Three Happy Cows: Back And Better Than Ever!

TEXAS LOVES THREE HAPPY COWS!

Yogurt has always been a staple in our house. We favor Greek yogurt to have with breakfast, lunch and dinner...it's the perfect food for any time of the day.  

Three Happy Cows has a huge Texas following and is back after a fire destroyed their plant, forcing them to stop production for several months. The company is named Three Happy Cows because cows produce the best tasting yogurt when they're happy and healthy.  

Their new flavor, vanilla bean, will have you hiding yogurt in secret pockets of the refrigerator because it's coveted by the whole family. I like to pack lunches for my children with Three Happy Cows drinkable yogurts (mango is my son's favorite). 

The vanilla bean is so rich and delicious and the caramel so naturally sweet that it's hard to pick a favorite. My fruit loving children often request strawberry and blueberry. I'll admit to being nearly hooked on mere anticipation of the soon to be introduced honey flavor but truly every flavor has a fork-worthy texture that will make you say, "This is the BEST yogurt I have EVER tasted!" 

I love the fact that Three Happy Cows is made in Dallas, Texas with fresh milk from happy cows. It's a wholesome super food that you can feel good about feeding to your family. 

These happy cows help keep us mooooving!
You can find Three Happy Cows at Central Market, Sprouts, Market Street and several others. Happy eating! 

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Graceful Grace of Monaco

Grace Kelly is loved for being a movie star icon and a princess. Born in 1929, she came from an upper class Irish family in Philadelphia and was extremely well educated along with her three siblings. 

She was the daughter of a self-made millionaire who was a socially enthusiastic brickworks owner and Olympian, Jack Kelly. Grace's Dad was a champion sculler who won three Olympic gold medals as part of the U.S. rowing team and Grace's Mom, Margaret, was the first coach of women's athletic teams at the University of Pennsylvania. Grace displayed talent for performing on the stage instead of the Olympics early on. 

Grace became famous in the 1950's starring in movies such as Dial M for Murder (1954), The Country Girl (1954), for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, To Catch a Thief (1955), The Swan (1956) and High Society (1956). 

She had the right connections and was a muse to many...Hermes even renamed one of its most popular bags "the Kelly" after her. She wore powdery gowns designed by Edith Head and MGM's costume designer, Helen Rose. The pearls, ladylike clothes and hats (that she had to wear to all public functions) were all part of Grace's charm. 

She had a lot more independence than most women of her time and was hardly innocent. She supported herself early on, lived by herself and chose her movies, friends, social activities and men. She was comfortable with her sexuality and enjoyed the company of most of her costars off camera...and in her bed. 

In 1955, Grace was asked to attend the Cannes Film Festival where her film, The Country Girl, would be shown. During her visit in Cannes she was invited to participate in a photo session at the Palace of Monaco with Prince Rainier. There were several complications and delays on route to the Palace but the end results were memorable and the Prince and Grace began a long series of correspondence with letters. 

After getting to know each other through their letters, Rainier traveled to Philadelphia and met Grace and her family and friends. He proposed after three days and she accepted. Jack Kelly agreed to pay a two-million dollar dowry to Prince Rainier in preparation for their wedding..."The Wedding of the Century." 

As Rainier's princess, Grace was forced to give up her acting career. Her movies were banned in Monaco by the Prince. Besides being Catholic and the love for their three children, (Princess Caroline, Prince Albert, and Princess Stéphanie) they didn't have very much in common. Grace didn't speak French and usually remained silent so not to embarrass herself or Rainier. It was an adjustment for Grace to have her life centered around her husband. 

Grace was kept on close watch in the Palace by her lady-in-waiting, Madge Tivey-Faucon. Her role was to spy on Princess Grace and watch her every move for Rainier. 

