Ok so one of my resolutions for 2008 is to really put spa-view.com into motion, and give it more effort, help me set sail!! I’ve added a newsletter opt in that you can see if you scroll down a bit, plus I’ve scoured myspace.com to link photos of us girls who post here. Aren’t we fab???!
My 37th birthday is around the corner, and I’m going to spend it…at the spa, of course!
More later.
I can’t believe that I haven’t blogged since before the holiday - that is totally unlike me, but in a feeble attempt of explaination, I’ve been dealing with lots of munchkins birthday parties, a cold, the flu, my kid being on holiday break and the ever infamous holiday shopping. All this while STILL being on Jenny Craig and dealing with the ever approaching 3 OMG 7 which is just around the corner.
For the new year, I’m going to be videoblogging my new transformation boot camp that I’ve done almost every year with a major lagging that almost always takes place by March, but we shall see if this year the addition of a video cam will sustain the quest a bit longer.
Anyway, more later, as always…LOL. Happy Holidays!!!
Adopt a Home. If any of you have experienced the true magic of New Orleans ever before, here is your chance to contribute towards the rebuilding of eco-friendly homes in the 9th Ward. AND the sponsor homes are tented pink while they are up for adoption. you can sponser a coat of wall paint, a thermostat, washing machine…anything, even if it is 5 bucks instead of going to starbucks today. I am sponsoring the planting of live Oak Trees…Its a fabulous!!! Anyway, click here for a complete virtual walk-through of these fantastic green-home concepts, and then click to donate!
For those of you who can’t watch it (like me) here is a quicklink to the official list - Let’s get it started ya’ll!
“Kanye West, his family and friends would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and kind words that have come in from across the country since the death of his mother, Dr. Donda West.
After working in higher education for 31 years, Dr. Donda West and Kanye West co-founded the Kanye West Foundation with the mission of helping to combat the severe dropout problem in high schools across the country. The first and signature initiative of the Kanye West Foundation is Loop Dreams. Designed to capitalize on students existing interest in hip-hop, Loop Dreams challenges students to learn more about what’s behind hip-hop culture in order to help them develop skills, express themselves creatively and be empowered.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in Dr. West’s name to the Kanye West Foundation/Loop Dreams Teacher Training Institute. Those donations can be made by visiting the Foundation’s Web site, www.KanyeWestFoundation.org or by mail at Kanye West Foundation, 8560 W. Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA 90069. ”
totally off subject of spa-beauty-wellness (well kind of wellness-ish) is a very cool site called VotoLatino.org - be sure to check it out!
Unless you happened to ride on a subway in NYC with updated web technology. How cute!!!!
hey everyone - have a lovely and relaxing halloween!! 
Ok so today I started my jenny craig program. I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast which I haven’t had in like a million years and OMG it was soooo good. I kept looking at the calorie count to make sure that it was right. I think I see where my problem lies in contributing to my slowing metabolism - I don’t eat frequently enough and when I did eat it was too high in calories. It’s 12:44 pm right now and I’ve barely finished my fruit serving from breakfast, still have my morning snack and lunch to go and by now - I’ve ignored the 3 treo eating alarms sofar and am still working on my sugar-free-nonfat-latte from this morning.
dude. who ever thought that eating more often and more frequently would be the solution?? Sometimes life’s solutions are really just a work-around. ok I’m off to go finish my breakfast now.
Ok so if you live anywhere in the LA area and still haven’t stopped by to visit PinkBerry, you just aren’t really an Angelino. period. Again with the multi-tasking snack options, beauty starts from the inside out and at 30-something, Coldstone just isn’t worth it…right? Not so fast glamgirl… Why not superfood a tasty snack? Here’s the lowdown so your not leaving the trendy dessert hot spot believing everything you read in the tabloids:
PinkBerry Lowdown: from pinkberry.com
Serving size is 1 ounce. Keep in mind that a medium has 8.5 oz so let’s say approx 210 calories plus whatever toppings you get - ( I always go for fruit so let’s give or take 80 calories for that - they do have candy toppings & other not too great choices so keep that in mind if you are counting calories). At that rate, I’m getting close to 300 calories for a medium dessert, plus close to 40 grams of sugar and 8 grams of protein (based on pinkberry’s nutritional guide which states 5 grams of sugar per ounce & 1 gram of protein).
ColdStone Lowdown: based on Coldstone.com’s website
Vanilla Light Ice Cream - medium size will run you approx 227 calories, 45 grams of sugar & 11 grams of protein. Add your toppings, which you can get a yummy combo of peanuts & fresh fruit to mix in your antioxidants & add to the fiber content and even if you are nowhere near a pinkberry, you can always get a small size and do even better for your bod than a medium pinkberry!
sooooo many beautifully wonderful things have been happening as of late, and I want to just jot down a list of what is coming in the next few days (hopefully, pending life doesn’t get in the way of course):
We have a new girlie who is going to join the party & start blogging: Welcome aboard Courtney! Yay! Look for her intro & bio and what not coming this week.
New Superfoods Section has been added - as we ‘age’ we need to make some adjustments to our diets to make sure we don’t be our own worst enemy. If anyone wants to throw in recipes, great places to eat better foods on the run or just how to implement a healthier snack please feel free to contribute!
