LEMON GRASS AND WINTER WHITE

What did you think of the dresses?  With the new President Barack Obama getting down to pressing business such as the slumping economy,  inauguration day fashion provided a much needed breath of spring in these tough times, even if it’s just for a day or two.  Women all over America and the fashion industry are buzzing now about First Lady Michelle Obama’s dresses on inauguration day, some are raving and some were not that impresssed.    For the daytime festivities, Mrs. Obama  wore a lemon grass dress with a lacy overcoat and she paired it with moss green gloves from one of her favorite stores, J. Crew.   For the inaugural balls, she chose a one shoulder shimmering winter white dress with Swarvoski crystals.   It’s a creation by a 26 year old designer named Jason Wu from New York.  She took chances and picked relatively unknown designers.  The two Obama girls dressed in bright juicy fruit colored coats from J. Crew.  The coats were specially designed for the girls and the J.Crew site crashed for a short time while as people tried to buy the coats and shares of J. Crew have gone up 10 percent since the inauguration.  

We’ve had a bitterly cold winter so far and the challenges the President faces are steep but at least for a short time, we enjoyed the colors of spring!

Let me know what you thought of the fashion choices?

TWINS!

 Thank you so much to the hundreds of people who e-mailed me about my announcement on Monday!  My apologies to anyone who I was not able to respond to by email.   I received so many heartfelt messages from parents of twins, inspiring stories and advice.  It made my week! I will keep you all updated in the weeks to come.

Irene’s Big Announcement

A FRIEND TO HARTFORD

I met former Mayor Mike Peters when I was working as a reporter in Hartford about 16 years ago.  It always struck me how tirelessly he worked to form important relationships that would help the city.  He made it a priority to crack down on crime and gangs and keep the people in the city safe.  There were some setbacks in his time as Mayor, but never once did he give up on the people and the possibilities for Hartford.   

I saw Mayor Mike for the last time a few months ago,  he did not look as robust as he used to but his spirit was bold and his wit was sharp.  He came to a Pearl Street League meeting.  It was just the place for Mayor Mike -the Pearl Street league was put together by Steve Campo from Theater Works as a community group that celebrates the contributions big and small that the special people of Hartford make every day.   He talked about how important it was to support the local restaurants and help the people who choose to make Hartford their home.  I am one of those people and I will truly miss this dear friend of Hartford, someone who never spent time criticizing the city but instead saw the value in it.   Right up to the end of his life,  Mike tried to find ways to improve Hartford and make it better.   He loved his city and the people who live there.  The feeling was mutual.   Mayor Mike, we will miss you.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

         As the old song goes,  “What are you doing New Year’s Eve” ?   Downtown Hartford has First Night Hartford with entertainment for kids and adults as well as two spectacular fireworks shows one at 6pm and the other at midnight.  I really like to keep it low key on New Year’s eve and I am going to a very small get together at a friends home where I will be able to watch some of the fireworks!   When the clock strikes 12 that night, many of us try to make resolutions.  What is your resolution this year?  I am going to resolve to be on time!

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays everyone!  I want to thank you for watching Channel 3 every morning from 5 to 7am.  We have a wonderful crew on and off camera and I feel very blessed to work with Teresa, Mike and Scot.  They are my TV family and I’m grateful to you for allowing us into your homes every morning!

If you need a little Christmas,  don’t miss the Joy for the Kids Concert on December 25th at 8pm right here on Channel 3.  I want to say a big thank you to the girls from the Horgan Academy of Irish Dance and to our own Eric Parker, Mark Dixon as well as Damon Scot from 96.5 WTIC FM.  They all made cameos in our performance.  Eric Parker played the part of Bing Crosby singing “Christmas in Killarney”.   You will enjoy Scot Haney really getting into the holiday spirit.  His songs were amazing this year, especially “Ave Maria”.  This is such a festive way to enjoy the season.

LOW LOW GAS PRICES

Gas Prices are going lower and lower every day here in Connecticut.   Just the other day, I saw a big billboard on I-84 East in Waterbury advertising gas for $1.77 a gallon.   So, what does this mean?   Does it mean we should go back to driving as much as we did before gas prices soared to $4 a gallon ?  Or is this the time to start changing our ways?  What do you think?

RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS

While I was waiting in the drive through line at Dunkin Donuts the other day in Rocky Hill,  I could not imagine what was taking the guy in the SUV ahead of me so long to pay for his items.  When I got to the window to pay for my coffee and for some other members of the morning team, I was informed the guy in front of me paid for my coffees!   The woman at the window said, “You’re all set, he’s one of our regular customers and he pays for the car behind him all the time!  He did not know who I was and decided to be nice and pay.  It makes you think, how just one small act of kindness smooths out your whole day.   Can you imagine if we all thought like that and what the ripple effects might be?  Thank you to that kind man and next time I will pay for the car behind me!

TURKEY ON A SHOESTRING

We’ve been talking to people all this month who really know how to save money.  We’re looking for people who know how to save serious cash on their Thanksgiving dinner.  If you know how to save money on the food and preparations for Turkey Day.  Email us at supersavers@wfsb.com

We want to hear from you so we can share your ideas.  We will come interview you about how you are planning to have a great holiday without breaking the bank.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

We just finished with the Halloween costumes and the elections are over, so now it’s time to move immediately to Christmas, right?   The Christmas trees are up at Somerset Square in Glastonbury and Christmas circulars are out in the Sunday paper, it seems like all this starts earlier and earlier! Yikes!  I’m not ready for the Deck the Halls just yet!  I can’t even think about Christmas shopping when we haven’t even sat down for Thanksgiving Dinner!  Help!

FASHION FOR GOOD

This Sunday afternoon, November 2nd, a fun fashion show for good!   The Manchester Area Conference of Churches is hosting a fashion show with holiday formalwear from Mariella Creations of Rocky Hill and Coldwater Creek.  The M.A.C.C. provides food, shelter clothing and advocacy for those in need in the community.   The afternoon begins at 2pm with Claudette Fried.  She is the stylist and make-up artist you see on the Better Connecticut show as well as Oprah.   She will show you how to dress appropriately for your age and she has makeup tips for the holidays.    I will be emceeing the fashion show after that.   The tickets are $20 and it’s all for a great cause.

Check out this link for information on how to buy tickets –

http://www.macc-fashionforgood.org