AT LEAST, GO DIGITAL

Dear Coach Lea,

I am about six months into yet another man who says he doesn’t believe in marriage or perhaps he is just not ready. He really can’t give me a straight answer. I am 32 and would like to be married and starting a family soon. I am so upset and just don’t know what to do. My biological clock is ticking and I am scared to death of wasting a few more years. What should I do?

Dear Ticking Clock,

I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the men that do protest do eventually get married—however, it won’t be to you. Your biological clock may be ticking so loud that he has lost interest. I would suggest that you cut your losses and find someone who is more into you and into the possibility of marriage with you. Hang in there and let me know what happens.

BUSY LINE

Dear Lea,

I have gone out a few times with a great guy. I really like him—we just had our fourth date and finally had sex. The problem is that he never calls me until the last minute, and the other problem is that he works so much. His travel schedule is so crazy that I can go for a week or two without hearing from him. He claims he is so busy and that he simply forgets to call me.

Dear Clueless,

If he really wanted to see you, he would make time. Guys that say they are too busy to see you are busy—just not with you. I have had men call me from the airport, taxis, and even from a hospital bed (my husband after shoulder surgery). I realize men get busy, but if they care, they will find the time! N-E-X-T!

PHOTO FINISH

Hey Coach,

I am a former client and just wanted to drop you a line. I am the guy who balked at having professional pictures taken. Well, I finally called your photographer (and he did do a great job). I have been dating online for about three years with no success. I really didn’t know that a profile and picture could make such a difference. Thanks to your guidance, I have never had so many women contact me or respond to me online. I found one woman I really like—and will let you know how that goes. Thanks again—it’s good to finally be excited about someone again.

Hugs, M

Dear M,

I am so glad that you finally got those pictures! I am happy as always to help. Good job, and let me know how things progress.

Hugs back at you,
Coach

Photography by Larry Rubino

The Royal Palms Resort and Spa’s award-winning T. Cook’s put on a reception and multi-course dinner hosted by the Celebrity Chef Tour to benefit the James Beard Foundation, a non-profit organization based out of New York whose mission is to preserve America’s culinary heritage and diversity. The event showcased the talents of celebrity chefs Brian Cooper, Jonathan Gelman, and Robert Nyerick; along with celebrity host Chef Lee Hillson and host Pastry Chef Pierino Jermonti.
celebritycheftour.com

It couldn’t have been a more beautiful Arizona winter day on the afternoon of December 30, 2008 when Nicole Bennett wed Daniel Johnson at FireSky Resort & Spa.

North Valley Magazine partnered with wedding planner Aleasha Shelton for an unprecedented wedding giveaway last spring, and Dan and Nicole were selected from scores of applicants because of their extraordinary community involvement and volunteerism. For two people who give so much of their time, energy, and talents, it was only fitting that they would in turn be given a wedding of a lifetime.

Some of the Valley’s best wedding experts came together to make this celebration a dream for the happy couple. Once their December date was chosen, an elegant Christmas theme was developed. Invitations and programs were custom printed with an elegant snowflake motif. Nicole found the perfect dress. Everything was in place as the sun shone through the trees, and evergreen and red roses surrounded the open-air ceremony garden. Nicole and Dan took their vows and their very first kiss ever before 100 family members and friends.

As the reception began, guests were greeted by centerpieces shaped as wrapped Christmas gift boxes with bows atop made completely of flowers. Luxurious linens in deep reds and greens draped the tables. The setting was perfect as the newlyweds took their first dance together—only after making a point to grab the microphone to thank friends, family, and even the wedding professionals. As the reception came to a close, guests were invited to take home a tree ornament made custom for the occasion. Now every year, as each family decorates their tree, they will remember the special day they shared with Dan and Nicole at their wedding.

North Valley Magazine would like to once again thank the wedding professionals who made this incredible wedding giveaway possible:

A Day to Cherish Weddings
adaytocherishweddings.com

FireSky Resort
fireskyresort.com

Eyes 2 See Photography
eyes2see.com

The Invitation Lady
theinvitationlady.com

Bing’s Floral
bingsfloral.com

Brides by Demetrios
demetriosbride.com

Tri-Rentals
Deborah Beggs
trirentals.com

Creative Touch Entertainment
creativetouchentertainment.com

With this being the Entertainment issue of North Valley Magazine, here is a rundown of the latest entertainment products that were announced at the beginning of the year. Most will be available for you to purchase soon. Check out your local electronics store or the relevant manufacturer’s Web site for the latest details.

2008 saw televisions getting bigger and bigger, but not much has changed since we reported from CES (the Consumer Electronics Show) last year with Panasonic’s 150-inch plasma and Sharp’s 108-inch LCD continuing to rule the roost. This year, the trend seems to be televisions heading for the gym and slim coming in as the new big. Multimedia and Internet connectivity is the other commonality across many of the newly introduced televisions. Now you can watch TV, listen to music, and surf the Web all from the comfort of your armchair, with only a few button presses of your TV’s remote for exercise. I think it’s us, and not the TV, who need to consider a visit to the gym!

