Drink: Matcha

I’m going green in more ways than one.

It’s that Spring cleaning time again. I’m going to start with my body…by drinking more Matcha. As a matter of fact I just made myself a delicious matcha latte while sitting down to write this post.

With over 4,000 years of history that’s steeped in ancient Chinese and Japanese tradition, matcha is also an untapped beauty and health resource. That’s why for all of its many beneficial factors I love to incorporate the powder into different facets of my diet. I like the taste but don’t get me wrong I’m hoping it will make me more beautiful on the inside and help to keep me strong and healthy too (along with a slew of other ingestibles).

Here are A FEW REASONS why it’s so good according to the experts (and me)!

GLOWING SKIN: Matcha powdered green tea has 137 more antioxidants, or EGCGs, than regularly brewed green tea. These antioxidants help protect your skin from ultraviolet radiation. They can even get rid of harmful free radicals that your body’s been holding onto. Additionally, they boost your blood flow, which can help give you that oh-so-coveted rosy, natural glow in your cheeks.

HELPS KEEP YOU RELAXED AND ALERT AT THE SAME TIME: Matcha is rich in L-theanine, a rare amino acid that actually promotes a state of relaxation and well-being within your brain’s functionality. While stress can induce beta waves (which lead to an excited and agitated state), L-theanine creates alpha waves (which lead to a state of relaxed alertness). And while L-theanine is common in all tea, matcha may contain up to five times more of this amino acid than your regular ol’ black and green varieties.

IT HELPS YOU REMEMBER THINGS: The L-theanine in matcha also improves your memory (read: helps you remember where you put your cell phone and car keys). It can help you learn and perform better without all the usual negative side effects of caffeine. In fact, studies show that those drinking green tea filled with L-theanine were also less susceptible to “distracting information” that might hinder their tasks (i.e. less susceptible to scrolling through Instagram during the work day).

IT HELPS BOOST YOUR METABOLISM AND BURN FAT: the chemical components in matcha basically make up an internal gym for your body. Drinking matcha can help you burn more calories, while studies show it can also help you burn up to 25% more fat. Combined with a healthy diet and exercise, matcha can kick your weight loss into high gear.

IT KEEPS YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM HEALTHY: ECGCs help keep sickness-inducing microbodies and oxidative stress in check. Matcha is also great for the type of inflammation that occurs when you have allergies or a sinus infection. Swap out your coffee for matcha during cold and flu season to reap the holistic benefits of catechins and theanine.

IT MAY SLOW DOWN THE AGEING PROCESS: Okinawa, Japan, is what scientists and nutritionists call a Blue Zone, otherwise known as a geographic area of the world where people live longer. Because one of the most common beverages among Okinawans is matcha, Dan Buettner, author of The Blue Zones Solution ($16), attributed such long life spans to the daily consumption of the beverage and its cancer-fighting free radicals.

IT MAY HELP ALLEVIATE SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY: along with keeping you focused, relaxed, improving your immune system, and increasing your blood flow, matcha helps relieve depression and anxiety. The polyphenols found in matcha can heal you from the inside out, and therefore can make you feel happier and less stressed. Polyphenols are powerful plant-based antioxidants and micronutrients found in a lot of foods that typically bring you joy (like wine and chocolate).

The reasons listed are good enough for me to keep up this habit. At the very least it’s nice and warming. But remember you will get the most benefits out of drinking pure matcha. But you have to be careful; you don’t want to be downing matcha lattes made with added sugar, so it’s best to either make it yourself so you know what’s in it or always ask. Just because something has “matcha” in it does not guarantee it is healthy.

Matcha la Vista baby!

FUN, Girl Who Would be King

Feel-Lucky Friday

The half-Irish in me

Enjoying a local beer & a box of chocolate covered gummy bears (*talk about luck;* they now come in a convenient candy package) in a comfy reclining chair at the Pickford Theatre.

