Who loves Peter Cammarano now?

HA.  All those cynics out there who claim politicians are all corrupt get another chance for a big fat “I told you so.”

No sooner than Peter Cammarano gets sworn in as mayor of Hoboken, NJ, he gets busted for corruption.  Come on, how much more New Jersey government cliche can you get?

A clean mayor?  Only if laundering money means taking it to the laundromat, rather than embezzling it internationally.

From Daddy Cammarano's facebook page

It was almost sickening, an entire city so head-over-heels in love with one man.   I mean everyone from my friend’s boyfriend—a Hoboken firefighter—to my real estate agent, got all misty-eyed when talking about the guy.  Gushing about finally having a candidate so young and trustworthy.  Yuk.

Peter Cammarano, corrupt Hoboken mayor

I guess it took a lot of money to run his campaign and win the hearts of Hoboken and the surrounding New Jersey towns. This morning, the Associated Press reported:

NEWARK, N.J. – The mayors of two New Jersey cities and a state legislator are under arrest Thursday as part of a major corruption and international money laundering conspiracy probe.

Federal prosecutors say about 30 people have been arrested in the two-track investigation. They include Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III and Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell. Federal prosecutors say several rabbis in New York and New Jersey are also arrested.

A news conference is scheduled for noon at the U.S. attorney’s office in Newark. Newark Mayor Cory Booker, who has fought corruption in New Jersey’ largest city, says it’s “an unbelievable morning so far.”

Unbelievable?  I am not surprised, not really.  Just totally amused.  Your disillusioned voters can’t vote you out of this one, man!

Cammarano appeals with his "cute side"

Lupus drug gives new hope

I was terrified last summer when my mother announced that she was diagnosed with lupus.  But it sure did explain a lot.  Like why her face was ruddy, her hair thinning, the weight loss and bouts of gout and rheumatoid arthritis she experienced.  Lupus is a complex disease that causes the immune system to attack the body’s own tissue and organs, including the joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain, blood or skin.

After she told me, I took to the internet to research the disease.

You only get a precious few minutes with the doctor, so doing your own internet research on multiple vetted sites is a helpful way to educate yourself on symptoms and prevention.

I found two really good sources on lupus:

1. The Lupus Foundation of America, Inc.  This nonprofit organization provides research grants, advocates lupus support and awareness, and supports individuals with lupus, their families and caregivers.
2. The Mayo Clinic Website includes background on the disease, including symptoms, when to seek medical advice, risk factors, causes, tests, treatment, alternative medicines, lifestyle tips and home remedies.

Some good news today!  It’s not a cure, or a vaccine, but it is the first lupus treatment approved in 50 years.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. said its experimental lupus treatment passed late-stage clinical trials, and promises to be a breakthrough drug.  The results, announced last night, showed patients who took the drug, Benlysta, demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in the symptoms of their disease compared with those taking a placebo.

Data from the 867-person trial, known as BLISS-52, take the company one step closer to being the first to have a new lupus drug approved in 50 years. Multiple drugs are approved for other indications and used to treat lupus, but none has been approved specifically for the disease in decades.

The grass is always greener

Why do we torture ourselves by wanting what we don’t have?

The truth is, no matter who you are, someone else out there is always going to be “more beautiful” than you, and you will always be “more beautiful” than someone else.

So why do we compare ourselves to other people? Ironically, the very girl we are hating because we want to have her body, is probably envying us for some feature she wishes were her own.

Last week I went on a vacation to Cancun with my little sister, who just graduated from college. It was a truly celebratory trip: she finished her bachelor’s degree just six months after I completed graduate school. What could be a more perfect reward for hard work than laying on the beach with your closest gal pal? Especially since she lives in Ohio and I live in New York, every visit we get with each other is precious. Besides being a great excuse to relax and gain some quality time together, though, this vacation was an eye-opener.

