The 83rd annual Academy Awards have come to an end. There were so many great actors and actresses anominated this year including Natalie Portman, Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges, not to mention the number of outstanding movies to hit theaters, that choosing the winners must have been one tough job. But the job was done and the 2011 Oscars have been given out.

mark seliger

 Image in Mark Seliger’s New Book, Listen

How to Be Happy and Have Fun Changing the World

“The Eight Words”

I 

AM

ALWAYS

TRUTHFUL,

POSITIVE,

AND

HELPING

OTHERS

Peace of Mind in Daily Life

A Practical Guide for Achieving Inner Peace, Self Mastery and Spiritual Awareness

The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.
- Norman Vincent Peale -
Discover how to quiet the constant chatter of your mind, and how to get rid of disturbing thoughts, anxiety, worries and negative thinking!
Learn how to turn inner peace into a habit, through simple mental exercises, change of attitude, and other effective means.
If you thought that inner peace is a state of weakness and passivity, you are wrong! You may lead a normal life, like everyone else, but at the same time enjoy a state of inner peace and inner strength that no external conditions can disturb.
The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.
- James Allen -

Women's Health Today

Women's Health Today

My name is Amy Lee and I've known ever since I was a teenager that I wanted to be a nurse. Born and raised in the great state of Alabama, there was no doubt about attending the University of Alabama. I wasn’t there long before I realized that above all I wanted to work with women.
I received my bachelor of nursing degree from the University of Alabama in 1990, and began my career as a labor-and-delivery nurse, helping women to have their babies in a family centered environment. I received an early foundation in the family centered birthing experiencing at UA and then moved to the beaches of Pensacola, Florida and the Family Birth Center of West Florida Regional Medical Center.
After 4 years, I packed up and moved to Hawaii to go back to school! I worked nights at Castle Hospital in Kailua, Hawaii for the next year and a half while I obtained my master’s degree as a Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner (NP) from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
My goal--to take care of women and make their lives better--has never changed. I became an active-duty military spouse just a year after starting my NP career. Even though my husband and I moved cross country four times in five years while having three children, I always managed to find opportunities to work in my field.
Now and for the last 8 years, I have been working at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore as the nurse practitioner on the inpatient gynecology service. In this position, I consult on gynecologic issues across the hospital, see patients in clinics, serve as a First Assist in the OR, and teach. I help guide residents, nurse practitioner students, and medical students through their clinical learning
experiences. I’m also an Adjunct Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing providing a lecture on Vaginal Bleeding to the Nurse Practitioner students.
My husband is still an active duty Naval officer. He and I live near Annapolis, Maryland with our three children (aged 11, 8, and 5), our doggie (aged 12), and our kitty (aged 1). We are very busy with soccer, dance, field hockey, lacrosse, hand bells, choir, church, swim team, basketball, violin, cello, cycling, aerobics, sailing, school, tons of friends, and, of course, work!
Today, Johns Hopkins provides me the opportunity to learn something new every day, and I very much want to share my knowledge with you. I look forward to helping you understand your health, as well as the health of the women in your life.

NATURAL HEALTH

6 more reasons to love ice cream: Calcium is a powerhouse of health benefits. It even helps you shed belly fat and maintain muscle mass- Healthy Appetites.
Calcium now seems to have a role in resolving mood swings, bloating and other annoying premenstrual symptoms. In a review of several studies, published in Canadian Family Physician, the authors say there is enough data for doctors to recommend 1,200 mg of calcium daily as an effective PMS treatment.
Some women who have tried it see a "modest benefit," says Lori Dickerson, Pharm.D., an associate professor of family medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, who reviewed PMS treatments in American Family Physician. There are similarities between PMS symptoms and those caused by low calcium levels.
preventing kidney stone.
The fear of anyone who's had a kidney stone is that another one will develop. To reduce the risk, doctors have traditionally recommended a low-calcium diet. But in a five-year study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, that compared an adequate calcium diet (about 1,200 mg a day) to a low-calcium diet (400 mg) on 120 men with recurrent kidney stones, the subjects on the low-calcium diet were twice as likely to get kidney stones as those who ate the high-calcium diet. Patients who have had kidney stones are advised to check with their doctors as to whether to limit their dietary calcium.
Getting enough calcium isn't as difficult as it may sound, says Tammi Hancock, R.D., the dietitian who developed the calcium-rich recipes in Zemel's book, The Calcium Key.
First, set your goal. Adults need 1,000 mg of calcium a day, and those age 50 and older need at least 1,200 mg a day, according to the latest government guidelines. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists recommends that postmenopausal women who are not on hormones get 1,500 mg of calcium a day for bone maintenance. If concern about bone loss isn't motivation enough for you to get more calcium-rich foods into your day, perhaps knowing it might prevent heart disease, cancer and obesity will spur you to action.

