We are back on solid food! Breakfast is a beautiful piece of watermelon and I put some cinnamon on it to slow the absorption of sugar in my body. It taste like heaven and I am so happy. I decide that I will eat at least one raw meal a day for the rest of my life.

I feel so good now and I don’t want this feeling to end. I suffered from headaches for years and this is the first week since I can remember that I did not have a headache by 3:00 pm.

I am getting used to the shots of wheat grass and by now everyone is talking about the crazy things their bodies are doing in detox. Who knew that you could get so personal with people whom you’ve known for a mere 5 days!

Saturday is the official ending of the program for those who came a week. I can’t believe that I only have less than 2 days left here. I am having such a great time and I really want to stay for another week and really let my body heal, but I can’t. I am speaking at University of Dreams in San Francisco next week and I leave for NYC the following week, so I need to get home.

I turned on my computer and I got sick to my stomach. I then thought to myself, “Why is this happening and what do I need to change so this feeling won’t happen.” Of course my body gave me my answer and now it is my job to honor its request. I only have one body and I need to keep it healthy and strong for the next 40 years.

Funny how we forget we only have one body. And this week I am learning how to love and respect it.

This is the third and final day of the juice fast. I am surprised that I have not been starving for the past 2 days. Actually, I feel quite light in many ways and I am enjoying the feeling of “lightness.”

We were warned that or bodies could make many changes, and some being changes that we don’t necessarily care for – like better hearing and a stronger sense of smell. So, when my new friend BiBi and I walked to Rite Aid, which was a few blocks away, I felt like I was getting attacked by all my senses. The noise of the cars and traffic was overwhelming and when we were in the store, I felt like I was at cheap casino in Las Vegas with all the screaming sounds and blinking lights. And to think, this is what we get inundated with on a daily basis and don’t even know! No wonder we feel like we are going crazy – it is because we are!

My sense of smell was out of control and the street smelled like burning petrol and the air was thick with fried fats. Yuck! What was I hearing and smelling before I came hear?!?

I bought some melatonin, even though they recommended that we don’t take over the counter drugs. I had not slept for a few nights and I was exhausted. BiBi picked up some Emergen-C and we went back to our haven on the hill.

This was the first time I was getting hungry, so by the time that dinner was served I was ready to chow down on some raw veggies and flaxseed crackers. Dinner was delicious and I was temped to get seconds… But I have already lost 7 pounds I decided to stick with the program.

That night was the best night I had (thank you melatonin). I can’t believe that my week is coming to an end. I feel so alive and well that I want to keep the goodness going (plus I know that I have plenty more toxins in my body to shed and I can’t do it on my own!)
So, I write in my journal and give thanks for all I have leaned. I will never be the same after this week. Thank God.

Houseboats have come a long way since their heyday in the 60s. Tango Diva founder Patti recalled a vacation she took a year ago on a houseboat in scenic Lake Powell, Arizona. She describes a lazy afternoon spent lounging in the boat’s jacuzzi, sipping champagne, “plunging down the waterslide from the second-level deck as the sun slips behind the cliffs and the first stars begin to appear. It’s heaven and it’s effortless. This ain’t your Aunt Annie’s houseboat.”

Patti is right. Houseboats these days are sleek, stylish, and an ideal way to take advantage of both land and sea, and now is the perfect time to head for Lake Powell and see for yourself!

Lake Powell is located in northern Arizona and extends upward to southern Utah. An easy 2-hour drive from the Grand Canyon, it joins the Colorado River in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Famous for its many secluded coves and dramatic red rock formations, the water levels at Lake Powell are reaching a 20-year high right now, and previously off-limits areas are now open to boats, allowing visitors to see new sights and explore untouched territory.

If that isn’t enough of a reason to go, Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas just announced that you can rent a 46-foot Voyager houseboat for 3 days for only $1195. This is a savings of over $500! They also offer small watercraft rentals, such as jet skis and power boats.

Valid for travel Aug. 15 to Oct. 15, this houseboat package can accommodate up to 12 people- perfect for a group of friends or family trip.

For more information and to make a reservation, visit Lake Powell Resorts and Marinas, or call 888-669-2704 and request promo code tzhb40.

