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Chobani still #1 in Greek yogurt despite being "outspent dramatically" by rivals, says firm as Gen Mills claims most Americans prefer Yoplait Greek
Chobani was speaking to FoodNavigator-USA after Yoplait published results from blind taste tests* with 300 consumers in which 65% claimed to prefer Yoplait's blended blueberry Greek yogurt to Chobani's blueberry fruit-on-the-bottom Greek product.
'Absolutely terrific' taste profile…
Yoplait's new blended Greek range - launched last summer as "many consumers were not fully satisfied with the fruit on the bottom and aftertaste" of its previous offerings, has "an absolutely terrific taste profile", General Mills CEO Ken Powell told investors on the firm's latest earnings call,
Although comparing a blended yogurt with a fruit at the bottom product is not really comparing apples with apples according to some observers, Yoplait Greek marketing director Carla Vernón said it was a fair test.
She added: "We are focused on one thing – making Greek yogurt taste as good as it can be – so we asked yogurt fans if we had succeeded. They overwhelmingly said 'yes'."
The marketing campaign - which spans social media, TV, PR and 100s of taste tests in stores - kicks off with a TV ad showing consumers trying both brands (click here), while shoppers are also invited to get involved via Twitter (#TasteOff ), Facebook and Instagram or visit GreekTasteOff.com to share their opinions..
Chobani: 'We still lead the category, despite being outspent dramatically by competitors in advertising…'
But the ads are not causing any sleepless nights at Chobani,said Peter McGuinness, chief marketing and brand officer: "At Chobani, we've always made delicious, nutritious, natural and accessible yogurt, which we're proud and honored to say has made us America's No. 1 Greek Yogurt brand."
A spokesman told FoodNavigator-USA: "According to market data, Chobani was the only major Greek Yogurt brand to increase dollar share in the most recent four weeks vs. the previous four weeks (Nielsen, data ending 12/21/13)."
Simply 100 is expected to erode share from others who've been selling 100 calorie yogurts
Chobani has had a busy year, expanding its Bite range, launching new Flip Greek yogurt products and unveiling a new 100-calorie Simply 100 range sweetened with monk fruit and stevia. It also launched a print and digital advertising campaign last fall highlighting its natural credentials and focus on quality after a high-profile recall of selected products owing to a mold outbreak.
It is too early to provide sales data on Simply 100 - which is being rolled out nationally now and will be promoted later in Q1 - but Chobani is "very pleased with how it's being received both by retailers and customers in feedback", added the spokesman.
"Simply 100, the only 100 calorie Greek Yogurt made with all natural ingredients, is expected to erode share from others who've been selling 100 calorie yogurts."
According to Chobani, Greek light is the fastest-growing segment in the Greek category, with sales up more than 300% year-on-year in the 24 weeks to mid-December 2013.
Greek yogurt accounted for 44% of US yogurt sales in 2013 vs 4% in 2008
The Greek yogurt category - which is driving most of the growth in the $7bn+ US yogurt market - remains a hotbed of activity, as consumers buy into its low-fat credentials, high protein content and thicker texture.
Indeed, Greek now accounts for 44% of dollar sales in the yogurt category compared with just 4% in 2008, and all the key players in the segment have been expanding and refreshing their portfolios in the past 12 months.
Yoplait Greek 100
Yoplait has launched several new products recently including Yoplait Pro-Force and Go-Gurt Protein, along with its new blended Greek range.
However, its biggest hit to date has been the 100-calorie Yoplait Greek 100 range, which generated retail sales of $150m in its first year, "making this the single largest new product launch in Yoplait in the last two decades", according to Gen Mills CEO Ken Powell.
Dannon Oikos Greek brand still growing in double digits
Meanwhile, Dannon's Oikos Greek yogurt range - sales of which topped $400m in 2012 - is "still growing in the double digits", Michael Neuwirth, senior director of public relations at Dannon, told FoodNavigator-USA.
Dannon - which is tying up with Starbucks to launch Greek yogurt parfait products under the 'Evolution Fresh, inspired by Dannon' brand in US Starbucks stores this year - has also launched 80 calorie Greek yogurts under the Light & Fit brand and a new line of Greek products under the Activia brand.
And given that Americans still eat on average far less yogurt than their European counterparts, there is still enormous growth potential, he said.
"In 2013 total per capita yogurt consumption in the US had gone up to 16.7lbs and has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of around 5% in the past five years."
But as the Greek market matures, and more new production capacity comes online, are margins going to come under greater pressure as the category's big guns try to steal share through heavy promotional activity?
"We did see more promotional activity in the category in 2013, but we built our business to be sustainable for the long term and that includes promoting reasonably," said Neuwirth.
Savory yogurt: 'Very tasty with some intriguing flavors…'
So what does he make of the savory yogurts developed by Blue Hill (click here) and distributed in three Whole Foods regions?
"They are very tasty with some intriguing flavors - and a terrific way to experience the delight of yogurt, but they are super premium and might be a bit niche for mainstream American tastes," said Neuwirth.
"We've experimented with savory, but it's not a priority for us right now as we see a bigger opportunity in the more traditional, broader market."
*The taste claim is "based on a national blind taste test study conducted in eight cities across the U.S. by a third-party research firm", said Gen Mills. Blueberry was chosen as it is "one of the most popular flavors in Greek yogurt".
Click here to read about all the latest developments in Greek yogurt.


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Vanity Fair? Check. Elle? Check. Glamour? Check. W? Check. Nylon? Check.
Seems like this gorgeous and funny actress already featured in every magazine cover. We are really sure that she will have her first Vogue cover, soon.
Emma Stone wearing Burberry Prorsum Fall Winter 2011 coat on the September cover of Teen Vogue and sporting her signature red hair. Beautiful!!
Click here to view last year cover featuring Victoria Justice and here for 2009 cover featuring Taylor Momsen.

subset: commoncrawl


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Directed by
Thierry Petit (Julie Lescaut, Justice Street, C.I.D)
Fr├йd├йric Diefenthal (The Perfect Son-in-Law, Elite Squad, Taxi 1 to 4, Clara Sheller)
Yann Sundberg (Elite Squad, Lost Signs),
Catherine Marchal (MR 73, Elite Squad)
Olivier Marchal (36th Precinct, Braquo, Elite Squad)
GMT Productions
2011 / Original language: French / Color / Stereo / available in hd
In season 2, Yach, the tough cop with unorthodox methods, is released from prison; Constantine, his complete opposite, cerebral and disciplined, is now head of the Criminal Investigations Division; ambitious Lea now works a high-powered position at police Headquarters. The three of them will team up again, as they engage into a brutal war against a pitiless mobster, who plans to pull off the heist of a lifetime. тАЬElite squadтАЭ is an uncompromising look at the hidden face of law enforcement, through professionals caught up in a spiral of violence.


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Everyone around the world is making Pharrell "Happy" videos. Here're our 8 favorites.
Seven-time Grammy winner and Oscar nominee Pharrell Williams -- singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, drummer, fashion designer, entrepreneur, vampire, and world-renowned bird watcher (JK!) -- can add another feather to his massive Arbys hat: travel trendsetter.
Remember his 24-hr video for "Happy"? After debuting last November, it pretty much owned every music video ever made -- basically out-music-videoing the entire genre, forever.
Filmed in one take, the video featured Williams, locals, and celebs like Steve Carell and Magic Johnson -- 400 in total -- dancing around LA over the course of a full day, in an epic homage to the city and its peeps. Needless to say, it went viral.
While we had a feeling copycats would crop up, we didn't expect most of them to focus on travel and hometown pride. From Sydney to Singapore, Krampot to Krakow, we weeded through dozens of vids to present our faves.
Sydney, Australia
Paris, France
Berlin, Germany
Budapest, Hungary
Vilnius, Lithuania
Warsaw, Poland
Florence, Italy
Carthage, Tunisia
Sophie-Claire Hoeller is Thrillist's associate travel editor and she likes this song. But not 24 hours of it. Kay, now it's stuck in her head. Follow her @Sohostyle.


