Heads Up - National Wear Red Day Is Tomorrow!

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Wear red on Feb. 5th and help support the fight against heart disease, the No. 1 health threat for women! Join the Go Red For Women® movement now!

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Avec Eric on PBS

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Recently, I've been enjoying a new show on PBS called "Avec Eric."

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"The way I see life, everything is spiritual," he says. "We live on Earth, we are omnivores, the nature of human beings is to eat meat and fruits and vegetables, and therefore we have to kill animals. I don't have a problem with that. But it's a sacred moment."

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Inexorable respect for food is the Ripert way—and following that enlightened path has landed him an incredible résumé for his 44 years. First four-starred by The New York Times at 29, Ripert is a published author of multiple books and a recognizable TV star, thanks to "fan favorite" guest-judging stints on Bravo's reality cooking series, Top Chef. There's also the small matter of the day job: a hands-on position at the helm of New York's Le Bernardin, one of the world's most hallowed cathedrals to food. This month he adds to the list Avec Eric, a PBS venture in which he stars; it's part ecotourist travelogue, part cooking show, and part behind-the-scenes documentary at the midtown Manhattan mother ship of his restaurant.

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(The above text is courtesy of an article in Newsweek)

20 Lasts Survey

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Tagged - 20 Lasts Survey

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Thing you drank? Breve Cappuccino (my fav).

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Thing you ate? An 3 minute egg and prosciutto (yum!!)

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Song you listened to? House of Cards, by Radiohead (I love the whole In Rainbows album).

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Thing you watched on television? A biography on Louisa May Alcott on PBS.

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Thing you read? Facebook updates.

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Thing you wrote? A check.
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Person(s) you saw? My 3 little ones off to school.

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Person you spoke to? Car repair guy on the phone - my car is having some electrical problems I'm hoping can be fixed quickly.

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Person you got a text from? A friend, who texted to say - "I've ordered the coffee."

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Thing you bought? New boots - black.

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Person who said they love you? My husband (who thinks it's funny to mumble it).

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Persons house (other than your own) you were in? My neighbors - returning mail that was mistakenly delivered to my house - again.

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Blog you visited? My sister's - Magic Mirror.

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Thing you searched for on the Internet? Overnight accommodations (where there is snow!!).

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Person who phoned you? My daughter's cello teacher - who now has a mobile music studio - yay!!

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Song you downloaded? Sweet Disposition, by The Temper Trap.

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Game you played? 20 questions - with my daughter Caitie. Her word was Disneyland. ;)

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Time you drank alcohol? On my 22nd anniversary, last Saturday!!

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Smoked a cigarette? On a road trip to Canada with my best friend Karen - in her gremlin (lol) - when I was 20ish (but I didn't inhale - honest).

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Person you gave a big hug to? My son Christopher :) !!

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If you would like to play along - consider yourself tagged!!!

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(Some above photos courtesy of Jupiter Images)

Friday's Photos - Beautiful Blue

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Some beautiful bedroom photos via the DC Design House designed by Kelley Proxmire.

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Happy Friday!!
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Conscious Food Decisions

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We all need to start paying attention to what we put in our bodies and need to make more conscious food decisions.

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The clip below is from the film Food Inc. - I recommend that everyone view this documentary and make your own decision based on the facts presented. You can rent this film or go to Amazon.com and purchase a copy for just $9.99. I'm sure you can also see it on YouTube.

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Fact

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Americans take 3 million pounds of antibiotics every year.

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28 million pounds are given to livestock.

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Food, Inc. is a 2008 American documentary film directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner. The film examines large-scale agricultural food production in the United States, concluding that the meat and vegetables produced by this type of economic enterprise have many hidden costs and are unhealthy and environmentally-harmful. The film is narrated by Michael Pollan and Eric Schlosser, two long-time critics of the industrial production of food.

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Food, Inc

Zone 9 Garden

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It's time to start planning and planting indoor vegetable seedlings for my kitchen garden - since I live in Zone 9. Yay!!

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Did You Know?
A well-planned vegetable garden can turn a $50 investment in seeds and fertilizer into $1250 worth of groceries, according to a cost-analysis study by the Burpee seed company.

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Above table courtesy of veggieharvest.com

Friday's Photos - Empathy

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The great gift of human beings is that we have the power of empathy.

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UNICEF is asking that everyone donate $1 by midnight on Tuesday to help raise 46 million needed for Haitian Relief.

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Hope For Haiti Now - Benefit Concert

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UNICEF
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Reminder: Benefit Concert Friday Jan. 22@8pm ET/PT - Hope for Haiti Now

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A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief - 100+ celebrities - broadcast worldwide. The Hope for Haiti fundraiser was organized by actor George Clooney and will feature Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys and many others. .

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Homemade Lip Scrub/Exfoliate

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Recipe and Instructions
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Take approximately 2 tablespoons of plain table sugar in a small bowl. Add honey, one teaspoon at a time, until it reaches a nice, thick, sticky, consistency. I also add a few drops of Olive Oil, but this is optional. Take a bit of the mixture, and start gently rubbing it on your clean lips (I like to use my toothbrush to exfoliate). Rinse off and follow up with lip balm.

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The Benefits

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Exfoliated lips are less prone to chapping.

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Visible wrinkles around the mouth are less noticeable.
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Lip stick stays on better.
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No harsh chemicals.
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Environmentally friendly.
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KISSING!! Soft lips are better for kissing.
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Ingredients
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Sugar - acts as the abrasive and it dissolves so you don't need to worry about "grit" getting in your mouth.
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Honey - has anti-bacterial properties, is usually non-allergenic, and tastes good.

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Olive Oil - Moisturizes, protects, soothes, is tasteless in the scrub, and is non-toxic and generally non-allergenic. It won't clog your pores around the mouth either.
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Lip Balm - A good lip balm applied right after exfoliating will nourish and moisturize the newly exposed skin.

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(Images Courtesy of Jupiter Images)