Comedienne Amy Schumer had photographer Heather Sten shoot some maternity photos of herself for a New York Timesprofile and it is awesome!
Personally, I do not like the feature because I think that it is all over the place and is missing meat and potatoes I wanted the author to get from the funny woman.
Anyway, I am still happy to see her get a profile whilst preggers.
It has had a bit of a roller coaster of a pregnancy for Schumer who is expecting her and hubby Chris Fischer‘s first child. It has been marked by hospitalization for extreme morning sickness.
So the bookend to her 40 weeks is this totally unconventional shoot that features the I Feel Pretty star in the puff undressing as she frolicked in the rain running towards a gaggle of geese.
She captioned a series of photos of the spread:
On a chilly Nola morning it’s best to chase ducks with nothing weighing you down except a baby. Photo by @heathersten for the @nytimes on a rainy night it’s also a good idea. Thank you @zinomanjason for your profile on me. Brutally honest. My favorite kind of honesty. See you in another 10 when you write about me again. Article on nytimes.com
In another photo, the mom-to-be covers her bare breast with clumps of Spanish moss set to a forest backdrop. Deep!
Being naked was no big thing.
“As someone who has been told a million times they are fat and ugly, it does not matter!” the comedian, who’s expecting her first child with husband Chris Fischer, told the New York Times. And she’s very much looking forward to meeting her little one, saying, “I think I will experience [some other level of joy] with a baby.”
If you’re pregnant this Saint Patrick’s Day, don’t fret about getting left out in the libations and fun. Check out these 5 easy mocktails or preggatinis to celebrate the holiday. Here are a few recipes to get you started. Enjoy!
Shamrock Shake Add 2 cups of mint chocolate chip ice cream 3/4 – 1cup of milk 1 tablespoon of green sprinkles Add all ingredients to your blender. Pulse the mixture 4-5 times or until just combined. Serve topped with whipped topping, green sprinkles, and a sprig of mint!
Nojito ( a non-alcoholic take on the Mojito)
10-12 fresh small spearmint leaves
1/2 lime, juiced
7 oz sprite zero or club soda
1 tbsp sugar or Splenda
crushed ice
In a cool tall glass, muddle the mint, sugar or splenda or Agave and lime juice. Add crushed ice and soda and stir well. Garnish with a lime wedge and a few sprigs of mint. Serve with a straw.
St. Paddy’s Day Punch 2 (12 ounce) cans frozen limeade concentrate (frozen is okay)
2 cups Gatorade, Lemon-Lime flavor.
1 cup light rum
2 (12 ounce) cans lemon-lime soda pop
Mix everything except soda. Chill. Just before serving, add soda. You can also make some green ice cubes using food coloring and add just before serving.
Green Smoothie What you need:
1.5 Cups Orange Juice
4 Scoops lime sherbet
2 ripe bananas, peeled and frozen
6 Tablespoons chopped mint
4 kiwifruits, peeled and frozen
2 Cups crushed ice
Blend everything up in a blender. Add a bit more orange juice, or water if more liquid is required. Add some rum or vodka for those that wish.
Irish Coffee and Grasshopper The ultimate drink for those looking to control their calories but still have some drinks with friends. Make some freshly brewed coffee and add some Baileys for Irish Coffee. For a grasshopper, add equal parts of Creme de Menthe, and Baileys. Garnish with a bit of whip cream if you have.
For More Alcoholic & Non-Alcoholic St. Patrick’s Day Drinks Click The Link! Drink Responsibly
For those of you not nursing, pregnant and can partake in alcohol, check out these 12 common St. Patrick’s Day drinks (Click to Enlarge)
He clued us in on the due date by captioning the post, “New baby droppin September.”
The pair began dating in 2013 and welcomed their first child, daughter Kensli in 2015, but they separated in May 2016 when Corley filed court documents to declare the rapper Kensli’s father.
She asked the court’s to remain “sole caretaker” of their daughter and also requested child support, according to theChicago Tribune.
Corley withdrew her filing in January 2017 when she and the rapper reconciled.
They got engaged last June during a backyard party.
Though they had a white wedding this month, court papers the Chicago Tribuneuncovered shows they married in a civil ceremony last December.
