Savvify

Photos of family, friends and favorite places add a touch of personality, style, flair, and jazz to any room.  Sometimes however it’s difficult to think of inventive and creative ways to display your treasured pictures. 

First you need to take a good look at the photos you want to display.  One of your favorite photos might be a large group picture, but it may not actually display well when hanging on a wall.  Save that one for the scrapbook and look for pictures that have vibrant images that convey a message or a thought. 

Older photographs can be brought to live with the advances in photographic reproduction technology.  If you have a favorite old photo that’s fading, or has been damaged or crinkled through the years, take it to a photo shop to have it restored and reprinted.  You might even be able to do this yourself at home with photo imaging software.  You might want to consider added a special effect, enlarging or cropping the photo differently to add a new perspective to a familiar photo.

Mixing frames of different styles and sizes can be fun, but takes some planning and forethought.  Lay the framed photos on a tabletop or the floor and rearrange until you find a workable arrangement, then employ a friend or family member’s help when measuring and preparing to mount on the wall.  Have your level ready to be sure that a picture that looks straight actually is straight.
Photos don’t have to be limited to the walls.  Tabletops, desktops, bookshelves, and your family entertainment wall unit are all great places to add a picture frame. Even a dressing screen can make a clever and unique backdrop.

You can even decoupage photos onto a table lamp base or mirror frame for an added jazzy effect.  And by using fabric transfer sheets, you can even transfer a favorite photo onto a pillowcase or wall hanging. Photo collages of friends or family members make great placemats.  Simple arrange and laminate.  This is also a great way to hang a collage on the wall or corkboard above your desk or in your office.  Individual laminated photos can be affixed to magnets to put on the refrigerator and other metal surfaces in your home.

“How will I survive the 13 hour plane ride?” read the email a worried family member sent me a few years back.

She was coming to visit me here in Japan, where I live and work, and it was her first time flying internationally, so I could imagine how apprehensive she was. It made me recall the excitement of my own first long distance flight and all the subsequent international journeys I have made over the past few years. Before I knew it, I was replying with a long list of suggestions to get her through the flight. When I picked her up at the airport, she was smiling and said that my tips were quite useful. I hope they can also make your flight not only bearable but actually enjoyable.

Get up and walk around.
It`s not good to stay seated for such a long time, you might even get blood clots in your legs if you do. Go up and down the aisles, walk over to where the flight attendants hang out (if they allow this), stand and stretch and look out the window at the great big beautiful sky.

Talk to people when you`re walking around.
I especially enjoy chatting with flight attendants. They`re usually friendly and have lots of great stories about countries they`ve flown to. Often, they come from all over the world and you can learn something about their hometown or the place you`re traveling to. If you`re really nice, they might even bring you a leftover newspaper from First Class! Other travelers walking around can be fun too - many are quick to share their stories about why they`re traveling - and, they too, are often bored with the long flight and ready to make a new friend. On my first trip to Japan, I met an older couple that was visiting their daughter, a long time Tokyo resident, on the way back from a vacation in Australia. They actually taught me my first words of Japanese. I still think of them every time I say “Good Morning” (“Ohio”)!

Talk to people sitting next to you (if they look friendly).
Once while flying to Taiwan, I had a great chat with a Taiwanese girl sitting next to me. She didn`t speak English, but I noticed that she was reading a copy of “Harry Potter” in Spanish. I knew enough words from high school Spanish class that we were able to converse using a combination of basic Spanish and hand gestures. On a flight from Seattle to Tokyo, one guy sitting next to my wife loved cats so much that he held her cat for almost three hours while she gave him advice about how to deal with his girlfriend. I have so many stories about meeting interesting people on airplanes that I could fill a small book.

Don`t overpack your carry-on bag.
Rather than packing every book and CD you can find, choose only the ones that you really plan to enjoy during the flight. If you bring too many, you will find yourself fumbling through a cumbersome, overstuffed bag in cramped quarters, unable to find anything. A bottle of water is also something nice to have if, like me, your throat gets dry on long flights.
 
Don`t eat too much bread.
When you`re sitting for a long time, it`s like having a brick in your stomach and makes you uncomfortable. They seem to feed you a lot of food in general on international flights; use moderation always and avoid getting a stomachache.
 
If they turn out the lights and you want to read, don`t be afraid to turn on your overhead light. You paid a lot of money for that seat. Enjoy yourself. You will also be giving fellow bookworms a social permission slip to follow your lead.
 
If possible, stay up all night before the flight.
The best way I know to pass the time on a flight is to sleep. If I have a flight less than eight hours, I will do everything I possibly can to be exhausted before the flight. That way, I can collapse as soon as we take off and wake up to find we`re almost there. I have never once used one of those little tiny pillows though.
 
Flip through your guidebook.
Read a little about the history of the place you are visiting, learn a few of the local foods. Select the top three things you want to see or do, but stop there because three is the magic number. Make sure your plans include those top three, but leave the rest of your itinerary to chance, impulse, and the magic of the moment.
 
