The Gown

This is all over the internet, of course, but I have to give it my own nod. Kate's gown is perfection! This will also go a long way to ensure that the Alexander McQueen house will live on and prosper under the tutelage of Alexander's one time assistant, now head honcho, Sarah Burton.

Kids' Art

My daughter's school had an art gallery night showcasing student's art to benefit kids in Japan. The art was really beautiful and I was amazed by the kids' talent. Here is my daughter's piece, combining collage and painting. I hope the school eventually sends this piece home so that I can frame it and save forever!

What would you wear to the Royal Wedding?

I am planning a Royal Wedding Party with my 8-year old for Friday afternoon. Our cablebox will record the festivities that take place on Friday morning (very early NY time) and we will watch later on, after school. The plan is to bring out our most "royalish" china, i.e. Royal Albert Old Country Rose tea cups and saucers, and have a proper English tea with scones and finger sandwiches. My daugher suggested having fish and chips for dinner. I remember watching Princess Diana's wedding as a kid and being awed by the amazing cream puff of a dress.. There has been a lot of hype on what Kate Middleton will be wearing, and I for one, can't wait to see the actual dress! I also can't wait to see what the guests will be wearing to the royal wedding. It is a tough choice -- a day time event that the whole world will be watching and the pictures will live on forever... I hope there will be lots of fun hats and gorgeous outfits. The copycat in me is waiting to pick a couple of pointers for the weddings that I will be attending in the coming months.

Happy Easter

Our traditional Easter grass has been growing for two weeks. The small eggs were a gift from friends from Russia, and the larger egg was a party favor at a party my daughter went to a few years ago.

Finnish tradition calls for decorating boiled eggs with watercolors. Kids always have lots of fun doing this.

HAPPY EASTER!

Tribal Necklace

I am so lucky to have a hubby who loves going to auctions. His recent auction gig yielded this beautiful North African necklace with lapis lazuli stone and steel mesh. I will be wearing this all the time this summer, with a simple sheath dress at work and on the weekends with a t-shirt dress or a white linen shirt and jeans..

Superfoods

Due to a small health crisis - just a scare, thank God - but a serious wake-up call, we have been on a healthy foods kick for about a week now, oatmeal with walnuts and cranberries with a little dash of maple syrup on top (which, by the way, has also been declared a superfood), lots of veggies, brown rice, and no read meat. Yesterday and today I have tried new healthy veggies. Kale, which is somewhere dubbed as a superfood and the most healthy vegetable of all, was a pleasant surprise. I sauteed it with some olive oil, garlic and leftover pesto. Yummyyyy! Even the kids loved it, and asked for more. Another new try, fennel, was good too. I made a chicken sauce with lots of coriander powder (my absolute favorite spice), lemon juice, lemon zest and diced chicken breast (and some salt and pepper, of course). It came out really good too. Eating healthy feels so good, you really are what you eat, because in a just week, I see my energy level is up and I just feel more healthy. And it is now easier than ever, because healthy stuff is available everywhere.

MNG = Mango for JCPenney's

When I heard that Mango was going to do a line for JCPenney's I was very skeptical. I am not a fan of JCPenney's and their efforts in recent years trying to be more hip have not been all that successful. Recruiting Mango is a continuation of those efforts. Last weekend I found myself passing a JCPenney's and when I looked in the door, the first thing I saw was the MNG section. Of course curiosity got the better of me and I had to take a closer look. It was not all that exciting, but it wasn't bad either. The prices were definitely a bit more than other JCPenney's fare. Some of the MNG accessories were really cute, and I ended up buying the spring nautical inspired necklace below.

Fat Stigma

Because I have been struggling with my weight, I noticed a news piece in NY Times about Fat stigma. Fat stigma has of course existed in the fashion industry forever, where even the so called plus size models are pretty much normal (but gorgeous) people to anyone outside of the industry.

Fat stigma is now becoming the norm all over the world, even in traditionally "fat" cultures and places such as Hawaii and Samoa. Skinniness is becoming the desirable state and overweight people are seen in negative light. All over the world they are viewed as lazy, poor, unintelligent and are being passed over for promotions and salary increases.

The public health announcements and advertizing campaigns admonishing against being overweight due to the many health risks are contributing to fat stigma. There is also a lot of discussion of increasing the health insurance premiums for obese people, or denying care until they can lose weight. The latest state to join the movement is Arizona, where Governor Jan Brewer is about to make a similar proposal. And why do I care? Because unless I can get my weight under control, I may soon be one of the stigmatized fat people. And anyone who's been there, trying to lose weight, knows how complex and difficult and hard that process is...There are also many obese people that are so because of illness. To deny care, or increase insurance premiums for them would be irresponsible, in my view. What do you think? Where do you draw the line?

Put Your Own Oxygen Mask On First

I am beginning to understand why it is so hard for me to lose the baby weight this time. I am simply too stressed out, tired and busy to focus on my own needs, relax and quiet the mind (never mind listening to the body). Stress makes me eat, as silly as it sounds! I should add something to the top of my already long list of things to remember: Put your own oxygen mask on first. I need to take the time to care for myself, however impossible it seems, in order to be able to care properly for others. I want to be happy about myself, be a positive example and role model to my daughters. I want to be a strong, healthy, independent, intelligent, interesting, fun, self confident and stylish woman with a clear sense of her self and abilities, and healthy values. I would like to think that most of the time I get there, or close. But this weight issue is bringing me down... How do other women do it?