Gail Ingis's Blog, page 5

HOOT N’ HOLLER

A surprise awaits you at the end of the blog.

Square dancing . . . do you know how to square dance? The name comes from what my son says is four couples arranged in a square.

I learned how to do this kind of dancing when in high school. It has become familiar to me again because my son, CPA, public accountant, Paul Ingis, for his beloved hobby, is a square dance caller. His son Stephen, now twenty-one, began with his father when he was only eleven, and now

Groups

Stephen is a caller, much in demand. He has earned a tidy sum for college. Stephen and I discussed all this recently. I got curious as to the origin of square dancing and to ballroom dancing as we know it today where partners hold each other in dance. What’s the history? Here’s what I discovered . . .

waltz

The waltz, with its modern hold, began in England circa 1812. The dance was met with opposition because . . . you guessed it . . . the impropriety associated with the closed hold. But guess what, all dancing has a closed hold of some sorts. Even in square dancing, when partners swing each other. The swing is a traditional square dance move (call).

Now, wait a minute, while reviewing the history of dance, I realized that I cannot stretch this into ballroom dancing history. It would take a couple of blogs. So, I will stick to square dancing and maybe follow up with the ballroom dance another time.

Square dance group

Paul said that the square dancing that he knows is modern or western square dancing. It began in New England with the first settlers, who brought their own folk dancing with them from their homeland. The variety led to men interested in boiling down the steps, who would develop dances and routines of their own, including dances for groups, specifically for four couples. So there we have it, square dancing and its director (or caller) developed.

This type of new dancing served as recreation and social contact with neighbors. The only requirements were a wooden floor, music and a caller, and anyone who could make the calls to keep it organized. It could take place in a barn, somebody’s living room, the town hall, and later, the grange hall. There was always someone on hand who could play the guitar, fiddle or an accordion.

However, as the population became more urban it also became more cosmopolitan. Booming trade brought to our shores new fashions, new music, and new dances from other continents. The new dances became fashionable, and square dancing was displaced in our mushrooming cities. It survived only in isolated areas in the individual style peculiar to that region. In time, differences among these regional dances became so pronounced that a square dancer from one area often would not be able to dance in another. Square dancing seemed slated for oblivion.

But—it was revived by Henry Ford in the early 1930s as part of his early New England Restoration project. Others got interested and modernized it with more modern music, rather than the hillbilly band with its whiny fiddle. As square dancing moved into urban centers, articulate and professional callers were the norm. Nametags, worn by all dancers, put everyone on a first-name basis creating instant informality and fellowship. Square dancing had regained its old appeal in a modern setting and it spread over the nation. Today, this wholesome recreation is enjoyed by millions of Americans and others around the world. Wherever Americans have gone, England, Germany, Australia, Japan, etc., they have introduced square dancing with enthusiastic participation and applause.

Modern western-style square dancing is vibrant and growing. New ideas and dynamic choreography are introduced each year, insuring that square dancing will continue to be exciting. The music is fabulous. Always upbeat, new, tap your foot music. It’s for everyone, all ages, even the handicapped. Imagine? It’s fun to learn and move on to advanced groups. In the beginning, you learn a number of basic moves (calls) in various combinations. Knowledge and practice of the basic movements are learned in a series of weekly sessions. There are ‘barn dances’ for the newbies, mainstream and higher levels when you are ready. The challenges are creative and fulfilling when it all goes smooth.

Paul and family attend square dances all over the country whenever possible. They enjoy people, dancing, and camaraderie. He keeps up with the square dance community, to stay in tune. Paul uses his own music when he teaches and calls. He uses a wide variety of music beyond the expected country style, including rock and roll, show tunes, easy listening, jazz, and even classical, and his dancers love it!

The average dancer remains in the “Mainstream” and “Plus” levels of square dancing for four to five years. In order to extend this period of activity, “Advanced” and “Challenge” levels of square dancing have been developed. These additional levels of square dancing have maintained the interest of many dancers and have extended their dancing years.

 

Information from http://www.dosado.com and the archives of the Mid-Atlantic Challenge Association (MACA).

Remember that my latest book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin is up for preorder on Amazon and other retailers. For every preorder, an educational donation will be made to the National Landmark, Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, Norwalk, CT. 

