I promise if you love chocolate, even if you just like chocolate, you are gonna love this blog! Read on!

As the title of this blog indicates, OMG! I found a healthier chocolate!
I cannot believe how lucky I am! I am a chocolate eater. I love eating it and smelling it. I even took a vacation to Hersey, PA to see how they made chocolate! So I guess you can call me somewhat of a chocolate LOVER!

When I went RAW, there was no RAW chocolate. Save dark unsweetened baking chocolate–Yuck! I thought that I would have to give up chocolate for life. But then, as I have reported in my books, the RAW food industry has been changing with the times growing 4 times in the last 5 years and well, this opened up the market to a lot of new products and ideas. VIOLA! RAW chocolate is one of those new ideas that hit the market!

But well, this new RAW chocolate was OK chocolate, but not so really great.
One day, I am in my office and I have a meeting with some website people who want to do a “healthy” website. So the gentleman I am meeting with asked me: “What about chocolate, do you like chocolate? Do you have a RAW chocolate you like?” So I go into a long narrative about chocolates. I bring out some for him to taste.
And I tell him, “Honestly? I don’t have a RAW chocolate that I love and I certainly cannot get my boyfriend to eat it!! I have been searching, and seriously, I try everything!” He then said, “Well, your search is over!” And he handed me a chocolate square. I was unimpressed. I told him I would save it for my boyfriend to try. But I didn’t. I could not give ANYTHING RAW to my boyfriend to try if I did not absolutely LOVE it myself. Even if I just liked something, he hated it but whenever I LOVED something, he did too!

So I tried this chocolate nugget wrapped in gold. It was like a giant piece of heaven stuck in my cheek! I looked like a chipmunk! I closed my eyes to really get a feel and taste. I decided that this chocolate was too amazing to be RAW. I then called my friend and asked him again: “This chocolate you left me, this chocolate with the gold wrapping. This nugget, are you SURE it is RAW? “Absolutely,” he said. But I still did not believe him. I went online and looked up the chocolate. It says it is RAW. Not only RAW, but full of antioxidants and more bioflavonoid than in leafy greens!

Xocai—hmmmm! ‘Xo’ pronounced ‘cho’ and ‘cai’ like the sound that it prompts “siiiiigh”. This is SERIOUSLY good chocolate. It tastes like regular chocolate.

But I do not want to compare it to regular chocolate because it is WAY more healthy! I mean, I am told that commercial chocolate has WAX in it. Ewwwww! Wax would seriously impair your stomach from digesting and your intestines from absorbing if they are coated with wax! Oh, and caffeine for a kick. Sugar for what? Weight gain?
And Milk for—I don’t know. I don’t even have an answer for that one.

When you taste this chocolate, you will not believe how amazing it is. Not one person I given it to has told me that they do not like it. And well, my own picky eater came to bed one night with the entire box and ate 25 pieces! He has since calmed down! LOL!

I have been eating RAW chocolate for 15 years. I have looked at it in every store; wherever there is RAW chocolate, I pick up that RAW chocolate and I try it. I do not have to do that ever again! I do not have to try or tolerate barely good chocolates just to satisfy my need for chocolate. I have found my nirvana and my nirvana is HEALTHY!

As I said, I wrote about RAW chocolate (the cocoa bean) in my second book. It is supposedly VERY healthy for you. In its RAW form, it works as an antioxidant. It has bioflavonoid and it has essential fatty acids in the form of cocoa oil. These fats are in their RAW state and that means they are very good at helping to rebuild and rejuvenate your body! Xocai chocolate is RAW! It is sweetened with Acai Berry, Goji Berry, and Blueberries. Blueberries are at the top of the antioxidant list. Many people ask me why it is important to look for foods with antioxidants. Well, think of it this way, without antioxidants the body “rusts.” Free radicals basically eat your body just like rust eats a car; or at least that is how I think of it. Antioxidants on the other hand, act as a wall between you and these pollutants trying to attack you. Give me that wall any day; especially if it is a wall of RAW Xocai chocolate!

I mean, free radicals are so bad for the body, even skin care lines boast to have antioxidants to protect the skin. Many doctors tell you to take your vitamins to get antioxidants and well, Green Tea has made a big splash with the fact that it is full of antioxidants! So in a nutshell, antioxidants are important. And well, I would rather eat a chocolate- RAW chocolate to be specific.

O.K., so you heard all about this chocolate and how healthy it is for you.
So here is the most important thing: Where can you buy Xocai? This is the worst part for me because I wish it was just available at, say, Whole Foods or even your health food store. But it is NOT. Xocai Chocolate is sold as an MLM– which means it is Mult-Level Marketing. Basically, you have to know somebody to get this chocolate. Yes, even I had to find someone who sold it in order to buy it. I was worried about this at first, for sure, as I had to give credit card info online. And it seemed expensive (that is until I realized that Godiva and other specialty chocolates can sell at as much as $3.00 a piece and it is not sold as being healthy).
I also thought about just a regular candy bar and again, it is not cheap. Even if Xocai may be a bit more expensive, it is being sold as HEALTHY and it is RAW and it is creamy, smooth, and just about the best dang RAW chocolate out there. So, thinking that I am worth being healthy, I signed up and bought it.