One of the most common travel inconveniences is having to buy another suitcase or duffel while on vacation so that you can schlep all your newfound, exotic goodies home. And nobody wants to bring an extra, empty suitcase with them in the first place. The solution? The convertible key chain Kiva bags.

Tango Diva tested these sleek, colorful bags that condense into its own pouch that can fit in the palm of your hand and can be clipped onto a key chain. The bags expand into roomy totes, duffels, backpacks, or “sling packs.”

With a variety of colors, including classic black, red, blue, and green, as well as several floral designs, these extremely lightweight and stylish bags won’t add any weight to your luggage until you fill them up with souvenirs.

These bags are also an eco-friendly way to lug groceries, use for shopping, and as a gym bag.

Manly Mixed Marial Arts (MMA) cage fighting; a woman running the operations! Tracy Farrington took care o’ me at Full Contact Promotions Presents the Gladiator Challenge Summer Showdown last Friday night. Till then, I was an MMA virgin!!

She is the highest ranking woman in MMA operations, and what would have happened if Pamela Anderson and Don King had a love child. She’s the ultimate threat here—a blonde bombshell with serious promotions and operations instincts running around to the constant bark of her walkie-talkie.

Divas, I was sittin’ pretty cage-side in a gym full of 3000 fans. (And heeeellll yeah, I had locker room access! More on that later!) Was the audience a scary mixture of rabid men who might otherwise be found at a Monster Truck Show? Why, no!

A graceful good number (25%) were women all dressed up like it was opening night on the Vegas strip somewheres. And there were the color-coordinated gym members representing different fighters. So a group of hot chicks might be flanked by men in green bandannas representing a Jiu–Jitsu gym, say.

Each fight was 3 rounds, and lovely Ring Girls pranced the perimeter of the cage to let you know which round it was, which was helpful because most gaping, gawking guys would have been hard-pressed to come up with numbers as the lithe ladies passed them.

So if you don’t know, MMA is like super tricked out gloves-be-gone boxing. The fighters can hit, kick, and wrestle on the ground in a fatal tangle of torsos and limbs. They can kick higher than any Rockette, and their art is no where more apparent than when they are pinned on the ground. This is when they have to outwit the man on top and topple him with deft maneuvering. Or tap out. Which means throw in the towel. All while the guy on top is pummeling their ears and head. Ouch.

I saw men pick each other up and throw ‘em down, throw ‘em up against the cage, and one gladiator even lifted another high off the ground upside down. Dude! The main event was the tenth and final fight—favorite Kurt Osiander vs. Nate Moore. Moore was more as he knocked Osiander out in six seconds flat!

Whew. But you know what? At the end of every match, the men hug each other. You heard me. Awwww… I think because it’s so much about tactical skill and pitting knowledge against training, a match ultimately with themselves. Not so much about kicking ass. Although that happens too.

For a few of the fighters, this was their first pro match. How exciting! Er, the information as well as the locker room interviews that yielded it! Gabi Solorio is 19 and he won his first fight against fire fighter Justin Hoglund. The whole audience just about lost its mind as hundreds of them were supporting Hoglund. But the house didn’t fall, though tensions were sky high (security rocked.)

And though he lost, Jaime Rodriguez has a winning story—when he walked into his training gym, he weighed 300 pounds. And now he’s a hard-core professional MMA fighter. The sport changed his life!

The good news is that Tracy’s buddy, Ryan Bastianelli, won his fight. It was amazing to watch! Ryan, a head shorter than his opponent, kicked ass with his lower center of gravity. There was no way for Gigo Jara to knock him to the ground!

The guys towards the beginning of the night weren’t the sculpted gods you might expect from a Gladiator Challenge, but they were still formidable. I certainly wouldn’t want to be caged with ‘em! And by the end of the night, it was rippling abs adorned with fierce tattoos melting over taut sinews. Mmmm…

Yeah, there was blood. There was knock-down-drag-out fighting. And no headgear, helmets, gloves or even shoes and shirts! They don’t wear boxing gloves, those pillows for pansies. MMA boys wear what look like biking gloves. That’s it. Just a thin layer between knuckles and pain.

