Active LIFE Aug 2015

active

August 2015

magazine

The Secret to Enjoying Tequila

FALL TREND GUIDE

A Living

DREAM Michelle Marocco

Sugar Alert

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AUGUST 2015

Contents

24

a living dream

29

the guacamole debate

Check us out online at www.activelifeguide.com!

There you can sign up for our monthly newsletter, or request a copy of Active Life Magazine to be mailed directly to your door each month.

Michelle Marocco

active

Photo by EDUARDO PEÑA

15

Fall 2015 shoe trends

magazine

Beauty COSMETIC _____________

30 Peaches: HEALTH/WELLNESS _______________________

8 Sun–dried skin?

5 not–so obvious foods with hidden sugar.

When your skin has had enough of the sun’s harsh rays, options exist to help you refresh.

10 Vitamin A and acne

This vitamin may just be your best defense against acne and other skin impurities.

18 sugar alert!!!

19 advanced planning

Make going back to school a breeze.

20 Love Yoga

Volume 8. Issue 08. (#94)

Nature’s Candy

So delicious, and so good for you!

Home Improvements ____________________ 34 beginner’s guide

It’s easy to grow your own vegetables.

Refreshing trends adorn the upcoming season.

Active Life Magazine is published monthly by Active Life Guide Corp. 597 Industrial Dr., Carmel, IN 46032; Copyright by Active Life Guide Corp.

Active Life Magazine and Active Life Guide are registered trademarks of Active Life Guide Corp.

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JUSTYNA DORUCH

Senior Writer MATTHEW HUME

Contributing Writers GREGORY CHERNOFF TATUM Pérez KARINA RESKE

Photography EDUARDO PEÑA

Art ROGER PEÑA

28 the secret to enjoying tequila

14 fall trend guide

Executive Editor / Co-Founder

Bailey Tri

EAT+DRINK ______________

FASHION/STYLE ___________________

EDUARDO PEÑA

ARTHUR SUMRALL

This revamped Sun Salutation will have you falling in love with yoga all over again.

“Doing shots” may have had its moment in your youthful sun, but you’ve graduated to more sophisticated drinking.

Learn the ABC’s of this complex spirit.

Editor-in-Chief / Co-Founder

Marketing Director ISMAEL PEÑA

Circulation USPS (Direct Mail)

TRAVEL/EXPLORE _____________________

ACTIVE LIFE MAGAZINE

38 THE rio de Janeiro carnival, Brazil

Info@activelifeguide.com

There’s no carnival celebration in the world that comes CLOSE to Rio.

Contact Us Comments & Feedback editorial@activelifeguide.com

Subscriptions subscribe@activelifeguide.com

Active Life Magazine strongly recommends that you consult with your physician before beginning any exercise program. If you follow these fitness tips, you agree to do so at your own risk and assume all risk of injury to yourself, and agree to release and discharge Active Life Magazine from any claims.

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LIFE Magazine

When nature takes its toll, fight back with a vengeance!

BEAUTY and COSMETIC

7

Beauty/Cosmetic

Is Your Skin Sun–Dried?

Cures for End of Summer Sun Spots, Lines and Wrinkles When your suntan wears off and the warm sunny days of summer are at their end, some of us are left with spots, lines and wrinkles on our faces and our bodies. Those brown splotchy patches, vertical wrinkles around our mouths

and cheeks, or crow’s feet around our eyes means summer is coming to an end.

Simple fixes exist for these skin-aging issues. New laser treatments combine light, radio frequency and fractionated therapies to

regenerate collagen, improve skin tone, fade sun spots, and improve the overall quality of skin.

Laser therapy is not to be feared. Many new in-office options exist that are effective, safe, and have little to no downtime.

excellent, non-ablative treatment for overall skin improvement.

IPL is excellent for sun damage, spots, acne, redness and fine lines. IPL works best when done in a series of treatments. There is no downtime with IPL, and it’s an excellent option for a quick treatment over lunch or after work to improve your skin.

Radio Frequency & Ultrasound Therapy Radio Frequency (RF) uses highfrequency energy waves to tighten and tone skin. The nonablative treatment is excellent for fine lines, collagen building, scar therapy and acne control.

Ultrasound stimulates the deep tissue for optimal skin tightening and collagen building. RF and Ultrasound combined decrease fat, cellulite, tighten skin, and improve overall skin quality.

There is no downtime with this treatment.

Safe and effective solutions—with little to no downtime!

Fractionated CO2 Therapy An advanced and effective fractionated laser therapy called Dermal Optical Thermolysis (DOT) is one of the most effective in-office laser treatments available.

The laser penetrates the outer layer of the skin and seals off the treated area, boosting

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collagen building in layers of skin. The treatment ranges from non-ablative to moderately ablative based on the therapeutic settings used. DOT is an excellent treatment for improving skin tone, collagen, reducing acne, fine lines, age spots, sun damage and pore size. Downtime is based on the level of settings used and varies

between no downtime and five days of downtime.

Photo Rejuvenation Intense Pulsed Light Intense Pulsed Light (IPL) uses broad spectrum light to rejuvenate skin. IPL is an

LIFE magazine | A UG UST 2 0 1 5

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Vitamin

A

Beauty/Cosmetic

and acne

By Arthur J. Sumrall, M.A, M. D.

A mild peel with Vitamin A supports the goal of helping the removal of dead skin while breaking up congestion. A Vitamin A peel should be used after other agents have been tried, including prescribed home care.

We tend to think of acne as an adolescent problem.

