LEARNING TO DEAL WITH MY INNER PEACE

I am busy packing yet again. A friend says "Next year, let's rent a villa in Positano, we have to have something planned Amanda"  I am thinking I spent my first seven years on this planet counting the steps to my grandmother's villa she built in Priaino, the next door village. It was at least 200 steps up hill, my Mother used to complain that it was a huge effort taking my brother and I there, the heat and walking uphill were not for her.
Once my Mother also said if I wanted to go to boarding school, I could not have Summer holidays, I chose an education.Since then I feel I have never been off the metal bullet. The attraction though of holidays has diminished as the aeroplanes have disappeared from the sky in recent months.
However here I am again getting ready for a life changing experience. My younger son said the other day "You need to find out what you want to do for the rest of your life, go away to the Mayr Clinic, and during the week find out what you wish to do"
My younger son believes everything starts with food, so that even our thoughts start with that. I agree. So as my two sons have grown up and with their wings spread wide, I remember the Summers in St Tropez with the house full of people and children, with love and affection. I arranged classes for all the children, they had tennis lessons, dancing lessons, music lessons, art lessons, I virtually ran a school. Thank goodness I did because we have incredible memories. I had all my friends to stay, from the British leading artists, to a concert pianist, or a pop star, it was fun, there are many many stories, but times have changed, I am now divorced, my sons are adult, needing their own lives, and I am grabbing freedom for the first time in  25 years. It is a funny feeling to think that I may be on my own for the rest of my life. I don't like it, but equally I don't want to be with someone for the sake of it, or to be with someone who I do not get on with. I am trying to learn to deal with my loneliness.
Remembering those wonderful Summers at Maison du Cap, Rammatuelle with my ex husband, is a tricky experience. I loved having a mission in life, running the house, walking the dogs, looking after my children. I also loved having my friends to stay. It was one long party. I could easily feel depressed today as I prepare for the week ahead.  Everything changes and although I feel 18 I am a woman of "uncertain age" with experience and love of that house behind me. I am glad I had those years, but equally I am pleased to be forging a life for myself ahead. I entertained so many people, now, for a few days it is time for myself to think, a precious rarity, and a time to stay quiet.  I was offered so many trips with friends but all I want to do is think with a clear head, so this is the perfect Summer to do it. Austria here I come.

NIKKI LUND ON THE COVER OF GENLUX MAGAZINE TEAMS UP WITH RICHIE SAMBORA ON FASHIONs NEW LA LABEL NIKKI RICH..

This is Nikki Lund partner of Richie Sambora, for the  Nikki Rich. Her commercial dress designs are modern and contemporary. The look I wear running around in Los Angeles. Well cut and trendy, you feel good in the dessert weather of  Hollywood. She is also a musician and probably has the best figure I know. I was once fortunate enough to see her playing a guitar with high heels with next to nothing on.  She looks incredible in this issue with photographs by Tracey Morris who also took mine two months ago. Tracey is a genius with a camera, she enhances every asset we have.
Genlux  incase you don't know is the is the glossy magazine that rocks fashion in an elegant way. It is reproduced on thick lavish glossy paper. I am lucky enough to be the Fashion Editor there. With her new recording,  This is it, out soon, the world of Nikki Lund is on the up and up.
She is best old pals with Kim Kardashian, and this lucky pair have the star factor needed to swing open the doors of the Hollywood dream.

Equally cool is the new bottle from Christian Louboutin, that I am lusting after. I saw Christian himself at Marina Cicogna's party in Italy for her birthday. He is so much fun and spent the evening snapping photographs of me, just to make sure I had one decent one.. Have you seen the varnish yet?. It will look so attractive on your dressing table along with the eye liner from Tom Ford. you will look stunning this Summer with Charlotte Tilbury's easy to put on make up.

There are still masses of sales on in London so whip round to Charlotte Olympia to catch the fabulous shoes, red of course for my new naughty mood.

Lifes a beach handbag.

