Thanksgiving

Posted on November 25, 2013 by Gigi in Holiday Comments Off

This time of year can be challenging, between holiday shindigs, indulgent dining, endless shopping and fraught family gatherings. Sometimes it can be really stressful, here are a few tips on making it through the next few weeks.

HOLIDAY SHINDIGS

Don’t over book, it’s OK to say “NO” there are only a few weekends and you can’t make everything. If you are hosting, plan your evening so you are able to have fun too, plan a menu you can execute effortlessly. Wear something pretty and festive.

INDULGENT DINING

Don’t over do it…and keep your workouts up, this is not the time to slack off, even though you are busy. Make good choices and watch the “drink” calories.

ENDLESS SHOPPING

Don’t get caught up in the hype. There is always a sale. If you are the type of shopper that likes to go to the large retailers for electronics- good luck to ya. I know many stores open at midnight on Thanksgiving, I like to enjoy the evening and not run out for a marathon shopping spree, perhaps its my age :). Focus on gifts that are gorgeous, personal, memorable, a little impractical and slightly indulgent. I love giving fragrant expensive candles, that I find on gilt.com, they are always well priced.

FRAUGHT FAMILY GATHERINGS

I’m convinced that everyone has a little “dysfunction” in their family, and it seems at the holiday “craziness” is magnified. Embrace everyone and their shortcomings and focus on the good in everyone. This year we will be making a few stops for Thanksgiving, if I were hosting I love pretty table settings filled with a little new, old, cheap, antique, expensive and colorful.

pretty

nice

Happy Monday

Xoxo,

Gigi

LADY LIKE TEARS

Posted on November 21, 2013 by Gigi in Well-Being 5 Comments

tears

Yesterday my heart was at a loss of words, so my tears had to represent. They were the silent tears, not accompanied by the “ugly face” these were the ones that effortlessly slide down your face leaving make-up in tack. Lady like tears, the kind you could lightly dab with a tissue. I’m amazed at the human sprit and the hidden strength that exists in all of us, when confronted with adversity. To witness someone I love faced with a catastrophic illness with all its ugliness, I was in awe of my sister’s calmness and grace.

Although we are all here in the world of the living for just a moment, I think when faced with our impending mortality it can be debilitating. I’m at the age where shit is starting to happen to those I care about. It seems as if everybody I know has been affected by this M-F—ker who goes by the name of cancer. It is rampant in this country, and your have to wonder the why.

Is it stress? Diet? Inflammation? Genes? Environmental?

I guess if we knew the answer, that would be half the problem. I’ve seen it come after everyone from the most health conscientious, to those who live day by day with reckless abandonment.

Yesterday I realized we are just simple shells, and that these shells can be deconstructed, but as long as we can keep our “soul” in tack we will be OK. Our bodies can be manipulated, carved, cut, enhanced, banded, tucked, filled, but it is that inner core that is most important–the part that needs the most care.

My faith and the prayers of others blessed my family and I know everything is going to be fine. The events of this week, are yet another reminder of what is really important? Not being so dogmatic and judgmental. Guiding your life with love, and forgiveness. Acceptance of those who may differ from you in their beliefs. And most of all taking TIME FOR SELF and being the BEST VERSION OF YOU that you can be…

Happy Thursday,

Xoxo,

Gigi

tears

NOLA WHO DAT!!!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Gigi in Travel Comments Off

Whirlwind Weekend New Orleans- We arrived on Friday morning via Gulfport Mississippi, long story why we took this route, rented a car and drove, after our 2 stop red eye flight. Purpose of the trip was a medical meeting. We departed on Sunday @ 3, so needless to say it was a fast turnaround. I love NOLA and never miss an opportunity to visit.

