Happy New Year!

It's hard to believe that my blog is celebrating its third birthday this month. Three years ago, fresh out of a job, I began this blog to create a new business venture for myself. Along the way, I met some great people and learned an awful lot of blogging. I never knew how much money I could make doing this, but this blog has turned a nice little income over the last three years. I'm not sure if it can still do it in 2009, but in any event, it will still be here next year. I've taken this blog in other directions over the last three years and, while I still love to blog about beauty and fashion, other things have taken priority for me and I think that has shown in my posts which I hope people enjoy reading. I do wish all of you a good New Year inasmuch as I hope you find inner peace. I hope you create realistic goals for yourself to maintain a healthy lifestyle both physically and emotionally. If you have to make a New Year's resolution, then remember to treat yourself as well as you treat others and vice versa. Put one foot in front of the other, take each day at a time and remember to count your blessings. Peace.

A New Philosophy For The New Year

Many weight loss programs have come and gone in the last thirty years or so, but one program has steadily maintained their stronghold and that would be Weight Watchers. Not one to be stuck in a rut, Weight Watchers is now introducing a new philosophy to their weight loss system simply entitled "Momentum". There's lots of buzz going on about this new program, but little information about what it will do for WW members. The fact is that previously, WW had two programs that members could choose from (or change back and forth if necessary). The first was Flex, which gave each food item a point value. Point values were assigned to members based on their weight and members needed to follow the point value assigned daily. Next, came the Core program, which allowed members to eat whole foods (fruits and vegetables), lean protein and whole grains. Many times when members reached a plateau on Flex, they would switch to the Core program and many members combined both. Weight Watchers recognized this trend and now their new program will basically replace the previous programs and everyone will be doing Momentum. What Momentum will do is encourage members to choose foods that will fill them up faster so less calories are consumed. Many of these foods are plucked from the Core food group since they are whole foods and are high in fiber and water content. You can still count points, but are encouraged to eat these filling, healthy foods. The Momentum plan is being billed as a healthy lifestyle as opposed to a diet. Members will also be strongly encouraged to exercise thirty minutes most days of the week. All in all, this spells out a healthy lifestyle change for members, which is a healthy approach to weight loss any way. Of course, Weight Watchers will always have their naysayers, but that has never stopped them from helping millions of people lose weight. Also, Weight Watchers can be accessed via the internet, so if you can't do meetings, then online participation is the way to go. They always offer a three month trial for a nominal fee and you can choose to opt out of the plan if you aren't satisfied after the three months is up. For more information, just go to Weight Watchers.

Bad Hair Day

If you've seen Suzanne Somers lately, then you know that she has been wearing her hair basically the same way since she played Chrissy Show on "Three's Company" oh so many years ago. For a woman who is adament about not aging, she has picked the very worst way to try and stay young by not updating her hair. Now she just looks like a cartoon of herself, much like her logo for her Somerisize products which she is still selling on HSN. Bad hair or not, she is still insisting that she has found the fountain of youth and has written yet another book about it entitled "Breakthrough". She admitted on Larry King that she takes about sixty supplements a day and urges her readers to try to do the same, but supplements aren't cheap and aren't covered by medical insurance. You think with all that money, she could at least get a new hairstyle. Meow.

From Nanny To Senator?

Fran Dresher, famous for her show "The Nanny" is serious when she says she wants Hillary Clinton's Senate seat, when she vacates it. Caroline Kennedy is allegedly also interested in the job, but neither women have previous experience (not that it ever stopped anyone). On the other hand, fresh voices (even nasal ones) could be a welcome change to the "business as usual" in Washington.

Always Classy!

Jennifer Aniston is the epitome of class! She has been fodder for the tabloids long before her break up with Brad Pitt. She's always gracious when interviewed, but down to earth and refreshingly honest. She recently gave a lengthy interview for "Vogue", but was surprised that they took something out of context that she said about Angelina Jolie and used it on the cover. She thought that was rather "tabloid" of them, but isn't everything, even the news? In any event, Jen can be seen starring opposite Owen Wilson in "Marley and Me" opening Christmas Day. Oddly enough, her ex, Brad will also be starring in another movie opening he very same day.

A Great Gift For Bloggers

Did you know that over 50,000 blogs are started every day? That's just one tidbit you will find in a great book from the people who bring you Ariana Huffington's famous blog. "The Complete Guide To Blogging" is a great gift for any experienced blogger as well as new and potential bloggers. Blogging is a great way to express yourself without actually committing to something as huge as a book, but more satisifying than a traditional journal. Also, if you are one of the millions of people who find themselves out of a job right now, blogging is a great way to work through the process of finding a new job or career and a great way to network and even make money. The book is now available in stores and online at Amazon.

Let Your Fingers Do The Walking

Years ago, the only way to find a phone number was to use your local white pages or yellow pages. This was often a very time consuming process, not to mention it took a toll on your eyesight trying to read the very small print. If you needed to find a phone number though for someone who lived in another state, often you had to order an out-of-state phone book to find that number and that could take weeks. Now you can use Nationwide Phone Lookup to find any phone number nationwide. It's fast and easy and you will have your phone number as soon as you need it without having to wait weeks. This post is sponsored by Pay Per Post.

Unfathomable!

As many of you know, I was a huge fan of Barry Manilow for many years, but my fandom has waned over the years because he failed to dazzle me with his decade cover albums. However, I still enjoyed watching him on television and try to catch him when I can, especially when he's promoting himself. He made an appearance on "The Today Show" the day after Thanksgiving. On that same morning, Marlo Thomas was set to appear with several children from St. Jude's Hospital. They were there to help raise awareness and, in turn, raise money for this wonderful facility that will treat children for free. There weren't many of the children there, but apparently, Mr. Manilow allegedly was not willing to share the green room space with these kids. Of course, this is all hearsay, but certainly not the first time long-standing fans have heard these stories about Barry. Having a small cousin who is being treated for neuroblastoma, this news is both startling and disturbing, if it's true. Since I always try to look for the silver lining in every negative situation, I hope that this will raise awareness about childhood cancer and the need for money for both research and treatment. If you are reading this post, and you want to give a great and unique gift, instead of buying a CD, how about making a donation to St. Jude in honor of someone you love. It's a great way to celebrate the miracle of Christmas, by celebrating the miracle of life for some really great kids.