Ladies Who Launch

Spring into More Space By Reducing Clutter

Happy Spring! Now is the time to get do some serious spring cleaning and get rid the clutter.
Here's some things you can do.

• Clean out your closets and organize a clothing swap with friends.
• Anything leftover from the swap, you can take to your local church, nonprofit or the Salvation Army.
• Evaluate your Storage. Many New Yorkers have storage units full of stuff they don't use and don't miss.  Get rid of it and stop paying monthly storage fees.
• Evaluate your garage.  If you live in a house and have a garage, but you can't fit your car inside, then you may have a clutter problem.  Have a garage sale, put stuff on eBay or just trash it.
• Get  organized.  New York Incubator member Erica Ecker, The Spacialist, is teaching a workshop next week at In Good Company on March 27. If you don't live in New York, check out her site and sign for Erica's newsletter.

Show Love By Being Green and Shopping Local

From Aja Tahari Marsh, Natural Foods Chef. Check out her lifestyle blog, Stem and Leaf.

In the wake of the the much beleaguered Valentine’s Day, I would like to take a moment to talk about how we can translate and incorporate the love we have for ourselves and those closest to us, into a love for our bodies, communities, and earth. To me, living a healthy and loving lifestyle is more than just about what I eat—it’s about thinking critically about what I choose to put into and around my body, and how those choices affect the world around me—as well as nourishing me physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

ON BEING A MORE LOVING CONSUMER...

- Supporting Local Businesses

Unfortunately it is getting more and more difficult to support locally owned small businesses in suburban areas, especially grocery stores, and increasingly in urban areas. However, by shopping and dining at local establishments you are supporting your community’s economy, as well as encouraging entrepreneurial enterprises where you can interact with owners who are passionate about their business, versus having impersonal experiences at large chain stores. By nurturing your community in this way, your neighborhood becomes richer with your investment economically and socially and you can build relationships with the people you live and work among.

- Buying Local Produce

There are farmer’s markets in most cities across the country, as well as seasonal u-pick or farm stands on city outskirts, which could make for a fun weekend activity with your friends or family. You could also participate in a C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) which offers you weekly allotments of food currently being harvested by the farm, usually in exchange of light farm work and a reasonable fee for the season. By getting produce from your area, you will be eating only what is in season and in harmony with the earth, as well as getting food that allows the farmers a living wage and isn’t shipped thousands of miles—therefore also reducing its environmental impact.

FarmersMarket.com - has a searchable database of markets across the U.S.

- Shopping Green [see the blog I just posted about it!]

It’s easy to start. Bring your own bags. Don’t bag your produce unless absolutely necessary. Buy in bulk. Reduce your overall packaging usage. Carpool to the grocery store with a friend or neighbor.

- Living Compassionately for You, Your Family, and The Earth

Instead of spraying all kinds of chemicals around your house to make it smell or look good, look into non-toxic and natural cleaning products. This is especially important if you have children, pets, allergies, or sensitive skin. Why wash the dishes you eat off of with chemicals? Baking soda and vinegar, for example, make a great all purpose abrasive cleanser and disinfectant. Buy cruelty-free products that haven’t been tested on animals. Drink Fair-Trade and Organic coffees and teas. Dry your clothes outside, and use the power of the sun to bleach your clothes. Purchase recycled toilet paper and paper towels. Recycle everything you can. Reuse containers. Compost.

Care2 has pretty comprehensive information and tips on their GreenLiving page: as does TreeHugger

Avoid Valentine’s Day disappointment – Treat Yourself!

By Coach Joelle Prochera, professional life coach and fellow launcher!  To hear more from Coach Joelle subscribe to the Livloud! Newsletter or read the coach joelle blog.   

Hello Ladies,

The big day is approaching and married, dating or single, most of us have experienced a Valentine’s Day in silent anticipation of a grand display that never happened.

