Resolution, Solution – Smoking No More!

It’s a new year and a new cycle and hopefully we’re all treating ourselves and each other better. I decided to write this post because I’ve lost more than one loved one to Lung Cancer. I know it’s a touchy subject and I’m not here to preach, but if you’ve decided to stop smoking this is a suggestion to support you.

Give yourself credit that this habit can be very intense to quit. That said, one of the ways you can kick this habit is hypnotherapy.

Juanita Beth Morgan is a certified hypnotherapist I was referred to when I was dealing with horrifying nightmares. She’s one of LA’s most respected healers and a contributor to the online magazine “YOU”. My sessions with her were life changing and to this day we remain friends.

Before you roll your eyes and blow it off as some “carnival-esque” technique, Juanita Beth told YOU Magazine exactly what hypnotherapy is. “Hypnosis is a natural state, somewhere between sleeping and waking, where awareness is withdrawn from the outer world and focused on your inner world. A hypnotic state occurs when the body and mind relax simultaneously, and we, in turn, become extremely receptive.” http://www.allaboutnews.com/vc.php?a=y&b=33&i=214&u=hschneidewind

When I asked Juanita Beth how she helps clients to stop smoking she was very happy to share her technique.

Juanita Beth Morgan: Smoking is a habit you picked up and you can put it down. My clients are usually freed of the habit between (3) three to (4) four sessions. There are (4) four factors that we tackle together; the physiological, emotional, mental and social. We isolate each issue and work through it.

It’s also very important to keep in mind the environment in which the client lives and works to help them change their behavior. For example, if a husband or wife decides to quit and the other isn’t ready to or doesn’t want to, we find ways to deal with that.

Through hypnotherapy I neutralize and eliminate negative associations and inspire my clients into a much brighter future.

sistahcool: You can expect your initial session to last around (2) hours and around (90) minutes for each of the remaining sessions. Jaunita Beth work is filled with compassion and humor. You can contact her here in Los Angeles at 213/389-2715 to make an appointment.

Good luck! Be healthy, well and happy in 2011!

2011 New Year Do’s

Happy new year and welcome to 2011! As difficult as 2010 was for some and awesome for others it’s done. We’re all back to either looking for work or working and doing what we need to survive. Now we move forward into a brand new cycle and from what I’ve experienced everyone agrees – this year has to be good!

If you’re into resolutions or even if you’re not I’d like to suggest some New Year Do’s:

Forgive yourself

It’s easy to write down a lengthy list of all the things you want to stop doing or grand goals you’ve set out to reach. Forgive yourself for all the “failures” of last year. We’re all human and doing the best we can. Move forward supporting yourself even if no one else does – it’s difficult, but allowing self-love to grow means everything.

Don’t set yourself up for failure

If you want to quit smoking, lose weight, find a job, buy a house – whatever it is, do it a step at a time. Don’t go it alone. Seek advice from experts and reach out for help. Getting support to realize your goals is not weakness, but a very courageous step towards manifesting them.

Do at least one (1) act of kindness everyday

I give credit to a Southwest flight attendant who suggested this as we de-boarded the plane. It doesn’t have to be anything monetary. Open the door for someone, let the other person have that parking space, surprise a friend with flowers. The tiniest action could make someone else’s day.

Surround yourself by people who truly love you every chance you get.

I understand how busy life can be. Just know that life really is short, that’s not just a cliché. Spending time with those that love you as you are has value beyond measure.

The boss that’s never happy doesn’t deserve any more of your time once you’ve ended the day and gone home.  The friend who’s not really your friend but you keep putting up with has got to go. Update your address book and delete the toxic names to make room for the inspiring ones.

Appreciate yourself and your individuality.

We unfortunately live in a world filled with homophobia, racism, sexism, ageism…on and on. It can be hard to turn off the darkness by shining your light. Give yourself credit for being amazingly unique. Give yourself credit for every accomplishment, each and everyday. As Marianne Williamson once said, making yourself small to make someone else feel big does not serve you.

This new year is a chance to step away from all that we wish we’d done better. New stage, new script, new way. I wish all the wealth and riches for your body, mind, spirit, heart and wallet. Enjoy the ride.