And as usually happens when I find something I just LOVE, I gave it away. Yeah, for free. I could not help myself. It was so amazing and so wonderful and it made so many people so happy to have a healthy chocolate, I was compelled to just give some pieces away. But that all came back to me when people wanted to buy it for themselves.
And this is where I learned about an MLM. I asked my girlfriend Bonnie to sign people up for me because I just thought I was lame at paperwork. But I guess Bonnie got tired of doing this for me, and one day she called me while I was at the computer and she showed me how simple it was to sign people up myself. She then helped me put a page on my website for people to take their time and decide for themselves about this chocolate.

But here is the kicker!!! I just signed up a few friends myself, and I made a commission check of $450.00. Of course, I donated the profit. Still, I started to think about how many people loved chocolate, wanted to be healthy, and needed the extra cash! So I decided to blog about it.

Now buying this chocolate from my website works in two different ways: you can buy it retail or buy it wholesale to sell it. But, the most amazing part of this chocolate for me is the response from people who EAT it; not just the fact that it’s delicious and smooth, but because of other results too! My girlfriend Catherine said she lost 2 dress sizes in 3 weeks and has an amazing feeling of “well-being.” She also told me she eats less and has less cravings. Good enough for me to blog about it!

This RAW chocolate comes in several different forms. It comes in nuggets (which gave me the chipmunk cheeks), Xobiotic Squares with probiotics (good bacteria which helps in the small intestine during digestion and absorption), and an Omega-1 square (which has added essential fatty acids for more rebuilding) Oh, and the Omega square has little crisps of Flax seed in it giving it a ‘Nestles Crunch Bar’ feeling. The last type is the Energy square- a dark chocolate which they use for energy. My yoga teacher says she uses this Energy Square before her sessions to help people have more energy for a better workout! Energy squares are supposed to be FANTASTIC for athletes because it just gives you so much energy. Even if you are a weekend athlete, we ALL could use a little bit of a boost every now and then!

Oh, and yes, there is a reason why the manufacturer has not put this RAW chocolate on the shelves next to the other chocolates and candy. It is because they view it NOT as a candy, but as something that is extremely healthy.

Again, the name of the chocolate is XOCAI. Check out my RAW chocolate page attached to my website. You’re gonna LOVE it! LOL!

To Your Health,
With love,

Carol Alt

I thought it was a very helpful book in so many ways and it answers so many questions—some questions that we may not even think of or think as being important. For example, fish, fish farming, and the safety of eating this fish. He writes about skin care and sun block, sustainable green clothing, and filtering your water. Yes, especially your shower water.

I mean everyday someone writes to me and asks me all these kinds of questions. Many people hear one thing and then the next day, they hear a contradicting thought on the same subject. It is very confusing out there.

What I like about this book is that you can keep it as a resource book in your kitchen and when you have a question all you have to do is go to the “little green book” (literally the book IS green and it is about green!).

As I am always learning too, this book is a great resource and information book just to have around especially since I am by no means the definitive source on any one topic.

Another great thing I saw in the book, again about fish, is that the list of unsafe fish CHANGES. Yeah, you heard me, it changes. So he lists the websites for you to check each week to find out what fish is safe this week.

Okay, I know what you are thinking, “what a pain in the butt to do this every week”. But my opinion is that our world is getting more and more polluted—not less and less polluted. Checking and worrying about our food is going to be a way of life, not just in the future, but right NOW!

Oh, and another great mystery that Greg cleared up in his book is about the permeability of the skin. Many people believe that the skin is not PERMEABLE—WRONG!

Here is a test that will shock you (and again, this is from Greg Horn’s book): Cut a glove of garlic and rub it on the bottom of your foot. In 15 minutes you will taste it!

How is that for absorbing? He said your skin is like a sponge, not a barrier, as we all think. Well then, I am right in saying that you should put skin care on your skin that is CHEM-FREE because chemicals in your skin care not only go into your skin, but they pollute the whole system!

You know, my company has done many studies on women’s attitudes about skin care with chemicals versus chemical free, natural, and organic. What I understood from these studies is that women would rather trade off “natural” skin care lines for results!

Hey, no surprise there. Women want results and they will trade off being healthy, organic, and natural to have it! Well, that is perfect for me and my skin care line because we do BOTH! We have a great skin care and great results.

Just look at this Before and After:

HSN told us that our before and after shots were the best they have ever seen on a skin care line! And believe me, they have seen a lot of lines.

So the next time you think you need to trade off good skin for your health, think again. Think RAW ESSENTIALS.

P.S. I am sorry I wrote about my own line, but we are the only moderately priced, sexy feeling, RAW skin care line there is!

I have lived in more or less, a fireman community growing up. Across the street, was my “uncle,” who was not my real uncle, but a close friend of the family and his son, are both firemen too! WOW! When I put it down on paper, it really seems crazy to have been so lucky to grow up with so many amazing and giving creatures!

My family and my family’s friends were first responders at the World Trade Towers. And I cannot pretend to even understand what the magnitude of that was like. I am so proud of my family and my friends for their selfless devotion and the firefighters as a FDNY family. I am also proud of all those who came from miles around to pitch in during those dark days after Sept 11.

I recently had the good fortune of going to Ground Zero to see what work has been done lately to get that area back, working, and prosperous again. My friend Steven owns the building which is called Building 7 (or its actual address is 250 Greenwich St.). Floors 47-50 are used these days as sets for Law and Order and other movies and TV shows that are filming in the city. He invited me up for a special tour and to see the view from above; what most people have not seen: the filling of the hole where the Trade Towers were.