But most of us know that these unsightly flare-ups can persist well beyond youth. Vitamin A has been shown in all forms to be beneficial to our skin.

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Vitamin A derivatives promote removal of comedones and help prevent development of microcomedones. These Vitamin A derivatives help with the formation of very small blood vessels and help increase collagen formation; this improves the texture of the skin.

There are two common forms of topical Vitamin A: retinol and retinaldehyde, both are good topical agents for acne. Retinols are converted to retinoic acid by the skin. This derivative includes several compounds known as retnoids, retinoic acid, and retnyl.

Retinoids, are good treatments for acne. This form led to the development of what is commonly known as Retin-A. A mild form of retinoids is known as retinaldehyde. It may be used with other acne agents, such as betahydroxy and benzyl peroxide.

Don’t be plagued anymore!

Acne has been around for centuries and has been a plague on human skin throughout history. In ancient times, sulfur was used by Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans to relieve the skin of impurities. In the 1920’s Benzoyl Peroxide was developed and used as the main treatment. In recent years another ingredient has been found to be beneficial in the treatment of acne – Vitamin A.

been used for many years for Nodular and Cystic Acne, in other words moderately severe to severe acne.

There are various derivatives that have been developed to help clear the skin of impurities.

These derivatives also help rejuvenate skin and increase the overall health of the skin. The vitamin A derivatives became popular for skin use in in the 1970’s.

It seems that all forms of Vitamin A have a positive impact on skin.

Vitamin A is a potent antioxidant

The author does not suggest that Vitamin A and its derivatives are the only treatment for acne.

The use of retnoids is a good first step.

which helps minimize the negative affect of free radicals on the skin. A decrease in free radicals gives the skin a chance to purge itself of impurities.

Vitamin A improves acne conditions by helping reduce the production of excessive oil.

This makes Vitamin A, a good topical treatment for Acne. The oral supplement, Accutane, is a Vitamin A derivative and has

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active

LIFE Magazine Make way for fall!

FASHION and STYLE

13

fashion/STYLE

Fall Trend Guide

Refreshing Trends Adorn the Upcoming Season.

A

very wet summer seems to be behind us and even though I’m hoping for an Indian summer, I still love the excitement around the fall season fashions that are arriving in retail stores all across the country. Fall is my favorite season, the leaves, the sun and the cool breeze is just the perfect scenario to pull out the lux pieces and look chic without a million layers on!

standing with the big names such as Prada and Lanvin, darling! Long styles were seen more often but don’t discard your staple leather styles.

moment is slim and makes the waist look even slimmer, the appearance of long barbie like legs just comes as a bonus.... anyone?!

5. Steel Grey. Looking for a chic look without putting much thought into it? Go for grey, girl.

The monochromatic shades of

7. Liquid Legs. My favorite trend so far is another one that took a while to get where it is, the super long boot. This piece also climbed all the way from the ankle and it’s way past the knee length. As a matter of fact, the longer and tighter the better. It’s a blessing over pants or under skirts to keep the cold as away as it can possibly be.

The following trends are just the beginning of it all, so keep your eyes open!

As fall grows into the real deal and not only at window displays we’ll be talking more about looks and tips and tricks for the hottest season of the year!

Enjoy the rest of the summer and try to avoid those mosquitoes. (I, for one, am looking forward to no-mosquito weather!)

1. Simple Jewelry. Statement pieces will always cause a stir but this season is definitely giving room to more simply, clean and sweet pieces. Thin necklaces and bracelets layered make the look of the moment.

2. Heavy Boots. Obviously fall and winter are the perfect seasons for the black boots.

This time however, the black boots are very masculine and heavy like soldier/military heavy styles. Studded ones are also in and they are a great option to endure the wet and snowy days....hey I’m hoping that won’t be needed!

3. Furry Friends. Keeping the shoe conversation, fur was spotted on a ton of runways, some cute and chic and some odd looking but most important they are fun and innovative. One thing to keep in mind though is

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Cheers,

Karina Reske

Personal Stylist

to only wear one piece of fur on your outfit. Let’s agree we don’t want to look like a giant teddy bear.

4. Glove Dose. Gloves are back (were they ever not in?).

All I know, is that the colorful and sleek styles are back and

grey is pretty much the chicest thing around, easy and flawless you can’t go wrong.

6. Higher and Higher Waist. The waist has been climbing towards the belly button little by little over the past years and it seems like it’s finally reached its destination.

The high waist pant at the

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Karina is a local fashion blogger and personal stylist. To get a daily dose of Karina’s fashion adventures or to touch base, follow her blog at karinastylediaries. com or her Instagram page at instagram.com/ karinastylediaries.

AC TIVELI FE GU I DE . co m

fashion/STYLE

FALL 2015 Shoe Trends

5.

2.

3.

4.

6.

1.

1. Stuart Weitzman Highstrung Suede Knee-High Boots 2. Stuart Weitzman Cavalier Suede Knee-High Boots 3. Salvatore Ferragamo Liskia Studded Leopard-Print Calf Hair Booties 4. Rag & Bone Classic Newbury Suede Ankle Boots 5. Kate Spade New York Betsie Too Fringed Suede Ankle Boots 6. Salvatore Ferragamo Loris Leather & Shearling Cuff Booties 7. Saint Laurent Lace-Up Suede Open-Toe Booties

7.

Accessories and cosmetics courtesy of Saks Fifth Avenue

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LIFE Magazine

It’s not always easy to make the right choices.

