Tag Archives: Bay Area Portrait Photographer

Style Tips with Michelle: Figuring Out What to Wear

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We’ve all been there – the impending morning meeting with an important client and the anxiety of opening that closet door and having to figure out what you could possibly wear to make the day great!  In this installment of Style Tips with Michelle, our personal style expert Michelle Moquin addresses a common mistake people make when buying new wardrobe items and how to figure out what to wear when finding the perfect outfit seems impossible.

Michelle-0030RT2What’s the most common mistake people make in selecting clothing?

Ohh, where to begin!  There are many common mistakes that I see people make.  But the one thing that stands out right now is women buying pieces they don’t really love, either because they were desperate for something new or they bought it on sale because it was such a great price.  Those are usually the pieces that I find still hanging in their closet with the tags still on when I conduct our first closet audit.

Many of us have days where we stand in the closet and figuring out what to wear seems impossible. What is the first step to eliminating that problem?

Insuring that you have enough “core basics” in your closet is the first step towards eliminating the problem of figuring out what to wear.

When your closet is truly working for you, meaning you have all of the core basics that are needed, you won’t have that problem because you will have interesting items that mix well into outfits with your core basics.  Everything in your closet should address your Personality and your Life-Style Requirements.  When those items also work best for your Body-Type and its Symmetry and Coloring, then you will have what I call a working wardrobe.

A working wardrobe makes dressing effortless because your core basics all work well with your “interesting items.”  Figuring out what to wear is eliminated. My Initial Consultation is the first step toward creating a working wardrobe.

Thanks Michelle!  I know from experience and from the testimonials of countless clients that working with Michelle is a life transforming event.  I’m so glad we can call on her for expert advice!

-Nancy

877-881-7221 | nancyrothstein.com |  nancy@nancyrothstein.com

Professional Portraits And a Mini-Interview with Heather Reynolds, Estate Planning Angel

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Have you ever met someone and instantly wanted to cheerlead for everything they do?  That’s how I feel about my recent client Heather Reynolds, Estate Attorney.  I know what you’re thinking…estate planning; what’s the big deal?  Well, Heather isn’t your average Estate Attorney, or, I’m guessing, your average anything!

Why am I so excited?  I had a chance to hear Heather speak about her work last week, and it was a real eye opener.  Certainly her qualifications and background are impressive, her demeanor is approachable, and her professionalism is unquestionable.  But from what I can tell she has a super power that trumps all of that.  Compassion.  Let me rephrase that. Compassion on steroids.

Do you know how important a few key legal documents are in preventing major calamities for a person or family?  Heather does.  But she also knows that not everyone can afford an estate attorney, and not everyone has access to the information they need to translate legal jargon into something other than the alien language that it is.  Most people would take that knowledge and file it somewhere in the back of their minds, to be referenced as one of the many injustices in the world, and go on their merry way.  Not Heather; she created a solution.

Heather created a new website – YourLegacyLives.com.  She made educational videos. She provided free access to three key legal documents, and a slew of others at an incredibly reduced rate, all including detailed instructions.  Heather wants every Californian to have an estate plan.  Heather is rocking my world!

After hearing her speak, and while preparing for our portrait session, I spent time looking through the new site.  And I got it.  I really got it.  Because, honestly, while I knew I needed to do some estate planning paperwork (it’s been on my list since last January….oops) I did not know about some of the forms she mentioned, which are beyond essential.  I can think of countless people who can benefit from this resource.  And when I say countless, I mean likely everyone I know under the age of 40 and whole lot of the rest of us.

So, if you can afford to pay someone to do your estate plan, call Heather.  She is warm & kind, and she brings ease to an uneasy task.  If you can’t afford to pay, or know someone who can’t, visit her new site Your Legacy Lives, and start the process for free, and continue at fraction of the cost.

I would keep gushing, instead as a part of our mini interview series, I want you to hear directly from Heather.  Here goes:

1. What is an estate plan and how do you help your clients create one?  An estate plan acts like a parachute — everyone needs a parachute to jump out of an airplane and you won’t know if it works until it’s too late.  An estate plan is a set of documents that “saves us” like a parachute when we become incapacitated or pass away — so we’ll all need one at some point — we just don’t always have advanced notice.

