Pride has been a word on everyone’s lips this week and for several reasons. In a landmark decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a national right to same-sex marriage. The rainbow colors of pride, equality and acceptance have flooded Facebook and national monuments. The flag has been waved proudly in marches throughout the country on Gay Pride Day. I’m happy for my friends whose lives are positively impacted. I am also respectful of those whose personal or religious beliefs cannot accept it. We live in a nation of freedom of speech and – more now than ever- freedom of choice. This
Read more →I have a game I like to play socially called “Define Your Wine” I ask people to describe themselves as a wine and why. Try it sometime with wine drinking friends. I tell people I’m a Viogner: soft and lush filled with a vibrant character filled with notes of peach, apricots and violets. A Viogner can be finicky about her climate. She doesn’t like too much cold or direct sun. She’s a DIVAlicious blonde grape; please don’t compare her to everyday Chardonnays. This article actually refers to Viogner as the “Beyoncé of grapes.” The wine writer Lettie Teague recently joined
Read more →My brain-tenna recently shot up over a New York Times article entitled “Anxious Students Strain College Mental Health Centers.” The article reports that nearly one in six college students has been diagnosed with or treated for anxiety which has now surpassed depression as the most common mental health diagnosis among these students. Many reasons were given for the high anxiety among young people. Some are obvious with academic, financial, parental and social pressures being paramount. One reason that struck a chord was “fear of missing out” (FOMO for short). Now, fear of missing out is nothing new. I remember the fit
Read more →I like to help people transform their “Now What?” into their “Do It Now!” Many people live in a state of Now What? and can’t seem to cross the border into new horizons. Often what is holding them back is the energy that can propel them forward: fear. Fear is an amazing energy source that can jump start any action, good or bad, if channeled properly. Fear can give birth to purpose. It can change the course of your life for the better. It can give you more clarity for what really matters. When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I learned to
Read more →Many of us have a great idea or a new solution to an everyday challenge lingering in the back of our minds but don’t act on it. Having a good idea is great. Acting on it is even better. It takes a leap of faith combined with plenty of legwork. The reason many us don’t move forward is not because of roadblocks that stand in your way. Often it is the emotional barriers we create. Here are five mental hurdles you may have and how to scale them to make your leap: 1. I don’t have the time. If not now, when? If you can make time
Read more →I used to say that when it was snowing the “the angels were brushing their hair.” This year, the angels have really let their hair down, giving much of the country a cold shoulder. If hell actually froze over it may have been this winter. Like many living in the icy parts of the country I had my cold snap this past week. In my winter meltdown I wailed to my husband….and to the snow angels, “I’ve had enough! As God is my witness, I want to go home to Tara!” In reality, my “Tara” in Chattanooga, Tennessee, received a
Read more →Are you getting over a breakup or about to break off a relationship? Are you newly single and a little timid about re-entering the dating scene? Let’s face it….many of have been down that road. We may end up taking different directions, but we can all agree that it is not an easy journey! On the March 2nd edition of Fearless Fabulous You! relationship expert, Susan J. Elliott, JD, M.Ed., will help you learn to jump back into the dating saddle again with confidence. As with anything, re-entering the dating scene is a process. Susan’s new book, Getting Back Out There: Secrets
Read more →Nora Ephron wrote a hilarious book on the trials of aging called “I Feel Bad About My Neck.” If I wrote a book on aging it would be entitled, “A Waist Is A Terrible Thing To Mind.” Aging is inevitable; the only way to stop aging is to stop living. That’s not a great option. You can slow down the clock with a better diet, exercise, sleep and stress management and- hopefully-great genes. But you can’t stop the clock unless you stop ticking altogether. As a wine and food professional, I’ve grappled with balancing the pleasures I enjoy imbibing with the practical
Read more →Sometimes Valentine’s Day makes me see red. There is so much emphasis on loving couples toasting each other with loving cups of fine wine and sharing platefuls of delicious food. Expectations are as high as the romance meter, not to mention prices at restaurants for those coveted two top tables. One NYC restaurant is charging $1000 per couple for a “gourmand experience.” It’s all fine if you want to buy into it…and if you are a couple. But many of you are single and fabulous. There should be no shame or sadness in being single, either by choice or by
Read more →Want to learn some tips from a top lifestyle branding expert on how to polish and present your best professional you? Joining me February 2 on Fearless Fabulous You! to hear from branding pro, Jocelyn Greenky. Jocelyn Greenky, author of The Big Sister’s Guide to the World of Work: The Inside Rules Every Working Girl Must Know, is a lifestyle and media consultant, advice columnist, high-school mentor and a highly sought-after national public speaker. She has enjoyed a successful 25-plus-year career as an entrepreneur and senior executive at companies such as Philip Morris, Wenner Media, Hachette Filipacchi. She is a co-founder of the international
Read more →Make it your resolution in 2015 to shine the light! Two of my New Years’ resolutions were to 1. shine more from within and live in the moment and 2. share the light with others to brighten their lives. Lightness of being is both unburdening and giving. My guests January will address lightness in two very different ways. Dr. Stacey Radin: Enlightening Girls to Share the Light For decades Dr. Stacey Radin has dedicated her career to the development of both adolescent girls and women, professionally as a psychologist, researcher, and leadership consultant; and personally as a volunteer, speaker, and board
Read more →Ears will be burning and so will my show topic December 29 on Fearless Fabulous You! on W4WN– the Women for Women Network. My guest is Barbara Musser, who served as my “sexpert” in my first book, “Getting Things Off My Chest: A Survivor’s Guide to Staying Fearless & Fabulous in the Face of Breast Cancer.” We will dedicate the show to addressing questions about intimacy and sexuality, not only after cancer but also during and after menopause, divorce and a myriad of stages in one’s life where you may need some additional mental lubrication -and a bit more – to reconnect with your sexual
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