Say Yes to the Dress...

If you haven't read the most recent Fresh Equation newsletter then you missed a great Q&A with Cassandra Quinn, Bridal Dress Consultant extraordinaire and Manager at Lovely Bride.  But don't worry, because today, in honor of the launch of my new Bridal Bliss program, I'm sharing Cassandra's top secrets to finding the wedding dress of your dreams.
 
1) Be open to your stylist’s suggestions, they have seen so many dresses on so many people, take advantage of all of their experience! You just might fall in love with something that you would never choose for yourself.

Photo Credit: Lovely Bride

 

2) Don’t bring a huge group of people along with you. Too many opinions will keep you from focusing on what it is that you like, and it is your dress after all. One or 2 trustworthy companions is more than enough.

Photo Credit:  Google Images

3) Don’t expect to collapse into a puddle of tears when you step into “the one”. There are many ways to choose a dress and that fireworks moment just isn’t realistic for everyone. Of course you want to love your dress but there are so many gorgeous dresses out there to love. Some people make a very logical decision based on availability or price of the dresses that they like and they always look just as beautiful.

Photo Credit: Google Images

  

Happy dress shopping!

Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing

Many of you have asked me to include links to the items that I wear in the Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing posts.  I want to... but I have intentionally not included links for 2 reasons:

1. Because the point of these posts is to inspire you to create looks from what you already have hanging in your closet... not to go out and buy the exact items featured. 

2. Because a lot of the items that I'm wearing are not from the current season (like this Marc Jacobs coat which I think is from 2003) and therefore not even available for purchase anymore.  But I'm sure you can find similar items out there if you really do want to buy pieces to recreate these looks... but always  make sure to shop your own closet first!

Solange Knowles                                             Yours Truly          
                                                             Photo Credit:  Bryn Sanders
           

Have a great day!

Don't mind if I do...

I don't eat meat. I sometimes eat fish. I don't eat dairy for the most part... except for some cheese every once in a while and an occasional scoop of ice cream.  However, after getting the results from some recent blood work, I'm trying to eliminate dairy from my diet completely.  Thankfully, Michelle Adams, of Lonny, told me about the most amazing coconut 'ice cream'.  It's called Coconut Bliss and it is just that!

Coconut Bliss does contain fat but I love this explanation, from their website, of the difference between the fat found in coconut and the fat commonly found in most animal protein:

While its natural richness creates the creamy texture that people love, the fat in coconut milk is very different from other fats. High in medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) identical to those in human breast milk, coconut milk has similar germ fighting and heart-protective properties.

Unlike other fats, MCTs do not need to be broken down and can be used immediately by the body as energy; it's the ideal fat for people who commonly have trouble digesting fat, such as those with a slow metabolism, colitis, and hypothyroidism. Coconut fat actually stimulates metabolism.

There is a lot of information on the web about the health benefits of coconut.   We have found this site to be extremely thorough, and is a great place to start.www.coconutresearchcenter.org

Unlike conventional ice cream, Coconut Bliss also contains fiber so you won't get that sugar rush/crash as the fiber helps to control the absorption of sugar into your blood stream.  Even though it's a much better option than regular ice cream, just because it's dairy-free, soy-free and gluten-free, doesn't mean you have a free pass to eat the whole container!  Enjoy it wisely.

Coconut Bliss offers 14 flavors according to their website, but my favorite flavor without question is Mint Galactica.  What's yours?

Have a great week!

Seeing Double: Inspired Dressing

In honor of Monday's blog post, "It's a Wonder-full Life," I dug deep into the archives to create this week's Inspired Dressing post... Wonder Woman!  My mom made this costume for me for Halloween when I was 4.  Isn't it great? 

Linda Carter as Wonder Woman

Yours Truly as Wonder Woman

Have a Great Day!

It's a Wonder-full life.

Last week, I told you about the book Attitudes of Gratitude (if you haven't read the blog post yet, click here to read it now).  It's not a long book and it's one that you will want to read over and over so if you haven't picked it up or ordered yourself a copy yet, make sure you do!  I'm actually only on the 4th "lesson" as I'm following the author's advice: 

This is not a book to be read at one sitting.  Rather, I encourage you to read one chapter and let it sink in for a while- a day, two days, even a week of longer- before moving onto the next.  Since gratitude is both an attitude and a practice, you need time to integrate the learnings so they can become truly yours, and not something you just read, put away, and forget.

The 4th lesson is about how Gratitude Makes Us Young.  M.J. Ryan describes how children look at the world with curiosity and how everything is new, exciting and full of wonder.  This reminded me of a little girl I saw on the street with her Mom last week.  She looked up at her Mom and said "Let's run" and then took off laughing and running down the sidewalk.  (I swear I'm not making this up for the sake of this blog post. It really happened.  Here's proof... I snapped this photo when I caught up to them at the corner while they were waiting to cross the street).

Anyway, as soon as the light turned and they crossed the street, the little girl said the same thing again, "Let's run," and she laughed and ran down the sidewalk.  It made me think about how something as simple as running is fun and exciting when you're little and that somehow, as we get older, running becomes something we have to do in gym class, a distance we have to run in a certain amount of time, something we do for exercise, for health and for weight management.  We certainly don't run for fun anymore, well most of us anyway. 

I realize that as we get older we become skeptical, we think that there has to be a reason or a purpose for everything.  If it doesn't have purpose, it's a waste of time.  Well, it's time to stop looking at the world through shattered lenses and to put the rose-colored glasses of youth back on.  It's time to notice again, that the world is a place full of wonder.

I'm going to put this philosophy into practice this week.  I'm going to be more observant of my surroundings and am going to make an effort to see the wonder and beauty around me, even if I'm in a rush or having a bad day... especially when I'm in a rush or having a bad day. 

This week, I'm going to post a picture each day on the Fresh Equation facebook page of something wonder-full that I encounter.  I'm also going to open the Fresh Equation facebook page for 1 week so that you can share your pictures of the wonder-full things that you notice, discover, appreciate and are grateful for this week.  So pop over to the Fresh Equation facebook page now and share a picture of something wonder-full you came across this weekend or a comment of what you are grateful for. And what better day to start being more grateful and appreciative than today?

Happy Memorial Day

Have a great day!