Dawn: Ginger is a Diuretic.

I took a cooking class at The Chopping Block, an instructional kitchen/cooking store in Lincoln Square and the Merchandise Mart: Healthy Cooking taught by local dietitian Dawn Jackson Blatner. She taught us how to make an entire meal surrounding healthy choices, including breaded broccoli, organic herb pizza, and soy mousse. And the appetizer was this carrot ginger soup.

Generally, I’m a big fan of ginger (except in cookies, because I think the whole concept of gingerbread is weird.) But what I didn’t know is that ginger is a diuretic. Dawn said, “Just throw in a teaspoon of ginger into whatever you’re eating to bring out the flavor. Plus, if you’re bloated, ginger helps decrease water weight.”

So now, I always have some minced ginger handy to throw into whatever I’m eating. Not that it’s really helping me lose weight. But at least it’s helping me to not feel completely puffy.

I’d love to hear other people’s strategies to not feeling puffy. Because I’m big into salt. And I always feel puffy. Okay – go.

Angie: Don’t pack a single pair of sweats.

Angie was my junior-year-of-college roommate. From Blue Springs, MO, her claim to fame is that her brother is best friends with David Cook. Although she didn’t know how to boil water or make scrambled eggs (seriously), Angie actually gave me some actual, practical, memorable advice before I went home for winter break (which haunts me every holiday season):

“Don’t pack a single pair of sweats. It’s winter. You’ll want to dress all cozy and comfy. DON’T. Because the second you don’t wear jeans or cords or something that holds you in is the second you’ll overeat. And then you won’t fit into your clothes when you get back to school.”

I’m sitting in sweats now and contemplating baking a BTS cake -> case in point.

Bridget: Color Czars decide EVERYTHING.

This past Thursday, I was at a Smitten Boutique for an event hosted by Kehoe Designs (an amazing florist/design company in Chicago). I met their Creative Director, Bridget (@BridgetCJohnson), who educated me on upcoming color trends for 2010. Lighter shades of yellow, lavender, and bold blues will be hot next year. (Just watch.)

And then I asked her how designers know what’s going to be in for the coming year. And she told me there’s a forecasting committee called the Color Czars; they’re the end-all, be-all of color palettes. They’re collaborating on 2015 right now.

So basically, a handful of people in the whole world decide what our living rooms, cars, iPods, Gap sweaters, handbags, shoes, lipstick, and hair color are going to be.

That’s a ridiculous amount of power.

Scott: It’s tough to be productive with a guilty conscience.

Nate introduced me to Matt who introduced me to Scott (@chicagojones), with whom I lunched a few weeks ago. Great conversation, smart guy, runs his own ad agency, lots of prominent clients – in short, he’s brilliant.

A few days ago, a colleague sent a link to Communication Arts magazine (which I hear is pretty prestigious), and I was scrolling through the Insights section. Lo and behold, they featured Scott. So I started to read.

While the interview is charismatic and entertaining (and Scott has great responses to every question, so you should read it regardless), I LOVE this:

Q: What’s your approach to balancing work and life?
A: No matter how many hours you put into work, it’s always going to be there; I have three kids who won’t be young forever. Since it’s tough to be productive with a guilty conscience, I try to knock things out when it matters least to them—before they wake up or after they’re in bed.

I often always feel guilty. But being guilty does nobody any good. I need to move past the self-imposed guilt, be productive when my kid doesn’t care that I’m busy, and be intentional when I do get spend time with him.

Great insight, Scott. Next lunch, I’m going to pick your brain about how you balance it all so well. Here’s to late night/early morning work hours, Diet Coke and brilliance.