As a Gwyneth fan I am glad that one of my most read posts to date has been “In Defense of Gwyneth…”. I was really excited when her new, healthy cook book It’s All Good came out April 9th and even more so, when I went to the book signing at William-Sonoma. There were no haters with bitchforks waiting to throw quinoa pies are the golden goddess, in fact it was the best dressed crowd I have ever seen at a book signing and there was so much love and appreciation for the Oscar winning actress I felt I had found my people.
It is kind of amusing just how polarizing the media is in their portrayal of Gwyneth. Last week she was named by Us Magazine the number one most hated celebrity – now this is a list with Kim Kardashian at number ten and Chris Brown at number twenty. Should GP choose to assault someone with a large ass she will apparently slide off that list. Note: this was also two weeks after her new book made the NY Times Best Seller list.
Today People Magazine named Gwyneth “The Most Beautiful Woman In the World”. So is it because she is so beautiful that she is so hated? Wow even the ‘Mean Girls’ were less transparent! When Gwyneth visited Dr. Oz he asked her if it bothered her journalists had taken sentences out of her book to twist and call her a bad mother, the good natured health fanantic had to laugh and say no, because those people obviously don’t know her personally. That’s a pretty healthy outlook.
I view GOOP as GP’s outlet for sharing tidbits and giving insight and access to her contacts. I thanked her for sharing her recipes and yep, believe it or not folks there are items in the newsletter you can make yourself for under five dollars like a sugar scrub. Last week’s newsletter had tips from the butler at the Four Seasons who uses such dollar store products like ammonia and the Mr. Clean erasers to keep things shiny. You could say the elitist part is getting cleaning tips from him, but the solutions are quite cost effective.
Gwyneth Paltrow’s newsletters filled with tips on clean eating and juiciing and recipes have helped me take a whole new outlook to food and the way I consume it. As a result I’ve lost thirty pounds. So thank you Gwyneth for your guidance. I needed someone to point me in the right direction.
RDJ is an eclectic artist who has survived jail, a crappy self-indulgent CD, drug use and the baddest playground known as Hollywood. Now a veteran of the industry with two successful franchises – Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes,
I’ve had a crush on this man even his wife describes as odd, for some time. Hey, everyone likes a bad boy! What I love about RDJ at this point is his influence over other actors and helping create some amazing careers.
It was RDJ who convinced Gwyneth Paltrow (if you didn’t know she was one of my faves then search her on my blog for why) to take the role of Pepper Potts in Iron Man by telling her she should be in a film people went to see. Oh yeah, being real is an RDJ talent.
While I don’t care for his buddy Mel Gibson, RDJ is a loyal friend who totally got annoyed with his ‘Due Date’ co-star Zach Galifiankis for getting Mel kicked off a cameo of ‘The Hangover 2′. I also LOVED that RDJ fell in love with the Frenchie on ‘Due Date’ he tried to adopt him unsuccessfully. (Frenchies can be little heartbreakers in the best way possible.) Still, it’s kind of cool that Robert stood up for his friend who has been revealed as a crazy racist who’s lost his mind during Mel’s ‘hard times’.
Now Robert Downey Jr. has continued to work his magic on ‘The Avengers’ franchise. First, he insisted and convinced director Joss Whedon to have the Pepper Potts character in the film to enhance his character Tony Stark, as ‘crazy-in-a-relationship’ kind of guy. Secondly, according to the DETAILS cover interview with Chris Evans aka Captain America, RDJ connected with Evans via their shared agent. He convinced the reluctant Evans to take the role telling him by making tons of money for the studio it would enable Evans to get backing for the smaller films he really wants to do in the future.
What a helluva a friend, mentor, and kickass actor! I can’t wait to see him in ‘Avengers’ out May 4th.
January is nearly over so it might be time to check in on how you are doing with your New Year’s Resolution. Come on now, don’t deny that you made one…again…to lose ten pounds this year. There is a “seasonal seven” is the nickname for the 7 lbs most people put on between Thanksgiving and New Year’s celebrations. Wisely you have chosen to drop ten pounds as your goal- back to normal with a little extra room in your jeans.