New for 2009, the Z1 series was added to Panasonic’s VIERA range of plasma screens. Sporting a slimmed-down panel only one inch thick, the Z1 will support full 1080 resolution and is THX certified. There is a slot for SD memory cards, and the VIERA Image Viewer can display digital photos and videos. For music connectivity, Panasonic now has added an iPod dock to four of their X1 series LCD TVs. Simply plug in your player and control your music library from your remote.

Samsung is also going for ultraslim models with three of their LCD series (6000, 7000, and 8000). With their own new slimline wall mount that allows you attach their TVs just over half an inch from the wall, the combined TV and mount will be less than two inches. With TVs and mounts getting thinner and thinner, it really is just like hanging a picture on the wall.

Internet-connected TVs are being introduced by many of the major manufacturers. Utilizing Yahoo’s “TV Widgets” technology, these new TVs will provide the capability to access a variety of Yahoo features. View digital photos at Flickr; check on the stock market, news, or weather at Yahoo!Finance Yahoo!News, and Yahoo!Weather, respectively. There will also be supported content from third parties such as USA TODAY, YouTube, eBay and Showtime Networks, with many more sources due to be added as the service grows and develops. Among the major manufacturers to announce products supporting TV Widgets and other Internet access features are LG, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba, and VIZIO.

If you don’t feel like upgrading your existing HDTV but do like the idea of broader Internet access, there are now even more options. If you haven’t moved up to Blu-ray yet and can wait another few months, LG has two players that also have networking features. The LG BD370 and BD390 support 1080p native with the ability to upscale existing DVDs to 1080p. The audio side is equally matched with advanced audio format decoding of Dolby TrueHD, Digital Plus, and DTS-HD. Both feature Internet connectivity with the ability to stream online video from Netflix, YouTube, and CinemaNow. The BD370 needs an Ethernet cable, while its big brother, the BD390, has built-in wireless connectivity. Netgear continues to bridge the worlds of TV and networking. The Digital Entertainer Elite (EVA9150) is the latest in a line of all-powerful media players. Bringing together all things digital, it connects to your television and can pull content from your home network as well as the Internet. If you just want to be able to get Internet TV direct to your new slimmed-down HDTV, check out the Netgear ITV2000. There is plenty of streamed media to choose from, with sources such as BBC.com, CNN.com, ESPN.com, and EuroSport.com, to name but a few.

With the television continuing to maintain its status as the center point of home entertainment, don’t forget to get out of your chair once in a while to stretch your legs!

By Lea Friese-Haben

Hello, fabulous singles! This particular column is a result of the following e-mail:

Dear Coach Lea,

I am so depressed right now. My boyfriend of three years just dumped me on Twitter, and I feel as if everyone in the world knows about my situation. My devastation from the breakup has now been coupled with the fact that my friends, coworkers, and entire social network know my personal business. I feel as if I am the topic of conversation and the butt of personal jokes. It is painful for me to go through e-mails and even go to work. I haven’t even looked at any of my personal networking sites either as a result. OMG I am so embarrassed! What can I do?

Signed,
Horrified

Dear Horrified,

This unfortunately is one of the ramifications that are coming out as a result of reality TV and a huge misuse of all the new technology that is currently available. I will say, Miss Horrified, that this does not make you look bad. It does, however, make him look like trailer trash.

Miss H—hold your head high and remember that in a few days, this will be yesterday’s news. Take time for yourself and reconnect with friends and family who love you most. I would love to tell you that your situation is uncommon, but unfortunately, it is not. I felt compelled to publish your letter and address this issue. You are not alone, and I personally want to thank you for sharing your story. Please keep me posted.

Coach Lea

Technology is dramatically changing our personal relationships. We are losing important social skills as a result. What started out as text messaging versus phone calls morphed into texting others while on dates. The latest craze is public dumping. We all watched The Bachelor’s Melissa get dumped on national television, and it was just a few months ago that John Mayer allegedly dumped Jennifer Aniston on Twitter. Hollywood seems to set the trends when it comes to bad social behavior.

Facebook and Twitter are the new venues that are used to not only end relationships but to humiliate the other party. In the last six months, I have consoled several clients who have had to endure this type of public mortification. Breakups are difficult under the best of circumstances, but airing this dirty laundry is just plain rude and hurtful.

Here are a few rules for breakup etiquette:

1. End the relationship face to face—be kind, but swift.

2. Don’t falter or give false hope to other party.

3. Do not flaunt new relationships publicly or virally.

4. Keep the circumstances of the breakup off the Internet.

Remember that, although technology has its perks, it also has its shortcomings. You or someone you care about could become the next victim of a social media attack. Social media can be fun and enlightening if used in a respectful manner.

Photography by Eric Fairchild

As the 2009 NBA All-Star Game approached, the Phoenix Convention Center became home to a bundle of fun activities that afforded the public an opportunity to mix with their favorite NBA superstars and shoot a few hoops themselves. Kids’ activities, a hall of fame, and center court activities were just a few of the prominent events.

