#17 HOT OVER 40! MARILYN MONROE SIZZLE & SMARTS! 2/25/12

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IMDB www.imdb.me/joannabonaro

Real vs Reel Beauty 
Yes! Marilyn knew the difference.

Sizzle + Smarts = 
Sensational  

 

My favorite Marilyn photo - with a BOOK!

Since this is a blog about beauty, image and the pressures society puts on women to look gorgeous no matter the circumstances, I harken back to Marilyn. Why? Well she did re-invent herself.  She was her own creation.  And creating one's own rennaissance whether it be through fitness or schooling, or relationships, or just a new pair of jeans is what this blog is about.  Creating a life and look that makes you happy,  gives one confidence, and authenticity - that is what I would hope for you. Because you are doing it for yourself, not to be selfish and narcissistic, but to be happy and healthy and fulfilled.
You deserve it.  
Marilyn was often misunderstood, however she was a brilliant actress and business woman.  A woman before her time who fought for her beliefs, and the rights of others.
I think if she could have continued to withstand the pressures of fame, stardom and her own personal demons, she would have been a true aging beauty.  
A role model on how to age with grace and style. 
With a face that moved and continued to move us too!

A true iconoclast. A forerunner. Trailblazer.

"For decades, irresponsible biographers like Norman Mailer have represented Marilyn Monroe as nothing more than weak, psychotic, junkie, nymphomaniac, idiot. I have tried to read her life in a different way. True, Marilyn was sometimes mired in the ideology of the past: she married men to gain an identity she wished for herself; she was over-reliant on her sexuality for success in her career. But, at the same time, she displayed real agency by divorcing three unsupportive husbands who interfered with her career and her self-esteem, by fighting for her modeling and film success, by continuing to perfect her art by taking acting classes long after she was a big star, by battling Darryl Zanuck to have more control over her own destiny, by starting her own production company, by buying her own home, even by jogging through service alleys, lifting weights, and wearing jeans. All of these things were accomplished six years before the first feminist protest at the Miss American Pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and eight years before the First Congress to unite Women in New York."   (Excerpted from http://www.americanpopularculture.com/)

INSIGHT FOR THE DAY:

MARILYN JOGGED AND USED WEIGHTS BEFORE THE BOOM OF THE FITNESS CRAZE, GYMS, TRAINERS AND EXERCISE GURUS ---- SO FOLLOW HER EXAMPLE ---

YOU CAN TRANSFORM YOURSELF THROUGH DILIGENCE AND DEDICATION.  And no it ain't easy, however, eventually it will actually become fun.  Trust me. I know.
UPCOMING BLOGS ON VARIOUS EXERCISE STRATEGIES DURING SLUMPS, MALAISE & INJURIES.   

THANK YOU FOR YOUR INTEREST, COMMENTS, READERSHIP, CURIOSITY, CARING, SHARING.

CHOOSE HAPPINESS - EVEN DURING DURESS.
IT WON'T CHANGE THINGS ALOT, BUT PERHAPS, IT WILL CHANGE HOW YOU DEAL WITH IT.

if you are new to this blog and want some background on my philosophies and life after cancer IN A BIKINI   see blogs #1,2,3,6,8,10 &14

#13 HOT OVER 40! HAPPY HEALTHY HOT NEW YOU! 1/1/12

 TO DO LIST FOR A 2012 HAPPY, HEALTHY, HOT YOU!






 Celebrate yourself with a glass of champagne...







 Try something new just for the heck of it...





Say, "I love you" often...
Call your mother and compliment her...
Tell dad your proud of him...


 Eat really tasty food, you deserve the good stuff...
 

Take lots of long, long meandering walks...
Tell someone an unexpected truth that makes them smile...



Be especially kind to animals, children and the elderly...


Laugh as much as possible, as often as possible, and spend time with the ones who you care about the most...

Travel... explore... excite your mind...exercise your body.  LIVE!

#12 HOT OVER 40! SAY GOODBYE 12/30/11

Say goodbye...
Say goodbye to all your doubts and self-recriminations...
Say goodbye to your guilt, the late night food fests & self -prevarications...
Say goodbye to the 4th slice of pizza and the whoopie cookie binge...
Say goodbye to dressing room dread and summer clothing cringe...



