Calm and Clarity.

Élite Portraiture

Photographer Cristina Tiurean took this photo of Matilde Bertoli for Élite Portraiture. [August 2018]

In Italian, "Coltiva tenerezza e dolcezza come fossero fiori rari
e un giorno per ringraziarti, ti restituiranno profumo." 

" Grow tenderness and sweetness as they were rare flowers
And one day to thank you, they will give you back perfume."  ~ Luisa Barbosa 

Fathom This.

[This] Black maxi dress with a form fit on her wonderful form, featuring a deep V neck line accentuates ample breasts. 3/4 off the shoulder and a ruffled bottom with a front slit is too sexy. Big boned Black women are often too much to take in, take on and too much to ignore for simple and complex reasons. It has to do with power, perception and history. Respect her, these elements, who she is and the history of who Africa's cultures are that reside here on Turtle Island within Black American women. Whether educated, or a ghetto chick Black women are reasons, parables, studies of contrasts, and contradictions, and rhyme in their complex ways of being women and ladies when they ascend to that level of being. 

Remember and respect this!

Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories
July 31, 2018

 .

Gallery: Women with Melanin

Sophia Loren's perfect legs in the Italian sunlight! 

Black woman in white dress flowing through a park in heels!

a Look, a Feel to Her...

Monica Bellucci composed somewhere in Ischia is gorgeous in this floral Dolce & Gabbana dress. At 50 years of age it is even more captivating the perspective she holds sway over how she looks to the eye! - Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 6/26/18 

A G I N G . . .

Old lady's contemplative beauty. Iris V. Arnim by David Goltz

You see, therein lies a contradiction to the statement, "for all beauties the time is not easy..." Time and beauty are of an exploratory nature. They require of those admiring beauty to alter their perceptions to see beauty evolve over time with the quickening of the soul towards physical death. It is a mystery, this dance, but it is the dance of living, and the cost of terrestrial life, to watch the evolving cycles.

Gina Lollobrigida engaging...

We all wonder about the life forces of others while we are alive, and because our life force vibrates we, sometimes, hope we will find and retrieve something that will prolong Life for us from another soul! It is a quick impulse not to be ashamed of, but to build upon; first, with speculation at a distance and then up close because the pulsation of Life within us has its own cadence within Life-Death-Resurrection!

It is wonderful the way these things circulate through our thoughts uncaring whether we resolve the riddle of existence or not. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 5/17/17

similiar BEAUTY 2



 Monica Bellucci, with classical features is somehow a dream.



exquisite beauty of a Bollywood actress.

 

About A Woman: Amnabella SCIORRA

Annabella Sciorra

American Actress

 

Annabella Gloria Philomena Sciorra is an American actress. Sciorra was born in Brooklyn, New York, to a housewife mother and a veterinarian father. Her parents are Italian American, and her father emigrated from Carunchio, Abruzzo in 1951. Sciorra studied dance as a child, and as she grew older, began taking drama lessons at Hagen-Berghoff Studio and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts



Annabella Sciorra began her formal acting training at 13 years old,
when she began attending the prestigious Hagen-Berghoff theatrical studios. Later as an actress in a movie with Wesley Snipes I fell entranced by her performance upon each sensitive part of my being. I guess I was enchanted, smitten by an intangible concept that her delicateness could merge into something with me that would strengthen itself the way Sweet grass is braided.

Go figure that one out and you will know something. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 1.23.16

 

In Dreams a Star

Annabella Sciorra attending the opening night of Giorgio Armani's exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum, New York City.
October 18, 2000

 

The Presence

viviana soldano

viviana soldano 
Sept. 22, 2013

Develop a memory and a respect for the mystery within. It is the universe. You are I AM presence in life, and with a unique story, as important as what we think, ascribe to, and perceive and say about stars above. Knowing this you can shift prophecies, thus altering creation. This aligns you with elemental and substantial powers previously discerned as blasphemous to discuss, seek and develop. It is better to know these things this side of the grave. Why wait to be told on the other side? Imagine the regret and disappointment in yourself realizing you laid yourself captive to the tenets of Belief that shunned and condemned freedom of spirit! 

- Dawn Wolf, Keeper of Stories 10.7.13

Giada De Laurentiis, last year

Chef Giada De Laurentiis backstage at The Heart Truth Red Dress Collection 2014 made possible by Macy's and Subway's restaurants February 6, 2014 in New York city at the Lincoln Center. 