Here’s Pre-Order link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRVK3KJ

Help support Lockwood and the programs.

Excerpt:

He returned the timepiece to the vest pocket of his tailored, gray-striped day coat and fiddled with the knot of his ascot making sure it was straight. The driver pulled the carriage up to the Sentinel building, the horses stomping on the stones and whinnying their arrival.

Miss Baldwin waved to him from the top of the stairs, tossing her red locks over her shoulder. Her lips lifted at the corners, his breath caught. The air around her seemed to glow.

Peter opened the carriage door and stepped down, “Good morning, Miss Baldwin,” he said climbing the stairs. His gaze traveled from the hem of her skirt to the short-buttoned jacket accentuating her tiny waist, her hat’s green feather and back to the diamond dog brooch on her lapel. She had a morning paper in hand and a smile on her face.

“What’s this, Miss Baldwin?”

“Latest news, my article made the early edition.”

The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin: The Gilded Age Heiresses

Good book reads . . .

My New Book: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin – Allie Baldwin lives with her family across the street from New York’s Central Park. She is a suffragette!







16th May 1911: British suffragette Charlotte Despard (1844 – 1939) (wearing a white waistcoat) heads a march of the National Federation of Women Workers through Bermondsey in South London. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

It’s hard to think that your summer days are coming to a close. Don’t put away those bathing suits, sandals and shorts yet. I’m not talking about heatwaves. But have you noticed that school supplies are on the shelves in the stores? Yet still to come are those sweltering temperatures threatening to melt the hardiest, and let’s not forget Indian Summer in October. But before the rush of real-life overshadows those fun lazy days there’s still time to read a good book. Contemporary author Kristan Higgins new book, Life and Other Inconveniences, has just hit the shelves. It’s a must-read, in fact, any of Higgins’ books are must-reads.

My new book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin, will be on the shelves after Labor Day when your children are busy back in school and life becomes ordered with thoughts of upcoming holidays. But there still is time in-between to sit back and enjoy a good book brimming with ideas for a brighter future. My young suffragette fights for the vote putting herself in harm’s way until a handsome detective is hired as her guard in this historical romance.

You can pre-order, “The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin,” now using the links below and begin reading on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, and then please post a review on Amazon.

After the links provided here for your convenience, there’s an excerpt for you to get a flavor of my brave suffragette and her dreamy detective.

For your convenience. Pre-Order on Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRVK3KJ  (USA)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07VRVK3KJ (UK)

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07VRVK3KJ (CANADA)

https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07VRVK3KJ (AUSTRALIA)

https://www.amazon.de/dp/B07VRVK3KJ (GERMANY)

https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B07VRVK3KJ (NETHERLANDS)

In this excerpt, Allie Baldwin, writer, keeps her appointment to interview Detective Peter Harrison . . .

The mud-spattered conveyance rose and fell in rhythm with the horse’s hooves clip-clopping over the cobblestones. The jostling never bothered Peter. Today, he was eager to pick up Miss Baldwin for their upcoming meeting and to grab a morning paper. After a rainy night, the sun squeezed through the gray clouds. Long shadows blanketed the Fifth Avenue mansions, the places, and palaces of the people he had dined with and protected. Peter flicked open his pocket watch. It was ten minutes before eight, his thumb smoothed over the familiar engraving, Acta Non-Verba. It was a gift from father to son five years ago to celebrate him becoming the president of Harrison Detective Agency.

Passing the torch from father to son was the transition that signified his father’s shift. He became a better husband to his second wife and a better father to Peter’s younger half-sisters.

He returned the timepiece to the vest pocket of his tailored, gray-striped day coat and fiddled with the knot of his ascot making sure it was straight. The driver pulled the carriage up to the Sentinel building, the horses stomping on the stones and whinnying their arrival.

Miss Baldwin waved to him from the top of the stairs, tossing her red locks over her shoulder. Her lips lifted at the corners, his breath caught. The air around her seemed to glow.

