My journey of self discovery started after dropping my son off at pre-school. It’s amazing what a minute of silence can bring about. I found out a few things about myself, and I just want to let it out.

1.) The grocery store is not an evil place! ….. when you go alone! ….. and it’s not Senior Discount Day!!… I’m so planning my schedule better from now on. I actually SMILED at people! Not once did I have to tell anyone to stop touching things!  And when I ran the person over with my cart, it was my own fault. FOR ONCE! It was glorious!

2.)  I’m more polite and pleasant than I give myself credit for. I came home cheerful, relaxed, giggly even. I found that I am so polite, I thanked my coffee cup for being nice enough to stay in front of the machine where I left it.

3.) I’m a little weird for having conversations with inanimate objects…and for being surprised that they don’t get up and wander around when I’m not looking.

So, it’s not even noon yet, and I’ve found out 3 things about myself! Yay, me!  I hope your day holds a fun surprise as well!!
Tami

I’m hopeful that the snow days ahead will bring along random acts of funny that I can share. I know that so many of you are working hard, and feeling stressed. If I can bring you a chuckle every now and then, we can call it a win! Well, my kids are awake…I’d better get back to my surveillance…

Have a happy day!

Tamara Harding

The PoconoWomen Team

TABLES ARE SOLD OUT!!  SEE YOU THERE!!

If you want younger, better looking skin, think beyond the sunscreen (but use that too) and tinker with your diet. “Good nutrition is a fundamental building block of healthy skin,” says Leslie Baumann, MD, a dermatologist in Miami Beach. The natural ingredients in food help do everything from speed the pace of exfoliation to protect skin from the UV damage that causes brown spots and wrinkles. Here, 7 everyday foods that are guaranteed to make you glow.

7 Botox-free tips to look younger

1. Romaine Lettuce
Why You’ll Glow: Six leaves provide more than 100% of your DV of vitamin A, which revitalizes skin by increasing cell turnover. The mineral potassium in romaine “gives skin a refreshing boost of nutrients and oxygen by improving circulation,” says Lisa Drayer, RD, author of The Beauty Diet.

Health Bonus: That same serving of romaine contains 45% of the DV of vitamin K, which a recent study shows activates a protein that supports vascular health–making a future with bulging leg veins less likely.

What to eat for whiter teeth

2. Tomatoes
Why You’ll Glow: Eating red helps keep skin from turning red. Volunteers who consumed 5 tablespoons of high-in-lycopene tomato paste daily for 3 months had nearly 25% more protection against sunburn in one study. Even better, skin had more collagen, which prevents sagging. Another reason to toss an extra tomato into your salad: German scientists report that higher skin levels of this antioxidant correlate to fewer fine lines and furrows.

Health Bonus: Research suggests that lycopene may also lower your chances of heart disease: In one study, women with the highest levels of it had a 34% reduced risk.

Reduce redness and irritation in just 12 weeks

3. Strawberries
Why You’ll Glow: A cup has up to 130% of the DV of vitamin C, a potent antioxidant that boosts production of collagen fibers that help keep skin smooth and firm. More C may mean fewer fine lines too: Women with lower intakes were likelier to have dry, wrinkled skin. Early research also shows that ellagic acid, an antioxidant abundant in strawberries, protects the elastic fibers that keep skin from sagging.

Health Bonus: Strawberries may lower your risk of cancer by inhibiting the development of malignant cancer cells. In one study, people eating the most strawberries were 3 times less likely to develop the disease.

Food cures for cancer

4. Apples
Why You’ll Glow: Quercetin, an antioxidant in the peel of many varieties, provides hefty protection from the “burning” UVB rays that trigger skin cancer. A few offering the biggest dose: Monroe, Cortland, and Golden Delicious.

Health Bonus: Eating two or more apples a week for 1 year reduced the risk of dying from heart disease by 15% in one study of 34,000 healthy postmenopausal women. Whatever variety you choose, be sure to eat the peel, the source of nearly all the antioxidants.

28 days to a healthier heart

5. Eggs
Why You’ll Glow: Lutein and zeaxanthin, two antioxidants found in eggs, more than quadrupled protection against the UV damage that leads to lines, brown spots, and cancer in one study on women. Skin was also markedly softer, firmer, and better hydrated.

Health Bonus: Eating just one egg a day significantly increases blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin (but not cholesterol), which may stave off macular degeneration by protecting the retina from light damage, finds a study in the Journal of Nutrition.

13 power breakfasts for energy

6. Almonds
Why You’ll Glow: “Eating a handful of almonds every day boosts levels of vitamin E, one of the most important antioxidants for skin health,” says Baumann. You’ll get a surge in moisture too–a boon for those prone to dryness.

Health Bonus: Though nuts are high in calories, women who ate them at least twice a week were less likely to gain weight than those who rarely did, in a new study of over 50,000 women.

Best night creams for your skin

7. Walnuts
Why You’ll Glow: These nuts are storehouses of alpha-linolenic acid, an omega-3 fat that’s a key component of the lubricating layer that keeps skin moist and supple. A 1/2-ounce serving of walnuts provides 100% of the recommended daily intake of ALA.

Health Bonus: Eating walnuts at dinner may deliver better shut-eye. Researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center discovered that walnuts contain melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.

This list of beauty tips is from the Editors of Prevention magazine..(www.Prevention.com)

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Order yours today! A Great Gift Idea!

Questions? Email me at info@poconowomen.com Use “Bracelet” in the message line.

Learn some great tips in a low pressure, high ‘liquid’ environment

Erin Baehr, of Baehr Financial Planning, will be on-hand for the evening’s frivolity. =)

A Members Only benefit: No admittance fee for members. Cash Bar. (Guests can join or renew their membership @ the door!)

To register, contact Trudie today!!

Lush historical novels, wise contemporary tales and crowd-pleasing beach reads… Go on, dive into O‘s summer reading list!

Kings of the Earth

By Jon Clinch
416 pages; Random House

For his acclaimed debut, Finn, Jon Clinch borrowed from Mark Twain, telling the story of Huckleberry Finn’s malicious father. In his masterful and compassionate new novel, Kings of the Earth, Clinch borrows again, this time from a true-life case of possible fratricide in 1990. Three elderly, semiliterate brothers live in squalor on a ramshackle dairy farm in central New York state. They barely wash, their coveralls are splattered in cow manure, and their tiny house is a fetid mess. Strangest of all, they share a bed—and on a summer night one dies from what the local medical examiner calls strangulation. The prismatic narrative shifts time and point of view, and Clinch easily slips into the voices of his diverse cast of characters—a nosy, good-hearted neighbor, a police investigator struggling to do the right thing, and the brothers’ drug-dealing nephew. Through evocative descriptions of the rural landscape—”a countryside full of that same old homegrown desolation”—and by imbuing these odd men with a gentle nobility and an “antique strangeness,” Clinch has created a haunting, suspenseful story. — Taylor Antrim

Read more here…