Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Unconditional love.

Welcome back everyone!   I have to say, writing my weekly blog has become one of my favorite high points of the week.  Let's get started...

Can anyone tell me where pure unconditional love with absolutely no judgement usually comes from?…Anyone?..Our pets, of course.

I'm a dog person myself.  Working three jobs, which I love, can sometimes be very stressful.   People can be very mean and cunning.  The outside world as you all know can make you feel alone and isolated, but coming home to my doggie is the highlight of my day.

The more I am around these smart and intelligent animals, the more I am able to gain perspective in my life as a whole.   Dauphine is my latest angel, but there were three that came before her.  When my baby Joplyn (a pooley) passed it was very hard to replace her until Joplyn II and Colbert (named after one of my favorite french actresses, Claudette Colbert) came into my life.  These pooley's were my pride and joy.  They had a way of making all outside distractions go away and now the same goes for Dauphine.  She is so smart that the word "out" needs to spelled otherwise she knows and you do not want that.  This little poodle is no push over and her feistiness keeps me on my toes.  I am forever indebted to her for the unconditional love she shows me day in and day out.

We can learn a very valuable lesson from our pets.  That's non-judgement and the purest love possible.  Can we carry this same kind of love over to our fellow man?  I pray that we can.  Because God knows we need this now more then ever.

So, let's take a play from the animals book and be the best person to ourselves and others, Simonton Say's.

Till next time.

George


Sunday, March 16, 2014

From one dreamer to another.

Welcome back friends, fans, fashionista's and the like!

As I've gotten older I find myself in a constant state of reflection.  Whether it's on the three hour car ride from NYC to Pennsylvania for my shows on QVC, or walking on the streets of Manhattan - what is it about getting older that makes us appreciate the simple stuff?  It goes back to what my beautiful mother instilled in me and to this day I've carried her words with me in both my personal and professional endeavors.  Her words, "Love of God, Love of family and friends, and a passion for your work and you'll never go wrong."  Her faith was my inspiration and her work ethic was my motivation.  I can honestly say that living this way has brought me great satisfaction and peace.

Touching lives is what brings me the most joy and one way I get to do that is through teaching.  Sharing all my years of  knowledge and experience is truly rewarding.  My students mean the world to me and I want them to all be successful.  My goal is to help them cultivate a sense of dignity and joy in their work.  I see them as an extension of me and who I once was.

You see, I was a poor boy from Brooklyn.  A dreamer and a lover of beauty.  It was all types of beauty whether from nature, my loving doggies, both past and present, my eclectic apartment in Manhattan or my safe haven in Long Island.  I was and still am stimulated by all my surroundings.  

In this day and age society seems to be consumed with material possessions (i.e. cars, clothes, jewelry, money, etc.).  Now don't get me wrong, I love me some clothing and jewelry - heck I'm a designer!  But we must keep that stuff in perspective.  At the end of the day that stuff doesn't matter and won't make you happy.  Happiness comes from within and should never be chased outwardly.  

So, to all my dreamers out there, young or old, please never stop dreaming.  I encourage all of you to work hard, persevere, be patient, and keep the faith, and I know that all your dreams will come true, Simonton Says.  Because if this boy from Brooklyn can do it, so can you.

Till next time.

Love,

George

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Spring Forward.

Welcome back everyone!  I'm glad you can join me for blog #3.

Spring is just around the corner and after a brutal NYC winter I can feel the changes on a cellular level.  

My insecurities begin to creep up, as they always do, right around this time of year.  No more hiding behind the many layers of clothing.  Winter, in a sense, is my salvation.  It allows me to turn away and hide from the flabby arms, belly and tush.  The stresses of work, QVC, and the daily grind force me to reach for my guilty pleasures, my comfort foods.  Haagen Dazs' Coffee ice cream is my drug of choice and Pizza from Joe's down in the village is my second pick.  However, quite often they both go hand in hand; pizza for dinner and then back to my apt for a little R&R - just me, my pint of Haagen Daz and Entertainment Tonight.

