If you’ve got a vegan, vegetarian, or other plant-based personage attending your holiday dinner, you might be freaking out right about now. After all, if you and the rest of your invitees are omnivores, you can’t rearrange your entire menu to accommodate the odd man (or woman) out.
Luckily, there’s no need to abandon your plans and opt only for Tofurkey. There are a few easy tweaks you can make to your normal cooking routine that’ll make it easy for the herbivore to get plenty to eat.
If you were a kid with an affinity for anything artistic, you definitely visited a Pearl Paint Art Supply Store. Heck, you could have even bought watercolors or a brush at the South Miami location as recently as a few months ago. But like library card catalogs and VCRs, Pearl is now a relic that today’s kiddos will never experience. The chain went into bankruptcy, and shuttered its last location–the flagship in Fort Lauderdale — in August of this year.
Rather than let the store’s lengthy history go gently into that good night, Barry Fellman of the Center for Visual Communication decided to rage, rage against the dying the of light. Fellman bought the store’s stock and has recreated the Pearl experience in his gallery space, just in time for Basel revelers.
When we’re newborn babies, we’re fully, completely, unapologetically ourselves. We don’t beat ourselves up over belly fat, baldness or the occasional cranky mood. We explore the world with joy and curiosity, happy to be equipped with fingers, toes and eyes.
But as we grow, we’re overwhelmed with messages that we’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, funny enough, you-name-it enough. We believe the lies, and self-loathing starts to set in.
The truth is, each of us is utterly unique — a veritable snowflake of imperfection — and that’s a beautiful thing. Feeling better about ourselves is just a matter of remembering how amazing we really are.
So, when the insidious cycle of self-loathing strikes, here are eight ways to fight back:
There’s no better way to describe our aquatic metropolis than in the words of the ancient mariner: “Water, water every where.” Here in Miami, water is kind of our thing. It washes up on our shores, soaks us from above, floods businesses on Alton Road. And eventually,we’ll be under it altogether.
But in the meantime, water is our best asset. And according to the author, conservationist, and marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols, its influence on the human mind and heart is pretty astounding. His New York Times bestselling book, Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do, outlines the myriad ways water can improve our lives. We caught up with Wallace while he was in town to speak with him about water’s ability to reduce stress, red mind versus blue mind, and why Miamians don’t seem to be reaping the rewards of our waterlogged locale.
Life can feel frustrating. Maddening. Insanity-inducing, even. At times, happiness and contentment may seem achievable only in your wildest dreams.
But the best part about being human is the capacity for self-empowerment. You have the ability to change your state of mind and in turn, your entire experience.
In other words, there are ALWAYS options. You’re not stuck or helpless or at the mercy of mercurial forces beyond your control. Fantastic news, right?
As it turns out, the smallest of changes can add up to the biggest of transformations. So, if you want to get happier, here are 50 habits to start implementing, like, yesterday.
Click to read the rest on MindBodyGreen.com.
It’s likely you know her best as Cher, the fashion-forward, well-intentioned Beverly Hills high-schooler who created pop culture legend in 1995’s Clueless. But Alicia Silverstone is much more than a pretty face and Aerosmith video vixen — she’s also a dedicated mom, author, and vegan activist.
Her cookbook The Kind Diet earned a spot on the New York Times Best Seller list, and she’s the face behind the Kind Life online community. Her latest book, The Kind Mama, explores her foray into motherhood.
Silverstone is a champion of plant-based eating and compassionate living, and in support of those missions, she’ll visit Miami to host Seed Food and Wine Festival’s Vedge dinner with Rich Landau and Kate Jacoby Friday, October 17, at Tongue & Cheek in South Beach. (Tickets cost $100 for early birds and $125 in advance.) In anticipation of her appearance,New Times spoke with the star about what it means to live a kind life, her son Bear’s love for daikon, and how to deal with differing opinions.
Whether you were a sketcher of ligers a la Napoleon Dynamite or the Picasso of, ahem, man parts like Superbad’s Seth, it’s likely you were into some kind of doodling back in the day. And while all kids are artists, as adults, artistic expression tends to go out the window with recess and training bras.
Grown-ups, however, long for a creative outlet (and a sense of connection) as much as kiddos — a need Miami-based non-profit U-Doodle has seen firsthand. Created by two former UM students, the group is bringing doodling back in a big way.
Amanda’s love for music has been an integral part of her life since her first Raffi concert, when she took the stage to sing along to Baby Beluga.