Be inspired.
At the exact moment you’re reading this, the number of people in the air on international flights is greater than the total number of people that traveled internationally in the entire nineteenth century! Take a moment to contemplate the luxury of modern travel and be glad that even the most remote places on Earth are just a long flight away. See the world. Meet exciting people and enjoy new cultures. Fly the friendly skies and enjoy every second.

Never forget that the journey is not just something to get you to your destination, but an essential part of the whole experience.

Do you have the urge to smash your Blackberry against the wall? Or better yet grind into your boss’s face? Did you quietly mute the phone while on a call with your client and shout obscenities? Was lunch actually the piece of toast that you didn’t have time to eat for breakfast? Then it’s REALLY time to treat yourself. Here are some tips for where to start.

Visit a Chocolate Wonderland
Take a trip to the real life Chocolate Factory. The real life incarnation has manifested itself in Union Square under the name of Max Brenner Chocolate by the Bald Man. This chocolate fantasia boasts everything from a traditional Peanut Butter Ice Chockie and Chocolate Fondue to more adventurous delights such as Chocolate Pizza. This is the ultimate destination to forget the 769 emails sitting in your inbox, the reports that you NEED to compile for your boss but that will never be read, and last night’s blind date who ended up drooling on you. Be forewarned though that the climate at this chocolate temple can be on the Alaskan side. But you know it’s good when the waitress tells you that the sub-zero temperatures are “required for the chocolate.” But then again, what better way and place to calm the fires of your stress and to take the heat away from your day!

Have a Massage Day
There are day spas galore in Manhattan that offer a multitude of special exotic packages. Unwind by enjoying a hot stone massage, sugar and honey scrub, combined with dead sea salt exfoliations. But if you’re more budget conscious, you can always select one service and most spas allow you to use their facilities with no time restrictions. This can often include, dry and wet saunas as well as the jacuzzi. All of the relaxation with less of the costs. To share your relaxation secrets, many spas also accept group reservations, so you can contact all your girlfriends to have a spa day together.

A Day of Wine Euphoria
Most people probably envision the vineyards and landscapes of West Coast wineries like Sonoma and Napa Valley when wine country is mentioned. You’re probably thinking right now, who has the money or time to fly to the West Coast? Many would be surprised that the East Coast can hold its own. Just check out the plethora of wineries in North Folk, Long Island. And I know this article is titled “Pampering and De-Stressing in NYC” but these vineyards are only an hour and a half to 2 hours away from Manhattan. It can take longer traveling from Brooklyn to Queens by subway! Most of these wineries are open all year round for wine tastings so take a leap and head out of Manhattan for a change. And if you venture out between the months of May and October, many of the local farms open up their doors for fruit picking- think apples, peaches, blackberries and more! What better way to spend time away from your boss, the rat infested subways, and the tourists in the city.

A Day of Wine Euphoria continued…
So I haven’t convinced you …and you don’t have a car… and you don’t want to rent one. But wine sampling sounds like exactly what the doctor prescribed. Then just stay in Manhattan and bar hop your way around. My favorite neighborhood is the Lower East side. This neighborhood has become a mecca for bar/lounge/wine bar lovers. All small and hip. If you’re in for more mainstream, trendy, hotel bars are recommended such as the ones in the W hotels, the Hudson Hotel, and the Tribecca Grand. There are also some wine bars, like the Metro Cafe and Wine Bar on 32 East 21 st St that offer wine flights, which are a sampling of 4 different wines most of which are for under $15.

Shopping Therapy
New York has long been known as a shopper’s paradise. What better way to forget your worries than shopping for a sexy party dress or a stylish, casual outfit for the weekend. Here a couple of tips on neighborhoods to go for the best goodies.

Who would go to the Financial District for shopping? Isn’t that the neighborhood where you’re supposed to make money, not spend it? Well that would be true except for the monolithic shopping shrine known as Century 21. This discount department store is famous for it’s wide selection of name brand goodies that are at monstrously discounted prices. When on sale, think $30+ for a Valentino cardigan or $120 for a Miu Miu dress or $110 for Costume National shoes. Run don’t walk!

If you’re more for this season’s couture and can afford couture prices, start from 5th Ave and 50th street in Manhattan’s high end fashion heaven. All you have to do is move up from here to 58th st then continue on to Madison Ave. moving upwards towards the 80’s. There’s Saks, Bergdorf, Barney’s, Fendi, Prada, Gucci, Ferragamo. Warning though - the prices are usually not so heavenly.

If you want this season’s fashion, but you want hipper, sartorial purchases that don’t require a trust fund then start from Soho and then head to Nolita. Soho has more well known, but hip and young fashion. Miu Miu, Vivienne Tam share the ‘hood with Club Monaco, Anthropology and H&M to name a few. Move over to Nolita for more local, hip, and independent designer duds as well as vintage favorites like Resurrection at 217 Mott St.