Good Living with Aprilanne

Make it a "Green Getaway" at the Oceano Hotel & Spa, Half Moon Bay, CA

While the Oceano Hotel & Spa’s “walk everywhere” location, chic guest suites, and new Coastal Spa are everything you could want in a vacation getaway on the coast - an impressive feature of this Half Moon Bay, CA resort property is that they are the “only full service hotel in San Mateo County to be certified by the San Mateo County’s Green Buisness Program.” 

Now “being green” does not mean one needs to sacrifice luxury - in fact some of the “eco-friendly”  touches such as the Oceano’s organic Bamboo bed linens and all-organic custom spa treatments  made me feel quite indulgent!  Get the CA Insider’s Guide to Princeton-By-The-Sea and the Oceano Hotel & Spa now On-Demand below -which recently aired primetime Bay Area wide on California Living:

Want to see more?  Check out the show clip of my custom milk and honey bath and Acaci Anti-Aging body Mask and Massage treatment I received during my spa day at the Oceano Coastal Spa below for the Insider’s Guide to the Bay Area’s hottest spa destination on the coast:

Discover the "Fountain of Youth" at your fingertips @ aprilanne.com!

The search for the “Fountain of Youth” may be over - literally!  Man’s quest for the proverbial “Fountain of Youth” can be traced as far back as the time of  Alexander Romance (could be as early as the 3rd Century and even further if you count Biblical references) when Herodotus‘ a Greek historian chronicles tales of discovering “healing waters” from a fountian located in the land of the Ethiopians.Other “fountain of youth myths” were introduced to the New World by sixteenth-century historians who “expanded” upon the Spanish Explorer Ponce de Leon’s account of discovering the “Fountain of Youth” in 1513 on what he thought was an island - which is now Florida.Present day - we have access to a plethora of health and beauty products and treatments promising to “take away the years” and halt the signs of aging.  Health food stores are brimming with supplements, specialty foods, and “potions” promising anti-aging and longevity boosting benefits to those consuming their contents.  Plastic surgery has become an acceptable option to looking younger, and research and drug companies search to create medications to help us live longer.  There are as many exercise machines and fad diets out there now as there are shapes and sizes of people trying to loose weight with them.And naturally - consumers snatch it all up with intense fervor as the promise of eternal youth and happiness is worth every hard earned dollar spent - assuming of course,  these products actually do deliver on what they promise.  Unfortunately, as we have all experienced - this is not typically the case, and all we have to show for our investments are empty promises, deflated hopes, and shattered dreams of attaining that ellusive state of “everlasting youth.”

The secrets to a longer, healthier life - REVEALED!

Now what if I told you - the secrets to living a longer, happier, and healthier life are available to you right now and are literally just a mere click away - and all FREE for the taking?  I know, you may be wondering “what’s the catch?”  Well - there is no catch.  I’m not pushing any magic pills - secret virility potions - fancy creams - or body altering gadgets.   Just click here to watch “CA Living’s Top 10 Foods Proven to Enhance  Health & Longevity. “  You can also check out other great Health & Wellness info. and a printed version of our Top 10 Foods on aprilanne.com.

The ironic thing is - many, and perhaps even ALL of the foods on CA Livings Top 10 Food List such as red grapes, olive oil, nuts, etc., have been important staples in man’s diet dating back long before the “Fountain of Youth” myths even started to surface - proving that the solution to man’s quest to find the “Fountain of Youth”  has possibly been within reach all along.

Of course, for some, having the answers to attain good health, happiness, and enhanced longevity just may not be enough - as it is the very “thrill of the chase,” the richly rooted folklore, and the ongoing search for a literal “fountain of youth” that keeps this age old quest alive.

