Super Brain

As an avid promoter of my favorite television network, PBS, I'd like to share a program I recently watched called Super Brain which is based off of Tanzi and Chopra's newly released and NYT best-selling book also titled, you guessed it, Super Brain! Tanzi and Chopra are both Neuroscientists at Mass General and professors at Harvard Medical School. As the world's foremost experts on the causes of Alzheimer's disease they have developed a model that uses the brain to maximize overall well-being or as they put it, teach people to "use/control your brain instead of letting it use/control you." They have done this by focusing on three areas of the brain:

     1. The Reptilian brain- controls our (animal) instincts

     2. The Limbic brain- controls our emotions

     3. The Neocortex- controls our intellect

Their theory is that if we can learn to become more aware of when one area of the brain is reigning over the others, we can teach our brain to behave differently and in a sense rewire ourselves. The book is based off of the premise that when one area of the brain is dominant, a person lacks the potential of attaining the highest possible quality of life. Examples they use are overly aggressive behavior in business as a symptom of the reptilian brain, a stereotypical drama queen as a result of the limbic brain and a snotty intellectual as a by-product of the neocortex. Each of these examples lacks a fundamental component to overall happiness and actually affects our health and longevity. As someone who has admittedly been guilty of and/or witnessed all of these examples on different occasions in my life and can vouch for the negative consequences, I found this theory to be particularly compelling as there is always room for self-improvement. The book lays out a number of exercises to achieving this ideal harmony known as the super brain. Let's just say it has topped my winter book list of most interesting must-reads. And leave it to the art world to shed light on all of this mumbo jumbo in a much more graceful and thought-provoking manner, at least that is how I have interpreted photographer David Maisel's project depicted below titled History Shadow.

Wedding Burnout

I'd like to shed light on a condition I am experiencing that I would like to call wedding burnout. Let me rewind a bit here...about six weeks ago I got engaged. The one thing that no magazine, married friend or fellow bride-to-be tells you is how soon the burnout begins. My fiance and I looked at one venue in person until we put down a deposit, we heard one band live before we booked them, basically, we have tried to avoid the paradox of choice. But our decisiveness has not shielded us from some major annoyances, such as an unexpected medical conference in town our wedding weekend that has made what should be the simple task of booking room blocks seemingly impossible. Our engagement party date, time, location and hosts have changed so many times I actually can't currently remember what was finally decided on and whether that something is going to be on January 20th or February 2nd, but hey I know it is only November 15th! I have also learned to avoid visiting bridal boutiques during trunk shows because of the added pressure involved in declining a dress face-to-face with its creator. So now here I am, with more knowledge I would ever like to know about hotels located near the magnificent mile, restaurants with a private dining area that seats fifty and the difference between chantilly and duchesse lace (which ps I don't really care about as witnessed by my decision to order a dress online). Now onto something I do care about, our inspiration images!

Ballerina Project

One of my friends / soulmate / former lady of leisure, Kaitlin, who I met on a wild weekend in the Hamptons and instantly became close with just moved to Aspen, CO to work at the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet. Kaitlin also began her career in what they call, High Finance, and is now also back to pursuing her passion. I am so excited for her as she leaves the Big City Life for this new adventure, and in honor of her first day on the job, here are some striking photos from the inspiring world of ballet provided by the one and only Ballerina Project!

My Kind of Town

Yesterday, I resigned my lease, making this officially the longest time I will have ever spent in one place. I moved back to Chicago a year ago because after 3 years in New York, I realized that while Paris may be the City of Lights, Chicago is the next best thing for us Americanos.

Nature Walk

The most important part of decorating a space is to make sure that it feels like what it is supposed to be. This has been a challenge for me in the process of redecorating my lakehouse, which is very much meant to be a cabin. My personal aesthetic is much more eclectic than it is rustic, so I decided to spend some time this weekend in Mother Nature to get inspired before I embark on the journey of a full-blown home makeover.