All pictures by Travis Yednak and my personal iPhone
This home is where I first caught on that the universe gives one everything that they need. I left public life in 2012 and at the end of the year rode my bicycle around the island of Islamorada and happened upon this gem. A four-bedroom, four-bathroom home with another living room and kitchen in the downstairs enclosure, plus, a loft office. The house has been renovated since I lived here in 2013 before moving into the luxury City Loft in Cleveland. Here is a slideshow. The furnishings and furniture are atrocious and this is not what the space looked like when I occupied the rooms. But the open-floor concept and location, in a sweet little neighborhood halfway between Miami and Key West, is a seller.
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Don’t you love the aquarium feature in the staircase? This place is where I met the Olympic-medal draped swim coach, Jon Olsen, at Founders Park.
The same park where I revisited my love affair with the tennis courts.
.. and swimming in the open ocean.
Unexpected, lifelong friendships were formed.
and many, many Morada Bay Full Moon parties were attended.
I designed a dress or two…
…and immersed myself into the study of theology and Catholicism.
The master bedroom was actually my yoga and fitness studio where my massage therapist would also set up.
How can you not want to live here? Get yourself a convertible and start Living the Dream! The place is for sale and needs a stylish touch to match the vibe of this posh island paradise.
Why would I ever leave…? This is also the home where I learned some believe that its ok for others to do ok, just not better than them. Success is for everyone. As I’ve just shown you there is an abundance in the universe. Go get some.
Besides my 1st Generation iPad from Holiday 2010, loaded with Kindle and The ChesterJosie Style for the Home faux fireplace, (that story here) there are several fundamentals which have made my holiday on glacial ground splendrous. For the perfect cup of cocoa I am spooning up heaping servings of Godiva Dark. I took off on nearly all of my evening hike’s with a cup. Dark chocolate is a powerful source of antioxidants. Underneath one of four pairs of boots I’m rotating I went with Made in the USA boot socks from Amelia’s Organic Legwear from The Kroger Co. They’re super soft and offer the right amount of added warmth, plus stay up! I picked a pair up in every color.
On my face I have been applying a coat of Sarah McNamara’s Skin Transformer Miracle balm on at night and again in the morning. The soothing scent is described as a warm botanical aroma. When the winds are whipping up I apply another layer of Elizabeth Arden’s Eight Hour Cream on top; namely as a protective shield on my cheeks.
Note: This ointment is safe to rub on the bottom of your pup’s paws to shield from ice scrapes.
These items keep me healthy and happy when the elements have the potential to wreak havoc on an otherwise healthy system. Plus, I could never wait to get home to curl up under The Chester faux fireplace in layers of down. I added the Pedastal Space Heater by Lasko that provides 1500 watts of comforting warmth.
A fast from chocolate didn’t last this season once the region was pummeled with the white stuff. Instead I splurged on a close to a pound of powdery Godiva Chocolatier Dark Chocolate Hot Cocoa. Touted as “luxuriously rich”, this confection made my two-walks a day with the puppy dog into the tundra hours to look forward to.
So simple to make. Boil almond milk or regular milk (I used the microwave) in a favorite (microwaveable) mug. Add two heaping scoops of powder and stir, stir, stir. The powder has a tendency to stick to the spoon. Keep at the task at hand until the powder dissolves.
The reason I said microwaveable…
We have these vintage Looney Toons coffee mugs to celebrate the Chevy Chase Christmas Vacation we all know we’ve had! Remember he was swinging one of these around the office! These can not be microwaved! They’re so festive and fun. Simpy heat your milk on the stove and then whisk in the powder. For the whipped cream I make this fresh every day. Keep a stainless steel bowl in the freezer or refrigerator and then top your cocoa or coffee and add sprinkles.
The mercury will barely be in the double-digit range today across Coastal Ohio and the Lake Erie Islands. There is a wind advisory and the sun is shining! Cold weather and ice doesn’t have to equate to all out inquietude. Find glee in the gear. Here’s what I can’t live without for these next couple of weeks starting with my first generation iPad.