The world's most expensive handbags (one costs $3.8 million!)

Since the fashion industry is constantly recycling past styles and struggling to come up with new concepts, often "in the know" stylish types attempt to get noticed by creating or wearing the most expensive or most extravagant item possible (ahem, Lady Gaga). Until now the big status get was the $20,000 Hermes Birkin bag (made famous by Samantha on "Sex and the City"), but it's nothing compared to House of Mouawad's new "1001 Nights Diamond Purse," which clocks in at a whopping $3.8 million.

Encrusted with over 381 carats of diamonds, this heart-shaped bag has been named the world's most expensive handbag by the Guinness Book of World Records. In it, 4,517 diamonds were used—105 yellow, 56 pink and 4,356 colorless—and it took 10 artisans 1,100 hours to complete. They dedicated four months to the project.

“The Mouawad 1001 Nights Diamond Purse is designed to mesmerize with its lavish attention to detail and elaborate workmanship incorporating thousands of diamonds,” Pascal Mouawad, co-guardian of the House of Mouawad,told the today show. The purse was on display at the Doha Jewellery and Watches Exhibition this past weekend, and it is not yet known if there was a buyer.

Crafting luxury items is not new territory for the Dubai-based jewelry company. The House of Mouawad is responsible for creating several of the annual holiday Fantasy Bras for Victoria’s Secret, as worn by Heidi Klum, Tyra Banks, Karolina Kurkova, and Selita Ebanks. Their value is estimated at up to $11 million each.

But diamonds are not the only way to make things expensive in fashion these days. Last year a fancy sweatpants craze swept the nation
, and designers like Alexander Wang, Thakoon, Bottega Veneta, and Michael Kors offered expensive sweats from $250 up to $1,000.

While it's fun to look at (and perhaps make fun of) such lavish fashion items, we're astonished that there are some people out there who actually buy these things! We've rounded up a dozen of the most expensive bags we could find ever in existence. Take a look and let us know if you think they're worth their hefty price tags.

Serge Ibaka's Highlight Reet: Get To Know Your NBA Slam Dunk Contestant

Of the four players in Saturday night's NBA Slam Dunk Contest, Serge Ibaka's road here may be the most improbable. Born in the Republic of the Congo to two basketball players, he used his own basketball skills to escape the war-torn climate in which he grew up. The silliness of the dunk contest doesn't quite jibe with the drama he experienced to get here, but his conclusion is testament to the impression he's made on the league in his brief career.
In his second year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Ibaka has complemented superstar teammate Kevin Durant with 9.4 points per game. Ibaka and the Thunder hold one of the best records in the Western Conference, and surely have high hopes for a postseason run.

On to the highlights. Here's an outstanding put-back dunk that required as much anticipation as it did athleticism:

Mila Kunis and Hilary Swank's Gorgeous Curls at SAG Awards 2011: Get the Look Yourself!

The two actresses stepped onto the red carpet at 17th Annual screen in Los Angeles, California with exceptionally gorgeous waves.

The latest standout beauty looks from the celebs you know and love...

Nicole Kidman's big, sexy hair, Monica Potter's curly hairstyle and Leona Lewis' fringe bangs. Photos: AP Photo/Peter Kramer | Mike Coppola/Getty Images | Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic