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Only one U.S. president was born in New York City. Raised in a townhouse at 28 E. 20th between Park Avenue South and Broadway in a “romantic” enclave of Gramercy Park is (also known as Theodore Roosevelt Way) where Theodore Roosevelt would grow up to be our 26th president. A walk around Gramercy Park is an ideallyic way to spend an afternoon and it’s also where Edith Wharton, the famous author, lived. Lady Mendel’s at the Inn on Irving Place is a great way to recount the afternoon while enjoying tea in a Victorian setting.

Theodore Roosevelt become immortalized on Mount Rushmore along with Presidents’ Washington, Jefferson and Lincoln. However, he started life in New York City as a sickly, but smart youth from an upper class family who exercised to improve his health. From there he began a lifelong passion for the “strenuous life.” He was born in the house on October 27^th, 1858 and lived there until he was 15. The house was restored in 1923 and opened to the public as a museum. The Women’s Roosevelt Memorial Association and the Theodore Roosevelt Association jointly donated the museum to the National Park Service in 1962. Today you can see uniformed Park Rangers leading the house tour.

Although the gallery is closed for renovation you can see the rooms and furnishings, which he was surrounded by in his formative years. It was in the living room where I first learned that his father, Theodore Roosevelt Senior, was one of the Founders of the American Museum of Natural History in NYC. The founding members would have discussions about it in the mansion’s living room.

TR’s other homes included Sagamore Hill, located in Oyster Bay, Long Island which is an amazing home/museum and which pays tribute to his enduring love of nature. After all, the stuffed animal called the Teddy Bear was named after him. Can’t think of another President who has been associated with such an enduring childhood toy. Pretty cool.

The more I learn about Teddy Roosevelt the more intriguing he becomes, not so much as an elected official, but as a conservationist and NYC native. He was very well known as the “Conservationist President” establishing five national parks and 18 national monuments throughout the US. The New York native has a park named after him called the Theodore Roosevelt National Park located in the Badlands of North Dakota near a small historic town called Medora. National Geographic stated in an article “the park honors the president who probably did more for the National Park System than anyone before or since.”

As far away from NYC as his preservation of the North Dakota Badlands is and his exploration into the depths of the Amazon Rainforest at a time when there was little to protect anyone from its treacherousness he managed to endure. You can read more about his true life Amazon adventures in the book entitled, The River of Doubt, by Candice Millard.

“There can be no greater issue than that of conservation in this country.” ?Theodore Roosevelt’s Confession of Faith Speech, Progressive National Convention, Chicago, IL, August 6, 1911.

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From infancy we learn to connect food with emotions. A baby associates the comforting smell and taste of milk with warmth, affection, soft caresses, gentle words and nurturing, cozy love. This multi-sensory emotional bond seals our fate for connecting food and emotions for a lifetime! As we grow, we look to our parents to feed and nourish us, we are given “sweet treats” if we do something well, accomplish a goal, pass a test. Food is given to comfort us if we are disappointed, let down, discouraged or upset.

Our boyfriends and girlfriends buy us our favorite chocolates and take us to our favorite restaurants, and our husbands and wives cook our favorite meals as gestures of love and affection. Being deprived of these things makes us feel like love has deserted us. So, it’s no wonder that it’s very difficult for us to give up the foods we love, even to prevent heart disease.

We can eat ourselves healthy, or we can eat ourselves sick—the good thing is we get to choose. While there are many people with serious eating disorders, most of us just need to use common sense, exercise some will power and love the fact that we can change our lives for the better.

We have to “unlearn” the food and love connection and develop new connections that are not centered around food. By helping ourselves, or our loved ones become healthier, we are showing tremendous love. There was a scene in the movie “It’s Complicated” where the character played by Meryl Streep, took the salt-shaker away from Alec Baldwin’s character. He was touched by her concern, commenting that his “new wife” doesn’t do that for him.

The problem with trying to stick to a “heart-healthy” diet is it really doesn’t seem that appetizing. If you cast a look at the top 25 Heart-Healthy Food recommendations on Web MD, they hardly get your pulse racing in anticipation—except for chocolate maybe. But if we are looking to develop a new mindset—trying to show love in a way that’s not connected with food—we need to get a bit more creative. Try a few of these tips if you fall back into the habit of “feeding” your emotions!