Peter opened the carriage door and stepped down, “Good morning, Miss Baldwin,” he said climbing the stairs. His gaze traveled from the hem of her skirt to the short-buttoned jacket accentuating her tiny waist, her hat’s green feather and back to the diamond dog brooch on her lapel. She had a morning paper in hand and a smile on her face.
“What’s this, Miss Baldwin?”
“Latest news, my article made the early edition.”
“Did it now? Congratulations! Mind if I have a look when we get into the carriage?”
“Mind? Not at all, it’s earmarked for you,” Allie said.
“When I stepped out of the coach, I couldn’t help noticing the unusual dog brooch on your lapel.”
“Thank you. It belonged to my grandmother,” she said as she looped her arm into his and they descended.
His face heated at her touch.
“It was made in Russia. There’s an inscription on the back.”
“What does it say?” He couldn’t help but smile at Allie’s mischievous gleam in her eyes.
“You won’t believe me.”
“Try me.”
Translated it says, “Act & Say Naught.”
He chuckled, “You’re right. I don’t believe you.”
“It’s a funny coincidence, isn’t it? In the old days’ folks all thought alike,” she giggled.
“Wait a minute. My father’s still young,” Peter said.
They grinned at each other like they had just played a piano duet and the listeners gave them a standing ovation.
“The story goes, my grandmother was courted by a young prince before she was married. The brooch was a gift from the prince.”

“What happened to the prince?”

“His parents forbid him to marry my grandmother because she was a commoner. I completely disagree with that as my grandmother is a most uncommon woman.”
“Uncommonness runs in the family,” Peter said.
She blushed as he handed her into the carriage.
To be continued . . .

A review can be posted on Amazon on Tuesday, September 10, 2019, and afterward going forward. Pre-Order now for your convenience.

And remember, for every pre-order purchased an educational donation will be made to the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, Connecticut, a historic National Landmark built just after the Civil war and several years before Allie Baldwin and Peter Harrison were born. You can help to preserve history! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VRVK3KJ  (USA)

For more links, please scroll up . . . 

Pre-Order “The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin: the Gilded Age Heiresses”

Educational donation to Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum for each book pre-ordered. Pre-Order the book on

Book Cover

Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=unforgettable+miss+baldwin+by+gail+ingis&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

What’s that mean? Per-order dessert, that what I like to do, eat dessert first. Raise your hand if you agree. Then you won’t eat as much. I’m not really talking about dessert here, I’m talking about my latest book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin: the Gilded Age Heiresses.

If you pre-order the book, I will make an education donation to Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum in Norwalk, CT. The donation will help to support the wonderful winning educational and cultural programs that the museum offers. The programs are for everyone. This mansion was the first of its kind in the country, twenty years before the cottages of Newport, RI. Visitors come from all over the world. The Titanic exhibitions attracted folks from England, France and other countries. At the moment, we are celebrating the Nineteenth Amendment, for the woman’s vote. Did you know that women had been fighting for the right to vote from 1840, maybe even longer?

Allie at the window

Imagine having tea on a Sunday with lady friends, all wearing their fascinators and day-dresses. The museum replicates a day in the life of the society ladies. And then everyone gets to dress in their finest and have a tour of this gorgeous sixty-two-room mansion built in 1863.

Fascinator hat

The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin shouts about woman suffrage and slavery of women. Yes, all those years ago women were enslaved in marriage, raising children, and wifely duties. Any wealth that she brought to the marriage belonged to her husband. If she wanted a divorce, she was forced to make an announcement in the newspapers. Not the man, only the woman. Imagine?

 

~ NEW EXHIBIT ~ “From Corsets to Suffrage: Victorian Women Trailblazers”

Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will celebrate the centennial of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution with the exhibition, “From Corsets to Suffrage: Victorian Women Trailblazers”, May 16-Nov. 3, 2019, 12-4 p.m. Opening Reception on May 16, 5:30-7:30 p.m., $5 for members; $10 for non-members.

ABOUT THE MUSEUM
A National Registered Historic Landmark in Norwalk CT
A National Historic Landmark since 1971, the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum is regarded as one of the earliest and most significant Second Empire Style country houses in the United States.

https://www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/

 

https://www.lockwoodmathewsmansion.com/exhibit/from-corsets-to-suffrage-victorian-women-trailblazers/

 

 

 

 

 

About The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin

Opposites attract in this historical romance when a young suffragette foregoes the obedience of marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from harm.