On this day for love I have a special invitation for you…

Instead of waiting for grand expressions,

Instead of waiting for the perfect day to be delivered,

Instead of waiting for love,

How about you create a little love in your own life with a day designed just for you!

Imagine….

A day off….reading in bed…bubble baths…. a 2 hour massage….

Not for any reason but because you say so and because you are worth it!

In a recent LIVLOUD! Article I shared the concept of creating a day just for you - a mental health day.  As you are gearing up for your day of hearts, lace and chocolate, consider showering yourself with love and sharing that love with the important people in your life.

Read the article: A Day for You: The Mental Health Day Challenge.

Happy Valentine’s Day Ladies! Enjoy treating yourself!

SMOOCH!

Joelle

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR COACH JOELLE?:  I am looking for the opportunity to fully serve each of you on your personal adventure.  If you have a life or business challenge that you would like a coaching perspective on, please share your comments below or email me at Joelle@coachjoelle.com.

Make your life a work of art a joyful dance a grand adventure

Jen Sincero: Upgrade

From Los Angeles Incubator Leader Jen Sincero who is also the author, sex expert and DJ.

I recently moved out of the smallest apartment I’ve ever lived in (and that includes the 7 years I spent in NYC).  It was a hard, uncomfy choice to move in the first place, but it was 4 blocks from the
beach in Venice, a place that, unlike the rest of Los Angeles, makes my little heart sing. 

Venice has always been the Holy Grail of neighborhoods for me, and I was ready to move there long before I actually did, but I put it off because I knew that the only places I’d be able to afford would be so sketchy I’d be scared to walk around in them barefoot.

When I found my beloved little veal pen, it was not only the cleanest place I’d seen, but it was cheap, sunny, on a perfect block and, most importantly, I could hear the waves crashing from my open bedroom
window.  Who cares that it was so small that I could get something out of the fridge and answer the front door without getting up from the toilet?  I was miserable living where I was living.  I was beyond ready to move.  So I took it.

As I write this from my new, spacious and sunny beach house, I’m struck by how important this lesson is to remember in all aspects of life. If there’s something you really want, the important thing is that you make a move towards it, regardless of how uncomfy your landing pad may be. The critical thing is that you take the leap, that you get moving instead of being paralyzed by how much you may end up “downsizing” or putting yourself at risk.  Because the beauty of sacrifice is that it means you’re ready to grow into something else, and if you never make that sacrifice, you’re just stagnant - an object in motion stays in motion, an object stuck at her soul-sucking day job because she’s too scared to lose her benefits and start her dream company dies with huge regrets. Once you take that first, invigorating leap, it inspires you  to keep moving and growing, so don’t be upset if you’ve landed somewhere “beneath” you at first, but rather be glad you’re not where you once stood anymore.

At the end of the day, nothing is as uncomfortable as settling for a life you’re not excited to live, not even an apartment that makes you feel like "Alice in Wonderland" every time you stand up. I was so much happier there than where I came from because I was on my way.  And as far as I’m concerned, there is no upgrade as fancy as going after your dreams.

Style Flash From DressZing: Workout Wardrobe

New York Incubator Member Susan Sommers of DressZing offers tips on how to look good while working out.

My Secret Workout Weapon

Happy New Year. Since January is the month when many people resolve to lose weight and tone up, I thought I'd share my secret with you for sticking to a workout plan.

 

Although I like the results of exercise, I hate to do it. For the last six months though, I've been addicted to spinning. The classes I attend mix cardio, flexibility and strength to the best music around. While finding a great class is essential for staying with a plan, it's not my secret.

 

My exercise outfit is. When I like what I wear and in it, look like the athlete I'd like to be, I'm more apt to work out. My favorite brands are Lululemon. Nike, Adidas, Moving Comfort and Champion. But there's a lot of good stuff out there at all price levels.