The estate plan documents save us from the default California laws that “protect” us from our failure to plan.  California law assumes that our families cannot be trusted to handle our financial or health affairs without court supervision.  California’s plan for us is called Probate Court.  I’ve never met someone who liked the default plan except the judges and lawyers who get paid well to supervise a family’s finances and healthcare decisions.

Most of us would prefer a private plan — one that does not involve judges and lawyers when it comes to taking care of our loved ones.  That private estate plan involves your signing several documents that opt out of the court process and trusting your loved ones to follow your wishes privately rather than spending the rest of your life in court asking permission to make decisions.  It takes months to obtain court orders, which can be a serious problem if rent, mortgages and electric bills have to be paid on time or health decisions need to made immediately.

2. Why did you decide to create YourLegacyLives.com?  What is your vision for the site?  Almost daily, I see the horror stories of an overpopulated probate court, delays and unnecessary expenses on families in crisis.  Having grown up in a family of four children and a single mom, I noticed that there were few wealthy families in the probate court.  So I interviewed over a dozen families to find out what barriers stop them from creating the documents that would allow them to opt out of the probate process.  I discovered the following barriers:

1. they didn’t know what probate would be like
2. they didn’t know the cost of hiring a lawyer in the first place
3. they didn’t have the time it takes to prepare the documents
4. they were frustrated by the “legalese” of the documents

5. they were emotionally uncomfortable discussing the issues involved

No wonder 70% of Americans don’t have any documents in place!

So I set out to create a website that would overcome all of these barriers so that every family in California could have an estate plan — so we can write our own plan rather than letting the State of California write it for us.  New clients are often surprised when I tell them what would actually happen at the time of their death or incapacity if the process was left up to the state.

YourLegacyLives.com creates a step-by-step process that educates Californians how to create their own documents from my high quality templates — the same templates I use today in my law firm and have tested for over 15 years.  The process requires only about 2 hours per week for 3 to 4 weeks to complete at a fraction of the cost of hiring a lawyer.  The videos explain each document, paragraph by paragraph, so it’s easy to understand.  There is even a free assessment to determine whether a simple will or a living trust is most appropriate for their situation.  This online approach works great for a single person or family with traditional structures and wishes.

Not only can customers save their documents to their computer for future use and changes, they can print, sign and notarize them whenever they want.  Most online systems never give this kind of control to the customer.

3. What is one important legal document that everyone needs and no one knows about?  The HIPAA release is one of the most critical documents for any estate plan. HIPAA is the privacy law that fines health care providers $100,000 if they share health information with anyone other than the patient.  That means they can’t tell you what is wrong with your spouse or your 18 year old child in the emergency room unless you obtain a court order waiving HIPAA.  If your spouse or adult child waives HIPAA prior to incapacity, then the healthcare providers will be able to share information with you.  This comes as quite a shock to most of my clients.  It’s usually too late to get a HIPAA waiver by the time they come to me.  It’s one of the free documents on the website because everyone should have this document.

Now, this estate planning business is serious stuff.  So to lighten things up a bit, I am thrilled to be able to share a little taste of Heather’s sense of humor. Check out her video, “No Lawyers in Heaven”: 

Well, that’s all for now. I’ve got to get onto Your Legacy Lives and print out my HIPAA release!!  See you there…please use this link so she’ll know that I sent you: http://www.yourlegacylives.com/nrothstein

-Nancy

PS. Believe it or not, that’s not all there is to share about this powerful woman. She’s involved in at least one other amazing project that I will save for another time.  But, to keep you guessing and in suspense, I’ll just give you one hint: MERMAIDS.  Stay tuned!

877-881-7221 | nancyrothstein.com |  nancy@nancyrothstein.com

Style Tips with Michelle Moquin: Closet Cleaning Guide

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Meet Michelle Moquin, a friend and client, certified personal stylist and fashion maven! Michelle has been a creative force in the fashion industry for over 20 years. She began her career as a fashion designer, for San Francisco Bay Area companies such as Wilkes Bashford, Jessica McClintock, Joe Boxer, and Byer of California. She designed under her own labels, “Michelle Moquin,” and “MAM” selling her sportswear and sleepwear collections to boutiques and department stores throughout the United States.Today, Michelle is committed to her clients’ success. She also conducts fashion presentations and style seminars in business settings for men and women to help them improve their professional image and achieve the results they want in their careers.

