What women over 40 want

Words cannot stress our preference for homemade Valentine’s day meals. They are thoughtful gestures, quiet escapes and this year, an apartment romance will offer a particularly needed break from Fashion Week and long weekend tourists. But if he can’t cook, you’re too tired, your roommate smells like Fontina cheese, go to Emilio’s Ballato.

Ballato’s odd location on Houston between Mott and Elizabeth, is far from romantic, but walk in the door and you are transfoerred to Old World Tuscany complete with stucco walls and white table cloths.  If there can possibly be a hidden treasure left in New York City, it’s Emilio’s. The staff are courteous, prompt and present, and owner, Emilio, is there every night chatting with regulars and welcoming new patrons.

Ballato’s menu rivals the best Italian food in the city. The broccoli rabe, bolognese and caprice salad are delicious. The mozerlla literally melts in your mouth like cream cheese. Fish dishes are often prepared in a simple lemon caper sauce. The veal saltimboca is excellent – the proccuito crisp and veal tender. The homemade cannoli puts anything you find in Little Italy to shame.

Yes the celebrity sighting rumors are true, but because Ballato does most of their business with regulars (again, the location is odd and unassuming), it lacks the snottiness of other city dining hot spots. Call today for Valentine’s Day reservations.

Ballato’s 55 E. Houston  212.274.8881

Emma Dinzebach

Sundance is over. There was something about a football game. We are officially over winter and ready for skirts, dresses and the ability to freely wear heels without worrying about scary ice patches. Our body’s are craving a mid-winter dress and warmth.

All hail the winter piece that keeps on giving! We found – or are reporting on – yet another way to way your still bitchin’ fur vest. And your light weight, warmer weather appropriate leather bomber for that matter. Celebs, models and beautiful French women roaming the streets of Paris pair their fancy – see also: staple – dresses with their faux animal top pieces for both style and warmth.The infinite amount of looks you can create will give your sluggish winter brain a refreshing shot of creativity as you can use just about any winter-appropriate dress in your closet. Use your cotton dresses for a more casual look and your fancy frocks with fur for a night on the town. Jason Wu paired his faux fur with a navy band aid dress during Fall 2009 ready-to-wear collection and celebs like Olivia Palermo, Kate Moss, Blake Lively and so on and so forth. Just remember, to choose a less restrictive piece of outerwear to accommodate your frock and faux underneath.

Emma Dinzebach

Color de natural for Spring twenty ten with neutral eyes, flushed pink cheeks and Chapstick lips. Well, not totally, but achieving your most natural look starts from the inside out. So it’s back to the basics: sleep, drink, wash. Making sure you are adequately rested and your skin has had time to form shiny new cells. Staying hydrated truly makes you glow. Washing off your make-up at night, so you don’t wake up with blackheads and wrinkles. Pretty simple stuff, but basics we sometimes forget when we are rushing around.

Then on your clean, glowing facial palette, moisturize. Clogged pores tend to result from dry, dead skin cells clogging the poor, so choose a skin type-appropriate moisturizer and be liberal. Around the eyes, never pull from the inner eye out. When removing make-up or applying eye cream, always dab gently from the corners inward. Even out skin tone with foundaiton or concealer and use a little rosy blush. We aren’t seeing much bronzer on the runways or red carpet as the look is softer and more effervescent. A few coats of mascara and you could be ready to go. If you feel too nude, then line your eyes with a soft brown or blue rather than a harsh black and paint your pout with something sassy. Because the face has less color, choose something pinky for your lips. A totally bare lip can wash out your face and looks best with a dark, smokey eye.

Your done and have an extra ten or fifteen minutes to read the paper, enjoy your coffee or walk to work.

Emma Dinzebach

You dream you’re Brittney, holding tight to Tyson Beckford speeding through Malibu or Pink with a chainsaw, carving up your ex-boyfriend’s lawn. You dream you’re Megan Fox. A girl can dream… Leave it to Chanel to find an acceptable outlet for your inner Angelina Jolie making those dreams a reality. Chanel Body Transfers are temporary tattoos inspired by models walking Karl Lagerfeld’s hay-strewn Spring 2010 runway. Oh, wipe away your Jersey Shore mental image. These are dainty-chic and actually, pretty rad.

Model Daisy Lowe sported a Chanel double C-linked chain around her thigh at the launch of her her Swarovski crystal jewelry collection in London in January. (Who ever thought we’d write that? Coco Chanel is rolling over in her grave!) But Chanel tats are delicate, whimsical and artsy. Come spring, they will be all the rage. And you’ll have to wait until then because Chanel “body transfers” won’t be available at Chanel boutiques until March 1.

Emma Dinzebach