It’s not that she doesn’t want to marry…

Allie Baldwin is a gilded age heiress—also a journalist at The New York Sentinel. She’s tired of writing about the latest fashions for the society column and wants to write something more meaningful. Attending a rally at City Hall, planning to interview some of the speakers at the event, a situation ensues with Allie barely escaping. Enough is enough — to protect Allie from making poor decisions while fighting for freedom, her parents force a security agent upon her. Not just any agent, but a dangerous and delectable man…one that taunts her decision never to marry.

He’s not ready for marriage…

The dashing debonair Peter Harrison runs Harrison’s Detective Agency, handed down to him by his father. Much to his chagrin, he finds himself following in his father’s footsteps confirming why he’ll never marry until he’s older — because he’ll never do to his family what his father did to him. But when a gorgeous red-haired vixen runs right into him at an event his agency is working, he can’t help but enjoy the possibilities until she runs away leaving him without a trace. When the publisher of the city’s top newspaper hires him to protect his daughters on a short trip, he never imagined one of the ladies would be just who he was looking for.

But as luck would have it, his job is to keep order–she wants the right to vote… but maybe they can meet halfway—without losing their hearts.

“Educational donation to Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum for each book pre-ordered.”

Pre-Order the book on Amazon

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=unforgettable+miss+baldwin+by+gail+ingis&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss

Book Cover

My Boys and their Toys (and their hobby square dance calling)

Paul’s Audi S5 hot rod

This is us Stephen, Paul, Gail, TomI love cars! A convertible has always been on my bucket list. If you know anything about cars, this one is a dream, an Audi S5, super-duper hot rod, shiny blue and it drives itself. Just what any car affection ado would want. Oh boy, I guess I could lease my own sweet dream, but who needs three cars? I settled for the next best thing, a ride in my son Paul’s with the top down. I had to fasten down my long blond hair, lacking a hat, Paul handed me a visor. Tom climbed in the back sitting sideways to stretch out and make room for his long legs. Both son and husband gave me the seat of honor, the front passenger bucket seat.

Paul the driver

On my ride!

Stephen, grandson, Paul, son, Tom, hubby, Gail (me) in the dance hall

Paul, wanting to show me how his new buggy handles and what it can do, I held on when he put his foot down on the accelerator and the speedometer showed that the car went from zero to sixty in 3 ½ seconds. I imagined that taking off in a rocket would give the same thrust. I held onto my visor and my nose hoping it wouldn’t flatten with that sudden speed. I loved the rush. I guess I’m just a kid, nothing I do is like that, not even my ballroom dancing.

Our ride was to where Paul, my son, and Stephen, my grandson, are callers for square dancers. I made a video, but will ask grandson to help load. In the meantime, my new book is almost ready to hand out to you! If you haven’t signed up to get The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin and write a review on Amazon on 9/10, you can subscribe at http://gailingis.com ASAP, so when I send out the Free Advanced Reader’s Copy, You’ll get yours!

setting up music

Squares lining up, eight to a square that’s four couples.

square dancers

My New Book: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin-launch date is Tuesday, September 10th

Check out my trailer: http://amzn.to/1K4GVQA

Books: print, ebook, audio

 

 

 

Metadata for Miss Baldwin and Ms. Ingis

*Gilded Age Heiresses: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin (She lives across from Central Park, spends lots of time there and that’s where she and Captyn are in the photo.)

Opposites attract in this historical romance when a young suffragette foregoes the obedience of marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from harm.

Gilded Age Heiresses: Unforgettable Miss Baldwin

“The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin is an intelligent, fast-paced romance, brimming with sensuality and spiced with mystery.” – Sue Grimshaw, Edits by Sue

It’s not that she doesn’t want to marry…

Allie Baldwin is a gilded age heiress—also a journalist at the New York Sentinel. She’s tired of writing about the latest fashions for the society column and wants to write something more meaningful. Attending a rally at City Hall, planning to interview some of the speakers at the event, a situation ensues with Allie barely escaping. Enough is enough — to protect Allie from making rash decisions while fighting for freedom, her parents force a security agent upon her; not just any agent, but a dangerous and delectable man…one that taunts her decision never to marry.