The Girls and I have just returned from a SUPEFAB weekend at the Temecula wine country and a visit to one of the nation’s top Destination Spas: The Glen Ivy - look for a review from both Staci and Brianette since the deal was a written review in exchange for the free hotel room LOL.
New reviews that will be coming this week:
Bella-Mani Hand and Foot Spa located in Ventura, Crystal Clear Dog Spa Grooming, Thai Yoga massage @ Burke Williams Sherman Oaks, and hopefully a bunch of new posts in the Superfoods section. I’ve also tried to add a link to the product reviews pages to e-stores where you can actually purchase the items that have been reviewed so that you have a quick access to the product.
Let’s Get Good!
seriously…if you don’t drink your water on a daily basis, you are just gross. I mean it. Drink up or stink up!
The Prada lip balm. It comes in these itty-bitty “monodoses,” and why they call it that is beyond me because I’ve squeezed out at least five helpings of this stuff and there is clearly still more to be had in there. Guess “multipentadoses” isn’t that catchy. But whatever, I’ve got a bunch of them, in Tint #3, which is a brownish peach, perfect for that subtle summertime cutely disheveled just-rolled-outta-bed-from-XXX activities-with-[hottie of choice]-and-now-my-lips-are-well-moisturized-yet-not-at-all-greasy look, rendering it also perfect as a base under full-on lipstick. It’s got a slightly medicinal taste, kind of like Kiehl’s Creme De Corps (not that I’ve licked that, I’m just saying, this tastes how that smells), which isn’t too bad, and by the time you notice any flavor, it’s just about gone, and all you’re noticing is how nice your mouth feels. It just feels…perfect. I keep trying to think of how else I can describe this feeling; it’s just that it feels like how a mouth should always feel. Toss in the added sun protection, and it makes me want to make out with myself.
Normally the cost runs about $40 for eight of these .005 oz. monodose thingers. The cheap-ass use-it-or-lose-it part of me says, “Chaia. You have a drawer filled with half-used organic Rainbow Grocery coconut hemp lip balm, Bonne Bell watermelon lip balm, LUSH Eggsnog lip balm, and Oyin Handmade Kiss This lip balm*. Also, you are marginally employed, so how can you justify contemplating spending $40 ON LIP BALM? Especially when you’re not even halfway through the first tube of this stuff?”
But the sleeper magic of the Prada whispers, “No, Chaia. This…this is the sine qua non of lip balm. And you traded for it on Makeup Alley, so it was freeeeeeeeeee but for the cost of postage and a quick jaunt to the USPS. And someone, somewhere on MUA has more Prada Shielding Balm, and you certainly have more crap to swap. Mmmmmmmmmoooooooore……….freeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……….Praaaaaaaaadaaaa Shieeeeeeeeeeeelding Baaaaaaaaaaaaalm…….”
Come to think of it, that’s one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language.
*also an extremely fine product, btw. Stay tuned for upcoming slobbery love rantings about Oyin.
Just today I decided to take an evening trip to my local Northridge Fashion Mall and not drive all the way down to the Topanga mall, which btw is totally my favorite mall in the whole world…and I notice 2 new stores that I had no idea where there: Coach (yes a boutique, upstairs kind of by BBW) and Sephora (!!!) but check it out - the Sephora is actually inside the JC Penny store! Crazy, I know.
Usually I cut through the JC penny store to get to the other side without having to make the long ass stroll by stores that I never go to to get to the Fredericks of Hollywood, the Doggie store etc. quick and in a hurry. Today as I was scuttling by the hall, out of the corner of my eye I caught the Murad logo, and stopped in my tracks. JC Penny carries Murad?? Then I looked to the left, and saw Bare Escentuals and thought…wow product placement is all over these days…and then I saw Benefit pop materials and looked up and saw that it actually was a mini-me Sephora inside JC Penny, mildew smell from the outside mall fountain and all lol. It’s not a full size sephora, but probably has most of the basic kits and pallettes and what not, and it sure beats having to drive all the way down to topanga on a friday evening during traffic hour! Another kind of surprise at the Northridge Macy’s store : They gave a chunk of the shoe department to Bare Escentuals for thier little boutique too - so now you can get all your messy minerals at macy’s!
Some people are put on this earth to beautify America, one eyebrow at a time. Sandi Salerno is one of those people. Flirt Salon is where it all goes down.
First: A long and well-deserved digression lavishly praising Sandi’s relentlessly thorough waxing skills - my original reason for seeking her services more than a year ago, and also my primary reason for following her from two other salons to her new place Flirt, which she opened at the beginning of the summer. It is notable that I am, in Sandi’s own words, “a big baby.” I may have been blessed in the womb by the Not Very Much Body Hair Fairy, but I was sadly equally blessed by the Overly Sensitive Skin Fairy, and I have been known to sing a lot of opera whilst prostrate on Sandi’s table. Opera like high-pitched, drawn-out cussing. Variations On The F Word In G Minor.
***WARNING: REFERENCES TO LADYPATCHES AHEAD***
SylviaG: Let's.Get.Good