Too, there were tons of officials, and even a WOMAN JUDGE, Susan Thomas-Gitlin of the CA State Athletic Commission! It was a very classy, organized, serious operation. This was no backroom fight club. Though that’s what it felt like—it felt like I was at an underground thang, an undiscovered adventure, yet totally officiated and very safe.

So the next time you’re looking for something new to do, why not grab the girls or impress your male friends or man and head to the next MMA fight in your area! It’s definitely a great night out!

And if it’s a Gladiator Challenge presented by Full Contact Promotions, it extra rocks with a woman’s touch!

Please, ask me what I’m up to this illustrious morning. I’ll tell you–trying to get a replacement Dell computer. Ask me why? Cuz the new one I just bought broke. It was a total hard drive failure… the SECOND one I’ve had in as many Dell computers as I’ve had. That’s two for you English majors.

I get on the phone with technical support, and travel virtually all over the world– India, Philippines… what a travel Diva! They all tell me that I am speaking to the wrong person and need to be transferred. They all, without exception, HANG UP ON ME!

Unbelievable. Now I try to do this thang online. Funny how my old, ancient computer can’t handle all their flashy graphics. It takes forever to load Hell.com, oh, I mean Dell, and when I finally get the privilege of entering my service tag (god forbid one does anything with Dell without a query for numerical information ten minutes long), it tells me, and I quote:

“Our records indicate that your service tag belongs to a system that was purchased outside the United States.”

Excuse me? I live in California!

I’m still on hold right now, their heavy-on-the-xylophone wait music pounding into my brain…

Lord, saints preserve us– they just hung up on me AGAIN trying to transfer me to a supervisor… I’m SO gonna get you, SUCKA!

I did not sleep well and I am starting to feel really crabby. I am trying to stay positive, but now my throat is really feeling bad and I am exhausted from my lack of sleep. Today is the “Burning Ceremony” where everyone writes a list of all the things in their lives that no longer serve them and we literally BURN these sheets of paper on the front lawn in a sacred and silent ceremony.

I am a wreck for this event. I have written 2 full pages and put them in an envelope. They include things like, “Getting angry,” “Pushing myself too hard,” “Letting go of resentments,” and a bunch of other stuff that I won’t bore you with.

Because many of the guests here have cancer, and the belief is that cancer is a way that our body reacts to suppressed emotions, this is a pretty emotional ceremony. There are a lot of tears and by the end of the 30-minute event everyone looks a bit lighter and happier.

It was at this ceremony that I started to feel better. They day sped by and I enjoyed chewing my juice and hanging out with my new friends. One of the gifts I gave myself was a massage every day, so after lunch I got a Shiatsu Zen massage. My therapist was a young man named Courage, and when I closed my eyes and let him bend and stretch my body, I felt like I was dancing with an angel.

The night class was about self-validation, and once again there was a lot of tears. It is so encouraging to see others break out of their fear and live in the moment with truth and authenticity. I really miss that in my life because it seems that most people walk around with this “I’m okay mask” on and it can get pretty frustrating to truly understand how others are doing. Here, there is no need to figure it out, everyone just lets you know. Oh, what a refreshing change!

The past four days have been such and amazing experience and I can’t believe that it is already Wednesday night. One of the other things we do every day is write a gratitude journal. We list 3 things that we are grateful for, and today I am grateful for so much that I feel I’m going to explode with love.

This was the first day of the 3-day juice fast and I was not looking forward to it. I have never been able to make it a day on liquids, so I was worried about how I was ever going to make it three whole days. But I was here to go through the process, so I made a commitment to follow the program to a “T”. The philosophy here is focused on cleaning out all parts of the body that store toxins. The way our bodies accomplish this task is by giving the digestive track a rest through juice fasting. When your body has no food to digest, it can take that energy and use it to clean itself out. The other two parts of this program that no one really ever talks about is the overwhelming use of wheat grass and colon cleansing. So, I’ll lay it on the table for you.