LAST NIGHT AT THE GENLUX PARTY GIVEN FOR THE NIKKI RICH LABEL

Richie Sambora and Nikki Lund with publicist Sean Borg

CHEAP INSIDE AND CHEAP OUT: I AM NOT AN ASHTRAY ON MOTOR BIKE,

What is the matter with peoplee.? They really are too much. This is why there are wars.  Press the number in the right sequence and I am an angel, press them in the wrong one, and you ruffle my very ornamental feathers, and you will see something resembling Medusa, only less forgiving. You have to understand peoples foibles. If you have not seen that and you would like to, press enough buttons in the right sequence and I will be spectacular. I just hope you survive, then I can do it to you again.

This week one of my ex boyfriends  thought it clever to take one of my  ex supposed best girlfriends on a Summer beano without considering what I felt.  I don't know who is the most inappropriate in this story, but added together they are absolutely ghastly.  When my ex bgf interfered with my ex husband a few years ago she fed me gossip with selective amnesia.  It is fine when the subject is only about some lipsticks, or how much is that dress, but when people do not consider my feelings, and try my life on like a cheap dress that doesn't suit them, they will find that they have put stains all over it. They think I will not notice when they put it back not the hanger? If she wants to try something on, she should nip down to the Oxfam shop, and pop herself into some dead womans clothes, and hope they won't haunt her.
It is still my dress but I don't want it anymore, and I don't want them to have it either. I would rather give it to a complete stranger who would be grateful for it.
People have deluded fantasies about other peoples lives, which don't exist and the answer I got was "You are mad and crazy and need an institution immediately with a jacket with long sleeves on it, strapped in an horizontal position.

ENVY BY AMANDA ELIASCH AND KAY SAATCHI
CONSTRUCTED BY MICHAEL FLECHTNER

Okay I did throw a lobster at a creative genius once, and I did hit my husband over the head with the air conditioning unit. Since I have a reputation for this,  and much admiration too,  should you press my buttons I will show my teeth.
Any female that thinks that they can be touchy feely with my ex or current bed fellows can be assured  that they will be persona non grata, and I will beat you with other fruits of the forest.

How would they like me to get the rizzlers out and start 'serving up' joints to their many ex's? Having deep and personal conversations, chemically induced intellect with counterfeit charm with their acquisitions?. Of course I will be accused of craziness, over the top lunacy. In fact one of them informs me on a regular basis that I need help, and is in a position to write me a prescription for any potion I might need, so I can become pharmaceutically compliant.
The answer is I should not entrust thoughts and feelings with anyone, just incase they get thrown back in my face at a later date.
You know who you are, both of you.
The real problem is with the new girlfriend who of course is  hiccup not jealous of me...
She wants not responsibility for his life, but she is there to reap the cash rich benefits..he is on his own, well let them all sleep together in their slimy behaviour. One thing we know for sure is that Karma always works..

LET's THINK RATHER THAN TALK, JEWS AND MUSLIMS

How stupid of me to have got caught up in the traffic yesterday, as all the roads in London were closed over the Palestinian problem. How stupid just because I fell in love with a coat at Alexander Mcqueen which I had to have. I swore only two weeks ago that I would no longer shop and there I was at it again.

With all the dramas in the world, I am still  thinking about clothes, which let's face it are a profitable but feckless occupation. I justify it to myself as it is "my world" as the Fashion Editor to Los Angeles's most glamorous magazine Genlux.  I justify the need for wonderful clothes, but then I am reminded by my great friend who I shall call "The street Rabbi" that 4,000 children die a day from bad drinking water, it makes an article in Vogue about another  best friend "copying style", slightly trivial, and my passion for a gold embroidered coat ridiculous. As middle aged woman, however pretty, we should be a little more intelligent? Have a little more empathy, and be more politically aware.

JEWISH FAMILY SHARING LOSS

The balance in the Middle East will never be sorted out, if we are not careful. Lest we forget, the Muslims are misunderstood too, not just the Jewish people in this instance. Let's face it we all do misunderstand each other. The Muslims have honour killings, genital mutilation, killing of homosexuals, worldwide poverty in Third World countries. The women are oppressed, and governments are run by dictatorships, Hezbullah hate Hamas. So before we get completely caught up in the story of "The Wall" surrounding Palestine, we should look openly at the problems that exist. Gaza was a paradise, when the Israelis captured it from Eygpt.  Now in the hands of the Palestinians it is a war zone. Each have different priorities.  It is the same with the inner cities of the world, wherever there are Muslims they have a different set of values than the Christians, and whether we like it or not, they are not naturally considerate to other people sharing their living space, yet the Muslims have ritual bathing, so they are not unclean. They are just different.
Hamas is an illegal terrorist group who do nothing for their own people and turn down truces. Let’s open our eyes and see there is an anti semetic wave going on throughout the white middle classes?. Of course the "Wall" should come down, but remember...

Remember all our inherited wealth came from the developing world, in Victorian England.  It is why England is England, with beautiful buildings. It came from slavery, it came from trade with exotic countries, it came from the raiding of antiquities. 
For those of us that like figures there are approximately 63.3 million Christians in England, 3.3 million Muslims and 270,000 Jews. 

 I am still in love with the gold embroidered coat, but I am also aware in my ditzy or not so ditzy way, the dreadful failings, we have as human beings. Should we be proud about them?. Great Britain has allowed foreign arms dealers to  buy houses. and make the deals of the mega rich?   Should we allow these tax exiles, to live without a tax, so that they prop up our property market and economy? London has become the home of the rich escapees, the blood money which in turn sponsors  the art world, the galleries, the music and so on, making it acceptable.  On another note, lest we forget, Jews are leaving Paris in vast numbers, as the bombs explode. 

We should remember the crusades and the damage caused by our religious wars hundreds of years ago. Stalin, Mao and Hitler killed millions of people.

As a Christian, I am fully aware that the Jews were bullied and harassed for thousands of years, tortured and thrown into camps. Any human being would wish that this did not happen. That they did not feel the need for a  Jewish State. The behaviour of others towards them has made them feel the need of a homeland. Who can blame them?. The families before them would have loved to have stayed in their original homes in Russia and Germany, but they were displaced, and the need for a single supposedly safe state became a political necessity. The British at the time thought they had done the right thing I am sure. The English middles classes in their relatively safe country houses will never fully understand what it is like  to arrive in a country with no money, and no understanding of the language, not understanding another countries ways, habits and religion.
 Tel aviv in Israel is lest we forget  a gay centre, whereas in Gaza, Palestine, not very far away it is illegal.  Why are we not marching against the arranged marriages of teenage girls in Hamas controlled Gaza?. Why are we not marching against the killings of homosexuals.

To start again.

The Vogue article is written by a friend in the August issue. I wish she had not felt the necessity to write it, it is horrid about a mutual best friend that we share. I wrote to the girl yesterday and said "What on earth made you write this article?" she wrote back and said "She was inspired by my play" Such petty banter when a girl at this very moment is being chopped up or beaten in another part of the world.  Couldn't Vogue be a little more intelligent than to fall for the aggression of an Editor towards another human being, who like her is just trying to get through life? We should be sisters, we need our friends. It seems very low on my list of priorities, but this is where bullying first starts, and must be addressed. The press like to be unnecessarily unkind and often it starts with the journalist.

MOTHERLESS PALESTINIAN CHILDREN

Why is it necessary to write cattily about anyone? Especially by a best friend of a best friend? My friend is the sort of "perfect" woman, a Bree. When she was young she looked ravishing in Chanel.  Pale Blue of course, or pink. She was the girl who got the flowers from men, she was the girl that was loved and I was very much a second choice.  I could have been jealous, but I never was. I admired her. My friend could make perfect Christmas Puddings, perfect roast Chicken and my ex husband and I loved her, we still do. Which is why in this article I intend to stick up for her.  She is the sort of wife every man would want, perfect hair, perfect children, pretty children, clever children, pretty decorator.  I am happy for her.
This is not the fashion desk of British Vogue, or the war zone correspondent at the Times, but opinion is opinion. The article should not have been written. Copying is a form of flattery. Names, places, clothes. I love sharing, so do not have an ego in this direction. We are all influenced by friends. 
Today my street Rabbi wrote and said the gaza problem was a small problem,  a minor problem for all parties involved.  However as the dead are being buried in cement graves in front and behind the walls, I am sure for the families, this war feels monumental. As does, the two thousand word article about my wonderful pal, as she realizes that she has been torn apart in Hanover Square for a series of very ordinary supposed misdemeanours.