Although I try to remain apolitical in this blog, my dad and many members of my family here and abroad are Muslims and I feel compelled to condemn the terrorits’ attack on Mosques in New Zealand yesterday ( and all religious attacks before today worldwide)
Those of us who have forums and platforms to reach wide audiences have a duty to advocate for love, peace and understanding at times.
My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and I wish comfort and solace to the families of the deceased and injured.
Also, here is a statement from Muslim Advocates Executive Director Farhana Kheraon the deadly mass shootings at two mosques in New Zealand:
“A house of worship is a sacred place for people of all faiths. It is an unspeakable tragedy to see two mosques be so horrifically violated. In the wake of this heartbreaking, anti-Muslim mass slaughter, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect Muslims and all vulnerable communities from the very real dangers posed by hate and white nationalists. Thoughts and prayers are simply an inadequate response to this horrific attack. It is time for President Trump, elected officials, law enforcement and tech companies to act.
It is not enough for President Trump to merely send thoughts and prayers. The President called neo-nazis and white nationalists ‘very fine people.’ This hate-filled murderer drew inspiration from Trump, and the white nationalist movement has celebrated Trump’s words and policies. The President needs to immediately and unequivocally condemn and disavow this attacker and the white nationalist movement.
Elected officials and law enforcement must do more to protect our community and all Americans from the white nationalist threat by calling on FBI Director Christopher Wray to prioritize the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of right-wing, white nationalist violence—the most significant threat to public safety in our nation today.
Social media platforms and tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google need to do much more to detect and shut down online hate content. The New Zealand shooter was able to livestream a 17-minute video of his murderous rampage that continues to spread like wildfire online. This is flatly unacceptable. Tech companies must take all steps possible to prevent something like this from happening again. Further, hate groups have long used platforms like Facebook to organize, spread their violent messages and build their membership online. Facebook needs to do more to remove these hate groups before they inspire even more harm.
With historic levels of hate crimes motivated by anti-Muslim bigotry in recent years here in the U.S., American Muslims have sadly been through so much. I am so proud of our resilience and strength. We will not allow this attack or this hate movement to prevent us from going about our daily lives, including attending our houses of worship and engaging with our communities. Together, with allied Americans of faith and goodwill, we will persevere and we will defeat hate.”
Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.
Twenty -two years ago, at age 16, Martina Hingis became the youngest woman to win the Australian Open finals and now Hingis served up a new title, “mom” when she welcomed her first child, daughter, Lia this year.
The former No. 1 WTA player announced the birth over Twitter last week.
“And then we were three!” she captioned a photo of herself cradling her newborn in front of husband, Harald Leemann, a former sports doctor. “Harry and I are excited to welcome our baby girl Lia to the world. We are already so in love.”
And then we were three! Harry and I are excited to welcome our baby girl Lia to the world. We are already so in love ❤ ?? pic.twitter.com/C9NUA3tMxT
Today is March 14 also known as Pi Day, the numerical figure for the ratio of a circul’s circumference to its diameter is 3.14. The day is celebrated by the eating, purchase and making of actual pies. But a pizza pie is also a pie, right?
PEOPLE has a great listing of places that offered and are still offering deals on pies, of all varieties from pizza to fruit ones!
My family loves these pizzas because they, like & Pizza, Custom Pizza and other chains, allow customers to build their own personal pies. Last year, we lined up with dozens of coeds that live in our college town to get our heavily discounted pizza.
An assembly-line format allows guests to select a number of toppings from fresh ingredients – all for under $8. Then, the 11-inch pies are sent to the oven for 180 seconds, emerging “fast-fire’d” and ready to eat.
Blaze Pizza makes its dough from scratch, using a recipe designed by Executive Chef Brad Kent to ensure a crisp, thin crust.
Other signature menu items include fresh salads, blood orange lemonade and s’more pies. The restaurant can cater to dietary needs with gluten-free dough and vegan cheese.
A quickly expanding company, Blaze Pizza’s first opened in California in 2012.
If you live near a Blaze pizza and aren’t blanketed under the Northeast storm, head out there for dinner this evening or for lunch.
This week’s college admission cheating scandal has a lot of people in social media, online and at water coolers at work talking about all the extraneous steps wealthy parents take to ensure their children get admitted into the best schools.
