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Serum Magic

Photo by Pretty Drugthings on Unsplash

Who doesn’t love an amazing skin product that actually works? We are so lucky these days, because now more than ever people are developing new and exciting skin products that really work. One major advance is serums. Women in Asia have been using serums accompanied by cotton masks and massage for decades now and the practice has finally arrived on the shores of the United States. This new health product can be found in your corner drug store, department stores and prestige retail stores.

You can buy stand alone serums or serums that are loaded into disposable masks.The consistencies range from oil bases to gels to organic mediums. The consistency of a serum is usually quite gooey and slimy, but cool and wonderful. The serums contain secret formulas of vitamin enriched mediums that cool the skin and attract hydration and then lock it in.

The gooiest in some cases come from snail slime. Factors in the snail slime promote excelerated healing of the skin and intense moisturizing. One has to wonder how such large quantities can be extracted from such tiny animals? Can this possibly be humane? The answer is both yes and no depending on who the snail farmer is and how he or she chooses to extract the slime. Yes, sadly, some farmers kill the snails, but there are many who utilize a scientific approach that utilizes steam and actually creates pleasure for the snails with the end result of gallons of slime and the snail getting to go back home after a lovely group sauna.

Alas, here is an amazing product, but does it last? This is the big question and I would say in a very subtle way, yes, but not in of itself. This is not a stand alone fix for aging or damaged skin. I would propose that you combine the use of these products with a stress free lifestyle and a very healthy diet. Balance is the key that unlocks the door to wellness and results in a glow that we interpret as beauty.

It’s real life magic at our fingertips.

Photo by Anna Sullivan on Unsplash

“The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
― W.B. Yeats

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The Past Opened

Photo by isabel garger on Unsplash

Once a year Riverside celebrates it’s beautiful historic architecture with the Doors Open event. It’s an alluring evening for those who love history, architecture, mystery and all things beautiful. The doors to Riverside’s most iconic buildings are opened to the public with free tours that are gateways to Riverside’s illustrious past. Few today know that Riverside was once the wealthiest city per capita in the United States and that statesman, land developers and a who’s who of the gilded age flocked to Riverside for business, respite and entertainment.

The architecture of Riverside is eclectic and much of it was created by illustrious and famous architects. There are buildings that were designed by Myron Hunt, Julia Morgan, Arthur Benton, G. Stanley Wilson, Peter Weber and many others.

I love volunteering for this event. It’s a fast paced, fun and exciting night. It’s usually in the middle of the week, after work and school. Even though it’s at a very busy time, people come from far and wide to experience the beauty of old Riverside. It’s starts at six in the evening when the tours begin. The tours are usually short in duration and present the historical and architectural highlights of the building. There are approximately 20 buildings to see, so it’s a race to see how many you can actually tour within the allotted four hours the buildings are open.

The best part is meeting the people that have journied to see these fabled buildings. I’ve met so many wonderful and interesting people from all walks of life that love history just as much as I do and are fascinated by architecture. Many of the guests recount personal stories that took place in the buildings. Stories that have been passed down through generations in their families. People also come to see the buildings they have passed by for years and wondered what was in it and who created it; coming to satisfy their curiosity.

Photo by Christian Fregnan on Unsplash

The grand dame of the night is The Mission Inn Hotel, created by Frank Miller in 1903 and finished in 1931. A magical wonderland of architectural styles from all over the world. Frank Miller loved the people of the world and devoted his life to promoting peace and building a beautiful community. His legacy is the Mission Inn and speaks for itself. During Doors Open a mini tour is provided that gives a good overview of Frank Miller’s vision and a primer of the varied architectural styles gleaned from around the world. It’s a teaser for a 75 minute tour that is presented seven days a week by the dedicated Mission Inn Foundation for a nominal fee.

The Doors Open event, held every May, is just one of the wonderful events held annually in the Inland Empire and makes the I.E. such a fantastic place to live.

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Beat the cold

Photo by Wladislaw Peljuchno on Unsplash

Winter in all of her frostiness is here. She breathes an icy wind down the streets of my sweet city and across the tender throats of humans, making us susceptible to illness and flu. Here are a few holistic strategies to beat back the imps of winter and the havoc they wreak upon our health.

