Feng Shui Demystified {by Feng Shui Manhattan}

I am totally intrigued by Feng Shui. I don't have much knowledge about it but I've always been curious- Can it promise me health? Wealth? Successful relationships? Advance my career? Solve all my problems? Instantly make me a billionaire?? Although I'm pretty sure Feng Shui can't magically make these things occur in my life, what can it do?

Who better to explain Feng Shui (from the beginning) than Laura Cerrano, founder of Feng Shui Manhattan. Ms. Cerrano has over 14 years of experience as a corporate and residential Feng Shui consultant and is guest blogging today for Inside Garden City. 

“Feng Shui” (fung sh-way), keep that pronunciation in mind and the words will flow out of your mouth with ease.  The literal translation of Feng Shui means Wind and Water, the essence of life and transformation.

Now that we have a bearing on how to pronounce Feng Shui, What is it?  The practice of this ancient art form dates back about 6,000 years. The core principles pull from spiritual teachings taught throughout India, China and Tibet, as to name a few.

Novita

GC restaurant frequenters have probably been to Novita before. It's located on the strip of Franklin Ave which is GC's version of "restaurant row." A perfect location to grab cocktails with friends.  

Novita had a lively bar scene when I was there on a recent Friday night with great music as well. Decor was upscale without being overdone. We had to wait at the bar for a bit for our table, even though we had a reservation (some kind of issue with their cell phone notification system). Whether this was intentional or not, their comprehensive wine list kept us busy while waiting. They had a really nice selection of French, Italian and California wines-- you could pretty much find a bottle for any occasion. If you're not up for wine, a glimpse of the drink menu showed an array of yummy-sounding martinis, like the Nutella or Limoncello martinis. Also a not-too-shabby beer menu- Magic Hat, New Castle, Dogfish and many more. Now, onto the food.

I must admit that I'm a bread girl who really appreciates good quality bread- thick and crusty on the outside with a soft interior... in case you were wondering. The Italian bread put out on the table was surprisingly good, however the waitress was unable to tell us which bakery it was from (even after some pleading). Having been spoiled by delicious bread in Hoboken, the Bronx and NYC and still on  the search for the same high quality bread in suburgatory, it may be worth a little more detective work to smoke out the source of Novita's bread. I'm always a fan of olive oil on the table too- leave the butter behind.  

Feldis Florist Shows a Little Love: Local V-Day gifts Part II

'Tis the season... of love. Ok, so flowers may not be the most original gift for Valentine's Day but in terms of being romantic, not much can beat a beautiful bouquet of sweet smelling blossoms. And Feldis Florist on 7th St. in GC is taking it up a notch this year. I stopped in there a couple of times this week and they have been hard at work every day preparing for V-Day and it shows.

"How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?" Julia Child

Great bread is hard to find. Moving from NYC to Hoboken wasn't too much of a change- still lots of great restaurants, bars, pizza, etc... But moving from Hoboken to Long Island- not as easy- in the food department, that is. Old school Italian bakeries and delis are no longer every few blocks as they were in Hoboken. While I've been hunting for the best local pizza since I moved to GC, I've also been searching for some good Italian bread. Real, hand-made brick oven bread; not the kind you buy at the supermarket that tastes like Kleenex. So when a friend said Cardinale's in Carle Place is the best bakery in Nassau County, I knew I would be visiting soon.

Establishing Order

Who's had it with snow, cold, ice, artic temperatures and short days? I know I have. And since that slightly irritating groundhog predicted six more weeks of winter, looks like we have plenty of time to stay inside and organize ourselves. Today, Mary Carlomagno, professional organizer and author, is here to help us step up our game in that department. She is the owner of Order, a company that specializes in clutter control. You may have seen Mary in one of her many TV (including Oprah!), magazine or newspaper appearances.  She has also written numerous books on the topic. My personal fave is "Give It Up! My Year Of Learning To Live Better With Less". A link to her bio is below. Thank you to all who emailed us your organizing challenges for Mary. 

1. Our organizing dilemma is that we recently relocated from a larger house in TX to G.C. We love our new home and recently had the basement finished to aid with storage of some of our things, But we are still struggling with a jig-saw puzzle of where to unpack some boxes due to lack of space from boxes that remain unpacked…Any ideas would be appreciated.

Mary: When starting an organizing project, it is important to set out a staging area, so if you need to clear out the space entirely do so, even if you have to move some things to another room.  Start with a blank space and then assess what you need the most first.  Top priority items should go in first and get top real estate.  Before you go out and buy storage boxes, make sure that what you are storing and keeping is what you actually use.