The iPad was given to me as a Holiday 2010 gift. I use as a Kindle for reading. I just downloaded three new books last night including Settle for More by Fox anchorwoman Megyn Kelly. $9.99 gives readers a month of unlimited downloads.
Snuggle up and read or rest on a feather top mattress topper. This one is from LL Bean. The added warmth and fluffy feather fill keep feelings of being frigid at bay. Cover with more down for added icing of comfort.
Next to the bed I have a Josie Style for the Home white faux fireplace. Here the hearth not only emits ambiance, the furniture acts as a bookcase, and this time of year is appropriate for knitted stockings (twenty-year vintage Macy’s). (Stocking holders are vintage Kroger Co.) Originally designed for space in Chester Avenue Lofts in downtown Cleveland to fill in blank space, this home element, The Chester Fireplace equals upscale Ohio.
Semplice, delizioso and the perfetto after-dinner digestivo!!!
Everyone colto and sofisticato knows they have found themselves at the dinner party of all holiday dinner parties when a bottle of homemade Limoncello is brought out once the dishes are cleared. Limoncello won’t burn the stomach and isn’t sickly sweet.
This delicacy is the second most popular drink on the Almalfi Coast second only to Campari. According to Walks of Italy no one knows specifically where Limoncello originated just that this distinct drink was clearly sent from the heavens. So, it makes sense to think its origins are in a convent or monastery.
Drinking digestives after a meal can be traced back to the ancient Romans. Hippocrates, a Greek physician of the age of Pericles, indulged after meals as a way to assist his digestion. (Again that information from Walks of Italy).
On the Lake Erie Islands, resort owner, developer, and former City of Euclid Council President Ed Gudenas realized he had an entire case of lemons left over from a sensational summer season. A few moments of researching made us realize these leftover lemons were going to realize a holiday spectacular of spirits typically forgotten.
The reason it is so important to make this now: time is of the essence. The peels need time to steep to release the oils. The more time, the more potent your potion.
Here is what you need. We used the recipe from Food Network’s Giada De Laurentiis from her Everyday Italian show Summers in Capri episode and adapted the infusion time.
Removing the rinds and pith from the lemons is time indulgent. Some suggest using a vegetable peeler. After two batches I determined the easiest way to approach this task is to cut the lemon in half, remove the seeds and squeeze all of the juice out into a container to later use for lemon water.
Then, pull the majority of the pith out with your fingers. Lay the rind flat on top of a cutting board. With a small vegetable knife begin whittling away the remaining pith.
Aim for extracting as many of the little white bubbles as possible. Set aside in a dish.
Once ready with all ten lemons add them to the container and soak in a favorite vodka spirit.
Once vodka is poured over the peels, cover with plastic wrap and push back into the corner where sunlight won’t reach the container.
Infuse for at least four days. The majority of the infusion happens in these days and even this short timeframe will fructify a flavorful refreshment. More days make for a more bold blend. Take up to a month for the infusion.
When ready, create the simple syrup.
Bring to a gentle low boil while stirring the water and sugar together continuously to dissolve. Once sugar granules can not be seen turn off the heat and move to a cooling place. Let cool completely and once the sugary swig is back to room temperature incorporate into the infused vodka. Let stand overnight.
The next day, grab your bottles and begin to fill with gioia.
I placed a mesh sifter over a glass pitcher and poured the vodka and simple syrup into this container. The spout on the glass pitcher made transfer of the Limoncello into the bottles an ease. Seal and refrigerate.
I purchased multiple sizes from local craft and outlet stores. The tags and ninety-nine cent ribbon is available at Hobby Lobby. I picked out the eye-popping Red Quatrefoil Grosgrain and Red Striped Satin Ribbons available in the scrapbook section to make memorable tags.
Recipients will be exultant they are not being presented with another paper plate of cookies. These bottles are ideal to gift to your ring of professional associates such as your realtor, banker, investment manager, bartenders, and public relations managers. Plus, aunts, uncles and cousins will enjoy the effort.
Having a bottle in your own home adds a nice touch of cheer you already have to offer guests. Serve in chilled cordial or shot glasses. Buone Feste my friends!
