Jillian Harris

Another season of The Bachelorette kicked off last night with Emily Maynard, a single mom who competed on The Bachelor after she lost her fiancée in an accident several years ago, only to find out days later that she was pregnant with his child. If last night’s premiere was any indication, this season is the one to watch, and we’re excited to announce that we have Jillian Harris from season five of The Bachelorette recapping for us every week! Jillian currently runs her own interior design firm and hosts Canada’s Handyman Challenge on HGTV Canada. She’ll be here sharing her insight with us every Tuesday—be sure to check back all season long!

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to be blogging for LHJ.com for the new season of The Bachelorette—I think it’s going to be a great one! First off, I have to say I think Emily is so, so beautiful. And I don’t mean to devalue the importance of my time on the show or anyone else’s, but I really think this season of The Bachelorette is the most important in terms of what it means for her. I wanted to find love, of course, but at the time I kind of looked at it like, whatever happens, happens. But I think because she’s a mom and she’s bringing her daughter along with her on this journey, the pressure is really on, and I hope this is it for her.

Emily Maynard

That being said, I also have to say that the show packed some major cheese last night, maybe more than ever. I loved Randy but seriously, what the heck was up with the granny get-up? It was so hard to take these guys seriously. I obviously loved Arie; he is so dreamy and I’m pretty sure he’s already a front-runner for Emily. Now as for Kalon, a.k.a. helicopter guy? I’m all for standing out, but in the least pretentious way possible, which in my opinion, helicopter guy didn’t achieve. At first I thought Jef the hipster was kind of a joke but he’s right, the other guys probably will underestimate him. I love what he stands for and I think his charity work is a huge turn on.

Overall there were definitely some good-looking men and I’m sure there are some solid guys in the group. I know that for me, that first night was such a blur (and no, not because of the champagne!). Emily is going to make some good decisions and some bad decisions, but at the end of the day I’m pretty sure she’ll pick the right guy. Whether it lasts or not has nothing to do with the show, and everything to do with their “real life” relationship. I know I picked the right guy and I actually believe that for a time, it was a successful relationship. I just hope that hers is a successful relationship that lasts longer than mine did.

Until next time,

Jillian

Hipswap also features some fashionable closets you can shop from, like Kyle Richards from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and other fashion “experts.” You might just recognize a familiar face (yep, that’s me).

Happy shopping/selling!

When Nicholas Penna Jr., owner of SalonCapri in the Boston-area, sent us the photo of this fancy-schmancy updo we flipped over his handy work, and then preceded to find out when he would be in our neck of the woods next so that he could give us the ‘do. Turns out, according to Penna, the style (he calls it “The Crown”) is simple enough for  any updo novice (US!) to do on themselves. Here’s how he told us to get the look…

STEP 1 If your hair is naturally straight, follow STEP 2 and STEP 3 below to curl the hair. If your hair already has a curl to it, skip to STEP 4.

STEP 2 Separate hair into top and bottom sections. Clip the top section up, leaving the bottom section to hang.

STEP 3 Using a 1 1/2 inch curling iron, curl all of the hair that is down. Alternate the curling direction between counterclockwise and clockwise. Repeat this step with the top section of hair.  Separate curls with your fingers to achieve a piece-y look.

STEP 4 Take a 1/2 inch to 2 inch piece of hair slightly above one ear and pull it across the head to the other side and let the section drape slightly so there will be enough room to pull hair pieces around it. Combine the draped section with a small piece of hair right behind the other ear and pin the joined hair pieces with a bobby pin.

STEP 5 Starting at the side of the head where the first hair section was taken from, select another piece of your hair from under the draped section. Lift it upwards, over, and then under the draped section, leaving it to fall underneath.

STEP 6 Next, grab another piece of hair from under the draped section a 1/2 inch to an inch over and follow the same step. Continue across the head by choosing random pieces and pulling them over and under the draped section until you reach the other side of the head.

