Wine Parties: A Day in the Life Sunday

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror, there is one gathering I look forward to every year to get me in the holiday mood - the annual wine party. For over 25 years, friends of ours have hosted a wine party after Thanksgiving. We didn't know them when they first started but we do now and we've be partaking in tradition the last few years.

Photo credit: iStockphoto

It goes like this: the hosts purchase the wine and the guests bring the appetizers. We introduce the wines, taste the wines, eat food that pairs (mostly) with the wine, talk with each other, talk about the wine - and repeat.

It's great.

Wanting a reason to get together more often, we've expanded to include beer-tasting and a martini party. Now, we're tossing around the idea of Bloody Marys in the late winter/early spring and rum/vodka based drinks on the river in summer.

So, a finance, engineering, logistics and HR walk into a wine party. Finance calculates cost per bottle of a homemade wine, engineering assesses the wine-making equipment and overall process safety, logistics calculates supply and demand, and HR . . . .

What does HR do?

More important, what's your favorite adult-beverage themed party?

By: Lisa Rosendahl

Cupcakes and Health: A Day in the Life Sunday

There are many reasons to exercise regularly and eat healthy. I get that. What I don't get is why we continue to chase the next new "perfect" diet or fitness plan only to be  surprised and disenchanted when the too-good-to-be-true results are not realized.

Stop chasing. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to health and fitness. What works for one, won't work for another and what works for you today, may not work for you tomorrow.

The only perfect plan is the one you will follow.

Today, the plan I am following includes a paleo-ish way of eating (I completed an 8 week Paleo challenge last month) and CrossFit. I've had amazing results in strength and flexibility and am feeling better overall with less cravings, more energy, and stable  blood sugar levels. But the rigidity of the LuRong plan is too much of a long term commitment for me.

I stayed 100% true to the plan until I attended a wedding. I made good choices throughout the night: red wine and not white, shrimp and not eggrolls, sweet potatoes and not mashed. Then the desert came. Not eating the desert was less choice and more deprivation (see cupcake above).

I ate the cupcake.

And nothing bad happened.

I jumped back on the bandwagon and finished the challenge - strong. So, while I wait for my finisher's t-shirt, I'll continue to push my self and my strength, pay attention to the foods I eat and settle into the right balance of Paleo/clean/fun foods and exercise for me.

It's taken me a while to get to where I am, now. Will I be in the same place, doing the same next year at this time? I don't know. The one thing I do know is that whatever my perfect plan is, it will always include a cupcake.