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Using a Water Wise approach to your garden or landscape is a key part of green living. The use of water in the landscape does not need to be wasteful, rather it is an important use of our water resources. When many people hear the term Xeriscape or Low Water Use landscape, the image of rocks and cactus comes to mind – but nothing is further from the truth.
With good planning and carefully following a few important guidelines, it is very possible to have a creative, beautiful landscape while using a minimal amount of water. Let's get started!
Very narrow areas are also difficult to water, as are very windy locations. Choose your turfgrass varieties carefully. There has been great progress in the past 10 years in developing some very attractive grass varieties that use less water. Your local Agricultural Extension office can be a great source of information on these newer varieties.
Appropriate turf areas can certainly be a part of a water wise landscape.
Your soil is unique, so again your local resources are the best bet for a recommendation.
Use mulches to reduce water loss from evaporation and to insulate the soil. This is especially important in hot, arid climates. Mulch helps keep the roots cool, conserves moisture, and prevents weeds (which use some of the water intended for your landscape plants).
Keep your sprinkler system tuned. Just like an out of tune car wastes gas, an out of tune sprinkler system wastes water. Check your system for broken pipes, clogged heads, bent or turned heads, and adjust your system as needed to accommodate the growth of your plants. If you have an automatic clock, make sure it is turned off when it rains – or better yet invest in a smart clock that senses rain and turns itself off!
Learn about landscaping with succulents here
Learn about lawn substitutes here
Return to green-living-saves-us.com


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REDLANDS>> The Krikorian Cinema 14 here will be getting some modern upgrades, including a first-floor bathroom.
George Krikorian, president of Krikorian Premiere Theatres, has announced plans to renovate and expand the 14-screen complex at Eureka and Shopper's Lane.
"The theatre does very well and we just wanted to add some new amenities that will keep people coming for years to come," said Todd Cummings, vice president of the Torrance-based theater chain.
Renovations are scheduled to begin after Labor Day and be completed by spring.
The plans will include reconfiguring all current auditoriums to accommodate fully reclining electric leather seats with 84 inches of legroom.
The plans also include the addition of three new Large Format Experience auditoriums with 75-foot-wide screens, which will also be equipped with Dolby's immersive Atmos sound system with 64 independently controlled speakers to heighten the realism to create the ultimate movie theatergoing experience, according to a Krikorian news release.
Ticket prices for a more traditional theater experience will remain the same, but those wishing to enjoy in-seat food and beverage service will pay a little more, Cummings said.
The in-seat food and beverage service will be restricted to those 21 and older, he said.
"So you'll have the benefit of having a waiter available to you at the touch of a button and be able to order many different food options and drinks, so you will pay a little more for the in-seat service but not anything astronomical," he said.
Cummings said the biggest complaint from patrons has been the restrooms' location on the second floor.
"The theatre is 15 years old. It's time to renovate it and we just want to bring it up to where we believe the industry is going," Cummings said.
The plans for the theater have been in the works for four to five months, Cummings said.
"We've been trying to do something with that theater for many years," he said. "There have been several different options throughout the years."
The theater will also be getting a large sports bar and restaurant that will feature a 90-foot wide screen to air live sporting events, such as football and boxing, and concerts and other events.
"I think the sports bar is going to be something like you've never seen, definitely not in the Inland Empire," Cummings said. "There's not many places you can go and watch a football game on a 90-foot screen."
Food service options will range from casual to fine dining. Bar seating options will range from unstructured leather rockers to private luxury suites, according to the news release.
Mayor Pete Aguilar said in the news release that the Krikorian Cinema 14 has long been one of the economic drivers in downtown.
"We look forward to working with George Krikorian and his staff as they continue to enhance the high level entertainment experience in downtown Redlands for both residents and visitors from all over the East Valley," he said. "We anticipate a great synergy created as folks enjoy a movie or sporting event and then take the opportunity to explore all the rest that downtown Redlands has to offer."
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Q-Bank is a private equity firm focused on applying technology to deliver value.
Q-Bank works closely with management to collaborate with our ecosystem of scientists, entrepreneurs, and corporate partners to introduce disruptive, technology-enabled products and services.
A portfolio of 45 intellectual property assets, strong connectivity to top research institutions, and an efficient deal-flow engine operating at scale


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Lot 138Price Realized: $198
|Lot 138: CD 162 HEMINGRAY Color: Dark Yellow Green Description: VNM+ You can see some amber swirling in the skirt, adding extra character to this killer piece! (#5818)
Estimate: $350 - $400 Open: $150
Price Realized: $198
Auction technology and web site hosting provided by Bill Meier.
Design Copyright © 1998-2022 Amber 8 Computer Consultants, LLC. All Rights Reserved.


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Today we are going to take a look at the Nanoxia Deep Silence 1 case which is the predecessor to the Deep Silence 2 which we looked at a few weeks back. This was only released around a year ago, though, so is still fairly current and is actually a more expensive product than the Deep Silence 2.
The Deep Silence 1 is the first case that Nanoxia released and is designed with noise-conscious users in mind. It is a 'full-fat' version of the Deep Silence 2 which was changed slightly to reduce the cost.
We look forward to seeing how the Deep Silence 1 fares in our tests and if it's worth the slight price premium over the Deep Silence 2.
- Motherboard Support: ATX, XL-ATX, Micro-ATX, Mini-ITX
- External Drive Bays: 3x 5.25 inch, 1x 3.5 inch
- Interal Drive Bays: 8x 2.5/3.5 inch
- Case Fan (Front): 2x 120 mm (1,300 rpm)
- Case Fan (Rear): 1x 140 mm (1,100 rpm)
- Case Fan (Top): Optional 2x 120/140 mm
- Case Fan (Bottom): Optional 1x 120/140 mm
- Case Fan (Left Sidepanel): Optional 1x 120/140 mm
- Dimensions: 517 x 220 x 532 mm (HxWxD)
- Materials: Steel, Plastic
- Weight: 11.34 kg
- Maximum CPU Cooler Height: 185 mm
- Maximum VGA Card Length: 315 (445) mm


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The former Argentina centre-back has hailed his compatriot's fine performances and feels the attacker's year-on-year improvement means he is the best player ever.
no he doesn't coz he isn't the BEST EVER...that's up to personal preference.
if he want to be the best ever with no arguments i think he does


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Effective pre-treatment with scrub
Prepare your legs for waxing with our scrub - for an effective exfoliation. Gently removes dead cells and ingrown hairs. The ingrown hairs are loosened, so that they can also get removed with waxing.
Our exfoliation for your legs
- Content: 250 ml
- Scrub with microspheres and Vulcan for smooth skin
- Help with ingrown hairs
- Removal of dead skin cells
For the best job it is advisable to use an exfoliating glove. Remove some scrub from the pot and put it on the appropriate places. Massage slowly onto the desired place. You can wash off residues of the scrub with warm water.
Gently remove ingrown hairs and dead skin cells
Small micro beads provide an intense exfoliation. Gently massaging away all points on the legs or arms, to remove the last annoying ingrown hairs. You can effectively eliminate dead cells with the peeling. To not burden the already irritated skin after hair removal, you should always previously perform the massage with the scrub. Thus, your skin is soft and prepared for waxing.
The right care for your skin
You achieve best results if you regularly perform an exfoliation with the scrub. Reduce the chance of ingrown hair, thus making your skin smoother and softer. We recommend applying the scrub once or twice a week. For sensitive and dry skin we recommend a careful use.
|Shipping weight:
|0,48 Kg
|Product weight:
|0,48 Kg
|250,00 ml


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News editors need to retake Journalism 101 or move to features when stories about the White House dog take precedence over a controversial veto by the President's unconfirmed appointment to Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius vetoed a bill, House Substitute for SB 218, April 23 which would have placed additional restrictions on third trimester abortions and allowed more criminal charges over late-term procedures to occur.
With the exception of "Special Report with Bret Baier" that night and "Fox and Friends" the morning of April 24, the broadcast media avoided covering the controversial decision. But "Today," "The Early Show," and "Good Morning America" all had time to cover Michelle Obama talking about the first family's new dog Bo the morning of April 24.
The Washington Post and USA Today ignored Sebelius' veto even though her Senate confirmation vote is coming up next week.
The New York Times' published a brief mention of the veto by the Associated Press which noted Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele's reaction and call for more answers about Sebelius' abortion views. But that brief failed to note his call for the withdrawal of her nomination. The Los Angeles Times mention of the veto was a mere 137 words long.
Contrast that with Erica Werner's AP story which detailed the controversy and was more than four times as long. Werner quoted Steele as saying, "Significant questions remain about Gov. Kathleen Sebelius' evolving relationship with late-term abortion doctor as well as about her position on the practice of late-term abortions ... If Gov. Sebelius and the Obama administration are unwilling to answer these questions, President Obama should withdraw her nomination."
Werner said the White House wouldn't comment on the issue and quoted a spokesman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., saying Steele had a "baseless attack."
That AP article also noted Sebelius' failure to disclose an additional $23,000 donation from the late-term abortion doctor Dr. George Tiller was a concern to Senators but she apologized for her error. Catholic League president Bill Donohue said in a statement on April 23, "The veto by Sebelius was a political kickback to Dr. George Tiller ... all along he was buying protection from lawsuits, and yesterday he got what he wanted."
Ignoring this veto was just one more way the news media has whitewashed Sebelius' record on late-term abortion as the Culture and Media Institute has chronicled.