Grace began to lose herself and became extremely unhappy. Rainier forbid her to act in what would have been her fourth Hitchcock movie, Marnie. Grace contemplated divorce but their Monaco priest, Father Frances Tucker said, "Your children will suffer most. They are heirs to a European throne. You'll be lucky to see them again. I suppose the world will also hang its head in disappointment." She also consulted an American divorce lawyer but after being advised that she would lose her children, she accepted her life in Monaco.

Princess Grace may have seemed to have a fairy-tale life but she missed the freedom she was used to before marrying the Grimaldi Prince. She missed the closeness of her New York friends. She became more of a loner in the Palace due to being surrounded by Rainier's disreputable friends

Rainier was very opinionated and insensitive. He thought Grace's appearance should remain unchanged. Grace wore low healed shoes so not to appear taller than him. Once she cut her long hair into a bob of the moment, the new artichoke style, and Rainier was so angry that he threw his drink to the floor and stormed off. 

Rainier Grimaldi said of his wife, "She had the Irish in her, a mixture of good-heartedness and kindness, combined with strong will." 

The spirit of freedom remained missing from such a beautiful heart, banished as a part of one of the world's highest profile trades of one life for another. Sadness and happiness often walk along the same road of difficult choices.


Five things Grace Kelly said: 

"Fairy tales tell imaginary stories. Me, I'm a living person. I exist. If the story of my life as a real woman were to be told one day, people would at last discover the real being that I am."

"It would be very sad if children had no memories before those of school. What they need most is the love and attention of their mother."

"I'm basically a feminist. I think that women can do anything they decide to do."

"My real difficulty was to become a normal person again, after having been a movie actress for so long. For me, at the time I was living in New York and Hollywood, a normal person was someone who made movies."

"I would like to be remembered as someone who accomplished useful deeds, and who was a kind and loving person. I would like to leave the memory of a human being with a correct attitude and who did her best to help others."

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Mary Cassatt: 5 things you might not know

My friend Leslee came into my classroom last week and told me, "Great news! The Traveling Art Exhibit has arrived!" I spent most of that week running around like a crazy person getting my classroom ready for Open House (which is always right before Spring Break). When Leslee said, "I've already put it up." I breathed a huge sigh of relief, told my friend thank you and made sure the children in my classroom enjoyed the exhibit every day. Our PTA was kind enough to purchase the Traveling Art Exhibit and introduce Mary Cassatt and Frederic Remington to our students. 

Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) has always been one of my favorite artists and I was thrilled that I was not only a classroom teacher but also an art teacher for one week. 


Mary Cassatt was one of the leading American Impressionist artists. Born in Pittsburgh and influenced in France by Degas. She is famous for capturing women in everyday, honest and domestic settings...the emotion felt when looking at her paintings (specifically the mothers with their children) still resonates today...it is timeless. She was strong and independent, yet with an amazing talent to capture both the strength and gentleness of mothers. 
 



You might not know...


In Pittsburgh, Mary Cassatt grew up with high social standing. Her father was a well-to-do real estate and investment broker. She was being schooled to be a proper wife and mother taking classes like homemaking, embroidery, music, sketching and painting. During the 1850's, the Cassatt family took their children abroad to live in Europe for several years. In regards to her making a living as an artist, her father had strong objections and said, "I would almost rather see you dead than living abroad as a bohemian."

1. Mary Cassatt referred to Edgar Degas as "my best, my only, friend." She also said of Degas, "I used to go and flatten my nose against that window and absorb all I could of his art." 


2. She was known for her large and elaborate hats. Degas said of Cassatt, "Most women paint as though they are trimming hats. Not you."


3. Mary Cassatt was the only American to exhibit with the French Impressionists. She said, "I hated conventional art. I began to live."


4. She was diagnosed with diabetes, rheumatism, neuralgia and cataracts in 1911. By 1914 she was almost blind when she took up the cause of women's suffrage, and showed eighteen works in an exhibition supporting the movement.