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HEALTH and WELLNESS

17

It's not just a workout.

It's your life!

Julie Voris

Beachbody Master Trainer

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Sugar Alert!!!

5 Not–So obvious Foods with Hidden Sugar

A few days ago, I viewed a tweet with this saying to the right on strength and food comsuption and then watched a short clip on “What does sugar do to our brain?” on the Today Show. As a trainer who works with clients on weight loss, it really struck a chord. All the hard work and consistency cannot negate the other 23 hours of what goes into your body. I believe a lot of people think that they are making the right choices but just aren’t aware of what they are actually getting in each bite. There are many threats to our food—from pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, fat, salt and genetic modification. So why focus on sugar? Because it’s highly addictive, it keeps us coming back for more and it’s in practically everything!

The American Heart Association says that we should consume only 3-9 teaspoons (tsp) of added sugar per day, however the average person consumes 22 tsp per day. I took five foods—a few mentioned on the Today Show and a few from my own home—and here is what I found. It should be noted that 1 tsp = 4 grams (g) of sugar, or one sugar packet.

5 Foods with Hidden Sugar 1. Dried Fruit • In my pantry: Dried cranberries for salad—yum!

1/3 cup = 26.2 g of sugar or 6.5 tsp of sugar • Substitute: 1/2 cup of halved strawberries with only 3.5 g, not even one tsp of sugar, or other fresh whole fruit or vegetable.

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2. Protein Bars • In my pantry: Clif® Bars – 1 bar has 21 g of sugar or roughly 6 tsp of sugar! This bar is made to digest quickly and be light on the stomach, leaving you feeling hungry quickly if you are not racing or training—not a good choice for a snack.

• Substitute: Reach for a hardboiled egg or almonds.

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STRENGTH:

Anyone can work out for an hour, but to control what goes on your plate the other 23 hours... that’s hard work.

3. Greek Yogurt • 6 oz. Chobani® Vanilla Nonfat = 20 g = 5 tsp • Substitute: Chobani Plain = 7 g = a little less than 2 tsp (add fresh fruit for a little added natural sweetness) 4. Pasta Sauce • 1 cup Ragú Traditional Spaghetti Sauce = 12 g = 3 tsp • Substitute: fresh or canned diced tomatoes = 2.1 g = less than 1 tsp 5. Flavored Instant Oatmeal • Maple and Brown Sugar = 13.1 g = 3 tsp • Substitute: old-fashioned oatmeal = 1 g, add ¼ cup of blueberries = 3.7 g = less than 1 tsp The list above goes with more obvious culprits such as soda, sweetened tea, ketchup, sauces and dressings. Start checking your labels closely and note the serving sizes.

If you would like more insight on how we ended up at this point of processed foods and excess sugar, I recommend the book Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us, by Michael Moss.

Remember, don’t deny yourself sugar or you will crave it that much more. Instead, be aware and practice moderation.

Tatum Pérez

FITNESS EXPERT

AC TIVELI FE GU I DE . co m

Advanced Planning Makes Back to School a Breeze Dr. Amanda M. Houchens As summer winds to a close, parents begin to turn their thoughts toward the start of school—and more specifically, to all the details necessary to get the kids back in the classroom. Amanda Houchens, MD, a family physician with Carmel Family Medicine, offers some suggestions to prepare for the big day. Besides new shoes and school supplies, there are immunizations, hearing tests, eye exams—and finding a backpack that won’t break your child’s back.

“A little bit of advanced planning can relieve stress for everyone and make the first few weeks a positive experience,” suggests Dr. Houchens.

Immunizations Your child’s school usually communicates the required shots your child may need prior to starting the school year. If not, the CDC website (cdc. gov) has a great recommended vaccination schedule that is easy to read. Required immunizations range from hepatitis B and chicken pox to a possible booster of the MMR vaccine. Some schools also recommend flu shots.

Eye and Ear Exams Having your child’s eyes examined is a simple step parents can take to ensure their kids do well in school. Contrary to popular belief, kids won’t necessarily tell you if they can’t see well. The same goes for hearing.

Emergency Numbers Get ready for paperwork that first week of school. Take time to ensure your child’s emergency contact card is accurate. Be sure to include your dentist’s number as well as the doctor, and make sure you still have the most accurate phone numbers for all designated contacts.

Allergies Allergies have become more prevalent over the years, with kids facing allergic reactions to everything from food to bee stings. Be sure the school knows about your child’s allergies in advance. The same holds true for any physical restrictions your child might have due to medical conditions such as asthma or a heart murmur.

Shoes and Backpacks Put the sandals and flip-flops away, and invest in a pair of properly fitting closed-toe shoes for school. These help prevent playground accidents or tumbles in the hallway. While backpacks are now the standard for transporting books and papers from school to home, they should never weigh more than 20% of the child’s body weight.

Sleep Tight Put an end to those late-night summer sleepovers two weeks before the start of school.

Growing children need eight hours of sleep, and teens require even more.

Plan Your Meals Plan now for your child’s breakfast and lunch. Children should head to school with a good breakfast since these nutrients will help them focus throughout the morning. If your child plans to take a lunch, stock up on healthy items to pack.

Anticipate Some Anxiety If your child seems anxious about the first day, remind him or her about their classmates who are eager to see them again. If it’s feasible, invite a friend from the neighborhood to accompany your child on the first day. Be sure to plan for after-school care as well, and set clear rules if you won’t arrive home until after your child does.

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LOVE

Mountain with Abduction Stand tall, ground left foot and abduct right leg while lifting opposite arm diagonally. Switch sides. Alternate 10x.

YoGA

Forward FolD with reach to the sky

Exhale, bend at your hips and knees and lower until your torso is parallel to the floor. Let your arms hang down straight from your shoulders, palms facing in. Rotate to the right reaching your right arm into the air. Repeat with the left arm. Alternate 10x.

“Sun Salutation Revamped” Routine By Tatum Pérez

T

ry a sun salutation with a few new twists, with added frontal and transverse movements for a more functional warm-up to your exercise. These movements will turn up the communication between your mind and muscles, stretch and energize the entire body, loosen up the joints and improve blood circulation and breathing for peak performance. Perform the entire original sequence and poses for 2 rounds and then repeat the sequence substituting some of the poses with the following moves for 2 more rounds.

PLANK with t-push-up

In the high plank perform a push-up. As you push yourself back up, rotate your body to the right reaching your arm into the air so your hand is over your shoulder. Return to your plank, perform another push-up and repeat rotating to your left.

Alternate 4x.

Downwardfacing Dog with hipopening

Photography by Eduardo Peña

Keeping shoulder and hips squared forward, extend right leg behind body. Bend your right knee, rotate hip left opening right hip.

Repeat other side.

Alternate 2x.

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Model Leah Hall

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LIFE Magazine

A living Dream Michelle Marocco

By Matthew Hume | Photography by Eduardo Pe単a

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LIFE magazine | A UG UST 2 0 1 5

AC TIVELI FE GU I DE . co m

M

eet Michelle Marocco—and prepare yourself to be transported to another world. In taking a simple step over the threshold of Michelle’s front door, I find that I have traveled half a world away from the environs of central Indiana into a lush color-scape of the Mediterranean. I’ve emerged onto a Spanish terraza of swirled marble tiles, plants spilling over balconies, cobalt blues and brushed ochres, complete with a gurgling fountain by the staircase. One of Michelle’s assistants greets me, and a few moments later Michelle herself comes to welcome me into her home and creative space. “I’m almost ready for you,” she says, somewhat breathlessly. “We just received an order from Steven Tyler a few minutes ago—I need just a few more minutes to get things ready. Take a look at whatever you’d like!” And so while I’m waiting for Michelle and her assistant Amanda to prepare this A-list order, I wander into the artist’s showroom, the Terraza de Niyama to my right, still within earshot of the fountain.

Earlier in the day, I’d gone online to explore the multiple collections that comprise the Niyama Jewelry body of work. I found myself amazed by the variety of jewelry—for both women and men—and the sometimes soft, sometimes edgy necklaces and bracelets, always imbued with a subtle sexiness. I’d also been impressed by the number of celebrities who have turned on to Michelle’s spirit-driven and soul-filled work. Having prepared myself to meet with a “jeweler to the stars,” I’m not completely shocked to delay the start of our interview to fill this particular order.

Michelle Marocco has been an artist her whole life. “When I was three years old, my mother tells me that I drew a horse a person could fly away on!” she laughs. Surrounded by an artistic family, she’s been steeped in creative energies from a very young age.

Her grandfather played with the Jack Benny band, owned a music store and directed the local high school band. Michelle’s father played clarinet in the U.S. Navy band. And her mother taught remedial English until a few years ago, all the while educating herself on water gardening. “She’s written 16 or 17 books, and she consulted with me when I was designing my backyard,” Michelle

says. “She’s considered one of the foremost experts on water gardening.”

Niyama In yoga terminology, niyama is defined as “purification through self-discipline,” and it constitutes one of the eight limbs of yoga.

In spending time with Michelle, it becomes clear that this philosophy courses through her life and her art. “My art is so much of who I am,” she says. “I’m here to create. It’s what I’m here for. It’s my dharma. If there’s ever a moment I’m not being creative, I look around for things to get creative with!”

And does she ever succeed in her creative quests—no matter the time of day. As it turns out, Michelle tends to use the wee small hours of the morning to take on new projects. “I kind of moonlight on myself and do other jobs at night,” she laughs.

“I taught myself how to work with leather during the night. I re-did my kitchen at night, the entire backyard. Those hours are my alone times, when I can let my mind soar for hours—letting my mind confidently and freely explore, and mess up and mess up, paint, start over, but keep believing.”

While we’re talking, the skies open with a torrent of rain, and while Michelle runs out to gather some work materials from the deck, I take notice of the fairy-tale land Michelle calls her backyard. Replete with a Japanese fish pond, arbor of willow leaves, a slack line, sharpshooting targets, badminton net and a cornucopia of vegetables and herbs, the term backyard doesn’t begin to describe this labor of creative love. As a mother of two young boys, Michelle is all about encouraging her sons to love the earth—and to be active—and she uses the backyard to her advantage. “I’m trying to teach the kids how to live off the land,” she says. I ask if they’re receptive to that idea. “I don’t know,” she confesses. “I know all of it assimilates into them, more than I ever could imagine. One day, I’m running my son Gavin out the door and I’m nagging at him to hurry up, that we’re going to be late, to just let me get his jacket zipped up. He looks at me and says, ‘Remember, Mom? Teach a man to fish!’”

23

The skies cleared and the sun came out as quickly as the rain had come, leaving the greens and purples and oranges of her yard with a fresh-washed glow.

As Michelle gives me a tour of this lush green-scape, I can sense her excitement over it all.