STAY– Loft 523 523 Gravier Street New Orleans 504 200 6523- 16 Sexy loft style large rooms with spa like bathrooms. Perfect location, just a skip from the FrenchQuarter. No restaurant ;(. Valet Parking–$$$

Loft 523

spa like bathroom

EATS-We are foodies, but being vegetarian I knew it was going to be a bit challenging, but I did a little pre-planning and read a lot of menus and found numerous options. Ruby Red Slipper 3 locations-award winning breakfast spot, we had grits, fruit and a homemade biscuit. Stella lovely spot in the french quarter, prix fix four course vegetarian menu, that was pricy but delicious. Fresh Bar salad wrap bar, my niece Taylor took me here- great for a quick bite while strolling on Magazine street. Italian Barrell also in the french quarter, homemade italian fare excellent pastas and good salads, tiny intimate place 8 tables, chef owned- reservations a must. Green Goddess vegan friendly spot in the french quarter eclectic menu, the sweet potatoe biscuits with hot pepper jelly were really good.

“green salad” at Stella

Stella

Gigi & Reggie @ Stella

Green Goddess

SHOPPING– of course I could not leave without a tricket or two. I love antiques and over the years we have picked up some of our favorite pieces in New Orleans. Lucullus-culinary antiques, this store has been there for at least 25 years, some of the most beautiful china, lovely copper pots, flatware, and numerous unique items that would add that special something to your table. Nathan, assisted me in selecting a beautiful set of french flatware, I can’t wait for it to arrive. You must stop by, located in the french quarter.

Lucullus

Gigi at Lucullus

my flatware

Trashy Diva a dress boutique with retro inspired designs, I could have done a lot of damage in here. I love feminine flirty dresses and this was the spot. Everything was so well priced, I will be shopping online with them–sizes run pretty true.

Trashy Diva

my “Trashy Diva” dress

Some of you know I love FB, so when I posted that I was in New Orleans, a FB friend commented on my post that he had a friend that had a store in the french quarter, so of course I had to go by and check it out and I am so glad I did. The owner Danna is so sweet and designs and makes incredible leather bags and jewelry. Her store is “Love It”.

Love It

Lovely Danna

I bought a leather travel bag, that I will be taking on my next trip, it is one of Danna’s designs–the bag is a belt/bag combo that you wear on you body, so your ID, cash etc. can be close, so you can avoid the professional pickpockets…the picture is not great but you can get the jest.

“Love It” bag

I had to get a mask for my collection that I started when I went to Venice. There are numerous mask designers in the french quarter.

Gigi

As far as entertainment we enjoyed the street performers and will have to go back soon and explore the night life next time.

What are some of your favorite New Orleans spots?

Xoxo,

Gigi

Who Dat

Happy 17th Birthday Reggie!

Posted on November 18, 2013 by Gigi in Family 1 Comment

I’m of the age where the reproductive stage has certainly past. The age where some of my friends are grandmothers all ready, I was a late bloomer. 17 years ago I was in BlockBuster, cruising the aisles for new music, this was pre i tunes etc., back in the old days when you went to music stores and bought cd’s for $20. I was passing time until I had to pick up my 1st grader Amani, even though November 18th was my official due date and that morning, when I took Amani to school she said, “My brother is coming today”, for some reason I didn’t think so… So of course when my water broke, as I was listening to Toni Braxton‘s new release Un-Break my Heart trying to decide if I was going to add it to my small stack of $20.99 CDs- I knew my son would be here shortly.

I picked Amani up went home, called Reggie, btw this was pre-cell phone days, arrived at the hospital around 5 and Reggie entered the world a little before 10PM. Life has never been the same.

Nov 18 1996

This is the first time we will not celebrate Reggie’s birthday with him, he will celebrate with his classmates and his Italian family. It is an odd feeling not being together, I’m a big birthday person and I have always celebrated my kids special day. Do to the shipping situation in Italy I could not even send him a gift, just a call and a happy birthday wish, oh and an ATM deposit. Although it is so cliche, time really does go by fast, I didn’t believe it when other parents would tell me this, but oh it is so true. From the Elmo to Sponge Bob, gameboy to PS 3, i pod to i mac, Sean John to Prada, In N Out to A.O.C, it has been a blast watching you grow and develop into this eccentric guy.