Twenty thousand people marched yesterday with offensive signs against Israel.  However, as I write thousands are being killed in Iraq, Shia versus Sunni. Houses and antiquitites stolen. Families destroyed. Friends torn apart. We must realise that there is a percentage of the population who will be driven by conflict. It is a genetic thing.  

Think about Abramovich, who owns Chelsea Football Club, who is friends with Putin, Russia shot down a plane yesterday as we all know. The bodies of children have been decomposing in the bloody fields of the Ukraine, which for hundreds years have been the killing fields of religious wars, Christians, Muslims alike. Now this was of course was probably a ghastly accident. But it is a chain. There are slaves in this country, there are honour killings, etc etc, in this country. The arms dealers who sell to all sides. We have incredible poverty, why do we not march for that?

Every time you do something cruel, small or large to a friend, the karma will pay you back. As the editor laughs at the torment she has caused, something will happen to her when she least expects it. When I left drama school the head said to me "Amanda, show you shining self and you will get everywhere, but show your bolshy side and you will get nowhere"

In the meantime I fully admit to copying my perfect friend's idea on Chanel jackets, she introduced me to White collars and cuffs, and I still love them after all this time.

The bible says when you are hit you should "Turn the other cheek, but probably the other one  has a bruise on it too. This is the time to do just that, and think about important issues at stake not the petty and unnecessary.  Let’s consider the propaganda we are being fed. Let's try and make a change by starting in our own back yard.

MY TOP THREE COUTURE SHOWS ARE FIGHTING FIT IN PARIS a little joy in the midst of war.

I could start the blog today about the furious fighting between the Middle East in all its sectors. Nobody in my opinion is right and the only people happy in this story are the gun runners probably sunning themselves in some Gin Palace on the Riviera, while the worker bee terrorists are busy killing  each other. Every Summer when I book my ticket to Lebanon, to see the land of my birth, something stops me. Is it the heat? What is it? I think everybody believes themselves to be right. When you harm someone else in any shape of form, in whatever you do, you are no longer right. This week I had to go through another type of war, a war in the toy box, "boys with their toys" it used to be about a villa now it is about an hotel. Never mind, somebody stealing your time is theft, but that is another matter, so I shall talk about couture.

 I went to Paris, which is one of my most favourite cities in the world. It is where I fell in love twice  in my beautiful flat that once belonged to Tamara de Lempicka and which I lovingly restored. I adored my bedroom there, cream silk with black lace. Truly I wish I had kept it.

I shall talk about my highlights of last weeks shows. Couture is a matter of extravagance and eccentricity for me. My top three designers were the following.  I loved the Shiaparelli Collection by Marco Zanini a collection, that I found the most  mystical and flamboyant, the look of Marlene Dietrich entering the party as a secret spy.  Clothes I wanted to wear. Clothes I dream of. The glamour of an age we need to bring back. A central park squirrel, the sequins, the stories of Simone de Beauvoir struck a chord. Yes I wanted every piece. Stephen Jones's hats were perfect and I shall be knocking on his door for this particular beret. However you cannot buy style you create it from thrift shops, from the back of your wardrobe, by using eccentric pieces. So you can all get the look and idea without leaving your bank balance empty.