I know there is a lot of controversy about the re-building of this area. I am not very political. Being an actress, I am more emotional. So to stand on the 47th floor and gaze upon this area which, when I viewed it last, was a steaming pile of twisted metal; bigger than anything I had ever seen. Bigger than a cruise ship, or a battleship. Bigger than a building. In contrast, these ruins were not done any justice in photos I have seen before or after I saw it in person. I give the respect and awe due to the men and women who persevered and toiled there. Some have lost their lives from unimaginable diseases; my father died from cancer due to inhaling PCB’s at the NY Tel fire in 1976. My mom received no benefits. So I understand the frustration, anger and politics involved in the aftermath of 9/11. Going up into building number 7 and seeing the slow and steady progress being made was a bittersweet moment for me.

I want to share my photos with you. I know, I am not a great photog! I enjoy being in front of the camera more being the ham that I am! But I sure hope you enjoy seeing 9/11 ten years later.

This is the view few get! Normally you are seeing this building from the opposing view.

This is the view looking OUT from the 47th floor of building 7.

I told you I was a ham so I had to get into the picture! Literally! The view is behind me:

This is looking down on the construction work going on right at ground zero! I went 360 degrees to see the whole view from the 47th floor!:

These artist’s rendering were against the wall on a work bench. I took the photo because the rendering looked so beautiful and upbeat compared to the grey I saw all around me. Being on an unfinished floor, the wall, and floor were concrete grey! And the day was grey, too! Almost forgot that! It was just all grey-so you can see how the colors in this painting captured me.

The construction workers were quite upbeat. After sitting for months, they were happy to be up and working. They called to me as I was leaving building 7 and we took photos together!:

You know, being in this business you sometimes get to do things that maybe someone else could not do. I think this was one of those moments. And I want to thank Steven Cayre for this opportunity!!

See you next blog…

I was very surprised seeing this year’s offerings for Fall 2010. Surprised because the clothes are beautiful but they looked like they were meant for SPRING and not fall. There was a lot of silk, short sleeves, sandals, and cotton. Beautiful clothes and wonderful styles with soothing colors, but nowhere did I see heavy wool, any coats, or my personal favorite, BOOTS! I even introduced myself in one video as being at the Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for SPRING 2011 and not Fall 2010. How silly, but I looked at the clothes and I got confused about which season it was that they were showing. I guess I am just not up on the fashion of the times! Fashion dictates it own seasons. See for yourself. Here is the finale of the Fabulous Lela Rose show:

There were only very NORMAL looking clothes being shown too. I mean usually, the designers make a real spectacle of showing. They make some crazy clothes to mix in with the real pieces they want to sell. But I can see where the economy has made all the designers more conservative and I can also see where they cut the entertainment part of showing their lines.

Some of the bigger lines actually only showed in their showrooms also called, their “atelier.” The tents at Bryant Park were still full of lines being shown, but big names like Donna Karan, Diane von Furstenberg and Marc Jacobs all have shown their lines in their showrooms this week.

Stephen Burrows had a great showing in his showroom yesterday. The colors were beautiful and the shoes were great! That is one place I can say no one skimped-shoes. Stephen Burrows had his shoes made by Louboutin.

Anyway, back to my launch of my skincare line. I have photos of the backstage craziness and some of the models- Gorgia Wass included!

By the way, Gorgia Wass was soooooo nice. I mean, when I sat down next to her to get my hair done, she immediately started to chat with me. We then compared fingernails and finger polish color (I had blue and she had blue-green with sparkles).

I got my nails done by Debra Lippmann and here I am getting my hair done by Ted Gibson:

My makeup was done by Ms. Louise for TART (which has my favorite mascara, however not raw!).

I was interviewed backstage by Fashionbeast.com, Suzanne at Glamour, and many other fabulous publications too numerous to mention. But here are a couple of photos taken during the interviews introducing the line:

I had Alexei Yashin backstage to cheer me on. Here he is in this photo and my publicist Melanie A. Bonvicino seen here at the show with me in the first row, as well as my partner Steven Krane and his family:

LeLa Rose sent me my dress which you see I am wearing in this photo.

Well, that is it from Fashion Week Fall 2010 (glad I got that right this time!).

Next week, I will blog about being down at the World Trade Center Towers at Ground Zero. I took photos from INSIDE building 7 and with some of the construction crew working down there. Some interesting stories there.

Please watch 60 minutes this Sunday for a story on Silverstein. I thank my friend, Steven Cayre for affording this opportunity to see his building and Ground Zero from this angle!

I will follow up with my blog the week after with my personal photos! Cheers and bye from Fashion Week 2010!

Brooklyn Decker, Andy Roddick’s Wife, Is 2010 Cover Girl

It’s been revealed that Brooklyn Decker is the 2010 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl, and tonight CNBC will take the wraps off the most profitable single-issue magazine in the world.

The financial news network will premiere Business Model: Inside the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue on Feb. 9 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT)

Reported by Darren Rovell, the special reveals how business, beauty, fashion and sports come together — in the varied forms of 18 models from six locations — to create this franchise that alone generated 7% of Time Inc. News Group’s annual revenue in 2009.

The one-hour documentary looks at the history of the franchise, which started in 1964 as a five-page supplement each February to heat up the winter months. Now, it’s a billion dollar multi-platform empire, which has been dubbed the “print Super Bowl of advertising. The show also catches up with former SI Swimsuit supermodels Cheryl Tiegs, Carol Alt and Kathy Ireland. The latter talks about her marketing and design company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide, which generates $1.4 billion in annual sales.