Happy 2011!

Gettin’ Some Holiday Buzz – The Sloan’s Christmas Nog

The Sloans & Friend Jami

I met the Sloans several years ago when we featured them in a Christmas special on Design on a Dime. I absolutely adore this family. Erin and Dan Sloan have 5 gorgeous kids, three of them triplets. They make Christmas the ultimate celebration transforming their home into a holiday wonderland. 

Even better, Erin has the ultimate egg nog recipe. Now I realize anyone and everyone says theirs is the best, but trust me, you’ll love this one. Choose your designated driver now or better yet, make this one for the party you’re having at home – it’s got plenty of yuletide buzz in it. Here we go:

The Sloans Christmas Nog

5 eggs

1 cup of rum

1 cup of heavy whipping cream,

1 cup of half and half

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 container of Coco Lopez (in “mixer” section of grocery store)

2 cups (or whatever will top off/fit in your blender) of milk

Blend all together and top with nutmeg

Serve chilled.

Holiday Swagger – Celebrity Stylist tips, Mel Grayson

Dressing for the holidays can be quite a daunting task, what’s casual, what’s dressy and sometimes even black tie. Whether you’re in the position to go out and buy a new wardrobe for the holidays or not, I’ve asked celebrity stylist and FIDM Professor Mel Grayson (facebook.com/mel.grayson) to give me a couple fashion 911 tips for the holiday season:

Mel Grayson, Man of Style

Mel Grayson: These are great fashion tips for the ladies.

Putting on a man’s bow tie will give you some gravitas and a refined but great look if paired with a shiny black or white blouse. The self tied ones adjust to smaller necks and the prints and color choices are endless . If you’re into it and have some dexterity, self-tied is an option as well though those are usually pretty conservative.

For a renewed show look you can buy (2) of the boys self-tied bowties and cut off the neck extensions and use them to revamp a conservative shoe

Holiday Touches – Designer tips, Wanda Colon

If you’re house is the locale for the holidays this year, it can be a bit stressful to entertain AND make house guests comfortable. It’s the little touches that can mean a lot and help create a low-maintenance visit you’ll both appreciate.

Wanda Colon, Designer

My friend Wanda Colon (http://www.wandancolon.com), artist, interior designer and co-host of HGTV’s “24 Hour Design” & TLC’s “Home Made Simple” has great tips for making your guests feel spoiled:

Little touches for your guests go a long way to making them feel welcome during the Holidays. This time of year can be stressful and everyone is feeling a little rushed so PLAN AHEAD!

For overnight guests during the holidays, place a small artificial tree in your guest room with a special ornament they can take home as a keepsake. Create a basket with personal essentials they may need like shampoo, conditioner, toothbrush, toothpaste, lotion, and mouth wash.

A Holiday scented candle and some bottled water by the nightstand or a book. Pick a classic everyone is familiar with.

Febreze Luminaire

Lighting is key in unfamiliar surroundings. Make sure you provide some drawer and closet space with extra hangers. A nice touch is to put a fresh sachet in the drawer.

Have a happy and safe holiday!

Holiday Happy – Chicago & Brazil…

As the days go on, I have to say I’m still in a state of shock that we’re in the last weeks of 2010. Whatever plans I kept saying I needed to get around to has to be done or pushed into 2011. I was thinking about some cool ways to enjoy the holiday within a very tight budget and asked my friends in Chicago and Brazil what they were up to.

Ali Azhar, Furniture Designer, http://aliazharinc.com/index.htmlco-host of Design on a Dime/Chicago:

I’m over here doin’ my best to hold down the midwest. My favorite thing to do in the city around the holidays is hit up the Magnificent Mile for some shopping. They get the lights up on Michigan Avenue around Thanksgiving time, and it makes for a very festive evening stroll even if you’re just window shopping.

If  it’s on a date night you can cap the evening off with a bit of outdoor ice skating at Millennium Park (Michigan & Randolph), it’s especially nice when there is a light snow in the air. Just don’t get caught out there when it’s below zero with heavy snow coming down, Chicago winters can be kinda gnarly.