So take the time and create lasting memories with your children, soon they will be young adults with their own agendas, which is a good thing. I sometimes think perhaps we should have had another baby, when that door was still slightly opened. Reggie has one more year of high school left, but he is already making plans to go east for college.

Reggie @ 16

Reggie @ 11 hiphop phase

2012 gigi & family

Happy Monday,

Xoxo,

Gigi

Quote

Posted on November 15, 2013 by Gigi in Quotes Comments Off

quote

Friends this has been an incredibly difficult day for me…Take this quote literally. I am on my way to New Orleans, have a happy weekend and tell a family member that you love them.

New Orleans

Xoxo,

GIGI

50 WAYS TO AGE EFFORTLESSLY, WITH STYLE AND FINESSE

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Gigi in 50 ways 2 Comments

Gigi @ 54

50 WAYS TO AGE EFFORTLESSLY, WITH STYLE AND FINESSE

1. Celebrate every birthday as if it were a milestone

2. Practice yoga or pilates or both- a flexible spine is a young spine

3. Challenge yourself–never stop learning

4. Stay engaged with LIFE

5. Stop being angry- it’s not worth it in the long run

6. Strength Train ie. weight training-your bones will “thank you”

7. Love and admire your children/grandchildren/nieces/ nephews

8. Have fresh flowers all the time

9. Walk daily

10. Use your “good” stuff ie. crystal, china, silver etc.

11. Be present in the moment- enjoy the duration of the day

12. Be a role model

13. Wear lipstick

14. Be your best “you” today and stop trying to be the “you” of the past

15. Celebrate the good in your life- forget the negative

16. keep the passion with your partner and/ or if solo don’t be afraid of LOVE

17. Menopause- embrace the change

18. Take long baths with fragrant oils

19. Drink good champagne–just because

20. Change your hair if you have been wearing the same “do” for 20 plus years

21. Keep dreaming

22. Continue to shop- but know what works for you- be picky only buy things you LOVE

23. Volunteer- make a difference

24. Have a spiritual base

25. Forgive and Forget

26. Watch your posture

27. Eat clean- preferably a plant based diet with lots of raw organic farm to table produce

28. Invest in a good bed and make your bedroom a retreat

29. Be a creature like no other

30. laugh aloud and find humor in everything

31. Dance

32. Pay attention to your appearance- don’t give into middle age frumpy

33. Watch your weight

34. Don’t fear love- never stop dabbling in it…

35. Make time for friends

36. Wear pretty, sexy non sensible shoes

37. Accept that it is OK that you don’t look 22- embrace whatever age you are and “work it”

38. Sleep get your rest.

39. Don’t be a fool for fashion- have your own style

40. Wear lovely lingerie

41. Douse yourself with perfume

42. Travel

43. Smile

44. Don’t do things to contort your face- you won’t look younger

45. Unleash your blocks, whatever they may be

46. Break the rules on what “blank” age is supposed to be

47. Indulge in whatever your heart desires

48. don’t drink excessively- it never looks good

49. Continue to create and discover new interests

50. FALL IN LOVE WITH YOU!

My weekend is starting early Friday, I will be in New Orleans via a red eye flight tonight.

New Orleans

Happy Thursday

Xoxo,

Gigi

When the Stars don’t Line Up…

Posted on November 13, 2013 by Gigi in My Life Comments Off

Stars

Do you every have a day when everything is off? And you wonder what the heck is going on? Well yesterday was that day. It started off when I could not find a client’s memory card, that had images that would have been irreplaceable. The thought of having to tell her that I “lost” her images made me sick to my stomach. I spent hours looking for it all the while thinking of what could I tell her, when out of no where it appeared, actually it was lodged between a book, don’t ask me how. Lesson learned.