1.) Eucalyptus oil. It’s magic. Even if your nose is not runny now, but you feel suspiciously congested, head to your local natural foods store and pick up a tiny bottle of this magic oil. Just take a few deep breaths and this will clear your lungs and create an inhospitable environment for those nasty cold germs. And if the cold was not beat back and you are suffering, place a few drops on your pillow, rub it across your chest and maybe a small drop under your nostrils. That nasty cold will clear much faster and you will breathe easier, I promise.

2.) Ecinacea. Thanks to the health craze that is now sweeping our lovely country, we can find all kinds of sources to partake of the herb Echinacea and it’s fantastic immunity boosting properties. It’s lovely in tea, but any medium will do and it will surely shorten the life of your cold.

3.) Propolis. Propolis is the reason that bees are precious and we should do everything we possibly can to protect them. A byproduct of hive building, propulis holds legendary immune building properties. Had a wild night out or the kids are sick and you didn’t get to sleep? Pop a propolis capsule and let it guard your health until you get those rare moments to rest. Propolis will give you the energy and protection your system needs to work through the cold, your work routine and all those things we do to be the amazing people we are.

Photo by Daiga Ellaby on Unsplash

4.) Lemons. The fruit that promises health and a healthy ph. Lemons are bursting with pure vitamin C. A cup of hot water in the am with a squirt of fresh lemon juice with infuse your morning with sunshine on wintry day and help you to fight those persistent bugs that fly about infecting one human after the other.

5.) Apple Cider Vinegar. Acidic and another way to balance the body’s ph and make your system inhospitable to germs. A teaspoon in your hot lemon water will quickly relieve any upset, nausea or feelings of bloat. Also full of good organisms that will do battle with anything that is paying a visit, but you don’t want to stay.

6.) Last, but not least, where a scarf around your neck. So simple, but incredibly useful. By keeping your neck warm, the site of life giving blood flow, you keep your head warm and well-perfused with the your own healing properties.

In closing, I wish you health, the ability fight your ailments and beautiful, clear, frosty days during this lovely winter.

Photo by Edit Sztazics on Unsplash

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Growing Grays

Photo by Niklas Hamann on Unsplash

I’m a Pinterest fanatic and I was really fascinated when I started seeing pins of women of all ages with gray hair. Gray hair had become the latest fashion trend and it was gorgeous. Gray actually looked good on all ages not just senior women. Young girls bleached the natural color out of their hair and then infused it with a ghostly shade or a brilliant color of the rainbow.

I was especially drawn to the senior women. Radiant in their natural beauty and proud of their silver strands. Yes, there were wrinkles and many imperfections, but the joy of having lived and seeing the map of their lives written across their faces was beautiful. I loved seeing women of age celebrated and taking the stage. Guiding the public into an era that was embracing nature and realizing that our very survival depended on it. The future looked brighter without chemicals in our food, our beauty products, our water and air. It was time to stop, get smart and start focusing on living in sync with our natural world.

Since I loved this look so much, I decided to try it. It was great at first, giving up the long appointments with the hairdresser. I no longer had to tolerate the bleach that sat against my scalp for at least 30 minutes and irritated my skin. It took 30 minutes or more to achieve the color you wanted. And then afterward, watching it fade away day by day. The expensive color would drain away and fade into bizarre hues. This was often accompanied by the loss of precious strands of hair because of the chemical stress put on the hair follicles.

So after arresting this unpleasant process, eventually the grays peek through. The grays are natural and free and many times curly. Your hair becomes a map of two opposing lands that are so different and don’t really blend.

That’s when it becomes challenging and can be fun, depending on your perspective. You can take many approaches to this. If you love the salon, you can have your stylist help you with blending the old and new. It’s usually a novel experience for them and at first a bit confusing. First you are met with disbelief, “You want to have gray hair?” “You don’t want me to cover your roots?” Then if you’re lucky and they accept that you are absolutely sure that going gray is your chosen path, it becomes fun.

Another route, is going it on your own. There are scads of cover up products to help you on your way. It’s easy, just style, then cover. You will also need a purple shampoo to counteract air pollution and deposits that create a yellow tinge, if not washed away. This whole process usually takes a few years. At three years, my grays were in and the complements rolled in like waves on the beach. Virtually every acquiantence had a compliment and loved seeing a rare head of gray hair.