With a knack for pulling off the logistics behind live performances, she’s built a professional career around insuring concerts and shows go off without a hitch. From Bon Jovi to Beyonce to Mariah Carey, she’s handled the biggest names and the largest crowds. From managing a two-stage bar in downtown Chicago to directing operations for a 15,000-seat theater, she knows her way around venues of all sizes, shapes and layouts.
Known affectionately as “Cucumber,” her cool-headedness under pressure is legendary. She can find a solution for an oversold show, get someone to fix a critical leak and calm an anxious artist, all before the lights go down.
She’s a master of her craft – a juggler, a leader, a negotiator. When a problem (any problem) arises, she’s the woman you want behind the curtain. Call her the Wizard of Oz of the live music industry.
Since his first crayon creation on the kitchen wall at the tender age of two, James has been a master of crafting works of art in unexpected places.
Raised in a creative family that was quick to encourage his offbeat inspirations, James grew up with a paintbrush in one hand a palette in the other. After a notable stint at art school, he’s gone on to paint everything from the side of a Bugatti to the outside wall of a Brooklyn dive bar to the ceiling of a church in Bogota. Commissioned by billionaires and nonprofits alike, his portfolio reads like an otherworldly rainbow.
James can transform the strangest of surfaces into jaw-dropping artwork. His creations are conversation pieces, eye-openers and mediums for intellectual discourse. Covering themes that range from pop culture to interpersonal relationships to musical theory, his creative concepts know no bounds. He is a master of the unusual and aesthetically astonishing.
Compelling content is everything these days. What better example than the epic success of Buzzfeed? Now the unofficial cool kids of the internet, they’re a crew that knows how to get people’s attention.
And let’s be real: holding people’s attention is harder than ever. This is a busy planet, plagued with ADD and a misguided obsession with multitasking.
One study suggests the average person’s attention span has dropped to eight seconds. EIGHT SECONDS. Goldfish can stay focused for nine.
So when entertainment and engagement are everything, why are biographies — our virtual first impressions — still so dull?
As content has gotten more innovative and more interesting, professional biographies (as a general rule) haven’t. Most are dry as a bone; a rote recital of a person’s accomplishments and job titles.
But these summaries are a crucial aspect of the professional world; a personal elevator pitch, and if yours is boring, you’ll lose your audience in an instant.
Bios should have intrigue and interest and flair. After reading it, a stranger should feel like they’ve gotten to know you; not pored through a list of your professional achievements but been offered a tantalizing teaser of WHO YOU ARE.
This doesn’t mean you need to downgrade to a 140 character social media-esque summary. It also doesn’t mean you need to craft a bio full of GIFs and Game of Thrones references. This isn’t about desperate attempts at attention.
This is about creativity and personality and spark. It is about the power of detail, wit and lightheartedness. It is about letting the real you shine through.
Here’s a fictional example (a woman you may have heard of):
Example One
Snow White is a results-oriented professional with extensive experience in the field of domestic management. With a background in the janitorial arts, she has a track record of success, achieving impressive results in the culinary, tailoring and animal husbandry fields. Previously she assisted in the operations of a small mining business and performed caretaking duties in a group home. She lives in the forest with seven dwarves and a pet bird.
Example Two
A lover of all living things with a knack for organization, Snow White is a charismatic leader and jill of many trades. She can charm a huntsman into submission, whip up a gourmet dinner for eight and clean an entire house from top to bottom, all in an afternoon. Her legendary exploits have included stints as keeper of creatures for an enchanted forest, manager of operations for a diamond mine and ruler of an entire kingdom. Known for her rosy outlook on life and passionate beliefs in justice and equality, she’s earned the nickname “fairest of them all.” Also an adventurous foodie, Snow will try anything once. Except apples. No apples.
Which chick would you rather know? Or work with?
When it comes to your bio, think about the things that matter. What are you passionate about? What are you most proud of? What are your personality characteristics? What occupies your Instagram feed? What makes you laugh? What do you stand for? The answers to those questions speak to who you are, and who you are (both personally and professionally) matters. No longer is professional you a separate entity from personal you. These days, they’re a dynamic duo.
Besides, it’s likely anyone can find out a lot about you via the almighty Google. Makes sense to put the best bits up front.
You’re interesting and capable and unique. Shouldn’t your bio be, too?
Click here to read this post on LinkedIn, and click here to check out more of my bio writing skills or hire me for biography writing projects extraordinaire.