I’ve had the pleasure of working with Michelle personally, and I refer my clients to her all the time. Her work has an incredible impact.  I think the most important thing I’ve learned from Michelle is understanding which colors work for me.  This changes everything!  And when prepping for a photo shoot, she is an invaluable resource.  Most people call me with no idea of what to wear; after working with Michelle, they come in ready for their own personal runway.  Truly a game changer.

As a guest blogger on my site, Michelle will help us unravel the mysteries of style!  Let’s start by getting to know her and finding out her tips for successfully cleaning out our closets (…don’t tell me this isn’t on your list for January?!?  I can’t be the only one…)

-Nancy

What is your main goal as a personal stylist? My goal is to see everyone, not just looking as good as they want to look, but as good as the right style will enable them to look. I want to show others how to use the power of color to reach their goals, meet and impress that special someone, and to make their lives, and the lives of others more enjoyable.  I want everyone to feel like my clients do after learning the POWER of style and color.  My goal is to have everyone say, “I can NOT thank you enough for opening my eyes to the amazing world of color and fit!” 

What is your favorite piece in your wardrobe? Right now I am loving my knit Missoni midi skirt in black, white, coral and green stripes! I can wear it during the summer with a basic tee and colorful sandals, and I can wear it in the winter with my short boots, a cashmere sweater and leather jacket.

What current trend do you love? I always filter trends ruthlessly and I suggest the same for my clients. Wearing clothing that enhances your body type, its symmetry and color scheme while complimenting your personality is ALWAYS stylish.

Who’s your favorite designer? Ohh…that is tough because I am a bit of a fashion maverick and I wear many different designers. So, I can’t say that I am loyal to any one designer. But let me say this, my favorite designer is anyone whose styles are well made, fits my Body-Type, enhances my best features, and makes me feel wonderful when I put them on!

And most importantly, what is the best process for cleaning out our closets for a fresh start to the New Year? I always recommend hiring a professional stylist to conduct a closet audit. However, a wardrobe that truly works for you begins with discovering and defining your style first.

I never do a closet audit until I first conduct an Initial Consultation, where we use professional stylist tools to discover and define my client’s style. Once it’s finished, my clients are crystal clear on what works best for their body type, its symmetry and personal coloring. When a person understands how and why that works best, they can make intelligent choices based on their personality and lifestyle requirements.

After the consultation it becomes much easier to clean out the closet. When we are deciding on what to keep from items that work well, we consider 5 important things:

  1. If you haven’t worn it in a year for whatever reason, you aren’t drawn to wearing it, so you must not love it enough to wear it. Give it to someone who you know will wear it and love it, (You’ll love seeing it on them!) or donate it.
  2. Even if you are wearing it, but it is an item that you do not love, find a piece that you do love to replace it. Life is too short to wear items that you don’t absolutely love!
  3. If the item is too dated, worn, or stained, know that you loved it well and donate it.
  4. If the item doesn’t fit right, take it to a tailor and have it altered to fit you. If it’s too big to alter, give it away or donate it. If it is too small because you’ve put on a few pounds, yet you still love it, box up the item(s) and store them somewhere else other than your closet. After 6 months, if you haven’t lost the weight, give the item(s) away or donate them.
  5. If you have too many of one thing, say white T-shirts, find the one, two or few, that you always wear and love, and are in the best shape (see point 3 above), and donate the rest.

One final closet tip that I learned from Michelle:  flip all of your hangers to face the opposite direction from your normal layout.  When you wear a piece, turn the hanger back to the normal direction.  At the end of a year, have a look to see which hangers are still turned backwards; these are the clothes you aren’t wearing.  Consider sending them on to a new life in someone else’s closet!

Next guest post with Michelle will address how getting back to basics in 2015 can make it your best style year yet!

877-881-7221 | nancyrothstein.com |  nancy@nancyrothstein.com

Bay Area Portraits: Jerold M. Rothstein

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Jerold-8-5-13-0004-blogI love this portrait of my father, which I made during his recent visit.  He’s a great source of wisdom and inspires me to deeper philosophical inquiry. Some of his work can be found at GestaltWork.org, a wonderful resource for ideas on finding meaning in our lives, working toward “…an ordinary life of extraordinary excitement, growth and meaning.”