I long for days of unusual occurrences.  There is only Karl Lagerfeld left for this. Although I hated the pudgy making shorts under skirts with flat shoes and spiky hair, he was ahead and he created fabulous modern looks. I loved them, I thought about them, I won't wear them, yet I liked and hated them. Let's be honest he is the most contemporary man alive pushing the boundaries of  what we wish to wear as a woman.
Short and fat he made hip this season. Yet his wedding dress was truly what I desire, if I was ever to tread those boards again I will beg him to dress me.

My old friend Giambattista Valle made me feel that his clothes were already on the yachts of Southern Italy, with a young voluptuous  Sofia Loren wardrobe. His collection was sexy 1950's brought up to the minute. It had a demure factor also.Yes he has the "IT" factor.
Yes he is now, and yes I wanted so many pieces. I loved the horizontal stripes.

Wearable clothes with a twist. I loved the shine the see through, the elegance.

I wanted this skirt.
I loved it.

THE INTELLIGENT WAY TO LIVE YOUR LIFE IS THE VIVA MAYR CLINIC?

I have just been to the Viva Mayr Clinic again, where everybody around me seems to have tummies full of parasites.  Looking slightly pregnant gives the game away.  I look on my computer to see how many parasites can fill a gut, and  boy oh boy, I find a huge list of wriggly creatures  eating everything and breeding inside our tummies.  As dogs all get wormed I join up to get the tests.  I wish I had not, because everybody else looked well and sprightly, and the medicine prescribed to me, left me horizontal.  However, during easier moments,  I had a brilliant time laughing with the inmates.  A mixture of funny wonderful people, who made the time there fly by.

Why the Viva Mayr? It is in my opinion one of the best spas to go to. They  really care, about a healthy and intelligent way to lead your life. Tricky to keep to in real life. In this spa, which is reasonably comfortable, you lose weight and deal with related problems quickly.  Within two or three days I have gone down two or three pounds which makes me feel cheerful. My son is told that he has a minor medical problem, and a friend of mine is diagnosed with Candida. All in a mere three days.  It is efficient, with good food and provided you are not given starvation rations, which can happen,  it is very tolerable. Nobody is fully aware that parasites and Candida adore sugar.

There are many problems with obesity nowadays I have no idea why the doctors and government do not give everybody  amphetamine?  Why are they prescribing elastic bands? They work, but why not encourage the piggies in our environment to enjoy slimmer bodies earlier?. Why leave it, when everything has gone out of hand and you have over three stone to lose. Depressed and miserable?
Some people, like me,  need help to lose weight. To leave it too late only means that it is a major undertaking. It costs a fortune on our health service. To put in an elastic band is probably about 12,000 pounds. Some pills for six months, 500 pounds. The Mayr Clinic roughly 3500 euros a week. To be happy and slimmer at a lower price,  evan better don't put sugar in your mouth in the first place?
Breakfast on a boiled egg with gluten free bread and a piece of goats cheese.
Luncheon Fish/chicken with boiled vegetables or some avocado moose
Dinner soup
Easy to follow for life.

CHASING THE WHEEL THE GOOD THE FAMOUS and THE DISHY DEVIL

Follow the Villain… “It’s Good to Be Bad”

Let's admit it we all love a villain, the good and the bad,

I was also on line trying to get a Jaguar, they still have glamour about them. So with four stunning Jaguar cars, an enigmatic leading lady, a group of antagonists, mix in dramatic car chases and striking locations, and you have Jaguar's latest ambitious and entertaining branded exercise. Who looks best in the new advert is for you to decide but I think there is a little competition.Craig Young one of my favourite friends in Hollywood landed the job.

Following Jaguar’s successful US Super bowl “Its Good to Be Bad” commercial introducing, their new F-type performance car that featured a slew of renowned British talent, including, Avengers star Tom Hiddleston, and Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley. Craig was the obvious choice when casting their new “Follow the Villain” 5 part series of commercials for its F-TYPE R Coupe  Craig Robert Young.  

