Have you heard of the Ice City of Harbin in China? It’s misspelled in the video below, but it’s still pretty magical. Happy #TravelTuesday.

The Foxy Bikini: Now PETA-friendly!

There’s been quite the uproar ever since Completely Bare launched its new luxury merkins, including the Foxy Bikini, a pubic wig made of real fox fur. Well, just as quickly as our video investigation went viral, animal rights activists lashed out in protest. The result? Cindy Barshop, owner of Completley Bare Spa and former Real Housewife of New York, has confirmed that she will now be making her merkins of faux fur… and that she and PETA are actually now friends!

In case you missed it…

I spoke with Cindy today, and despite the seemingly negative situation, she looks as this as a very positive thing to have happened.  ”This opened my eyes and made me more aware of a cause that people feel strongly about,” Cindy said. “I respect people’s opinions and I really admire how PETA supported their cause. There’s no reason to use real fur, I’ll use faux fur.”

Cindy is also taking this one step further: “I don’t think anything negative came from it! In fact, I’m currently speaking with the people over at PETA and we’re looking to put together a Completely Bare campaign to support animal rights.”

Well done, Cindy – we can’t wait to see the next big bikini trend! We just hope you don’t become too friendly with the animals to the point where they are requesting bikini waxes and faux fur merkins.

The Foxy Bikini and The Carnivale have also both been slightly reduced in price, now $175 for either, including the wax.

Some people love gambling.

Some people gamble on love.

To do both of these things at once, your Valentine’s Day destination is clearly Las Vegas.

One of our Travel by Spa Week partners, LVH – Las Vegas Hotel & Casino, is doing up Valentine’s Day dinner at Casa Nicola and TJ’s Steakhouse with a special offer at either restaurant. Couples dining on February 14th will be treated to a complimentary champagne toast and chocolate truffles, PLUS a chance to win their Valentine’s Day Escape Drawing, which includes a one-night stay at the LVH with a special room amenity and dinner for two at Casa Nicola.

Which restaurant to choose? Let him pick (guys love to think they’re in control) between Casa Nicola, an authentic Italian restaurant boasting robust, flavorful (manly man) dishes, and TJ’s Steakhouse, a sexy, Rat Pack-esque restaurant with only the finest USDA beef hand-cut and broiled to perfection over an open mesquite flame (need I say more?). Guys love steak and Italian food (most likely) just as much as they love you.

Casa Nicola

TJ's Steakhouse

If you win the Valentine’s Escape Drawing, you and your man can enjoy all of the exciting goings-on at LVH during the month of March:

Watch the games: From March 15-18, the LVH Theater transforms into Hoops Central, where you can watch the best in college basketball battle it out on giant HD screens. They have over 1,500 seats, $2 beer/$2 hotdog specials and free t-shirts.

Catch a concert: The Isley Brothers (3/2-3) and Chicago (3/9-10) are rocking the LVH Theater only in March.

If you’re not in Vegas but looking to go, be sure to check out Spa Week’s exclusive 3- and 4-night packages at the LVH, which you can use for travel through March 2012.

It was around Christmas that I realized in less than a month I was about to hit a stage in my life I was not ready for: my mid-twenties. The big 2-5. The quarter life crisis. I was turning 25. The worst part (besides having to fully accept I am not in college anymore and that day drinking has morphed from a hobby into an exhausting special occasion) was that I wasn’t happy with my body. Things have slowly gotten soft where they were once toned and other things have gotten large or smaller in undesired ratios and relations to other parts of my body. I guess you could say I hit body image rock bottom. So, I reluctantly joined a gym. I bought some new work-out clothes and sneakers. And I slowly but surely started going every day (with the help of some words of inspiration) – telling myself no matter what I do, I will feel better when I’m done. After a few weeks, I had only lost a few pounds of water weight and was alotta sore and a little discouraged.

Then, in late December, Michelle and I went out to lunch with celebrity stylist, Kithe Brewster. As he explained the Mirror Mirror Challenge and how it had worked for him (he lost 122 lbs in 2011!), he opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at my body: through clothes. Instead of staring at my nearly-nude body in the mirror, and hating what I saw, I could stand in front of the mirror in clothes I loved (and have sadly grown too big for) and I can see the hope in my eyes and the determination in my body knowing that a little hard work can get me back into the clothes I once so deeply loved and so fiercely rocked. Instead of a scale, I could use my favorite pieces of clothing (the pieces I had held on to with hopes and dreams of fitting into again) as motivation to get healthy and fabulous once again. It was so inspiring to hear from so many of you on our facebook event wall during our first ever three-week challenge, divulging to us about your favorite pair of skinny jeans that don’t fit any more or your big event or milestone that would be made even better with the accomplishment of losing a few extra pounds.