I had been weighing my options while packing for the trip: do I bring extra pads for my swimsuit top?  Should I risk wearing the inserts in my bikini on the beach and watching, mortified, as the waves wash them away?  I was less-than-enthusiastic about my small-chested body in a bikini.  Seeing my sister in hers, only reminded me of how non-curvalicious my bikini-bod is.  The first day, it was hard to snap my mind out of the depression I felt because I didn’t fill my sundresses and swimsuits out the way I would have liked to: the way that my sister does, beautifully.

We were born five years apart, but have the psychic connection of twins anyway.  Being so alike, she sensed I was sad.  ”What’s wrong?”  She asked.  I tried to shun her question away, saying I was older and she wouldn’t understand.  But finally I just blurted out to her, “I don’t feel sexy, I feel like every other woman on the beach has a better body than I do.  You’re so lucky.”

She comforted me, which I expected.  But I did not expect her to be taken aback and I was shocked by her reply.

“What?  Really!  I’ve been dreading coming on vacation with you just because I would have to stand next to you in a swimsuit.  I dieted for three weeks and worked out for hours everyday.  I was worried you would think I looked fat,” she confided.

I was reeling.  The whole time I was criticizing my own body, my sister was worried I was judging hers.

The revelation that we had both been secretly wishing we could trade bodies didn’t change the fact that we are destined to different body builds. But it did teach us not to take our own bodies for granted, and not to underestimate the goodness of them.  Being honest with each other allowed us to deal with our “grass is always greener complex” and for the rest of the trip we relaxed fully, forgetting to wish for what we don’t have, and began appreciating what was right in front of us.

Lash luxury: batting around options

Allergan’s new lash-growth mascara is out on the market.  I am finally seeing commercials for Latisse on television.  Right now the price is, on average, $100 for a one-month supply.  If that price tag alone doesn’t turn you off, perhaps the fact that you will need a prescription, and probably have to pay a consultation fee to a doctor for this prescription, will.

If you are looking for long, luscious lashes, you do have a few options.  I have done some research comparing results and prices, and here are the three best options for adding significantly to what mother nature gave you in the lash department.

1. The best MASCARA that truly does lengthen: L’Oreal Double Extend. Cost: $10 on sale at CVS. Pros: DIY at home or on the go in 5 seconds.  Doesn’t run, easy to clean off. Cons: cannot create the length and thickness of the next two options.
2. LATISSE: Clear prescription gel applied topically to lash line. Cost: $100/month. Pros: It actually lengthens, thickens, and darkens your real lashes. Cons: Not over-the-counter, and not permanent: it wears off unless you apply daily.
3. LASH EXTENSIONS: Fake but look great! Cheapest in NYC is Ebenezer’s. Cost: $90 for first application, then $35 for maintenance every 2 weeks. So, long-term, this option is actaully be cheaper than Latisse per month. Pros: At Ebenezer’s they give you a little leg/foot/arm massage while the glue dries! Your lashes look thick as fake ones from far away, but up close even my best gal pal couldn’t tell they were extensions. Cons: The appointment can last about an hour on average.  If you don’t maintain them, you have to pay for removal or lashes look uneven as they fall out on their own.

Extra: The secret to long, strong nails —Along with a healthy diet, the secret to nails that grow faster than I can cut them, is Biotin.  I have been taking one Biotin supplement a day for the past year now.  My nails have so much length and strength that when I wear polish, women always think I’m wearing fake nails.  Biotin is only about $10 in the grocery store for a two month supply. I recommend the 5000 mg daily dosage to achieve the undeniable effect I experience.

A woman to look up to

Where does a busy executive let loose?  The Internet.  Meet Eden Pontz—Executive Producer of CNN’s New York bureau—and blogging mommy.

On the NYC Moms Blog, women enter the world of blogger Eden as she dishes humorous anecdotes, sentimental memories and other motherhood musings.  She and her four-year-old daughter bond over snakes, swimming pools and ice skates.  Eden’s posts are fun for the reader and provide a balance to the blogger; at work she must leave her opinions out of her writing but on the blog she gets personal.

“It’s a good way for me to work things out that I’m doing wrong in my life and realize I’m not perfect, but other women out there relate to me.”

Read the rest of my feature, published on womenworking.com!