•            Put Post-it notes on foods in the cupboard and fridge you should not eat that say “I love you for not taking this”

•            Instead of going out to eat as a treat, go out to dance

•            Feed your mind instead of your stomach—read, do a crossword puzzle, take a class

•            Remove yourself from the temptation, go for a walk, get some exercise and enjoy being outside

•            Hug often—the physical connection cannot be underestimated

•            Feeling loved is vital in helping someone change—tell them you love them—tell yourself too!

•            If you fall off the “wagon” just get back on again, it won’t leave without you

•            Fill your life with friends, family, interests, travel, whatever your passion is, you will have less time to think about food and more time to think about the richness of your life

•            If you do indulge, enjoy every single morsel, don’t waste time on feeling guilty, just love every pleasurable second. But, make sure you only do it once in a while

Open your heart, embrace change and you will be well on your way to a heart-healthy, satisfying and gratifying lifestyle!

This healthy, delicious soup is a wonderful way to serve sweet potatoes with a twist!

Makes 6 servings

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. On a baking sheet toss the sweet potatoes with the parsnip, garlic, olive oil and salt and bake for 45 minutes or until soft and tender. Cool for 5 minutes then put half the baked vegetables in a blender and puree with 3 cups of stock. Transfer to a large saucepan and repeat with the remaining vegetables and stock. Add the apple cider and Tabasco and heat till just beginning to boil. Ladle into bowls and serve with the diced apple.

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To many of us, our office is like our second home, with the average working professional in the U.S. spending upwards of 44 hours or more a week at work. Since we spend so much time at work, it’s important to make the space our own not only by keeping it clean and organized, but also a place that sparks creativity and is a source of inspiration when we need it most during the 9 to 5 grind. For the eco-concious professional, that means adding your touch of green to your office as well.

We always say that making even the slightest changes in our day-to-day routine can create big results in the long run. So even if we don’t want to be the office superhero who preaches about recycling to our co-workers (see Dwight Schrute’s “Recyclopse” character from NBC’s The Office) there are lots of easy little things we can do in our own space to make effective change.

We’ve touched upon this topic before, but with so many different options on ways to go eco-friendly, we wanted to highlight a few more of our favorites that are easy and effective.

1) Send What You Can Electronically and Don’t Print Unless You Have To. We live in the age of technology where there are numerous different platforms to send information. Email documents instead of printing and use file sharing programs like Dropbox for larger files. Before you print anything out take a second to think if you really need to and if you can email instead. Also, transfer all bill payments and magazine subscriptions online as well to further cut down on paper consumption.

2) Drink your coffee out of a reusable mug. According to CarbonRally.com, Americans drink more than 100 billion cups every year, 14.4 of which are bought in disposable paper cups. A much more eco-friendly option is to bring a reusable coffee mug to work and to your favorite coffee shop. Major coffee chains like Starbucks and Dunkin’ Donuts sell reusable mugs that they’ll fill up for you right in-store. Same with water, instead of water bottles see if your supervisor or manager will look into getting a water cooler and some reusable glasses for the kitchen to cut down on waste.

3) Turn Your Computer Off Every Day Before Leaving Work. It’s a simple thing to do that will help save energy and also help your computer to function better. To take it a step further, you can also unplug any electronics and appliances when they aren’t in use to prevent “vampire voltage”, or energy that still gets used when the product is turned off or just plugged in.

4) Discover alternative business card options. Where do business cards even go once we pass them out at trade shows and networking events? Once we type them into our address books we usually throw them away or store them in a Rolodex that doesn’t get used. Luckily there’s an app for that, numerous actually! These iPhone applications let you exchange contact information instead of exchanging paper business cards that go to waste. Or, just ask for their Twitter handle, you’re more likely to reconnect that way anyway.

5) Recycle unwanted reusable items to the community. We all know how easily our offices can get cluttered with “stuff” and have to do a little spring cleaning every now and then. For anything reusable that you want to get rid of like old furniture, kitchen utensils or office supplies you don’t need, look into donating them to a local charity or non-profit that can use them.

6) Commute with a co-worker and cut down on out of office meetings, when possible. For any out of office occasions with co-workers, take as few cars as possible and carpool with a friend to and from work when you can. Re-think out of office meetings and see if the meeting can be done via Skype or video conferencing. With all of the free resources we have available to us, why not use it to cut down on carbon emissions we’d be using traveling to these meetings, while also cutting down on costs!

