Ladies Who Launch

The Case For Re-Gifting

Bevla Reeves is the member of the Phoenix Incubator and the founder of  Hairconspiracy.com

 

What will you do with the unwanted gifts that you receive this Christmas?  I personally will put mine in the pantry closet on the “re-gift shelf.”  I love my re-gift shelf.  It’s convenient!  I save time and money shopping for others right from my re-gift shelf.  It is full of high quality, interesting and some very expensive items.  They are just gifts that my daughter and I do not have a taste for.  Is that wrong?  Are we bad girls because we're honest about our likings?  Can we help it if our loved ones missed the mark on the presents that would have excited us?  We love them dearly and appreciate their thoughtfulness and generosity, but should we fake our enthusiasm to avoid hurt feelings or awkward moments? Well, maybe.  That would be the nice thing to do.  Okay, yes.  But then when we get home-- to the pantry it goes! LOL I for one would not be offended if my gift were given away.  I would hope that it would be!  I’d rather it go to someone who may truly love it than it sit in a closet never to be used, wasted, unappreciated by someone. Most of the times we give gifts that we ourselves would like to receive rather than think about what that person would truly want. I actually learn a lot about a person by the gift they give me.  Sssh, I even think I know when the gift has been re-gifted.  But that’s fine with me!  I don't think less of my loved one for re-gifting; I just pass it along if it’s not my taste! LOL I almost always give gift certificates now.  I find them even more thoughtful than a feeble attempt at guessing someone’s pleasure and who re-gifts gift certificates?  But really, isn't it better to recycle?  Where exactly did we get this notion that giving away an unwanted gift was improper etiquette or offensive?  Who got to make up that rule?  I say we change the rule and just know that if we give an unwanted gift, that it will be re-gifted, re-cycled, re-issued!  Let’s just make that a given! LOL

 

Please don't give me a fruitcake!

Dear Audacious Ones,

Okay...this is it. The last few days before the big one. You know, it's coming right at you and you still have a few gifts to get. Oh and then there's a few people who want to know what you want. Well, for one thing it's not a fruitcake is it? Or a bright red wooly sweater with a snowman on it?

How about giving a gift that gives and give and gives again.

How about changing the present?
Yes really.

My friend Robert Tolmach has come up with something that is pure genius. A one stop shop for doing good at holiday time and all year through.
Are you still clearing out clutter from last year?
Well here is a good way to avoid more of the same. Avoid long lines and you can really be making a difference.
ChangingThePresent.org, a new nonprofit website, is helping nonprofits capture some of the $250 billion we Americans spend each year buying presents for one another. Instead of buying more stuff, you can choose what you want to accomplish from among thousands of donation opportunities and you can make donations in a friend's name.\

WHO KNEW?

Did you know that every year, Americans spend $250 billion--$100 billion during the holiday season, alone--buying presents for one another.

Imagine, for one delirious moment, what we could accomplish if even a small percentage of that gift money were redirected to nonprofits working to make the world a better place.

Many of us, and many of our friends, don't really need another fruitcake, toaster, wallet, day of the week panties, fuzzy slippers, tin of popcorn, pen & pencil set, or Chia pet. Still, our friends expect a gift don't they?

Don't you? You know you do.

Since most people are passionate about a favorite cause or two or favorite nonprofit, it's no wonder that more and more people are giving donation gifts, that is, a charitable donation made in a friend's name, in lieu of giving store-bought presents. What better way to honor the people we care for than by making the world a better place.

ChangingThePresent.org offers thousands of specific donation gifts from hundreds of leading nonprofits, so visitors can choose exactly what they want to accomplish. You can protect an acre of the rainforest or fund an hour of a cancer researcher's time. You can provide a child with a first book, an AIDS patient with life-saving drugs, refugees with shelter, or a hungry family with a nourishing meal. The site offers something for virtually every cause.

You can browse by cause, search by name to find almost any nonprofit, or peruse friends' wish lists and registries to find exactly what they would find most meaningful. Plus, you can create personalized greeting cards, which will be mailed the next day to announce the donations made in friends' names.

ChangingThePresent.org is not just for gift donations meant as an alternative to traditional presents; a wide range of features also makes it a more attractive channel for some of the $199 billion that us generous folks already donate each year.

Give a gift that matters go here> http://www.changingthepresent.org

You can create your own profile page to show what causes and nonprofits you most care about, allowing you to sharey our passions and interests with others. Those who wish to do so can earn recognition for the donations they make. For those who want to know that your dollars are being used effectively, the site provides extensive information on causes and nonprofits.

Those who keep an eye on their own finances will appreciate that, unlike merchandise, donation gifts are tax-deductible. You can also enjoy the ability to support any number of nonprofits with a single credit card transaction and to find receipts in one place for all your giving.

Every cause needs an enemy to challenge. For ChangingThePresent, it's the preposterous gift that absorbs money that might better be used for more meaningful purposes. You can submit your favorite dumb gift examples to the Stupid Gift Hall of Shame, where voting will determine who wins a sweet prize--
50 pints of Ben & Jerry's.

Just so you know how legit this is...
The Board of Advisors for ImportantGifts, the nonprofit that is launching this website, includes over 150 of the best known and most respected leaders in the nonprofit world. This group includes the heads of Amnesty International, the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Ashoka, the Global AIDS Alliance, Grameen Foundation USA, the Rainforest Alliance, Refugees International, Save the Children, Sesame Workshop, Sierra Club, the United States Fund for UNICEF, and others.

And they've done some major outreach to some big time celebs names are going to be announced in the not too distant future. But don't wait for them. Be a star in your own right and get with it.
Isn't this season about the spirit of giving?
Really giving?
I mean come on do you really need another T-shirt?

A big Audacious Kiss and Hug to you,
Nancy

Nancy Mindes, coach
Chief Audaciousness Officer
Audacious Ladies get your Success In Style.
How audacious do you want to be?
516.705.8823
http://www.NancyMindes.com

"Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." `Goethe

Want to really give?

Write A Christmas Story

Jackie Bethea is leader of the Grand Rapids, Michigan Incubator.

I wanted to share a website with all of you, http://www.WriteAChristmasStory.com

The website, Write A Christmas Story, created by Highland Group invites visitors to help spread the holiday spirit by participating in the story chain. The website, allows participants to read the story to date, submit an entry and even send an invite directly from the site to recipients to participate by adding on to the growing story.
Everyone is encouraged to participate using text and multimedia enhancements to help move the story along, often in very unexpected directions. After all, what gift better represents the idea of sharing than the gift of writing?

It reminded me a lot of our creative exercises from the Intensive Incubator, and thought it might be a seasonal/topical exercise you might like to share with your ladies.

Oprah: the ultimate Lady who Launches

Here is another thing that she is launching!

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Talk show host and media mogul

Oprah Winfrey

is venturing into prime-time television with two new reality series, at least one of which will feature Winfrey herself, the ABC network and producers said on Friday.

The time frame has been set for the two shows, both described as combining elements of wish fulfillment and charity -- favorite themes of Winfrey on her long-running daytime talk program, the highest rated in broadcast syndication.

The show's concepts were laid out in a joint press release issued by her Harpo Productions company and the Walt Disney Co.-owned ABC, many of whose network-owned stations and affiliates currently carry the "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

The first new series, tentatively titled "Oprah Winfrey's The Big Give," presents 10 people with large sums of money and other resources and challenges them to find "the most powerful, sensational, emotional and dramatic ways to give to others."

The contestants will gradually be narrowed as the group confronts a "big catch" each week complicating their efforts, with the winner getting his or her "wildest dream come true."

A similar format figured in a recent two-episode broadcast of Winfrey's talk show in which she gave members of her studio audience $1,000 gift cards and implored them to find ways to help as many people as possible.

A second Winfrey-produced show, this one with the working title "Your Money or Your Life," will dispatch an "expert action team" each week to help a family overcome a crisis through a "total money and life makeover."

