This is the time of year we start craving a change of scenery as the winter doldrums set in. While there will be travels back home for the holidays, that’s not the jolt of novelty that we’re seeking. What we need is a road trip, and fortunately, in Los Angeles, one of the cities we call home, nearby choices abound, including Riviera Resort & Spa and the Resort at Pelican Hill (left).
Years ago, when our grandfather quit smoking, he would habitually reach into his pocket for his phantom cigarettes. At the time, we didn’t realize the difficulty of quitting smoking, but over the years we’ve seen many people close to us struggle to quit tobacco. Since November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month, the American Cancer Society encourages the 20.6 percent of Americans who smoke to choose Nov. 19, the Great American Smokeout, as the day to kick the nicotine habit.
At a book party for the The Inner Game of Stress (Random House. 2009) by W. Timothy Gallwey with Edd Hanzelik, M.D., and John Horton, M.D., we were inspired by the subtitle “outsmart life’s challenges and fulfill your potential.” We posed a scenario to Horton: What if we’ve been health-conscious our whole lives and then as we pass 40 stressful health issues start cropping up? For example, our blood work comes back with borderline-high cholesterol, causing visions of Lipitor prescriptions to dance in our heads? “You have inner resources beyond what you realize,” Horton told us. “You need to learn to tap into your best inner resources, your more evolved self, in order to handle issues of aging and just about anything else.”
After a recent relocation, we’re rethinking our hefty (and heavy) book collection. We found that our public library card saves valuable bookshelf space — not to mention cash. In fact, according to the 2008 State of America’s Libraries Report from the American Library Association, visits to public libraries and checked-out items are up 10 percent since the last economic downturn in 2001. The report also found that the sluggish economy has led more people to utilize the library’s free activities, Internet access and job-seeking resources. However, while library attendance is up, many of the institutions — including public, school and university libraries — are facing big budget cuts.
While we love checking out amateur cook-offs, the award-winning recipes are often staggeringly high in calories and fat — especially with the current everything’s-better-with-bacon-trend. So we were pleased to see the CorningWare SimplyLite Recipe Contest calling for lowfat, low-calorie recipes that can be made in CorningWare’s new SimplyLite bakeware collection, which is 50 percent lighter than traditional ceramic dishes.
We think it’s inspiring when an industry bands together to support a worthy cause. So we were delighted to hear about the upcoming Fashion Forward event, featuring a Saks Fifth Avenue runway show of holiday and resort looks and benefiting the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the nation’s oldest HIV/AIDS organization dedicated to prevention, treatment and care. The event — to be held Nov. 16 from 7–10 p.m. at New York City’s Metropolitan Pavilion — will be hosted by one of our favorite fashion experts, Tim Gunn of Lifetime’s Project Runway.
Having already worked our way through soy, almond and rice milks, we decided to try a box of the Living Harvest Unsweetened Original Hempmilk at our local Whole Foods. Holy yum! When we poured it over some whole-grain cereal, we couldn’t believe how rich and creamy it tasted. What’s more, it contains an impressive amount of protein, vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids (lots of healthy omega-3’s and a small amount of omega-6’s). Sold, we started adding hemp milk to baked goods (banana bread), pasta sauces (for mac and cheese) and soups (creamy pumpkin), in lieu of high-fat dairy.
Back in the ’90s, we once sported a haircut similar to reality star Kate Gosselin’s — and considering tart-tongued scissor wizard Tabatha Coffey’s take on the style, we know we made the right decision to grow it out. Coffey, formerly of Shear Genius fame, recently landed her own show on Bravo, Tabatha’s Salon Takeover, which airs Tuesdays at 10 pm. The Australian-born hairstylist, 43, gave us some great tips for maintaining our current ‘do.
We firmly believe in beauty recipes that have been handed down through generations, especially when they produce natural skin-care products that are economical — and that sound delicious. Return to Beauty: Old-World Recipes for Great Radiant Skin (Atria, 2009) from skin-care expert Narine Nikogosian contains formulas for moisturizers, toners, eye creams and face masks made from simple, fresh ingredients such as avocado, egg, yogurt, olive oil, mango and orange. Nikogosian — whose celebrity clients include Charlize Theron, Ellen DeGeneres and Alfre Woodard — also divulges some of her family’s beauty secrets.
Whenever we listen to lounge orchestra Pink Martini, we conjure a mental image in which we’re hosting a sophisticated dinner party, with fascinating, worldly guests who eventually clear a space for dancing. In our fantasy, we’re wearing vintage Chanel or a cocktail dress from Betty Draper’s Mad Men closet, and, of course, the 12-piece ensemble is playing in the background. Bandleader/pianist Thomas Lauderdale has said, “If the United Nations had a house band in 1962, hopefully we’d be that band,” which makes sense of our daydream.
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