Bad St. Paddys Day Jokes:

“This is the one day of the year where green’s meaning shifts from saving the environment to polluting our major organs.”

“St. Patricks day is like Valentines day for those who love Jameson (whiskey) and bad decisions.”

“It’s also the one holiday where full-blown alcoholism could possibly go undetected.”

My favourite: “An Irish guy walks out of a bar….No; really, it can happen!”

Enjoy the day even if you’re not even part Irish!

Food + Drink, Girl Who Would be King

New and nutritious: “pharmacy in a fruit”

Cupuaçu

Have you heard of it?

When I lived in Brazil I was introduced to an abundance of new (to me) super foods like Açaí, Guarana, Mangosteen & Acerola. I was blending up these seeds and berries to make delicious smoothies long before they became known and popular in North America. As a matter of fact I never felt healthier than during the year I lived in Brazil. Now there’s a new fruit hitting the market. It’s called Cupuaçu (pronounced koo-poo-ah-soo) and grows in the Amazon Rainforest drainage basin in northern parts of Brazil.

Some of the Benefits

Cupuacu contains vitamins B1, B2, B3 (niacin) fatty and amino acids, and at least nine antioxidants including vitamin A and C and minerals such as calcium, selenium and others.

Cupuacu’s primary health benefit is stimulating the immune system thus supporting the body’s ability to fight disease. Cupuacu has an energetic effect, but does not contain caffeine. It is one of the few cocoa relatives that does not.

Cupuacu’s benefits are synergistic. For example, the energy-boosting effect mentioned is a result of the fruit’s heightening of the immune system, lowering of blood pressure and the overall body-boosting effects of the fast-acting nutrients and vitamins from the fruit. Unlike most energy drinks or caffeine, though, there is no tired feeling afterwards.

Other synergistic effects include healthier skin and hair, lowered cholesterol levels and improved libido. In addition, many of the fruits nutrients are boosters for the gastro-intestinal system and the cardiovascular system.

Cupuaçu is wildly popular in Brazil as well as other parts of South America. For centuries, natives of the rainforest have used the fruit of the cupuaçu tree as a main source of food and it continues to be a delicacy in the more populated towns of South America.

Today, cupuaçu pulp is often used for making juice, ice cream, smoothies, mousse, jellies, chocolates called “cupualte” (the seeds used for producing this product have similar characteristics to chocolate, but contains nutritional value and is healthier.

The pulp of the fruit is frequently used in the cosmetic industry for shampoos, soaps, lotions and creams due to it being highly hydrating with its emollient power giving similar effects to your body as cocoa butter. I noticed it listed as one of the main ingredients in the jar of Suzanne Organics (by Suzanne Somers) body butter which by the way is amazing in itself.

Other common traditional uses for cupuaçu include:

To lower blood pressure
Healthy hair
To lower cholesterol levels
For Increasing libido
To improve brain functions
To boost gastro-intestinal (GI) systems
To stimulate skin rejuvenation
To achieve weight loss
For combating diabetes
To increase energy

The Amazon is so vast with its wealth of flora and fauna that in time I’m sure we’ll be acquainted with many more amazing edibles to come.

Source: amafruits.com

Girl Who Would be King, THINKAboutit

We’re all ANIMALS

In Chinese Astrology I’m an Earth Dog.

Earth Dog Jia Jia on a hike – March 9, 2017. Image: d. king

Not a Pig; as formerly thought. I had an expert look into it for me (because I’m born on the cusp it was confusing and if I put my actual birthdate it always came up “pig”) and since my boy Jia Jia was born in China, it makes perfect sense because the stars are aligned – we’re both extremely loyal and commited. We relate to each other perfectly! I always suspected I was a dog – after all, Jia Jia thinks I’m a perfect bitch!