7) Use Green Office Supplies Whenever Possible. A lot of major retail chains are hoping on board the green trend and offering lines of eco-friendly office supplies. Staples and Office Depot, for example, offer a wide variety of everything from recycled paper and notebooks, to cleaning supplies and kitchen utensils. We also love supplies from O’bon and See Jane Work for something a little more stylish and unique.

These are a few of our favorite ways to go green at work, did we miss any? Let us know ways that you have helped to make your office more eco-friendly below.

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There is a trend that has been popping up in companies across the country: wellness programs. It seems that many companies are drawing the correlation between healthy employees and productivity–which, of course makes sense. These types of programs not only contribute to efficiency, but can also lead to other benefits, such as perks from insurance companies and even tax breaks. In fact, there has been a growth in the market for Wellness Director positions, as well as an increase in third party wellness companies, as more and more companies implement these programs.

Wellness programs are most prevalent in large companies. For example, companies such as the Wall Street Journal and Motorola offer an on-site gym for employees to use on their lunch breaks or at various points in the day. Another company taking company wellness to the next level is audio visual manufacturer, Draper Inc., a company of 500+ employees in Indiana. Thanks to the creativity of their Safety & Wellness Director, they have a variety of programs to assist employee health–from smoking cessation programs to team challenges, such as a six week activity challenge where all members log their activity and the team with the most minutes wins and gets a paid day off.

As great as a company wellness program sounds, it leaves many small businesses feeling like their hands are tied on how to encourage their employees without the same resources that larger companies may have. However, there are ways to get creative and implement a program that will benefit a small team.

“Start small, simple and low cost. You can implement small changes that will promote healthy lifestyle changes, such as having healthier choices put into the vending machines or posting healthy information to raise awareness. And don’t hesitate to network with other companies–you’ll find that most will be happy to help you get started on the road to a healthy company,” commented Draper, Inc. Safety &Wellness Director, Linda Brinson, “After the company sees the improved morale, absenteeism, productivity and quality, they will be looking for more ways to bring wellness to the forefront.”

Here are a few creative tips Brinson suggests to get started:

1. Form your own “Biggest Loser” competition — Encourage employees to lose weight by hosting a 6-month competition, where employees are tracked by the percentage of weight they lose. Put together a small incentive, such as the winner receives an extra day of vacation, to keep them motivated.

2. Put together a walk-off — It’s possible to buy cheap pedometers to give all involved employees to wear. Each week track how many steps were taken by each employee, and at the end of the month tally it up, offering the winner a small prize, such as movie tickets.

3. Designate a “Wellness Host” — Just because you may be at a small company, it doesn’t mean that there can’t be one person put in charge of helping seek out company wellness opportunities. This person will keep everyone informed with new health and wellness articles, as well as look for something new for the team to participate in each month to stay active– whether free yoga class in the park, or putting together a training plan for everyone to participate in a local 5K. It might help to switch up the designated person every three months or so, in order to get new ideas flowing and keep everyone involved.

4. Form a company league — Most communities have local leagues, whether it be softball or soccer, that companies can form a team to join. This is a great activity to keep employees moving and even use as a team building exercise.

5. Offer a “health risk assessment” — You may find that your insurance company has a third party they can send to your office, or provide an online questionnaire, to do a health assessment on all employees. This will help employees know what areas of their health they should focus on most. If your insurance company isn’t helpful in this area, you may find your local chamber of commerce can assist with providing someone.

6.Talk to your insurance company — While most see insurance companies as a big, untouchable business with hard-to-understand paper work, the reality is they offer many health related benefits–if you ask. Don’t be afraid to talk to your insurance company to see how they can assist, whether it be by offering gym membership reimbursement for those who can prove they spend a certain amount of time in the gym, to special health fairs that your company may be able to attend or get involved with.

7. Look for a wellness partner — This could be a local hospital that offers community health fairs or a local university that would provide a resource or even trainers that can come in to help you get started. Also try contacting your local chamber of commerce–you will probably learn there are government funded opportunities available that you weren’t aware of.
Even if your company doesn’t take interest in putting together any sort of formal wellness plan, most of the above listed tips could be implemented by a small group of employees looking to be healthier and encourage each other. And whether company sponsored or just something a group of people are doing together, you can up the ante by having each employee drop $5-10 in a pool to go to the winner or various challenges. Let us know how your company promotes wellness to employees.

