Getting Things Off My Chest: Pardon Me for (Not) Apologizing

  Do women apologize too much? According to several articles including one recently in The New York Times by Sloane Crosley (June 23, 2015), women say “I’m sorry” more than they need to and far more than men do. Excuse me for asking (whoops!), but why is that? One study  reports that “men apologize less frequently than women because they have a higher threshold for what constitutes offensive behavior.” So men can be boorish where women are polite to the point of being overly apologetic. I agree that many of us apologize too often for reasons that don’t really matter.  As in “I’m sorry to bother you.”

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Getting Things Off My Chest: Waving Pride On and Prejudice Away

Pride has been a word on everyone’s lips this week and for several reasons. In a landmark decision the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a national right to same-sex marriage. The rainbow colors of pride, equality and acceptance have flooded Facebook and national monuments. The flag has been waved proudly in marches throughout the country on Gay Pride Day.   I’m happy for my friends whose lives are positively impacted. I am also respectful of those whose personal or religious beliefs cannot accept it. We live in a nation of freedom of speech and – more now than ever- freedom of choice. This

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Fearless Fabulous You! How Homeopathy Can Help You

I’ve been curious about alternative and complementary medicines after researching my books and studying integrative nutrition.  One that fascinates me is homeopathy, a system of natural medicine dating back over 200 years. It is very common in Europe where its originator, Samuel Hahnemann, created the word “homeopathy” from the Greek words for ‘similar suffering’ referring to the ‘like cures like’ principle of healing.” Ref:  http://www.homeopathyschool.com/. Benefits can alleviate side effects from traditional Western medicine, strengthen your immune system, help healing and reduce pain, among other conditions. You probably have seen all sorts of homeopathic essences, gels, creams and pellets at your local health foods store. But do

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Fearless Fabulous You: Cancer Community Activist Mailet Lopez

Every cancer survivor I speak with remembers their “cancer-versary.” It’s the date you were diagnosed. And every cancer survivor will tell you hearing the news is gut wrenching. Your head spins; your heart skips a beat, and many people, including myself, go numb or break down in tears. Imagine being a beautiful young  woman whose life is filled with promise hearing this news. Maybe you are newly married or a new mother. Maybe you are a fun loving single gal who looks forward to finding that someone special. The future and its possibilities seem limitless. Then cancer pays an unwelcome visit

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Getting Things Off My Chest: Why I Am Not A Party Popper

Recently I received three invitations to “pop-up” events.  All were taking place within a few days after the invitation arrived in my inbox. I explained to the senders that my schedule was booked and I wish I’d been given more notice. Two replied: “But these are pop-up events.” I don’t understand why pop-up events are so popular. There are countless pop-up restaurants, stores, parties and beauty bars being promoted from cities to resorts. The problem is you never seem to have enough notice to plan to attend them. Many of us have pretty full schedules.  Popping into a pop-up isn’t always feasible. I’m a

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Fearless Fabulous You! Do Your Legs Look Like Road Maps?

As I’ve grown older I’ve noticed so many unwelcome marks on my body: brown spots, red blotches, strange folds and dimples and lines marking their territory. One of the areas that give me grief- and other women as well- are my legs. Forget cellulite! I’m talking spider veins. I’ve tried needles but now I just wear longer shorts and hemlines to cover them up. But, what can be done to avoid or minimize spider veins and varicose veins? I’ve invited Dr. Danielle Bajakian, Director of the Critical Limb Ischemia Program at Columbia University Medical Center, to join me June 22, 9:28pmET on Fearless Fabulous You!

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Fearless Fabulous You! She Has the Recipe for Building a Successful Food Brand

Building a successful #specialtyfood brand is more than having a dollop and a dream @mightymelanie #fearlessfabulousyou Are you a dynamo in the kitchen with a dream of cooking up a successful food business? Does everyone tell you one of your signature dishes or a product you make should be packaged, bottled and sold to food hungry-for-new things consumers? According to the National Specialty Food Association sales of specialty foods are at a record high of $109 billion and account for nearly 15 percent of all U.S. retail food sales. Women are more likely to purchase specialty foods than men, according to a separate report by the Specialty Food

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Getting Things Off My Chest: If You Can’t Be With the Wine You Love…..

I have a game I like to play socially called “Define Your Wine” I ask people to describe themselves as a wine and why. Try it sometime with wine drinking friends. I tell people I’m a Viogner: soft and lush filled with a vibrant character filled with notes of peach, apricots and violets. A Viogner can be finicky about her climate. She doesn’t like  too much cold or direct sun. She’s a DIVAlicious blonde grape; please don’t compare her to everyday Chardonnays. This article actually refers to Viogner as the “Beyoncé of grapes.” The wine writer Lettie Teague recently joined

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Fearless Fabulous You! Dr. Karin Hehenbeger, Founder, Lyfebulb- 10 Tips for Living with Diabetes

Living with a chronic illness does not mean your quality of life or your outlook on how you choose to live needs to be compromised. @mightymelanie @lyfebulb #fearlessfabulousyou At age 17 Dr. Karin Hehenberger was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes (T1D). A competitive tennis player and outdoors woman living in Sweden, Karin kept her diagnosis under wraps for 20 years out of fear and shame of living with chronic disease. As she grew older diabetes impacted her body and Karin under went both life saving kidney and pancreas transplants.  Watch Karin’s story here. Her body may have taken a hit but

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Fearless Fabulous You! Molly MacDonald, The Pink Fund’s Angel for Women in Need Fighting Breast Cancer

No woman facing a life threatening illness should be forced to make a decision between getting the treatment she needs and feeding her family. @ThePinkFund @mightymelanie #fearlessfabulousyou Diagnosed with early stage breast cancer in April 2005, Molly MacDonald was thankful in knowing the disease was unlikely to take her life. But it did take away her livelihood. In between jobs at her time of diagnosis and facing an already tight family budget and mounting medical debts, Molly and her family came close to losing their home and relying on a local food bank to feed her family of five children. When Molly’s quest to

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GTOMC- Who Will Remember When I Am Gone?

Last night watching the Tony Awards on television the “memorial section” came up flashing all the photos of those in the theater who passed on in the last year. I turned to my husband and asked, “Who will remember me when I am gone?” I don’t mean to be maudlin but June 8 would have been my father’s 85th birthday and Father’s Day is around the corner. I remember my father this week for his wise and helpful guidance through my business, his devotion to my mother and me, his loyalty to country and community and for his tenderness when I needed a shoulder

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Fearless Fabulous You!- Claudine Pépin-Kids Cook French

If there’s one person who knows about learning to cook as a young girl it’s Claudine Pépin.  Daughter of renowned French Chef Jacques Pépin, Claudine grew up in a home filled with aromas of good food, fabulous family meals and lessons on classic French techniques. As an adult, Claudine has cooked alongside her father in several James Beard Award-winning PBS -TV shows including: “Cooking with Claudine” (Best National Cooking Segment, 1997), and “Jacques Pépin’s Kitchen: Encore with Claudine” (Best National Television Cooking Show, 1999) and “Jacques Pépin Celebrates.”  And she has appeared many other shows including “Good Morning America” and “Cooking

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