Josie in an award-winning journalist and tenured lifestyle reporter. Her southeastern European roots are that of the Adriatic and Black Seas.
Thanksgiving is upon us. Which has many wondering and thinking about how to enjoy the season and all of the flavors that accompany the yearly family feast around the table without guilt, added weight, or overindulgence.
Simply cut out the calories before the day. Do this NOW while we’re still over one week away.
I realize the thought of being hungry or missing out on the mid-day munch fest of candy and carbs sends pains through most people’s bodies.
I detox. A lot. At least three times a year for six weeks straight. Coffee, chocolate, meats, and cheese are all cut out. Tossed to the curb.
Here’s the snack that transitions my body and cravings from starvation and survival mode to, “Hey world! I’m feeling spectacular!”
Take a large bowl and mix together the nuts, seeds, coconut flakes, rolled oats and lemon zest. The only work here is taking the seeds out of the Butternut Squash. But, I figured since most of us eat Spaghetti Squash anyway … might as well make use of those seeds. One Squash produces six tablespoons of seeds.
I scraped the seeds out of both halves of the squash and tossed them in a colander mesh and continued to separate the seeds from the vegetable continuously until they were all laid out and drying on a dish cloth.
You don’t have to do this. You can easily buy pumpkin and or sunflower seeds. I didn’t have any in the house and happened to be making Spaghetti Squash for dinner.
Zest the lemon. Approximately three-quarters of the peel of one lemon goes into this. If you don’t feel like zesting, squeeze and save the lemon juice and remove the insides and the pith then cut the peel up into tiny, tiny pieces.
I save all lemon juice to add later to water. Melt the two tablespoons of coconut oil and mix separately in a bowl with the honey. Grease a glass pan with coconut oil. Mix the oil and honey into the bowl with the nuts and seeds before transferring to baking dish greased with coconut oil.
Bake at 350 degrees, cool and refrigerate overnight. The following day remove from the fridge and cut into one by one inch cubes. Or, if you choose to use a rectangle glass baking dish you can cut these into bar form. Just look at the texture. The taste is thrilling.
I scooped them out of the dish with a spoon and arranged on a snack tray.
When I first started noshing on these bite sized snacks that pack a powerful punch of nutrition and flavor I purchased a tiny container of about fifteen pieces in the produce section at Cleveland’s downtown Heinen’s for $5.99. Wash down with an entire liter of San Pellegrino, Perrier, or lemon water for true benefits of feeling full and fresh. Play around with the nuts and added ingredients. If raisins are your rage stir them in. Crushin’ on cranberries? Add them in! The ingredient that gives this dish the zing is the lemon zest. Orange would add the same oompf to give these nutritious nut bites a citrus kick.
I thought about drizzling melted caramel into the pan to kick this up a notch, but I already went all-out with that sugary snack here and this is all about the once dreaded detox.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and healthy eater enthusiast.
My last stop at the market sent me looking for all of the ingredients to make my favorite fall foods; sharp white cheddar grilled cheese on sour dough, chili, caramel apples covered in nuts, and ingredients for homemade pumpkin spiced latte.
On site with TV 88 in the Florida Keys I presented a Cuban version of this caffeine delicacy made with Cafe Bustelo.
I have tried this using Nestle Carnation Evaporated Milk and added two teaspoons of sugar, versus just one (when using sweetened condensed milk.) I’ve also pumped up the pumpkin spice to 1/4 of a teaspoon.
I’m starting to break down the 33-acre energy field nestled on 500-acres of family farm on Route 51 on the Coastal Ohio Trail.
This location popped up on my iPhone6 screen with two taps of the MindBody app. I entered “Explore”, “Fitness”, then “Yoga”. The screen led me to Prajna Consciousness and after two attempts to locate the property on the west side outskirts of Genoa, Ohio, I knew there was a story.
The studio sits against vast fields.
A trip down the unpaved driveway leads visitors and yogis to their journey before they can put the car in park and turn the ignition off.
How fitting to work on this piece on June 21, 2016 International Yoga Day 2016.