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Category: Marketing Consultants Category: Marketing Consultants
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Website: foxtailmarketing.com/ico-marketing
Website: Visit Website
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Foxtail Marketing is the premiere cryptocurrency and ICO marketing agency. Their clients have successfully raised over 1 Billion dollars.
Monday to Friday
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"The truth is, unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward." ~ Steve Maraboli
It's easy to be forgiving to someone else, but a lot harder to be forgiving to ourselves. Many people would argue that forgiveness begins at home. We can't live our best life or do our best work unless we commit to forgiving ourselves of the mistakes we will undoubtedly make. In essence, we must learn to forgive ourselves for being what we are – human.
When it comes to self-reflection, we often are guilty of ignoring all of the positive things that make us who we are. Instead, we focus on the wrong turns we've taken, not realizing those wrong turns are often leading us to our right path in life. Things happen in life that throw us off track and catch us off guard, but they should not define us.
Here are 5 signs you're too hard on yourself:
You allow a temporary setback to completely derail you.
When we are in the thick of things, it can be hard not to see a temporary setback for what it is – just a temporary setback. Where we are today is the culmination of every right turn we have ever made, as well as every wrong one. We are the result of every good and bad decision, every thriving and failed relationship and every prosperous and financially poor opportunity we've invested in. Bottom line, we are exactly where we need to be – even though sometimes it's hard to see.
If there is one thing we should know for sure, it's that tomorrow is another day and with it comes the opportunity to succeed or fail. Will we choose to be crushed by it or go with the flow? It's important to forgive ourselves of the mistakes we made yesterday so we can make better decisions today.
You put too much pressure on one action for your happiness.
There is not one single action we take that will bring about the end of the world. Sure, sometimes there are serious consequences when we choose poorly, but everything is fixable. We live, we love, and we lose. It is unfortunate that sometimes we take actions that don't always end up the way want. That doesn't mean taking the action was a complete loss. What matters is if we learned from the situation so we can do better next time. In the end remember, we are still standing and still living and that the world will turn tomorrow, the same as it is today.
You do not act from our authentic truth because you're afraid you're "not good enough".
It is easy for self-doubt to creep into our psyche, causing us to second guess everything we think and do. We must look to our decisions and determine if we are making the best possible decision based on the information that is available. If we can answer yes, then we should feel confident moving forward and believe that the outcome is meant to be – whether good or bad.
RELATED: If you ever think you're not good enough, remember these things…
You blame ourselves for things outside of your control.
We have two choices when things do not go according to plan. We can either change it or accept it. What we can't do is continue to blame ourselves for the same actions over and over again. The next time we find ourselves frustrated or angry, it's important to understand our role in it and either choose to do something differently or commit to letting go of the emotion it holds over us.
You spend time focusing on what you don't have.
It's easy to be hard on ourselves when we spend our day looking at all the things we have yet to accomplish. Our day would be better spent focusing on the achievements we've made.
End each day focusing on the stuff that went right. Going to sleep with a sense of accomplishment will help start tomorrow on the right foot.
Sometimes it is okay to be hard on yourself. It drives us and gives us purpose and direction. There is a danger, though, that our thoughts might become a burden we carry through life, particularly if we are not careful about dealing with negativity or failures at the earliest opportunity.
It can be hard to get a fair perspective when in the midst of turmoil or negativity, and that is why it's necessary to question things and try to find the lesson.
Most days tend to have more good than bad, but it's the bad that we remember. Let's commit to spending time each day with a focus of the what went right, instead of dwelling on what went wrong. That one thing will help you stop being so hard on yourself.


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Earth Day is only weeks away. To celebrate this special day of the year and to encourage you to care for our planet every day, Happy Mothering, Easy Green Mom and Brittleby's Corner have put together this Honor the Earth Giveaway Hop through the Green Moms Network. Each participating blog is giving you the chance to win a prize valued over $25 in honor of Earth Day.
BAD Blankie from Nest Bedding, 3 books from Little Pickle Press and a set of DVDs from NCircle - a $156 value! A second winner will receive a Toter Composter and a $50 BuyGreen.com gift card - a $279 value! Enter to win here.
My Giveaway
Please submit your entries through the Rafflecopter widget below. Don't forget to enter all the other giveaways via the linky toward the bottom of this post. Good luck!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclosure: The prize is provided by me and will be delivered to the winner via email.


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It is a pleasure to introduce you to Hotel Thimphu Towers, a landmark heritage building located at the main town square – Clock Tower Square in the heart of Thimphu – the capital of Bhutan.
Enjoy the comforts of our 28 exquisite rooms tailored with modern amenities, homely comforts and unparalleled Bhutanese hospitality to make your stay in Thimphu the best it can be. With souvenirs and handicrafts shopping center on the ground floor and nearby, restaurants, cafes and bars walking distance, experience the best of what Thimphu and Bhutan has to offer.
Visit our sister location Puna Cottages at Wangduephodrang also with 28 rooms and in operation since 2008. Book both hotels with us for seamless convenience in planning your trip to Bhutan. For reservations fill out a reservation form, for all other inquiries contact us.
Unparalleled hospitality
Ashfaque S, San Francisco, USA
Just Like Home Sweet Home
Fariya C, Dhaka, Bangladesh
Wonderful location and excellent property – Highly recommended!
Manas S, Kolkata, India
Highly Recommended! Wonderful property & warm hospitality
Arindam S, New Delhi, India
Hotel Thimphu Towers excels on all fronts
Tanmoy, Mumbai, India


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It's All Downhill From Here
17 Jul
On Sunday I woke up to find that someone had broken into my room the night before with a hammer and nailed a note into each quadricep muscle. The first one read, "'I hate you.' Sincerely, Your Body." The other note read, "'Thanks for the play-date!!' Love, Seven Hills Road." This is the worst my muscles have felt since my first half-marathon two years ago. If you plan on running a race with any kind of hills in the near future you need to learn from my mistake. Really, I'm finding that this is what this blog is about; I screw up and you get to laugh at me and learn from it. I'm strangely okay with this. I'm a team player. click to read more


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we start at the beginning? Wed have to go all the way back to the
Stone Age to track down that first charm, made from an animal bone, or
shell, and worn on a thong to protect the wearer from Saber Tooth Tigers,
or evil spirits, or just plain bad luck. So lets skip ahead a few
thousand years.
Well pause briefly with the Babylonians, who receive the honor
of being the first recorded culture to wear charms on bracelets, in around
700 BC. But now lets fast forward all the way to the mid 1800s,
because, until then, charms, amulets, actually any piece of jewelry was
always made by hand, one at a time. If Fashion is a glove, then the Industrial
Revolution is the hand it fits over. The machine age afforded the growing
middle classes the opportunity to own and wear articles of beauty that
had, heretofore, been out of reach, financially. And when it comes to
the Charm Bracelet, no single person drove that popularity like Queen
Victoria (reigning 1837-1901). She loved Fashion, and she loved to wear
and give charm bracelets. When her beloved Prince Albert died, she even
made mourning charms popular; lockets of hair from the deceased,
miniature portraits of the deceased, charm bracelets carved in jet. In
1889, Tiffany & Co launched their first charm bracelet at the Paris
Exposition--a chain link bracelet with a single dangling heart pendant.
It was a hit. The Charm Bracelet was officially here to stay.
The 1920s and 30s brought another wave of charm innovation,
as the allure of platinum and diamonds brought a new level of elegance
to the charm keepsake. In the World War II era, there was a resurgence
of popularity for the charm bracelet, when soldiers brought home charms
as souvenirs from the European cities they had been stationed in. This
trend continued well into the 1950s, fueled by images of Elizabeth Taylor
or Joan Crawford on the silver screen, impeccably dressed, and accessorized
with a beautiful charm bracelet. Women of all ages wanted charm bracelets
to add to, throughout the years, as they traveled, or marked important
events in their lives, or the lives of their children.
soared in popularity in the 1990s with the general economic boom. Vintage
everything else, including vintage jewelry, charms and charm bracelets
that harkened back to Old World craftsmanship became more popular. Over
the past decade most of the Fashion giants have climbed on board, when
it comes to offering their own interpretation of this timeless classic.
Extasias Charm Du Jour, first launched in 2000, offers
everything we all love in a charm bracelet--its loaded with charms,
all distinctly beautiful in their design, craftsmanship and colors. An
instant heirloom, as it were, linking together 3,000 years of history with
the hottest trend in contemporary fashion.
Extasia "Charm
Du Jour" bracelet (RB5)
Extasia is a company of American artisians, committed to re-inventing
Victorian Jewelry for Contemporary Fashion. We use hand-carved Italian
shell cameos, hand-pressed German glass intaglios, jet, vintage glass,
and semi-precious gem materials, combined with the gold plated, bronze
and sterling silver settings we design and manufacture, here in northern
*Images used in this essay incorporated Extasia products.