If you know a mom who is planning to breastfeed her new baby, as seems to be the norm these days, there are some amazing products out there to make things simpler. My best friend would often refer to breast milk as “liquid gold.” The idea of a drop of breast milk going to waste seemed absolutely painful, largely since it was so difficult to pump between feedings (especially with a newborn who has frequent feedings). A couple of great products for these mothers are Milkies Milk Savers and Milk Trays by Sensible Lines. Milkies Milk Savers are a great alternative to using nursing pads, since instead of just absorbing milk that leaks from you breast, they will actually “catch it” so you can then store it for use later. Once you’ve pumped your breast milk (or “caught” it), it needs to be stored. The Milk Trays are great for this! They look similar to ice cube trays, only each compartment is cylindrical and stores one ounce of breast milk. Each “milk cylinder” can easily slide into a bottle, making it much easier to measure out how much breast milk you’re giving your baby, as well as minimize wasted breast milk. This is something any expectant mother will certainly appreciate!

If you like to give gift baskets why not try a non-traditional alternative. Under the Nile has a “Treasure Box” that is handcrafted with 100% recycled chip board and wild grass paper. The box is intended to double as a keepsake box for saving baby’s first memories. The box has three Egyptian organic cotton gifts inside: a sleep gown that converts to a romper, a skull hat and an elephant ring toy. I like the idea of giving organic clothing as a gift, especially for the youngest babies since their skin can be so sensitive. Organic cotton is a great choice because it’s hypoallergenic and chemical-free. In addition, according to an article on eHow, “A regular cotton T-shirt lasts for approximately 10 to 20 machine wash cycles, before the fibers within the material begin to break apart. Clothes made from materials such as bamboo or organic cotton last for more than 100 machine washes, before the fibers begin to break apart.” So, even though organic clothing may be a little pricier than non-organic, I think it’s well worth the money—since you won’t have to deal with skin irritations AND the clothing will last so much longer.

Another idea if you like gift baskets is to have something hand-painted. This of course doesn’t have to be done with just pails and other items that hold things. I like the idea of taking something sentimental and bringing it to someone who does hand-painting. It’s a great way to reuse something you already have and revive it into something someone else can use for their baby—or maybe even take a family heirloom and give it a face lift for the new baby joining the family. The other thing I really like about this is that it can be done locally–thereby cutting down on gasoline emissions and other negatives brought about by the shipping of mass-produced items. I found someone through my Facebook friends who does this in New Jersey, “Dreams & Wishes Hand Painted Gifts.” If you ask around, I’m sure you can easily find people nearby who do this, as well.

Bath products and diapering products are always a hit at baby showers. I was recently introduced to the Live Clean product line for babies, which use only gentle, plant-based ingredients. I’ve tried the baby wash, shampoo, diaper cream and non-petroleum jelly. It has a pleasant smell, and the wash and shampoo work well. I absolutely love the diaper cream. My daughter often will get tough-to-treat diaper rashes and I’ve used just about everything. After one application of the Live Clean Diaper Cream, her rash completely cleared up. I was shocked when I opened her diaper and saw a smooth bottom. There’s also a new product line just introduced by Jessica Alba and The Honest Company. I ordered the product samples available through the company’s website to give it a try. I found the shampoo to be drying for my daughter’s curly hair, but just fine for my son’s short hair—except he didn’t like the smell and specifically asked me not to use it again. Their diapers, on the other hand are very cute and work well. I like that they’re free of chemicals (like chlorine, perfume, phthalates, lotions, optical brighteners, PVC, heavy metals and organotins), and still disposable. While these diapers are super cute, they simply did not work for my daughter. Shortly after putting one on her, I found she was completely soaked through her onesie and overalls. Of course, this can happen with any diaper since each diaper fits every baby differently, but I’m thinking these may not be the best diaper for a baby who is thin like mine. I think these diapers still might make a nice addition to a gift basket for someone expecting a new baby. They come in adorable designs for boys or girls. If you really want to be generous, you could set up the new mom with a “subscription” to these all-natural diapers and wipes, and they’ll get a delivery each month. I would recommend letting the new mom try these diapers for a week or so before committing to a subscription though.

Diapers from the Honest Company

If you know a mom who might be considering cloth diapering, why not give her a gift along those lines? There are so many cloth diapers available, but I think I nice gift idea is to get a starter pack of cloth diapers—either several diapers from one brand or a couple from different brands so they can decide what they like best. Some of the popular brands include gDiapers, FuzziBunz, BumGenius and Bumkins diapers. Another recommendation, to make cloth diapering more pleasant, is to also purchase a sprayer (like the BumGenius Odor Remover).

