Mountain or Lakeside? Finding the Right Vacation Home for Your Next Getaway

cabin-on-a-lake
Image Credit: Unsplash

When you close your eyes and dream of the perfect vacation, what pops into your head? Is it that amazing panoramic view from a mountain peak, with nothing but trees and sky stretching for miles? Or maybe it’s the gentle sound of water lapping against a dock as the sun dips below a calm lake? This classic vacation dilemma is honestly a pretty great problem to have. Both give you a chance to ditch the daily grind and get back to nature, but they offer totally different vibes. Continue reading Mountain or Lakeside? Finding the Right Vacation Home for Your Next Getaway

The Mythology and Meaning Behind Opalite Jewelry and Why People Love It

bracelet and leaf
Photo by Galiya Tenisheva on Pexels.com

What makes a piece of jewelry feel almost otherworldly even when the wearer knows exactly what it is made of? With opalite, the answer lives largely in the light itself. Its milky surface can shift from cool blue to soft white to warm amber depending on what surrounds it, creating a visual effect that feels far more mysterious than an ordinary piece of colored glass.

That changing glow is a big part of why opalite has developed a symbolic identity of its own. Its appearance naturally evokes ideas of moonlight, calm, transformation, and intuition, giving the jewelry an emotional quality that goes beyond its visual appeal.

Opalite Is Not the Same Thing as Natural Opal

The name creates understandable confusion, and it’s worth clearing up directly. In modern jewelry, opalite almost always refers to manufactured opalescent glass rather than a naturally formed gemstone, even though the term has historically also been applied to genuine common opal in some markets.
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Yes, It Exists: Banana Hands By Piecework Puzzles

banana hands puzzle photo by gail worley
Photos By Gail

There are some things in life that make perfect sense, and then there is Banana Hands. This 500-piece jigsaw puzzle from Piecework Puzzles features a wonderfully surreal photograph of what appears to be a person sitting at a table reading a book, surrounded by bananas and fruit. But in place of a head, they have a giant heart-shaped leaf (presumably a banana leaf). And their hands? Well, they’re bananas. Obviously. Continue reading Yes, It Exists: Banana Hands By Piecework Puzzles

Smart Tech Upgrades to Streamline Your Small Business Operations

corridor with decorated wall near conference room
Photo by Max Vakhtbovych on Pexels.com

In today’s highly competitive commercial landscape, efficiency is just as critical as a great product or service offering. Launching a new enterprise requires incredible dedication, industry knowledge, and a comprehensive business plan. While founders must first master the foundational steps of what it takes to run a successful business, such as securing initial financing and conducting thorough market research, sustaining that momentum requires a completely different strategy. The key to scaling a company without burning out your core team is upgrading your daily operational technology. As a company expands its client base and hires more staff, relying on basic manual processes quickly becomes a major operational bottleneck that drains both time and valuable financial resources.
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Modern Art Monday: Getting Close to Close by Elmgreen & Dragset

elmgreen and dragset close sculpture 2 by gail worley
Photos By Gail

While wandering through the Chelsea Gallery district recently, I stopped by Pace Gallery on West 25th Street and headed up to the outdoor terrace. There, overlooking the eastern skyline with the Hudson River just beyond, I encountered a remarkable  sculpture of two young men standing together in a close embrace, while  each man wears a  virtual reality headst. Call this a  different kind of public art!

Entitled Close, this 2025 sculpture is by the Scandinavian artist duo Elmgreen & Dragset, and it is carved entirely from white marble. At more than five feet tall, the figures are life-size enough to feel like actual people sharing an intimate moment, which makes the VR headsets all the more intriguing.

Continue reading Modern Art Monday: Getting Close to Close by Elmgreen & Dragset

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