Just when I'm about to take that last spoonful of ice cream out comes the baseball bat (the inner critic). Its time to beat myself up.  Here we go again.  Another pity party and I'm the star attraction.  Why can't I be stronger, damn it?!  If I just ate the mixed berry salad in the fridge instead of a pint of ice cream, but nooooo George needs his fix, he's stressed out.  Can anyone relate?  Please tell me I'm not the only one.  

I decided this year is going to be different and, although I'm gonna run into some setbacks, I am determined to push forward and face my inner demons.  Mano y Mano.  So, I joined a gym, got a trainer and started to hit the weights and cardio machines.  Two times a week for 30 minutes.  Yes, that's all the gym I can handle, but it's a start.  Baby steps is the name of the game.  Most importantly, I feel invigorated when I leave (getting there is a different story!) - after a workout I'm overcome with the sense that I can accomplish anything.  I've also ditched the synthetic vitamins which, by the way, do more harm to the body than good, and opted for fresh pressed juices instead.  

I want to encourage all of you to join me and lets kick some inner critic butt!!!  Whatta ya say???  

Last week we talked about feeling invisible...screw that!  Its about time we start feeling INVINCIBLE.  Let's take life by the horns and create the life we want to live.  Because damn it, we DESERVE IT!!!!  Let's support each other with positive energy and prayer, Simonton Say's.

Till next time.

Love,

George




Wednesday, March 5, 2014

DO YOU FEEL INVISIBLE???

Hi Everyone!  

Let me start by saying, thank you all for making my first blog such a success.  I'm very happy everyone embraced this venue the way you did.  I will do my best to keep on inspiring and making this a safe haven for all of you to vent, confide, laugh and cry.  So, let's get started…

Lately I have noticed this pattern in women over a certain age and their feeling of invisibility.  Can any of you relate???  Recently I was having a wonderful chat with my best friend, Verina, who moved to the United States from Germany when she was just a little girl.  I first noticed her in grammar school and from that day on, I was HOOKED!  What a knockout!  She was a tall model type - a real, Charlize Theron look a like - actually, she use to even model for me when I was first starting out.  From a very young age I was always attracted to natural beauty and come to find out her beauty was not just skin deep.  When we became friends I found her heart and what was inside complemented all of her external features.  

Back to our little chat...I commented on how beautiful she was and asked, "Did you notice how people used to stare/gawk at you when you would walk by?"  Because let me tell you,  I always took notice of the drool dangling from the wanna be suitors' mouths.  (Oh, what fun times.)  Anyway, her reply hit me like a ton of bricks when she said, "I noticed, George, when they stopped staring."   How profound, I thought, and unfair.

With an over saturated market of hot models/celebrities (all highly photo shopped by the way) and sex, sex, sex, how can older women compete?   This is not about vanity.  It's about feeling ALIVE and still feeling like your in the day to day race.   So, we need to do things to help get us noticed, right?   My clothing and designs are all about that.  This is a reason I came to, QVC.  To help keep the average women feeling alive and in the race.   My line of clothes enhance your beauty and brings you all that much deserved staring/gawking from both sexes.  I am flooded with comments by women, whether its on the streets of NY or via my Facebook page, on how many compliments they receive when they're wearing my designs.  

At the end of the day it's about staying true to yourself and your age when shopping for the right clothes while striking a balance of not looking old or foolish - and that goes for me too.  I design for you women with an elegance in mind as if I were dressing Ms. Elizabeth Taylor herself.  Makeup also, if done correctly, can enhance a women's beauty without making her look like Ronald McDonald.  

I would like to end with the Academy Awards this past Sunday and how so many celeb's brought their mom's.   Wasn't Jared Leto's speech to his mom beautiful?  And look how she was exuding beauty.  Now put aside all the clothing, hair and make up (which by the way were impeccable), she was beaming with so much inner love for her son that it showed externally.  The internal enhanced the external.  

Nobody can take us out of the race but ourselves.   Let's never again feel defeated when we see the glossy magazine covers with the so called "beautiful model".   

So, to my dear friend Verina, and all my women and men reading out there, take back and reclaim your power.  Never relinquish it again.  Demand to be seen and heard in this artificial, bubble gum world Simonton Say's.

Till next time.

Love,

George