A Harpo spokeswoman said Winfrey planned to appear in at least one of the two new series, but her exact role had yet to be decided.

As host of "The Oprah Winfrey Show," now in its 21st season of Monday-through-Friday syndication, she currently averages about 48 million viewers a week.

Her deal with ABC marks the first foray into prime-time series television for Winfrey, who has gradually expanded her presence to a wide range of media in recent years, including the launch of a successful magazine, satellite radio channel and Broadway production of "The Color Purple."

      

Stress Relievers :: Sunkist and Bikini Waxing

by, FashionMista

Stress relievers for me, or so at first I thought, was eating big chicken burritos, carrot cake, Sunkist, or tall-half-caff-one-pump-vanilla-lattes, but then I remembered that those things all make me really groggy. Even Sunkist, but the orange soda is really more of a reward, not to be confused with a stress reliever (note to self), as it can pretty much put me to sleep with sugar overload.

Here's my stress reliever list:

• Bikini waxing. I'm not crazy, but you go in to a girl you know (preferably at an Aveda-affiliated salon), under a haze of Aveda candles. If the ripping of those strips doesn't whac you out of a stress zone, I don't know what will. I just always feel really great for some reason afterward. However, I am now lasering, but I still get the same affect. Could be from lots of bubbly talk with the esthetician whose main focus is making you beautiful.
• Salsaing to Estoy Como Nunca by Eliades Ochoa in my living room, a cd I found in the give-away pile of my building and just luv. A great remedy on the iPod on a subway ride home as well.
• Vacuuming with my super compact and fun Eureka to Bonnie Raitt's early bluesy album,  Takin' My Time.
• Quiet time. Very valuable. If you live with a boy or a girl or a husband, this may need to be negotiated. I find that bribing with good, cream sauce-based dinners is a good bartering chip to be used against “the game” or “the stats” or “highlights” however “quick” they may need to be on (but try to serve on time).
• Cooking creamy dinners. I invented my 3-cheese mac and cheese after a very depressing time at a temp agency office while testing in Word and Excel when I first moved to New York. It was raining and I didn't want the rest of my life existing in Excel, so I had a little breakdown that involved serious cooking when I got home. Now I make Excel work for me. It knows who is boss and can induce states of euphoria when used properly.
• Jogging. The endorphins and oxygen to the brain is really important. And you might as well buy some cute jogging clothes. The last thing I bought were running skirts...
• Yoga. I don't do it all the time yet, but every time I do, I'm much more centered.
• Backgammon. Especially when you beat your live-in boyfriend or girlfriend or husband. Unless you lose because you're watching Men in Trees.

I have to go serve that creamy dinner now, but you get the drift.

Relief is just a thought away

Dear Audacious Ladies who Launch

Consider this.
Your thoughts and fears are like outdated computer programs that jam up the works
and cause your machine to crash.

But you can always upgrade by getting into action.
Affirmations are a great way to do it.

Try this:
Before you jump out of bed and race off to start your day
take 5 minutes to just close your eyes again and breathe.

First take a moment to say "thank you" for having this wonderful day stretched out before you.
(even if you have a crazy one coming at you, be grateful anyway the universe will notice)
then
Take long slow deep breaths and notice your thoughts;
Avoid making lists or plans just follow the breath and watch your thoughts roll by and let them go.
They will keep coming, keep allowing them to come and go like waves on the shore.

Notice what comes up for you.
What would you like to create for the day?

Now to create a new program to replace your outdated software, create an affirmation that  you can repeat
throughout the day.

Affirmations enable us to let go of negative programming and make space for that which propels you forward.
Here's one to get you started from Louise Hay, from her bestseller, You Can Heal Your Life.

For self criticizing: "I am willing to release the need to be unworthy. I  am worthy of the very best in life, and I now lovingly allow myself to accept it."
Keep it with you.
Post it somewhere and everywhere.
Say it often. SAY IT LOUD.
Step into your Audacious Intention with GUSTO.