He’s not ready for marriage…

Peter Harrison, the dashing debonair, runs Harrison’s Detective Agency handed down to him by his father. Much to his chagrin, he finds himself following in his father’s footsteps confirming why he’ll never marry until he’s older — because he’ll never do to his family what his father did to him. But when a gorgeous red-haired vixen runs right into him at an event his agency is working, he can’t help but enjoy the possibilities until she runs away leaving him without a trace. When the publisher of the city’s top newspaper hires him to protect his daughters on a short trip, he never imagined one of the ladies would be just who he was looking for.

But as luck would have it, his job is to keep order–she wants the right to vote… but maybe they can meet halfway—without losing their hearts.

A young woman writer’s confidence is shaken by death threats in this stunning first book of a series from historical romance author, Gail Ingis. Marian Lanouette, author of the Jake Carrington thriller series, hails Ingis’s work, “Solid page-turner, exquisite details painted in every scene.”

**Don’t miss this standalone, Gail’s first book, published in 2015 with Soul Mate Publishing: In author Gail Ingis’s dazzling historical romance debut, Indigo Sky , a young heiress must stay in her abusive marriage… until a handsome artist attempts to shelter her from a life of misery…

About the Author

Gail Ingis is the author of historical romance. As a historian, Ingis vividly describes the historic scenes within the period of her writing.

Her goals in life are simple—to remember to indulge her twelve grandchildren, and their parents, her impossibly amazing and terrific hubby and partner, and to keep writing books for as long as she possibly can, and spend lots of time in Coney Island, on the tennis courts and ballroom dancing. Please visit her online at gailingis.com.

Gail Ingis never thought about writing a book. She’s an artist. It wasn’t until 2009, inspired by Albert Bierstadt’s painting, Domes of Yosemite that once hung in Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. She wrote Indigo Sky loosely based on the artist’s life. After studying fiction, her romance book was published by Soul Mate Publishing in 2015. Story done, so was she, until the bug bit her again and now she’s about to self publish her new book, Gilded Age Heiresses: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin. Launch date is Tuesday, September 10, 2019. She writes historical romance, loves history, and gets caught up in the past. “It’s fun and fascinating.”

A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ingis graduated NYSID with a BFA in Interior Architecture and Design and her master’s studies in Architecture and Design Criticism at Parsons New School. She worked in the field and founded a school of Interior Design in 1981, collected national accreditation, then sold the school ten years later. She resides in Connecticut with her retired scientist husband. Currently, she sits on Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Board of Trustees and serves as the curator of art exhibitions.

Before her debut as an author, she illustrated a book for Deborah Galiley, “Seeking Paradise” on Amazon. As a professional artist, her paintings are extensions of her design illustration work. Gail spent her youth dallying in Coney Island that inspired her paintings of the island. She is a professional member of American Society of Interior Designers (ASID, and member of the Connecticut Chapter of Romance Writers of America. (RWA)

**Gail Ingis’s new book first of a series, Gilded Age Heiresses: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin will launch Tuesday, September 10, 2019.

Opposites attract in this historical romance when a young suffragette foregoes the obedience of marriage until a handsome detective is hired to protect her from harm.

The importance of REVIEWS: Did you know that the most critical in publishing any book is to get reviews that you post on the day my book will launch, Tuesday, September 10th. Amazon is the most popular 70% of all ebooks is sold on Amazon, so that’s a good choice for posting. That’s how people find you. An author must have a minimum of fifty, one-hundred is even better. So, I’m asking for volunteers for honest reviews and in turn I will give you a FREE copy of my new book, Unforgettable Miss Baldwin when all editing is done. Probably by the end of July. It’s critical, as well, to post your review the day of the launch! Again, Tuesday, September 10th.

I included the back cover copy at the opening of the blog.* Scroll back up and look for the asterisk.*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Second round of edits!

Gilded Age Heiresses: The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin. My book is in its second round of edits. This blog is to let you know how close I am to production. It looks like a September launch is a possibility. In the meantime, my book cover is here for your perusal and votes, if you please: 1-5 star with 5 being the highest, plug your number into your comment.