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Come Into The Garden

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Have you ever walked through a gorgeous garden? A garden that is teeming with flowers and shrubbery, a cacophony of life and nature in happy harmony?

My mom always loved gardens and then my sisters too. They particularly loved roses. I loved them, but until recently hadn’t found space in my life to care for them. So I enjoyed theirs. Having a garden had many benefits. It was a local opportunity to bond with nature and it also made Christmas shopping fun and easy. I love picking out wind chimes, statues and stakes to embellish their gardens. These objects were pure whimsy and not to be taken seriously.

In the garden, there were small spaces that were set aside for magical enclaves to entice children to enter and imagine. My sister had a fairy garden under her roses. She had set out miniature patio furniture, a swing and a statue of a fairy. Her grandchildren loved to spend time in the garden, playing and making up stories about mermaids, princesses and lands far away.

In my mother’s garden, hummingbird feeders were hung and there always seemed to be a butterfly flying among open buds. Many times the butterflies would land and perch on my mother. They somehow knew that she loved them and they were safe with her. A stone fountain invited birds to come take a drink and rest within the quiet green enclave. A collection of chimes provided a musical backdrop for the natural magic.

Photo by Jeff Finley on Unsplash

I eventually reached a point where I wanted to start a garden. I found a great sprinkler guy. Hard working, great prices and he set out to provide the life source that every garden needs. Precious water. Water that covers most of our planet, but becomes so scarce as you move inland. Even though we live over huge aquifers, accessing this liquid gold has become a privilege as cities and counties tax and raise water prices. Not a new occurrence as significant water wars were a fact of life for the early settlers of the west. The most famous water war in the Inland Empire centered around the needed water for citrus and created the legend of Eliza Tibbits, a sociable and intelligent matron who had to water the two trees that started it all with her own dishwater.

So the waterworks were installed, it was time to pick plants and visit nurseries. There was an amazing nursery in Riverside; Parkview Nursery. Here, one could find all exotics varieties of flora and natives too. The plants were healthy and primed to create beautiful gardens. I picked out a beautiful pink iceberg rose variety and a few other colorful species to plant. A careful education was provided, some great plant food, and I was on my way.

This was the start to some sporadic gardening sandwiched in between long work hours and the other specifics of daily life. Eventually the weather turned cold and the garden rested and sporadically bloomed through the cold, short days. Finally, I understood, why people looked forward to Spring.


Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash

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Lazy Delicious Dinner

Photo by Daniil Silantev on Unsplash

Recently, I was speaking to a young working mom about life balance and creating a healthy and happy life for your loved ones. We talked about balancing the demands of school and work, while making sure your family created time for the good things in life and for each other. I was a single working mom for most of my child-rearing years and one of my greatest challenges as a mother was to provide good nutrition for my children. To add even more pressure, I’m a nurse and a virgo. Nurses are all about health and virgos are health freaks. We look at everything for it’s healthy value. Will this make me feel good? How will it impact my body, energy and my well-being?

So dinner was always a challenge. Each night I was usually exhausted from working hard and trying to be a good employee, while simultaneously coordinating good daycare, fun filled weekends, finding the right school, after school activities and training my children to evolve into happy and healthy adults. I soon realized that I had to plan. How could I create something that didn’t require a lot of organization and thought, but tasted and felt like I did? A meal that delivered good nutrition, but was delicious as well.

Well my first epiphany was the fajita. My sister, a medical resident at that time and with jam-packed days worse than mine, had me over for dinner. We went to the grocery store first, where I followed her and her fiance around the aisles. I watched them argue and debate the finer points of grocery fare. Finally they picked the ingredients for what they told me were fajita, which consisted of everything you ever needed for a healthy and delicious dinner. My sisters and I were raised that a healthy meal included meat, vegatables and starch. So our starch was the tortillas, boneless skinless chicken breast was the meat(protein) and then the colorful peppers and onions were the vegetables. We purchased the lot and made our way home. My sister and her honey hit the kitchen and step-by-step showed me how to whip up this quick and easy dinner. Just chop up the meat and veggies, sautee and brown them in the oil of your choice with your favorite seasoning, wrap in a tortilla and you were good to go.

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash
So, I started utilizing this for my family dinners. I guess I utilized it a lot, because one day when my kids asked me whats for dinner and I lovingly responded, “fajitas.” They look back at me with serious faces and uttered the dreaded “again?”

