The Simple Pleasures of Talenti Sorbetto e Gelato

Sometimes there's just nothing more beautiful than a dish of divine italian confection. With the hot weather approaching, and for some of us - oh, it's here already, I thought I'd tempt you with this exquisite frozen delicious-ness.

Making everything from scratch with unparalleled artisanship, Talenti Gelato e Sorbetto has a 500 year tradition of creating their handcrafted gelato and sorbetto. They combine the impeccably chosen ingredients by hand in small batches and add their innovative spirit and passion in order to provide their customers with a myriad of enchanting flavors from which to choose.

Talenti incorporates the finest ingredients available by importing raw materials from around the world to enhance our recipes. Talenti gelato uses only freshly pasteurized milk which is free of the growth hormones rBGH and rBST. They use only extra fine pure sugar, fresh fruit and nuts straight from the growers, real Callebaut chocolate from Belgium, fresh whole Tahitian vanilla beans from Papua New Guinea, select coconuts from the Philippines, and dulce de leche from Argentina. Additionally, they roast and caramelize their own nuts, squeeze their own lemons, and they make their own nut pastes. No detail is ignored and no shortcuts are taken. Talenti truly is made with only the best.

With flavors like Sicilian Pistachio, Tahitian Vanilla Bean, Double Dark Chocolate, Malaysian Mango, Hill County Peach Champagne, Lisbon Lemon and many more, it's truly no surprise these are as luscious as they sound. One more reason to love it - Talenti gelatos and sorbettos have 30% to 100% less fat than traditional ice cream!

You can find them at most Whole Foods Markets or alternately check them out at their online website, Talenti.

People Magazine's Most Beautiful Unveiled

After a difficult and public battle with breast cancer, Christina Applegate is feeling reinvigorated, both inside and out, she tells People. Gracing the magazine's 2009 "Most Beautiful" issue, the 37-year-old actress opens up in her first interview since undergoing reconstructive breast surgery last November.

The Samantha Who? star says she's finding balance and embracing her body after undergoing a double mastectomy in July, followed by reconstructive breast surgery in November. "You have to get through the physical transformations then buck up, go to work and try to be the normal, happy Christina for everyone around you," she says.

She has an "angel" of a boyfriend, Dutch bass player Martyn Lenoble, "who loves me from head to toe." She has a cozy Malibu beach house that she calls "the best thing I've ever done for myself." And, after a very public battle with breast cancer that has given her a gratifying "feeling of purpose," Christina Applegate has a new lease on life.

"I used to be really shy but I started to come into my own in my late 20s and early 30s," Applegate, 37, tells PEOPLE in the cover interview for the annual Most Beautiful issue. "Now I'm not afraid to speak up in a room full of people and be a part of the conversation."

One source of strength has been Lenoble. "He's been a friend for about 13 years," Applegate says. "Our relationship gets stronger and stronger. I'm really lucky." And, more importantly, he makes the actress feel "beautiful" about her new body."I'm very grateful to Martyn for coming along at a time that he did because he's been my rock through all of this," Applegate says. "He gave me something to really want to live for and something to smile about."

Others stars to make the grade this year in People's Most Beautiful - Halle Berry, Zac Efron, Angelina Jolie, Kristen Wiig (SNL fame), Taylor Swift, Robert Pattinson, Michelle Obama and others.

source: People/MSN

Dosha: Ayurvedic Approach to Balance

Doshas are the three energies that govern the body: vata, pitta, and kapha.

According to Ayurveda, each of us is made up of some combination of three doshas, or energy archteypes, which determine both our physical and emotional health. Ayurveda combines nutrition, lifestyle, psychology and herbal medicine to cultivate wellness in both mind and body. It is said that at conception we are created with a unique blend of the five great elements (ether, air, fire, water, earth). That unique blend is called our prakruti or individual body constitution. Our prakruti is a combination of the three doshas vata (ether + air), pitta (fire + water), and kapha (water + earth). Since prakruti is made of the three doshas, knowing what your dosha(s) is/are, is key to maintaining your health.

Each of us is composed of varying amounts of the three doshas, and according to Ayurvedic principles, what we eat, how we work, and even whom we love should serve to maintain our doshic balance. Left unchecked, imbalance is believed to cause health issues ranging from headaches and skin rashes to larger issues like cancer and chronic depression.

The first step in regaining balance is to recognize that the environment around you has a profound influence on how you feel. Paying conscious attention to what you hear, touch, see, taste and smell can help create peace, balance and vitality in your mind and body. A harmonized daily routine that engages the five senses with nourishing impressions is one of the most important steps towards achieving health.

There are many online tests you can take to come closer to knowing your own dosha combination. I'll list them at the bottom. I discovered that I'm a pretty good combination of both Pitta and Kapha. In testing a little further for possible body and/or mind imbalances, I was able to discover accumulations in one area or another and sought out tips to brings myself back into better balance.

For instance, accumulated Kapha or out of balance Kapha leads to heaviness, sluggishness and congestion. Stimulation and movement help overcome the resistance of accumulated Kapha. Think activation and invigoration. Here are some tips to maximize balance and well-being:

Body - Accumulated Kapha

• Take a yoga class to connect to your body and invoke your natural energy
• Perform a vigorous daily self massage with invigorating herbalized oil
• Take deep breaths throughout the day
• Favor spicy foods with a predominance of pungent, bitter, and astringent tastes
• Walk 5-15 minutes after eating to aid digestion
• Drink Invigorating Tea
• Put your full attention on your meals when eating

When Vata is out of balance, change and movement agitate the physiology resulting in a sense of instability. Balancing Vata requires introducing more grounding and stabilizing influences. Think routine and consistency. Here are a few tips to encourage balance and well-being:

Mind - Accumulated Vata

• Meditate twice a day to quiet the mind
• Look for opportunities to create rhythm and routine in your life
• Go to bed and awaken at about the same time every day
• Wear relaxing fragrances
• Listen to slow and relaxing music to calm Vata
• Minimize heavy reading, eating, or watching TV right before bed
• Diffuse relaxing fragrances into your environment
• Favor mild pastel shades and earth tones in your environment

Very interesting stuff! I was inspired by Alyssa Giacobbe's article on the subject in Body + Soul magazine, which you can read in its entirety here. Working on balancing my energies and appreciating these concepts immensely. One way I've found that helps me focus on my own wellbeing is by using products and fragrances with organic and natural ingredients. Again I'd remind you of a line perfect for just this approach - Organic Apoteke.

Want to take the dosha test for yourself? Here are a few suggestions to get you started.

• doshaquiz.chopra.com - Deepak Chopra's Dosha Quiz (this one was the most helpful for me!)
• ayurveda.com - Discover Your Constitution
• whatsyourdosha.com
• heymonicab.com - Ayurvedic resource blog by Monica B (great info there)

Namaste ... xo