Giada De Laurentiis

Giada De Laurentiis' portrait 

Food Tips by Chef Giada De Laurentiis

Holiday Entertaining Tips from Food Network Chef Giada De Laurentiis

DECEMBER 14, 2011 BY KELLY ·

Giada De Laurentiis making talking points. 

Are you entertaining this holiday season?  Here are some tips from Food Network Chef, Giada De Laurentiis.  Giada is one of the friendliest chefs that we love to watch.  She has been a favorite of mine for years and her consistent warmth, humor, and love of family is a true joy.

Tip #1  Plan Ahead.

Prepare as many dishes as you can ahead of time.  Rather than try to cook everything at once, prep your dishes and finish as much as possible the day before.  In Giada’s recipes she will often tell you what you can do before and then the steps to finish the dish just before you serve.  You don’t want to be stuck in the kitchen or stressing (I’m good at at!) during the party.  If you leave only one item for last minute prep and invite everyone into the kitchen, it sets the tone for a cozy, comfortable evening!

Tip #2  Choose foods that have vibrant colors for an added festive touch.

During the holidays, choose foods and combinations of foods that have vibrant colors.  It will make for a party atmosphere on a buffet or on your guest’s plates.  Foods that are beautiful taste better and will earn compliments to the chef!

The ready-to-serve Giada De Laurentis for Target Sun Dried Tomatoes are a great addition to vegetable dish to add festive color.

Tip #3 Select one specialty drink to serve to your guests.

Giada’s favorite?  Prosecco, an Italian champagne with a crisp, sparkling taste that is the perfect start or end to a holiday celebration.  Garnish with pomegranates to give the drink a festive color boost, or use holiday themed glasses.  Your party will be “bubbly” and a great success!

Tip #4 For unexpected guests, keep ready-to-serve delights in the pantry.

Giada De Laurentis for Target includes a line of delicious ready-to-serve choices.  I’ve tried the Black Olive Tapenade, the Sun Dried Tomatoes, Marinated Mushrooms and Eggplant Tomato Spread.  I loved them all!  I took the Eggplant Tomato Spread with baguette slices and pita chips to a party and it was a great hit.  Our local Target now has a large grocery line that carries everything you need for a complete meal.

Tip #5 Create less work and cleanup by using multipurpose kitchen tools.

Use dishes that can go directly from oven to the table.  It keeps the food hot, saves a step of transferring to another dish, and simplifies clean up!  Win-win-win!  The Giada de Laurentiis for Target Ceramic Bakeware is perfect to go from oven to table.  It also makes a great, personal gift when you make a treat in the bakeware and give it to someone, dish and all!  Who wouldn’t love to receive this Raspberry Almond Tart in the Giada De Laurentiis for Target Ceramic Pie Plate?

I used some of Giada’s recipes and items from her product line, Giada De Laurentiis for Target, to prepare an early Christmas celebration for my family.  If you’d like to read more about that special dinner, here are links to the posts, enjoy!

Christmas Dinner with Giada De Laurentiis for Target

• Tapenade Appetizer and Green Beans with Sun Dried Tomatoes
• Baked Mashed Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese and Bread Crumbs
• Raspberry Almond Tart in Ceramic Pie Pan and Spiced Coffee with Cinnamon Whipped Cream

Disclosure of Material Connection: All opinions are my own, unless otherwise stated.  I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Giada De Laurentis for Target and received product samples to facilitate my review.  This disclosure is in accordance with FTC guidelines.

Giada De Laurentiis - Official Site

www.giadadelaurentiis.com

a Black Experience: HAIR

about Black Perceptions of Self 

In all the thought, revulsion, and controversy about hair on a woman's body I found a picture of Sophia Loren, in all her splendor, and exquisiteness, posing luxuriously before the camera exuding something inexplicably irresistible. Once you get past the exaltation of your spirit looking at her beauty you might notice she is displaying a nice tuft of hair in her arm pit! 

As a boy and a teenage hair on women was all the rage (if I could quote the white boys). Black women's body hair hinted at something sensual, suggested something mysterious and lent to a woman's beauty what cosmetics could not create. A Black woman's body hair, the way she was conscious and unconscious of herself, and how she kept what was mysterious inaccessible aroused us as boys and later as men. For many of us, as I remember, seeing a good looking Black woman with fine hair on her legs was enough to send us running down the street yelling, "Oh, my God! She's fine! She's from God!!" 

Some women could pull off sporting thin black hairs along their lip line when it corresponded with smoldering eyes and a hot, dark look. In a bathing suit a woman's pubic hair peeping out was just enough of a suggestion, and it drove every cat I knew nuts! Now, I am talking about in the Black world, not the white world. We looked at the white world with suspicion and curiosity because their perception of the world was about controlling perceptions of others... - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.30.14


1934 : Naissance de Sophia Loren, actrice.