I was bummed, I realized I was going to have to anti-up and get creative. So, I took the challenge and created the best lazy dinner ever and here I am presenting it to you. I love this dinner. It has the protein, the veggies and the starch(now known as carbs), that was drilled into me was the healthiest dinner ever. It’s takes about five minutes to prepare and maybe 20 minutes to bake and you don’t have to watch it. So, here it goes.

You take one defrosted, organic, boneless chicken breast. Oil both sides of the chicken breast, I like coconut oil, because it softens the meat and compliments the taste. If you use your hands, wash them thouroughly after to remove any bacteria.

The next step is to season the chicken breast. I like to use a prepared seasoning thats a mixture of garlic salt, lemon pepper, paprika and oregano. I lightly season both sides of the chicken breast for maximum flavor.

Place the chicken breast in a pan lined with foil or parchment paper (depending how organic you are feeling).

Take a bag of frozen seasoned potatoes or rice and dump the bag over and around the chicken.

Next set the oven at 350 and put the dish in the oven.

For your veggies, pick your favorite and place it in a steamer on the stove top.

Now walk away.

Return to the kitchen in ten minutes and turn the chicken and turn off the steamer. Walk away again.

In another ten minutes go back to the Kitchen. By this time, your kitchen and maybe your whole house will be filled with the enticing aromas of herb-baked chicken, roasted potatoes or rice and fresh steamy vegetables.

Remove the dish from the oven and serve with the steamed vegetables.

So when I’m really tired, but I know I have to eat and eat well if I want to keep up the pace, this is my current go to dinner. For those days in the middle of the week, have this meal before eight in the evening, stop when you are full and don’t eat again that evening. You will wake up with a fairly reduced belly feeling fresh and strengthened.

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Unclutter Live Free

Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash

When I hit middle age, I looked around and I looked at me. I’m told this happens to everyone and it’s not such a unique thing. Each person makes the journey differently and it’s perfectly tailored for them. This sudden realization is possibly one of the most important things that will ever happen in a person’s life. This is the time when we are forced to stop by life circumstances and take a look around at what’s really going on. There are a myriad of factors that causes this arrest and it’s different for everyone. It can be the natural process of aging, slowing down or something catastrophic such as illness or death. And what really is going on? What are you really doing? Are you where you wanted to be when you reached midlife? Did you achieve and is achieving what you really thought it was? These questions come and don’t go away. You have to make decisions, sort it out in you mind and pick your direction. Like a ship that is meant to sail the seas, we sail through life and it’s currents and conditions. Without navigation the ship will wander, lyst, maybe be overcome by pirates and possibly, ultimately, sink.

So, I hit that point, my ship was lysting, I looked at myself and I realized I was a cluttered person. My life was cluttered, my house was cluttered and what I thought I liked or wanted had changed. So, maybe you’re not like this, maybe you have it together and always did, maybe you are one of those that will just never even think that you could be uncluttered. But the journey never stops and how much do you really want to take with you? Do you want to expend your energy on carrying a load or do you want to fly swiftly with nothing weighing you down as you embark on adventures? I knew what I wanted and so the purge began. The timing was good, because I had to get ready for my daughter’s baby shower. I called in the neighborhood kids and we set to work. Room by room, sorting and disposing of treasures. Funny thing, a few items caused significant hesitancy, but mostly, it was such a relief. These things could now journey to new homes where they were wanted and used and fulfill their purpose. The energy became active and no longer dormant, just sitting and wasting. The air in my house became light, free and moved with energy once again.

Photo by Peter Fogden on Unsplash

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Father Time and Flea Medicine

Photo by petradr on Unsplash

While I was getting ready to apply my pet’s monthly dose of flea medicine the other day; I noticed a date that I had added in black sharpie ink. What stood out about the date was that it wasn’t the previous month like it should have been. Because you are supposed to apply the medicine once a month and two months had passed since I recorded the date. And I realized that I had been swept up in living, filling each day and night to the brim. And as I got busier and busier, time passed and it passed unnoticed. I realized that my resolve to relish each moment of precious life was slipping.

This one little very important chore that brought relief and comfort to my beloved pets, had been passed over without a thought; just as time had passed too. How many days had I missed without watching the sunrise which was one the most beautiful sights in the world? How many days had passed without thinking of how thankful I was for the blessings I had received?