It’s almost a month later though so how do you keep that ten lbs at bay? If you’ve been dieting and exercising you should be losing a healthy 1-2 pounds a week. If we look to entertainment figures (Gwyneth Paltrow, Giuliana Rancic) and coupon sites (Groupon, Gilt City, LivingSocial.com) there are tons of solutions being offered up.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta has been awesomely showing off some of the different ways you can lose weight. What? No, I’m serious.
JUICING: Two episodes ago Sheree (you know the one with the arms you’d like to see on a man, don’t mess with her!) tried to get Kim to lose her baby weight through exercising and juicing. I started juicing myself in November so I’m happy to endorse that it’s not easy and takes a lot of work so Sheree was right in thinking it was something Kim wouldn’t be committing to cause Kim favors some quick fixes.
QUICK FIXES: Last week’s episode had Kim being wrapped up like a mummy for several hours to take off unwanted fat post-giving birth. She commented fellow castmate in need of losing a few pounds, Kandi should try the wrap and once again, Kim requested pizza following her treatment which yielded ten inches of lost water weight.
EXERCISE: Say what? Skipping the quick-fixes and upping her exercising and dieting, Kandi Burress faced the music of her misdeeds on last week’s episode. Kandi enlisted a trainer and he put her on the scale. I love that Kandi let the cameras see that she was at the time of that filming 153 lbs. Now, does 153 lbs sound like a lot to you?
Well, let’s go to another Hollywood icon, Bridget Jones. Ok, she’s really a literary figure that was famous before the films. Renee Zwelleger who played Bridget in the film versions is reportedly 5’4″ vs. Kandi who is 5’3″.
The character Bridget is disgusted with her body weight varying from 131 lbs to 140. Hmm, an inch taller and visibly Bridget was much chunkier than Kandi? I’m guessing that Renee weighed about 160 plus unless her body. To give you another comparison Nicki Minaj is a reported 140 lbs. Now does she look fat in any weigh? That junk in her trunk is something Minaj works hard to maintain. The clip below from the sequel shows Bridge shoving herself into those types of garments that smooth an outfit out or…can make a girl look like a sausage!
This leads us back to Kandi who is facing her weight gain head on and fessing up to eating fried food. I have to give props to Kandi. She knows she’s been a naughty girl and she is struggling with her weight, but she’s honest about it. Sharing your struggles with other people can really help keep a person on track with that resolution lasting past January.
CLEANSES: Gwyneth Paltrow loves a good cleanse, whether it’s the Organic Avenue Juice Cleanse or her GOOP/Clean Program. What’s the Clean Program? It can last either 3 or 21 days long. I have no idea why 3 or 21.
Gwynnie has caught a helluva a lot of flack for hawking the GOOP branded clean diet. All of the information and break down of what consists of basically a protein shake for breakfest, lunch is one of the clean recipes, and then a protein shake for dinner. There are also approved snacks like baked kale chips and of course, the all important herbal tea.
Here she is with a recipe for Vietnamese Salad:
The UK press decided to blast GP’s Clean Diet based on ONE dietician saying it wasn’t a good diet. Well, it’s not really a diet, it’s a cleanse lasting either 3 or 21 days. If they just did a little research and not just look for a way to slam dear Gwyneth, then they could’ve found that GOOP offers up recipes gratis, and if you goto http://www.cleanprogram.com there are tons of recipes also free. If you are a really busy person who doesn’t know anything about nutrition but wants to kickstart your year, this really isn’t the worst way to go. I’ve had several nutritionists and doctors tell me a cleanse to get rid of the all the toxic crap we eat all year is a good for a short period of time. One thing I learned by reading through the Clean Diet program is that certain foods I thought were really good for me are actually really hard to digest. You’ll also save a lot more than if you decide to do quick fixes like liposuction or any of the other treatments at plastic surgeons being offered up on sites like Lifebooker.