Unforgettable Miss Baldwin book cover

For the book cover please vote in your comments or my email by writing in the number 1-5 star, with 5 being the highest.

My heroine changed the course of history for women’s rights.

An excerpt for your reading pleasure.

She straightened up, immediately improved. “Ah, ha!” She thrust her finger in the air. “We have a victory papa, not everyone is of the same mind. I do appreciate your freedom and you know I am careful and stay out of harm’s way…”

“Hardly, my dear. Some support does not mean you can keep writing about controversial subjects. Eventually, our readers will stop buying the Sentinel and pick up the City Sun Times. I have to consider all the responses. Those complaint letters are warning signs, precursors to future problems in the political climate, and queries as to where the women’s vote is going.”



“Women’s vote is the future,” Allie said. Grasping on the last hope her father will come to reason.

“What do you mean, future? There’s no place for women in politics. They’ll never be allowed to vote,” her father said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Today’s rally is not fresh news. The fight for the vote is half a century old, and nothing has changed. Neither has the fight for women’s rights.”

“Women keep seeking what is rightfully theirs in spite of the failures—don’t you find that worthwhile?”

***

The controversy began in 1840. By the time Allie Baldwin got involved with suffrage in 1886 the battle was ongoing and had not gotten far. Men were still balking and complaining about women not being smart enough to understand politics, and besides, they were bred to be home, the men said. It all seemed hopeless, but Allie saved the day with her tenacity, hard work, and writings that spread the word.

“Stay home where you belong, cook, and raise the kids.” The naysayers said.

Familiar names, Susan B Anthony and Elizabeth Stanton Harding, only two women out of hundreds that fought to win what they believed were rightfully theirs—the right to vote. And that was only the beginning, women had no rights, could not go out unaccompanied, would never be offered a job that would otherwise go to a man, it’s a long list. Forget it if she wanted a divorce, she had to put an announcement in the newspaper and he had all her money (dowry).

INDIGO SKY

And in the meanwhile, you can check out the Rork and Leila chase across the plains of 19th century America in the middle of the Civil War, slavery and the challenges.

A heartbroken man grieves over his lost love . . . until she reappears

Check out my trailer on my Amazon Page http://amzn.to/1K4GVQA

The Headscarf

I wish she would turn around with the wrap around head scarf



Gail Ingis is wearing flat head scarf saving her hair from the damp weather

Headscarves are fashionable. Especially on a bad hair day. I’ve been practicing wearing them. With my long hair, a bad hair day can crop up anytime, like in damp weather. Whenever I saw anyone wearing a scarf on her head it reminded me of the old kerchief that I wore when I was a kid to keep warm. The kerchief is also known as a babushka. My grandma wore a babushka and that’s because she didn’t know how to tie a scarf into something more. There were no ski hats, she had to wear it to keep warm. I remember the mountain ladies in Portugal. They all were wearing babushkas. It’s cold and damp where they live. Besides, the women were hardworking and didn’t have time to fiddle with the making of fancy headgear.

Gail Ingis is wearing bow type head scarf

It takes some ingenuity to fancy up the scarves for your head. You can wear it flat, or with a big bow, or even like a turban if your scarf is long enough. I began learning how to create a stylish headscarf on a cruise ship a couple of years ago, but the one with a bow is a recent concoction. Besides hair scarves being fashionable they are conversation getters, you know, people want to know why you’re wearing the thing on your head, and you can easily meet new friends while satisfying their curiosity.

Sophisticated women don’t wear babushkas. In fact, they usually wear hats, like the heroine, Allie Baldwin, suffragette, in my historic romance book, The Unforgettable Miss Baldwin–Gilded Age Heiress—she wore jaunty hats like the British Fascinators or wide-brimmed hats to keep the sun off her face. She walked her Great Dane in Central Park, and loved spending time outdoors, the big hats were utilitarian. In writing this maybe I need to tell her about the headscarf. It would be a great way to tame her wild red locks..

Doing a little research, this is what I found:

“Since ancient times, across so many cultures and for myriad reasons, women have covered their hair — an act tied up in competing notions of freedom and oppression.”  By Liana Aghajanian  Dec 20, 2016,

Tennis for everyone

Teaching kids with learning disabilities. Roll the ball into the center. All did it!

