HEALTH & WELLNESS
Experienced and versatile writer, editor and strategist for print, digital and online platforms. I cover culture, health, wellness, travel, food, fitness, nutrition, psychology, beauty, home, technology, entrepreneurship, and personalities.
I've written for People, Self, Glamour, Women's Health, More, Success, Real Simple, Family Circle, Cosmopolitan, Fitness, The Robb Report, Weight Watchers, WebMD, TV Guide and many others.
Content marketing clients include Pantene, Ford, Ulta, American Express Travel, Pfizer, Novartis, Origins, Ferrero Rocher, The Ritz-Carlton, LA Tourism and Convention Board, Santa Monica Travel & Tourism and more.
Contact: [email protected]; 310-666-4099
HEALTH & WELLNESS
True contentment takes more than mirth and smiley faces. Meaning and service to others are essential parts of the well-lived life.
When we experience a wide range of emotions, we can enhance both our mental and physical health.
From the food you fuel your body with to the items filling your to-do list, the small choices you make every day can have a big impact on your well‑being.
We could have resolved to eat more leafy greens or to add another spin class to our weekly workout schedule. But when a team of us at Live Happy made it our mission to become happier in 2016, we dug deeper to identify the behaviors, interactions and attitudes that were sapping our energy, productivity and joy.
The biggest buzz in the smoking-hot marijuana industry isn't about getting buzzed. Leave that to tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, the psychoactive part of the marijuana plant. Rather it's another compound in weed that's attracting all the attention: CBD, short for cannabidiol.
A growing body of research shows that the biggest challenges we face offer opportunities for deeper, more meaningful lives. But can we enjoy these gains without suffering the loss?
With small actions throughout the day you can create a tick-tock of contentment.
Increase your vitality, happiness and productivity with these tips to help you get proper shut-eye.
Many of the sleep disruptors we hear about today are modern inventions. Smartphones, iPads, laptops, TV screens and e-readers... we're kept awake by the glow of the blue-light. But there may be another type of light source that predates our tech-driven sleepless nights. We're talking about the moon.
Your days of "Dear diary" may be behind you, but a sleep diary is less a confessional and more of a careful record of your sleep and your sleep-related habits. It's a tool that sleep doctors regularly recommend to their weary patients to help identify the behaviors that might be sabotaging their slumber.
A 20-minute practice can make you happier, healthier and more resilient.
While fully legal pot is still the exception in the United States, chances are good that you live somewhere where you can buy marijuana for health reasons. Since California legalized the medical use of marijuana in 1996, another 32 states, along with the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, have followed suit.
Healthy Aging
Edith Piaf may have had no regrets, and Frank Sinatra had too few to mention, but for the rest of us that nagging feeling of coulda/woulda/shoulda is common. In fact, research reveals that regret is second only to love as the most frequently mentioned emotion in everyday conversation.
"Though I was working for them, my patients ended up teaching me what questions really matter as we age and how people can increase their chances of living well and meaningfully throughout their lives," Aronson writes in Elderhood: Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, Reimagining Life .
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the benefits of regular physical activity for older adults may include a lowered risk of bone fractures; a reduced risk of dying from heart disease and developing high blood pressure, colon cancer and diabetes; reduced symptoms of anxiety and depression; relief of arthritis symptoms and more.
Many in the 60-plus set believe that concept of retirement needs to be kicked back to the Middle Ages. Sharon Emek, 71, is among them. She's the founder, president and CEO of WAHVE, or Work at Home Vintage Experts, a "talent matching company" that pairs experienced baby boomers with companies that are eager for their institutional knowledge, judgment, talent and skills.
The average age of caregivers is 49, and nearly one in ten is 75 or older. While caregiving can be rewarding it's also difficult. In fact, the Caregiving in the U.S. report also found that those almost one quarter of caregivers report declining health as a result of caregiving.
It sounds almost too good to be true: There's one simple thing we all can do that may help improve our mood, sharpen our focus, and maybe even protect our brain from conditions that include depression, Alzheimer's disease, and dementia.