Almost two months later, I am down 15 lbs. It’s not super visible on my curvy, 5’9” frame. But I see and feel the differences in my body. I can run a mile again without walking. I can kick the Stairmaster’s butt. And, last weekend I zipped a leather jacket I hadn’t been able to zip in over a year and a half. I would have never taken that jacket out of the back of my closet if it wasn’t for Kithe. My journey isn’t over, but because of Kithe and this challenge, I have a meaningful repertoire of benchmarking tools to track my progress and keep me motivated. Thank you, Kithe!

We’re sending two of the fairest of them all to the spa…

Thank you to all those who shared and expressed your struggles and hopes, successes and setbacks. And now to award two Mirror Mirror Challenge participants with a $50 Spa & Wellness Gift Cards…

Laura R: I can’t wear my skinny jeans anymore or one of my favorite dress. I think I’m up for this challenge. Thanks

Susan K: OK, me and my jeans are in! Let’s hope this works!

It was and is still incredibly moving. Thank you for sharing.

Winners, please contact daily(at)spaweekmedia(dot)com within 3 business days to redeem your prize. We can’t wait to hear from a more fierce and fabulous you!

It’s Hot Mom Monday again, and we can’t wait for you to meet Spa Week’s Hot Mom Spa Squad do-it-all spa mama Rachael Pontillo, who has not only mastered the art of living the wellness lifestyle, she has made it her career to help others do the same. Our kinda girl! Rachael is holistic health coach, licensed aesthetician, certified level II Reiki practitioner, certified Wull Stone therapist, and freelance writer for prestigious sites such as Blogcritics.org and Technorati.com.

You can also find her right where we found her – blogging at holisticallyhaute.com. It’s not just a blog – Rachael owns skincare and wellness company Holistically Haute, LLC where she works with clients one-on-one and in groups, in person or over the phone to provide customized programs to help people reach their health and wellness goals.

For any mom out there struggling with her weight in any capacity, we’re turning it over to Rachael who went from THIS to THIS. Her tips are practical, doable, and clearly very effective. We’re especially loving #8, wink wink. Take it away, Rach!

By Rachael Pontillo

So many moms have experienced difficulty losing their pregnancy weight, or managing to maintain a healthy weight after having kids. I was one of them.

I was always a very thin person and never had problems keeping weight off, but after my second pregnancy that changed completely. I don’t know why I wasn’t able to lose the baby weight the second time like I was able to… it was probably a combination of being exhausted, being overwhelmed, hormones, stress, and who knows what else. Anyway, not only couldn’t lose the pregnancy weight, I ended up gaining more. By the time my younger daughter was 2 years old, I was up to 200 pounds (a far cry from my pre-pregnancy weight of 135). I tried exercising, eating certain “diet foods,” trying different popular diets, praying, etc.

There really are no “magic pills” or short cuts to weight loss.

If you want to lose weight, you have to do it the good old fashioned way: with diet and lifestyle changes over time. Rapid weight loss from fad dieting and diet pills is not healthy and it is not sustainable and I do not recommend it to anyone. Slow and steady is the way to go.

Since we all have different health histories, body types, lifestyles, and goals, there is not one “prescription” for weight loss. However, after finally achieving my own weight loss goals (70 pounds!) while being a busy mom and helping clients with different needs reach their goals with gradual diet and lifestyle changes, I have come up with some strategies that can benefit anyone.

Here are my Top 8 “Rules to Live By” if you trying to lose weight but still have to feed picky little eaters.

