ashleyd /

An Academy Award Sized Giveaway

As most of you all know, tomorrow night is the biggest night of the year for Hollywood. The night is filled with gorgeous dresses, witty jokes, and lots of good looking guys in tuxedos.

Academy Awards 2009: Best Dressed on the Red Carpet

I’m excited for the night and have even convinced Bo to watch it with me. I am so excited for this year’s hosts, James Franco and Anne Hathaway. While their humor will probably be far different than Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, and Alex Baldwin I expect it will be very entertaining!

If you want to watch but depend on your computer for television shows, I found out online that you can live stream the show on the Associated Press AP Live Site.

Normally, we do our best to see as many of the Oscar films as possible before the big night but this year we’ve only seen a few: Black Swan, The Kids are Alright, Inception (Bo only), Toy Story 3, and The Social Network (me only).

While we aren’t hosting a party this year, I received some great tips from the folks at Yoplait for a perfect Oscar Evening.

How to Get Your Home In Oscar Shape

  • Set up a photo area in your home – it could simply be a corner of your living room – where each guest can take their own ‘red carpet’ photo.
  • ·Pick a signature cocktail for the evening for something extra special.
  • ·Play a game with your guests and vote on who you think will win each award.

How to Make Yourself Red Carpet Ready

How to Get Ready for a Big Event – Fashion Tips from Jeannie Mai

Celebrity stylist, host of the Style Network’s “How Do I Look?” and Yoplait Light Two Week Tune Up spokesperson Jeannie Mai tells us how to get red-carpet ready:

  • The Dress: When picking a dress for your Oscar party, pick styles that show off your best assets. If you have great arms, show them off with a sleeveless look or try something like a wrap-dress to accentuate your curves.  An added bonus of a cocktail dress is that it can be transformed from casual to formal with a little help from accessories – so you could wear your dress to work, add accessories and hit a party.
  • Adding Glamour: You don’t have to spend a fortune to add a little flare to your outfit.  Try adding a broach, a statement necklace or fabulous earrings and colorful scarf to add some glamour to your dress.
  • Feeling Confident: Looking your best is also about feeling your best. With only a few days left before the Oscars, try a quick tune-up to give you that extra boost of confidence.
  • Shoes: Shoes are also an important part of your overall look. A pair of high heel shoes can give you added height making you look not only taller, but slimmer. Your shoes can instantly transform from casual to formal as well. Wear a classic pair of black or solid color pumps for day. Then to jazz them up for night – take a pair of pretty clip-on earrings and clip them onto the front of your shoes.  It’s a great way to add some glitz to polish off your look.

Now comes the fun part! I have an Academy Award sized giveaway (worth over $250) for readers. It includes the following:

  • IMG_0629Yoplait Food Journal and coupons
  • MultiGrain Cheerios workout pack including a gym bag, Cheerios, water bottle, and cereal holder
  • LightLife sampler package
  • A few samples of my favorite beauty products and scents from Lanvin, Fekkai, and more
  • An at home spa set

There are 3 ways to enter:

  • Add A Healthy, Happier Bear to your blog’s blogroll and let me know
  • Like and become friends with me at  A Healthy, Happier Bear on Facebook and let me know
  • Let me know what your favorite Oscar nominated movie was and why.

The giveaway ends tomorrow night when the Academy Awards end!

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

ABC Game..I want to play too!

So if Heather thought she was late to the ABC Game party, I guess I’m even later! 🙂  But, I thought it would be a fun way to let my readers, new and old alike, learn some new facts about me!

A. Age: 27

B. Bed size: Queen since our small NYC apartment doesn’t allow for a king but it is the first thing I’m buying when we have a larger place! My favorite thing to do is sleep on a diagonal, which doesn’t go over well now that I live with Bo. I blame this habit on my parents who bought me a queen size bed when I was 7 years old!

Sleeping diagonally across the bed

C. Chore you hate: Putting away laundry. I don’t know why the act of hanging up clothes or putting the tshirts away annoys me so much but it is always the last chore I complete.

D. Dogs: Growing up, I always wanted a dog because we couldn’t have one but now all I want is an adorable kitten as a dog just isn’t realistic in New York City. But, when the time comes, this lil Rufus is definitely towards the top of our list.

E. Essential start to your day: I always brush my teeth and wash my face before doing anything whether that means going to the gym, eating breakfast, checking emails, or even kissing Bo good morning.

F. Favorite color: I love navy blue, especially fun dresses like this and this. It’s fresher and brighter than black, screams summer has arrived, and reminds me of my mom.

