PLEASE GIVE US A SHORT BIO OF WHO YOU ARE WHERE YOU WERE BORN ETC…….
SO WE THINK WE KNOW YOU!

  (Contessa can be so bossy sometimes but she means well!)

Hello, friends!  A little something about me.  I was born in New York 64 years ago where we lived until I was 18.  My father’s dream was always to live in California so off we went as soon as us kids graduated from high school.  I moved back to NY after college and began my working life as many do…in the entirely wrong industry…the stock market!  Even though this was probably the worst place I could have worked it paid the rent and let me have lots of fun until my friends all started getting married and having children.  And that’s when I moved back to California.  I met my husband, got married, had a baby, got divorced all within 2.5 years.

I come from a family of shoemakers and seamstresses and tailors so I guess this is why I never flourished at the stock exchange….preferring instead to be doing something creative and being my own boss. I’m a terrible employee! So when my daughter was a baby I started my own millinery company which became a clothing company where I designed and manufactured children’s wear.  We did everything in Oakland….patterns made, samples cut and sewn, orders shipped …nothing overseas until Macy’s wanted to carry the brand and that’s when everything changed.  This was at the beginning of the end of manufacturing clothing of any kind in the United States if you wanted to work with the large chain stores.…things had to be made cheaply and quickly and that meant China.

I closed shop soon after with no regrets. Like most things it was good until it wasn’t anymore.  Some years later I met my life partner and now we own a landscape/garden company where we supply materials to architects and landscapers and landscape designers…homeowners who are passionate about the garden and the land.  8-acres of stone and lush soils and beautiful garden ornaments….some we design and some we source in Europe. It’s given me the ability to do what I do well..  Being creative and telling people what to do.  LOL!

1. Donna what are your favorite color combinations?

I think my favorite color is black since if you open my closet that’s pretty much all you see but I love it with navy or cream and I also love anything tonal ….three different shades of ivory worn together for example. I’ve always been a neutral girl and that hasn’t changed over the years. Maybe I’ll add a little splash of color but it’s usually in an accessory.

2. How would you call your way of dressing?

I’m a bit of a chameleon…or maybe a magpie? I don’t know.  It used to be eclectic/bohemian I guess when I was younger…lots of vintage shopping for interesting pieces. Colorful bakelite bangles and boots and long skirts. Years ago the flea markets and vintage stores were chock full of these great things! It was all about the hunt! Then I went all in on menswear…and now it’s a combination of the two.  I love big, chunky sweaters with boots and long skirts or dresses.

I’m always drawn to anything oversized and edgy. I love to wear one really interesting piece over a long knit dress for example.  Or something simple with a statement piece of jewelry. I’m partial to combat boots… right now my go-to’s are the soft leather Dr. Martens and I’m coveting the Garden Chelsea boots by The Row.… but I also love pretty flats and a gorgeous heel you just have to have even if you rarely wear it ….you have to have it because it’s that beautiful.  And always jewelry…all kinds. I’m never without it.

3.How do you BUY a piece of clothing?

Your gut instinct or the fact YOU LOVE IT AND MUST HAVE or because YOU NEED IT?

 CONTESSA SAYS:”Elaborate on this please……. “

After the basics (the t-shirts, leggings, jeans, etc) it’s all about how much I fall in love with something. It’s the coup de foudre. Like buying a piece of furniture or something decorative for your house.  If you love it, it will find its place and it will all work together.

3.5 FAVORITE SHOP IN BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA?

TAIL OF THE YAK

I always, always find something there …its such an inspiring place!

 And LACIS when I’m looking for vintage textiles.

4.Favorite accessory……….how many do you own?

It would have to be jewelry.  There are a few pieces I rarely take off…a trio of bangles, a signet pinky ring, three simple antique gold bands stacked together BUT I also have a large collection of antique jewelry…Georgian and Victorian which I tend to wear quite often. I’m pretty obsessed with antique jewelry to be honest.

I’m drawn to Coral…the older the better! Bakelite….I bought so much during those years where you could find them at every flea market!  I have boxes of these.  And pearls…I love them, especially baroque pearls.

5.Can you take us through your skincare routine?

Items you use.Any items that you ADORE and have seen a change happening? So, I’ve tried many different brands over the years and now that my skin has changed with age it’s dryer than its ever been. Long gone are the days of a full to bursting medicine cabinet with everything under the sun inside.
Now I only use a few products.One is the Cleansing Balm from Bamford which I love and use a few times a week.The rest of the time I use the Botanical Oil Cleanser by TULURA followed by a bit of their Vitamin Peptide serum and then a few drops of the Facial oil. I also throw on the Clarifying Clay Mask by SkinCeuticals once a week.

With these products my skin is more supple and feels less dry than it has been. I’m really, really pleased with these brands!  Here are some links: https://www.bamford.com/us/products/nourishing-cleansing-balm/  https://tulura.com  https://www.skinceuticals.com/skin-care/categories/facial-masks

6.Who are your STYLE ICONS today?

 CONTESSA SAYS:”Funny as I scrolled through the people you FOLLOW on INSTAGRAM

and

(WE FOLLOW A LOT OF THE SAME PEOPLE)

I feel we are on the same path!”

YES!

These women are so inspiring!  But also Diane Keaton and Neelam Ahooja to name a few. And one of my all time favorite style icons ever, Marlene Dietrich.  That woman could wear a mans suit like nobody’s business!

German-born American film star Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992) dressed in men’s top hat and tails from the film ‘Morocco’.

