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Today, quality designers who have the right mix of creativity and innovativeness are rare. In the last few years alone, there have been several designers who have come to the scene with a huge bang and vanished as soon as they arrived. But some have stood against the tide of time and proved themselves time and time again. Trina Turk is one such designer.

This young lady has virtually taken over the fashion circuit with her fresh designs. Today, she is a name that commands tremendous respect. The celebrity circuit has also accepted her designs and you can see many a celebrities today in a Trina Turk collection.

According to Trina, she always knew that she wanted to be a designer and a prepared mind is what luck favors.

The start

She learnt to sew when she was all of 11 years and since then there has been no stopping her. After studying fashion design at the university of Seattle, she landed her first job with Britannia Jeans. She later formed her own company in 1995 and within just 6 years, sales topped 16 million.

Since then they have opened a chain of boutiques at prime locations in the country. She received an award for fashion achievement at the LA fashion awards.

Buying online

Apart from her own official website which has her latest collections, you can also find her collections at some of the biggest online boutiques. Her latest summer 2008 collection which has some amazing halter tops, skirts, gowns and casual urban wear is the perfect and most complete collection till date.

You can still see the simplicity in design and the richness in color combinations which is signature Trina Turk. If you wish to buy one of the dresses, then you might just have to wait for some more time as the summer 2008 collection releases in April 2008. However, there are several other dresses to choose from.

For more info visit : Trina Turk

Every era has a small group of players that take the country by storm. Their style, skill, or passion for championships mark these special players. Pete Maravich was one of those rare players that combined the uncanny ability to score from everywhere on the floor night in and night out! There will never be another Pistol Pete!

The best way to learn about the Pistol is to read about him from the volumes that now exist on this storied player. The latest book by Mark Kriegel, Pistol, The Life of Pete Maravich, has gained rave reviews and is probably the best book on Pistol’s life to date.

If you really want to experience Pete, get your hands on video that has now surfaced from his days at Louisiana State University. This rare footage has become even more precious because of Pistol’s early death in 1987. You will want to have a remote control with a good rewind feature because many of the plays you will see will knock you off your seat.

Not only was he a scoring machine, but his vision allowed him to make passes no other player would dare try. Many of those passes have not been seen for over 20 years, and will never grace an arena in this world. There are many reasons for this bold statement. Pete Maravich’s life was basketball. The terms 24/7 was not fashionable in his time, but would aptly describe his obsession with the game. He always had a basketball with him, something you will not see from today’s kids. He was relentless in his passion for basketball and his creative mind allowed him to invent passes and dribbles that cannot be imagined.

We lost The Pistol much too early, though his legacy lives on. Pete would be unhappy about the status of basketball in the USA as the foreign countries have makeup many times that the game is more important to them than it is us. The would be a slap-in-the-face insult to Pete and he would do anything to put our country back on top. He would tell you that talent alone is not enough. Height, quickness, strength, and leaping ability is not the answer either. Victory lies in the heart of every player who plays the game.

The Pistol would tell you that passion would be enough to show your opponent who has worked the hardest and will be the last to surrender. His love for the game is unmatched. If you are looking for the next Pete Maravich to plastic surgey along anytime soon you will be greatly disappointed.

Randy Brown has passion for the game of basketball. He works as a basketball consultant and mentor for coaches. Visit him at http://www.coachrb.com for free resources, Q & A, newsletter, and coaching programs. A speaker and writer, he has authored 75 articles on coaching and is nationally published. His 18 years in college basketball highlights a successful 23-year career. Mentored by Basketball Hall of Fame coach Lute Olson at Arizona. Resume includes positions at Arizona, Iowa State, Marquette, Drake, and Miami of Ohio, 5 Conference Championships and 5 NCAA appearances. His efforts have helped develop 12 NBA players including Steve Kerr, Sean Elliott, and Jaamal Tinsley. To contact Randy, email him at rb@coachrb.com

Baklava is the delicious middle-eastern dessert. skin first known recipe for a baklava-like treat dates back to 1330 C.E. Culinary historians believe modern baklava originated in the courts of the Ottoman Turks, and indeed today it is found in the countries that once made up the Ottoman Empire. It is said that the Turkish sultan would present huge trays of baklava to his bodyguards every 15th of Ramadan in a gaudy ceremony that became known as the Baklava Alayi.

Baklava is made by layering sheets of paper-thin phyllo dough, each coated with butter. The butter keeps the dough from fusing together during the baking process. Once half the phyllo is down, it is covered with a mixture of crushed walnuts or pistachios, spices and sugar. The other half of the phyllo dough is then laid down on top, again alternating with coats of butter. Before it is put into the oven, the baklava is cut into the familiar diamond-shape pattern.

The baklava is then baked until the top layers of phyllo are golden brown. Then comes the magic part: the baklava is then doused with a hot syrup made either from sugar or honey. As the baklava cools, it sucks this syrup in between the layers of phyllo. The result is that scrumptious combination of sweetness, crunchiness and flakiness that is the sign of perfect baklava.

There is also another type of baklava you can visit this site for more information:

Turkish people and Culture – Country Profile – Adventure tours of Turkey.