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When you start searching for a painting contractor to accomplish the job of interior painting, you do attach a lot of value to references made by your friends and relatives. You also tend to contact a painting service who has impressed you by with its work. However, this is not the end of the selection criteria and you need to properly choose a Painting Contractors Chicago to get the desired result. Some of the important factors to be considered while you choose a contractor for interior painting are as follows.
Clearance and insurance
A painting service or a Painting Contractors Chicago must have certificate of clearance to carry out the job. Moreover, the contractor should also have proper license and valid insurance. All the more, it is also required that all the workers of the contractor should have proper insurance. Else, in case of injury, you will have to bear the wages of the injured worker. Therefore, to get your work properly completed without any hassle or penalty in terms of paying future wages of the injured worker, you need to properly check the clearance and insurance details of the painting contractor. Apart from worker insurance, you should also check the liability insurance of the contractor before hiring him for the job of exterior or interior painting.
Past record
You can either check out his ongoing projects or just finished projects. While you visit a site for checking out his work, do remember to select a site that is similar to yours. Moreover, you can also collect information about the Painting Contractors Chicago form his earlier clients. You should ensure that the contractor you want to hire has worked on similar projects and completed them within the stipulated time and allocated budget.
Materials used
The materials like paint and other paint supplies should be of good quality and from popular brands. And therefore it is necessary that you choose a contractor who uses good quality paints and paint supplies. You should also ensure that the contractor hired by you uses paints that are environment friendly. Moreover, the paints used by the contractor should also be water based and should dry up quickly, leaving behind minimum smell.
You can also include several other factors like security measured followed by the contractor, time taken estimated budget and flexibility to work as per your convenience, to choose the contractor for interior and exterior painting. However, it is also important that you include the aforementioned factors in your checklist.
A good Painting Contractors Chicago can provide you with whatever combination of the above core aspects you wish. As long as you pick just two of them. The painter who is bidding the work for you will even appreciate it when you let him know what you are looking for. If you tell him that you want a low price, then he can build the rest of the painting bid around that. If you do not point that out, then most wise, professional, knowledgeable painting estimators are going to; by default give you a painting quote that reflects good quality and good service at a higher, but reasonable or fair price.
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I have had my Instant Pot for several months now and it's fair to say I'm impressed. I love how easy everything is and it makes weeknight cooking a lot more exciting and simply a breeze.
Most of the time I cook in it I have followed recipes to the letter so I don't mess them up and I can see what works as well. There have been a few times now that I have made something up as I went along, some really good and others not at all.
On one occasion, I got it so right I posted the recipe on Instagram after eating and everyone seemed to dig it too! Tonight I had some pork belly so thought I would make it again and share it with you all on my blog.
There were only a couple of small tweaks this time but it's for the better – instead of sliced ginger I used pre-minced. I know it's never going to be as good as fresh, but I am slightly obsessed with it at the moment and much prefer spooning it out of a jar than spending time mincing it into a fine paste and the flavour is still pretty good. I also used pork belly this time instead of ribs but either would be fine and they were just as good.
I also serve the pork belly in the cooking liquor with konjac noodles, which are gluten free, low carb and the texture is great with a rich broth like this. Ramen noodles would also work, as would pho noodles too. I have also made this with chicken breast if you don't like pork and followed the same steps but cooked the chicken for 7 mins instead.
500g pork belly slices
Chinese 5 Spice
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp tamari
1/2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 pack konjac noodles or noodles of your choice
Around 200 ml chicken stock – preferably liquid or homemade so it's not too salty, you need to make up 250ml from the other ingredients
Sea salt
1. Open the pack of pork belly slices and then sprinkle over your Chinese 5 Spice and rub until both sides are lightly coated. Place in the bottom of the Instant Pot and season with your sea salt.
2. In a measuring jug, mix together the ginger, tamari, tamarind and sesame oil. Add the chicken stock until the total amount of liquid is 250ml.
3. Peel and smash the garlic cloves and add to the pork belly then pour in the liquid from the measuring jug.
4. Set to manual for 17 minutes and prepare your noodles while you wait. As the broth is dark, doing quick release might splatter so you can let it release naturally for 10 minutes after cooking.
5. Take the pork belly slices out of the cooker, let rest for 5 mins and cut into bite size chunks to serve. Place your cooked noodles in a bowl and ladle a decent amount of broth over top. Place your pork belly chunks on top and enjoy!
If you like chilli a good chilli oil would work well with this and I also would suggest fresh coriander too. I did drizzle some Sriracha over mine and it was good!
Hope you like it, any feedback is always welcome x


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At the Flatiron Institute, Bright seamlessly integrates hardware from a variety of hardware vendors, enabling their staff to re-image the cluster for upgrades, change packaging, update configurations, allocate resources, and add nodes on the fly.
SAN JOSE, Calif. (PRWEB) July 14, 2020
Today, Bright Computing, a global leader in Linux Cluster automation and management software for HPC and machine learning, announces its continued relationship with the Flatiron Institute, the in-house research division of the Simons Foundation.
The Flatiron Institute is in the process of commissioning a 320-node addition to their research cluster, to come online later this month, bringing their clustered infrastructure to over 1,300 nodes, all managed by Bright Cluster Manager. Bright's software platform balances and manages extremely heavy workloads across several diverse scientific disciplines including astrophysics, quantum physics, data science, mathematics, and biology. Bright Cluster Manager maximizes resource utilization and increases workload efficiency, freeing researchers to focus on groundbreaking computational research instead of cluster management activities.
The Flatiron Institute is a community of scientists using modern computational tools, including data analysis, theory, modeling and simulation, to advance the basic sciences. Bright has partnered with the minds at Flatiron since 2016 to help them achieve these goals.
"When we first started out, the Flatiron Institute had very little staff. As we began to transition into a larger organization, we had to figure out how to manage a growing set of resources — but still with that limited staff," explains Flatiron's Scientific Computing Core Co-Director Ian Fisk, Ph.D. "Bright Cluster Manager offered us a fully supported cluster management solution that allowed our team to manage our compute resources more efficiently with very little overhead. We first deployed Bright at the Flatiron Institute when we grew from a 16-node cluster to 120 nodes, and Bright has been managing the system ever since."
Bright Cluster Manager gives the Flatiron Institute a cutting edge, commercially supported cluster management solution that supports a heterogeneous compute environment. With Bright, system administrators can provision hardware, operating systems, and workload managers as a single unified infrastructure. At the Flatiron Institute, Bright seamlessly integrates hardware from a variety of hardware vendors, enabling their staff to re-image the cluster for upgrades, change packaging, update configurations, allocate resources, and add nodes on the fly. Bright also provides key features such as comprehensive monitoring and GPU management.
"The Flatiron Institute is comprised of over 200 scientists performing research in a variety of scientific domains. This places a requirement on their clustered infrastructure to be computationally proficient in many different ways as the resources needed for these scientific domains can be quite different from discipline to discipline. Bright Cluster Manager's hardware-agnostic platform provides the Flatiron Institute with a single unified system that reduces complexity and promotes efficiency and ease-of-use," said Martijn de Vries, CTO of Bright Computing. "We are dedicated to providing cluster management solutions to organizations such as the Flatiron Institute, that take the guesswork out of system administration and give researchers a faster and more efficient path to successful research."
To learn more about Bright Computing and Bright Cluster Manager, visit us at http://www.brightcomputing.com or email us directly at email@example.com
About Bright Computing
Bright Computing is the leading provider of platform-independent commercial cluster management software. Bright Cluster Manager™, Bright Cluster Manager for Data Science™, and Bright OpenStack™ automate the process of installing, provisioning, configuring, managing, and monitoring clusters for HPC, data analytics, machine learning, and OpenStack environments. Bright's products are deployed in data centers around the world for organizations in healthcare, manufacturing, oil and gas, energy, pharmaceutical, financial, academic, and government. Bright has reseller agreements and technology partnerships with leading enterprise IT providers, including Dell/EMC, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Cray, Intel, Huawei, Fujitsu, Nvidia, Microsoft, and Amazon.


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In the beginning of the 20th century, Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt (1862 – 1918) was known for his luxurious paintings and generous use of gold leaf application. Critics called it his Golden Phase. Fascinated by the female subject, the artist returned repeatedly to painting women amidst golden settings.
Danaë (1907) is a representative painting of Klimt's Golden Phase, albeit less well known. At first glance, the painting looks as if it's depicting the peaceful slumber of a nude, redheaded woman, curled up in a fetal position. Upon closer inspection, we see her parted lips and the heat emanating from her body in the blush of her cheeks. Golden rain flows between her slightly parted legs. Her tensed hand with fingers curled suggests that she is captured in a climactic moment.
The woman portrayed is Danaë. According to Greek mythology, Princess Danaë was the daughter and only child of King Acrisius of Argos and Queen Eurydice. After an oracle's prophecy warned him that his grandson would kill him, King Acrisius locked his daughter in a bronze tower, so that she wouldn't bear any children. But Zeus, the king of gods, being drawn to the princess, visited her at night in the form of golden rain and impregnated her. The child they had together was the demigod Perseus.
Now we know that Klimt's artwork is subtly showing the eroticism of Danaë's impregnation by Zeus. It's a truly fascinating painting. Her flesh is so carnal and wonderfully rendered, the large thigh suggesting voluptuousness and fertility. The few unruly strands of the princess's hair, draped over her shoulder are another indication of her state of arousal. The closely cropped portrait, together with Danaë's curled body pose and the royal purple shawl around her, give the impression that she's wrapped in a cocoon, enraptured by Zeus' spell.


text: Memorial Day, which was originally named Declaration Day, celebrates the memory of those soldiers who have died serving our nation in battle. While many may not agree with the act of war, I think we can all stand together and give homage to those who gave their life in the act of war. The history of this day dates back to the Civil War. Former enslaved African Americans celebrated this day to give honor to Union Soldiers who fought in the American Civil War, then after World War I, it honored all Americans who died in any war. It has now become more general and many people use this day to honor the memory of their loved ones, in the service or not. B.M.M.O. Consulting would like to honor all the men and women who have given their lives in the line of duty while serving this country. We pay homage to those soldiers and their families who are still on the battlefield. We pray for your safe return.


