How many times have you prepared the same dish and thought maybe, just maybe the next time you'll do a little something different? I have been baking Brie for over twenty years, and one night that craving roused me to mix it up a bit. Instead of simply encrusting the classic wheel of cheese as an appetizer, the addition of ham and sharp honey mustard turned it into a hearty rustic meal I served with mixed greens tossed in vinaigrette. Let me show you how I did it.

Rustic Baked Brie

2 medium size wedges of Brie cheese

1 can of Pillsbury crescent dough

Honeycup honey mustard (approximately 4 tablespoons, depending upon the size of cheese wedges)

5-6 slices of Black Forest ham (I used Black Bear)

1 egg, whisked

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Unroll the crescent dough and press all the seams together to seal. This should be done on a sheet of parchment paper so that when the dough sticks, it can be pulled up easily and the entire sheet can later be put in the oven.

2) Unwrap both Brie wedges and place side by side, leaving the rind, to create a rectangular block in the middle of the dough. With a butter knife or small spatula, spread the honey mustard evenly all over the surface of the cheese block. Be generous but neat, as you cover the Brie.

4) Layer the slices of ham over the coated cheese. They should overlap and cover the rectangle, covering the sides as well.

5) Carefully wrap the entire layered package with the crescent dough, making sure the top and sides are covered. This part got a bit tricky because the dough was not completely cooperating to cover the top. I had to pull it up the sides much more, pinching edges together. To guarantee the package wouldn't ooze all over the baking sheet while in the oven, I placed the whole thing into an oven-safe dish that was close to its size, parchment and all. This will make for easy cleanup later too.

6) Brush the top and sides (as best you can) with the whisked egg. This is to give the baked Brie a golden finish. 

7) Bake for about 40-45 minutes or until golden brown.

The layers were rich with a slightly sharp, savory goodness and cheesy delight. We loved it! This certainly isn't a low-calorie meal, but once in awhile, isn't it pleasurable to throw care to the wind and enjoy something decadent? Yes, baked brie, baked in bliss... xoxo-Sonya

I think I’m always trying to get back to my childhood; to get back to the wonder I felt as a seven year old and to take people with me… ~ Helen Downie of Unskilled Worker

How fun is it to allow yourself freedom of childhood playfulness? Life is so serious when we graduate to adulthood, expected to fit a mold of societal standards, age appropriateness and grown-up garb. The daily grind fills most lines in our datebooks, the hectic pace tenders black a uniform, cakewalk couture. But what if stylish choices appealed to that child within, the one who loves fun, funky, whimsy and color? Guess what? Some of the top fashion houses heard a call and honed into delightfully different design for us all!

Gucci has taken the detailed art of Unskilled Worker to their runway in capsule collections featuring Helen Downie's colorful haunting portraiture. They are a bit Keane-eyed, vaguely retro, based on memories of her youth in London. The sizable images were commissioned by creative director Alessandro Michele for the Spring-Summer 2018 collection. Though the bags are always a tremendous hit, sweatshirts to pencil skirts are fearlessly fashionable, worn print-on-print or solo with a favorite basic.

Nine female cartoonists and manga artists pop up at Prada. From Stellar Leuna's Girls Invented Punk Rock to Tarpe Mills' Miss Fury, the black and white comic strips, as well as color, rock and read rebel on the runway. Printed surfaces chosen by Miuccia Prada are unexpected, updating classics like the striped shirt and leather trench coat. Bags are bold statement pieces, easy for fashionistas to don who might shy away from kitsch, yet prevail remaining on trend.

You still have time to score something for Spring, but if you want to wait, you can always plan to grab Rei Kawakubo's Multi-Dimensional Graffiti in the Fall 2018 collection. On the runway for Comme des Garcons, over-sized prints by Macoto Takahashi colorfully transform anime into art to wear in the Spring collection. The flowers surround and pop in signature Japanese shape, enveloping the wearer in a profusion of blooms. In step sharing the Autumn catwalk is all-American favorite Betty Boop. She explodes on the scene amid butterflies and blocks of powerful Fall-hued color. They are all a beautiful sight to see.

With all the possibilities, you can choose how far down the rabbit-hole of trendy style to go. Whether a casual sweatshirt, statement skirt, sweater or designer purse, adding one or all of the above to your wardrobe can hearten the humdrum. Curate your closet with a bit of lighthearted kitsch and comic relief  in the couture mix... xoxo-Sonya 

There were always in me, two women at least, one woman desperate and bewildered, who felt she was drowning and another who would leap into a scene, as upon a stage, conceal her true emotions because they were weaknesses, helplessness, despair, and present to the world only a smile, an eagerness, curiosity, enthusiasm, interest.

The most haunting woman is the one we cannot find in the crowded café when we are looking for her, the one that we must hunt for, and seek out through the disguises of her stories.

Woman’s role in creation should be parallel to her role in life. I don’t mean the good earth. I mean the bad earth too, the demon, the instincts, the storms of nature. Tragedies, conflicts, mysteries are personal. Man fabricated a detachment which became fatal. Woman must not fabricate. She must descend into the real womb and expose its secrets and its labyrinths. She must describe it as the city of Fez, with its Arabian Nights gentleness, tranquility and mystery. She must describe the voracious moods, the desires, the worlds contained in each cell of it. For the womb has dreams. It is not as simple as the good earth. I believe at times that man created art out of fear of exploring woman. I believe woman stuttered about herself out of fear of what she had to say. She covered herself with taboos and veils. Man invented a woman to suit his needs. He disposed of her by identifying her with nature and then paraded his contemptuous domination of nature. But woman is not nature only. She is the mermaid with her fish-tail dipped in the unconscious.

My mission, should I choose to accept it, is to find peace with exactly who and what I am. To take pride in my thoughts, my appearance, my talents, my flaws and to stop this incessant worrying that I can’t be loved as I am.

Happy Mother's Day to all the passionate women in our lives... xoxo- Sonya