The Dog comes in five types: metal, wood, food, fire & earth each with a specific personality description. Sharing Earth Dog similarities were Winston Churchill, Voltaire, Lady Godiva, Brigitte Bardot, Cher, Mother Teresa, Jacques Cousteau, Elvis Presley, George Gershwin, Judy Garland & Shirley Maclaine. I must say, not a bad lineup.

But enough about me……

Predicting the future by observing the stars and planets was an ancient art long before Europeans discovered/invented the mathematics necessary to make these same predictions. However, the yearly Animal signs bear the much same relationship to Chinese Astrology as Sun Signs have to Western Astrology – a cursory overview, and over simplification. As with Western Sun Signs, the twelve Animals of the Chinese zodiac do represent archetypes useful to writers.

Find Your (or Your Character’s) Animal Sign

Girl Who Would be King, STYLE

Style: pre-Fall preview

It’s not yet Spring let alone Summer, but since fashion is on its own calendar, the fashion folks are already calling out Pre-Fall 2017 collections. Is there really another reason for another season?

Pre-Fall is one of those fashion terms that doesn’t really make sense to the general public. Isn’t it kind of Spring/Summer…sort of? Pre-Fall collections arrive in stores in late Spring, and many are available through the end of the year. As such, they tend to be full of the wearable, versatile, seasonal clothes you live in, as opposed to runway looks.

Editors called out their favorite looks: the items they’d beg for because they need them right now, like the bold striped outfit from Monse; the dreamy, not-so-practical looks they’d like to borrow, like Altuzarra’s romantic head-to-toe floral; and the looks they’d like to steal because they feel totally new, like Givenchy’s monochromatic ruby pantsuit (with a huge agate pendant). I wonder how many women can wear these outfits as effortlessly as these models?

FYI: I almost bought a pair of Red trousers today but it just didn’t feel… quite like me just yet.

I’m not into begging or stealing but I might consider borrowing. How about you?

Image: Vogue

Girl Who Would be King, Health + LifeStyle

Tox-Sick Talk with Suzanne Somers

Because if you live toxic free you will feel better naturally.

I was thinking about starting a series about women who inspire me and who better to start off with than Suzanne Somers. 20170302_144013 Suzanne said people magazine once described her as the dumbest woman in America. Which means she did a great job of playing the blond bombshell bimbo Chrissy Snow in the long running sitcom(edy) “Three’s Company.”

But she had the last laugh because the idiot who wrote that didn’t realize her full potential. A cancer survivor, she is a well respected health and wellness advocate, a *best selling author having written 25 books (her latest is called Tox-Sick – From Toxic to Not Sick), singer, dancer, Vegas nightclub performer (who was once named Female Entertainer of the Year, the same year Frank Sinatra was named Male Entertainer of the Year, ) and savvy business woman with her suzanne organics skincare & cosmetics line. It’s a pretty impressive resume. There’s so much to her, but for now we’ll focus on her pure organic skincare line because I was waiting for something beauty-wise to inspire me for a beauty post – this is it! And it’s never just about looking good (although we love that); it’s about feeling good from the inside out. Which by the way, always makes one look better on the outside.

“It’s as if we are all on a big, chemical drunk, and the hangover is a killer.” – Suzanne Somers, in TOX-SICK

20170302_144328 So I was thrilled to meet her alongside her handsome hubby Alan Hamel (I do remember well his successful TV talk show in Canada) when she launched her Radiance Facial Kit at Clark’s Nutrition – a fantastic family run natural foods market in Rancho Mirage. Wait; it’s not just the facial kit she has – it’s a complete line of body care, skincare, sunless tanning, haircare and now cosmetics. It’s a great line because it’s more than natural and organic…it’s certified ToxicFree. What that means is a lot of NO’s! No Pegs, Parabens, chemical emulsifiers, artificial colors, fragrance and of course NO animal testing. She doesn’t kid around. She walks/eats/looks the talk! She even grows her own food. It’s exhausting to even think about. She really does live toxic-free. She discussed this along with her belief about a new way to age. On close inspection I decided if she uses her own stuff (which she completely does) and looks that good I better buy me some.