 

So guys throw out those old gym shorts and ragged top and ladies, that pair of old tights and baggy T-shirt. Get yourself some cool gear and it will make all the difference. Some ideas:

• Go techno: Look for clothes made of high-tech fabrics that wick (keep the moisture off your skin). Nike has a fabric called Dri-FIT: blends of cotton and polyester and polyester and spandex that keep you cool and dry; other brands have different mixes. Avoid pure cotton. It absorbs sweat, becoming a sodden mess when wet.

• Get sleek: Select a look that skims your shape, rather than hiding it. The outfit doesn't have to encase you like a sausage, but it shouldn't be baggy and shapeless.  For women, bootcut tights are chic and flattering, topped with a fitted tank. For men, think Lance Armstrong: sleek bicycle shorts with a tank top.

• Spotlight your assets: Consider cut and proportion when selecting workout wear. If you have great calves, bicycle shorts are the answer; great arms, go sleeveless. (If you don't like your arms and can't find a top with sleeves, buy a long-sleeved exercise T and shorten the sleeves to just below the elbows). Always wear supportive undergarments... they will also visually perfect your body.
  

• Color up: All black is sexy and slimming, however a burst of color can really brighten your mood. Think about black bottoms with a colorful top.

• Pack it in:  Get a good-looking gym bag to carry all your stuff and always stock it with a clean outfit and socks. 

Whoops. Gotta go to spinning class. I have on black cropped bootleg tights with a semi-fitted Lululemon dusty pink tank, which extends over my hips to elongate my torso. Best, I got it on sale.

 

Resolve To Love Being Single

Congrats to New York City Incubator Member Sherri Langburt who is the founder of Single Edition, a lifestyle website for singles.  Her website is featured in today's New York Times.   A snippet of the article is below.

clipped from www.nytimes.com

For some singles at New Year’s Eve soirees tonight, the minutes leading up to midnight will be agonizing as they ponder whom they’ll be standing next to at the pucker-up moment.

Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times

Sherri Langburt, a founder of SingleEdition.com, a Web site on navigating life as a single person without the drumbeat of dating advice.

But a new Web site, SingleEdition.com, wants nothing more than to embrace them. And unlike dating sites that treat being single as a predicament, this one celebrates flying solo, and offers shopping, financial and other advice to help them do so with pride.

“If you Google the term ‘single,’ all that comes up is dating, dating, dating,” said Sherri Langburt, a founder of SingleEdition.com. “But what we’re saying is there’s a whole other realm of things that go on for a single person that are not dating.”

Have your best holiday yet!:Your 5 step plan to "go for the joy" and lose the stress this holiday season.

Happy Holidays Ladies!

For many of you it is “that time of year”. You know, THAT TIME OF YEAR when…

• The lists of to do’s are a mile long.
• The mall is a mess but you need to be there.
• You have 10 parties to attend in the next 5 days.
• There is a pile of cards on your kitchen table that all need addresses (and perhaps they even need to be written.)
• There are special meals to prepare.
• There are parties to throw.
• There are large groups of people coming together that may not always do so well together.

Welcome to the holidays!

Whether this is your holiday time of year or not, we can all relate to those times when there is so much to do and seemingly not enough time to do it.

We can all relate to the idea of spending time with people, whether family or friends that perhaps get on our nerves, tire us out, or tend to create frustration or conflict. 

So many people take the frenzy and the frustration as a necessary evil of the season and today I would like to challenge this notion. 

Instead of the holidays “happening” to you, the flurry of activity and agitation being thrust upon you unawares, this year you are invited to create your holiday with intention.

You are invited to create your best holiday ever! Let’s go!

Step 1) Describe it!If you could create your holiday any way you wanted, what words would you use to describe it? 

Peaceful, fun, nostalgic, easy, effortless, flowing, meaningful?

Pick one or two words that describe your holiday the way you would like it to be.

Step 2) Be willing! Ask yourself if you are willing to be pleasantly surprised by your holiday and the people around you. 

Without a space for allowing something new you will never get it.  If you are determined to have a rough time then there is no room for your new experience.  Notice and acknowledge whether you are really ready for something new. Are you REALLY ready for uncle Phil to be an absolute delight?  If you are not, no problem… no surprises for you!

