JC Swift, Your Style Cultivator

Image Credit: metmuseum.org

As the weather turns colder, museums offer us a warm environment to enjoy all kinds of landscapes. The Metropolitan Museum of Art currently features an exhibition by 1950′s photographer Robert Frank. Robert Frank’s work was initially criticized- but he soon became known as a master of street photography. ”Looking In: Robert Frank’s The Americans“ documents Frank’s 1955-56 road trip across the U.S., and has received a lot of attention from bloggers.

Other noteworthy NYC museums include the Museum of the City of New York, the Bronx Museum of the Arts and The Paley Center for Media.

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Unconditional love and steadfast devotion deserve to be rewarded, and what better way to do that than with a wholesome, organic treat! Dog treat, that is. The organic food craze has firmly planted itself in American society, so its only natural that man’s best friend would want to get in on the craze. recipes4gourmetdogs.com offers a great list of organic dog treats, featuring a few of my furry pal’s favorites by Newman’s Own and the Dog Whisperer.

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If your email address was set up by your grand children, you might be better off than those who created their account back in 1996 and are stuck with a moniker like pinkkitty76849@hotmail.com. But you surely won’t appear as professional as those with their own domain. In any case, your email address says a lot about you to the important people in your address book. Accounts like AOL and Hotmail are indicative of someone who’s behind the times. Gmail accounts and .edu accounts from your alma mater are ok, but those with personal URLs look decidedly more professional. Take a look at this post for some email dos and don’ts when it comes to setting up your account.

No matter how honed your communication skills may be, there is much to be considered when speaking with others virtually. For example, it’s appropriate to type URGENT or IMPORTANT in the subject line, no matter how pressing a matter may be, and as always, it’s best to be concise and to the point. Take a look at a great list of email rules at this fantastic etiquette site emailreplies.com as well as this site from Purdue University’s writing website.

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Looking good for both men and women starts with excellent grooming. A great site for male grooming is Men’s Health, offering an extensive list of grooming products and suggestions for pulling it all together. Beauty products for women are not as hard to come by- often it’s more about narrowing down one’s wish list. Beauty Brains is an excellent resource to help sort through all the hype. If you want products that work just as well for men and women, check out Malin + Getz as featured above.

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Image Credit: travelblissful.com

If you ask most New Yorkers their favorite season, they will say fall. For starters, fall fashion means means everything from tights to cashmere sweaters- and Central Park’s golden leaves are always breathtaking. As a testament to the astronomical number of activities that are available, check out Time Out New York’s 101 things to do in New York City in the fall. Visiting the Shake Shack and the Central Park Zoo are two fall activities that I look forward to all year.

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It’s definitely easier to leave your warm blankets on a cold winter morning when there’s a hearty, home-style breakfast to look forward to. The newest breakfast trend is frozen or pre-made gourmet food, like the Bouchon Bakery Yeasted Waffle Mix from Williams-Sonoma. WS offers other hassle-free delicacies for every meal including Ad Hoc Fried Chicken Kit, tiramisu, and croissants. If you’re feeling particularly inspired, you can mix and store your own dry ingredients to bring expediency (and a dash of thrift) to a boil in your epicurean adventures.

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With winter rapidly approaching, it helps to have a few good books ready for fireside enjoyment. The website What Should I Read Next is an excellent resource for your next great book. You simply type in the title of the last book you enjoyed, and the site will provide a list of suggestions you can sink your teeth into… or bypass. From this list I found such gems as Armies of the Night by Norman Mailer and Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut. Its fun to compare search results with friends.

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Image Credit: Band of Outsiders

This autumn it’s time to get back to work. I noticed a resurgence of jackets during Paris Fashion Week– notably menswear appropriated as women’s fashion.

You can reinvent an old staple by dressing up any black blazer, or try an oversized version like the one from Band of Outsiders for cool and confident style. Worn with a scarf, blazers exude Parisian chic.

Find your fall trends cheat sheet on Style.com and the Huffington Post.

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