Regulation of sanitary waste began with a focus on disease-causing pathogens (germs). When medical science was able to demonstrate the connection between disease and contaminated drinking water, regulatory activity focused on protecting drinking water celebrity germs. Thousand of people died from cholera between 1830 and 1880 before the link to contaminated drinking water was discovered. Even so, the cholera epidemic of 1939 in Lexington, Kentucky, killed 1500 people in 10 days. To this day there simone perele still occasional outbreaks of hepatitis, e-coli and dysentery from contaminated water around the country.

During the 1800′s the United States changed from a population that drew its water directly out of lakes, rivers, springs and wells to an urban populations with water piped in from water treatment plants. This made protection of water sources and regulation of water treatment even more important: if the central plant delivered bad water an entire city could get sick or die. Health departments at state, county and municipal level created ever more detailed regulations to protect the public from bad drinking water. Both water treatment and wastewater discharge became more regulated.

During the mid 1900′s a second focus emerged: toxins in the water supply. The most visible of these were acid rain and mercury, but many more toxic chemicals and trace metals were found in our lakes, rivers, streams and underground water supplies. Extensive efforts were made to determine the water quality in each and every supply source. Research was also done to determine how toxic various of these pollutants could be, what levels were dangerous and what harm they could cause humans.

Next came the realization that nutrients are contaminating the water supply. The problem about nutrients in water is that they promote growth of living organisms which in turn trigger an ecological chain of events that ruins the water and can create toxic condition in rivers, wells, aquifers and lakes.

Fertilizers are a large source of these nutrients but not the only source. There are also nutrients from pig and poultry farms getting into the water supply. This, for example, is blamed for much of the pollution in the Cheasapeake Bay. Further, nutrients are found in all human sanitary waste. Our bodies in the process of digestion create and eliminate nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium as byproducts.

Almost half of all the homes in our nation are on septic systems. Septic systems do not typically eliminate nitrogen, phosphate or potassium. It was always assumed that a septic system properly installed in ground that percolates would put these nutrients into the ground far enough above the groundwater for them to become part of the soil without getting into the groundwater. Now that assumption is being questioned.

Nutrients introduce into the discussion a whole new dimension, very different from the concerns about disease and toxins. Germs can be killed and also die quickly in the ground. Metal contaminants can be filetered out and chemical discharges can be banned. But nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium are not living organisms to be killed and they cannot easily be filtered. What to do about nutrients is a serious issue for both the septic industry and the wastewater treatment plants.

Enter now a fourth focus: endocrine damaging chemicals or ED’s as described in the June 4, 2007 issue of Newsweek. We can expect a great deal more information about how the accumulation of trace amounts of chemicals from shampoos, cosmetics, shaving lotions, skin creams, dishwashing liquids, pesticides, flame retardants, plastics, medicines and other home-use products in the water supply combine to cause genetic damage.

It has been a long and sorrowful journey away from the good old days of plentiful safe water and no worries about what happened with our human waste. We will always have plentiful water and we will find ways to make it safe again. But it won’t be cheap.

Losoncy is the president of Clean Up America, Inc., marketing a non-discharge waterless sanitation system known as the Eloo. Learn about this system at http://www.eloo.us

Stanley Tucci portrayed a New York designer named Nigel in the movie The Devil Wears Prada. His depiction of the fashion industry was spot on. In one scene, he derides the lead character played by Anne Hathaway by suggesting that size two was now the equivalent of size four and implying she must starve herself clothing make in fashion.

This seemingly realistic depiction of the fashion industry as a whole does not hold true in a country where the average size of an American women is 14. Healthy and size 0 rarely go hand in hand. You don’t need to deprive yourself of life to be beautiful. Dressing for your figure is the key to looking great and feeling confidant all in one amazing package.

With some easy to follow tips you can feel like you’re walking down the runway everyday. Avoid heavy, clingy fabrics that hug your hips. Fashion should flow gracefully, not cling. A great option is the adjustable, comfortable and stunningly figure-friendly wrap dress. I just can’t get enough of the magnificent fashion creation.

You should avoid bubble sleeves if you don’t like your arms. The mass of fabric combined with the elastic cinch effect in this type of sleeve tends to draw attention to the arms, a problem area for many females.

Follow the belt trend wisely. Belts have been all the rage this year, dressing up bland and formerly last season pieces with new flair. Stay away marriage overly gaudy pieces and pay special attention to the placement of the belt. If you’re heavier in the midsection and thighs, the belt should go around the ribcage. Don’t make the belt too tight either, it’s not flattering and certainly not comfortable.

Be careful to select the right high boots for you. While high boots look excellent with dresses, if you are short or have a pear-shaped figure, make sure your boots have a heel: the increased height lengthens the legs, allowing you to stand tall with style and elegance. Pair your high boots with an empire waist dress and you’re set for a night on the town; the empire waist falls just above the natural waist, allowing bottom-heavy women to look fabulous.

Choose a fabric with a subtle color, and ignore the common misconception that black is the only color that looks slimming. This has gone by the wayside, replaced by understatement. The key is to avoid obnoxious and unflattering prints and horizontal stripes. Instead try inviting and warm colors such as rusts, browns, and greens.

The most important thing to remember is to own your style. Choose dresses that make you look as great as you feel and you can float from work, out to dinner or even to cocktail party with a few choice pieces.

Andrea writes about Plus Size Clothing. Visit us for plus size deals on Plus Size Lingerie at http://plus-size.discountsonline.com