Sophia Loren, legendary actress & beauty of the world-at-large

A Reality STAR

I cannot and never have considered the showcasing of my immaturity as a means of making money. But, the business of making money and living extravagantly can and has narrowed down ethics and devalued the maturation process of some to make money in an industry hungry for the next money making scheme. Currently, the immature, but beautiful women steeped in trivia and gossip have associated themselves with wealth and directly misguided millions, so inclined, without the fundamental prerequisites for watching television: insight, keen knowledge, analytical minds, intellectual curiosity and emotional stability. Let me stop there. 

Reality television has also become a platform for the prepared mind to catapult their dreams, display business acumen, and present products into the national and international market place. That is no small feat, nor is it the thinking of a small minded person. How some reality stars know to do this and prepare for it impresses me, and baffles me, and clearly escapes the simple minded people who dote over the trite nature of many reality shows that reflect the way of their live's patterns. - Gregory E. Woods, Keeper of Stories 8.21.14 

Melissa Gorga in white dress

Melissa Gorga

reality star Melissa Gorga
of Real Housewives of New Jersey

Kris Jenner's compelling face

Giada De Laurentiis, at 43

Born August 22, 1970 in Rome, Lazio, Italy,

Italian born American chef, Giada De Laurentiis., is the current host

of Food Network's show, Giada at Home.

wikipedia.org

Gallery




Giada De Laurentiis

Giada De Laurentiis arrives at 5th annual Kidstock to benefit One Voice Scholar's program.
June 5, 2011 

3 Favorite Actresses

Jazsmin Smith, actress, 3 Can Play That Game

actress Jane Seymour sitting in a limo!!!!

Sophia Loren

In an interview with Bella Donna Sophia Loren was revealed that the secret to her eternal beauty are: "Posture, do not do all those noises that people usually do", "love of life and the spaghetti", and "baths with oil olive oil ".

In Portuguese:
Em uma entrevista com a bella donna Sophia Loren foi revelado que o segredo de sua eterna beleza são:  “Postura, não faço todos aqueles barulhos que as pessoas costumam fazer”, “amor à vida e ao espaguete”, além de “banhos com azeite de oliva”.

FOOD Chef

PICTURES OF GIADA DE LAURENTIIS 

Giada De Laurentiis playing on the beach. 

Giada De Laurentiis posing on the lawn at the Foundation Polo Challenge. 

Giada De Laurentiis attending the 7th Kidstock Music & Arts festival!

A Reality star: MELISSA GORGA

Melissa Gorga, reality star of Real Housewives of New Jersey

Her website

Melissa Gorga at OK! pre-Grammy event 2012
9 of 30

SOPHIA LOREN

Sophia Loren, belaza natural

Sophia Loren née le 20 Septembre 1934 à Rome, Italie.

Sophia Loren

 a story of Sophia

SPRING IS HERE!

viviana soldano

Viviana Soldano by Scott Schlisler for Iconic Beauty Images
September 20, 2013

Viviana Soldano by Giampiero Mellis, September 12, 2013,
 in beautiful Cagliari, Sardinia. More of my photos available at www.vivianasoldano.com 

From Earth to Sky

What a dare to dream and be and do!
Donna Un Po di Me

... in the darkness lovers lie and discover!

Le persone speciali sono le uniche capaci di vedere
in te quella parte che non mostri quasi a nessuno.

Donna Un Po di Me

In the open.

A DAY OF BIRTH: Sophia Loren

Sophia Loren

A STAR

Sophia Loren
Née le 20 septembre 1934 à Rome (Italie)

Biographie

Issue d'une union illégitime et abandonnée par son père, Sofia Scicolone (qui deviendra Sophia Loren en 1952) connaît une enfance et une jeunesse difficile dans une banlieue pauvre de Naples. Bien que d'une nature timide, sinon introvertie, Loren est fascinée par l'opulence des stars hollywoodiennes. Fortement encouragée par sa mère, elle part pour Rome à l'âge de ses 16 ans où elle se fait engager comme figurante dans le film Quo Vadis ?(1951) De Mervyn Leroy. Loren commence à se faire un nom en posant pour des romans-photos et en tournant dans des comédies populaires ( Si, Si, Era lui... !, Deux nuits avec Cléopâtre) où elle apparaît seins nus alors qu'elle n'a que 16 ou 17 ans.

Elle se fait remarquer par le producteur Carlo Ponti en (...)

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