Decker’s place in the SI sun was announced on CBS’s The Late Show with David Letterman on Feb. 8. Decker is the wife of American tennis star Andy Roddick.

Written by Mike Reynolds, originally posted on 2/9/2010 at Multichannel News

And winter is what St Pete’s is best at!

On the way to the airport I was witness to spectacular scenery: every tree covered in snow and a fog that blocked the view from the “Stock Exchange” (see photos of the last blog to understand the Stock Exchange).

The Hermitage was practically invisible; it was a view and scenery worthy of Dr. Zhivago! Remember the ice castle where, I think it was Omar Sharif (who I’ve had the pleasure of doing a movie with) and Julie Christy, spent the winter freezing but together never the less?

Who knew that Russia REALLY produced that spectacular scenery by its self. I mean, you know the “magic of movies”!
I thought that they built a set somewhere!

Yet, of course, as I am not a Picture-taker-er(?) meaning that I am not really a person who takes pictures, I never thought NOT to pack my cell phone in my carryon bag now safely snug in the back of the SUV that was needed to move my mountain of stuff (again, where did I get SO MUCH stuff?)

Ok. Well, I did have a couple of Santa Clauses and a small Christmas tree that I packed hoping it would make the journey back to NYC unscathed.

It is always interesting to see what objects make the trip intact and what do not. Or, what ends up making the trip at all. Some things take a small, unplanned, DETOUR along the way, never to be found again! But that is another blog….

I have come to believe that Russians are a long-suffering lot. There has been practically no sun for at least a month now. I remember one sunny day, or at least a partially sunny day, about 5 weeks back. Everyone was in shock that there was sun. Since I was pretty new to a St Pete’s winter then, I did not understand the joy and surprise of seeing sun in the winter.

But the winter nights are very long here—the complete opposite of the summer’s White Nights, which make its appearance in July/August. The darkness lasts from 4pm until 11am the next morning, thereby leaving only about 5 hours of cloudy sky.

However, on New Year’s Eve, we walked to the Stock Exchange and we viewed the fireworks over the Nevsky River. I do believe we saw the Blue Moon AND the Aurora Borealis, the elusive Northern Lights, although it could have been spotlights. However, I have seen both the Aurora and spotlights and they are NOTHING alike…it was the Aurora and that is the story I am sticking with! LOL!

Russians eat very well, and very expensive! If we go to one of the Gourmet stores for food, it is easy to spend a couple hundred dollars and to come home and wonder what food you bought as it is not even enough to feed a hungry hockey player for a couple of days…..

But eating out is 5 times worse in price, and the hotel? Fagettaboutit!

They make Whole Foods seem reasonable, and THAT is amazing!
To shop here for clothes, thinking maybe to bring home that fun Russian piece that will become the centerpiece of conversation, save it.
Even the shopkeepers, when they heard me speak English, (or even my Russian with English accent) told me to buy in NYC—it would be 20% cheaper.

So where does a fashionable Russian girl go to buy? Paris or Italy of course! Anything less would be too expensive!
Makes you like America a bit more.

But don’t get me wrong as I have loved Russia. Mostly because I do like the people! They are hardy, don’t believe me? How about the girls that walk the street in -16C, snow, and ice in High Heels, short fur jackets, and NO hat? And they don’t even blink!

I almost killed myself trying to be fashionable here!

I stopped trying to copy the Russian girls, and their fashion style, mostly because I valued the use of my legs and because they dress so wonderfully that it is nicer to look at them than to immolate them.

I was much happier in my leggings and Uggs, ski sweaters and long-long coat that went to the floor. Totally NOT sexy but hey, warm!

I just don’t know how they do it, those girls. I would take my hat off to them, but my head is too cold. Brrrrrr!

Well, my flight is just about to be called. I guess I should pack up. I just have so many thoughts about Russia floating in my head that I wanted to get them down in print before I arrive back in Toronto and I forget the subtleties of everything I have experienced and seen.

It will be nice to see English on the Billboards again, a relief actually. I spend my time riding in the car trying to read billboards here. It has become a compulsion!

But now I understand a little better how it must have been for a Russian coming to North America to play hockey—it takes a long time to understand the society, if not the language and the Mores of life. And for working—imagine the contracts and trusting a lawyer you never knew before….

Ah well, that is another blog, too!

On one last note, I asked a 12 year old Russian friend of mine if she would take some photos of St.Pete’s to add to my blog. I was hoping that she could take some better photos than I did.

Industrious as this new generation is, she went ONLINE to find photos for me. I know they are not the personal type of photos like I took, but at least you can really see St.Pete’s in all its glory, and on a sunny day to boot!

And she did download some Christmas trees, having seen the poor quality of my personal Christmas tree photos!
And I think to add them to this blog because you, my dear reader, deserve the best photos I can find to show you what I am taking about in Russia!

So, God willing, the next time you hear from me, I will be “stateside.”

And what was that Beatle’s song…..I’m back in the USSR?
Well reverse it: I’m back in the USofA! Well, Toronto, for sure.

My trip here is winding down all too soon!

However, I thought I might share some of photos I took while here and to share what I am seeing and how I see it.

I know in my last Blog I talked about how the Russians drive compared to Americans. By the way, I must say that it seems to work for them. I hardly ever hear a Horn blowing. And having grown up in NYC and living in big cities all my life, horns are a way of life (unfortunately!)