STEP 7 For the last pinned piece, lift it over and under but let it wrap over the first bobby pin used to secure the draped hair section (to make the bobby pin less visible). Take a second bobby pin and secure the final wrapped piece where the draped section was first secured above one ear.

STEP 8  Finish with a light spray of medium hold hairspray, like Shu Uemura Sheer Lacquer.

Tell us about your experience as a mom so far.  I am so excited about my first Mother’s Day! Being a mom has been the best thing I have ever done with my life. It is such a healing and sweet love, and it inspires me to be a better person every day. It has also inspired my writing. I have written many poems and songs for [baby Kase] already. I play him guitar every day, so that if he wants to pick it up one day, he can, but I won’t push him into it.

What projects have you been working on recently? Have they been inspired by your son? I wrote my son an album while I was pregnant called “The Merry Goes ‘Round.”  I wanted to write a children’s album that was clever and well-produced so parents would enjoy it on one level, and kids on another. It was fun to write and produce, because I got to think of all the things I wanted to say to my son, and what stories I would want him to hear. I also wrote a children’s book called That’s What I’d Do, based on a song I wrote. The book will come out this September and is about all the things you would do for your child because you love them. A CD of the song will be sold along with the book, so everyone can sing along if they want.

How do you juggle being a mom with all the professional projects you’re working on? Have your priorities shifted? How do you balance everything? Aside from my commitment to Child Hunger Ends Here, I have put almost all my work on hold for the year. I wanted to dig in and enjoy being a new mom, and wasn’t sure if I would want to continue working at all. I have to find my own sense of balance and rhythm as a new mom and [balance that with] my work — just like all moms have to. Becoming a mom has given me a whole new respect for women and how we are so many things to so many people… and we get so much done!Who are the women who have inspired you: in life, in work and in motherhood? Many of my female heroes were authors whose books I read as a child, like Anaiis Nin, Charlotte Brontë, Maya Angelou and Flannery O’Connor. They taught me my mind was worth no less than a man’s, and that I was just as capable intellectually as a man — if I was willing to learn and put the work in.

Can you share the charity efforts you’re passionate about and how our readers can help? As a homeless teen, I experienced hunger first-hand, and as a new mother, it breaks my heart to know that more than 1 in 5 children in the U.S. don’t know when their next meal is coming. I’m honored to be able to help those in need through the Child Hunger Ends Here program. You can help by purchasing specially-marked packages ConAgra Foods brands and entering the 8-digit code at http://www.childhungerendshere.com/Html/Index.html. For each code entered, the equivalent of one meal will be donated to Feeding America. Afterward, you will be able to download a copy of “Here’s Hope,” an original song written specifically for this cause that I recorded with musicians Owl City and Jay Sean.

I started Project Clean water in 1997, after I had been homeless for a year and struggled to get clean drinking water. Since we started the project I’ve put 35 wells in 15 different countries! I recently partnered with Sir Richard Branson and his organization Virgin Unite and Voss waters initiative Give A Drop. For more info, visit giveadrop.com.

Just in time for Mother’s Day, Stone served as host at the annual benefit luncheon for Gilda’s Club in New York, and she brought her mom Krista, a breast-cancer survivor, with her. Named after comedian Gilda Radner, who died of ovarian cancer in 1989, Gilda’s Club opened in New York City in 1995 as a support and resource center for people living with cancer.

Who could forget Radner’s unforgettable characters from her days as one of the original cast members of Saturday Night Live, such as Roseanne Roseannadanna? Stone definitely hasn’t: her mom introduced her to Radner’s work years ago, including her memoir It’s Always Something, and Stone’s been a fan ever since. In fact, when Stone hosted SNL last November, she paid homage to Radner in a much-talked-about bumper that ran near the end of the show. “Gilda is my biggest hero. Doing that photo shoot was so amazing for me,” she says.

