oldest yoga teacher - INSPIRATION!

Wow.  The oldest living yoga teacher, photographed in Central Park.

Master Tao Porchon Lynch, a 93-year-old yoga teacher.
Also a ballroom dancer and lover of wine.  What is NOT to love?

She will be inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the oldest living yoga teacher—this Sunday, May 13, Mother’s Day.

advice: getting into your wedding gown

Don't worry about it.

Get a bigger size dress.  Cut the tag out so you don't have to see that number ever again. 

Two weeks before the wedding, go to a tailor.  If it needs to be taken in, you can celebrate. 

Don't worry about it.

Thanks Fitness Magazine, for printing my advice and for sharing our Venice wedding photo in your website!

you'll wanna take a dip after you see these...

Eden Nest

Bondi Icebergs Club Pool - Australia

Hotel pool in Dubai



La Puificadora - Mexico



Lava Pool - Maderia, Portugal



Namale Resort - Fiji

Molokini Crater - Maui
I've actually been here!



Rooftop Plunge Pool - Five Hotel - Cannes

Waikiki beach
Been here too!



Waterslide - Elin Gev, Israel

Mykonos Grand Hotel - Greece

All images via "Fancy."   Have you seen Fancy yet?  It's like Pinterest only the photos are much more beautiful!

Niagara

Niagara on the Lake.  Quaint, charming vinyard town in Ontario, Canada.
It's a bit chilly here, and I'm sorry I packed sandals and summer skirts, but the tulips are still beautiful and mine at home are long gone.

I flew into Buffalo and drove to Niagra on the Lake.  I couldn't resist taking a detour and seeing Niagara Falls.  It's one of the "Seven Wonders" after all.   It was gorgeous.   I was a bit disappointed at the tacky souvenir shops that surrounded the place.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge advocate of free enterprise and all that, but today I was wishing we could do it with a bit more class.

breakfast "diversity"

Jon Huck has created an interesting photo website of people and their breakfasts.

I've fallen in love with our new VitaMix and am surprised how healthy it feels to have a green smoothie for breakfast.  Having five or six servings of greens already in my system feels very freeing -- I don't have to worry about getting in salads or broccoli for lunch. 

The odd thing?  I'm actually more likely to eat greens later.  

And something about those greens being pre-munched up makes the energy hit your system sooner. 

What do you eat for breakfast?

moving makes you Hotter

This might be the number one reason to get moving.

At least men think so.

And women probably do too.

According to research quoted in Men's Health, moving faces are hotter than stationary ones.   

Then again, Men's Health also says we (women) always go for "the loud, obnoxious type" and I couldn't disagree more.   What do you think?  Is sweaty sexy??

this mother kept me up last night

The email I sent to talkingback@Vogue.com at 6am:

  re: April issue, "Weight Watchers"

I was horrified reading "Weight Watchers" in your April issue. Withholding healthy food from a hungry seven-year old is emotional abuse. Not allowing a hungry child to eat salad? green beans? Calling her "fat" and forcing her to watch her brother eat food that she wants, but doesn't get?

Ms. Weiss does not care about childhood obesity, or her daughter's health. She is vain and selfish and wants a skinny little girl to appear beside her in photos. My almost-4 year old has never had sugar, and I've dodged cupcakes at pre-school parties, and completely agree that the food in our schools is a nutritional nightmare. But I bring a banana or unsweetened applesauce for my little girl to enjoy instead of sugary, fat-laden treats. Because her nutrition is the priority, not a DIET.

I hope, for Bea's sake, that the author is pulling a Rush Limbaugh here and just trying to shock us (her mediocre writing certainly isn't going to garner her any attention). And I hope she's saving money for her daughter's therapy and eating disorder treatment.

It is so disappointing to see you glorify this by giving it coverage in your magazine (anorexic models on your pages is one thing; highlighting this emotional abuse of a child is quite another).

Angela Broderick Bedell
Leawood, KS

Remember my sugar-free birthday parties?  My daughter's health is a priority, and I am hell-bent on keeping toxic, sugary, addictive junk away from her.  But I  do it by keeping GOOD food in front of her and dodging the bad stuff.  
I am amazed that a mother would, in the day and age, treat a child this way. 

Wander Woman

We are blessed with some beautiful weather in Kansas City this week.  And it's inspired some unscheduled down time for this working mama.

Our new True treadmill arrived at 8am Saturday morning, and I'm happy to say I'm batting about 800 -- I've gotten on it for at least two miles every day, most days 4+ miles.   (BTW, this treadmill = the best investment we've ever made!).

All this extra exercise has made my knees and feet and hips HURT and I went for a massage yesterday. 

So all this self-care, paired with extra outdoors time with baby girl, and an unplanned two hour drive with Mr Right, has this woman WAY behind.  

My lawn is ugly.  My house needs some serious organizing.  

We've done exceptionally well with nutrition this week, eating all the chicken we grilled on Sunday, and having lunches with lots of brussel sprouts and spinach.  And Mr Right keeps the kitchen spotless.  

My professional life is excelling, and I'm ahead of 90% of it.  Serious check-marks on the Ta-Da list this week.

The tulips are peeking up out of the ground (I didn't plant those though, Mr Right hired somebody to do it).    We are going to have a beautiful tulip garden amongst a bunch of dead grass.   Nominations for "best home owners" coming soon, I can feel it.  Oh, that lawn.  And I'm tripping over at least three baskets of laundry.

Ah to be wonder woman.  I'd love to feel like Wander Woman.  

Despite all my accomplishments, and this glorious weather, I have to WORK to not feel like a slacker. 
How do you stay mentally ahead of all your "musts?"

Mama friendly workplace

I just love this.

Kudos to Licia Ronzulli, Italian member of European Parliament, who has been taking her daughter, Victoria, to sessions since she was just one month old.  Previous post here of Licia breastfeeding in Parliament. 

gym inspiration

This is just worth sharing again.

It's hard work. Period.

relevé

The Ballerina Project continues to inspire.

Have you tried the fitness-ballet workout?  They seem to be a really hot class right now.  Here are a few that look interesting:
Balletone
Ballet Barre Workout (a DVD)
Barre Physique

In Kansas City:  Fusion Fitness, Personal Best Pilates, and "Fitness Ballet" at Lifetime Fitness.
In NYC, Physique 57 has been around quite awhile and is still uber popular, and I'd love to try a class at Beyond Barre.

First post about the Ballerina Project here. Support the Ballerina Project at BallerinaProject.com. Photos via BallerinaProject.com