AMANDA ELIASCH FOR JAGUAR GENLUX MAGAZINE BRIT WEEK: DAVID BECKHAM ADVERT: THE NEW VILLAIN CRAIG YOUNG

Young’s career in on-screen villainy started in the UK award winning TV series “Dream Team” portraying ex-con turned-pro soccer player Alex Wilkinson. Following a succession of leading roles that included three of J.J Abraham’s hit productions “Lost", “What About Brian” and the cult sci-fi phenomenon “Fringe” which lead to Young being named one of TV’s “Top Ten Villains” on “whatculture.com”.   Then he played brilliantly in May in the Vortex. A young man furious with his mother. "Do you realise how ugly you are?" A violent brilliant bit of acting. Craig has the style of an Aristocrat mixed with James Bond. In fact he can play anything. He is incredibly dishy if only he looked my way.

ROCK AND ROLL WEEK

London is a social whirlwind and I love it. So many images swish by. At the beginning of the week I went to the Marriott in North London a rather scruffy hotel, but so much fun in a weird way. I ended up at the top table full of The Bomber Command from the second world war to celebrate Brian Epstein, Manager of the Beatles, at last being rewarded wit a blue plaque. It was unveiled at Sutherland House next door to the London Palladium where he ran his NEMS Enterprise Management Agency managing the Beatles.
I love the gentle lyrics of the Beatles, boys from out of town, next door to the rough tough lyrics of Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. The lunch was in support of the Bombers that saved Great Britain during World War Two. At my table medals were on every top pocket, I was with the best company thanks to in invitation from Julius Just, the magical fixer for the late, Robin Gibbs, for many years.

Masterpiece was on, the intricately put together, artefacts, stunningly on view to the audience. A party  to celebrate the talented David Bailey was given. I went with two wonderful women, Jessica Andrews and Henriett Tunyogi. Talented and feisty we laughed all the way round the show, spending in our heads 200 million. In aid of the brilliant foundation "Marie Curie", the charity that supports cancer care, hosted by Heather Kerzner, who should, for her work get an OBE.

Good news also for Tracey Emin's bed, it reached the huge sum at Christies of 2.5 million, a great birthday present, and good news for any artist that their works go up in value. Last night Tracey spoke at her birthday party at Marks Club, and admitted that it was an incredible moment in her life. She was surrounded by loving friends from Joan Collins to Vivienne Westwood. That she never believed she would be standing there, saying that work, that had been devised 16 years before, would have been so successful.  I am so happy for her, in awe of her achievements.

JOAN COLLINS TRACEY EMIN AND AMANDA ELIASCH

 The Serpentine Gallery Summer party, which was again celebrating the opening of the new Pavilion by Architect, Smiljan Radic from Chili. It looked like the Flintstones house, a rock with a heart. Guests included actress Keira Knightley and Caroline Stanbury from Ladies of London. What fun that must be would love to join them from their series, cross fingers.

I was lucky to go with Alice Naylor Leyland from the wonderful Alice in her Palace blog,.
Grayson Perry looked spectacular, definitely number one on my best dressed list. A parody, but so much fun.

CAROLINE STANBURY AND AMANDA ELIASCH SERPENTINE PARTY

I want to rush round to Simon Lee's gallery and buy photographs of Larry Clark's for a mere one hundred pounds.
They had sports too, surprisingly enough, and I am good with balls so I played netball with Pam Hoggs and went surfing too.

Good news, my hair was approved by the very pretty actress Anna Friel, it was bullied into shape by Natalia Souza from the soon opening salon, for quick blow dries, called "Duck and Dry:. She is a little genius with a brush. Of course I am not forgetting Angela Kalinowski, in Los Angeles and Snowden Hill, she is just a pretty girl, who I see every morning in London, where beauty and cheerfulness is a rarity.

Foyles bookshop opened their Archeological Department in Charing Cross Road,  with Graham Hancock, a named Anti Christ in their circles. The author of "Fingerprints of the gods" will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I then ran to the BFI to listen to the very witty, Easy Rider director, the great  Peter Fonda,  with the BFI,  followed by a delicious private dinner at the Cafe Royal.

With a midnight swim in a romantic pool, nothing could have been better.

VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 2013 Hair done by Natalia Sousa

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