I know horns are silly—I mean, no one listens to them anyway as most people blow them out of frustration or anger–not life or death!

But anyway, back to Russia! And my photos! I must say that I took all these photos on my Iphone! So bear with me and with the quality of them—it was minus 16 degrees Celsius! Yes, I did say MINUS!
My fingers were frozen and to get anyone to stop to take a picture of me at a site was, well, next to impossible (not to mention that my Russian is unforgivable!)
The few I got were not viewable!

I must say that I think that St Pete’s is the prettiest city I have ever seen! It just really appeals to my sense of beauty and order. It is so clean (for the number of tourists in the summer, it is actually quite remarkable!) and the architecture is spectacular! But, being that it is Christmas here and New Year’s (I think New Year’s is more important than Christmas to the Russians because it is promoted more than the Religious Holidays) the city has put on the RITZ!

I do not think that I have seen a city strut its stuff like St Pete’s does. There are Decorated trees on EVERY block! And no two trees around the city are alike! Peter the Great introduced the trees in the 1800’s after a trip to Europe. For the fact that this is not a custom that originated in Russia, the Russians have embrace the tree more and any other European City I have been in!
SERIOUSLY, they are EVERYWHERE! Happily!

I got only a couple in photos because they all have moving lights and look bare in photos

	The bridges are decorated to the hilt all year long-but at Christmas they go all-out. One bridge has a lighted Santa on it and he is bowling with snowballs. As the snowballs pile up they become a Snowman! So funny! And so pretty to watch the lights….. No, I did not photo that because it is the movement of the lights that makes it so special and I cannot capture it on my Iphone! But I did capture the lights down Nevsky Prospect! I have this photo of what it is like during the day (I know, St Pete’s is dark and depressing during the day: it is dark from 3pm-11am practically!) But at night (see side photo!) they let the dogs out!!

I also went to see a little crafts fair—yes, yes!! In -16C!

At one point I told my guide: “OK, if it comes down to a hot cup of tea at SINGER (pronounced zinGer) or a Santa Claus—the cup of tea wins out!” So we went to Singer….. I happen to love Singer- it reminds me of the 50’s sweet shops! Not that I was alive then, but I HAVE seen pictures! I don’t think they have renovated this shop in many years, but they take such good care of it—and it is SO nice. Life slows down here! You can sit in the big windows and look down on the hustle and bustle of the Nevsky and feel warm and cozy with a nice cup of Jasmine Green Tea! I Only got two photos of the building itself.

It has snowed for the last couple of days for as much as it snows, I was surprised to see that I got only one photo of the snow! The photo I got of the snow is this one from the front window of the car! It is while I was driving down the Nevsky that I got it. You can just barely make out the snow oh, and the Nevsky lights! I mean, it is hard to shoot photos here because it is always so dark!!

One beautifully decorated area that get honorable Mention is this area called the Stock Exchange. This was an area where all the boats used to dock to bring goods into St Petersburg.

Then they would take the goods into this building And be “traded.” I have never seen a building done up quite like this one! These lights go ALL THE WAY AROUND the building! Every column, every window sill, every eve! By they way, marriages are very simple in Russia. The couple goes to the town hall, signs in and then takes a limo around town to shoot photos. Maybe they stop with their friends to eat… I mention this because this area is also a favorite stop for newly weds taking photos. This is their Hummer limo! I went to see a Modern version of Cinderella— I will not discuss the fact that it had a scene with Prince Charming in a section of town frequented with “Women in RED!!” And a scene with all men…..(ah! Modern take on an old classic!) But I will tell you that the Merinski Theater is BEAUTIFUL inside
And out

I will be going to Christmas Mass in one of my two favorite churches. This church, The Church of the Sacred Blood, is made totally of tiles and mosaic! There is not one PAINTED wall in the WHOLE church! This church was bombed during WWI and WWII. Thank goodness they decided to put the church back together and not tear it down. It is a unique church. I don’t think I have seen another like it.

And my OTHER favorite church is this one. I call it the Church of the Miracles as it has a an Icon of Mary and Jesus that people line up for hours to wait to light a candle and to kiss the Icon! I have done it at least twice. Well, time to go work out! The one good thing about being here (I mean there are many good things here, but for me, right now, I want to rest and take care of ME!) Anyway, the one good thing about being here is the GYM at my hotel!!! The best GYM I have EVER seen. Makes working out a pleasure—well, almost! I eat RAW so I don’t HAVE to work out, I work out because I want to work out! And I think that makes all the difference in the world!

So:
FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE:
MERRY CHRISTMAS and THE BEST NEW YEAR EVER!

KISSES,
CA

I am sorry to all my fans if I have been a bit delinquent in answering my webmail, but I have been traveling in Russia to all sorts of small towns and big cities—some with limited web access. As it takes sometimes 6-8 hours for me to answer all of my mail and questions on the site, I have not had that kind of time in any one place for the last month.

However, I thought that perhaps you would forgive me for this fact if I would share my experiences in Russia with you.

I am still a bit of a technical “loser” as I forgot to check my webmail until I got a pleading email from Vlad (my webmaster at Attention Interactive) asking for me to please check my mail and answer.

Actually, I love to answer my mail, but half the time I’m in disbelief I’m actually getting any mail at all, and half the time I forget. And what mail I get! You guys really ask good questions! You are paying attention and I am proud of you all…..