As you may know I make my own little line of pure products so I’m very picky about what I choose to put on my face + body but I went for the coco mango body butter (a friend of mine swears by it – “it f….ing works!” Also the ageless serum (because it’s loaded with sea algae extract and African Birch) and a lipstick in caramelized peach (because it sounded yummy & looked pretty). Just so you know. All made in California.

Suzanne says she’s always loved the idea of pure organic skincare but had never experienced any anti-aging benefits so would end up reverting back to chemically-based products. Now she has the best of both worlds. She works closely with the formulators to use the power of nature to find the most effective anti-aging actives for clean, beautiful products to feed, nurture and hydrate precious skin. It is like superfood for your skin.

~~OMG I never realized just how much we have in common!~~ I never even told her that I met her “Three’s Company” co-star John Ritter in Tokyo years ago on a TV series and how nicely he treated me. But maybe she knows that now.

*On one of her many books about health and nutrition “Breakthrough: Eight Steps to Wellness,”: She scored a big coup with “Sex and the City 2.” Her book is heavily featured in the movie. Kim Cattrall‘s Samantha–who announces that she’s “fifty-f-ing-two” and going through menopause–declares that she lives by it. She hands it to everyone in the movie. By the end of the movie, women are exchanging copies of “Breakthrough,” with the cover very prominent. A book publisher’s dream.

And if all that isn’t enough, she’s nice too! An inspiration to all women!

website: http://www.suzannesomers.com/

images: d. king

Girl Who Would be King, STYLE

Style: blending an iconic denim brand with Art

Calvin Klein has always been known for attention grabbing advertising campaigns.

Images from Calvin Klein's spring 2017 campaign. — Images from Calvin Klein’s spring 2017 campaign.

I mean unless you weren’t born yet, who can forget a young Brooke Shields flaunting her jeans, a skinny Kate Moss and a buff Marky Mark (Wahlberg) wearing all American classic T shirts & underwear…and nothing else.

Now we have Raf Simons (previous creative director for Christian Dior) blending Art with Denim in a New Calvin Klein Campaign.

Continuing to drop hints online about his direction for Calvin Klein, Raf Simons has unveiled a spring campaign for underwear and jeans that juxtaposes those iconic items with modern and contemporary art.

Just released on Calvin Klein’s web site and its own social channels, the ads showcase archival denim, a cotton tank top and quintessential men’s briefs in playful contrast with works from the second half of the 20th century. The clothes strike up a conversation with the art — much the way designers and artists in New York’s Pop heyday — on the streets of SoHo or on the dance floor of Studio 54, the company said.

Works by Andy Warhol, Dan Flavin, Richard Prince and Sterling Ruby are featured, photographed at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Rubell Family Collection in Miami.

Simons, chief creative officer of Calvin Klein, is well known for his passion for art. “It’s a celebration of Calvin Klein’s iconic underwear and jeans, acknowledging their status as Pop and showing them in the world of art,” he explained.

Pieter Mulier, creative director of Calvin Klein, added, “Looks were specifically chosen from the Calvin Klein archive for the campaign; it’s both a recognition of design firsts and the photographic history of the brand that made these garments famous.”

The eight advertising images were photographed by Willy Vanderperre and styled by Olivier Rizzo, featuring a largely unknown cast.

One ad, for example, features a guy in jeans standing in front of a 2,000 joke painting by Prince. It reads: “A guy goes to a psychiatrist wearing only Saran Wrap. The psychiatrist says to the guy, I can clearly see your nuts you nut.” Another shows a guy in a pair of jeans and taking off his white T-shirt and standing in front of Warhol’s 1976 “Skull” painting. And a third shows a guy in underwear and a girl in jeans and a white tank top admiring Warhol’s “Elvis 11.”