Whether the uber rich are donating buildings to get their kids into elite schools, or bribing athletic coaches and testing proctors, as this scandal reveals, their actions are a sad reminder to families without extraordinary means that the odds are stacked against them and they are left to figure it out themselves on how to get into the top elite schools.
Bellyitch asked double Ivy League Grad, Test prep and Educational Consultant, K. Mason Schecter, owner of Schecter Academic & Admissions Services, who scored in the 99% of the SAT, ACT, SAT, GMAT and LSAT on the very first try to provide his best insider tips and secrets for parents who are not rich and who might not be able to afford an expensive private tutor or course.
K. Mason Schecter of Schecter Academic & Admissions Services, who scored in the 99% of the SAT, ACT, SAT, GMAT and LSAT on the very first try
Most of Schecter’s clients come to him for standardized test prep for the SAT, ISEE, PSAT, SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT, and MCAT, and/or school application essay assistance, or both.
He says the recent scandal reminds him ofa joke about diversity at American colleges.
“On a campus tour a parent asks a dean about his school’s diversity. The dean says, ‘Our school is incredibly diverse! We’ve got rich white kids, rich black kids, rich Asian kids…’ I can’t fix that problem, but I can suggest some useful resources.“
Here are ten things you need to consider if you want to legitimately get your child in an Ivy League or other competitive school.
1. Practice Entrance Exams on Paper Tests.
While a lot of test prep programs offer digital and online courses and tests, Schecter says practicing on paper is better for preparing for the SAT, ACTs and other high school and private school admissions exams.
While “the GRE and GMAT are fully digital, and the LSAT will become fully digital in 2019, the SAT and ACT are still paper tests, and students should prepare for them using paper,” Schecter explains. “That paper test booklet is your best friend on test day and like any other friend, you need to spend time with it and get comfortable with it, or else it’s not going to help you very much when you need it.”
He says all of his SAT and ACT students, regardless of location, train with paper tests and pencils.
“Online instruction is fine, but online tests are not,” he adds.
In the end, there is no real formula for scoring perfectly on the SAT
“But there is a process,” he says. “Approach standardized tests like a sport. Learn the skills, get a good coach, and practice, practice, practice.”
2. Read Lots of Books
Get your kids to read books, Schecter advises.
There is no short cutting it because as we’ve seen promoted many times before, reading helps increase reaching comprehension, vocabulary and verbal aptitude easily!
“I had professor in graduate school who told us that our brains need to be fed, and books are meals,” Schecter jokes. “Articles and videos are snacks – you don’t want your brain to live on snacks.”
There are a lot of online resources but one that has been around for a long time and has consistently prepared children for school, and exams is the Khan Academy.
Khan Academy “offers course work and study aids for nearly the entire school curriculum from kindergarten through high school, completely free.”
Khan Academy – in partnership with The College Board – also offers excellent SAT prep material as well as official tests direct from the source, Schecter adds.
4. Check Out Johns Hopkins Essays That Worked Page
For getting the best essay, Schecter says you cannot go wrong with another free resource from Johns Hopkins University from its “Essays that Worked” page on the college’s website .
“It is one of the best free resources for essay assistance,” he adds but cautions that the gold is not in the sample essays but in the comments left by the admissions officials as to why they felt the essay worked. “The reviewers reveal exactly what they find attractive.”
Genius!
5. Wait until 10th Grade to Start Doing Practice Tests
A lot of hard core parents presume that their kid needs to be doing practice tests from middle school, but that is uneccessary, Schecter says.
“The SAT and ACT tests do not require years of prep,” Schecter reminds us. “I don’t see any reason to introduce the focus on such exams before tenth grade at the earliest.”
Instead, “encourage your kids to keep up their grades, read books, and pursue the activities that your child seems most likely to stick with throughout high school (and beyond).
“Ninth grade is a tough transitional year for many students.”
6. Practice Learning How to Spot the Wrong Answers, Not the Correct One.
Conventional wisdom would have most thinking their job while taking a test is to find the right answer.
Not so, says Schecter:
It’s helpful to understand how the tests are structured. Multiple choice tests have one simple rule: for every question, all but one of the answers are WRONG.
Why is this useful? Because it changes your job. You don’t have to understand the ‘right’ answer, you just have to locate it – and your first move isn’t to seek what’s right, but to eliminate what’s wrong. There’s an old saying about the difficulty of finding a needle in a haystack. If you search for the needle, then it is difficult. Don’t search – burn!