There is also the disclaimer on the Goop site: The goop Cleanse by Clean, in partnership with goop, is sold and distributed by The Clean Program Corp, a New York based corporation. This email is not intended as medical advice. The information in this email is just a suggestion and should be taken as such. Work with a doctor in your area who understands and is supportive of your cleansing goals.
Good luck to everyone as we head into February. If you are feeling you are hitting the wall change up your exercise, or hit up Le Cirque for restaurant week at lunch. Then you’ll feel you’ve had a nice indulgence and what that does after a month of eating healthy.
I love the duel promotion of Gwyneth and Hova interviewing each other for their respective blogs. GP’s GOOP is great, but as I’ve mentioned before I would optimize it a few different ways for her. Perhaps Gwyneth asking five questions will make me lament even more the lack of my Follow Friday Five Questions series.
It’s also reminded me there is a “face-off” I’ve been slacking on as it forms in my mind- Jay Z’s/Kindle bio vs. Keith Richards/Physical. My problem here physically Richard’s book is so heavy it’s been a challenge to want to pick it back up and I do most of my reading on the subway.
Either way, Ms. Gwyneth is fabulous! I’m glad Hova considers her his sister. It’s definitely an interesting endorsement after reading his book Decoded that starts in a very depressed area of Brooklyn while Paltrow’s Upper East Side prep school upbringing was a complete opposite spectrum, still life, art, music and friendship have tied them together. It’s what makes these interviews so charming and gives insights to the affection they have for each other. I won’t lie, I’m seriously excited Gwyneth’s cookbook is finally available.
Here’s what is not so random Gwyneth is back on Glee reprising her role as a substitute teacher. This time she’s subbing as the Sex Ed Teacher. Let the games begin!
Paltrow’s role as the quirky Holly Holiday is one of her best and most endearing to audiences to date. Painted normally as uptight, Holiday allows Gwyneth to show off her sense of humor and her vocal chops. She glows with GLEE.
I’ve been amiss in not commenting the video for “Country Strong” last week, especially when I’m about about celebrating the talent that is Gwyneth Paltrow. Sorry, sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.
GP lives out some on-stage dreams a country star in this clip and she does it pretty nicely with great, bouncing big blonde hair which you will have to watch on Youtube since my coding skills are rudimentary and for some reason my usual tricks around shockwave are not working this time.
The film “Country Strong” comes out on my birthday- thanks GP you have given me some exciting pop culture to look forward to on that day and remove the stain of your former BFF, Madonna’s, former wedding anniversary to one Guy Ritchie. Seriously how selfish of Madge to take that much attention away from me on my birthday? LOL. For the younger set Gossip Girl-musician Leighton Meister also appears in the movie and in this clip looking, well, very Gossip Girl.
In the meantime, this week’s GOOP letter was short and sweet since GP is in LA filming “Glee.” YEAH!
While rumors continue to circulate about Gwyneth a) being cold and banned from being near ScarJo b) looking crap during London’s Fashion Night Out (so wrong!), I thought it was a good time to celebrate that GOOP is back and new this week and remind people that Gwyneth does have a sense of humor.
Thanks to YouTube here’s a little musical face-off when GP was expecting Apple, Coldplay put out this very silly and sweet song “Nappies”:
Always one to try to put her guests to the test, Oprah handed Gwyneth the lyrics to “Nappies” and got her to try it as a ‘rap’…..it’s charming and disarming as always.
The action movie signifies the arrival of summer. Flashback to two years ago to a line that harkens this year’s summer blockbuster season: ”I AM Iron Man!” Hell yes! Although early reviews have not been favorable, the huge box office numbers says “Yeah baby” 100 million times over! Who’s laughing now? Kerbang.
Iron Man 2 is released in the US on manana. Yeah-f’in-hoo I will be there! Admittedly there were zero expectations on my side for the first one given I was unfamiliar with Iron Man prior and had walked out of The Watchman (painful!) The difference? Iron Man was made into a film anyone who wasn’t a comic book maniac could get into immediately.
The revival of Robert Downey Jr. lies in his wife and producer, Susan. Normally I don’t mention my crushes’ better halves, but Susan is one amazing woman who is and was kicking ass on her own in Hollywood with or without RDJr. Go Suse!