It all came full-circle for Stone when her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and joined a Gilda’s Club support group in Phoenix. “You can’t underestimate the power of finding people who are empathetic instead of just sympathetic,” Stone says. “It was so helpful to her. I wanted to be involved.”

Three and a half years later, her mom is doing well. But Stone continues to lend her celebrity for causes in her honor. She’s also been involved with the organization Stand Up 2 Cancer, and last Saturday she participated in NYC’s EIF Revlon Run/Walk, a fundraiser for women’s cancers, with pal Olivia Wilde. “I’ll be beating this drum forever,” Stone says.

There are now 20 Gilda’s Club centers across the country, with many more in development. To find a support group or make a donation, contact your local Gilda’s Club via this directory.

Happy Mother’s Day from the LHJ Health Ladies!

Photo by Paul Frogatt / PR Photos

Everyone loves a good book club, and women from the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas really love this one! Meetings of the DWF Tea Readers sometimes attract as many as 50 members, and they plan such fun events that these ladies just keep coming back for more—don’t they look darling at their annual “Boas & Tiaras” meet-up? “We are all voracious readers,” says member Jill Hayden. “When we get together it’s a great opportunity to share what we’ve read and want to read next.”

Is there anything special you do for each meeting or on occasion?

“Our group meets several times during the month at a local book store and we have pot-luck dinners twice a month in the homes of our readers. Our dinners have a theme – Breakfast for Dinner, Tex-Mex Night or Summer Grillin’, to name a few.  We arrange for an author to call in to discuss their books, how they got started writing and what they enjoy reading.  This year we’ve spoken with authors Robyn Carr, Julie James, Shelly Laurenston and Shannon Butcher.  We also get together one Saturday afternoon a month at an area tea room for a bit more formal affair.  Once a year we have a very special tea with an equally special guest author in attendance.  We have had Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Meg Cabot as our guests in the past.” – Jill Hayden

What’s your favorite book you’ve read together and why?

“That’s the beauty of our group.  We don’t select a specific book to read and discuss.  Since we know who our call-in author will be prior to our dinner, we try to read some of the author’s work if we’re not familiar with her.  Often we find that even if the author does not write a genre we normally read, or if we haven’t previously read one of her books, by the end of the call, we’re hooked and we’ve whipped out our phones or notebooks to purchase the books on the spot.” – Jill Hayden

Everyone’s super busy these days.  Why is it important to you to make time to read and then get together?

“We have book club because it’s fun! We eat good food, laugh late into the night, and get to talk about our fictional friends. Finding friends who experience as much joy in reading as I do isn’t as easy as you might think. I love being in a room full of women who talk about plots and characters with curiosity, passion, and respect.” – Maria Munoz

“Sanity!  Seriously, I think the best reason to embrace hobbies and get together with people that share your love for them is sanity.  In these days of ‘go-go-go’, a hobby gives you a chance to escape all the realities for your life for just a little while.  I think that is why reading appeals to me and my book club friends.  We get to escape for awhile into our books and then come together to share out love of the stories we just read.  To me we truly have the best hobby in the world and our book club just gives us another way to celebrate it.”  – Felicia Sparks

* Clair Lomas of Britain just became the first paralyzed person to finish a marathon in a bionic suit. It took her 16 days but she did it! (MSNBC)

* Healthy cake—it exists, and it’s delicious. EatingWell shows you how to bake lighter versions of your faves. (EatingWell)

* Feeling unmotivated to exercise? Get pumped by watching these awe-inspiring fitness ads. (Fitness)

* We’re definitely setting our DVRs to record ABC’s 20/20 this Friday. “Losing It: The Big Fat Money Pit” will examine the $200 billion (and growing) weight-loss industry. It looks fascinating! (ABC)

Photo via Shutterstock

As a sweet treat to honor the Foundation — which celebrates is 25th anniversary this year — we wanted to share a recipe from this year’s winner in the Dessert and Baking Cookbook category. Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home, by Jeni Britton Bauer is the ultimate guide to creating frozen treats at home. The author’s nine Columbus, Ohio-area scoop shops have become well known for churning out creative flavors like Roasted Strawberry & Buttermilk and Chamomile Chardonnay, and since they’ve started shipping, have developed a national following. We can’t take our minds of her recipe for white Rum Praline Sauce (recipe below) and can’t wait to give it a try!