I realized that this applied to so many things in life. Especially in our current times. We have so much information and so much to do. This life is so entertaining and as we enjoy all the offerings, time swiftly passes. Hopefully we immerse ourselves in each moment and that in the end we’re happy with our journey. That we can say we are ok with the way it went and that we are satisfied with the things that we took the time to love and pay attention too.

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Ballet for the Best Life

Photo by Sarah Cervantes on Unsplash

My mom sent me to ballet school when I was just four years old. My siblings and I took lessons twice a week from a retired ballerina of the San Francisco ballet who had set up a private studio behind her 1940’s bungalow. The studio was in her garage and had a bouncy wood studio floor and wall to wall mirrors with barres for the dancers to practise. She must have had at least a hundred or more students, because when I arrived for class, dancers were leaving and when my class left, more dancers were coming. We had a yearly recital at the civic center and the seats were always filled.

The discipline of ballet and the effect on the body is an experience that transports an average human being into a physical state beyond the norm. The repetition is like meditation and entering the zone happens almost immediately. Wether you like it or not, and if you have a good ballet instructor, they will keep you to task and do what ever it takes to keep you counting to eight and moving to the count of eight. Mind and body are willed into synchronicity. It’s a good lesson, and probably the best lesson, a child will ever learn. The lesson of repetition with good intent that results in beauty and sends positive energy into the world.

As I danced, my legs became flexible, strong and capable. As I walked to school each morning with my sisters and friends, we could leap more squares of the sidewalks then the others who didn’t dance and leap over puddles easily. At night after school we could climb up to the tops of the trees like monkeys easily and with speed. Our play evolved and we naturally assimilated graceful postures and movements.

Now as an adult, I don’t go to class anymore, but the barre stuck with me. It was the best way to limber up and release the joints that kept getting tighter with age and sometimes felt like a vice within my own body.

Looking through pins of ballet dancers, tendons, muscles, extreme flexibility and strength burst forth. Ballerinas on their toes in shredded satin and wooly soft leg warmers umbrella by small stiff tutus. The satin of the shoes stained with blood from the force of the dance. Pics of strong men and women and using their strength to create raw human beauty. Ballet was beauty, it was health and it made for a beautiful life.

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Sunset and seals

Photo by Lou Liebau on Unsplash

I’m a virgo and that means I like healthy stuff. I love food that is green and full of natural ingredients. My old roommate and one of my best friends dubbed me granola head while we lived together. She always had a cupboard full of captain crunch and fruity pebbles and I would always bring home granola, fresh veggies and trail mix for our kids. Not to say she didn’t know how to cook healthy too. She taught me how to make a killer tomatoe and cheddar tortilla in the microwave and I’m still making it for snacking, 20 year later.

So when I walked into Lean and Green Organic Health Bar in La Jolla. It was amazing and I was in heaven. It was located off the beaten track in a corporate building’s inner courtyard. The setting was modern, with upholstered benches and iron patio tables overlooking the business scene. It was an amazing find by my niece who was in training with a goal no less than to make it to the olympics.

We ordered smoothies loaded with protein, avocado, fruit, coconut oil and I had a bowl with quinoa, veggies, beans and savory spices. It didn’t take long to feel full and I looked forward to the energy I’d have once all of these great nutrients were metabolized. After eating, we decided to head down to Seal Beach. The beach was full of tourists that had set out blankets and umbrellas and were relishing the last rays of sun as it set over the sea. Wistful seals swam into the beach, wanting their beach back. A seal would cautiously swim in to the cove halfway and assess the human swimmers and then swim back out. A few brave seals that had made it all the way to the beach, lounged among the humans.They were beautiful laying in the last rays of light, their coats thick and glossy, their eyes closed in rapture, enjoying the soft beach, the playful noise of happy people and the cool mists sweeping off the waves.

Photo by Joss Woodhead on Unsplash

After taking in the brilliant sunset and sea winds we headed back up to our car. The climb was fairly steep and a great workout after our awesome meal. It was the perfect way for the quinoa and other yummy ingredients to be absorbed and metabolized. Blended with the fresh sea air, heavy with nutrients, I felt completely at one with all things healthy and natural.