Each of the ads features a description of the artwork and a snippet about the artist. Ads launch this month on billboards, the Internet and in magazines.

Photos credit: the series of eight distinct advertising images was photographed by Willy Vanderperre.

Source for story: Lisa Lockwood for WWD.com

Website: http://calvinklein.com

Food + Drink, Girl Who Would be King

Food: Fish Tacos

Making fish tacos is the closest I feel to being at the beach in Mexico.

fishtacos1 Because some of my best food memories is eating fish tacos on the beach in Mexico.

Somebody said that it’s not the food itself but all the bonds and memories the food represents.

But I never follow a set recipe for tacos because there are so many variations. These are closest to typical baja style with a little twist and without the sauce. Okay, maybe they’re just my own version.

Buy small street tortillas (they’re easily found in many supermarkets now – I prefer corn to flour) and make pico de gallo from scratch.

Pico de Gallo fishtacos2

Chopped fresh red + yellow grape tomatoes, jalapeño, sweet maui onion, handful of cilantro, sea salt + squeeze of fresh key lime.

Sprinkle chili/lime seasoning blend on both sides of fish (I used Mexican seabass but you can substitute any white fish). Grill until done – a couple minutes per side. Divide fish among warmed tortillas and add pico de gallo, shredded purple cabbage, extra salsa if you like, top with more cilantro, sliced avocado, squeeze of lime & fold in half. Add a side of chopped mango for added sweetness.

Buen apetito!

They’re fairly fast and fun to make and definitely delish!

Photos: d. king

FUN, Girl Who Would be King

Feel-good Friday: no regrets

Still on a feel-good vintage vibe here are some postcards…from the edge.Why play safe? Have a great weekend and don’t be sorry for your bad behaviour!

Girl Who Would be King, STYLE

Style: Pin it

For me it’s always a kick to wander the aisles and booths of any outdoor market.

One of a Kind Collectible Enamel Pins — **One of a Kind Collectible Enamelled metal Pins**

Here in Palm Springs you have the weekly farmers market & the village street fest which encompasses pretty much everything. Then there’s an outdoor weekend art market twice a month and on the first Sunday of every month, the Vintage market which takes place on the grounds outside the Camelot Theatres. They call it Vintage with a View. Keep in mind vintage is a broad term and there’s also a lot of garage style items which shouldn’t be there. You must have a good eye(s)!

Two years ago I discovered this market. I was with a friend from Vancouver and right off the bat with my radar in tact, I spotted a pair of vintage Pucci sandals in my size. They were a good deal and would have been a better deal had I not smashed my phone on the pavement in the excitement of my too-good-to-be-true deal while trying to find my wallet to pay for them. Anyway, my friend was excited to find a woman named Maura who has been collecting “one off” enamelled pins (or brooches) for over 30 years. All of them (mostly flowers) in excellent condition. At first I wasn’t so interested in them but watched my friend with her 6-carat diamond ring purchase a whole bunch of them. They reminded me of something my grandmother would wear. So as I continued looking at them they started to grow on me and I bought one. Thinking if she likes them that much, they must be collectible. When I got home I ended up wearing it much more than I ever thought. They are a fashion statement accessory for sweaters & jean jackets. A little old fashioned in a pleasant way.

I encountered Maura again last week because they added an extra Sunday for Modernism and purchased more of these pins.

Boy these flowers, they grow on you!

A few other items of interest:

Joe Tatan told me he and Paul Frank (the monkey guy) designed this togehter & a very famous person wants to buy it. It hought from a distance they were cushions. — Joe Tatan told me that he and Paul Frank (the monkey guy) designed this leather sofa (yes, it’s a sofa)a and that a very famous person wants to buy it. From a distance I thought they were cushions. Asking price $4,500

20170219_125357 If you are a creative person you can make jewellery, pillow cases, clothing, purses, etc. from many repurposed materials.

Photos: d. king