Burn the hay, and the only thing left is your needle.
And now I will reveal one of the great secrets of standardized tests – verbal questions are not complicated. They nearly always ask what the passage says. That’s it! No thinking. Just find the words the question references.
Brilliant!
7. Unmotivated Children Must Take “In-Class” PrepCourses
Have your children who are less motivated and less likely to follow through requirements on an online test prep or private tutor enroll in an in-person class.
“For unmotivated students who need someone to MAKE them practice, classes at a testing center are often the right choice,” Schecter reccommends “Why? Because, testing centers make students take practice tests on site. There’s no escape!”
In test prep, the largest providers areThe Princeton Review and Kaplan Test Prep. “Both primarily provide prep classes, and if you’re looking for a class neither is a bad choice,” he says.
Schecter also recommends that more motivated students get tutors because it’s more efficient, more effective and often less expensive than testing center courses. The students get far.
And in this digital age, a tutor could be half way across the world. Schecter himself has clients in Asia and all over America and tutors kids both in person and online for private school admissions, test and essay prep, and tailors his program for each child.
“My goal is to provide exactly what each student needs, no more and no less,” he says. “Some students require a great deal of assistance, whereas others require very little – so my services are always tailored to the needs of my clients.”
8. Challenge Children with Poor Work Ethic
It is common to see parents pushing their children to achieve a success they envision for themselves, for bragging rights and for all the wrong reasons.
That never works, Schecter says. Instead he advises:
“First, I have to say this is probably one of the greatest mysteries of parenting – and one that I can’t claim to have solved. Given that, I think it’s critical for kids to have skin in the game.
There has to be something of value for them.
Emotions power actions.
If you see a person running, they’re probably running either toward (with passion) or away (with fear) from something.
At some point, kids have to learn that to get what you want, you have to do what you don’t.
Can you dig it?
9. Strive For Balance
We know the stereotype and hear the stories about competitive parenting in Asian countries, cultures and among Asian and foreign immigrant households and the exaggeration on academics while American households may recommend taking a more relaxed approach, while lagging behind the world in reading and math.
The answer lies in the middle.
Schecter offers the activity of jogging to provide a workable analogy.
“If you’re jogging and you’re bored, then you’re not pushing hard enough, whereas if you’re gasping and stumbling then you need to pull it back,” he adds. “That’s where you find the balancing point – between boredom and overwork.”
10. Advanced courses still matter.
Recently, there have been reports that some of the selective admissions grade and high schools were moving away from weighted Advanced Placement, Honors and International Baccalaureate (“IB”) courses.
Schecter says they’re still relevant. Don’t give up on them.
“I favor students taking the most challenging course track that they can handle, regardless of what those courses are called,” he recommends. “Colleges review a student’s curriculum in the same way. The names don’t matter.”
Private tutors range in price and Schecter charges from free to $100- $200 per hour, but at the top range, they’re paying for someone who has been teaching the SAT since 1987 while an Undergrad at Columbia University, who went to the University of Pennsylvania‘s prestigious Wharton School of Business school and worked as a banker and consultant before returning to test prep because he loves “helping others work through a very stressful transition that should really be more joyous.”
You get what you pay for and the results speak for themselves.
Readers can chat with him about reality of testing and college admissions during a free consultation!
And if getting private tutoring is not in the cards or budget for you, start with the very solid tips that he’s shared with out readers here and go from there!
In case you’re wondering whose next to give birth today, we got you! Take a look at which celebrities are waiting on a special delivery:
Amy Shumer had a rough start but is smooth sailing onto baby number 1 with hubby Chef Chris Fischer.
Vanessa Bryant and Kim Kardashian West are both expecting their 4th child. The Wests via surrogate. Kobe Bryant is waiting for his 4th girl!
Amy Schumer is pregnant with her first child with hubby Chef Chris Fischer.
Kobe and Vanessa Bryant are expecting their 4th child, another girl!
Kanye and Kim Kardashian West are also expecting their 4th child via surrogate.
Love and Hip Hop’s Erica Dixon is expecting twin girls, unexpectedly!
Steven Yeun’s wife Photographer Joana Park are expecting their second child, a boy!
