We remember actor Jane Fonda leading the fitness revolution of the ’80s, starting with the release of Jane Fonda’s Workout Book (Simon & Schuster, 1981) and video. Now that one-third of adults in the United States are obese — putting them at higher risk for heart disease, diabetes and other health issues — we can’t think of a better time for a national call to exercise, with Fonda’s World Fitness Day on May 1.
Arbor Day, which is celebrated the last Friday in April, fell off our radar for the past several years, until a friend reminded us of the Arbor Day Foundation’s online tree identifier, when we had trouble discerning the type of tree outside our window. In grade school, we loved Arbor Day, when teachers would pass out trees to take home and plant — our pine from third grade still thrives in the yard of our childhood home. We also begged our mother to join the Arbor Day Foundation, so we could get 10 free trees, a deal that the organization still offers!
We can’t imagine the pain of giving birth to one kid, much less two at the same time, and give Jennifer Lopez a lot of credit for doing it both in real life and on screen. Two years since she gave birth to her twins Emme and Max, Lopez is back in mommy mode in The Back-up Plan, playing a woman who responds to the ticking of her biological clock by getting artificially inseminated. In predictable but fun rom-com fashion, she juggles romance with a yummy dairy farmer/cheese merchant (Alex O’Loughlin) and double pregnancy, looking lovelier than ever — with and without her faux belly.
When we heard that it was STD Awareness Month, we had flashbacks to the awkward high-school-health-class slide shows about sexually transmitted diseases. So when we learned that middle-aged adults have the highest incidence of certain sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, we were shocked. According to Michelle Sobel, co-founder of STDTestExpress.com and sexual health blogger on Unzipped, not enough is being done to educate sexually active adults.
We’ve long been fans of the eco-friendly, organic bedding from Amenity Home. Since 2004, founders Kristina De Corpo and Nicole Chiala have been manufacturing the chic, modern fabric items — with prints inspired by silhouettes in nature — in Los Angeles. So we were eager to see the company’s new Arroyo Collection of tableware, inspired by the mountains and canyons of Southern California. Each item, from the rectangle tray ($88) to the salt and pepper shakers ($36), is hand-hewn from Forest Stewardship Council-certified, sustainable walnut and finished with food-grade beeswax. Enter our giveaway by May 31, 2010, for a chance to win a set of four napkin blocks, which have a special groove allowing them to double as placecard holders — a $36 value!
We can never get enough of the superb Susan Sarandon, so we’re thrilled that there are two opportunities to watch her this weekend. On April 23, she traces her ancestral roots on NBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, in an effort to find out what became of her grandmother, and on April 24, she stars opposite Al Pacino in HBO’s You Don’t Know Jack, about assisted-suicide advocate Jack Kevorkian, M.D. (Photo credit: Michael Caulfield/Getty)
We recently came across a thought-provoking column by Yasmine Ryan called “Why Climate Change is Worse for Women.” Ryan cites a U.N. report that climate change affects poor women the most — and women make up 70 percent of the world’s impoverished. Because women also make up the majority of farmers and are responsible for collecting water and wood in poor nations, droughts, water shortages, deforestation and natural disasters have a bigger impact on women and their livelihoods. We believe having our voices heard regarding climate change is important, so, in honor of Earth Day, we’ve collected seven ways to take action!
We’ve been a proponent of voluntourism since high school, when we spent a summer in Mexico as part of the Amigos de las Américas program. Now, after hearing from a friend who recently helped save leatherback turtle eggs to aid conservation efforts in Tobago, we’re considering taking another volunteer vacation. It’s a great way to see the world and have a positive impact while you’re there. Throughout the month of April, travelers who book one of the 18 trips offered by Planeterra, the nonprofit voluntourism foundation of Gap Adventures, will receive a 10 percent discount. Those booking a voyage during Earth Month through either company also have an option of adding a $5 donation to the Kenya Community Tourism Project.
We recently told you about award-winning chef Michel Nischan’s Wholesome Wave program in our “Click Globally, Eat Locally” story in the March/April Green Issue of VIVmag. Nischan, who opened Dressing Room in Westport, CT, in 2006 with the late actor Paul Newman, is so dedicated to the idea of healthy, fresh and locally grown fare for all that he started the nonprofit to ensure food stamps could be redeemed for double their value at participating farmers markets. His new book, Sustainably Delicious (Rodale, 2010), explores responsibly raised and harvested ingredients, with more than 100 recipes for such dishes as french toast with brown sugar bananas, heirloom beet salad and homegrown fried chicken. Enter our giveaway by May 31, 2010, for your chance to win a copy!
At our first magazine job, an orange cursor blinked as the words we typed appeared on a black screen, and the staff of four publications shared one lone computer with Internet access. It’s safe to say we’ve seen a lot of technology advances in our day. But we’ve never seen as much excitement as that surrounding the iPad. In case you somehow haven’t heard, Apple’s new handheld tablet allows easy access to the Internet, email, photos, music, maps, movies — and even books, with the free iBooks app. But we’re most excited, of course, about the new opportunity to read digital magazines, such as VIVmag, on a handheld device with a large screen, through the free Zinio app for iPad. To celebrate, we’re giving away a free iPad — along with a free year membership to VIVmag — to two lucky winners every week now through May 2!
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