Slices: Sara Foster

I'm not sure why or when Sara Foster made it onto my radar -- I do watch some tennis (she's engaged/married -- one of the two -- to professional player Tommy Haas), and I also do (hanging my head) watch a show featuring her stepmother (Yolanda Foster) and a bit of her dad (David Foster). I just like her fresh and super understated style. She could easily go all out in anticipation of the inevitable television screenshots of her worried face from the tennis stands, but she keeps it cool and I think she looks great. I'm feeling this clean look for summer. 

photo credits: Zimbio

Two

Two things I like for Friday: Gisele and yorkies. 

American Vogue, December 2001.

Move

The latest DVD on rotation for me is one by Jackie Warner, and it's great (even though I know a bit more than I'd like to about her personal life thanks to Bravo). This is a particularly excellent move -- one leg is outstretched while you bend your other knee and lean over. One arm is outstretched -- it remains parallel to the straight leg. Lift the other arm straight up and back down -- that entire side of your core should be engaged. You can add a weight to the arm you're lifting. Who couldn't use an oblique pick-me-up?

Access

On this Tuesday, there are two very non-American/seemingly unattainable things on my mind: the most chic hairpin I've ever seen, created by French hairstylist Odile Gilbert, and green tea oreos, apparently all the rage in China. (I was tipped off about the oreos last week by this CNNMoney article. I've yearned for the pin for quite some time, but it's more pronounced now that I have bangs and want to look like 60s actress Monica Vitti with her fringe and hair piled high in Modesty Blaise). The Odile pins can be purchased online from one of a few elite and wonderful shops, like Colette in Paris, for about $80. Sadly a bit much for a bent piece of (exquisite) metal. And Nabisco is holding us back from experiencing this treat in this country -- I see little recourse. If anyone has a brilliant idea for acceptable wannabes of either product, please don't keep it to yourself. 

todos diary

Todos los Santos, Baja California Sur: sandy days, sandy pup, mags and Jeffrey Eugenides on the beach, DVD-laptop workouts on the balcony (Jackie Warner -- more on that later), hummus packs from Costco (a membership was acquired solely for the Costco in Cabo. Good for bulking up on water, etc), fish tacos, fresh tortillas -- and my favorite, nopal (cactus -- green and slimy but delicious when sauteed). Beach, pool, beach, pool.

Boost

Last week was my first back to work after almost a month of post-final exams bliss. Sometimes, I plan ahead, like when I made my way through the Los Cabos airport on Memorial Day and snagged a tube of Berocca energy tablets from the airport's farmacia to help blunt the post-vacation slump. [strange airport by the way -- the inside is uber sleek and white, so when you're looking out at the arid landscape it feels like you're in that Austin Powers movie filmed in the desert (Goldmember maybe?). And based on the people-watching, it feels like L.A.]. After I had one of the little orange tablets in water, I realized my planning should have sprung for the 30-pack, at least. I have been prone to placebo-effect in the past but I swear I got a smooth burst of energy. Plus, it tastes better than Emergen-C. According to their website, the "secret" of Berocca is the combination of Vitamin B complex, Vitamin C, Biotin (also good for skin and nails), Magnesium, Zinc, Folic Acid, and Calcium. Rachel Roy keeps them in her bag. Vanessa Traina keeps them in her refrigerator. Emma Watson is a fan. Giovanna Battaglia keeps it on hand during fashion week. Jodie Kidd takes it every day. Convinced? As of the beginning of the year, lucky new yorkers can get their fix at Duane Reade stores. Though much less fun than spotting "europe's favorite energy supplement" at random airports, I think I'll begin web ordering. 

Burn

This is a good one for Friday. 

Rosie

In case you need a little green smoothie motivation, inquiring minds (like me) may be interested in a recent reporting on Rosie Huntington-Whiteley's wellness routine:

"She has come from her daily, hour-long workout and is drinking a bright-green potion. “I know it looks disgusting, but you can put anything green in it – celery, avocado, spinach – and as long as you add apples, it’s delicious. That’s two servings of your greens, right there,” she says." -- Net-a-Porter's Magazine, "The Riviera Issue"

photo: Vogue Brazil, April 2013.

Dieta Verde

Before my Mexican vacation, I was ready for an ad-hoc mini diet. It was hatched while my Italian and Portuguese friends were in town (thus, the name -- "green diet" is the same in both of their native tongues) -- oh, and it was necessary because they had been in town: hikes and laughing didn't quite counteract the wine and indulgences that seemed appropriate for their Colorado adventure.  

Basically, the idea of dieta verde is just a lot of vegetables, plus fruit and nuts, for about three days. I tried to eat the fruit moderately and focus more on veggies. I also included coconut water and sauerkraut. Dates are a great "treat" on this. This type of plan allows for plenty of calories but is a back-to-basics thing that helps with de-bloating and resetting a side-tracked healthy-eating palate. I enjoyed a lot of steamed and raw vegetables and a few smoothies with every dark green vegetable I could fit in the blender, plus fresh mint, which were admittedly sludgey. I had to choke these "drinks" down because I failed to heed my own knowledge about the necessity of apples to counteract that soil taste. Learn from my mistake.

No drastic results came from this but I felt a lot better without having to do any weird deprivation thing. This really is quite easy if you take the time to prepare good-tasting vegetables and stock up on coconut water, dates, and larabars when you need a change of pace or need a little something more to get through the day.

(My sister and I joked that larabars, though healthy and "allowed" on this plan because they are rectangles of smooshed dates, nuts, and something delicious like vanilla, should be conserved a la The Devil Wears Prada's Emily and her cheese: "It's for Paris, I'm on this new diet. Well, I don't eat anything and when I feel like I'm about to faint I eat a cube of cheese." So, a larabar when you are about to pass out! I kid, I kid. But you get the idea about the density of those little guys).