For these “die hards” -  perhaps a check in to see what Magician David Copperfield is up to is in order - as back in 2006 he claimed the “fountain of youth” existed within the boundaries of a few islands in the Bahamas he purchased where reportedly “the waters had magical,  life altering healing powers” breathing new life into dead leaves and “near dead” insects…hmmm.  Now while I’m always one for giving someone the “benefit of the doubt” folks - let’s keep in mind this guy made his living tricking people with his “illusionary” skills and play it safe for now by calling on the proven super powers of garlic, spinach, tomatoes, and array of other healthy foods available to us right now - no strings attached!  Enjoy ~ Aprilanne

Click here to watch “CA Living’s Top 10 Foods Proven to Enhance  Health & Longevity”

Printed version of -CA Living’s  Top 10 Foods

As seen on California Living with Aprilanne’s “Health & Wellness” Special - below is a list of the Top Ten foods science has proven can make you healthier and help you live longer:

1. TOMATOES – TOMATOES ARE A MAJOR SOURCE OF THE ANTIOXIDANT LYCOPENE – LYCOPENE REDUCES THE RISK OF CANCER BY 40 % - NOTABLY PROSTATE, LUNG, AND STOMACH CANCERS AND INCREASE CANCER SURVIVAL – AND HERE’S AN INTERESTING TIP – CONCENTRATED TOMATOES SAUCES LIKE THE  GLASS JARRED ONES FOR PIZZA AND PASTA SAUCES HAVE FIVE TIMES MORE LYCOPINE THAN FRESH TOMATOES –SO THERE’S NO EXCUSE TO ALWAYS HAVING THIS POWERFOOD ON HAND ANY TIME YOU WANT A LYCOPINE BOOST!

2. OLIVE OIL – IT IS A MAJOR PART OF THE MEDITERRANEAN DIET – SHOWN TO HELP REDUCE DEATH FROM HEART DISEASE AND CANCER – HEART ATTACH SURVIVORS ON A MEDITERRANEAN DIET HAD HALF THE DEATH RATES OF THOSE ON AN ORDINARY LOW-FAT DIET, RECENT RESEARCH SHOWS.  THE REMARKABLY LOW MORTALITY RATES AMONG MEDITERRANEAN POPULATIONS IS ATTRIBUTED TO OLIVE OIL – WHICH IS ALSO HIGH IN ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY.

3. RED GRAPES – THIS CATEGORY INCLUDES RED GRAPE JUICE AND WINE.  CERTAIN RED GRAPES HAVE MODERATE ANTIOXIDANT POWER WITH PURPLE GRAPE JUICE TOPPING OTHER JUICES IN ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY – HAVING FOUR MORE THAN ORANGE OR TOMATO  JUICE – RED WINE HAS ABOUT THE SAME ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY AS PURPLE GRAPE JUICE OR TEA.  FRENCH RESEARCH ALSO SHOWS THAT DRINKING RED WINE IN MODERATION INCREASES LONGEVITY – BUT AS WE JUST TOLD YOU – YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH THE SAME ANTIOXIDANT BENEFITS WITH GRAPE JUICE IF YOU DO NOT WANT THE ALCOHOL.

4.  NUTS – RECENT HARVARD UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUND THAT EATING MORE THAN 5 OUNCES OF NUTS A WEEK CAN CUT HEART ATTACK DEATHS IN WOMEN BY OVER 40 PERCENT – AND HELPED PREVENT DEADLY IRREGULAR HEARTBEATS IN MEN.  ALMONDS AND WALNUTS LOWER BLOOD CHOLESTEROL – AND NUTS ARE HIGH IN FAT – MOST IN THE GOOD TYPE MONOUNSATURATED AND OR OMEGA -3 FATTY ACIDS – SO IF YOUR WATCHING YOUR FAT INTAKE KEEP PORTIONS TO ONCE OUNCE.

5. WHOLE GRAINS THE MORE WHOLE GRAINS YOU EAT – THE LOWER YOUR ODDS OF DEATH A UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA STUDY REVEALS. – MIDDLE AGED WOMEN WHO ATE SLIGHTLY MORE THAN ONE WHOLE GRAIN FOOD PER DAY HAD A 15% LOWER DEATH RATE TAN WOMEN EATING LOTS OF REFINED PROCESSED GRAINS.  LOOK TO INCLUDE MORE WHOLE GRAIN DARK BREADS, AND CEREALS SUCH AS ALL BRAN AND OLD FASHIONED OATMEAL INTO YOUR DIET.  WHOLE GRAINS CONTAIN ANTI-CANCER AGENTS AND HELP STABILIZE BLOOD SUGAR AND INSULIN WHICH MAY PROMOTE LONGEVITY.