Step 3) Choose your best you! That's right, you get to choose how you are going to show up for the holidays. 

If you want the world to surprise you then you need to do your part as well.  To have your effortless, peaceful, memorable holiday, what could you bring to the table that would help this along.  Put another way, to have your best holiday yet, how would you choose to “be”. 

Would you… “be happy”, “be passionate”, “be courageous”, “be calm”, “be fun”, “be delightful”! 

Ask yourself if you could bring a “great you” to your holiday with intention, how would you “be”?

Step 4) Take action! Identify any obvious actions you could take to fulfill on your holiday to remember. 

With this new intention and new point of view there may be some obvious actions to take. 

• Perhaps you chose to be “bold’ so that you can create an “adventurous” holiday.  In that case you may already be clear that you need to call the neighbors and tell them to get ready for some carolers on Sunday night and that you like rum in your eggnog.
• Or perhaps you are choosing to create a “peaceful” holiday and you have chosen to show up or be “loving”.  As a result, you are clear that you need to get in touch with your sister, repair a misunderstanding and let her know you would love to have her over for dinner next week.

Step 5) Get Ready! Watch for your intention to be fulfilled.  (Get ready to be surprised and delighted!)

Once you are clear on what you want to create, the best way for you to “be” to create it, and you are truly willing to be surprised, then your final step is to watch for it. 

• Put on your new point of view and be willing to experience joy in the flurry of holiday shopping.
• Be willing to see the adventure in a ruined turkey or the guests showing up 4 hours early. 
• Be ready to find new things to appreciate and new empathy as you spend time with those who have traditionally rubbed you the wrong way. 

Get ready to have your best holiday yet!

By using these 5 simple steps I have seen nothing short of miracles occur. Before you make one more sugar cookie or hang one more wreath, stop and take a moment to create your holiday and reap the benefits of an intentional life.

Have a holiday to remember,

With Love,

Coach Joelle

SHARE YOUR SELF IN THE COMMENTS BELOW: I have taken this opportunity to create my own experience of the holidays below. You are invited to declare yourself. Create your week with intention. Create your best holiday yet and share what new delights showed up!

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION FOR COACH JOELLE?:  I am looking for the opportunity to fully serve each of you on your personal adventure.  If you have a life or business challenge that you would like a coaching perspective on, please share your comments below or email me at Joelle@coachjoelle.com.

Coach Joelle's best holiday yet!

Step 1) The holiday I am creating is: loving, fun, inspiring and meaningful.

Step 2)  I am totally willing to be surprised by what is possible for this holiday.

Step 3) How I will show up or the way I will “be” to create this Holiday is: Open, warm, playful, bold and intentional

Step 4) Obvious Action to take: 

• find out what day uncle Rob is available for Karaoke and find a place to go. 
• Create a holiday goals ritual for the family Saturday morning. 
• Write my intention somewhere visible so I remember what I am committed to.
• Bring my Wayne Dyer CD’s to learn more about Taoism.
• Bring my Ipod so I have my my music and audio programs to listen to. 
• Create a ritual with my husband to take our relationship to the next level.

Step 5) I’m ready baby!! Bring it on!!

Can You Be Too Happy?

Below is an excerpt from a Newsweek article based on a compelling new study about happiness. Can you be too happy??  Feel free to express your opinion in the comments.

clipped from www.newsweek.com

But is it really a good thing to be ultrahappy? Nobody thrives on sheer misery, of course, but might there be perils in endlessly striving for more and more good cheer and sunny days? Or, put another way: is happiness overrated?

A growing number of psychologists are thinking it might be, and one team in particular has been conducting some large-scale, data-heavy studies to test the point. Shigehiro Oishi, Ed Diener and Richard Lucas decided to compare people who see themselves as being extremely happy with people who describe themselves as being only moderately so. Surprisingly, this had never been done before—at least not this thoroughly. They studied men and women, young and old, students and working people, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the globe. After all the data crunching they came up with some consistent and surprising insights.