Anyway, I will take you along on the journey that is Russia and when I have more than just one hour I will answer the questions that were posted in the last month! (I am writing this offline at 4:30-6am St Petersburg time! Imagine? And I will post it when I get web access.)

First of all, I have been traveling in some of the smallest towns and cities in Russia because since I was a kid, Russia has just fascinated me! And for good reason, I believe. The History is just amazing and incredible; especially to an American who has only 200 or so years of history to drawn on. For me, WWI and WWII were another generation and fought a world away. The Russians, on the other hand, were front and center and absolutely the object of Hitler’s lust. Russians tell me they lost over 20 MILLION people in WWII to Hitler’s war machine. Neighborly, Hitler was NOT! It is hard to think that Hitler wanted to raze St. Petersburg (then known as Leningrad) and flood it to make a big lake! When you see the beautiful buildings and architecture you understand what a loss this would have been. (Just think Le Hermitage!) But he also wanted to kill most of the residents and keep only a few hundred-thousand Russians as SLAVES!

He already had the invitations to his Victory Party in the famed St Petersburg Astoria Hotel made up! The Astoria Hotel was across from the German Embassy in the city, and Hitler wanted a full victory-worthy reception!

What a different world it would have been had Hitler succeeded!

I don’t think as Americans we have ever come that close to being annihilated.

Anyway, I believe that some of the towns I have visited have not changed since pre-communist days! That is really amazing to a person like me, who was born in NYC, as the city that changes while you sleep at night!

But it’s the people that make this country so fascinating!!

I mean, they look like us. For example, my boyfriend (who is a Russian) has my coloring: big, round, blue eyes, and brown hair. You could mistake him on the street for an average Caucasian American male until he opens his mouth. They just don’t think like us!

Besides the fact that he is extremely intelligent, he looks at a situation without empathy and without emotion. He looks at the actual center of the problem. I, on the other hand, look at everything the problem is; the emotion, who is involved and the relationships of the people involved. In reality, most of the time when I look at the situation as he looks at it, I am able to resolve it immediately. If I look at it my way, I get bogged down by the relationships and the emotion. It takes me longer to figure out the resolution!

Maybe it is just me and maybe I am too empathetic. But, man, being able to clear out some of the emotion of a problem and to just see the actual problem has been a relief.

It is also interesting to see how a non-American/non-Canadian is able to see our country and put to use English words. This is cute and charming and sometimes really funny. And it certainly sets Russians apart! In Russia most people don’t speak English so don’t think you are going to go to Russia and it is easy to get along. Even if they take English in school, the theory is way different than the practice. When you do get a Russian who speaks English or who will try to speak English, it is disarming.

Alexei, my boyfriend, is the perfect example. He eats “smashed” potatoes, and asks me to do him a ‘Favorite’-instead of a favor! And well, if you think about it he is correct, too, as he takes things literally! We do smash the potatoes and he is special to me so I will do something for him because he IS my favorite! I mean, he asks me to do him a favorite and I just about melt. He could ask me to do anything for him…..and well, he knows it.

But also, it took him being his “literal” self in Whole Foods Market for me to see how important it is to BE Literal.

One day he kept asking me: how do they have ORGANIC SEEDLESS GRAPES?

Well, here we go I thought, I have told him how organic works- why is he asking me again?

“Well,” I start out in that wisecracking way that I am when I think I have answered a question for him more than once and I think it is a language problem, “I told you what organic is: they do not use conventional DDT’s or chemicals on the plants. They are as found in nature.”

“But, Organic seedless grapes….” He kept quietly repeating.

“What do you not understand?” I am thinking and I try to placate him: “They grow them in clean soil. Soil that has been fallow without chemicals for 7 years-“
“But ORGANIC SEEDLESS grapes,” he kept repeating patiently.

What is he driving at??

He is making me crazy; I have answered this question so many times….”as found in nature…”

“But, Organic SEEDLESS grapes.” He patiently repeats again!

Oh my gosh! He is right because he is taking everything he sees on a literal basis, he is asking how can grapes be SEEDLESS and ORGANIC when the very definition of organic is “as found in nature” and, well, God did not make seedless grapes—man created them in a hybrid fashion! He was right and, of course, I had to apologize because I was not ‘getting’ what he was asking.

I am not so literal and I am used to Marketing practices which mislead the consumer. Therefore, he has become my consumer barometer because he picks out the inconsistencies of marketing that his literal sense of the English language makes apparent to him but not to me……

But this is just language.

There are so many customs in Russia that I find so incredibly different. For example, do not pass the salt from one person to another directly to their hand. This will make a Russian “rewind” like a video and force your hand to the table where you MUST put the salt down on the table so that they can pick it up. No matter how many times I tell my boyfriend that this is a superstition that is a left-over from the days where salt was an instrument of trade (like gold). To pass it from one hand to another without a bag meant that you could be cheated as salt could stick in the cracks of your hand and you could short change someone.

It does not matter. Drop the salt or drive your Russian dinner guest from the table.

Another rather strange custom is that you can drink alcohol right on the street! You can walk down the street or hang out on a street corner with an open bottle of whatever you wish: beer, vodka, or wine! No one stops you. The police do not care. It is amazing to see people at the end of the workday walking home with an open beer and a cigarette.

Which reminds me—they smoke everywhere. Even in Italy, which is THE smoking capital of the world where babies are practically born with a pack in their hand, they have No Smoking Laws. But Russia just won’t give in and every time I arrive back in Russia and I walk into the lobby of the hotel I am startled to see people walking around smoking in the elevators and even at dinner. Just as I am about to say something to the people I am with, I remember and catch my breath (mostly because I’ve got a lungful of smoke) and remember: they CAN smoke everywhere.