1. Have them help you shop. Kids love being involved in anything “grown up,” and this includes food shopping. I know that food shopping with small children is not the most fun or efficient way to shop, so plan ahead. Bring snacks or small toys/activities to pacify the little ones if they start getting rammy and put the older kids to work. Make separate lists ahead with specific items (don’t just say to get “cereal,” specify “whole grain” or a certain kind so they don’t bring back boxes of Lucky Charms) for each kid to find and send them off with baskets. Have the little ones help you pick the prettiest apples and other brightly colored fruits and veggies.
2. Have them help you cook. I know this is a tip you see a lot, and again it is not the most calm or efficient way to prepare meals, but it serves several purposes: it occupies their time so they are not nagging or tugging on your shirt while you are trying to cook, it helps them form an attachment to the food so they are more inclined to want to eat it, it provides a solid, stable routine and quality family time, and you (and they) will know exactly what is going into the food: no mystery meat, special sauce, or questionable chewy bites. So form an assembly line and give everyone a specific job no matter their age (unless they are infants… in that case stick them in the baby carrier/wrap so you have both hands free). You will be surprised how fast the prep time goes.
3. Learn to read labels. I’m not saying you have to go out and take food science or chemistry course or buy one of those dictionaries of chemicals/ingredients added to food (although the latter wouldn’t hurt). It’s as simple as this: if you don’t know what it is, you probably don’t want to be eating it yourself or feeding it to your kids. Getting rid of processed and packaged foods and going back to real, simple, whole foods was a huge part of my own weight loss.
4. Find ways to work fitness into your existing routine. The thought of joining a gym or taking a class can be really overwhelming to a busy and tired mom. It is great if you can do that (and use the babysitting services at the gym as long as they provide quality services), but if you can’t then try to find ways to use any downtime you have at home or time outside of the home that the kids are occupied to exercise. I personally found it helpful to do stretches while watching TV in the evening, or doing a short Pilates DVD right after putting the kids to bed. I also joined the local Y and moved my kids’ lessons there instead of other places so that I could exercise while they were in their after-school or weekend lessons. I still speed-walk or job around the track during my daughters’ dance classes.
5. Only do exercises that you enjoy. We are lucky enough to live in a time where “working out” can mean many different things. We can do anything from jogging, to Pilates, to belly dancing, to martial arts-aerobic fusion classes, to being suspended from a crazy scaffold-like apparatus (TRX), to rebounding, to parkour…seriously lots of cool things here! If you force yourself to do something you hate doing, you will just make fitness a negative experience, which it is not. I can’t stand lifting weights so I don’t lift weights. I don’t like the elliptical trainer so I don’t do it anymore. I have found really fun ways to get my fitness into my very busy life and it has been very effective.
6. Eat more greens and whole grains. Greens and whole grains are some of the healthiest foods on the planet: high in antioxidants, “good” carbs, enzymes, and protein. More and more studies are showing that when consumed in large amounts, they can really change people’s lives for the better. I suggest eating greens with every meal. For example I have a green smoothie for breakfast, a big salad with lunch, and usually a cooked green with dinner. You can even blend greens in salad dressings and sauces… my kids love basil in salad dressing and parsley and kale blended into my pesto (which we use on our homemade pastas and pizzas). You can even make greens into snack and finger foods… you can make delicious dehydrated or lightly baked kale chips and use collards as wraps for sandwiches instead of bread or flour tortillas. For whole grains, try sweetening rolled oats with yogurt and maple syrup for breakfast or having lightly seasoned brown rice or quinoa as a side dish instead of fries or pasta. Have these foods before the rest of your meal…they will fill you up and you may even find that you don’t want the rest.
7. Don’t assume they won’t eat what you cook. Don’t make the mistake of becoming a short order cook so you can have your “healthy food” and they can have their “kid food.” That attaches a negative stigma onto healthy food that they will carry with them as they grow. Stop buying processed kid foods like chicken nuggets and cheese sticks and fries and junk foods like chips and cookies. If it’s not in the house, they won’t be able to eat it (and neither will you!). Instead, focus on preparing the foods properly so they taste the way they should and put a condiment tray (with different things like ketchup, mustard, relish, hummus, sesame oil, mirin, tamari, lemon juice, etc.) on the table so the kids can try different flavors with their foods. They will enjoy the opportunity to personalize their foods. The founder of my holistic nutrition school once said something like this “it doesn’t matter if they dip their broccoli into ketchup as long as they are eating the broccoli.”
8. Get thee to the spa! Moms are often stressed out. We cannot eliminate the stressors in our lives completely, but we can make the choice to try to manage how it affects us. It is a known fact that stress interferes with many of the body’s vital functions necessary for weight loss. If you are walking around all wound up, you will have a much harder time losing weight despite your best efforts. Diet and exercise can certainly help with how the body handles stress, but regular relaxing spa treatments can take it to a whole new level. Many spas now offer holistic treatments like shirodhara, detoxification, and Reiki in addition to massages and facials. Prioritizing Mom-me time by getting these therapies will support and enhance your weight loss goals.

If you enjoyed Rachael’s tips, you may also enjoy her new Holistically Haute™ Salt Bath Ritual, exclusively available at Holistically Haute. Spa time is invaluable to your sanity, even if it’s just in your own bath tub!

Happy food photo via, broccoli/ketchup/hummus photo via