Marilyn always gets it right

Beer: Your daily supplement

Now, instead of just being fun, beer can actually be good for you. I've heard that it hydrates better than water after a workout, but this month's Women's Health magazine actually shows that it is rich in silicon, a nutrient everyone needs for bone health. It helps you to maintain bone and connective tissues in the body. It also helps to aid rapid healing, and the transfer of other nutrients into the body.

Nearly all beer has silicon in it, but Charles Bamforth of the University of California broke it down to determine how much of this enriching nutrient is in different common types of beer. India Pale Ale like Sierra Nevada Torpedo Extra IPA has the highest level with 41 milligrams per liter. Pale ales like Bass Pale ale is second with 37 mg/L, and regular ale like Bard's comes in third at 33 mg of silicon per liter. Next come lagers like Budweiser, Wheat beers, and Light Lagers like Amstel Light at the lowest.

Regardless of the brew you choose, you can rest assured that you are doing your body a favor by imbibing. Though ladies, who are found to get most of the silicon they need from grains and veggies, should stop after one, men can drink two to get the nutrients they need. So, in honor of the upcoming memorial day weekend, crack open a brewski and enjoy your daily supplement.

Caffeine can help Asthma

I've known for a while that drinking caffeine can give you a boost during your workout. Not only does it give you energy, but it numbs the pain your muscles feel when working hard so that you can push yourself longer and harder than without your cuppa joe beforehand.

The June issue of Women's Health magazine reports that this same daily stimulant may have a double bonus for asthma sufferers who work out. Drinking a cup of coffee before working out can reduce the inflammation of the lungs while working out and help to abate symptoms. Who knew that a little caffeine could have so many hidden health perks?

Perfect advice for a 90 degree day in NYC

Thanks Ralph.

Calimocho

Now doesn’t that look delicious? And refreshing? Notice the lovely purple foam created by me dropping an ice cube in for extra chilled deliciousness. It’s called Calimocho (from the Basque word Kalimotxo) a beverage that I discovered while abroad in Madrid that may sound gross, but may actually be one of the more perfect drink combinations I’ve come across.

It’s the lazy woman’s sangria. It makes cheap red wine into a crisp cool summer drink. Yet, not only does it not require brandy. It does not need fruit. It does not need seltzer. No, all you need to enjoy is a fancy glass (or to-go cup if you are on the run to the park or the movies) a bottle of 3 buck chuck (Trader Joe’s fans, you know what I’m talking about), and a liter of cola.

The typical serving cup in Espana was a liter glass (made of plastic) and filled with ice first. These were called “Mini’s” in Spain, which was mighty confusing to a foreigner who interprets Mini to mean small. Let’s just say I was quite surprised and alarmed when I ordered my first Mini and campaigned to the bartender that it be renamed Maxi. He didn’t get it.

I prefer diet pepsi for low cal delicious, but any store brand or preference will do. I’m pretty sure in Spain Coca-Cola lite was the way to go, but there soda was made with real sugar so there was no chemical or calorie debate when choosing Lite or Regular.

Now, open both bottles. Get your ice tray ready. I pour in the wine first, until the glass is half full. Then fill the glass the rest of the way with your Cola of choice, and drop in 1-3 ice cubes depending on the size of your beverage, and the heat of the day. This is how you achieve the purple foam (if that grosses you out, put the ice in first).

That’s right, it IS that easy. 50% cola, 50% soda and a healthy dose of ice. I know. It does not sound appealing, but I assure you it is SO good. The soda sweetens up the wine a little, and gives you a caffeine boost to counteract the sleepy effect of red wine. AND as a bonus, there is no cheap red wine so disgusting that it doesn’t taste good mixed with soda. Just think of it as a twist on the wine spritzer. See? It IS a perfect summer drink.

Versions of Calimocho are popular across Spain, in Chile, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Republic of Macedonia, Croatia, and Slovenia among others. Could that many countries really be wrong? All you Oenophiles stop turning your noses up, and don’t knock it till you try it. I guarantee it is not half as bad as you think.

Roller clips vs. Roller Pins

I recently received a set of hot rollers. It makes me feel a little like a granny owning a set of these, but with long hair and little time to get ready for work in the morning, they really do wondrous things. When I had shorter hair, rollers were not my friends. They left it looking poodley at best, and frizzy at worst. However, now that my hair is longer, they give it a nice curl on the ends, while keeping it smooth and shiny on the top. It essentially looks like I spent some serious time with a curling iron coiling all the ends, but with way less effort.

Granted, there is a special technique to acheive long lasting curl from rollers. You must roll a strip of hair down the center of your head from front to back in 4 rollers then roll the sides in about 2 for each side. You have to wait until they are almost burn your fingers hot, and let them set with the clips in until they cool. Then unroll, replace in their container, flip head over, shake, and you're done. Voila! Natural, bouncy curls that stay longer than with a curling iron (for me at least) and with only one final coat of hair spray at the end rather than spritzing each section before twirling it around an iron.

This is the first set of curlers I've owned since just stealing them from my mom or my sister, and there have been some changes since their sets were made. First of all, there are different clips. The clips mine came with (shown above) are plastic little claws that claim to hold tight without crimping hair. YES, it even said that on the box. Which is one of the reasons I thoguht this was the right set of curlers for me.

Now let's rewind to about 5 minutes before I'm supposed to run out the door this morning. I'm all dressed, teeth brushed, and I start to unroll my hair, ready to shake, spray and run out the door looking fab. I take out 1, 2, 3, ALL of the rollers and my head is peppered with crimps every single place the clip touched my hair. HORROR! DISMAY! I'm going to be late!

After a quick rummage around the apartment for a hair straigtener, and finding none, I had no choice but to pull my ruined hair into a pony tail and dash out the door. I was NOT happy to hide my bouncing curls with a rubberband, but the whole head kinks did not leave me much choice.

I don't know why they don't make curlers anymore that come with the wires shown below. Not only do they pin the curler to your head more securely (so you don't risk hot rollers falling out and flying across the living room while you're ironing your outfit....not that that happened this morning or anything), but they DO NOT and HAVE NOT ever left a kink in my hair.

I know I plan to order some roller wires online to go with my set to avoid this catastrophe in the future. But don't be fooled like me! The box lies, and the clips will crimp your hair.

A guilty pleasure

Call it what you will. Yard Saling, Garage Saling, often a little bit of both. I love it. You wander from lawn to lawn, and rifle through people's old belongings that they no longer want. Many look down upon it, and think it's weird. But I like to take the change to bargain hunt and search for hidden gems whatever chance I get (which, living in NYC, isn't very often). It's a great place to find expensive items, like bikes or furniture for deeply discounted prices, and often just gently used. It's really just how the world got rid of all their old junk before the advent of Craig's List.

I was upstate this weekend kicking off summer at my grandparent's house, and my Gram and I went out cruising for sales saturday morning. It was a beautiful day. There was a neighborhood wide sale going on. We traipsed from lawn to lawn for hours. There were furniture, flat screens, bikes, clothes, books, jewelry. Yet not a single jigsaw puzzle in sight. That was what started my penchant for yard sales, my equal love for puzzles.

I came out of the venture with the gorgeous 2 sided pendant you see above for only 10 cents! And two books, an Anita Shreve novel for the beach, and The Valley of the Dolls, all without dipping further than my change purse. You can't beat that for cheap thrills, and the beauty of it all is you never know what you'll find!