This includes their cars, buses, taxi’s…..which reminds me: Russian drivers are not like any drivers in the world.

I mean, I grew up in NYC! We are THE “he who hesitates is lost” city of the East! But we do not compare….

I have driven Mercedes in Italy and motorbikes in India; Audi’s in Brazil and Ferrari’s in France, but my managers and friends will not allow me to drive in Russia. Russian drivers bring new meaning to the idea of “your heart pounding in your ears.” Where in other countries it is the joy of a FAB car that makes your heart pound, here it is the experience of kamikaze driving that is not for the faint of heart.

Even Russians who have been in America for a bit of time who come back to Russia and drive end up cursing under their breathe for being stuck in one spot for half an hour as no one waits in a line.

If you want to turn left, first, you have to fight the cars that come from behind you and cut you off turning left in front of you. Then you have to battle the drivers who just push through the red light.

Police are everywhere, but Russians tell me you just pay them and move on. No points on your license…..so no real incentive to follow rules…..

Most people (at least 50%) of the country have LADA’s that are pre-World War II anyway, so one more scratch does not matter. But the fact that they have these cars, and they still are in good shape and they still run, is unbelievable. Their motto is: if it runs and gets you there, it is a car. And anyone is a taxi. If you have a car, you can be a taxi. They have taxis, for sure. But you can just step into the street and wave your hand and anyone can stop and pull over and if they are going your way, they will negotiate a price and give you a ride. Hitchhiking, it is called in America, and we warn our teenagers NOT to do it. In Russia, it is an art form: to pick the right car and the right time to step into the street to flag down that car, to wear the right clothes that will make a driver pull over (not every driver pulls over) but that does not scream money so that you can negotiate a fair price for the ride….

And believe me, on a cold Russian winter night, you WILL dress the part to get a ride. Either that or you freeze to death in the street. Nothing like getting home quickly when it is cold out.

Speaking of home, I have noticed that Americans are very interested in what the outside of the house or apt looks like. “Curb appeal” is the technical term. Russians, on the other hand, take painstaking care of the inside of their house. I have been in buildings that actually look condemned from the outside only to find the most brilliant apartments done with painstaking care inside.

And their sense of History is unrivalled! They do not take down a building because it is old. In fact, it becomes a celebrated part of their history, unlike Americans who take down a building the minute it celebrates its 20th year or if it is sitting on a great parcel of land, even more reason to clear it off and build new.
Speaking of Old and New. It is amazing to see little old Russian women selling pickles and cabbage on the streets of major cities in plastic baggies—right in front of huge new futuristic shopping malls.

This is really where the past meets the future in Russia.

100 rubles, less than $4 American, is a tip worthy of a hotel housekeeper going to a dictionary to learn to say “God Bless You” in English. While the bag of choice for Russian women with money is the $10,000.00 Birkin by Hermes. The difference between the have and have-nots is as wide as Russia is BIG!

It takes 10 hours to go from St Petersburg to Harbinsk. (In America NY to LA is only 4.5 hours)

I haven’t yet figured out North to South yet. Or if they go from Sun to Snow like we do in America from Florida to Maine.
Oh and speaking of Snow. Have I yet mentioned the SNOW? Or how about shoveling snow?

In a country that manufactures snow from September to May, it is unbelievable that they do not shovel the sidewalk. To see these little 90-year-old babushkas (Russian for grandmothers) walking on ice and snow to sell their pickles for 50 rubles in little rubber boots on dreary winter days is just beyond belief. I say ‘beyond belief’ because if they fall, there is no recourse. In America an un-shoveled sidewalk would be a lawsuit waiting to happen. Here there are NO lawsuits, which is somewhat of a relief because they have a greater sense of personal responsibility than we do in America but at the same time they care less about some public safety issues: stairs to metros and icy sidewalks being just a couple of examples.

How about plowing the streets you ask? What’s the matter, can’t you drive?

Russians drive on snow, ice, rain, sleet-if it is in the road they will drive over it. (See paragraph above on Russian drivers!)

No right or wrong on either side, just different; just one thing in a long line of little things that makes us so different from each other.

But these are just outwardly things. I am constantly amazed how differently they think, and the food they eat (they juice everywhere!) and how they view the cold war with America (this has led to some lively discussions with Russian ex-military), and how they celebrate holidays (chicken is the bird of holiday feasting for example)
Oh and how- just for the record: Russians hardly EVER say sorry or thank you. So don’t feel bad if they don’t thank you when you do something! It is just not the custom.

But I think THAT blog is for next week—right AFTER I answer my webmail.

See ya then!

The shelf life of a fashion model is four years at best.

Supermodel Carol Alt was able to parlay her “product” – herself – into a career that has spanned three decades using a strong work ethic and fearless business savvy.

“I’ve been around for 30 years in the modeling industry and have never been without a day of work. And that’s really a feat in itself if I do say so myself,” Alt told the World of Fashion class at Roy C. Ketcham High School in Wappingers Falls on Nov. 13.

“Some girls came, and some girls went,” she said, but others such as Cheryl Tiegs, Christie Brinkley, Lauren Hutton, Brooke Shields and Elle Macpherson have had staying power.

“We’ve been around because there’s something different in the way we think. And the difference is that we think in terms of business.”