Fun, Healthy, Delicious Food – Can You Really Have it All?

by Sahar Aker, FatFighterTV.com blog - Fitness. Food. Fun.

Is there really such a thing as food that is fun, healthy, and delicious? So many people think grub that’s good for you automatically takes all the fun out of eating. After all, healthy food can’t possibly taste good, can it? Of course it can! 

I have been busy gathering some ideas for fun, healthy, delicious foods to share with you. If you have kids, these are recipes I think they’ll like too. And here’s another bonus – they are all easy to make:

•    Have you seen those “Flatout Mini” soft wraps? I love these! They are small-size wraps that are low in calories, convenient, and very versatile. Try this easy recipe – all you need are the wraps, cooking spray, Mrs. Dash, and Parmesan cheese. Cut each wrap into 16 wedges and place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little Mrs. Dash and a bit of Parmesan. Bake at 350-degrees for about ten minutes or until lightly brown and crisp.

•    Fruit kabobs – This is a fun alternative to a plain old bowl of fruit. Just pick a few of your favorites – maybe apples, pineapple, bananas - and cut them into chunks. Slide the fruit onto a skewer. Next, roll the skewer in a plate of nonfat yogurt… then roll again in a plate of shredded coconut. Voila! A fun, healthy, delicious snack!

•    Sandwich kabobs - Cut whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese, and your favorite deli meat into cubes. Slide them onto skewers along with some veggies like grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and olives. Dip into fat-free or low-fat Italian dressing.

•    For a quick mini-pizza, top an English muffin (go for the whole grain ones) with spaghetti sauce and a little shredded low-fat mozzarella. Broil until the cheese melts.

•    Pop a frozen waffle or pancake into the toaster and top it with warm applesauce and cinnamon. Too easy, huh?

•    Freeze some grapes, bananas, cherries, or maybe peaches and blend with yogurt for a fruit smoothie.

•    Yogurt pops – fill paper cups with your favorite non-fat or low-fat yogurt and put a popsicle stick in each cup. Freeze and enjoy!

•    Creamy Coolwich (from Nabisco World) - put 2 tablespoons of sugar free Cool Whip in between graham cracker squares. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for three hours or until firm. Yum!

•    Blueberry Cracker Bites (from Kraft Foods) – spread 1 teaspoon light cream cheese on a reduced-fat Ritz cracker and top with 5 frozen blueberries. Too fun!

So, you see – healthy foods can be fun and delicious. Check out more recipes here.

Now, I am a firm believer that the key to a successful, healthy lifestyle is to choose fun good-for-you foods and exercises when you can.  It’s a tough enough fight out there whether you’re trying to lose or maintain weight. But enjoying the journey is half the battle.

10 Tips for a Sane and Stylish Holiday Season

10 Tips for a Sane and Stylish Holiday Season

by Marianne Merritt Talbot, Modern Venus Ltd., Lifestyle Coaching that Empowers Women to Live Bigger

It’s mid-November . . . time for the full slide into the Thanksgiving and December holidays! The holiday season challenges us both professionally and personally.  On the personal front, it tends to be the busiest social season of the year.  On the professional side, now is time to really hunker down at your desk in order to meet end-of-year billable hour requirements, and prepare for lurking year-end reviews (why do they have to do them before the holidays, anyway?), raises, promotions, etc.   Is it possible for anyone to not feel occasionally overwhelmed and cranky?

Following are a few tips I share with my clients on how to handle the holidays with sanity and style.  The trick to successfully and enjoyably maneuvering through holiday madness largely boils down to eliminating doing anything you absolutely don’t have to do, avoiding big projects, giving back to others, and adding a little sparkle to your everyday routine.

1. Start a “Holiday Master File.”  In it, place the lists of people you intend to buy presents for, gift ideas ripped from catalogues and magazines, holiday invitations, recipes for your own holiday soirees, receipts, etc.  Keeping one centralized file can keep paperwork in check and will make you feel more organized.

