Sex, Chocolate and Jewelry

Written by Sam Serio


Forget aboutrepparttar 1960's Flower Power credo: "Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll." Toss out your DVD ofrepparttar 147904 steamy 1989 erotic thriller "Sex, Lies, and Videotape." Inrepparttar 147905 health-conscious, food-obsessed, "bling"-oriented 21st Century, we seem to have stopped hurtling forward and started to move backwards Everything old is new again and we're returning to a kinder, gentler era when gentlemen and ladies enjoyed sex, chocolate, and jewelry asrepparttar 147906 language of love. Our Love Affair with Chocolate 3,000 years ago, Indians of Central America poured molten chocolate from one pot to another to create bitter drink with a froth on top,repparttar 147907 part they liked best. Spanish conquistadores and missionaries tookrepparttar 147908 beverage back to Europe, where it became fashionable withrepparttar 147909 aristocracy, who added sugar to it. Today, three centuries later, hot chocolate remains a favorite drink shared by friends, family…and lovers. For a "pulse" on 21st Century chocolate, there's no better place to go thanrepparttar 147910 annual Fancy Foods Show. This year,repparttar 147911 chocolate beverage of choice was a hot chocolate reminiscent ofrepparttar 147912 "nectar ofrepparttar 147913 gods" preferred byrepparttar 147914 Mayans and Aztecs. The steamy treat is made with a high-cocoa-content dark chocolate and (in response torepparttar 147915 low-carb craze, no doubt) less sugar. How does this cocoa fit in with romance? Chocolate bars are replacing coffee bars and liquor bars asrepparttar 147916 meeting place of choice for singles with a taste for love…and sweets. In New York City,repparttar 147917 popular midtown hotspot "The Chocolate Bar" serves hot chocolate drinks including Classic Hot Chocolate, Spicy Hot Chocolate, and White Chocolate Caramel and iced chocolate beverages including Chocolate Shakers (served over ice, with espresso and whipped cream) Our Love Affair with Sex When it comes to sex, every forty years seems to signalrepparttar 147918 arrival of a new wave of permissiveness and freedom. Inrepparttar 147919 20's,repparttar 147920 world embraced "The Flapper Era"…and one another…with abandon. Tough times inrepparttar 147921 30's and 40's put an end torepparttar 147922 jazz babies, and gave birth torepparttar 147923 tough, no-nonsense, almost asexual Rosierepparttar 147924 Riveters who didn't have time for pleasures ofrepparttar 147925 flesh. (And a good thing, too, since men were at war.)

Sapphire is September's Birthstone

Written by Sam Serio


If you're still young enough to remember your birthday, you probably also rememberrepparttar special birthstone assigned to it. But at your age, we bet you don't really knowrepparttar 147903 SIGNIFICANCE of your birthstone and what powerrepparttar 147904 ancients felt would be bestowed about you by wearing it. September Birthstone: Sapphire Birthstone Properties: Brings physical and emotional balance. Alternative Birthstone: Agate Sapphire isrepparttar 147905 birthstone for September andrepparttar 147906 gemstone given for anniversaries ofrepparttar 147907 5th and 45th years of marriage. Taken fromrepparttar 147908 Greek word for blue, "sapphirus", sapphires have a time-honored tradition with priests (who considered them symbolic of purity) and king s (who considered them symbolic of wisdom.) Sapphires were mined as early asrepparttar 147909 7th Century BC in India and what is now Sri Lanka. Today they are found in Sri Lanka, Australia, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, Kashmir, Myanmar, Thailand, China, Madagascar, andrepparttar 147910 United States. Against Which All Others Are Measured Sapphires, like rubies, are a variety of corundum. The sapphire's color spectrum includes pink and lavender varieties, a rare orange hue, and, of course,repparttar 147911 velvety blue sapphire that earnedrepparttar 147912 gemstone its name. Because ofrepparttar 147913 way in which corundum crystals are formed, large sapphires are rare…and valuable. The priceless 563-carat Star of India, on display at New York City's Museum of Natural History, isrepparttar 147914 largest and most famous of "star sapphires" (sapphires that are cut to reflect light from inclusions withinrepparttar 147915 stone to reveal a bright six-legged star pattern).

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