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By Danni Moss
Copyright protected, all rights reserved
This is the second part of a series addressing the comments made on another post. A commenter using the ID of "Ancient" posted a series of verses intending to set us "women" straight on issues of marriage and abuse. In this article, I will address the second two verses used by Ancient. I wrote about the first of these in part in my previous article, What Does the Bible Really Say? — Wives Submit, but it also overlaps with the third verse, so I will be picking up with somewhat of a duplication, but also including additional commentary.
Ancient, on May 29th, 2009 at 8:24 pm said, in part:
Read the Word of the Lord, sisters:
…Gen 2:24 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Mark 10:9 What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder…
Once again, when Ancient quotes these verses he picks a couple nuggets out of their context and then misunderstands and misapplies them. Unfortunately, he didn't come up with these ideas on his own. They are commonly taught in the church.
Gen. 2:24 starts with the word "therefore." This is a conjunction that indicates this verse is part of a larger thought. So it cannot be separated from the rest. As before, let's look at the context of Gen. 2:24.
Gen. 2:18-24
And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.
And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.
And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;
And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.
And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
The only way to understand and interpret verse 24 is in light of the entire context of the marriage of Adam and Eve, which begins in verse 18. Verse 18 begins with God finding the first (and only) "fault" in creation. For the only time, God said, "it is not good." He said it was not good that the human was alone, unlike all the rest of the creatures which were in male/female pairs. Each pair was a complete set. But the human wasn't in a complete set. He was alone.
So God had Adam name all the creatures. While the text does not say God did this to show Adam his lack, it does say in verse 20 that while Adam named all the creatures "there was not found an help meet for him." So evidently, God had a purpose in addition to Adam naming all the creatures. He also showed the man that all these creatures were in complete pair sets, and he was the only creation that was not in a complete pair set. There was not another creature like Adam that could be the other half of a whole pair.
Since, in the existing creation there was not a second half to the human "set," God directly created Eve out of the body of Adam. Why did He do it that way? He could have just spoken into being another human to be the partner of Adam, just as He had done with the rest of creation. There had to be a reason why God did something different this time.
And Adam obviously got the point because he said, "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." This is underscored in the New Testament where the Word says in I Cor. 11:8-11:
For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man.
Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man.
For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels.
Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.
For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God.
And again, the Word says to the husband in Eph. 5:25-33:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,
That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish.
So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself.
For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church:
For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
Even in the beginning with the creation of Eve from Adam, God was foretelling or foreshadowing the coming of Christ and His relationship with the church. And this relationship between husband and wife is supposed to be a picture of that. The way God ordained the marriage relationship, the husband is to view the wife as literally part of his body — she is completely one with him. She is not merely a partner, she is part of him, just as intrinsically as his eyes or his elbows, or his feet, or his hands, or his brain. She is not merely his partner, she is part of him.
Because the wife is literally to become part of the husband when they are joined, the husband must "leave" his lesser relationships; even his own parents and siblings are not part of his own body.
When he leaves all these other relationships he is to cleave to his wife. I talked about cleaving in more detail in the first article, so I won't repeat it here. But in brief, to cleave means to absolutely and totally "stick to" and "conform to" the object of cleaving. If the wife is truly part of him he cannot help but cleave to her. If he grasps the significance of this one thing, it would answer all the questions about whether he is to rule or dominate his wife. But that is not the subject of this passage directly.
The way this is written, the Word indicates when the husband leaves his other relationships and cleaves to his wife, then they become one flesh. A marriage where this does not happen leaves the union in violation of the one-flesh relationship God ordained for marriage. And the responsibility for that violation is first, and primarily, on the husband (more on the wife's part momentarily).
Now, let's look at the connection of this passage to Mark 10:9. Mark 10:6-9 says,
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
Mark 10:9 says, "What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder." Interestingly, there is a qualification right there in this verse. It says what God has joined together, let not man put asunder. And the context describes a union joined together by God. It is this relationship where the man leaves his other relationships and cleaves to his wife so that they are one flesh.
Also, Mark 10:9 is in a context where Jesus directly referred to Gen. 2. We can't take the single verse out of the context of the whole. The verses immediately before verse 9 indicate that Jesus' statement describing the union of Adam and Eve is completely connected to "what therefore God has put together (like He did with Adam and Eve), let not man put asunder. We can't just tell people not to put asunder, without taking into account the qualifications Jesus put in the same context — the marriage must be one God put together, like Adam and Eve's union as described in Gen. 2.
We will come back to Mark because there is more to see in this context, but we need to take a little side trip and ask the question, does God put together every marriage union? Besides the fact that the whole context would suggest that a marriage that does not have these qualifications (husband leaving and cleaving) the marriage is not put together by God, the Word also gives us examples which support that conclusion.
If every marriage union were put together by God, God could not have instructed the Israelites to divorce their pagan wives in Ezra 10. Shechaniah spoke that the Israelites had trespassed against God by taking pagan wives. When Ezra, the priest, went to God for direction, he came back and told the men they must divorce their pagan wives. Now, if those marriages were joined by God, He would not have instructed them to divorce.
There is also an indication that a union put together by God can be broken, resulting in godly divorce. For this we have God's example of his own divorce of Israel in Is. 50:1 and Jer. 3:8. Now how could God have divorced Israel if that union were still in line with the truth of the Word? God cannot violate His own Word. Apparently, it is possible for one of the partners to walk out of that one-flesh union, making that union no longer a godly one, and violate it to the point that a divorce is a godly choice.
Another thing we can infer from this connection is that a wife can violate the one-flesh relationship even if the husband does initiate and maintain it fully and correctly. God certainly was not the one who violated His relationship with Israel. But Israel's spiritual adultery violated the one-flesh relationship she had with God, eventually resulting in God divorcing her.
In light of all this, the context of Mark 10 has much fuller meaning that is typically taught in church. The entire context is not limited to the portion quoted earlier. Here is the whole context including Mark 10:2-10:
And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?
And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away.
And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept.
But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife;
And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.
What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.
The Pharisees asked Jesus about divorce, thinking they could trick him. And Jesus said that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. THEN Jesus went back to Gen. 2, concluding with "what therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder."
God allowed divorce because people were violating His ordained plan for marriage and putting asunder marriages that He had put together. Jesus said these people's hearts were hard. Whose hearts were hard? Those who violated God's order for the marriage union, resulting in putting asunder. The "putting asunder" is indicated to be a cause of an effect. The "putting asunder" is not the cause – violation of God's order in marriage is the cause.
We can infer this because God Himself divorced Israel and He instructed the Israelites to divorce their pagan wives – so the divorce itself was not the issue. The issue was the hard hearts which violated God's order and creation of a real one-flesh marriage. If this were not the case, Jesus wouldn't have needed to make the statement about hard hearts or reference the Gen. 2 passage. He could have just said divorce is wrong and been done with it. But, as He always did, Jesus went back to the root of the problem.
In the case of Adam and Eve, there was absolutely no question of whether God put them together as a completed pair. But we cannot assume that all other marriage unions meet the specifically stated (multiple times) qualifications for a God-ordained marriage union. A marriage which does not match what the Word describes, is not a godly marriage, regardless of whether both parties say they are Christians. Someone who is living in direct violation of God's qualifications of a believer and follower of Christ is NOT a Christian, regardless of whether they have prayed a prayer, go to church, and can say all the right theological things to sound good. God says we are to judge by the fruit.
Now, to answer the obvious question or objection to what I just said, I want to clarify that just because a union is not one God has put together, does not automatically mean it is perfectly acceptable to divorce. The Word has directives for dealing with an unbelieving spouse. But that is the subject of other passages of Scripture – and for another day.
But what this does tell us is that a godly marriage should never be put asunder – and that is all it says. We cannot apply it more broadly than the Word does.
Filed under: divorce, marriage, Theology | Tagged: divorce, marriage, put asunder | Leave a comment »


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Located on the beautiful campus of Brandeis University, Proper Basketball Camp strives to enhance the basketball fundamentals, teamwork skills, and individual skills of our campers. We are proud to partner with youth coaches, NCAA coaches, current and former college players, and current and former professional athletes.
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Having grown up in West London, Neneh Brathwaite, did her A'levels in Art, Photography and Psychology. During this time, she took part in the AttRAct scheme at the Royal Academy, involving activities from hands-on workshops to guided tours; this allowed students to explore the areas of art and architecture. While a lot of her work was fine art based, Neneh wanted to pursue her interest in architecture further, something she had been doing through her photography. This passion bought her to Chelsea where she is currently on the first year of the BA Interior and Spatial Design course.
What was your educational background before Chelsea?
For A'Levels I studied art, photography and psychology and at GCSE I studied art, textiles, history and Spanish. I didn't do a foundation, because I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I also took part in external activities, like being part of the AttRAct group at the RA (Royal Academy of Arts), where I was able to build up my portfolio through life drawing and other workshops. My art teacher in 6th form picked 2 people from my class, so it was quite a small group and only certain 6th forms in London attended.
The AttRAct scheme was for a year. You get the RA card which gets you free entry into the exhibitions, which has been really handy, and they renewed it this year which is great. You get to look around the schools at the RA, it's mainly postgraduate students and there are practicing artists coming in who you can talk to. You get a real sense of the academy.
Did the scheme influence your choice of course and what you wanted to do?
I think building up my portfolio and trying different skills definitely helped. We did print making, life drawing and stuff like that which I didn't have access to in my 6th form. A lot of the work I had done has been fine art based rather than architectural, but through photography I have focused on buildings and architecture in that sense.
Based on that, when I went on holiday this year, I opted for somewhere where I could look at the architecture a well as have time to relax, so my friends and I went to Barcelona. As well as this, my dad took me to Milan after my exams and for our family holiday, we went to Madrid. That was a lot of me dragging my parents and sister around and saying I want to see this and that. My dad doesn't mind, he left me to organize things, but my mum and my sister just wanted to relax!
I enjoy travelling and experiencing other cultural architectural responses, it's a really good way to get inspiration.
Do you particularly like Spanish architecture?
I spent time in the Gothic quarter which is a lot of really narrow, dark streets with tall, looming buildings. As much as I liked the architecture, it made me feel quite vulnerable and lost, because it creates a sort of labyrinth of buildings. However, I also looked at Gaudi's work (such as Casa Batllo and Casa Mila) which are bright and colourful; it's a real contrast and its really amazing work.
What are your main areas of interest? Is it Architecture?
The history and theory lectures we are doing up until Christmas it is about private spaces in the home which is more of my interest. I had a conversation with one of my friends about how, where we normally live, our houses are quite cluttered (in a cosy way) with lots of carpet, sofas and trinkets, and it makes the place feel small and crowded.
I think if I was designing I would go for a very minimalist, hidden storage approach. The main reason I moved out [into halls] was so that I have space to work, because I didn't have that much room to spread out, and when everyone keeps coming in you can't concentrate. Also, I have 2 cats and they run around everywhere and they like to roll around on my work!
How have you found being in halls of residence?
Yeah, it's pretty good. My room, I feel, is bigger than I thought it would be and I have a proper desk I can use which is good! There are six of us but everyone is really quiet so I have no issue with noise and people getting in my way. Being able to spread without being had a go at for making such a mess is good!
What halls are you in?
Manor Ash, in Southwark. Location wise, it's probably the best location I could chose because its right by the Tate Modern, its literally a 5 minute walk. On top of that everything is really easy by bus. I work in Covent Garden and I could walk it, but if I'm running late and especially coming back (at night) I will get the bus, its only like 10-15 minutes, it's not far. St Paul's is also really close, just going into central is so easy and it makes London feel really small, which is really strange because it is massive! Where I am everything seems really close. I am also near LCC so if I ever need to use their library it's just right there.
What was the reason you picked Chelsea?
I wanted to stay in London because there are so many resources here and because I know London, all the quickest routes. As a child, my parents would bring my sister and me to central London to go around the parks and sometimes the museums and galleries. If I have an idea of something I want to look, at I know roughly where I can go and I'm good at reading maps.
The UAL and Chelsea name is helpful as well. For example; if I want to go somewhere and take photos of something when I tell them I am from UAL they are more inclined to let me. I'd heard a lot of good things about UAL and a lot of people who have come out of here have been successful, the alumni are really good. That is something which helped me make my decision.
Also, when I was at AttRAct, they spoke highly of UAL and there were some postgraduate students that were saying it is amazing as well. Just coming here, the atmosphere is so positive.
How did you find the portfolio and interview experience?
All the time leading up to it I was fine, I thought it would be ok. The half an hour or so period before, I was panicking so much wondering: what if they don't like my work? Maybe I should have added this? Maybe I shouldn't have added this? But UAL was my last interview and I had done a few before, getting offers back (2 of which were unconditional), so I thought it can't be that bad. The interview itself was actually really good, and there wasn't any questions that threw me off, I knew what I was talking about. I had time to prepare and, at the end, having the opportunity to ask my questions and getting really simple straight answers was really good.
The interesting thing I found, was that both here and Hertfordshire, said to me that my portfolio was quite spatial which for me was really interesting. Everything was like, figure drawings, more fine art and I didn't really have any architectural based drawings, so that was interesting coming up twice. Seeing that they understood my work, my viewpoint was really reassuring.
Anything you've done in your first couple of months that has really stood out at Chelsea?
I originally signed up to 'Making It @ CCW' which was a weeklong workshop before I started. It was at Chelsea, so I got to know the college before starting. In the first month, I've been here the lectures have been a lot more engaging than I thought they would be. The worry I had before was that you are sitting there for an hour just writing stuff down, but they get you to have group discussions which keeps you interested.
On my own I have done a lot of gallery visits and we have had some open lectures. I have only been to one so far. Afterwards though, I sent a follow up email to the architect who was talking, and I have arranged to meet him to ask him more questions.
How have you found student life?
I moved out the first weekend of September and I started in the first week of October. In that first month there were lots of events like the Fresher's Fair and there was a lot of time for me to figure out the area I moved into, and that was when I did most of my gallery visits and searching for jobs.
I started my job in October, so just having a couple of days alongside my studies isn't overwhelming, but towards deadlines it probably will get more hectic. I feel like the materials on my course can get expensive so having the job to help with that is really good. Trying to find time to do more stuff I want to do will get more difficult as my course is quite heavy. There is one major project we are doing, with smaller ones and lectures alongside. 1st December is a deadline for a crit and then other submissions are in January; so over Christmas I will have more time again.
I always have Sundays to sort out anything I need to and go anywhere I need to. I do have free time and most of the time I chill with friends or go home to see my family.
Do you have any advice for students?
Portfolio wise, definitely ask your teacher. Don't think that you know what you are doing because trust me, you don't! Ask for multiple opinions because art is very subjective and just because one person liked it, it doesn't mean others will.
For interviews, don't panic. Sometimes when you are actually on the spot you can think of answers you wouldn't have thought of before. But it is good to have some ideas of questions so if you have a UCAS advisor or teachers, or even older students you know, you can ask them questions you could get asked, just to get an idea.
Living in London, I would say if you are commuting by bus, then definitely get a weekly bus pass as it makes it so much cheaper, especially if you are going to work. Don't forget where you are, there is so much around that you can do, so when you have a day to yourself go out and have a look around, take photos and sketches because it's always stuff you can use later to build up your portfolio.
To check out more of Neneh's work follow her instagram
To find out more about the BA Interior and Spatial Design check out our course page


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My advice/words of wisdom to military wives/mommies going through similar situations would to of course try and keep busy to keep your mind from running terrifying thoughts, take as many pictures/videos as possible because even though your husband cannot be there he can still see all the changes and new steps from the pictures and videos. Last but not least, find a great support system within friends who are also part of the military experience. Family is wonderful, but if they are anything like mine they have no clue what struggle you are going through, and another military wife knows just how you feel and will be by your side helping you fight the battles at home while your best friend is fighting for you over seas." Thank you to Amberly for sharing your personal photos.
*I warned you, who else is crying right now!?


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Ridhuan Tee wrote in his Sinar Harian column two days ago, "Ultra kiasu tuduh saya macam-macam dapat habuan itu dan ini kerana menjadi lebih Melayu daripada Melayu. Wal hal saya tidak dapat apa-apa pun daripada orang Melayu atau Umno."
The reverse is true. It is well known which community in Malaysia are the pushy bribe givers.
Ridhuan Tee: Kuasa dan kekayaan mereka diguna untuk beli cai Melayu
Melayu reject pemakan dedak sanggup lebih Cina daripada Cina
Over the recent long weekend …
After submitting a latest progress report to his ultra kiasu paymaster, the Melayu Protun pemakan dedak blogger now has wads of cash in his pocket — enough for that refreshing mid-year holiday soon in somewhere cool … favourite destination Japan, here he comes!
MCA Religious Harmony Bureau chairman Ti Lian Ker yesterday issued a press statement titled 'Associating Chinese as "ultra-kiasu", does Ridhuan Tee now realise that biologically, he is a "Keturunan sepet" notwithstanding his Islamic faith?'
MCA's Ti wrote:
"Ridhuan Tee has exhorted his hopes of seeing a Chinese Muslim President leading Umno or PAS one day (Free Malaysia Today, 2 May 2016). As an academician, he has gotten his facts wrong."
Ti alleges that as an academician, Ridhuan has gotten his facts wrong.
Is it too much for Ti – as a politician notwithstanding – to make sure that his own facts are correct?
MCA, DAP gang up to whack Ridhuan Tee
For the record, Ridhuan never mentioned that Umno or PAS should be led by a Chinese Muslim "president". MCA is being mischievous to put words in the ustaz's mouth.
What Ridhuan actually wrote was, "Suatu hari ini saya nak tengok dalam PAS dan Umno ada orang Cina yang memimpin".
In his sentence, Ridhuan is referring to his hope for Chinese Muslim leaders "in" PAS and Umno — "dalam" [kedua-dua parti tersebut] was word he used. Ridhuan's article 'Di manakah warna-warni Islam?' can be read in Sinar Harian (2 May 2016). Check for yourself.
PAS already has Datuk Anuar Tan Abdullah as its Kelantan state exco. Umno has a non-Malay, Datuk Ronald Kiandee, who is the party's four-term Sabah MP as well as Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat.
The wish expressed by Ridhuan is not impossible. On the other hand, MCA has deliberately misrepresented the Chinese ustaz's view.
Any Chinese Muslims in MCA today? Siapa?
Next, Ti who is an MCA exco, wrote:
"Ridhuan's assertion that MCA would likely never admit Chinese Muslims is shallow and wrong in fact. MCA actually has more Chinese Muslims in the party than he would be surprised."
Yes, Datuk. Do please tell us who are the Chinese Muslims in MCA.
Don't give us the names from Tunku's time such as Omar Ong Yoke Lin and Mohammed Tahir Tan Tong Hye, okay. That's in the past. Talk about the present, yah.
MCA throws Ridhuan under the bus
MCA's Ti remarks that Ridhuan is "sepet and not a Malay Muslim as alleged".
For MCA's info, Ridhuan has always described himself as a Chinese although, granted, he appears to have a greater affinity with the Malay community. This is deduced when he includes himself in the collective pronoun "kita" talking about the Malay polity due to their shared Muslim identity.
Ridhuan does not state unequivocally that he is a Malay.
And in any case, the man cannot be a constitutional Malay either if he was born after 1957. Although Ridhuan passes the Islam-religion, BM-language and Malay-custom test, he does not fulfill the criterion pertaining to year of birth and parents and domicile as required in the Constitution's definition of a Malay person.
The often overlooked requirement – see (a) or (b) – of the FedCon's Article 160 reads as follows:
"Malay" means a person who professes the religion of Islam, habitually speaks the Malay language, conforms to Malay custom and—
(a) was before Merdeka Day born in the Federation or in Singapore or born of parents one of whom was born in the Federation or in Singapore, or is on that day domiciled in the Federation or in Singapore; or
(b) is the issue of such a person;
MCA gave free pass to bangsa 'Anak Malaysia' rivals
It is the DAP evangelistas who vehemently deny that they're Chinese.
"Zero Chinese", tweeted Hannah Yeoh (see above). Tapi kenapa bila ada yang berkait dengan parti evangelis, MCA dok membisu jer?
In fact, the MCA's own J-Star declared there is no such thing as "race" and that there is only one human race. Ref. 'Star editor insists that "races" have never existed' (14 Feb 2013).
What a Valentime's Day smack in the face for the paper's boss — the Malaysian CHINESE Association .
MCA used to be a Buddhist-dominated party but ….
Unlike in the DAP, the top leadership of MCA comprises many Buddhists and/or Taoists — pix above, showing then MCA president Dr Chua Soi Kek and current Wanita MCA chairman Heng Seai Kie in a temple.
Some MCA people have got a problem with Chinese who convert to Islam but no issue at all with the many Chinese who convert to evangelical Christianity. In fact, the MCA is even willing to allow its media empire to turn into a Nest of Evangelistas.
Don't be surprised if the MCA is compromised and its leadership infiltrated by the evangelistas.
Clcik to enlarge
ABOVE: Birth certificate application forms submitted by Hannah Yeoh and Ng Wei Aik (then Guan Eng's pol-sec) stating their newborns' race as "Anak Malaysia". Not Chinese!
Gajah depan mata MCA pura-pura tak nampak
If there are "zero Chinese" in Malaysia ("we're all Malaysians, first and only) as proclaimed by DAP and Hannah Yeoh, then why is there any need for Sekolah Cina? MCA, answer the question.
MCA"s Ti also accused Ridhuan of seeming "to have tried very hard to dissociate himself from his roots".
It is the DAP evangelistas who have tried very hard to cut their roots altogether. They refuse to even acknowledge that they're keturunan Cina. Instead they insist that their bangsa is the invented "Anak Malaysia".
Again, MCA has never taken up this matter in the public domain. MCA prefers to fight Ridhuan Tee who is not a politician rather than do battle with the DAP that has almost wiped out BN's Chinese representation.
Here is a clear-cut case of MCA looking at the speck of sawdust in their brother's eye and paying no attention to the plank in their own J-Star backyard.