“This is another moonlighting job, this whole backyard. I made it all—I physically made it all,” she says. Expressing particular fondness for a fig tree that she had last summer (she laments that it didn’t make it this year), Michelle tells me of the business meeting she was having in her garden when a delicious thought had suddenly occurred to her. “I said, ‘Hold on a second,’ and I went upstairs to get a knife and some mascarpone cheese, honey and dark chocolate, and grabbed a few figs off my fig tree and made little fig s’more sandwiches right there! It was one of those ‘Where are we?’ moments!”

A Bountiful Meditation Several years ago, having painted professionally for 15 years, Michelle found herself at a crossroads where her jewelry work had begun to eclipse her painting. “My kids were saying, ‘Mommy, you’re not painting like you used to, and it’s so cool that you paint,’” she says. “So I meditated on what I should be doing.” The next day Michelle received a call from a store in Cleveland that needed more of her jewelry for one of their clients, who had just bought a substantial amount of her work and who wanted more.

Michelle offered to email them pictures of merchandise or get a box ready to send, but the standard protocol would simply not do in this case. “Five minutes later they called me back, screaming—’Michelle!

It’s a princess! It’s a princess from Saudi Arabia and she’s in love with you!’” Yes, the Saudi Arabian royal family had discovered Michelle’s work, and Michelle was about to embark on a thrilling adventure.

The following week, Michelle packed up a trunk of her jewelry and flew to meet the princess

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Photography by Eduardo Peña

in Cleveland. “When I told her that I’d come from Indiana to see her, she insisted that I join the family for dinner!” Buying a modest cardigan and pair of black pants to supplement her usual travel wardrobe of cut-off jeans and an off-the-shoulder shirt, Michelle met the family for dinner, at which point the princess’s assistant Nadia escorted her into the dining room. “Nadia took care of me

the whole time,” Michelle tells me. “She made sure I stood up when I needed to and that I looked people in the eyes only if I was allowed to. And after dinner, she encouraged me to put my jewelry out for the family to see. They bought everything I had with me.” Except, she says, for a little diamond cross she’d brought. The universe had a bigger purpose for that neglected piece of jewelry,

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though. “I came to find out that Nadia had been a Catholic nun for 14 years before she started working for the family, and it just seemed right to present it to her as a gift of thanks,” she says. “When I handed it to her, she started crying, telling me no one had ever given her a gift before, let alone a piece of jewelry. She told me she knew when she woke up that morning that the day would be special.

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Photography by Eduardo Peña

And somehow I’d felt that way, too.”

makes it sound so simple. And maybe it is, after all.

As it turns out, Michelle’s newly kindled association with the royal family led her to travel to Saudi Arabia a few months later.

“While I was in Cleveland, the princess had pulled me aside at one point to say—’Michelle, I have seen many beautiful things in my day, but never anything this fine,’” Michelle tells me. “She insisted that I come to Saudi Arabia for a charity event they were having, and I ended up going—it was a wonderful way to give back to a good cause.”

A “Compelling Urgency”

This entire time I’ve been asking myself what meditation had to do with all of this, and so I ask Michelle. “This all started happening the day after I had that meditation!” she says, amazed to this day. “Now when I meditate on anything, it’s almost spontaneous—I don’t have 24 hours to wait.”

And what does Michelle’s meditation involve? “It’s just believing. I just believe.” She

Her body of artistic work and otherworldly re-imagining of her house and backyard make it clear that Michelle Marocco possesses many gifts.

But where does this creative energy come from? She points to a combination of external and internal factors. “I’ll see something and it will just trigger an impulse in me, or I’ll be working on something else and some vision will happen, and I’ll start doing two things at once,” she says.

“It’s a compelling urgency that I have—it’s the only way I can really describe it—like I have to do this.” Michelle owes her creative drive in part to her yoga practice, too.

“I’ve been practicing yoga for about 15 years, and it’s been transformative for me,” she tells me. “I’ve always had the discipline to work 12 to 15 hours straight, but the quality and the focus I feel now is

amazing. Things just flow through me—it’s really taught me the discipline to access my creative stuff.”

“What I want people to understand from my story— being a mother of two boys and running a business—is that you can paint, or do this or that, but you’ve just got to do it.

Don’t be so caught up with the end result that it paralyzes you to start.” The majority of the time, Michelle doesn’t plan the jewelry she’s about to create.

“It’s a dynamic, in the moment thing—I’ll follow the curves of the leather and soon the work turns into this gorgeous cuff with a raw diamond on it.”

We both agree that we could continue to talk for hours—that we could probably write a book about Michelle’s life and her creative endeavors. But with evening falling upon us, we go back inside to say our goodbyes. “I want to give you something,” she says to me.

Michelle leads me into her jewelry work room, opens a

drawer, takes out a charm and puts it in my hand. It’s a double charm—a little star with a tiny inset emerald, and a crescent moon—and on the star is engraved the following quote: “A Saint You Ain’t, but a Star You Are.” “I can tell you what brings me joy now,” Michelle says. “When people see my work and they’re uplifted, or they’re connected and it stirs them in some way—or they’re excited and their face blushes.”

(I promise I didn’t blush.)

“Everybody reacts—and it’s because I’m giving a part of myself in everything I create.”

As I leave the work room, moon-star charm in hand, I notice a quote above the door—and after spending the last hour and a half with Michelle, I understand now why I’ve been experiencing a certain “cosmic high.” Inscribed in the stucco above the door are words that may be the very foundation of Michelle’s life work: “For me, that which is divine rests in the pursuit of beauty.”

Photography by Eduardo Pe単a

active

LIFE Magazine “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.”