Photography by Eric Fairchild

Orlando Magic’s Dwight Howard, the leading All-Star vote-getter, hosted the media-only 2009 Doublemint Double-Double Challenge. Howard shot hoops with local youth and gathered dunk tips from them, and gave exclusive interviews to media personnel.

Photography by Eric Fairchild

CASA of Arizona is an organization dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the prevention and reduced impact of abuse and violence, particularly among women and children. The organization put on a casino-inspired fund-raising event filled with fun-based gambling, a silent auction, dancing, and tasty appetizers. casacares.org

Adidas TECHFIT is a customizable undergarment system that addresses every player’s individual needs. These undergarments are a combination of padding and flexibility, boosting power to key muscle groups for more efficient movement, increasing acceleration. This all will improve endurance and reduce fatigue. The TECHFIT PowerWeb has been proven to increase speed by 1.1 percent, improve vertical leap by 4 percent, increase power output by 5.3 percent, and increase overall endurance levels. TECHFIT has recently become the official compression undergarment of the NBA. adidas.com

Who said that going to the office every day means being sentenced to architectural or aesthetic hell? I’m astonished when I consider how many people drag themselves into a vanilla-colored-wall environment, complete with standard-issue lay-in ceiling tiles and inoperable windows, and become acclimated to this environment for eight to ten hours a day—every day. Someone once decided that this is the way an office should be: sealed from the natural environment with work spaces neatly lined up like rabbit warrens housing prairie dogs bobbing up and down to see what’s happening across the sea of cubicles.

Imagine a place where you don’t have your nose prints smudging the glass. Imagine an office with operable windows and doors that allow you to hear the birds, smell the flowers, and feel the breeze. Imagine a space with interesting interior volume, natural daylight, and interior materials composed thoughtfully in an array of soothing hues and warmth, giving you a feeling of the comforts of home.

What if there were a place where informal meetings were held in a room or space with comfortable chairs instead of at a conference table over which you crouch and hover? A more relaxed setting may allow for flow and freedom of thought. Is all this really possible in an office environment?

I’m less concerned with office trends than sharing a personal crusade to change the places in which the majority of the workforce toils away. Anyone working in a home office knows the great appeal that lies beyond the ability to sit around in your underwear while engaging in a Web meeting. The mere thought of a more relaxed and pleasant environment gives awareness to how workers can focus better: being in the office seems more comfortable and enjoyable because the place in which we are conducting our business was designed creatively.

Of course, not all offices are as unpleasant as I’ve described, but after visiting and taking note of the majority of office environments, I suggest that if some of us have to spend most of our daylight hours in a place called “the office,” then maybe we deserve to have at least some of the comforts of home. The office’s kitchen should be the social heart of the office and a place to gather and socialize with coworkers, not just a wet bar counter with a water cooler and a coffeemaker that all serve as a good behavior escape from your sentence.

Beyond the exterior walls of my office building lie multiple courtyards to explore and a fountain for audio and microenvironment comfort. We are also fortunate in having chosen to build our office building in a community where the Path and Trail system lie right outside our door so that health and wellness can be enhanced by taking walks or riding bikes during a lunch hour or immediately before or after work. The bathroom has a shower available for freshening up after a long walk. It is also uncommon to find office sites where you can actually walk—yes, I said walk—to a restaurant or shopping environment without firing up all those cylinders in the car just to get a bite to eat.

Consider, too, utilizing more green and sustainable materials. We have a natural integrally colored concrete floor in most of the office, a cork floor in the conference room, and recyclable rubber flooring made from recycled tire scraps for the mail/print room, as well as TimberStrand steps, Paralam steps and posts, and Oriented Strand Board (OSB) for ceilings and flooring, all made from excess wood chips. All of this contributes to the dematerializing of the material composition of our building—basically, the core structural and mechanical products left exposed and dressed up with stain or a clear sealer in the case of the remanufactured wood products. This means less carpet, drywall, or other ceiling products.

If we can be aware of the visual, inspirational, and emotional benefits that this type of office design can provide for workers, the building owners and developers, and the environment, and if the public at large is more demanding of them, then maybe we can make a significant change for the next generation of worker bees, who would then continue to pollinate these ideas to nourish future generations.

CAPTIONS:

Photo 1
This office lobby exhibits the warmth and charm of a residence, demonstrating sustainable design principals that utilize a broad shaded overhang, recycled materials like the glass chips in the terrazzo floor, the use of Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) for the roof, and the exposure of the Oriented strand Board (OSB), stained in a warm, light cherry tone.

Photo 2
The outdoor environment welcomes the user or visitor to the office complex in an inviting way that celebrates the landscaped environment—so contradictory from offices that experience garage parking, waiting for elevators, and wandering down endless non-day-lit hallways to find the office entry door you are hunting for.

Photo 3
The main office studio space exhibits the natural integrally colored concrete floor, the OSB ceilings, and the structural trusses exposed for the artful composition seen in the volume space. The daylight adds benefits from clerestory windows, operable windows, and sliding glass doors.