5. Cassatt's red brick house, Chateau de Beaufresne, was turned into a home for abandoned children after she died. 


Five more for children...


Questions and mini-lessons that teachers asked and told their classes:


1. Do you think Mary Cassatt was a mother? No, she wasn't. Her whole life prepared her for it...homemaking, embroidery, music and painting but she never married. She said, "I am independent! I can live alone and I love to work."


2. Do you think most women during the 1800's were like Mary Cassatt? Did most women have careers like she did? What do you think they did?


3. Mary Cassatt was a huge fan of hats. What does her hat remind you of?


4. Mary Cassatt's father was strongly against Mary becoming an artist. How do you think her father felt when he looked at her paintings? 


5. Mary Cassatt had poor eyesight. When she died at 82, she was blind. How do you think she felt about not being able to see her paintings?





My second grade class enjoying Mary Cassatt's work. 

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Aim True with Kathryn Budig

Photo by Jasper Johal

My husband asked me the day before my workshop with Kathryn Budig, “Are you excited?” “Yes, super excited!” Everyone has a secret pleasure. Mine involves running off to my favorite yoga studio to recharge my batteries and find my happy place.


Kathryn Budig is well known yoga teacher and writer. She has a playful approach that makes the whole room smile. The yoga expert for Women's Health Magazine, she's also a philanthropist and a foodie. She co-founded Poses for Paws, an organization that raises money for animal shelters. She's also partnered with ToeSox, who donates 10% of proceeds to her Poses for Paws organization. It's fun for me to know that she works with one of my favorite chefs, Giada de Laurentiis.
Kathryn Budig and Giada de Laurentiis. Photo by Ture Lillegraven
I'm a big fan of Women's Health Magazine. I recently bought Kathryn Budig's The Women's Health Big Book of Yoga. I love how I can customize my practice to whatever I need for the day. I also have the Big Book of Pilates...I'm a Pilates instructor! Both books are loaded with pictures. If you follow Kathryn's writing, you'll read that she loves Pilates too! She's also enjoys rock climbing, hiking and sky diving. Yep, she's amazing! 

Kathryn studied musical theatre and English in college at the University of Virginia. She moved to LA to become an actress and teach yoga on the side. She realized that she didn't care for Hollywood but had a talent for teaching yoga.

I found it interesting that someone with a musical theatre background didn't play music in her classes. I actually really like that she didn't. My most memorable yoga and Pilates classes are those where you can just hear the music of the breath. I think without the music, you're able to go a little deeper within yourself and hearing others breath around you is like a sea of motivation. 

Kathryn's cues match her playful style. She helped me find my "Jackie Chan muscles." She says to get into your Jackie Chan kung-fu stance..."elbows bent, biceps tight to the body, and forearms out will help you feel strong and safe."

The second favorite thing that I took away from Kathryn's workshop (Jackie Chan being the first) was her standing splits series. I love, love this pose...I"m a ballet dancer and splits just feel good (especially against the wall). 
Instagram photo kathrynbudig

1.   "Ever wake up on the wrong side of the bed and allow a bad mood to spoil your day? If you’re nodding yes as you read this, you’re probably not doing enough yoga. Or maybe you’re not having enough sex…"

2. " The only way to experience happiness is by taking chances and following what makes my heart beat."

3. "I believe food is meant to be enjoyed, so if you find yourself out to dinner at a fantastic restaurant—enjoy it! You can go back to kale and quinoa tomorrow, but life is meant to be tasted and enjoyed."


4. "A big part of what I teach is the ability to move through and past fear. Fear is a huge issue in our society that keeps people locked in habits and inhibits the ability for growth."

5. "I have the best job in the world. I've been blessed with traveling the world in order to teach people yoga. I realize yoga still carries stereotypes such as granola-loving, uber flexible chant-till-you-drop fanatics, but I'm here to prove those people wrong. Yoga will change your life."

Thank you Kathryn Budig! You are an inspiration! xx