Along with applauding the winning book, we’d want to send our congrats to the other category nominees — Baking Style by Lisa Yockelson and Cooking with Chocolate, edited by Frédéric Bau. Both feature the kind of recipes (and photographs!) that make us want to abandon our diets all together.

WHITE RUM PRALINE SAUCE from Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams at Home
Ingredients:
Praline sauce (recipe below)
2 tablespoons white rum

Procedure:
Blend the praline sauce and rum together.

PRALINE SAUCE
Makes about 3 cups
Ingredients:
1 cup heavy cream
2 cups packed muscovado sugar or 1 cup each packed dark brown and light brown sugar
½ vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped out, seeds and bean reserved
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure:
Combine the cream, sugar, vanilla seeds and bean, and the salt in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar, and boil for 7 minutes, or until the sauce thickens a bit. Remove from the heat and add the vanilla extract. Serve warm, or let cool and refrigerate. The sauce will keep for up to 1 week.
To serve, reheat, stirring, until the sauce is warm and fluid.

1. Something flat – We shot these gold beauties in Joshua Tree (you can see the story in our June issue on newsstands May 8th) and though I live in my gold Matt Bernson flat sandals every summer, I think I need to shake it up a bit and add these into the mix. Wewantit, $79.

2. Something floral – Like I said, when the toes come out, they stay out but a little peep might be enough. These would be fun with the pretty, blushy colored skirts and dresses we’ve been seeing this season. (I got this one from Zara.) Feelngood, $99.

3. Something nude – I get a new neutral platform sandal each spring because I wear them to death. By “wear them to death”, I mean there is literally no life in them at the end of the season. This summer, I’ll be picking up Nine West’s Hotlist in Light Natural Leather ($89) because they’re cute and not a bad substitute for the YSL Tribute that I’ve been coveting forEVER. (Um…$795? Not for something that me and the New York City streets are going to murder in 3 months time. Well, actually not for anything!)

4. Something bright – High heeled wedges are so comfy that they’re like slippers to me so I’ll definitely be picking up these bright orange (or should I get the yellow? No, the orange. No wait…) woven heeled wedges. Oh, they’re on sale! Maybe I’ll get both. Troischic, $59.

5. Something crazy – Oh boy, it’s that gorgeous Hotlist style that I loved in nude but this time it’s in…muticolored glitter! Could any outfit be sad with these babies on your feet? I don’t think I need to tell you that my 1st grade diva daughter nearly passed out when I brought these home. Hotlist glitter sandals, $69.

Say it with me…Free Those Toes! Free Those Toes! (And don’t forget your pedi! Zoya’s bright orange Paz is going to be my summer 2012 color.) Happy shopping!

All images from ninewest.com

Live Tiles – In the Windows Phone world, your screen has “tiles,” or buttons that link to photos, programs, etc. Kind of like apps, except that you can make almost anything a tile. You can have a best friend (or a husband) app on your start screen that pulls in all of that person’s photos, Facebook, and Twitter updates, so can keep up to date on your favorite people without going to three different social media sites.  Or you can make an important contacts tile that keeps phone numbers for your pediatrician, school, and babysitters all in one place. If your kids are a little older, make a family tile and you can text message everyone at once.

Camera – this is a small thing, but my jaw dropped when I first figured it out. Say your kid (or in my case, my dog) is doing something adorable and you want to take a picture. Instead of taking out your phone, unlocking it, entering your password, and opening the camera app, all you have to do is point it at the cuteness and hold down the camera button. It’ll bypass the lock function and take the picture immediately.

To enter to win a Windows phone,  just leave a comment below!

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