expected, physically. I get it. It’s rather scary when I look into the mirror and see my mother looking back at me. I’m not the girl I used to be on the outside, but I have gotten so much smarter and wiser in the inside. That’s a plus in my mind. I don’t feel sorry for my aging self on that level.

I can’t stop the wrinkles or jowls, or the natural physicalities of aging. Sure, I can slow it down by exercising, eating right and proper skincare for my face and outer shell. But we all age if we are lucky enough to still be here, we can’t stop that.

My advice to those not yet worried about aging is to get going early on your bucket list. Don’t worry about failure. Take risks. Enjoy every minute of your life while you still have the energy to do it…… and wear sunscreen and a big hat in the sun!

Life is gosh darn awesome if you are not afraid to jump in with both feet!

Dress French Chic On A Budget

I have always admired French women and the way they put together clothes. A simple white blouse with black tights or pants, colorful scarf and rich looking bag and she is off to work or to meet her friends at a cafe. Simple, elegant and understated beauty.

When I look into my closet, I wonder if I need all the colors. Too many blouses, too many dresses, too many jackets and coats. I know I am not alone. We are a consumer society and I know my buying habits are not unique.

Every day my mailbox is filled with clothing catalogues enticing me to buy something that will make me look like the young, beautiful models inside. Facebook is becoming filled with products that tell us we just have to have for our next season. In essence, we are constantly being enticed to buy, buy, buy so that we won’t get left behind in the latest fashion trend.

All this started me thinking about the economy and how much we women spend on clothes we probably will wear a few times and then put to the back of our closet. This led me to thinking about France, their fashion sense and thrift shops. I wondered if I could go to a local Goodwill and shop French style with thrift and utility in mind.

I will share with you the results of my quest to dress French Chic on recycled clothing. Come along with my daughter and I to see the results.

I Just Love Hats!

My Mother always wore a hat when she went out of the house. Sometimes she even designed and made her own. Maybe as a child my always seeing her look so beautiful in hats…she has passed on her love of hats to me.

The reality is that I grew up in a generation where both women and men wore hats. I even got a new Easter bonnet every year to top off my new outfit. I think that hats were always a part of my dress up life way into the sixties when bouffant hair and French twist hair made it impossible to wear a hat without ruining your hairdo.

My father used to wear a top hat on formal occasions. (Imagine that!) He wore a smart Fedora or Homburg; 1940s men were nothing without a hat. Popular men’s 1940s hats were the Fedora, Trilby, Homburg. A Chesterfield coat, suit and shoes were always finished off with a hat whenever my father left the house.

Honestly, I really miss those days of hats, but in spite of the rest of the world and trends, I still wear hats. What can I say, I just love hats!

Our Clothes Are A Mirror Of Who We Are

” She had a womanly instinct that clothes possess an influence more powerful over many than the worth of character or the magic of manners.” Louisa May Alcott

Our clothes and style are a mirror of who we really are, aren’t they? When we wake up in the morning what we wear indicates how we feel, where we are going and our attitude about the next twelve hours.

For men more than women, I think, sometimes dressing becomes routine as soon as their feet hit the floor. They throw on their favorite well-worn jeans, T shirt, slip on flip flops, loafers or old sneakers and are ready to face the world and what is out there waiting for them.

Most women are different animals all together. We plan, organize, accessorize and treat clothes as an extension of who we are. Our clothes don’t actually make us, but we make the clothes our own.

The Gift Of Caring

It was the kind of evening when the wind found every opening in my heavy winter wrappings. There was no escaping the chill that went through my bones as I sat on the deck of the Queen Elizabeth as it sailed down the Hudson River toward the Atlantic and the beginning of our 109 day world cruise.

With my beret pulled down over my ears and scarf wrapped around my neck as high as possible, I leaned against the railing facing the winds watching he magnificent New York City skyline, swimming by so slowly.

Weeks before my friends Lou and Cathy who live in the Village vowed they would add to our send-off by signaling to us from the end of the Christopher Street Pier as we sailed by.

It seemed a great idea at the time, until our sailing was delayed into the darkness and severe winter weather was moving in. So much for a sendoff, I disappointedly thought. Lou would be working and Cathy would be alone.

As we moved along, suddenly I saw a flicker…a blinking beam of bright light coming from the Christopher Pier. Once, twice, three times. She had come. She had come in the darkness and waited in the cold to wish us a bon voyage as she had promised. Cathy’s life was all about the gift of caring. I will always miss you my dear friend.

Under Seat Air Travel Pack Hack

Traveling by air just isn’t what it used to be, is it? Years ago it was rather luxurious and exciting to travel by air. Sorry. Those days are long gone and we passengers have to reinvent how we approach the crowed conditions on today’s airplanes. We have to try and make our passenger experience of getting from one point to another easier and less of a hassle.

How to pack a carry-on for vacation that fits under the airplane seat? Why go through the hassle of baggage claim and struggling to find bin space when you travel. Slip it all under your seat. This video tells you how to pack a small suitcase that fits under you airplane seat.
Safe travels!

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