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This Corporation shall be known as the Austin Rose Society, Inc.
The objectives of this Corporation are to encourage interest in and cultivation of the rose, to be affiliated with the American Rose Society, the Austin Area Garden Council, Inc. and the south Central District of the American Rose Society, and to spread the love of the rose whenever and wherever possible.
Section 1. All persons interested in the rose shall be eligible to apply for membership. Applications must be accompanied by one year's dues.
Section 2. Membership dues shall be set by the Board of Directors and approved by the membership.
Section 3. Each member shall be entitled to one vote on all matters brought before the Corporation.
The officers of the Corporation shall be: President, First vice President, Second Vice President, Third vice President, Recording Secretary, Treasurer, Journal Editor, and the Advisory Board.
The duties of the officers shall be as follows:
- The president shall be the Executive Officer of the corporation and shall preside over all the meetings of the Corporation and Executive Committee. The President shall be the ex-officio member of all standing committees. All notices of meetings and of business transacted shall be as directed by the President.
- The First Vice President, in the absence of the President, shall preside at all meetings of the Corporation and Executive Committee. The first vice President shall be the Program Chairperson.
- The Second Vice President shall be the Chairperson of the Ways and Means Committee, and shall be in charge of general fundraising for the Corporation.
- The Third vice President shall be Chairperson of the Membership Committee and shall promote membership in the Corporation and the American Rose Society to interested person at all activities sponsored by the Corporation.
- The Recording Secretary shall keep the minutes of all meetings of the Corporation and the Executive Committee.
- The Treasurer shall receive and account for all funds of the Corporation, pay all bills by check and keep funds deposited in a bank approved by the Executive Committee. The Treasurer shall keep records of the membership and the dues paid. The accounts or books shall be open at all times for inspection by the President, Executive Committee, and authorized auditors. An annual report will be prepared as requested by the Executive committee.
- The Journal Editor shall publish an informative newsletter on a monthly basis and mail to the membership. The Journal Editor shall also publish rose show schedules.
Section 1. The Board of Directors shall consist of the Executive Committee and he Advisory Board, and each member shall have one vote.
Section 2. The Executive Committee shall consist of the Officers and the Corporation.
Section 3. The Advisory Board shall consist of the three preceeding pas Presidents who remain active in the Corporation, the Horticulture Committee Chairperson and the Corporation's Representative to the Austin Area Garden Council, Inc.
Section 1. The Board of Directors shall plan the affairs of the Corporation and shall be empowered to transact any business not involving change of objectives of the Corporation.
Section 2. The Advisory Board shall assist the Board of Directors in coordinating the affairs of the Corporation.
Section 1. Monthly meetings shall be held on the third Tuesday of the month at the Austin Area Garden Center, unless changed by the Executive Committee and published in advance in the Journal.
Section 2. The Board of Directors shall meet prior to regular meetings unless otherwise provided; time and place to be determined by the President.
Section 1. A Nominating Committee Chairperson shall be named by the President not later than the February meeting. The chairperson shall select a committee of at least tow other active members and shall present a slate of officers at the March meeting.
Section 2. The officers will be elected at the May meeting and will be installed at the June meeting. Notice of meetings shall be published in the Journal. The members present shall constitute a quorum.
Section 3. At the discretion of the presiding officer, a vote of ayes or nays, or a show of hands will be sufficient, a majority vote of the membership present being required.
Section 4. In the event an elected officer cannot fulfill the obligations of the elected office, the President and Advisory Board will appoint a person to complete the remaining term.
Section 1. There shall be two types of committees: (1) standing; and (2) special.
Section 2. There shall be the following standing committees of which the Chairpersons shall be appointed by the President. Each must consist of two or more members selected by the respective committee chairman.
A. The Hospitality Chairperson/Committee shall be in charge of organizing refreshments at meetings and other functions.
B. The Rose Show Chairperson/Committee shall have chare of staging the rose shows.
C. The Awards Chairperson/Committee shall nominate candidates for the Austin Rose Society, Inc. service medal and any other awards recommended by the Board of Directors.
D. The Records Chairperson/Committee shall maintain a record of the Corporation's activities.
E. The Publicity Chairperson/committee shall publicize activities of the Corporation, regular meetings, shows and special events, to the extent possible through local newspapers, radio and television.
F. The Horticulture Chairperson/Committee shall coordinate the maintenance activities for the Mabel Davis rose Garden.
Section 3. There shall be the following special committees: Corresponding Secretary, Historian, Nominating, Consulting Rosarian and such other special committees as the President may select.
Section 1. The fiscal year of the Corporation shall be from September 1 to August 31.
Section 2. The Treasurer shall receive and account for all monies of the Corporation and shall disburse its funds promptly on the approval or discretion of the President or the Executive Committee. No appropriation shall be made in excess of the funds actually on hand and no member or group or members shall incur any indebtedness in the name of the Corporation.
Section 3. The President and Treasurer and any other Corporation member the President may appoint shall prepare an annual budget and present it to the Board of Directors by September 1.
Section 4. The President and the Executive Committee shall approve all non-budgeted expenditures in excess of $100.00
Section 5. The President may appoint a Special Auditing Committee who will meet with the Treasurer and audit the books and records upon election of a new Treasurer or at the direction of the Executive Committee.
These Bylaws may be amended or altered or repealed by the membership of the Corporation at any meeting by an affirmative vote of two-thirds of the members present, provided a written notice is published in the Journal prior to the meeting at which such proposed amendment is to be acted upon.
In the event that the Austin Rose Society, Inc. disbands, after paying outstanding debts, all assets will be distributed to the Austin Area Garden council, Inc., a 501(c)(3) corporation, for specific use in the Mabel Davis Rose Garden.