Alt told the students of Susanne Shand that “the business of fashion and the business world are really one in the same.”

Great clothes, great shoes, great fashion and great parties aside, modeling is “the hardest job you’ll ever love in your life,” Alt said. “If you’re not 100 percent focused on this business and this career; it’s not what you want to do. This takes everything you have out of you. It’s nights, it’s weekends, it’s holidays, it’s birthdays, as my sister can attest to.

It’s everything. So once you decide you want to do this, the most important thing is to focus. And that’s what I was able to do because I came into this business as a 17-year-old kid. I didn’t know from anything. Alt was waiting on an ROTC scholarship as a high school senior, when she decided to try her hand at modeling. “Always have an alternate plan,” she said. She got the ROTC scholarship, but found modeling more appealing.

Alt told the students – who are studying design as part of the curriculum – there are a number of aspects to the fashion industry in addition to modeling, including agent, photographer, stylist, and studio prop handler. “But behind all of that the real engine that makes this whole thing run is the designer. Without the designer, the model has no job. Nothing to wear. Whoops! Without a designer you don’t have anyone to print in a magazine … a photographer doesn’t have a job.”

Designers never work by themselves, she said.

“There’s the business mind and the creative mind. Gianfranco Ferre had Dario (Pagliuca). And Valentino had Giancarlo (Giammetti). There’s always a creative mind and a business mind.”

When Alt faced the end of her lifespan as a model in 1983, she asked, “What do I do now?”

She knew marketing would be the key to her success.

“Marketing is everything. You can have the best product in the world; no marketing? Nobody knows about it. You can have the worst product in the world and the best marketing and you have a hit,” she said.

“My product is me; that’s all I got. I’m not creating anything … other than showing up in a studio and having my picture taken. I made other people’s creations look great.”

She considered doing a poster as a means of marketing herself. She took the idea to her agency. “They looked like I was crazy. John Casablancas said no way. I went to my agent and asked how can I do this without John.”

She did the poster and followed it up with four others, all successful.

But she said it got boring. While living with model Janice Dickinson, Dickinson and her sister, Debbie, landed a calendar assignment for Suntory beer in Japan. So Alt asked why not a calendar for herself? She made the suggestion to her agency and they gave it to another model. “I did my own and had five successful calendars.”

In 1987, Alt was onto exercise videos. Then it was two books on health. And then it was her own skin care line.
Alt told the class that to find something that they each really love and stick with it.

“It’s a real long (life) to do something you really don’t love to do.”

Her parting advice to the class was:
“My wish for all of you here is that the decisions you make further what it is you want to do and don’t hinder it. As you get older and you get out in the business world you’re gonna see that’s probably the most difficult thing in the whole world; to do the thing that’s right to further your career and at the same time make you feel good about what you’re doing.”

We think it’s a treat for our body when we exfoliate, moisturize and polish, but are we actually making ourselves sick? A recent study by Bionsen, a natural deodorant company, estimates that the average woman wears 515 chemicals a day — from eye shadow ingredients linked to cancer to perfume ingredients linked to kidney damage.

In September, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found extremely high levels of lead in lipstick. In addition, recent research from the Washington, D.C.-basedEnvironmental Working Group (EWG) showed that teenage girls are exposing themselves to potentially hormone-altering substances by engaging in that seemingly-innocent coming-of-age tradition of applying makeup. Yet, despite the dangers, women need to bathe and groom — and most of us like a little extra color on our faces. So what can we do to stay healthy and still look good?

The quick answer is: Use fewer products and educate yourself. The average American uses 10 products every day, and chances are, she doesn?t know what?s in them. “It?s simple: Read the labels and be a smart shopper,” says Leann Brown of EWG. “Buy from companies that disclose their formulations.” Since producers aren?t required to make their ingredients public, many choose not to. “A company that discloses all ingredients and keeps out ingredients of concern will probably have lower risk products than cosmetics with mystery ingredients,” says Brown. These transparent products are likely to be equally effective — your hair will be just as smooth, your cheeks just as bright — but without the lurking health hazards.

When shopping, there are a few key ingredients to be avoid. However, due to lax regulation, you may find them in products marked “organic” and “all-natural,” so be on the lookout. Choose from the many nail polishes that have been reformulated to remove a common “toxic trio:” Dibutyl phthalate, a reproductive toxin; toluene, which affects the nervous system and may cause headaches; and formaldehyde, which can cause allergies and irritation. Stay away from sodium lauryl and laureth sulfate, which are spopular in cleaning products, such as body washes, as they can cause skin irritation.

Triclosan and triclocarban, which pop up in antibacterial hand soap, can damage both the thyroid and the environment. Instead, use plain soap. If you wash for 20 seconds, you?ll be just as germ-free.

Finally, stay away from parabens, common in shampoos, lotions and shaving gels. These preservatives have been so widely and publicly exposed as toxic contaminants that it is now relatively easy to find clearly-marked parabens-free products. Brown also counsels cutting out fragrance completely, since the term “fragrance” is poorly defined and could contain any number of mysterious and unhealthy synthetic compounds.

If the ingredients sound too long to remember, the Cosmetics Database offers a free pocket-size ingredients guide, where you can also find out more about over 50,000 products. If improving your health and helping the environment isn?t enough, think about this hidden benefit: Eliminating every mascara with toxic ingredients will make choosing from the overwhelming array of drugstore brands (Thickening! Lengthening! Double-thickening and lengthening!) much quicker and easier.