As for RDJ his career is on fire. What is about a man in his 40′s that makes him so utterly undeniable?
a) Wearing a red power suit that can fly
b) Delivering smug lines with the depth of a veteran and a twinkle in his eye
c) Gearing up for another successful legendary character-franchise: the sequel to last year’s Sherlock Holmes
d) He’s been to prison- is that hot? Kinda.
e) He is still a bit funny in da head in the best kind of way.
I’m also excited RDJ was the one who got Gwyneth Paltrow on board. He asked her if it would be nice to be in a film that actually made some $! HA! GP had her sense of humor about her and conceded the fact it would be very nice to be in a blockbuster over her normal artsy fair.
Pulling out the awesome is Don Cheedle and ScarJo, who I saw in A View From The Bridge a few months ago and gave me new respect for her acting chops. Rock on Iron Man!
I went to a baby shower the other day. A party guest found out I’d worked in entertainment and asked me “on a gossip level, does Chris Martin really love Gwyneth Paltrow and if so why?”
F*ck the haters!
Wow. I mean that’s like when I worked at Disney Channel and people would ask me which character I got to be. Folks, I didn’t work at the theme park and just cause I worked in the music industry doesn’t mean I’m a mind-reader or inside the marriage of two very public figures who I happen to j’adore.
I can’t wait to see Gwyneth in “Iron Man 2″ as Pepper is a fun part for her. I love GP best when she’s laughing like in Shakespeare in Love. She reminds me of my mentor who also went to Spence. It just feels like you are being let in on a secret.
What can I say that I haven’t before? Not much that isn’t already here. I feel sorry for celebrities who are out there just trying to do their jobs when there are all these hunters ready to hop down their throats. I’m going to be immodest here and say my ability to empathize with performers (be it authors, musicians or any other fabulous subject) makes me a good interviewer. I love the difficult seemingly ‘misunderstood’ people who turn out to be totally great in person.
It all comes down to looking below the surface and connecting with the beauty in people. When I was younger I used to easily vacillate like a South American “I Love you, I hate you” but the last couple of years have really weeded out who is who in my life and from what I’ve read and seen of GP being interviewed, we’ve gone through similar toxic friend issues. I heart Gwyneth and her GOOP newsletter 90% of the time seems to reflect things that are effecting my life including this week’s newsletter about how to conquer allergies. My poor lil French bulldog and I are achoo’ing this week so thanks once more GP. You are like the best virtual BFF ever. xx
Since I have all these great man crushes, I should give the fairer sex the same airtime. Of course, if you read my blog regularly you know that I j’adore Gwyneth ‘That’s not happiness to see me’ Paltrow.
You probably recognize Saffy Saff from a lot of character roles she has had in films (just a sampling folks)
a) Circle of Friends: the very naughty social-climbing friend Nan who has a mad-affair with Colin Firth in one of his slimer roles.
b) Hotel de Love- a little Aussie indie film in which she works at a rundown hotel that is trying to come back to life under the watch of two brothers who inherit it.
c) Deep Blue Sea– as Dr. Susie: we violated the Harvard Compact & altered the sharks genes. As a result the sharks got smarter.
You stupid Bitch! (Damn I love that scene!!!)
d) Troy- as the frail wife of the beloved Hector (Bantastic alert sigh….) who is shattered once her man dies infront of all of Troy in a battle with Achilles. Boo!!! (That is the point I turn off Troy.)
e) The new partner of Jeff Goldblum on none other than Law & Order: CI. This has sparked a lot of whiny, long-time viewers to declare they will never watch this Dunt Dunt spin-off again. Whatever! People I have watched that show from day 1 as well and while I love them, this transition has been going on for over a season. Seriously will there be as much backlash when Chris Maloney leaves SVU? If you are so obsessed with these actors allow them the creativity to bow out when they are done. Maloney has been on SVU for 12 years!
I ramble….back to Saffron. Good for you my dear! I’m glad to see a bit of fresh blood and some new storylines. For sass: yes, Saffron could get afford to eat a few of those cop donuts!