In 2017, the USTA (United State Tennis Association) invited the USPTA (United States Professional Tennis Association), a tennis teaching organization in Houston, to join them in being part of the new National Tennis Center at Lake Nona, Orlando, FL.

USPTA front office



USTA Welcome Center

In developing their vision for the USTA National Campus, the USTA understood how important it was to the sport’s future for them to be successful in engaging kids. For tennis to attract and retain today’s youth and millennials, they needed to increase and improve their provider network to deliver the sport in modern and relevant ways. As a result, the USTA National Campus is being operated with the aim of developing the next generation of tennis providers, a group that includes coaches, tournament directors, officials, front desk and retail managers, and stringers. To help make this happen, the campus is serving as an epicenter for experimential learning by offering internships and apprenticeships. They also share educational content of all types with tennis providers.

The USTA National Campus is an inclusive facility and is making sure they are making tennis accessible to all. The campus is open to the public seven days a week, and courts can be reserved online up to 48 hours in advance. The courts and tennis programs are low cost, with some being made available for free.

The facility has courts of almost every description–three kinds of hard courts and two kinds of clay courts. The Adidas Performance Center features six indoor courts while the Nemours Family Zone has 36-foot and 60-foot courts for youths and adults to learn to play the game.

Whether people who visit the facility are competing in a tournament, looking to develop their backhand, seeking to improve their coaching, or simply sharing the joy of hitting tennis balls with family or friends, all who come are finding it to be a mecca for tennis and a melting pot for the sport. Tennis programs are also being offered for disabled veterans and wounded service members in collaboration with the Orlando Veteran Affairs Medical Center as well as for wheelchair tennis.

Tennis is the most amazing sport. If you love team sports, tennis is for you; if you love individual sports, tennis is for you. You can play socially or competitively. The USTA has specialists who know how to teach, how to get anyone to play. Everyone can learn to throw and catch a ball. That’s how we begin when teaching tennis, learn how to run, how to turn, how to change direction quickly, how to reach, how to look and see. Tennis can strengthen your body, keep you in good health and help your posture.

Although I’m a retired USPTA member, Tom and I hit when we can. Nothing replaces that glorious feeling of being on the tennis court and hitting that ball. Some folks work out in the gym to tone the body. Some become runners to tone agility and speed.

Look at that form, Tom serving



Keep your eye on the ball

Doubles competition at USTA National Campus



USTA National Campus partial view

http://amzn.to/2j0LXLE

Purchase Indigo Sky on Amazon click the link beneath the graphic.

Are your beauty products laden with harsh chemicals?

Triclosan

This blog is the third in a series about skin care products. I believe that beautycounter (one word,) a young progressive company, has made a difference in waking up an unregulated industry. I am pleased to represent beautycounter. My most important job is to share with my friends, family, colleagues and everyone I meet about using skin products that are not laden with harsh chemicals. Naturally, beautycounter manufactures products with no harsh chemical. For your perusal, the NEVER LIST.

Those with chemicals such as parabens (a preservative widely used in cosmetic products), benzophenones (used as UV filters) and bisphenol A in their urine were found to have abnormal amounts of the reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone.

The mixture of chemicals found in beauty products could harm women’s fertility or even cause breast cancer, a new study has found.

Researchers at George Mason University, in Virginia, discovered links between chemicals widely used in cosmetic and personal care products, and changes in reproductive hormones.

Excessive estrogen has been linked to fibroids and irregular menstrual periods, while too little prevents eggs maturing and being released from the ovary.

Too much progesterone is associated with both
breast cancer
and unusual vaginal bleeding, while it is thought bisphenol A (BPA), known
as the ‘gender-bending’ chemical for its effects on male breast
growth, could cause fertility problems.

Dr Anna Pollack, assistant professor of
global and community health at George Mason University, said: “This study is
the first to examine mixtures of chemicals that are widely used in personal
care products in relation to hormones in healthy, reproductive-age women, using
multiple measures of exposure across the menstrual cycle, which improved upon
research that relied on one or two measures of chemicals.