Before the midnight bells ring 
 this is what I wish for you on January 1st 2012...
Joy ---   in your first breathe of the day as you open your eyes
Joy ---   as you feast on the sunshine and clouds and wonder of nature
Joy ---   as you plan all the activities that will make you smile.


Savor ---  your morning coffee
Savor ---  the first hug of the day from  your loved ones
Savor ---  every step forward, every smile, every kindness



   



    

    Keep ---  your wonder
    Keep ---  your hope
    Keep ---  your determination



 and think of all that you have and not what you want.


 You are your own creation
BREATHE DEEPLY   
Please, Do it all with Heart

HEALTHY TIP:   CRANBERRIES  Eating a heart healthy diet is one important step you can take to reduce your risk of heart disease & lower cholesterol. Cranberries contain no fat, no cholesterol, and very little sodium.   ( read entire article at www.uscranberries.com )

#5 HOT OVER 40! FROM RED CARPET TO HILARITY (Part 1) #5

This blog is founded on helping women over 40 feel empowered and very pretty on a day to day basis.  I have been in the image industry where how you look and present yourself is of the utmost importance for most of my adult life.  At times the only requisite when you walk in a room is how you look.  In the cosmetic industry, the first thing that was drummed into my head was, "Image is everything."  This rule applies itself everyday, but amplify it one hundred fold in the entertainment industry.
As is apparent,  I am not a star, (still I work) a renowned great beauty, (considered pretty) or leggy stick thin model, (size 4 is borderline ok - 6 still considered fat) but I have seen what goes on behind the glamour curtain.
Baby, you ain't born that way. So here is the grit behind the glimmer.

I quite unexpectedly got a call to Walk the Red Carpet at the Dallas Int'l Film Festival for a film I was cast in, "Traveling."
I will admit  - Yes! I was pretty excited. 
And for all you denigrators - So, so sorry it wasn't Cannes, or Sundance or Holly Lolly Wood.
              (BTW - Maria Bello and Anne Margaret opened the festival)
At least I get to say I did it. 
It may be the only time.
Or it may be have been good practice for the future. 
Who knows?
This blog, however, is what went on BEFORE the event. The next blog will focus on AFTER.
I call it From Red Carpet to Reality - or Hilarity. 

Walking the Red Carpet!  I got quite an amount of positive support, (thank you, thank you, thank you) along with lots of questions.
"How did you prepare for it?"
"Wow! Was it wonderful?"
"Were you nervous in front of the cameras?"
and of course
"What are you going to wear?"
So the journey began...
After it sank in, I basically panicked because I don't have
1. an assistant 2. a stylist 3. an image consultant
4. a press agent or any other of the cadre of people
that do all the work for you, behind the scenes.
Then I took a deep breathe and remembered that I do
1. have my own sense of style 2. know my image
3. am a self starter and 4.  have lots of marketing experience.
In other words --- I had confidence in myself. 
That adds up to a whole lot of pretty before one even starts. 
But really, that's just minutae. 
Let's get to the important stuff....the dress.
Off I went - to every store in NYC. I wanted to wear red. My color.  Always lots of compliments.  EXCEPT --- Valentine's Day had just passed, the new Spring fashions were on display, and the colors this season, as I came to be aware (or be wary of) are beige, orange and green. Cafeteria colors.
Now what was I supposed to do with that? 
Needless to say, there was nary a red dress in any store in all of New York City.  Hrrrmph. 
I would also like to mention the word,  "PROM."  Yes, that time of year was approaching, so looking for a tasteful cocktail dress amidst, froth, fluff, netting in unlikely places, exceedingly short hemlines and pastel pink was no easy task either.
After purchasing a total of 6, yes 6 dresses, (hope you are factoring all this travel, time, effort and indecision in the dressing room + hubby stating, "another one?") my dear friend said to me while I unhappily modelled a lilac concoction in my bedroom, " Do you want me to come with you to return the dress at the Madison Avenue store?" ( I can perform in front of hundreds but returning a purchase from Madison Avenue brings on frissons of fear)  I said, "yes, yes, yes!" 
Off we went. 
In the window was a black dress with gold necklace collar that I would have never picked out. 
She said, "That's the one." 
I said, "No, I will not wear black on camera, I never wear gold, plus too formal." 
She countered with, "Shut-up and listen to me for once in your life, you will look elegant and sophisticated." 
I said begrudgingly, "Well, I can try it on." 
Guess who was right? 
Oh it was Max Azria for those who care.

Part 2 will describe the experience and OH!!! the afterwards.
Otherwise known as "The Ecstacy then the Agony."
For the record, I did not trip.

PRACTICAL FASHION TIP  -- when wearing new shoes, sandpaper the bottom of the soles. The roughened texture guarantees you won't slip on carpeted or wooden floors.

    

#4 HOT OVER 40! ON ITALIAN FRIENDSHIPS

My father always said to me, "you are lucky if you have 5 true friends during the course of a lifetime."
As a teenager, this seemed like rather a small number.  However, after a lifetime of people coming and going during the different phases of my life, that number now seems very large.  Of course it all depends on how one defines the term "friendship."
For an Italian, I believe it means, you have become family.  And family, for an Italian, is everything. 
This will not happen overnight. 
Nor will there ever be an official induction.
Nor do I mean for you to envision the pop culture iconography of everyone happily sitting down to dinner, spreading good cheer and loving kindness. 
There are many Italian families, like mine, who are reminiscent of the Borgias.  If you know your history, not the most likable clan. 
But they did protect their own.
However, the bottom line is that through thick and thin, if you are lucky enough to be included in that very exclusive circle it can mean quite alot.
It means, not keeping count, or lists of what you did and what I did in return.  It means, no questions asked if you need money to pay your rent.  And then take 5 years to pay it back.  Or usually, after awhile it means, "no worries, I don't remember you borrowing any money at all."  Our long memories can become quite sketchy when you are in that beloved though bickering inner circle.  It means, when you phone at 3 AM because you need help, you get a "I will be right over" response instead of all the reasons why you would but regretfully can't help. It means inconveniencing oneself to help out another.  It means if my cousin has an MBA and you need help with a business plan, well, a phone call will generate alot of advice, phone conversations and edits --- all for free. Or a doctor's appointment or a  "reference" from someone with some influence even though you never worked for them, or a blood donation, or even getting an uncle to put in a new sink in the basement - at a basement price.
It also means, that all the things you ever did count -- alot. And eventually you will get alot more in return than you ever dreamed.  Even something like, a place to call home if there is no where else to go in your old age. We invented the phrase, "just in case...". 
The downside is that you are now included in the favors for this or that, and never ending worries about everything and anything.  You are now involved in the emotional upheavals, the phone calls and conversations and basically anything that you would ask your father, sister, brother, mother to do without a second thought.  Over and over and over again. Then over again...again. 
That is why alot of Italians say, "managia" under their breathes and throw up their hands. Usually this means being a major pain in the butt, along with fighting and impatience and thoughts of, "I really want to throw you out the window right now."
Of course you don't. You verbally duke it out, sometimes rather loudly, but then after you've let off steam, and everyone's said what they really thought, no brain editing involved, everyone has a cup of coffee.  Preferably at the kitchen table.
Not the dining room, living room, or family room. 
Case closed. 
And in my life experience,this type of mindset 99.9% of the time occurs when you are from a blue collar boroughs background.  Not scientific, I know, just experiential. 
Oh another thing - this inclusion does not happen alot.  It takes time.
That's why the number is only a handful. 
So if you are the type who keeps count, or fumes silently, or has time limit expectations, I would take these insights or warnings to heart.  Ultimately the relationship just won't last.
Being part of la famiglia has it's pitfalls but I prefer it than any other kind of friendship in the world.
And dad's number doesn't seem so small after all.  Just true.  Like an Italian friendship, indeed.

Italian Meal Tip -  one of my favorite books for low calorie Italian recipes is

  99% Fat Free Italian Cooking - by Barry Bluestein & Kevin Morrissey, Published by Doubleday
    all of your favorite dishes with less than 1 gram of fat.  One of my favorites is Monkfish Osso Buco.
    PS make Garlic your friend. Learn low fat ingredient alternatives  ---   Become a Bella Buongustiao