G. Gold or silver: I prefer silver, platinum, or white gold. In fact, I only have 1 or 2 pieces of gold jewelry.

H. Height: 5’9 and a half (Can you tell I’ve always wanted to be 5’10?)

I. Instruments you play: I play absolutely nothing. I have no musical or vocal talents, in fact even humming is a challenge.

J. Job title: Market, Strategy, and Planning Category Account Executive for Dolce&Gabbana Fragrance and Makeup, North America

K. Kids: Yes please, but in 4 years. 🙂 I know, we have a plan, now let’s just hope that plan works and we can get to Asia and Australia before that! 🙂

L. Live: We’re living in New York City but our hearts are still in the South and more specifically Savannah, Georgia.

M. Mom’s name: Deborah

N. Nicknames: Ash the Dash, Pumpkin, Bear, and Matilda

O. Overnight hospital stays: I’ve had surgery twice but I don’t think I’ve actually ever stayed the night.

P. Pet peeve: Husbands who don’t understand why hampers were invented. 🙂 Outside of husband pet peeves, I think my other one would be people who are constantly late. But, I can’t moan too much about this as every now and then I’m also late.

Q. Quote from a movie: Frank: “Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we’re going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don’t know, I don’t know if we’ll have enough time.” This is the first quote that came to mind though I can’t promise that it’s my favorite. 🙂

R. Right or left handed: Right.

S. Siblings: One awesome older brother, Ryan, who I become closer and closer with each day!

5940_1057698777505_1676948544_117502_4195727_nT. Time you wake up: Monday through Friday I wake up at 5:45 in order to make it to the gym by 6am. My goal on the weekend is to sleep until I wake up though lots of Saturdays mean early long runs.

U. Underwear: comfortable!

V. Vegetables you dislike: I can’t handle mushy asparagus and creamed spinach.

W. What makes you run late: Not my beauty routine as I’m a five minute gal. 🙂 I think the only thing that makes me run late is all the stuff I carry to work each morning including my gym bag filled with clothes, breakfast and lunch, and change of shoes.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Teeth, back, and hand.

Y. Yummy food you make: My salted chocolate chunk cookies are my family’s new favorite treat. Needless to say they are amazing and you should make them IMMEDIATELY!

Z. Zoo- favorite animal: Bears 🙂

Hope you enjoyed learning a few new facts about me! 🙂

Share Button
Follow:
ashleyd /

A Rainy Bowl of Cinnamon Oats

 

Happy Friday!! It’s a rainy one here in New York City but that still doesn’t change my happy mood! Why am I in such a good mood? Well, for starters I enjoyed 9 peaceful hours of sleep last night. I woke up feeling refreshed, invigorated, and ready for the day. I still can’t believe what time the clock read when I woke up.

IMG_0581 Of course, I woke up at 5:30am when my alarm went off but then texted Sara letting her know that my body wanted and needed the sleep. I mean come on, how peaceful is sleeping while it’s raining outside.

The commute to work was a bit of a damp one especially since Bo and I realized that all our umbrellas were at our office desks. Oops!

IMG_0589IMG_0586

Hmm, look how intelligent those ladies with umbrellas look. Oh well, at least my shorter hair dries quickly.

IMG_0584The view from my desk this morning is equally as dreary. It’s like a big cloud landed on top of Manhattan.  I guess we’re lucky it isn’t colder or we’d be getting lots of snow just like Boston and Vermont. IMG_0590 My breakfast this morning was the regular banana and oatmeal, except with a small twist! I added a teaspoon of cinnamon and a dollop of yogurt to the mix which did a great deal for the flavor and health impact! The cinnamon was inspired by my daily fitness tip of the day which I shared on Twitter and Facebook:

Fitness tip of the day: Add cinnamon into your coffee, oats, etc. Studies find that even a 1/2 tsp daily can lower LDL cholesterol! Here are a few more random facts I found about cinnamon’s benefits:

  • Studies have shown that just 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon per day can lower LDL cholesterol.
  • Several studies suggest that cinnamon may have a regulatory effect on blood sugar
  • In some studies, cinnamon has shown an amazing ability to stop medication-resistant yeast infections.
  • It has an anti-clotting effect on the blood.

IMG_0592 IMG_0591In fact, a few of my favorite Twitter friends had some great responses to today’s health tip with the ways they use cinnamon on a daily basis!

image Question: What is your favorite way to enjoy cinnamon?

PS- It’s a shameless plug, but I’d love if you’d take a minute to nominate me and other bloggers for the Women’s Health blogroll 🙂

Share Button
Follow: