At left — that’s me with Mishol Randolph. We were at the Dress for Success Purse and Pearls luncheon yesterday, and Mishol, of Erie, spoke to a sellout crowd that hung on every word.

At 25. Mishol recounted addictions to drugs and alcohol that started before she was a teenager and progressed to heroin. She cleaned up when she became pregnant, but returned to drugs within weeks of giving birth. She landed in prison, but she credits that experience for realizing she would lose her daughter.

Today, Mishol is a sales executive for the Erie Bayhawks, and she is happily raising her daughter Baelyn, 7.

Hers is a story of help from an entire Erie community that supports women. Kudos to the Erie County Treatment Court, a treatment-oriented program associated with the Mental Health Association of Northwestern Pennsylvania; Turning Point, a chemical dependency treatment facility in Franklin;

Mercy Center for Women, Dress for Success and the Erie Bayhawks.

To read more of her story, click here. Mishol also spoke at the 2013 Dress for Success “Something to Share” Gala in New York City in April.

Congratulations to Mishol and all the women who have turned their lives around with the help of Erie organizations.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step grandmom to one.

Young people are tanning too much, and Erie’s Doreen Buckel wants to spread the word.

Her 28-year-old daughter, Jennifer, lost a battle with melanoma — the potentially deadly skin cancer. Jennifer, like a lot of young women, spent time in the sun and in tanning beds. Doreen Buckel, her friends and family members lined Peach Street to raise awareness of skin cancer during Melanoma Awareness Month.
See the WJET-TV video here of her efforts. Click here to see a WJET-TV interview with Doreen.

According to the American Cancer Society, skin cancer is the most common of all cancers with more than 3.5 million skin cancers diagnosed each year in the United States — more than all other cancers combined. The incidence of diagnosis has increased over the past few decades.

Most skin cancers are caused by too much exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun and tanning beds.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom to three and step grandmom to one.

In House to Home this week, you must read the story on the Atlanta Botanical Gardens — it’s only in print so no links today.

Also, Sue Scholz pays tribute to Donna Davis of the Presque Isle Garden Club. Read her story here.

Check out all our stories this week:

» Enter Historic Homes Contest
» Homeowners want automated security
» 10 tips to make fridge shine
» Homemade, natural remedies keep pests at bay
» How to take care of oak trees

Pam Parker has written about real estate, home improvement and remodeling for 25 years. She is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three and stepmom to three.

I have seen this idea in a lot of places, but the folks from Kohl’s sent me some really cute and inexpensive choices for sunglasses shapes that flatter your face for $17 and up. Here they are:

If your face is round: Create contrast, wear square or rectangular frames that are slightly wider than the broadest part of your face.  These floral shades at left are from L.C. Lauren Conrad at Kohl’s for $18 — on sale.

If your face is square: Choose sunglasses with a higher top than at the bridge with oval or round frames that soften facial features. These babies at left are only $11 on sale at Kohl’s.

If your face is long: Choose angular and squared lenses. Try on those bad boys at right from Apartment 9, $13 on sale at Kohl’s.

If your face is oval: Anything goes. These cool Candie’s Retro Florals are $14.99 at Kohl’s.

If your face is heart-shaped: Choose a pair that adds width to the lower part of the face. Glasses that are wider at the top and narrower at the bottom — aviators and cat-eye sunglasses are good choices. Check out these Cat’s eye lenses from Apartment 9 for $12.99.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.

Last year, my team and I tracked and interviewed countless murder suspects, got the dirt on wealthy families that shaped Erie history and had a rip-roaring good time at the Watson-Curtze Mansion.

I felt like I was at Downton Abbey. And you can too!

It’s a real life game of Clue where actors portray the suspects — and they are stationed in various rooms of the four-story mansion and neighboring Planetarium. Everyone has a story, but you can’t always believe it — because one of them is a murderer!

Is it the doctor? The gardener? The lawyer? The spurned ex-wife? The mistress? The nanny? The long lost son or the guy who pretended to be the long lost son? Clues, clues — you must find all the clues! 

Join us — dress in your best 1920s fashions, enjoy the cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and desserts. And find the murderer!

Saturday, June 15 at  6 p.m. The after party begins at 8 p.m.

Teams of six can register for $250 before May 24. After, teams are $300. The Erie County Historical Society will match individuals and couples with a group if you do not have a team.

If you can’t make the game … join the Roaring 20s themed after party at the mansion. Tickets sold separately at only $20.

Hurry — this event sells out every year! Call 814-454-1813 x24

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three and stepmom of three.

In today’s New York Times that hit homes hours ago, Angelina Jolie wrote an opinion piece that announced a medical choice that many women have chosen — a preventative mastectomy — that reduced her 87 percent chance of contracting breast cancer to less than 5 percent. The video at left is from CNN.

Her mother died at age 56 of breast cancer.

Click here to read Jolie’s op-ed.

Here’s the very informative Huffington Post article.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.

It’s great news that Segways are coming to Presque Isle. I’ve ridden on Segways for fun during an interview with the former college president at Edinboro University (that’s me at left flitting around inside the student union building) and for even more fun when my daughter took me on a tour of Pittsburgh a few years ago at Paradise Tours.

In Erie, The Yellow Bike Rental Company added guided Segway tours to its popular rentals of bikes, trikes, surreys, tandems, and roller blades. The four tours a day start on May 25 at $50 per person. I am guessing they will be very popular.

Sign me up!

Here is Dana Massing’s story in today’s Erie Times-News.

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.

I’ve been to The Reserves off Arbuckle Road before, but right now there are five houses for sale in that region, and all are impressive. Here’s a link to my story in this week’s House to Home. That hubba-hubba great room at left is inside 275 Edgewater Circle — open house tomorrow. The list of homes for sale is at the end of this article.

We have plenty more on the local front. Click on the articles below:

» High Point market puts accent on statement makers – Meadville’s Marie Feltz gives us the news 
» Orchids mimic animals at weekend show Sue Scholz is going to the orchid show this weekend at the ice rink — you’ll see more than flowers
» Chalk one up for paint flowing at flower shop I visited Le Jardin in Edinboro — some must see decorating ideas.

Here are details on houses for sale in The Reserves:
275 Edgewater Circle
• $649,900
• 1.18 acres
• 3,210 square feet
• Built in 2005
• Five bedrooms, four baths
• Karen Antonio, of Howard Hanna, is the listing agent. For a closer look, attend an open house Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m., or call Antonio at 825-6097.

I’m not a flats kind of girl, but an e-mail spoke to me about “Earthing.”

The makers of Pluggz teased me about how good it feels to walk barefoot on grass or sand — they explained that it’s because we are in direct touch with nature  – Mother Earth.

We absorb energy, electrons that “ground” us — called Earthing. Well that caught my attention, so I visited the website and found  leather and linen ballet flats that have “pluggzproprietary” grounding technology, padded arches and heels with memory foam, moisture wicking, anti-microbial lining and trampoline heels for extra comfort and support. They retail for $129 per pair. I am hoping to get a free pair to try them out for everyone. They have a men’s version — flip flops.

White nails — they’re everywhere –Huffington Post, Harper’s Bazaar and more. This photo is from InStyle. The white nails look pretty good and some folks add little decals, stickers and other adornments. Check it out in the latest edition of InStyle magazine. 

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.

Soap legend Katherine Chancellor of “The Young and the Restless” is a household name in soapdom. Jeanne Cooper played the role of the epic rich woman who battled alcoholism. She was a complicated character ever since 1973 — the first year of the soap. I watched in high school, college and later, but drifted away from it.

Cooper’s son, Corbin Bernsen (of LA Law), announced yesterday that his mother had died at age 84. She had been in and out of the hospital with an infection for the past month. She did participate in Y&R’s 40th anniversary celebration earlier this year.

Cooper was a pretty fascinating woman long before she hit soaps. She was in westerns, The Big Valley, Perry Mason, Bracken World, Ben Casey, and a host of other TV programs of the 1950s and 60s.

Here’s a 2009 interview with Cooper, courtesy of the Archive of American Television. She had a facelift on TV. Here’s a link to that interview. 

Her memoir is called “Not Young, Still Restless.” Read an excerpt here. 

Here’s her bio on SoapCentral.com

Here’s a link to the CBS website

Pam Parker is the editor of Lake Erie LifeStyle, Her Times and House to Home at the Erie Times-News in Erie, Pa. She is the mom of three, stepmom of three and step grandmom of one.