Ernest Hemingway

EAT+DRINK 27

EAT+DRINK

The SECRET to enjoying tequila

“Tequila is a pallid flame that passes through walls and soars over tile roofs to allay despair.” Alvaro Mutis Colombian poet

If you keep the tequila in an oak barrel for up to three years it is called añejo, which means aged.

And if it is left in the barrel longer than three years, it’s called extra añejo.

In general, silver is the most agave-forward tasting of the various styles and can be very peppery or spicy. A cheaply made silver tequila needs a chaser to enjoy, whereas a wellmade one doesn’t. Once you rest the tequila in oak it starts to take on the flavors of the barrel, which changes the flavor of the tequila. There are many types of barrels out there, and the oak’s origin—usually American or French—and whether it was used to age a different spirit beforehand—usually bourbon, brandy or sherry—can radically change the taste.

Reposados are lightly aged, and the flavor is usually a balance between the agave and oak flavors. Añejos begin to taste more like whiskeys, as the wood flavors dominate, and of the bunch, Extra añejos taste the least of the agave and most like whiskey. If you like old scotches, this is the one for you.

W

hen most of us hear the word tequila, it’s probably accompanied by an image of a shot glass with salt and lime—accompaniments viewed as necessary to ease the heat of an ill-tasting shooter. But tequila isn’t just a fast track to inebriation. In fact, it’s a refined, complex spirit that, if tasted properly, stacks up to the likes of fine bourbon, whiskey and scotch.

Though there are thousands of different types of agave, tequila must be made from only one, the Weber Blue Agave.

It must be grown, harvested, processed and bottled in the state of Jalisco—with a few other distilleries outside Jalisco, grandfathered into the law.

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The Blue Agave takes 7-10 years to grow to maturity in mineral rich volcanic soil.

Altitude, weather conditions and soil make-up contribute to widely different flavor profiles across different agave fields, with flavors ranging from sugary to mineral-like. Earthiness, smokiness, brine, citrus, vanilla, caramel and many other flavors are present to varying degrees in different tequilas, and tasting these differences is a great way to decide what you enjoy drinking.

Blue Weber Agave When it comes time to harvest the agave, men called jimadores use a large flatbladed pole called a coa to remove, Ninja-like, the spines

of the 100-pound plant to expose the pina, the heart of the plant. The pina is cut into manageable-sized pieces and transported to the distillery, where it is cooked and then crushed to express the sugary juice.

The liquid is then fermented, sometimes with naturally occurring wild yeasts.

Then there is something called gold tequila. All of the above tequilas are 100% agave in the bottle, and nothing else is added. This is not so with gold tequila. Gold is called mixto tequila, which means that you only need to have 51% of the bottle be agave spirit. The rest is up to the individual producer.

In most cases, the other 49% is made up of cheap vodka, a lot of sugar to mask its bad taste, and caramel color to make it look like an aged tequila.

After fermentation, it is at least twice-distilled, at which point you have tequila. If you bottle it within two weeks of fermentation, you have blanco tequila, also called plata or silver tequila.

If you take the tequila and age it for up to a year, it is called reposado, which means rested.

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The

Peas? Or no peas?

Guacamole

Debate

The New York Times recommends adding peas to classic Tex-Mex dish. in bad puns, with “Guaca-NOle” being hardly the worst of it.

But the mockamole of “peagate” quickly escalated to a bipartisan political platform.

The Texas Republican party took to Twitter to say the Times had “declared war on Texas when they suggested adding green peas to guacamole.”

The greatest debate in the history of guacamole arrived on July 1, as a heretic recipe from the New York Times outraged the Internet and forced no less a connoisseur than Barack Obama to weigh in.

The great guac-off of 2015 was not about extra charges for the dip. It was about adding an extra vegetable—and quite an unnecessary one, according to people that may have too much time on their hands.

A recipe for Green Pea Guacamole—adapted from New York’s ABC Cocina restaurant and tweeted out by the Times—calls for a radical notion: “Add green peas to your guacamole. Trust us,” the newspaper told its 17.7 million followers.

Not many people did.

Some told the Times to delete its account, while others called out the publication for distributing “possibly the worst food advice ever.”

Some websites glommed on, suggesting there were worse things you could add to the Mexican avocado mix—ranch dressing and cream, for instance—and Twitter exploded

Presidential hopeful Jeb Bush had already established his opinion on the matter (anti-pea) during a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon. He stood by his platform: “You don’t put peas in guacamole,” he wrote.

Somehow, the pea politics made their way up to the White House, as Obama revealed during a previously scheduled Twitter Q&A that he prefers his guacamole the classic way… except with peppers.

We ship anywhere

So the current president and the brother of his predecessor at least agree on that.

In an accompanying link to a recipe for the extra-green guacamole, the Time’s Melissa Clark wrote: “Adding fresh English peas to what is an otherwise fairly traditional guacamole is one of those radical moves that is also completely obvious after you taste it.”

The recipe in question is about two years old and originated at ABC Cocina from chef JeanGeorges Vongerichten.

The guacamole received significant attention in 2013, when several food critics and writers weighed in on the dish. Clark wrote about the guacamole in July 2013 for the Time’s Restaurant Takeaway column.

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PEACHES Nature’s Candy

This stone fruit is not only delicious but has a number of nutritional benefits.

S

ummertime is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of many wonderful fruits and vegetables while they’re in season. One of my personal favorites, which has been making an excellent appearance this summer, is the peach. This stone fruit is not only delicious but has a number of nutritional benefits.