Wheat grass is the cornerstone of this program, and for a very good reason. Wheat grass is pure goodness (but taste like chewing a lawn). It is high in anti-oxidants, protein, and has an amazing ability of pulling toxins out of the body. So, while you’re on the program, you are encouraged to drink at least 4 ounces of wheat grass a day, which leads me to the next part of the program. A clean colon; yup, and it makes sense once you understand how your body works. The colon is the last place where our bodies absorb nutrients from the liquid food matter. Finally, our colon sucks out all the goodness and then we are off to the ladies’ room to powder our nose.

So, you can imagine if you keep using the same vacuum for 40 years that there is a good chance the filter is not working very well and that your carpets are not getting very clean – same with the colon. Most people have years of residue (toxins!) stuck to their colon walls from poor eating habits. Therefore. to really detox, you got to clean out the trunk! And part of the cleanse includes cleaning it with that amazing wheat grass. So, between waves of dizziness and chills, I had to clean my bootie. Now, back to my day.

Breakfast was a juice made with a bunch of green vegetables. I’ll be honest, it looked like hell; it was an odd concoction the color of rotten lettuce. But after adding some garlic powder, cayenne, and dried dill I pretended it was a virgin Bloody Mary and it tasted quite refreshing. At OHI, they teach you to “juice your food and to chew your juice.” So after taking 20 minutes to “Chew” a 10-once glass of juice, I was ready for the day.

One of the bodily reactions to detoxing is to get really cold. Basically, your body is expelling toxins at a very fast rate, which takes up a lot of energy to do and you get really chilly. I started to get really cold and wrapped myself in a few sweatshirts even though it was 80 degrees outside. We still had classes to attend and I could tell that people were starting to get loopy because of the detox process. I kept loosing my book while others forgot names and the days of the week.

Classes included “Elimination” and “Emotional Detoxification.” There is so much to learn about how our bodies work and I just treated my body with gentleness and did the best I could to listen and learn.

Lunch was another glass of the green stuff. Once again I added my potpourri of spices and chewed my lunch. Dinner’s juice was a bit redder in color, I think they added beets and carrots this time. By the end of the day I was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Detoxing also brings up stored emotions that have been stuck in your body and instead of pushing them back down, you get to deal with them there.

Everyone here is going through the same process, so there is deep sense of community and love. I was the “Designated Hugger” for the week, so anytime anyone needed a hug, they would come to me. It really was a special feeling to be with people who knew exactly what I was going through.
I did not sleep well that night. I felt like I had a fever. Once asleep, I would wake up every hour in a clammy sweat. It sucked, but I know that I am really doing something profoundly important for my body.

Get ‘Carried’ away this Fall during New York Fashion Week with “Labels and Love,” an exclusive, all-girls fashion weekend in Manhattan, produced by The Last Single Girl in the World, sponsored by Tango Diva.

Join Jerusha Stewart,author of “The Single Girl’s Manifesta” and Wendy Merrill, author of “Falling Into Manholes,” as they guide you through the ultimate destination for glamor and romance.

Bring your friend, sister, mother, or daughter and enjoy a memorable weekend including:

• The Official Sex and The City Tour
• Front seats at a “Couture Fashion Week” runway show
• A backstage pass at the runway show
• An elite singles mixer
• A private cocktail party
• Lux goodies, including a Manhattan Insider Map

Book the fashion package now!

Visit Tango Diva’s Calendar of Cool for more information.

LOL and dancin’ your booty - that’s what the audience will do as Mama Mia hits theaters this weekend! I laughed out loud, sang along, and even tear’ed up somewhere along the line. How does ABBA pluck our heartstrings decade after decade!

I was delighted during the opening scenes as much as I was for Muriel’s Wedding in 1994! And I coveted the colorful summery fabrics flowing everywhere! (One day we will be able to order the items we love in every scene while the titles are running). Speaking of titles - do not leave as they start to roll - some of my hardest laughs were in the extra scenes.

Now Pierce Brosnan- his singing is a hard sell, but he is so handsome - you forgive him.
Meryl Streeps solo “The Winner Takes It All” is just beautiful for all of us who have been brokenhearted and survived. Her best friend sidekicks are silly and supportive, backed up by the soundtrack, it all takes you back (if you were born yet) to your best buddies and the hilarious times you shared.

Can’t afford Europe this summer? Hit the Greek Isles for the nite with the girls and soak in the sun drenched scenes of this classic loving spirited hit!