Robert Ketterman, English Professor, Associacao Alumni & Antonio Da Motta Leal, President & Principal Designer – da Motta, Inc. (http://www.antoniodamotta.com)/San Paulo, Brazil

Here are a few pics of Avenida Paulista here in Sao Paulo.  The large structure is a Christmas display that spans the entire street of Av. Paulista.  People are allowed to enter Santa Land to see Santa’s workshop.  There are also concerts and dance performance nightly along the avenue.  All the festivities make Avenida Paulista one of the most visited places in Sao Paulo during the holiday season.

Home for the Holiday, Designer tips – Michael Murphy

We’re in the thick of the holiday stretch and now that the shopping, shipping and decor has been addressed, how about we get ready for all the festive entertaining. I asked celebrity designer and affordablecool.com lifestyle contributor Michael Murphy (facebook.com/MichaelMurphyDesign)to help me with my stress. After years of product design, development and hundreds of hours of design for television, I knew he’d help me out.

Designer, Micheal Murphy

Michael Murphy: Here are some ways to prepare for a special event.

FURNITURE PLACEMENT
Before your guests arrive, walk through the entire party space, taking note of the placement of furniture. There should be pathways between furniture. Don’t forget to create conversational groupings, (seating for 2 or 3 in fairly close proximity to one another), to allow for your guests to talk.

CLUTTER PATROL
When you are reviewing your furniture placement, it’s a good opportunity to assess your “clutter.” View your décor as a newcomer would see it.  Does the décor (I’m talking about the smaller items in a room—pillows, pictures, collectibles) project the image that you want? Is there the potential for a party mishap based on the clutter (i.e. a grouping a tabletop pictures that could fall or break with the slightest motion)?

BEVERAGE CENTER
Consider setting the beverage center in between the entrance and the main party space.  This will allow your guest to grab a drink and then start mingling.  Stock the beverage center: in addition to the beverages, include glasses, a bucket of ice, tongs, whatever implements you need for your service (corkscrew, bottle opener, can opener, straws), any accompaniments you desire (cherries, lime twists, olives, lemon wedges), and a couple of bar towels to take care of spills.

FOOD CENTER
Set out your food in one larger area, and perhaps scatter bowls of snack foods (chips, nuts, candies) throughout the party space.

TRASH CONTAINERS

Use one can per room, and make sure that the can is lined with a plastic bag. You can store additional plastic liners in the bottom of each can to eliminate any frantic searches for  fresh bags.

JUST IN CASE
Inevitably, every party has some sort of minor disaster. The best defense is a strong offense—in other words, accept that there may be a spill or similar, and prepare for it.

FINISHING TOUCHES
• Make an eye-catching door decoration by tying a length of festive ribbon onto a wreath and hanging a selection of ornaments from it.
• Inexpensive cameras placed around in trays are sure to capture some of the evening’s events.

• Candles and tea lights make a room feel festive.
• Everyone has a hard time keeping tabs on his or her drink at a party. Take some card stock, cut into small pieces, punch a hole and place a piece of ribbon through the hole and tie to the glass. Number them or leave blank and let the guests write their names.

Happy Holidays!  Thank you for making 2010 so memorable and here’s to 2011.

Gifts that Give Back…Macy’s Believe!

If you have kids, have relatives with kids, know any kids and want to help kids battling illnesses, please have as many kids as you know write a letter to Santa. Once they’ve written their letters, gather them up and drop them off in the Santa’s mailbox at any Macy’s location. For each letter received Macy’s will donate money to the Make A Wish Foundation.

http://www.macys.com Go to their website and you’ll find a section with details of how to compose the letters and you can also find the location closest to you!

Over Twenty Cool Affordable Gifts from $12 – $50

I haven’t seen my friend Bob in awhile and decide to drop into Urban Colony his store in Sherman Oaks (http://urbancolony.com/about-urban-colony.html). Bob better known as Robert Wylie (or beautiful Bob as many ladies call him) is a furniture, interior designer and photographer with a large celebrity clientele. I find him in the store prepping for his huge annual holiday sale and expect to find items I’ll drool over but unable to afford. I gotta say I am floored to see how really affordable everything is.

