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Jan 18

8 Comments

Ragger’s Creed

photo by jasleen_kaur via flickr creative commons

photo by jasleen_kaur via flickr creative commons

As a kid I spent a week every summer at Phantom Lake YMCA Camp in Mukwonago, Wisconsin.  As anyone who has been to summer camp well knows, it can be a magical and transformative experience….and it definitely was for me.  Beyond teaching me basic things like how to be away from my parents…how to shoot a bow and arrow…how to use a compass…and some basic social mores (i.e., streaking across a summer camp lawn is NOT okay), my experience at Phantom Lake gave me something I still come back to today: a mantra. Read more

Jan 17

3 Comments

“What Did You Do Today?”

photo by natalie lucier, via flickr creative commons

photo by natalie lucier, via flickr creative commons

A few months ago, I came across an advice column talking about cocktail party etiquette (I’m pretty sure it was in Real Simple, but I can’t seem to find the exact column now).  The person asking the question was tired of work-focused discussions with new acquaintances, and looking for advice about other good ways to strike up a conversation with a stranger.  I loved the advice the columnist gave: Instead of asking “What do you do?,” ask “What did you do today?” Read more

Jan 16

6 Comments

Work/Life Integration

handsEvery summer growing up, some close friends who lived in Washington D.C. spent a month or two with their mother/grandmother in rural Wisconsin.  Their grandmother lived right next door to us, so this arrangement created an amazing extended family for my parents and sisters and me; as such, we all became intimately aware of our similarities, differences, and values.  I always had a deep relationship with the dad from the other family, Bill, who loved taking about things I was interested in — ideas and patterns and travel and what the future might be like.  But despite liking him a lot, there were a few things I didn’t understand about Bill. Read more

Jan 15

2 Comments

Kombucha: Magic or Marketing?

bottlesA few years ago, I discovered kombucha.  It wasn’t love at first sight, but somehow, between that virgin taste at a San Francisco Whole Foods (where they serve it on tap) and today, a mild obsession took hold.  I now drink this bacteria-yeast combo often enough that my toddler recently asked me if I was having it for breakfast; and I don’t even blink an eye when the slimy, ballooning cultures slide down my throat. Read more

Jan 14

4 Comments

Workout Motivation: What Works?

State of Michigan Public Health Campaign (via Flickr Creative Commons)

State of Michigan Public Health Campaign (via Flickr Creative Commons)

Rewards are nothing new in the fitness world.  For years, diet and exercise gurus have propagated the “carrot and stick” mentality, combining rewards and punishment to get people to eat more veggies and run more miles.  We’ve all likely used this tactic at times in our lives, bribing ourselves with chocolate or workout clothes or spas or charity donations to incent ourselves to bail on beer and brats in favor of a few more minutes on the elliptical machine.  And not surprisingly, technologies have also emerged to support these incentives.  A company called Gympact is based on financial rewards (you earn money if you meet your goals, and you need to pay money if you don’t), and companies like Nexercise are making workouts social and rewarding people along the way. Read more

Jan 11

1 Comment

Your Mindset: Your Health

mindsetI recently watched a TEDx talk a friend of mine, Ed Briceno, gave a few months ago in Manhattan Beach.   His talk is anchored in research done by world-renowned Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck, an expert in how mindset creates motivation and productivity and the author of the appropriately titled book, Mindset.  Her premise is that we all operate in one of two ways: using a fixed mindset (the belief that our basic abilities are fixed traits) or a growth mindset (the belief that basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work). Read more

Jan 10

2 Comments

Intentional Relationships

relationshipsTwice a week, I volunteer for an hour in my kids’ preschool classes – doing things like preparing snack, reading books, doing puzzles, building towers, and eating lunch at a mini table in a mini chair with very lively mini people.  When Sean and I put our kids into a school where volunteering was a requirement, I was admittedly (and now embarrassingly) apprehensive.  I viewed the time the kids were in school as my “adult time” to work, do life maintenance, work out, etc and really didn’t want the two worlds to collide.  After a few weeks of being in the classroom, however, my mindset shifted.  Read more

Jan 9

7 Comments

Smoothie Moustache

A few years ago (2008), Jessica Seinfeld came out with a cookbook called Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food.  At the time, as a brand new parent (my son was four months old), I was quick to judge.  “Good for her, but I will never be that parent,” I remember telling myself.  “My kids will learn to eat spinach and broccoli and beets and fava beans because they’re delicious and healthy.”  Well, four years later, here I am: hiding vegetables and vitamins not only in my kids’ food, but in mine too.  In short, I do this because it works. Read more

Jan 8

3 Comments

Pre-Dawn Workouts: Five Ideas to Help Them Stick

photo by: david goehring (via flickr creative commons)

photo by: david goehring (via flickr creative commons)

Every Tuesday morning, I get up at 5:15am, brew and guzzle some coffee, stumble into some clothes, drive to the gym, and click into a spin bike for a 6am class. To any outsider – let’s say, someone who lives in Mali or came of age in the early 20th century – this charade of getting up (in the dark) to go to the gym (in the dark) to ride a bike that goes nowhere would likely seem at best, bizarre.  But in today’s world, it’s common practice. Read more

Jan 7

2 Comments

On Making

ARTI’ve been working on an art project on and off for a few months, and I finally finished it this weekend (yeee-haw)!  This is a big deal for me for a few reasons: 1) I have so many unfinished projects tucked away in drawers or filed on my computer that I often doubt whether I’m capable of actually finishing anything, 2) I’m pretty psyched to have something new to hang on the wall, and 3) It clarified that although I may not officially be an artist by day, I can still do art (we all can)! Read more

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