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adult coloring, arts & crafts, coloring books, friendships, library, neighborhood activities, new friends
Having read that adult coloring can be fun and relaxing, I was curious about a free program posted in my library's newsletter entitled, "Chocolate and Coloring" on Valentine's Day. I used to relish sketching and coloring. I also thought it was time I got to know more people in my neighborhood. I have distant friends, dinner friends and work friends but have fallen short on local friends with common interests.
Not typically much of a joiner in community activities, especially on my own, I hesitated. I waited until two hours before the event to register even though I had it penciled in my calendar for weeks. The librarian put me on hold while she checked if there was still room for me. Really? Were they expecting a big crowd of people who like coloring? On Valentine's Day? She did take my registration, which was good because only then did I feel committed, propelled to take advantage of the opportunity.
When I arrived, I quietly asked the librarian for directions, a little embarrassed and shy. It felt weird asking where I could find the coloring room. I was directed to a big room with long tables and plenty of chairs. On a table in the front, sat a stack of drawings from a nature coloring book along with an abundance of colored pencils. A table in the back was set up with chocolate cake, strawberries and other goodies. The room was filled with friendly faces and the smell of chocolate. I was welcomed, offered a raffle ticket, and asked to help myself to drawings and pencils. After collecting my supplies, I naturally gravitated toward an empty table; a typical introvert move. A woman immediately invited me to join her at her table, which I did. She was very nice, and soon others joined the table as we introduced ourselves all around.
Not only was it fun and relaxing, I delighted in getting to know new people. Unlike cocktail parties, which entails forced social dialogue where you feel compelled to be witty and entertaining, quiet moments were not awkward because we were busy coloring. I also picked up news about other local activities that interest me; painting and cooking where I'm likely to see what will now be familiar faces, alleviating reservations to go on my own.
The best news is – surprise – I won the raffle! I left with a beautiful gel pen coloring kit.
Sometimes, we feel the urge to shift in a new direction. There's a sense that the tide is changing, the air a little cooler. Or maybe, things that were in flux have settled down a bit, leaving lingering thoughts about what's next. But when, how and in what direction to navigate is unclear. Coloring within the lines feels safe and comfortable; clean lines and solid hues. But in the kaleidoscope of life, a wide spectrum of changing colors offers diversion, new perspectives and pleasant surprises.


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2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon runny honey
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 knobs of butter
50g (13⁄4oz) rolled barley flakes
1 small garlic clove, bashed
4 small leeks, trimmed
5 or 6 thyme sprigs 1 bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper
First, make the dressing. Combine the mustard, honey and olive oil in a small bowl with a little salt and pepper, and set aside.
Melt half the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan over a medium heat, until it's gently bubbling. Add the barley flakes along with plenty of salt and pepper. Stir to coat the barley in the butter, add the garlic, then cook, shaking and stirring the pan regularly to ensure the flakes toast evenly. It should take about 6–8 minutes to crisp the flakes and bring out their fragrant aroma. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to barley from the hot butter to a plate lined with kitchen paper.
Cut away most of the darker green tops of the leeks (you can save them for making stock). Cut the remaining partsof the leeks into 2.5cm (1in) rounds on a slight angle. Give them a wash in plenty of water, but be careful not to break up the rounds too much.
Drain the leeks and place them in a shallow pan. Add the remaining butter, thyme sprigs and bay leaf and half a glass of water, and season well with salt and pepper. Place the lid on the pan and set
it over a medium heat. Bring the contents of the pan up to a very gentle simmer, then cook, covered, for 6–8 minutes, or until the leeks are tender. Drain the leeks in a colander and allow them to cool a little. Arrange the cooled leeks over a large serving platter, scatter over the toasted rolled barley and drizzle over the dressing. Serve straight away.


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Wishing you and your family a very Happy Diwali 🙂
Quinoa with Soya chunks and Veggies
Quinoa has excellent source of protein and fibre. I have been using it for a while now and tried different recipes with that. I used the Organic tricolour/white quinoa from Trader Joe's. Compared to the Indian sooji/broken wheat, I personally found Quinoa to be delicious. Buying this grain in India is expensive. The benefits of quinoa are available…


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When it comes to New Jersey Italian restaurants, there is no shortage of "red gravy," Neapolitan-style establishments. Especially in South Jersey it sometimes feels as though we are just an extension of South Philly's Italian stronghold, and Gloucester County in fact has one of the highest Italian populations in the state. Guillermo's Fine Italian Cuisine has two locations: one in Egg Harbor, and one I just recently visited in Pitman. I wasn't quite sure what to expect as my experience with Italian restaurants in New Jersey is quite variable, but overall I found Guillermo's a cut above average for the area. Solid food, huge portions, reasonably priced and in an attractive location, Guillermo's certainly is worth consideration and ranks well with the thick competition in the area.
I was first impressed with the atmosphere in Guillermo's as it was not at all what I was expecting. The main dining room is spacious with light-colored walls and table linens, and large windows looking out over Broadway. Pitman has done much to retain its old "Main Street" feel, and even though it was a Friday night we were able to be seated right away without a reservation. The neighboring theater was mid-show, so we were dining late enough to miss the early evening crunch for tables.
One oddity that struck me right away was how Guillermo's dealt with their BYOB wine service. I was asked before seating, right at the front hostess counter, if I needed help with my bottle of Chianti and basically shown to hand it over to the hostess before we were seated. This seemed strange. I'm used to bringing my bottle to the table and having it opened there for me – that way I can also make sure that the bottle is opened properly and the server doesn't mash up the cork or get bits of it in my bottle. Nevertheless, our bottle was returned – and opened properly that I could see – not too long after our being seated and presented with menus.
The dinner menu at Guillermo's is pretty much what you would expect at a South Jersey, traditional Italian restaurant. All the typical favorites are there among the appetizer and entree selections. Starters include fried calamari, clams casino, bruschetta and broccoli rabe, mostly all under $10 a plate. Pasta entrees include linguine, cappellini, penne, fettuccine, cheese raviolli, tortellini or gnocchi served in a choice of sauces, along with a few house specialties such as the Gnocchi Vincenzo (Potato gnocchi served in a spaghetti sauce with Romano and mozzarella cheeses). These are all under $15 unless featuring additional crab meat.
Other entrees feature chicken, veal and seafood in mostly traditional Italian-American preparations: think Parmigiana, Saltimbocca, Marsala, Scallopine and Piccante. Almost all dinner entrees are under $20 and what I didn't realize before ordering was that all came with soup and salad, not just one or the other (or neither, as nothing was noted on the menu about this fact.)
Since I didn't know two sets of starters would be coming, we ordered a plate of "Sal's Calamari" to start. This was a generous plate of fried calamari served with mozzarella and spinach in marinara sauce. I love good fried calamari and this was definitely up there, very tender and a nice change of pace served with the spinach and sauce. The soup of the day which came with our entrees was a tasty, large bowl of minestrone with white beans and more spinach – just spicy and salty enough, it barely needed a touch of pepper.
The bread at Guillermo's is also worthy of note: toasty and seasoned, similar to a garlic bread but fortunately for me, at least, not overloaded with actual garlic. Our house salads which followed were of the fairly standard iceberg/tomato/cucumber/carrot/crouton variety, but all ingredients were fresh enough and the croutons clearly house-made with that nice crusty bread again.
At this point I was nearly too full to even begin to enjoy my entree. Guillermo's doesn't believe in small portions of anything and my plate of Pasta Pescatore in Red Sauce was overflowing with mussels, shrimp, calamari and scallops. This dish is one of my standards for testing out an Italian kitchen and overall the preparation here stood up pretty well. I appreciated that the red sauce was flavorful without being loaded with excessive garlic, a problem I have with a lot of Italian-American food. The mussels were a little on the small side but all the other seafood was fresh and of high quality, not overcooked at all.
My companions both had two other seafood dishes, including a special pasta of the day featuring salmon and sun dried tomatoes in a cream sauce over penne. The sample I tasted was delicious but very heavy – I don't think I could have eaten more than a small appetizer sized plate of it. "Debbie's Special Salmon" featured a large piece of salmon stuffed with Italian cream cheese and spinach, topped with parmesan bread crumbs and baked. Actually it seemed the breadcrumbs were mostly in a pile to the side of the fish and rather unnecessary anyway, as the salmon was just fine without them.
All meat and seafood entrees at Guillermo's come with a side of pasta in marinara sauce. It might be nice if a vegetable side dish was offered as an alternative as well. As it was, I couldn't barely finish perhaps a third of my dinner entree, but I will say my seafood pasta tasted even better the next day gently reheated – the flavors had mellowed and blended extremely well.
After boxing up our leftovers, our waitress returned with a not especially inspiring dessert tray featuring four typical offerings: tiramisu, cheesecake, and two other cakes. We were far too full to even look very closely at them and stuck with coffee. Our total bill for three people before tip was about $75, quite reasonable given we'd each had a seafood entree and a large appetizer to share.
One last little quirk with Guillermo's we discovered was we had to bring our bill up to the front counter to settle up, instead of having our waitress handle it at the table. A minor strangeness, perhaps, but I don't understand why they do this as it makes the place feel more like a casual diner than the elegant restaurant for which they seem to be striving.
Overall, I'd certainly return to Guillermo's again to try more of their menu offerings. The food was fresh, certainly generous, and while not earth shattering or inspirational it was good enough as quality Italian-American comfort food. Guillermo's would be a good place for a group as well as for a couple looking for a quiet and relaxing date-night location.
Guillermo's Fine Italian Dining
47 South Broadway
Pitman, NJ 08071
Phone: 856-589-5000
Monday – Thursday, 4:00pm – 9:00pm
Friday, Saturday, 4:00pm – 10:00pm
Sunday, 3:00pm – 9:00pm
BYOB only. Cash, checks and credit cards accepted.