Friday we are going to New Orleans for a medical meeting. I do all of our travel arrangements, so I’m looking for our flight reservation to print and I cannot find the email confirmation, I searched my credit cards and no record of any airline purchase. I realize somehow I FORGOT to buy the tickets, btw this is a meeting that all the opthamologists from all over the world attend, so I go online to purchase last minute tickets and the price has skyrocketed to 1600. each for coach tickets. I can’t pay 3500. to go to New Orleans for the weekend so I do my research and figure that we could fly to Mississippi for about 400. and then rent a car and drive.

The day continued on with incidence after incidence, you know the usual suspects, running late, can’t find a parking space etc., crazy traffic driving home. A friend calls to tell me that her son saw an intruder come in their backyard and steal her bike, mind you this is in a neighborhood that you would not think someone would do that at the “homework” hour with cars in the driveway.

off balance

The day ends with another friend telling me she had some diagnostic tests in which she will get the results on Thursday morning. Results that would be life changing, hearing the fear in her voice and trying to comfort her made me realize my little inconveniences were nothing in comparison. It put everything in perspective. We take so much for granted and get caught up in petty silly things that at the end of the day really don’t matter. Another reminder to savor each moment and really take time to smell the roses.

smell the roses

Roses from my garden…

Happy Wednesday,

Xoxo,

Gigi

Your Practice is YOUR Practice

Posted on November 12, 2013 by Gigi in My Life, Well-Being Comments Off

quote

Saturday night we attended a special 2 hour hot yoga event, the room was steamy, the reggae rhythm was bumping, the “quiet storm” perfect pitch voice our yoga teacher Scott was smoothly guiding us through the vinyasa flow. As I struggled through the poses I reminded myself that my practice is just that “my practice” my moment to be the best that I can be at that given moment, no more no less. Within ten minutes I was in my trance, not longer worrying about if my butt looked gi-normous in chair pose, or that my back bend was pretty lame, or that annoying fat roll was appearing when I did a side bend nor that my leg was not lifted as high as the rest of the yoginis. All of those conscious thoughts disappeared as I moved through the poses, taking an occasional child’s pose when needed for a short reprise.

After about an hour or so, my emotions began to come to the surface, perhaps it was when Scott said something like “release what binds you, so you can be free” I felt my eyes as they began to fill with water, slowly releasing tears that merged with the salty sweat forming a shiny glow on my face. I continued the poses with a spurt of energy, thankful for this time, for my life, my breath and my sanity.

I realized that the key to real happiness is accepting your personal best, rather than comparing yourself to your neighbor, friend, relative, or stranger, I may not ever do a beautiful headstand in the center of the room and that is OK. In life it is easy to compare ourselves with others, but when you are able to “let it go” and accept that your personal best is good enough, you eliminate the “keeping up with the Joneses” effect or the “green eyed” jealousy and her partner envy at bay. Find contentment with your own success and growth, I can do my passion without worrying about if I will be a six figure earning photographer or if I will be famous, shooting magazine covers.

I can do “ME” without thinking about if I am meeting someone else’s expectations. I can accept my imperfections and mistakes and I can forgive and forget. Free from the judgement of others or the petty punishments inflicted, I can purpose to improve on yesterdays actions and continue to “practice” and give my best.

I practice at Purple Yoga– a fabulous studio with awesome teachers. Scott Winslow led Saturday nights class.