Peaches are full of vitamins A, C, and contain 2% or more daily value of vitamins E and K, niacin, folate, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, zinc, and copper. Peaches are also easy on the waistline, with a large peach coming in at less than 70 calories. According to a study from Texas A&M University, stone fruit like

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peaches, cherries, apricots, plums, and nectarines have been shown to decrease the risk of developing obesityrelated disease such as diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.

The study also shows that stone fruits have bioactive and phenolic compounds with antiobesity and anti-inflammatory properties which help to reduce LDL cholesterol, commonly associated with cardiovascular disease. Additionally, peaches are high in antioxidants to combat against free radicals that can cause cancer.

Not only are peaches a great nutritional choice, they’re also very versatile for meal preparation. They’re a great

accent to salads, as a topping for hot or cold cereals, placed in refreshing drinks, pies, smoothies, salsa, or simply just as a quick and easy “onthe-go” snack. Peak season for peaches runs from July to September. To find the perfect Grilled Peaches with peach, choose the ones that Yogurt and Honey yield slightly to pressure. Firm peaches can be kept at room Ingredients: temperature until soft—but • 1/4 cup fat free vanilla Greek don’t wait too long! yogurt (I prefer Dannon Light

&Fit) Although peaches are native • 1/8 tsp cinnamon to China, they can be grown • 2 large ripe peaches, cut in right here in Indiana during the half (seed removed) summer months. Try the simple • 2 tbsp honey (I prefer local) recipe below as a nutritious dessert. I promise you won’t be Directions: Combine yogurt and disappointed. cinnamon. Grill the peaches, covered on low until soft, about 2-4 minutes on each side.

Drizzle with honey and serve each with 1 tbsp of yogurt.

Enjoy!

Bailey Tri, R.D, C.D.

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Servings: 4, Serving Size: 1/2 peach with 1 tbsp yogurt Calories: 78, Fat: 0 g, Protein: 2 g, Carb: 19 g, Fiber: 2 g, Sugar: 18 g, Sodium: 5 mg, Cholesterol: 0 mg

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Isn’t it about time you made your garden grow?

Home

IMPROVEMENTS 33

HOME IMPROVEMENTS

Beginner’s guide to GrowingYour Own Vegetables What you decide to plant will be somewhat dictated by the space you have. If you do not have garden beds you can grow vegetables in window boxes, pots or grow bags. These need to be big enough not to cramp a plant’s roots nor dry them out at the first sign of any sun. The greater the soil depth the better, although a minimum of 15cm is enough for salads. Vegetables will grow best in a sheltered and sunny spot.

Soil is fundamental to the health of what you grow. To make sure you have the fertility required to grow lots of produce, add compost. This can be made in home compost heaps or bought from garden centres. Better use “organic” composts made without manmade, resourcehungry fertilizers.

To give young plants the best odds of survival against their main nemesis, the slug, we recommend sow most

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vegetables in small pots, somewhere where’s lots of light indoors or in a greenhouse.

Starting plants off indoors means you can control conditions when they are at their most vulnerable.

To give a plant a good start, sow the seed into fine compost – this is usually called seed compost and is available at garden centers. All of the vegetables here can be started in 10cm pots. Once a plant has four or five leaves it can be planted outside in a chosen optimum position at its required spacing.

In return for all the harvest, soil needs to be nurtured by applying composted organic matter to aid structure and maintain fertility. Here our three recommendations to grow now selected them for their bounty and beauty. They can give a great return even on a small scale.

their own weight so need to be supported. In greenhouses, they can be grown up strings tied to the roof supports. Outdoors, they can be tied to canes or grown with supports against a sunny wall.

To channel a plant’s energy into producing fruit, it will need to be pruned regularly.

To greatly increase your yield of fruit, remove all tomato “side shoots”. These are the shoots that continually grow at a 45º angle between the main stem and plant branches.

Twisting them out will greatly increase your yield. By the time a plant has two fruiting trusses (branches with fruit on), I prune off all lower leafy branches up to the second truss. This will allow good air flow and light to reach the pruned plant, which in turn will help prevent disease.

Lettuce Lettuce is a brilliant vegetable to begin with if you have never grown anything before. It can be grown in a window box if space is limited and you can harvest outer leaves as you need them without pulling up the whole plant. Having a living salad larder on your window sill or raised bed can be very handy during the summer months.

Start the seeds off indoors then thin out the seedlings when you plant them outside. The amount of space you give them will dictate the size of their leaves.

For whole heads of lettuce, plant each seedling approximately a lettuce width apart Tomatoes Tomatoes are our favorite vegetable to grow. Because of our temperate climate they require nurture and protection through their first few months. In order to get a ripe crop before autumn they need to be well established plants by May/June.

Seed sown in late winter can be raised indoors, in good light.

Alternatively, buy potted plants in May to be replanted outside in a sunny, sheltered position after the last spring frosts.

Tomatoes require a lot of vertical space – as they grow taller, plants become unable to bear

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Zucchini If you have a bit more space (each plant needs to be about 60-70cm apart) or a large pot, zucchini are extremely satisfying to grow. Initially sown indoors in pots, they emerge almost overnight, eventually producing large Gaugin-like leaves after they have been planted outside.

Finally they send out beautiful tubular yellow flowers, the female of which will produce fruit. Zucchini like full sun, well composted fertile ground and regular watering in dry weather.

The flowers are also a delicacy, torn into salads, stuffed with goat’s cheese or fried in tempura batter.

