Dear Fairy Godmother

Dear Fairy Godmother,

I don't need a prince. Happily-ever-after is going well.

Here's what I would wish for:

Woodway Treadmill - this seems to be the only thing that can carry my 40+ knees on a run longer than 5 miles with no pain the next day.   They have them at my gym and I love them.  Wouldn't it be wonderful though, to skip the drive, parking, checking in and lockerroom and just go jump on this floating-belt-platform guy for cardio?   Could take a 2.5 hour chunk of my day and cut it into a 1.5 hour commitment.  And I could use that hour.

Martha Stewart Craft Room furniture (I don't even do crafts - ??  Love this though.)



These abs.   A bit on the hard side for my tastes, but I would have so much fun "softening" them just a little! 

A week here.

And this to drive, preferably near the ocean.

Sincerely,
Angela B.
P.S. Happy home, family, friends and fulfilling career mean I would, in reality (if the whole fairly godmother thing came to be reality), pass this wish off to someone who needed a job, home or warm meal. Thanks for indulging my fantasy post.

Crescendo

Crescendo, originally uploaded by acastellano.

This makes me want to take surfing lessons.

Maybe not start with this wave :)

Can't you just feel it's energy?

Phit finds on the web

Send your prayers and good vibes to the poor folks in the flooding Brisbane, Australia.  I found this photo of the popular "Keep Calm" poster in a canoe - how appropriate.  It's hanging in my {dry and safe} office and I may look at it differently now.

Loved this post on "The F Word" by Working Moms Against Guilt.  So glad I found these women.

{The F word, in this case, is Flexibility.  As in workday flexibility. Or the lack of it.  And the need for it.}

Have you seen the online Lonny Mag?  Gorgeous.   This spread had an embroidered Marc Jacobs dress ($1,500 yikes) and a multi-thousand dollar white camera I'm drooling over.   A girl can dream.

Snow day

Yesterday was a snow day with all 240 schools in the metro area closed. Here's what it looked like out my office window.
I had an awesome day reading and thinking.  Made way too many lists, but managed to scratch off a number of to-do's as well.

And M had an amazing day, though she preferred the snow out the window.  She wasn't as wild about sledding as her Dad.  She's a beach girl, like Mom.

Kudos Abbey for finding this awesome piece of snow art by Luke Aleckson.

He made this installation with bread tray snow shoes.

via Abbey Goes Design Scouting

Mad (wo)Men photoshopping

C'mon admit it. You've looked at magazine cover models with envy, right? We know they are photoshopped like crazy. But we still believe the image and create (even more) unrealistic expectations of our physical self.

I laughed at what happened to Mad Men stars in this photo from Rolling Stone.

The three women, who have VERY different body types, appear to all have the tinier waists and enlarged cleavage. Not sure why this was necessary since they are so freakin' gorgeous just as they are. Here's a photo of them at the Emmy's.

Had to laugh again at this take on it -- "where's Betty Draper's hand?"

2011 work trends will fuel need for personal branding

Are you bored at work?

New Year's Resolution stats in the January Women's Health magazine say that 46% of women desire a career change.

So I found this info on personal branding even more interesting.

Trends in 2011 include:

More working from home; and more options for jobs in other cities as employers compete for talent and trust off-site work even more.

Vid-casting and Video conferencing. Apparently it will soon be beneficial to have HOS - home office studio - listed when you sell your house. Cool.

Appearing on video will require dressing up from the waist up. Seriously, don't you love the idea of putting on a blouse, jacket, pearls, yoga pants and flip flops?

Flat-Belly Powerfoods

6 Flat-Belly Powerfoods. Eat more, weigh less.

A typical January magazine headline.

But this resonates with me more than past years, since I experienced this at the advanced maternal age of 43:



A pear-shaped, curvy girl, I never appreciated my (pre-pregnancy) flat belly and tiny waist. {EVERY pair of pants had to be taken in at the waist.} Instead I obsessed about hating my thighs.

Nothing like a 10 pound baby and c-section to change the tummy forever. {The good news: it's been awhile since I worried about hips and thighs.} I used to tell my "please help me lose my baby weight" exercise students to get on the ball. The stability ball that is. Check out the exercises here.

And while I am a ball-junky, I can now officially empathize with the tummy that isn't fat but isn't flat.

I can't bring myself to spend my daughter's college fund on a tummy tuck, so I will be doing double time on the ball in 2011, and adding the suggested powerfoods from the January issue of Women's Health (which are really part of a lower-calorie, more-filling strategy, but still good suggestions).

Barley. Loads of recipes and nutrition facts here.

Salmon. Cooking tips here, but do NOT brush with butter if you are baking it. Salmon has plenty of oil and you don't want your taste buds to adapt to that over-fatted slickness. Ick.

Also, I'd highly recommend "wild caught" salmon if you can find and afford it. "Farm raised" means it swims around in a tank with other fish, and all of their own wastes. Another ick.

Lean protein such as chicken. Easy to pre-cook and store for weekly meals. Take another look at these tips, because preparation is key to good nutrition.

Sunflower seed butter has all the satisfying protein and fiber of peanut butter but only a third of the saturated fat.

They also suggest black beans, which I don't like, but I would recommend the black bean brownie recipe.

2010: A Phit Year

Do you love to make lists?

One of my goals in 2010 was to make fewer lists, which I'm trying to be mindful of as I think about goals for 2011.
A list that is more fun to make -- the highlights of 2010.

The Ritz at Laguna Beach with Mr Right

FOUR trips to NYC, including a holiday one.

A happy 2-year old on her birthday (and no sugar!)

Seeing "Promises Promises" with Kristen Chenowith and Sean Hayes on Broadway.

Seeing "The Adams Family" with Nathan Lane and "Lillith" ("Promises" was actually better, but Nathan Lane is hilarious and Bebe Neuwirth is PHIT if I've ever seen it!).

My brother and his wife got a HOUSE for Christmas from her dad. Geez. (I'd been praying for him, he's had a rough year.)

Getting in 12 miles per week on the treadmill most of the year, thanks to treadmill fantasies. :)

Getting quite good at planning healthy meals, the highlight being 22 meals in under two hours.

Two trips to Las Vegas and shopping in the Miracle Mile and spending less than $50.

Being the keynote speaker at a convention of nearly 1,000 and doing a pretty darn good job.

Increasing this blog's readership to over 2,500 per week! Yay!

Now, to make that 2011 list. It will include simplicity, saving and continuing the pursuit of health. It will include reaching my "before 50" goals of raising a happy, healthy child and some less ambitious things like having a conversation in French.

Happy New Year Phit Chick.