Robert Wylie

The furniture is amazing as usual and many of the pieces are from his custom collection, some waiting to be picked up by clients and other pieces ready to be purchased and taken home. My giddy discovery is all the gorgeous accessories that he’s marked down under $50.00. I don’t know where to look first, a thick black leather frame for twenty five bucks or the designer vases for under forty bucks and a silver bar set for around twenty nine. Sweet!

Well, here’s over (20) twenty great gifts for under $50.00 and one great one around $115.

$39 for the set

50% off of stuff under $40

 

From $20 - $45 for large

$29 for the set

$115 and gorgeous!

$9 for elephants, frames $15, $19

$26.00

$17.00

So do yourself a favor and make the trip and check out the sale today Sunday, December 5th, buy a raffle ticket for a brand new candy apple red Vespa (I’m not kidding, seriously) have some cider and shop. If you miss the sale tomorrow, you’ve got the rest of the month. I myself walked away with a gorgeous large white vase worth over a hundred bucks for fifteen and I’m a happy girl!

From over $100 down, down to $15.00

Designer Holiday – Patrick Ediger

I’ve spent most of my career working on projects that demonstrate how we can have great style for a realistic budget. This holiday I’ve asked many of my pro’s about ways to put a whole bunch of cool into a holiday season on a tight budget.

My friend Patrick Ediger of Ediger DesignLos Angeles Interior Designer and co-founder of French American Wallpaper is none too shy about his penchant for the dramatic. In projects ranging from glossy, eye-popping celebrity estates to trim and tasteful family homes, he instills a vital undercurrent of theatre to beautiful spaces created for everyday modern living.

Here are Patrick’s tips for (5) five Affordable, cool holiday tips for 2010:

#1 Handmade arts and crafts are the new black. And nothing’s more socially responsible than supporting emerging entrepreneurs. Etsy.com is a online marketplace for handmade arts and crafts along with vintage items the world over. Etsy showcases and connects you with emerging artist and designer’s goods at extremely affordable prices. There’s even a “shop locally” search function that ensures your money is going directly back into your community. Check out Etsy.com for brilliant and unique hand crafted holiday cards, gift wrap, gift tags and gifts. Here’s one of my favorite Etsy finds this season: http://www.etsy.com/listing/17988009/vintage-style-christmas-gift-tags?ref=cat1_gallery_20

#2 “Reuse, reduce, recycle” is the the mantra of eco-revolutionists, and so should it be for ACers. Inevitably, every year the tree that appears to be the perfect size in the lot ends up being comicly tall for our living room which results in hacking off at least the bottom 12″. A few years ago I realized how beautiful the excess tree boughs could be when used as table and mantel decorations. I mix in vintage glass ball ornaments and fresh huckleberry branches from the grocery store florist to create very cool holiday centerpieces.

Tip #3

#3 For as long as I can remember I’ve tried to find unpredictable and different materials as gift wrap with the thought that unwrapping a gift should be no less spectacular than the gift itself. This year for the holidays I’ve decided to wrap all of my gifts in old wallpaper left over from various design projects. I’ve chosen some vintage looking foil papers that will make a glitzy statement under my tannenbaum. I’m anticipating a lot of oooo’s and ahhh’s before the gifts are even open.

#4 This year I tried to think outside the box to reuse the holiday decorations I already had in a new, unexpected way. As an official Christmas freak, I have quite a collection of holidays accoutrement I’ve accumulated over the years – much of which goes unused every year because I now view it as passe. So when I ran across the strings of old fashioned screw-in multi colored lights the proverbial christmas lightbulb went on in my head – I’ve displayed the bulbs in various sized glass containers found at my favorite  discount mart. A bright, festive arrangement for under $30.

Tip #4

#5 For you hipsters out there (myself included) who decorate for the holidays with a bit of tongue-and-cheek irony, here’s my favorite Christmas tree ornament find of 2010. These unique handblown glass hand grenades, dubbed “6 dead thoughtful christmas decorations” have a social warm fuzzy attached with a donation to Ctrl.Alt.Shift’s anti-global conflict cause with each purchase: http://www.decodir.com/2009/12/hand-grenade-christmas-tree-ornaments/

Happy Holidays!