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trees • shrubs •annuals • perennials home decor • gifts • garden art

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LIFE Magazine As cooler temperatures approach, start planning now for your next big adventure!

TRAVEL

and EXPLORE 37

TRAVEL/EXPLORE

Two million people per day on the streets.

The Rio De Janeiro Carnival, Brazil Catholic Church later modified the festival as a celebration leading up to Ash Wednesday.

It grew into a last hurrah before Lent with its 40 days of trying to improve oneself through prayer and sacrifice.

T

he Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro is a world biggest party in the world. The Parade of Carnaval Samba School at Rio’s Sambódromo is something everybody has to experience at least once in life. The event is broadcast live to several countries, and all Brazilian states. Watching on TV is cool, but not half as much fun as being there. You have to mingle with the crowd, sweat, maybe even march with a samba school.

Unlike Street Carnival the Samba Parade is not free. Face value of tickets are not that high, but scalpers mark them up without mercy. Twelve special group schools march on Carnival Sunday and Monday, six each night.

The parade starts at 9 p.m. and goes on until sunlight the next day, around 6-7 a.m. This samba marathon is more than a show - it’s also a fierce competition.

A school will be downgraded from special to access group, and vice-versa. With so many traditional samba schools, now there are big names also in access group A. Carnival Roots The carnival can trace its roots back to an ancient Greek festival held each spring to honor Dionysus, the god of wine. The Romans adopted the festival to honor two of their gods, Bacchanalia and Saturnalia.

During the Roman festival, slaves and masters would exchange clothes and spend the day in drunken revelry. The

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Entrudo Rio de Janeiro’s celebration of carnival can be traced back to 1723, according to Ipanema. com. It came to Brazil along with Portuguese immigrants who called it the Entrudo. Entrudo was essentially a giant water fight with people setting out to soak others with water and limes. No one, even royalty, was immune from being drenched.

It was eventually outlawed because the authorities didn’t like to see so many people losing control.

Zé Pereira Was a contribution of a Portuguese shoemaker named José Nogueira de Azevedo, in the mid XIX century. On Carnival Mondays he would march in the streets with his friends playing drums, tambourines, pans, and whistles. Everybody was welcome to join the fun.Evolving Grandes Sociedades or Great Societies Was a more organized parade that debuted in 1855, with the presence of the Emperor himself. A group of eighty aristocrats in masks paraded with luxury costumes, music, and flowers. It was a big success.

Democráticos, Fenianos and Tenentes do Diabo were the three most well-known groups.

Early 20th Century The parade of floats (bands) in today’s Carnival celebration began as an event called Corso in 1907. At that time, it was a parade of cars, a relatively new invention at the time, through the the city. Parade watchers brought streamers and confetti

to throw. Another portion of the modern Carnival is the Ranchos Carnavalescos, which began in 1872 but became popular in 1911. In a Ranchos Carnavalescos, participants dressed up in costumes and performed during the parade accompanied by music played by musicians. Their popularity grew as each Ranchos Carnvalesco competed with the others to become more elaborate and entertaining. They are now one of the most popular parts of Carnival. The only time the parades were halted was during WWII, but they resumed in 1947 Samba It all started in the end of the XIX Century in what was then known as Little Africa (Pequena Africa), the residence of the tias baianas.

These were ladies who came from Bahia, and made a living selling food delicacies around town in their typical white dresses with big round skirts.

They were also the priestesses of Candomble, and had a great influence in the community.

Tia Ciata may have been the most famous of these tias. Born Hilaria Batista de Almeida in the region of Bahia known as Reconcavo Baiano around 1854, she first lived near Campo de Santana.

What is a Samba School?

A Samba School is basically an association of people from the same neighborhood. They get together on a regular basis for samba nights and rehearsals (ensaios) at their samba court (quadra).

It is usually a working class community (or favela) in most cases located in a suburban area. Samba schools provide invaluable jobs to the community, the production of floats and costumes is big business. It is partly subsidized by the State, and partly paid by private enterprises that sponsor the parade.

Samba Schools may take to the Parade anything from 3,000 to 5,000 members, and from 6 to 8 floats. They try to illustrate and give life to the theme chosen.

All costumes and floats are original, made from scratch. It

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as a tropical opera, or rather, a collection of several operas happening on a single night.

A Home for a Samba Parade: The Sambodromo The Sambodromo is the “stadium” of samba. It consists of the Parading Avenue (the samba runway) and several independent concrete structures for the spectators (the bleachers) both sides along the Parading Avenue.

The Sambodromo was designed by Brazil’s world-famous architect, the modernist Oscar Niemeyer. It was purpose-built for the Samba Parade and was inaugurated in 1984.

Made of concrete, it seems a bit dated for today’s post-modern eyes. It feels derelict if not ugly, surrounded only by favelas during the year, when it serves smaller cultural events.

However, it is transformed and comes to life during Carnival. It becomes truly magnificent and overpowering, lit up with special effects on Samba Parade nights, filled with thousands of cheering spectators and surrounded by many other thousands who could not get in.

Inside the Sambodromo is considered to be the safest place in South America, on Samba Parade days. There is a very high concentration of international celebrities, politicians and royalties among the crowd.

Street Carnival They may try to organize it, glamorize it, televise it, even industrialize it, but Carnival is something that comes deep from the fun-loving Carioca soul. It does not depend on any authority or sponsor to happen.

Carnival in the streets is a living proof of this love. It’s free, spontaneous, and everybody’s welcome to participate!

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