Yogi Minds: Taking it to the Teens

I stood introducing myself to 17 and 18-year-olds decked in baggy jeans, wagging-tongue sneakers, and gold chain-circled necks. The movie Dangerous Minds—Michelle Pfeiffer teaching an inner city high school class—popped into my head. Her character struggles to understand the students and be understood, but in the end, she reaches them.

Let’s not label what a yogi looks like. I have taught yoga to young children for about two years, surprising parents with the hidden poise of their eight-year old. When I volunteered my afternoon to teach yoga to big kids, I found yogis hiding in a Chinatown public high school.

As my first of three classes entered the library their size and number intimidated me. So I made sure to not intimidate them, giving a choice: remove shoes and take a mat (I had covered the floor with colorful yoga mats), or observe from a chair. Their greatest reluctance—they didn’t want to take off their “kicks”—was an unforeseen obstacle; I am not shy about my feet. Experiencing an instant recollection of my own adolescent awkwardness, I realized teenagers perceive their own body as taboo.

Yoga is a positive, healthy, and safe way for teens explore their changing physiques. Small children move in their own skins with that beautiful freedom from self-consciousness, but in a matter of years their body becomes strange to them, as they become aware of its adult potentials. One young man observing remarked, “Wow, your boyfriend must love you.” I resisted blushing, smiled instead and shot back, “He does. And I love him for taking yoga classes with me.” What’s not to love about a guy doing yoga?

Yoga is cool. I proved it to the toughest kid in school. Any teacher wins her students’ attention upside-down. The youngest class was so receptive I led them lotus-seated through a guided meditation, but the oldest teens were boisterous, skeptical; I felt pressured to impress them…amazingly I did. The first asana I bent over to demonstrate, kids in chairs snickered. I focused on the students on mats, and after we moved through a sun salutation, I skipped to my planned finale: crow pose and headstand. Kids in the chairs, who were jeering, began cheering, actually clapping for me. I told them to applaud their brave classmates, not me, and some observers got bolder and joined in the fun. Each time the bell rang to end a session several kids asked how they might find a yoga class.

Yoga is fun. And when teens are depressed, they can do yoga. When they get angry, stressed-out, punked-out, and feel all the emotions on the teenage roller coaster, they can stop, breath, and do yoga. Why not make yoga, a physical and mental exercise with no losers, as available to our teens as other activities, like after-school competitive sports? I am not the only adult harboring painful memories as last-one-picked when teams were chosen. Gym teachers agree on the importance of stretching, so why not have whole gym periods devoted to soothing yoga? Parents: especially if you take yoga classes, why not give yoga to your children, too? If you can’t find a studio that offers kids yoga, bring it home: offer yoga practice as a family activity.

In NYC, kids do yoga.

Kids growing up in New York City may not get to enjoy some of the highlights of a Midwest childhood: going creekin’ through clay muck and crawdads, catching fireflies, growing pumpkins and eating cherry tomatoes off the vine. But, they certainly have perks I envy. For example: free ballet classes at Eliot Felds Ballet Tech studio.

When I moved to NYC after undergrad, looking to get certified as a yoga instructor, I wasn’t surprised to find a children’s yoga teacher training in the city that has everything for everyone. My yoga training with kid’s yoga guru Jodi Komitor was super-fun, and the very week I was certified, auspiciously I met a founder of a yoga studio opening the following month in Manhattan. I was aboard from their start-up as the Kid’s Yoga teacher. My students were 8 years old.

I began with a class of 2 girls, but when we had 5 girls coming regularly at the end of the year, I wanted to celebrate our class and keep the bunch of 9-year old girls interested. I brought in a cd of music and for a month, they choreographed their own moves to their chosen song. Thus, the world’s first-EVER yoga recital.  Here is our recital:

The next year, as a treat, when I returned from a month of travel in India, I montaged photographs I took of the Himalayas with photos I took of the children’s lotus pose. Their parents loved them!

Apples & Oranges

Why does food cost so much now?

In a time of tight budgets, are organics worth the cost?

What’s better, shopping at chain grocery stores or farmer’s markets?