“What we should take away from this study is
that we may need to be careful about the chemicals in the beauty and personal
care products we use.

“We have early indicators that chemicals such as parabens may increase estrogen levels. “If this finding is confirmed by additional
research, it could have implications for oestrogen dependent diseases such as
breast cancer.”

A chemical mixture approach, was recently published in the science journal Environment

Readers Digest: Matthew Cohen/Rd.com

Sure, synthetic fragrances might make your
products smell undeniably delicious, but they’re one of the top contenders to
cause an allergic
reaction to your skin. “Fragrances are usually made up of other harmful
chemicals, like parabens, benzene derivatives, aldehydes, and more that are
linked to cancer and nervous system issues,” explains Dr. Engelman. “Short
term, they can cause irritation and redness on the applied area.” She
recommends looking for these terms to clue you in that a product contains a
fragrance: parfum, perfume, linalool, limonene, eugenol, citronellol, geraniol
or cinnamal. Fragrance-free products are mostly labeled as so. “Eight
Hour® Cream Skin Protectant Fragrance Free is a great way to boost moisture
and strengthen the skin barrier without putting yourself at risk,” says
Engelman.

https://www.rd.com/health/beauty/toxic-ingredients-beauty-products/

Beautycounter mission: Clean skin care for everyone

Beautycounter story

Gregg Renfrew, Beautycounter Founder

Like many of you, I’m a wife and mom—and, like many of you, I didn’t know what I didn’t know. As I applied sunscreen, lotion, and any number of beauty products on myself and my kids, I never thought for a second they might not be safe: After all, I thought, we live in a country that regulates everything. So imagine my shock when I learned that when it comes to the personal care industry, that’s simply not the case. Companies are allowed to use harmful ingredients and make their own judgments about safety.

And so I started Beautycounter, a company devoted to progress. Here you’ll find a wealth of empowering information about ways we can all make the world healthier, along with safer products you can trust. Because we all deserve better. Our vision is bold; real answers are never timid. Help us put truth back in beauty.

My take

Beautycounter, a young innovative, think out of the box company, is always adding new products for the health of us all. I believe in their philosophy, safer formulas for Every Body Head-To-Toe Essentials. Your Essentials w/o Harsh Chemicals-Explore Safer, Effective Makeup. Your family deserves the best.

The latest from the Beautycounter company is their Counterman line. My hubby, Tom Claus, uses my products, night and day creams, intense rejuvenating creams, and more, but men’s skin is tougher than a woman’s, Counterman has arrived and is the answer to men’s healthy skin care.

Tom Claus

According to Beautycounter, when they cast their Counterman campaign, they sought guys who embodied their standards—men who stand for something, who approach life with intention, think outside of the box, like my hubby, Tom, a scientist, having worked in discovery for new drugs for diabetes. Tom has had dry, scaly skin and has been using creams for his face and scalp for years. He’s been using CeraVe, and didn’t realize that it has harsh chemicals like parabens, (methyl-isobutyl-propyl- and other). Even baby sunscreen has harsh chemicals. Imagine smearing creams all over your babies and kids, and washing their hair and yours with shampoo laden with harsh chemicals? Check out Beautycounter’s ample never list and look at the ingredients on the packaging of the products you use.

Having several men in my life, a husband, three sons, two sons-in-law, and seven grandsons, I’m excited for them to climb out of their box and look at the big picture. It’s never too soon to learn how to keep you, your family and your men handsome and healthy.

Beautycounter mission: To get safer products into the hands of everyone.

Decades of studies indicate that serious health issues (including but not limited to asthma, cancer, and infertility) are on the rise and are due in some part to our ongoing exposure to toxic chemicals—whether it’s in the shower, on our commute, while we eat lunch at a local restaurant, or when we clean our kitchens at home.

There are more than 80,000 chemicals on the market today. Many don’t have any safety data. This is particularly true of those used in the skin care and beauty industry.

What’s worse is that the Food and Drug Administration (the agency that regulates cosmetics in the United States) does not have the authority to remove harmful ingredients from the products we put on our bodies and on our kids’ bodies every single day, day after day.

https://www.beautycounter.com/gailingis

https://www.beautycounter.com/products/counterman