With summer here, we’ve got beaches, bikinis and swimming on our minds. And we’re especially stoked about the latter — no matter what your fitness level, going for a dip is one of the best ways to get in shape because water cushions stiff joints and provides far more resistance than air to help build long, lean muscles. Plus, as long as we’re wearing adequate sun protection, it gives us a delightful excuse to soak up a little sun! (Photo credit: Nadia Pandolfo)
Hollywood’s elite turned out in force to honor filmmaker Mike Nichols at the 38th Annual American Film Institute Life Achievement Award gala, and with one A-lister after another, we almost got whiplash trying to keep up. We were all about the fashions, and some of them really earned that “A.” There was Annette Bening of the forthcoming The Kids Are Alright, stunning in turquoise blue satin, on the arm of dashing-as-ever husband Warren Beatty, and Diane Sawyer (Mrs. Nichols), out from behind the news anchor desk in an elegant black and silver gown with matching wrap. Brothers & Sisters’ Calista Flockhart, who recently wed Harrison Ford, rocked a figure-hugging knit column in a signature Missoni print.
The taste of summer, in our mind, has always included the following trio: corn on the cob, watermelon and iced tea. We curled up with a warm cup of tea when we told you about National Hot Tea Month in January, and now we’re ready to cool down with one of our favorite summer beverages in June, which is National Iced Tea Month.
For years, we worked for a pet-friendly media group, where it wasn’t uncommon to receive an unexpected friendly office visit from a co-worker’s dog — from Yorkie to German Shepherd to mutt. Occasionally, meetings had to be moved to a conference room that didn’t contain a litter of rescued kittens. With all the animal lovers, Take Your Dog to Work Day, celebrated this year on June 25, was a particularly festive event — the office brightened by more wagging tails than usual. Even if your workplace doesn’t participate, you can experience the happiness dogs bring by perusing the pages of Barbara Karant’s Small Dog, Big Dog (Gallery Books, 2010), out June 29.
We’ve been fans of Tilda Swinton since her spectacular unraveling in front of George Clooney when she played a ruthless corporate executive caught in a web of lies in the 2007 thriller Michael Clayton. Now Swinton comes undone in the new Italian film I Am Love (lo sono l’amore) playing Emma, the repressed Russian-born wife of a rich Italian businessman who falls helplessly in love with her grown son’s best friend.
We know many fashionistas who would kill to work at a magazine like Vogue or as a stylist to stars like Kate Winslet and Liv Tyler. But Stacy London, who did both, confesses she prefers her latest job as co-host of TLC’s What Not to Wear. “For me, it’s much more fulfilling and has led to a much deeper understanding of what style can do for people,” she says. When we caught up with London at a recent Discovery Channel press party, looking chic in a black sheath by Australia-based Asian designer Yeojin Bae, she was eager to share some of her best style tips and shopping strategies. (Photo credit: Brian Doben/TLC)
At a recent lucy activewear event at Exhale Spa, we took a Vinyasa class led by yoga instructor Seane Corn, co-founder of Off the Mat Into the World, a grassroots group dedicated to social change. Corn noted that it can be difficult to quiet the mind in the fast-paced environment of New York City. So we were interested to hear that yogis will gather to celebrate Solstice in Times Square on June 21, with speakers and free yoga classes all day. For a slightly more serene urban setting — plus a free Gaiam yoga mat from JetBlue — check out Yoga at the Great Lawn the following day, June 22 at 6 p.m. in Central Park.
We’re all for taking care of our girls even in these tough economic times — and apparently we’re not alone! American women spent more than $8 billion on bras last year (a whopping $2 billion increase since 2004), according to the market research firm Mintel. One reason for the bra bonanza is Oprah. Ever since her famous “bra intervention” shows in 2005, more women have been going for proper fittings and discovering that they’ve been wearing the wrong size bra: typically a band that’s too big and a cup that’s too small.
Over the past decade, we’ve noticed that vegan diets have become much more mainstream, from the popularity of Skinny Bitch (Running Press, 2005) and its successors, to the American Dietetic Association’s updated position last year blessing vegan diets as healthful and helpful in preventing and treating chronic diseases. Most recently, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit that promotes a vegan diet, has come up with a new alternative to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s MyPyramid.gov — a Power Plate diagram in four sections: fruits, grains, vegetables and legumes.
We’ve been a fan of Sarah McLachlan since hearing the talented Canadian singer-songwriter’s hit, “Possession,” from 1994’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy (Nettwerk). And we’ve long admired her commitment to issues close to her heart — from the 1997 launch of Lilith Fair, a female-driven festival as a reaction to the reluctance of promoters to book multiple female acts on the same bill, to her heart-wrenching ads for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. So we’re pleased to see her return with her first studio album in seven years, Laws of Illusion (Arista, 2010), and the first Lilith Fair since 1999, kicking off June 27.
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