Content Marketing
A spur-of-the-moment international vacation can be every bit as luxurious as one that takes months to plan. Two strategies for successful eleventh-hour journeys: First, pick a destination that's a bit off the beaten path to improve your chances of hotels and restaurants having availability.
Some six years ago, Katie Allanson was behind the wheel with her father in the passenger seat. She was in a hurry to get on with her day, but her dad, a few weeks out from having a shoulder replacement, fumbled with his seatbelt.
This ensures that your first few moments together aren't spent pondering the question, "What do you want to drink?" (Plus, you won't have to stress over mixing individual cocktails.) For a festive holiday touch, try something bubbly and colorful, like sparkling wine mixed with pomegranate juice.
When her husband was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, Robin Holmes became determined to bring visibility and research dollars to this incurable disease. On Robin Holmes' first date with Mac, the man who later became her husband, they went water skiing. "We were in deep water and Mac was skiing barefoot," she recalls.
Whether the occasion is a summer barbecue or a Thanksgiving feast, gathering with friends and family in our homes is one of life's great pleasures. That's become even more clear lately, as we've been unable to gather with the ones we love - making right now the perfect time to daydream about future potlucks and dinner parties.
These tips from professionals will help you easily DIY your floors while saving lots of cash.
Delicious Meals Want to make everything you cook on an outdoor grill more delicious? We've got no-sweat solutions that will have family and guests asking for your secret recipe! When the temperature soars, the last thing you want to do is turn on your oven or stove.
Delicious Meals Replace starchy rice with a delicious and healthy alternative in all your favorite dishes. When you're a busy parent, cutting down on the time it takes to prep meals buys you more time every day to spend with your family.
To support women making moves in traditionally male-dominated fields, Ford is spotlighting trailblazers like chef and restaurateur Suchanan Aksornnan, who puts her own spin on Southeast Asian cuisine and the "power suit" she wears on the job.
FINANCE & ACHIEVEMENT
A lifetime high achiever, White had a Harvard MBA, a master's degree in international studies from Johns Hopkins University, and a resume that included a decade as an executive with the World Bank. But a retail business she'd started with her mother had failed, and, a few years later, the 2008 recession hit.
For many people this will mean significant savings in health-care costs. However, understanding your Medicare coverage options and choosing the plan that's right for you can be daunting. You don't want to wait until you're blowing out the candles on your milestone birthday cake to apply.
How to manage the most difficult, delicate, distasteful conversations
Research sheds light on why self-control is so elusive—and how to strengthen it.
For starters, consider the slim odds of landing a spot on the Emmy-winning ABC show. Last year, 45,000 entrepreneurs applied for an audience with some of the world's most famous investors. Only 150 were selected, and just 115 made it to air. For Season 7, which begins Sept.
Defining a challenging objective is the first move toward achievement.
Nutrition, Food & Travel
When she's not hauling purebred pigs across the country or working on her family's 150-year-old farm, this Iowa mom is mixing up blue-ribbon baking recipes.
Burger and fries at the local fast-food spot? A rib-eye and baked potato at your favorite steakhouse? Pasta with meat sauce the way only your sister can make it? How about a plate filled mostly with vegetables, some pickles, sauerkraut or kimchi on the side, and yogurt and fruit for dessert?
A corporate lawyer launches a new business with a healthy take on the world's happiest sweet: the lollipop.
Let's start with some truth-telling. On the cover of Donna Bell's Bake Shop: Recipes and Stories of Family, Friends and Food, Pauley Perrette stands between her two best friends and co-authors, Darren Greenblatt and Matthew Sandusky. She's holding a gorgeous strawberry shortcake, one of 50 recipes featured in the book from the tiny New York bakery the three own.
Despite heavy drinking, there's no chance of a hangover.
As head sommelier at Per Se, one of the most acclaimed restaurants in the world, Michel Couvreux reigns over a 155-page wine list that includes 2,100 labels and 10,000 bottles. At this temple to fine dining in midtown Manhattan, the cost of chef Thomas Keller's nine-course tasting menu starts at $310 and with supplements like caviar, foie gras and truffles, the price can easily double.