Before we delve into the deep discussion of consciousness, energy fields, the students and the owner, Heather Zeller, I feel a lesson in the lingo of the land of yoga, Sanskrit, associated with the country of India dating back 6,000 years, is an absolute necessity.
Explains Zeller, “Sanskrit is the oldest language on the planet and is also based off of mathematics and vibration. The sounds are not necessarily based on phonics. There is an energetic principal that lies in Sanskrit.”
Plus, one of the students I will profile is a former U.S. Marine
I felt her terminology, too, is necessary to expand on.
Prajna Consciousness Dictionary
Bhagavad Gita: a 700-verse Hindu scripture that presents the synthesis of the concept of Dharma. Ancient Indian text written between 400 and 200 BC as a guide to spiritual realization
Bindi: a red ornamental dot worn or tattooed in the center of a woman’s forehead between her eyebrows, most commonly in India, and is of vast importance reminding the self and others focus is on the spiritual journey versus the material connecting to the third-eye center
Dharma: law or doctrine of Buddhism that believes we are all subject to the principle of cosmic order
Divisa: Lord, God
Epigentics: belief we can change our genetic (DNA) programming based on our environment and energies we are attracting and projecting rather than being subject to creation programming via our conception
Equanimity: mental calmness and composure in a difficult, stressful, and or trying situation
Grunt: U.S. Marine Corp slang for Ground Unit
Jehovah Nissi: translation: the Lord is my banner
Jyotisha: the Hindu system of astrology to track and predict energetic movements with astrology
Karma: destiny or fate due to personal behavior and actions
Krishna: Lord God in the Bhagavad Gita, the embodiment of love and divine joy, born to establish the Religion of Love
Lakshmi: the Hindu goddess of wealth, prosperity and fortune, an active energy source and wife of Lord Vishnu
Mala Tulsi: equal to the Rosary beads of India, these wooden beaded necklaces are made with sacred wood of the Hindu religion and worn by yogis and yoginis for protection and to worship Vishnu, Krishna and Ram
Metaphysical Counseling: guidance from a higher source of power to guide us through life
Om: the sound of creation, known as the first sound in Sanskrit, belief we are aligning with and connecting with the highest part of our consciousness
Parris Island: site of Marine Corps boot camp training since 1915 located within Port Royal, South Carolina
POG Life: U.S. Marine Corps terminology meaning Person Other than Grunt
Reiki: a healing technique based on the principle that the therapist can channel energy into the patient by means of touch, to activate the natural healing processes of the patient’s body and restore physical and emotional well-being
Raga: personal impurity or fundamental of character
Rose of Sharon: first appears in English in 1611 in the King James Version of the Bible in Solomon Chapter 1 Verse 2 speaker says, “I am the Rose of Sharon, the lily of the valley”
Sarcophagus: from the Greek language defined as flesh-eating or outer layer of protection such as a coffin or decorated body art containing representations of the deceased
Shanti: Sankrit for peace
Song of Solomon: celebration of sexual love, two lovers praising and yearning for each other
Tuefel Hunden: motivational nickname in the U.s Marine Corps translated to Devil Dog
22 Foundation: Non-profit organization and suicide-prevention program designed for military and former military members and their families coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Military Sexual Trauma, and Combat Stress Reduction
Josie is a former TV anchorwoman and award-winning journalist. She has USF course credit in Religions of India, studied Catholicism on the island of Islamorada and spent two years studying theology through Cleveland’s St. John’s Cathedral
Coming up on this International Yoga Day
“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.” – Nikola Te …
I don’t have a Olan Mills-type Hallmark appropriate photo to share from the Father’s Day festivities 2016.
I attempted to take several pictures but they aren’t “postable” quality. Me and my Dad’s initial plans went something like this, “I’ll be out on the island so catch the ferry to Put-In-Bay. I’ll meet you for Mass at the Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church, we’ll have lunch then I have to return to another island and you can go to your sisters for a late lunch at three with everyone else.”
That suggestion soon changed and I was able to book a ferry ride with my car to the mainland and appear at my Dad’s sisters by six o’clock.