A BIG audacious hug to you,
Nancy

Nancy Mindes, coach
Chief Audaciousness Officer
Audacious Ladies get your Success In Style.
How audacious do you want to be?
516.705.8823

Go here to join my Audacious E-Zine http://www.NancyMindes.com

"Boldness has genius, power and magic in it." `Goethe

THEGREENHOUSE: Amy Gullia

THEGREENHOUSE Spa in Dallas is a great nearby getaway!

The high-action of the holiday season is intensifying and causing me to think about my favorite stress relievers.  THEGREENHOUSE Spa (just for woman) is a great answer for me on many levels! The private experience is tailor-designed for each woman and includes personal time with highly-qualified staff of experts in health, fitness, and beauty including a staff naturopath. They have some of the most unique and effective treatments I have encountered and the all-organic cuisine is fabulous!

What really hits home with me are the Fat Flush Programs. Afterward your body looks and feels different and talk about a good way to start a new year! It includes fresh organic cuisine and multi-faceted internal and external treatments that cleanse, relax, and rejuvenate. It is common to lose 5 pounds or more and get a great long-term metabolic boost. 

They pamper you from every angle and who does not love breakfast in bed everyday?

It is a local hideaway for Dallasites but woman fly from everywhere. It is an international spa but conveniently located in the US —no passport needed! The clientele includes some of my favorite celebs who are loyal to this unique experience. They constantly have small group lectures with authors and experts on topics for women and on staff counseling so you can walk away truly renewed in mind and body.  www.thegreenhousespa.net

Favorite Stress Relievers: Rachel Whalley

I have several favorites when it comes to stress relief. First is my weekly workout. I take NIA classes three times a week, and I always feel loosened up and energized afterward. NIA is a fusion fitness class that incorporates elements of dance, martial arts, and yoga. The goal of each class is always to move the body in a way that feels natural and joyful. I used to dance when I was a teenager, and NIA fills my need to channel music through my body.

 

My second method of stress relief is getting together with a close friend and talking for hours on end. I'm really nourished by intimacy, and I have some wonderful friends who are brilliant, self-aware, and funny as hell. Spending time with any of them helps me to get stress out of my system because I can rant about problems, feel close to someone I care about, and laugh at myself.

 

Favorite Stress Relievers: Kenya Barber

Kenya Barber is a skincare therapist and member of the Los Angeles Incubator. You can her blog about skin tips and trends at Facials For All .

Ah, yes ... de-stressing.  As a skin care therapist, I spend a lot of
time treating stressed out souls!  Personally I have a lengthy list of stress relievers; I live a pretty indulgent lifestyle.  Hikes, working with clients, sipping vino, yoga, laughing with my husband, reading, GETTING a facial from my business partner ... but my all time favorite is yogic breathing.  I can do it in a moment, it doesn't cost a thing and WOW! does it work!

Happy Hollydaze to all the LWLers!

Launching: Cindy Pace

Cindy Pace, aka DJ Epiphany, has just launched nu:jazz lounge internet radio station on live365.com. 
"I was inspired to start this radio station after the death of the
beloved "60 minutes" broadcaster Ed Bradley. Ed loved jazz music and
shared his love of music by supporting the arts. So, I decided to share
my love of downtempo, acid jazz, lounge, nu-soul music with the world. nu:jazz lounge is the
ultimate mix of acid jazz, downtempo, electronica/dance, nu jazz soul,
electro-bossa nova, latin jazz and world fusion music. We play new
artists like latin nujazz sensation Malena Pérez and downtempo diva
Aya as well as noted acid jazz artists like Incognito,
Jamiroquai, Sweetback, D*Note and Positive Flow. We also play remixes
from DJ greats like Stéphane Pompougnac, José Padilla , Blue Six,
Thievery Corporation, Dzihan & Kamien, De Phazz and Masters at
Work. Listeners tune in from all over the globe (USA, UK, France,
Spain, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Mexico and Canada) with Italy being our
biggest audience." nu:jazz lounge airs 24/7 on live365 at http://www.live365.com/stations/djepiphany1970.

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