Chilling in Style

Beauty Fashion & Survival

December and January had record low temperatures. During February cold fronts are expected to knock the temperatures down , but not to the extreme levels we saw in late December and the first half of January.

“Flaming June”

Beauty Fashion & Survival

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When I slipped into this beautiful silk dress by Stella Nolasco I felt like “Flaming June”. The beauty of the surroundings together with the very flow of the dress left me mesmerised.

I believe Raquel Pérez-Puig, a prominent Puerto Rican architectural photographer, surely captured the moment.

Flaming June is a painting by Sir Frederic Leighton, produced in 1895. Painted with oil paints on a 47-by-47-inch (1,200 mm × 1,200 mm) square canvas, it is widely considered to be Leighton’s magnum opus, showing his classicist nature. It is thought that the woman portrayed alludes to the figures of sleeping nymphs and naiads the Greeks often sculpted.

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The actresses Dorothy Dene and Marie Lloyd, who were depicted in paintings by various Pre-Raphaelite artists, have been variously credited with modelling for the work.

Flaming June disappeared from view in the early 1900s and was only rediscovered in the 1960s. It was auctioned shortly after, during a period of time known to be difficult for selling Victorian era paintings, where it failed to sell for its low reserve price of US$140 (the equivalent of $1,126 in modern prices). After the auction, it was promptly purchased by the Museo de Arte de Ponce in Ponce, Puerto Rico, where it currently resides.

Source: Wikipedia

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Vestido: Stella Nolasco; Makeup & Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Photographer: Raquel Pérez-Puig; Location: LL

New Year’s Eve Resort Style

Beauty Fashion & Survival

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This is the perfect dress to wear if you get invited to a destination wedding or a resort New Year’s Eve party. Lovely design by our magnificent Puerto Rican designer, Stella Nolasco, from her “Politano di Mare” fashion show.

Dress: Stella Nolasco; Make-up & Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Photos: Raquel Pérez-Puig; Location: LL

Tiempo de Compartir

Beauty Fashion & Survival

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No hay época más alegre que la Navidad y no hay mejor manera de disfrutarla que no sea compartiendo con familiares y amistades.

Es una época de celebraciones donde uno viste sus mejores galas para compartir y disfrutar de entretenidas charlas.

En esta ocasión quise invitar a dos queridas amigas, la diseñadora Gabriela Nevarez y a Tilky Morales, para juntas pasar un buen rato y disfrutar de un rico champagne, Moët & Chandon.

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Cuando invito familia y amistades, me gusta ser la mejor anfitriona haciendo que se sientan a gusto y relajados. Agazajo a mis invitados personalmente, de esta manera logro que se sientan como en su propia casa.

La mesa impecablemente decorada con cristales y espejos utilizando los colores rojos y verdes que destacan la tradición y alegría de la época pero con un toque de distinción.

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Brindar por la amistad, la salud, la prosperidad. Dar gracias a Dios por todo lo que tenemos y esperar que el año nuevo llegue lleno de bendiciones.

Me siento muy feliz y realizada cuando mis invitados la pasan bien y la conversación se hace íntima y amena. Todo el ambiente contribuye a ello.

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Una rica comida, un hermoso ambiente logró que tanto mis amigas como yo pasáramos una tarde agradable y agradecidas de poder disfrutarlo en salud y camaradería.

Disfruto mucho de la buena mesa y de un buen champagne.

Por eso elijo Moët & Chandon.

¡Salud!

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Muchas gracias a la tienda Palacios por su impecable decoración y ambientación.

Vestimenta de Gabriela, Tilky y esta servidora: Gabriela Nevárez

Mi arreglo personal: Claudia Soriano Salón & Spa

Fotos: Raquel Pérez-Puig

Mi champagne: Moët & Chandon

Spanish Airs

Beauty Fashion & Survival

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From Stella Nolasco’s Spring/Summer Fashion Show. I love this particular dress because it does have a Spanish air to it. Sophisticated yet totally “décontracté”.

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Dress: Stella Nolasco; Makeup & Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Photos: Raquel Pérez-Puig

Location: LL

Resort Christmas

Beauty Fashion & Survival

av_final_64t7356 This beautiful and colorful dress by Stella Nolasco will make you look amazing at any resort party or destination wedding.

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Dress: Stella Nolasco; Makeup and Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Photographer: Raquel Pérez- Puig; Location: LL

Blue as in Happy

Beauty Fashion & Survival

Dress: Stella Nolasco Spring/Summer Collection; Makeup & Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Photo: Raquel Pérez Puig; Location: LL

I love the color blue. It brings me peace so I wear it a lot. I think it blends perfectly with most skin colors. Blue as in sky, yes. But also our crystalline waters in the Caribbean are blue. It strikes me as funny when people say they feel “blue” when they’re feeling down. I’m blue when I feel relaxed, when I’m in love, when I’m in complete harmony with the universe. So blue it is for me. Blue as in peaceful. Blue as in calm. Blue as in happy.

I wish you blue.

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Blessed

Beauty Fashion & Survival

Dress: Stella Nolasco; Makeup & Hair: Alfredo Monterola; Raquel Pérez-Puig; Location: LL

A while ago I was interviewed by a very good friend and ex-co-worker and she asked me if life had been good to me. “Life is life”, I answered, “and I have decided to make it good.”

On a day like today, I want to give thanks for all my blessings. Last year, I was at my extended American family’s home celebrating Thanksgiving feeling quite miserable. It was my first Thanksgiving without my husband who had passed away only five months earlier after battling disease after disease for three consecutive years. Ten years ago today, we had gotten married and had promised each other to be together “Till death do us part.”

But life is so fascinating and oh so unexpected if you only stop to contemplate all that surrounds you. If you realize that we find ourselves in a temporary place and that we have the responsibility to make the best of it. This Thanksgiving I am happy because I decided to make life a happy place. I took charge of my life, as I always do.

At this very moment I am surrounded by family, health, was given the opportunity to combine all my skills to create a community of women who inspire me and I’ve looked up to them for advice. Women who also might feel lonely either because they are going through an empty nest syndrome, have lost a loved one, have been left by their significant other (and maybe it was his loss) and have welcomed me into their hearts and have made me part of their lives.

I am very blessed.

I know life is very unpredictable. I have been there. Tomorrow is tomorrow and I will deal with what comes my way then. I want you to do the same. But now, today, I give thanks to God and to the fact that I have been given this unique and magnificent opportunity to connect with so many people in such a positive manner.

May God bless you all and may you also be aware of all the beauty and blessings that surround you.

Open your eyes, open them wide and let that lovely light shine in.

This is our opportunity. We only have one life.

Let’s make it a memorable one.

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