If you take the time to find chemical-free products for moms to use, you will show them how much you care about the wellbeing of their new bundle. Keeping baby safe from harsh chemicals in both the products used on their skin, as well as the clothing you put on them is so important. I’ve heard about so many children who suffer with conditions like eczema unnecessarily, when something as simple as switching to organic clothing and all-natural cleansers could make a big difference. By giving organic gifts, you can help these new babies avoid such things—not to mention, who knows what is actually being absorbed into their small developing bodies.  Enjoy shopping for new babies, but be conscious of the lasting positive effects your gifts can have when you choose responsibly.

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There is good news on the horizon concerning the material that is used to package our products in plastic containers. In an article published in the January 2012 edition of Packaging Digest, a publication for the packaging industry, John Kalkowski writes about Coca Cola’s advancement in moving away from non-renewable plastic packaging to a 100% plant based material to produce its soda bottles.

It seems that Coca Cola has entered into an agreement with three different resin manufacturers, one in Madison Wisconsin, one in Luverne, Minnesota and one in the Netherlands that have developed the technology to produce 100% plant based materials to manufacture bottles to meet Coca Cola’s high standards. Coca Cola plans to have in place this next generation PlantBottle, made of 100% plant base material, in its complete line by year 2015.

Coca Cola has been using a first generation PlantBottle since 2009 that was manufactured with 30% plant based material. According to the article, 10 billion of these bottles have been distributed in 20 countries.

In a news conference in December 2011, Coca Cola announced its agreement with these manufacturers to develop “plant-based alternatives to materials traditionally made from fossil fuels and other non-renewable resources” the article says.

The juice brand Odwalla that is under the Coca Cola umbrella of products is already packaged in a fully recyclable 100% plant base material. Not to get too technical, the material used to make the Odwalla bottles is HDPE (high-density polyethylene) plastic that is different than the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle that is more suitable and shelf stable for carbonated liquids. To develop a plant base PET resin took more R&D time than HDPE.

Since Coca Cola has this technology, they are also now looking to share it with other companies. Coca Cola, earlier this year, announced a partnership with H.J. Heinz Co. allowing them to produce ketchup bottles using PlantBottle technology that was launched this past summer in the U.S.

So that definitely is progress in the way companies are looking to more green alternatives in package their products. Although the R&D to produce these green containers was quite costly, Coca Cola is not passing on the cost to the consumers. Kudos to Coca Cola for putting the environment first and not profits. We hope that more and more companies will take Coca Cola’s lead in making the products we know and love more earth friendly.

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It’s the tried and tested excuse for not squeezing in that run – “it’s way too cold outside!” It’s such a prolific excuse, in fact, that many people have never experienced the joys of running in or after a snowfall. They are all missing out. Brisk, winter runs happen to be some of the most rewarding and mythical of any that you will go on this year. Here’s a few tips to get those running shoes on and out the door!

Layers – This is probably the most important of all. Yeah, it’s going to be a little chilly at first, so wear a couple of layers. Shed them as you warm up and pick them up on your way home! Wearing two thin sweatershirts is better than one bulky one as you can better control your temperature. As a general rule, dress for 10 to 15 degrees warmer than it is. It’s also a good idea for your outermost layer to be bright or reflective and weatherproof.

Gloves and a beanie – What’s the first two places you feel the cold? Your head and your hands. Cover them and you’re well on your way to warmth.

Wear sunglasses – Not only will you look the part, but the cold will not affect your vision and any water droplets hanging around won’t ruin your flow. As a general rule, you should aim to cover all exposed skin.

Hydrate – For numerous reasons, many people find it harder to stay hydrated in the winter. Be mindful of this and drink plenty of (non-icy) water.

Eat warm carbohydrates – Eating oatmeal, chili, soup or pasta and drinking hot chocolate and cider are all great choices to stay warm and fueled up.

Company – Drag someone along with you. This should increase the level of fun, keep you running a bit longer and make you more visible than if you were by yourself.

Safety first – This applies to you and your surroundings. Be mindful of cars that might have a little less traction than usual. And, watch your step – running on the fresh snow is better than ice.

Motivation  - If this list hasn’t convinced you yet, maybe you just need a little more of a push. Make a playlist with all your workout jams on it and write out a list of all the benefits and drawbacks of running outside. Chances are, the only drawback is that it’s a bit chilly. But then ask yourself, are you cold, or is it could outside?

Here are our tips that get us out there in the winter. Do you have any others? Share them below!