Name: Raffi Darrow

Kids: Alice age 13, Wendy age 12

Occupation: Graphic and Web design business owner

Hometown: St. Petersburg, FL

H&H Interview with Raffi:

1. What are the top 3 items in your grocery cart?

Stonyfield Farm organic nonfat vanilla yogurt, bananas and lentils or beans to experiment with in recipes

2. What are you reading (honestly)?

“Why Marry a Millionaire? Just Be One: And While You’re at It, Change the World!” by Wendy Robbins. I actually got it free to review for a blog, and it has really made an impact on me.

3. What is your guilty pleasure when you get a break from the kids?

Polishing my nails. My close friends know that if it looks like I got a manicure, it really means I got an afternoon to myself.

4. What would we be surprised to find in your purse?

A yarmulke I’m nearly finished crocheting for my grandfather.

5. What is your favorite reality TV show?

American Idol. But my daughter groans when I sing along.

6.  What is your cocktail of choice?

A sidecar, but I don’t like to drink my calories so it’s kind of fortuitous that hardly anyone knows how to make one.

7. What is the funniest thing your kids have said or done lately?

My daughter Wendy wants to be a voice over artist, and has a way of channeling Jack Black at the dinner table. It cracks me up whenever she nails that impersonation.

8.  What is your favorite quotation?

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

9.  What is your most hated household chore?

Mopping floors. Curse that ceramic tile!

10. Who is your favorite celebrity mom and why?

None of my favorite celebrities are moms. I never thought about that before…

11. What is one thing most people don’t know about you?

I can touch my nose with my tongue. All 4 of us can.

12. What is your secret to staying Hot & Healthy?

Exercise. I think exercise is pivotal for every other healthy habit I have. It makes me drink water, it helps my skin rejuvenate, sweating releases toxins and activates my lymph nodes, it builds muscle, it pumps my heart. I get bored easily, so I try new exercise modalities all the time – Yoga, ballet, Zumba, Pilates, karate, kung fu, weight training, running, belly dance… I think I’ve tried everything but hula!

*Thanks, Raffi!*

Written by Lea Barlow • 5 Comments

Spring Fever (syndrome), defined by Wikipedia, is a term describing common psychological symptoms occurring in the spring season.  You may ask, what are these symptoms? For me, it is the absolute, totally beyond my control need to lay out by the pool, drink cocktails and read dozens of gossip magazines. I consulted my doctors (aka my girlfriends) and was given clearance to do whatever it takes to break this fever.  Off I go…

I will be here. Okay, maybe not exactly but there will be a pool present.

This festive drink looks like the embodiment of Spring Fever and perfectly conveys how I feel right now. Love it.

I will be ordering one or… four.

My reading material. Because I’m feeling a little intellectual today I may throw in a People. They have book reviews, right?

*Happy Friday*

Written by Lea Barlow • 2 Comments

by Alexis Novak

There comes a time in every woman’s life when you look down at your left ring finger and your ring no longer looks like you anymore.  Now if you are one of those sweet and silly sentimentalists who believe your love really lives in your original engagement ring then you should stop reading here and pick up a romance novel.

The rest of us cold-hearted realists know that your old ring is merely a symbol and you are still married after all these years so maybe the time’s right to celebrate your love with a trade-up. Oops, I mean a redesign.  At least this is what I am currently thinking as we skip toward nine married years next month.

Amidst my obsessive ring research I’ve discovered the personalities of diamond shapes and am teaching myself all I ever wanted to know about baguettes, split shanks, half bezels, milgrain and micropave.  Here’s what the diamonds are saying to me.

First stop, we need to chat about the Solitaire.  She is the classic beauty.  3 out of 4 engagement rings sold hold this brilliant stone.  Timeless and elegant, she is also the most expensive.  My hubs picked out my Tiffany-style solitaire with pave band over ten years ago.  It’s beautiful.  But while she is a safe choice style-wise my fiercely high six-prong setting scratches important things like cars and babies so I hardly ever wear her anymore. (Damn those mean old lady looks I get while pregnant walking around the grocery store!)  I love the shimmer of the solitaire. She is a sure lady-like thing that you could never tire of.  She is all horseback-riding lessons, Connecticut and Jackie O., while the Pear is her glamour-puss-bad-ass little sister.

One of my favorite pears is actress Katherine Heigl’s sublime 3-carat engagement ring,very Marilyn Monroe in her white robe blowing kisses from the balcony.  Heigl’s ring sports a rose gold halo around the stone, giving it an antique feel.  The pear makes a rebellious statement I dig.  Some women are cool with asymmetrical shapes like pears and marquises, others wouldn’t dream of it.  It is good to remember though that since solitaires and princess cuts are most popular you could get a larger asymmetrical one for less, and if you are being honest ladies Big is always better.

Gorgeous and curvy Ovals and Cushion-cuts are coming back too, thanks in part to the estate ring that Katie Holmes rocks and the many celebs also buying vintage bridal jewels that favor these shapes.  Rebecca Romijm’s beautiful canary yellow oval with a split shank gives the same retro feel, while making fingers appear long and skinny.  You could buy actual vintage or look for antique reproductions that will be easier to repair and less delicate knocking around on your finger all day.  Or if you are a supremely damned lucky gal, you inherited an amazing family ring that just needs some updating.

The more rings I look at the more school girl giddy I get pretending to be their owner.  I am easily seduced by the sparkle.  I envision myself in many different styles and stones.  I like modern and vintage.  Cushions and pears.  Art Deco bezels, semi-mounts and hand-carved Edwardian cages.  Side stones and halos and mixed metals, oh my!

If only I had fellow Pisces Elizabeth Taylor’s budget I would surely have a collection to rival hers.  Today I will keep researching, riding my jewel journey buzz, not wanting it to end with a decision.  As Liz well knows after seven husbands, the hunt is much more fun than the kill.

*Along with being a regular H&H contributor you can also follow Alexis at Damn Scribbling Mommy*

Written by Alexis Novak • Leave a comment

Yes, cereal is a very easy go-to meal to serve on mornings when the kids are fighting, the dog’s barking and you’re running late.  That’s pretty much every morning in my house.  But there is not one box of cereal to be found.  There is a reason for that:  cereal makes you fat.  Most breakfast cereals are very high on the glycemic index.  The glycemic index, or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood sugar levels.  For most people, sending an overwhelming surge of sugar into your system is the prescription for building excess body fat and sets you up for a major crash later.  It takes 2 minutes to microwave an egg and turkey sausage.  Add some fresh fruit and breakfast is served.  Or I guess you could serve up any one of these cereals that are almost devoid of all nutritional value and full of empty calories.

Top 10 most sugared kids cereals:

#10: General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch: 34 % sugar

#9: Frosted Rice Krispies: 39% sugar

#8: Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes: 39% sugar

#7: Reese’s Puffs: 40% sugar

#6: General Mills Apple Cinnamon Cheerios: 42% sugar

#5: Kellogg’s Apple Jacks: 42% sugar

#4: Trix: 43% sugar

#3: Kellogg’s Smorz Cereal: 43% sugar

#2: Kellogg’s Froot Loops: 45% sugar

#1: General Mills Cocoa Puffs: 47% sugar

For a healthy cereal alternative, try this homemade Apple Oat Cereal from weelicious.com!

Source:  nutritiondata.com

Originally posted June 11, 2010

Written by Lea Barlow • 5 Comments