After a miscarriage, Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashely Darby is expecting her first child.
It’s Baby #1 for another Bravo franchise star, Real Housewives of Atlanta’s Porsha Williams and her fiance Dennis McKinley
After 14 failed IVF cycles, RHOOC alum Gretchen Rossi and Slade Smiley are waiting for their first child together to arrive.
Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and hubby Marc Mezvinsky are on baby #3.
Former NBC Today Show Host surprised her fans with news she was married and 8 months preggers.
Another star in her 40s who waited for baby for a long time is Mercedes “MJ” Javid Feight of “Shahs of Sunset”
We knew Danielle as a Child star on Boy Meets World in the 90s and now she will be a first time mom this year too.
Love and Hip Hop star Erica Dixon surprised her fans with notice that she is expecting twin girls via her YouTube channel.
The Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun‘s Wife photographer Joana Parkare expecting their second child, a baby girl, Park confirmed last week.
After suffering a devastating miscarriage, Real Housewives of Potomac star Ashley Darby is expecting her first child with husband Michael Darby.
Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams and husband Dennis McKinley are expecting their first child as well.
Former Real Housewives of Orange County star Gretchen Rossi lost 14 embryos during the IVF process before successfully getting pregnant with her first child with husband Slade Smiley.
Former First Daughter Chelsea Clinton and her husband Marc Mezvinsky are waiting on baby #3!
Another BravolebrityMercedes “MJ” David of Shahs of Sunset and her new hubby Tommy Feight are expecting.
Finally, I loved her on Boy Meets World as Topanga and now actress Danielle Fishel and her brand spacking new hubby Jensen Karp are expecting their first.
Preeclampsia is a potentially life-threatening condition that affects about one in 20. Both mom and baby are at risk and because the symptoms of the condition mirror regular normal pregnancy symptoms like swelling and headaches, it is pretty hard to diagnose. Often times, it isn’t caught until much later in a woman’s pregnancy.
The newly developed test uses a special red dye that reacts to unique proteins in the urine of pregnant women with preeclampsia.
This means, a mom-to-be can quickly and easily diagnosed for the condition during a prenatal visit.
“Without the certainty of this test, providers tend to be overcautious because this is definitely a condition that we can’t allow to go untreated,” said Dr. Kara Rood , lead author of the study and maternal-fetal medicine physician at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “This test helps us to quickly provide care to women with preeclampsia, while avoiding unnecessary admissions or even early deliveries.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDNh8MFJdDM
Researchers expect the new rapid test to be FDA approved in the next few years so that OB/GYNs nationwide can use it to identify cases of preeclampsia.
“Giving birth is the only cure for preeclampsia, but it can develop as early as the second trimester,” Rood added. “The quicker we identify women with the condition, the better chance they have of carrying their babies to full term and having a healthy delivery.”
Dr. Rood hopes it will also be available at home for monitoring pregnancy complications more conveniently.
The news came this week that fashion retailer H&M plans to close 160 stores this year, and I couldn’t be more upset.
It wasn’t like the news was a total surprise. We could have expected it.
After all, similar mall staples Gymboree, GAP, Francesca’s and other retailers have started to shutter down in a response to tumbling sales and revenue.
Blame it on the uncontrollable growth of ecommerce and online boutiquesand trendy shops like TopShop, Nasty Gal, Revolve, Fashion NOVAand others that do not have retail stores and a new generation of consumers, Millenials and GenZ, that are perfectly fine shopping for clothes, shoes and make up online and without trying them on first, we are clearly in a new era for fashion.
Still, I like “Fast Fashion”.
Maybe I’m a unicorn on this because when I posted the news on one of my Facebook pages about H&M closing stores, my more stylish friends said stuff like they had long since abandoned stores like H&M and Zara because they thought these stores had navigated away from cute, chic styles and abandoned their core aesthetic and initial appeal in exchange for the fast fashion trend.
This trend is defined as “runway to stores” and noted for cheap replicas of designer clothing. The had lost their edge and appeal, my friends said.
Meh.
But for me, a blogger and mompreneur with a full slate of activity each day, a brood of three kids and a husband, a StartUp I’m incubating and various other projects I’m balancing, fashion is not a priority.
And as a work-from-home solopreneur, it’s not that I have too many occasions to dress up because there is no office I have to check into daily.