German actress Marlene Dietrich (1901 – 1992), circa 1935. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

7.What would YOU say makes YOU HAPPY?

Being with family.  Being with friends.  A good belly laugh…the kind where you can’t catch your breath. The perfect cup of tea in a special mug. A rainy day.  A good book. A quiet morning.  Simple things….doing a puzzle or playing cards with people I love.  Watching an old movie in front of a warm fire…being in the garden.  Simple things.

8. Do you have JOY in your LIFE?

DID YOU EVER LOSE THAT JOY?

HOW DID YOU GET IT BACK?

I did have joy and then one day I realized I didn’t. I found myself watching too much news the past 4 years…checking social media too much…I became almost obsessed with it. I felt like there was a dark cloud over my head all the time. Ever an optimist I began feeling very pessimistic about the state of our country and the world. It was unhealthy.  So, last year I stopped reading the newspaper, turned off the TV and put down the phone.

I started reading books again. Going to places that were beautiful and inspiring.  Doing things that sparked my creativity. Nurtured friendships. Saying YES to things. And slowly but surely joy came back into my life again.  My experience has taught me that we need to step away from technology periodically to re-charge and re-set.  A little is a good thing….a lot is not.

8.5 WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD MOST TOO IN YOUR NEXT CHAPTER?

Creating more, spending time in the garden, traveling.  We want to spend more time in Europe.  I’ve given up on my dream of owning a home in Europe (although I still read the Real Estate ads!) …mainly because we can’t decide what country we like best!

It’s been a toss up between Italy, Great Britain and France for so long that we’ve decided instead to spend some time in each of those countries and then come back to the States. Back and fourth. Three months here and three months there. We’ll see.

9.What was your favorite movie growing up?

Oh wow…this one is hard because second to losing myself in a book, watching movies was my favorite pastime when I was growing up. There’s too many I loved to pick just one but I CAN tell you what my least favorites were. I absolutely hated The Wizard of Oz (still do) and I was never a fan of Gone With The Wind (sacrilege, I know).

10.I noticed on IG you have a couple of TATTOO’s what made you do it and can you share their meaning with us?

My tattoos …. I’ve always wanted them but I could never think of something meaningful enough to put permanently on my body!  Unlike my daughter who has not given one single thought about what that gigantic Hello Kitty on her shin is going to look like when she’s 60.  And then my father died.  And I decided to do it to honor his memory and to celebrate my little family. I was 61 and I’ve never regretted it for one instant. I love them! The one on my wrist is my daughters horoscope sign, the one on my ankle is my life partners horoscope sign and the one on my arm is something my father used to say a lot

“ Questa bella vita” …… “This good life”.

11.Tell us about your ITALIAN CONNECTION…………

I am Italian on both sides…my fathers family is from Monteforte Irpino outside of Naples and my mothers family is from Molise and then everyone emigrated to New York at the turn of the 20th century.   Some years back I decided to apply for dual citizenship through my fathers family…to “close the circle” so to speak.  The process took almost 5 years from start to finish (thanks Italian bureaucracy! ) with some interesting experiences in Italy along the way but it eventually came through for us. It was the best feeling when that envelope from the Consulate arrived!

12.I think I have picked up on an Interest in GARDENING and ANTIQUE EARRINGS from your INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT and a LOVE FOR CATS!

Tell us if I got that RIGHT or NOT!

YES!  You absolutely did!  A favorite destination is England where we spend every day visiting the beautiful gardens there.  But wherever we are we search out gardens to visit.  Italy, France, Spain.  Here in California.  And yes, I have a life long love affair with antique jewelry…especially earrings.  I get great pleasure from the history and craftsmanship of these pieces.  I keep saying I have enough but really, there’s never enough if you have a passion for something.  And then there are our little fur-babies. Linus and Lucy…Tonkinese brother and sister…they are such a big part of the family!  They are completely spoiled and I can’t think of life without them!

WELL,I would IMAGINE MOST of YOU ADORED DONNA AS MUCH AS I DID especially when I met her in person!

She came in LUGGING a GARDEN BOOK of a GAZILLION PAGES and a HEART STONE STEPPING STONE MADE OUT OF…………SLATE that happens to MATCH our slate in the backyard!

ALL of our gravel and SLATE and a bit of DIRT came from HER COMPANY!

   AMERICAN SOIL in RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA

 TALK ABOUT A SMALL, SMALL WORLD……….I FOUND HER SOMEHOW ON INSTAGRAM AND WAS IMMEDIATELY DRAWN TO HER.

I SENT HER A PRIVATE MESSAGE called a DM(direct message)and asked if she lived in the Bay Area as I saw on her FEED (photos on INSTAGRAM equals FEED) trotting through FILOLI GARDENS in Woodside, California.

Her response was YES and I invited her to LUNCH…………..

The rest is HISTORY! We share a common FRIEND who was a GARDEN FLOOZY for me last year and of course MY ITALIAN knows of her COMPANY VERY WELL as he works in CONSTRUCTION!

NOW BELOW NO CONNECTION TO  DONNA or rather AGELESSATTITUDE

That is her CALL NAME on INSTAGRAM!

 ISN’T THAT A GREAT NAME?

SURE BEATS CONTESSA AND HER PIG!

ARE YOU A SHOE SIZE 12?

Send me an email with your name and address and I will FORWARD TO THE MOST GENEROUS GIFTER………

A READER OF MY BLOG has purchased some BIRDIES SHOES which Do NOT fit her.