2. Sparkle—go buy yourself some sequined items (sweaters, scarves, etc.) and wear them every day.  Yes, even to the office (to make them office-appropriate, layer a blazer over a sequined sweater or a scarf over a suit).  Yes, wear them even to the grocery store or doing chores (doesn’t that seem so decadent?).   I often have my clients buy sequined items and I suggest they wear them on days they feel particularly non-sparkly.  Notice how this makes you feel better.

3. Start buying presents now.  The lines at stores are not yet too long and your energy level is not yet stretched to its limit.  Make lists of whom you have to buy for, and budget what you want to spend.  Starting the process now will save you stress when December hits and you have even less time to think about these details.  And buy in bulk.  For example, pick up several bottles of your favorite olive oil or champagne and keep a bunch with ribbons and labels at easy reach, so you are never caught off-guard without a present!

4. Philanthropy, Part I:  When you are feeling particularly cranky or tired, do an Act of Anonymous Good.   Leave some chocolates on the desk for a coworker who is having a hard time this season, buy some food and self-care products (face and body wipes, toothpaste/toothbrush, etc.) for a homeless woman in your neighborhood, buy 5 dozen roses at your local bodega and drop them off at a nursing home to be distributed among the residents.   Notice how this lofts you and really connects you to what the holidays are all about.

5.  Create an “Elegance is Refusal List” (described in September's Modern Venus newsletter), where you put on it anything that drains your energy around the holidays.  It can be decorating your home, baking holiday cookies, writing out endless cards, feeling obligated to go to every holiday party and to throw your annual bash, etc.  Write it all down and then start eliminating what you can.  Perhaps you’d rather send out Valentine’s Day cards (like Julia Child did with her husband); perhaps you want to do an “undress the tree” party in January versus having a pre-holiday Christmas gathering; deciding to forgo baking cookies; choosing just to go to parties you know your favorite people will be attending.  Be creative but at least eliminate what you can.

6. Straighten up.  Nothing frazzles you like clutter all over your house or office, does it?   Now may not be the time to renovate your closets, go through all your papers that are cluttering your desk, etc.  A little trick:  Go to the Container Store or other shop and buy some multi-use storage containers.  Put everything that is cluttering your house (yes, everything that is sitting on your desk, shelves, etc. that doesn’t yet have a home) into those boxes, close the lids, and either stick ‘em in closets or cover them with pretty cloths, candles and holiday cards (perhaps fashioning it into a holiday shrine!).   Come the cold days of January you can open the boxes and then embark on finding them proper places.  Right now, just get it out of your eyesight!

7. Go to bed.  Specifically, retire one hour early on all those evenings you can.  Cozy up during this extra time with a good book and cup of tea.  Or just go to sleep.  Now that the clocks have been set back, our bodies are trying to adjust to this shift.   It becomes harder to get out of bed when the sun isn’t even up yet and to leave the office when the sun already set.  Be gentle with your body and nurture her through not only the change in time and season, but also the physical and emotional energy it takes to get us from today through New Year’s!

8. Go for a walk.   Eating and drinking too much food and/or wine can make us feel (and sometimes look) like Jabba the Hut.  Go for a brisk walk at least once a day to keep everything circulating properly.

9. Schedule your beauty appointments now.   Salons during the holidays book up fast.  Pull out your calendar and book all your pampering and maintenance appointments in advance.

10. Philanthropy, Part II: plan your charitable giving and volunteering. ‘Tis the season to give back to others who have less than you, and I guarantee you will be elevated by this experience more than you can imagine.   Check out local churches or food kitchens for what you can do to serve them, budget what you can give to your favorite causes (they count on you in particular during the holidays!), or even volunteer to help out friends or family, like volunteering to baby-sit for a girlfriend who has 3 kids and could really use a date with her husband because she’s going crazy, too.