Photograph: Photo: Levi Brown If you assume that eating problems are primarily the province of the age group most likely to join a Justin Bieber fan club, you're right-but what you may not know is that experts are reporting a surge of these illnesses among women several decades older.
Whether he's drawing aliens in the sand or staging a dinner for 200 in a sea cove, artist and culinary innovator Jim Devevan finds that following his passions is good business.
BEAUTY
Coast Magazine, January 2020 cover story. Marshall these local resources to reset, reorganize and reinvigorate your life in 2020!
These limited-edition beauty sets will be welcome under any Christmas tree.
How to Go from "Been There, Done That" to a Fresh New Look
Sync your skincare routine to your body's circadian rhythms
Around the time that a Long Beach X-ray technician turned 50, she began seeing her dermatologist twice a year for strategic poking and plumping. A couple of dozen units of the neurotoxin Botox to reduce the furrows in her forehead and the crow's feet around her eyes, a syringe or two of the filler Juvederm to pad the parentheses, or nasolabial folds, that led from the corners of her nose to her lips.
PROFILES
The actor has relied on his gut and his tenacity during the ups and downs of life and 45 years in showbiz.
January is the dumping month for movies. Any film with award aspirations has been released during November and December to qualify for Oscar nominations, while tentpole pics hit screens during the blockbuster-making holiday season.
Brimming with confidence and celebrating girl power, singer-songwriter Miranda Lambert is clearing her own path to superstardom.
A fitness empire, two young children and a new reality show: Jillian Michaels inhabits a very big universe.
Additional Clips
The Mentalist's Amanda Righetti always has a camera-ready look, even when she's being trailed by snap-happy fans. To crack the code to her makeup mastery, Watch! attended the one-day Paparazzi-Ready Beauty academy by Napoleon Perdis, a celebrity makeup artist who created Napoleon Perdis Cosmetics and NP Set, a line sold exclusively at Target.
Flaunt a sassy look that stays put from morning croissants to late-night cocktails.
This 19-Year-Old CEO Is Enabling Humans to Do the Impossible.
Some presents offer more than fleeting pleasure. They transform us in ways that alter who we are.
Hit show. Five children. Living in LA. Chris O'Donnell is Happy.
As the mercury and humidity rise, you shed layers of cashmere, wool and down. Makeup does a similar striptease: The dark smoky eye lightens up, peach migrates from cheeks to eyelids, and jewel-toned lipstick gets the kiss-off, replaced by ripe fruit-inspired hues. - Shelley Levitt 1. A LIPSTICK THAT POPS.
Breaking bread together is a good way to forge a friendship, but breaking a sweat together is even better. Through boxing, running, dancing, swimming, and climbing, these women found people who changed their lives. They've got the smiles, the businesses, the medals and, yes, the muscles to prove it.
Wish upon a star? Forget it. If you really want to make your dreams come true, you need to harness hope. Psychologist Shane Lopez shows us how.
John Tue Nguyen lost his sight, but foresaw a luxury travel empire.
Olivia Newton-John has traded her leg warmers and music videos for a hit Las Vegas show and time to indulge her passions for nature, her marriage and a blissfully balanced life.
Alicia Silverstone wants to make the world a kinder, happier place, and she has a new book to get mamas and babies off to a good start.
A little bit naughty and a whole lot of nice, Kristin Chenoweth counts her blessings this holiday season.
For your tastiest summer vacation ever, consider these up-and-coming culinary destinations around the world.
Unconventional, unfettered and sometimes a little unpredictable, dinners beyond the confines of restaurants and hotels can be a blast for laid-back groups.
Every year, scores of new skin care creams and salon treatments appear on shelves, but deciding which ones are worth your time and money can require the psychic ability of The Mentalist. These advances will give you glossier hair, more radiant skin and a long-lasting manicure even a Gossip Girl would envy.
How Honeyfund Survived the 'Shark Tank.' What happened after Sara and Josh Margulis pitched their idea to the Sharks—and won a deal