The day felt more like “spoil our cousin living on an island this summer” versus Father’s Day with the spread of food and delightful family atmosphere bonded by decades of sleepovers, celebrations, camp outs, hardships, babies, weddings, graduations, and endless parties from the Florida Keys to Marblehead.
I had left a homemade card and Pierre Cardin handkerchiefs embroidered with a “D” for my Dad the Wednesday before on his dining room table not knowing if we’d be able to connect on this Hallmark Sunday reserved for Dads.“D” is for Dad.
Two people were missing from this summer Sunday Soiree nestled in the suburbs of Cleveland where the entire region awaited the eight o’clock hour to strike and for LeBron to take center stage in those Nikey high tops highlighted with a gold foil swoosh.
My older brother and his wife Kate. They stayed on the islands of the Florida Keys to work on a flooring project and shipped their two babies via Delta to Coastal Ohio for summer fun in tolerable sunshine.
Those babies are my two nephews, Joshua and Joseph.
Our slogan is, “If your name ain’t J-O-S we don’t want any.”
They know me affectionately as their “Daddy’s baby sister.” The youngest, age three-and-a-half refused to acknowledge he is my baby nephew, but let me scoop him up in my arms anyway. The second, my brother and sister-in-law’s biological birth child didn’t let me touch him. No hugs were given. I was barely acknowledged.
This was, and has always been his MO, and I was familiar with his boundaries. He knows I was there in the hospital the day he was born, on a remote tropical island fifteen-hundred miles away from family with just enough civilization to keep one sane and entertained. On this day, he watched intently as the little girls in the family ran up to me to be held and kissed, basking in the glory of abundant love.
Sooner than usual, the boundaries relaxed a little. I reminded myself they had traveled across the country and then, across the state for this Father’s Day 2016.
Josh played outside with his cousins and accumulated enough dirt on his gigantic bare feet and under his toenails to serve as a reminder we had a Tom Sawyer-type soul on our hands. A boy accustomed to exploring, travel, and adventure.
In the blink of an eye and one dessert plate later, tears were in his eyes, blood ran from his fingers and he stood wailing with a black Raskullz helmet on his head. He had smashed his fingers in the garage trying to extract a scooter and tore the skin from his growing fingers fashioned in the exact same shape as his mother’s. A DNA wonder I noticed as soon as he was wheeled into a room for me and my brother to see. I ran to him to scoop him up and couldn’t lift him. I recalled the times my older brother would yell at me, “Josie, you need to go work. Go collect!” he was ready to strangle me.
Then would question me, “Are you going to work today?”
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I no longer had interest in making money. The appeal of anchoring the evening news had lost all of its luster once the life of my little nephew was confirmed.
I knew the time would come where I couldn’t scoop him up. He’d be too big.
So, I walked him into the bathroom. Rinsed his fingers. He screamed and shaked his hands, the helmet remained on his head adding to the intense drama including blood that had splattered all over his khaki shorts. We were joined by my Dad’s sister’s little girl, and her older brother’s littlest girl. There in the bathroom I sat on the toilet and pulled Joshua onto my lap. My cousin comforted him and doctored the wound with two neon green Band-aids. We wiped the tears.
He then took a beating on the couch by his little brother. His nose swelled from crying.
The moments are nothing resembling an Olan Mills quality. They’re real.
On this Father’s Day 2016 family, love and more unforgettable moments are abound.I can’t say enough glowing compliments about my Dad. He is a modern-day saint and overly devoted family man.
On this Father’s Day 2016 I can say that my brother is a dream many wed and unwed women yearn for. I watch him be a role model for all of the other males on a tiny island somewhere between Miami and Key West. I watch him go without so his wife and children can have everything. I listen to him reason and sway unreasonable children. I’ve heard him get up in the middle of the night, again and again and again to comfort his crying boys. He knows how to shower, diaper, dress, potty-train, educate and love them. He is always home for dinner and there’s always a three-course meal on the table. One of the boys is adopted. He too was clearly formed in the womb to be part of our family.