6.  SALMON AND OTHER FATTY FISH – THESE CONTAIN HIGH AMOUNTS OF THE TYPE OF FAT – OMEGA 3 FATTY ACIDS – THAT PERFORMS MIRACLES THROUGHOUT THE BODY – FIGHTING VIRTUALLY EVERY CHRONIC DISEASE KNOW – WITHOUT IT YOUR BRAIN CANNOT THINK YOUR HEART CANNOT BEAT PROPERLY  - YOUR ARTERIES CLOG AND YOUR JOINTS BECOME INFLAMED.  YOU NEED AT LEAST AN OUNCE OF A DAY RO TWO SERVING OF FATTY FISH A WEEK – BOTH RED AND PINK CANNED SALMON – SARDINES – MACKEREL HERRING AND TUNA ARE RICH IN ESSENTIAL OMEGA – 3’S.

7. BLUEBERRIES – ONE OF THE BEST ANTIOXIDANT-RICH FOODS SAY TUFFS UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS.  BLUEBERRIES ARE SO POWERFUL IN RETARDING AGING IN ANIMALS THAT THEY CAN BLOCK BRAIN CHANGES LEADING TO DECLINE AND EVEN REVERSE FAILING MEMORY. – AIM FOR A HALF-CUP OF FROZEN OR FRESH BLUEBERRIES A DAY.

8. GARLIC – GARLIC IS PACKED WITH NUTRIENTS KNOWN TO HELP FEND OFF CANCER, HEART DISEASE, AGING, AND OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS – GARLIC HAS PROLONGED CANCER SURVIVAL IN TIME AND EXTENDED ANIMAL LIFE SPANS ABOUT 5 PERCENT – WHICH IN HUMANS MAY ADD ABOUT FOUR YEARS - HERE’S A TIP FROM RESEARCHERS AT PENN STATE – LET CRUSHED GARLIC ‘REST ‘ ABOUT TEN MINUTES BEFORE COOKING IT TO PRESERVE IT’S DISEASE FIGHTING AGENTS.

9. SPINACH – THIS SUPER HEALTH PROMOTER IS SECOND AMONG VEGETABLES ONLY TO GARLIC IN ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY.  IT IS ALSO RICH IN FOLIC ACID, WHICH HELPS FIGHT CANCER, HEART DISEASE, AND MENTAL DISORDERS.  BOTH RAW AND STEAMED CONTAIN HIGH ANTIOXIDANT AND OTHER ESSENTIAL NUTRIENT COUNT.

10. TEA – GREEN AND ORDINARY BLACK TEA PACKS THE SAME AMOUNTS OF ANTIOXIDANTS AND HAVE EQUAL BENEFITS EXPERTS SAY.  HARVARD RESEARCHERS RECENTLY FOUND THAT DRINKING ONE CUP OF BLACK TEA A DAY CUT HEART-DISEASE RISK IN HALF.  BE SURE YOU MAKE YOUR ICED TEA FROM BAGS OR LOOSE TEA – BECAUSE ACCORDING TO TESTS AT TUFTS UNIVERSITY THE BOTTLED AND INSTANT TEAS CONTAIN MINIMAL ANTIOXIDANTS.

Watch the CA Living Beach Body Workout Now

Top Lifestyle Choices to promote health & longevity

*This information has been provided as a general healthy living guide - it is not intended to treat, cure, evaluate,or diagnose illness or disease. Please check with your doctor or health care provider before starting any new exercise or diet regimen and enjoy!

Spoonful of Sugar Song Lyrics

Mary Poppins:
[Spoken]
In ev’ry job that must be done
There is an element of fun
You find the fun and snap!
The job’s a game

[Sung]
And ev’ry task you undertake
Becomes a piece of cake
A lark! A spree! It’s very clear to see that

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

A robin feathering his nest
Has very little time to rest
While gathering his bits of twine and twig
Though quite intent in his pursuit
He has a merry tune to toot
He knows a song will move the job along - for

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

[Interlude]

The honey bee that fetch the nectar
From the flowers to the comb
Never tire of ever buzzing to and fro
Because they take a little nip
From ev’ry flower that they sip
And hence (And hence),
They find (They find)
Their task is not a grind.

Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h ah!

A Spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
The medicine go down-wown
The medicine go down
Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down
In a most delightful way

We know when it comes to food and entertaining “it’s all in the presentation” - and with New York Table Top Designer Marc Blackwell’s simple 3 rule guide which Blackwell reveals in the California Living Food & Wine Series show clip here - you can create a table top that is Hollywood worthy with some items you may already have around the house!  

If you have 5 minutes - check out the video for an entertaining step by step guide - and before you make that last minute dash to the grocery store -check to be sure you have the following items on hand to create your “Hollywood Table Top:”

• Candles - any shape, color, and height that you like
• 6 - 8 Pears or another sturdy fruit in season like apples, or pomegranates
• Large bag of fresh,whole, uncooked cranberries
• Medium - large glass cylinder bowl or jar to create the center piece
•  A few bottles of  the wine you will be serving and sparkling water
• Fresh clippings of eucalyptus, pine, or what you have outside

Watch the video and learn how to create a “Hollywood Style Table Top” TODAY that looks lavish, sheek, and sophisicated (without spending a lot of your hard earned dough) - and ENJOY the Season in style!  Aprilanne

Ring in the New Year in style AND double your pleasure and the fun factor with “his and hers” spa treatments in the Couple’s Massage Room at the Oceano Coastal Spa, Half Moon Bay, CA… 

Check out CA Living’s Insider’s Guide to the Oceano Hotel & Spa’s Coastal Spa which made it’s Primetime debut  this season!  This brand spanking new spa facility offers 11 treatment rooms, sauna and steam, hot tub room rentals by the hour, custom blended face and body treatments - PLUS their signature Couples Massage Room where I relax in a custom blended milk & honey bath in the copper deep soaking tub…oooh…and then unwind with a massage and an anti-aging Acai Body Facial ahhhh - “now that’s living!”

There are some perks to good living - like soaking in a custom milk and honey bath at the Oceano Hotel & Spa in Half Moon Bay, CA

Okay, this is that part where I get to tell you  how lucky I am - and how wonderful it is to live in California!  It’s also the part where I tell you how you too can enjoy the good life by indulging your senses with a getaway and spa treatments at the Oceano Hotel & Spa in Half Moon Bay, CA.

Surprise someone special with a gift certificate for a getaway to the Oceano Hotel & Spa in Half Moon Bay  - think romantic tryst, girl’s getaway, New Year’s Eve Escape and discover the Bay Area’s hottest spa destination on California’s world famous Coast - go ahead - you deserve it!   Enjoy!  Aprilanne

"Hello God are you there? It's me Scruffy..."

Christmas is for dogs too!

PS:  This Wednesday (12/9/2009) is the final day to get in on the fun with the Marin Humane Society’s “Paws & Claus” Pet Photo session with Santa from 6 - 9 PM!  Your $25.00 sitting donation garners 2 - 4X6 same day prints and they’ll email you a digital file for you to use as you wish!    For more information or to register: (415) 506-6207

Certified Independant Charities of America Seal

Independent Charities of America, which certifies charities that meet the highest standards of accountability and effectiveness, has recognized the Marin Humane Society as one of America’s best charities.

Here’s a note from our friends at Safari West….Joy to the Wild!

A Wild Stocking Stuffer!
Mention this email and get 10% off Safari West Gift Certificates.
Offer expires when the year does: 12/31/09

Ho Ho Ho from the Wilds of Safari West

Shop Safari West!
Welcome to the Wilds of the Safari West Trading Post.
Shop online and discover exotic gifts in their natural habitat!

We’re wildly adding items every day!
Mention this email and get 10% off purchases.

Drop by if you’re in our Neck of the Woods or
Visit our Safari West Store for more information:
707-579-2551 • www.safariweststore.com

Thank you for sharing our passion and our world. You are critical
to our efforts in saving nature’s most beautiful and exotic animals.
Without you, Safari West wouldn’t exist.

Wishing you the happiest of holidays and a beautiful New Year!

Nancy and Peter Lang, and your friends at Safari West
and Safari West Wildlife Foundation

Call us or visit our website for more information:
707-579-2551 • www.safariwest.com