Namaste XOXO,

Gigi

yoga class

CROSSROADS–VEGGIE DELIGHT

Posted on November 11, 2013 by Gigi in Dining Comments Off

crossroads

Reggie and I have been on our vegan journey for the past four years. We have explored raw vegan, vegan and vegetarian diets, and have settled into to a vegan/raw vegan combo that serves our lifestyle well. We love good food and are happy with the influx of vegan restaurants around the southland. Tonight we decided to try Chef Tal Ronnen’s Crossroads restaurant, a plant based fine dining eatery located on Melrose, surrounded by trendy designer boutiques, a perfect location for a girls lunch. Tal Ronnen author of The Conscious Cook has a large celebrity following including Oprah among others. Crossroads opened this past March, the space is beautiful, and sophisticated, not your 70’s style “hippie” joint.

dining room

Our server Chloe was wonderful, she quickly told us about the menu and made excellent suggestions for us since this was our first visit. Before our vegan days we were fishetarians, we had cut out chicken about 15 years ago, so I must say there are a lot of seafood favorites that we missed, so I was happy to order the vegan crab cakes and the artichoke oysters. I love the seacakes at Real Food Daily, but I must say these “crab cakes” were delicious as well and the presentation was just like “real crabcakes”, now the artichoke oysters were fan-ta-bu-lous, I can’t even imagine how they came up with that recipe–so good.

artichoke oysters

crab cakes

Reggie being a bread person ordered the fall squash puree flatbread, which was sort of like a light pizza topped with mustard greens. Chloe also recommended a scaloppini parmesan which reminded me of eggplant parmesan which was also good. We also ordered the beet salad which was fresh and delightful. We ordered a total of 5 small plates and we were satisfied, not stuffed. We finished with a pumpkin tiramisu which was a gluten free pumpkin cake finished with a pumpkin creamy topping-yummy.

flat bread

beet salad

pumpkin tiramisu

Fresh Artisian cocktails as well as a nice wine list are also availible. I will be going back very soon.

Crossroads Kitchen 8284 Melrose avenue Los Angeles for reservations 323 782 9245

Gigi

Xoxo,

Gigi

#101 why I work out-OSTEOPOROSIS

Posted on November 8, 2013 by Gigi in Aging, Well-Being 2 Comments

Yes! One of the reasons I workout is for my own vanity. I know shallow…I want this 50 plus year old body to still be able to rock the fashion I like and to be able to sport a bikini occasionally and not look ridiculous on the beach. OK enough of that, two years ago I was diagnosed with osteoporosis, I was devastated at being told I had this disease I associated with “old people”. I always knew the countless benefits of working out and have been active all my life, but as we age it is even more critical to be as fit as possible, because trust me the body starts trying to break down just like an old car–the maintenance is really important.

My First Tri

I remember when my “no bedside manner” doctor called me on my cell, and told me that I had osteoporosis and I needed to take boniva or take a drug called reclast that is taken once a year by IV infusion. The side effects are nausea, abdominal pain, difficulty swallowing, risk of inflamed esophagus or ulcers, of course the thought of going from being a healthy person to now taking drugs with all these potential side effects was daunting. I felt deceived by my body, osteoporosis is typically found in frail caucasian and asian women, or those who have battled eating disorders, such as anorexia, I have never been frail, white, asian, or small boned, and I have never had an eating disorder or been one to do random “diet” fads that are so popular.

osteoporosis

After doing a lot of my own research, I decided I could not take those drugs, especially when I read lots of information that questions the long term use of the drugs and the long term problems they can cause, but I also did not want to be a “hunchback” old lady or suffer from a broken hip in the future. So I decided to take my own approach and eat and drink as many calcium rich greens, strength train, weight train, and do yoga which some studies show promise with regular practice. I also have a weight vest that I wear when I walk or even around the house. Acupuncture is a regular part of my well being, my doctor has me taking herbs and he treats my joints. Tao of Wellness

Gigi yoga

Osteoporosis– is a disease of the bones that happens when you lose too much bone, make too little bone or both. As a result, your bones become weak and may break from a minor fall. Find out more about it here. It is diagnosed by a simple bone density test, all women 50 and or those that have a history of osteoporosis should be tested.

So ladies and Gents do your WEIGHT TRAINING! And do your research and stay on top of things and of course the key words are PREVENTATIVE & LIFESTYLE

Happy Friday