My older brother’s employees adore him, the community rallies around him and he always makes sure everyone gets paid.
“Everyone always gets a paycheck,” seven-year old Joshua Koler triumphantly relayed to me. “There isn’t anything more my Daddy loves to do than give everyone a paycheck.”
Thanks Jason. For giving men everywhere a business manager, father, husband and brother to look up to. Happy Father’s Day to you. We love you, Kate and the baby nephews.
Josie is a former tv anchorwoman and award-winning journalist. At one point she was her brother’s business partner and glorified nanny to his first-born.
The last time I was asked if I had any request from the grocery store my reply was, “Yes! Hershey’s Unsweetened Cocoa Powder from the baking section.”
I’ve become smitten making anything and everything made sweet with that unsweetened staple. The powdery product is so potent with caffeine after consuming just half of a teaspoon in any fashion makes me feel as though I just threw back three shots of bucci and have the energy to walk a puppy, clean the house and write a fluffy dining feature about whatever strikes my fancy. Enjoy an extra kick if you chase one of these magic Mounds Candy Bar-like concoctions with the Cuban espresso.
Mounds, made by Hershey’s for nearly one-century, consists of a “filling” made with shredded coconut enrobed in dark chocolate. The package contains about 260 calories, 30 grams of carbohydrates and 10 milligrams of caffeine plus 24 grams of sugar. The processed sugar will undoubtedly give any overzealous eater enough power to swim like Diana Nyad through a pool of jellyfish and sharks before collapsing in a sugar coma on the nearest beach.
(You can read more about this determined woman here in my 2013 interview where she was pulled from the ocean while swimming the Florida Straights).
Back to the task at hand. Grab your favorite mixing bowl and first stir these ingredients together and microwave for 45 seconds.
1/2 Cup of Brown Sugar
2 T of Dark Cocoa Powder
2 T of Water
3 T of Coconut Oil
The mixture will bubble. Once this happens stir in these ingredients next.
1 Cup of Rolled Oats
1/2 Cup of Shredded Coconut
Pinch of Salt
1/2 Teaspoon of Vanilla
1/3 Cup of Peanut Butter
For the 1/3 C of Peanut Butter I used creamy for half of the third and filled the rest of the measuring cup up with this PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter. Made with peanuts, salt and sugar this product is so easy to use, especially in smoothies, and has 85 percent less fat.
Drop onto a cookie sheet lined with waxed paper in one-inch balls and sprinkle with more shredded coconut flakes. I used Bob’s Red Mill Unsweetened Shredded Coconut. The entire process takes about twelve minutes.
The batch makes 20 cookies.
Just as Mounds was marketed in the 1970s as “Indescribably Delicious” these 2016 Cocoa Coconut No Bake drop cookies; an adaptation of the Minimalist Baker’s version, which contain almond milk instead of water, are made mainly with old-fashioned rolled oats. This batch in particular is laced with a powdered peanut butter to make them, once again, indescribably delicious.
For the next round I’m adding an ingredient to turn this healthy, heavenly treat into Almond Joy.
Josie is an award-winning journalist and former TV anchorwoman. Lately her luxe lifestyle consists of caring for a Labrador Puppy in Coastal Ohio and adding healthy twists to long-time favorites in the kitchen.
and many, many Morada Bay Full Moon parties were attended.
Why would I ever leave…? This is also the home where I learned some believe that its ok for others to do ok, just not better than them. Success is for everyone. As I’ve just shown you there is an abundance in the universe. Go get some.
When I first started noshing on these bite sized snacks that pack a powerful punch of nutrition and flavor I purchased a tiny container of about fifteen pieces in the produce section at Cleveland’s downtown Heinen’s for $5.99. Wash down with an entire liter of San Pellegrino, Perrier, or lemon water for true benefits of feeling full and fresh. Play around with the nuts and added ingredients. If raisins are your rage stir them in. Crushin’ on cranberries? Add them in! The ingredient that gives this dish the zing is the lemon zest. Orange would add the same oompf to give these nutritious nut bites a citrus kick.
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