Meet Meryl Hartstein, the original Bounce Back Woman

I met Meryl Hartstein through Help A Reporter Out (HARO). She was looking for women who could write a piece for her up and coming anthology about Bounce Back Women. Since I certainly could relate to that subject, I answered immediately. Since then she has become my Facebook friend and fan, and I follow her on her Facebook page called Bounce Back Women. I have been a member of this group for about a year. Here is how Meryl describes her Bounce Back Women group: 

"This is a group for women who have "bounced back" from unimaginable adversities and have managed to live full successful lives! We are Mothers, Sport Heroes, Corporate CEOs, Doctors, Authors, Entertainers etc. Our one common thread is that we are extremely resilient. We are "Bounce Back Women"!!

I am pleased Meryl chose to write about aging - a subject near and dear to my heart. My next goal is to meet with her sometime soon on her home turf, New York City, so we can talk about it in person.

Growing Young

by Meryl Hartstein

Yes, the times they are a-changing. As far back as I could remember, I have been working on staying young. There were a few exceptions when I wanted to be older. One summer I was in Cape Cod with my parents and a friend. I was only 15. We met some boys who were older and I had to lie about my age. I also remember crossing the border from New Jersey into New York to go to a bar at 16. The drinking age was 18 at the time in New York. Most of the time, no one there got proofed (or like they say today, carded).

At the old age of 13, I started using moisturizer in hopes of preventing wrinkles. I would instinctively wear sunglasses all of the time in the summer. Protection was my only weapon.

My working out obsession also started young. This was before Jane Fonda was anything more than an actress and an activist. There weren't any videos to watch or any gyms available to us. My routine was strictly calisthenics, learned in gym class along with a little hula-hoop thrown in for fun.

I would read everything I could on the movie stars' secrets to looking young. I was more familiar with the names of cosmetic products than the names of the presidents. This didn't help when it came to taking tests.

As I grew older, the gadget-buying began. I had things called the Dermal Tone, Derma New, Derma Wand, Face Flex, Face Master, Rejuvinique, just to name a few. Each one came with some benefit but ultimately, none were the fountain of youth.

Fast-forward to the present. This is what I believe to be true. Aging is not a horrible affliction that is waiting to turn us into ugly, hideous people. It's a process of nature, something we will all have the honor of going through. It's a blessing. It's also a state of mind. We all have to age but we all don't have to grow old. Just as cats are believed to have nine lives, so can humans, and a lot more, if they so choose. We can reinvent and redefine who we want to be as many times as needed. We can change our looks, passions, causes and careers as we wish. We can expand our quality of living by making positive changes in our diets, exercise and emotional spirit. We are not limited. We can avoid surgeries with alternate methods.

Women are not scowled upon if they have long hair past 50. They can even keep up with the trends in fashions just like the women half their age. We are graced with the options of cosmetic surgeries and procedures to keep us feeling good about ourselves.

We no longer have to feel a stigma regarding aging. We should not fear it but embrace it. We cannot change it but we can celebrate it. We are forever growing young.

Meryl's bio

Meryl is a published author, strategic life and relationship coach, celebrity confidence expert, guest speaker, founder of “Bounce Back Women” a not-for- profit organization. Her list of accomplishments also include:

• Blogtalk Radio Show: Bounce Back Women
• Books: “Shine” Confidence for Women, Internally, Externally, Eternally (To be released in the fall)
• In development:  “Bounce Back Women” Stories of overcoming adversity. Comprised of stories from Celebrities, Olympians and other powerful women.
• Writer: Huffington Post
• Lifeafter50.com
• Women Rising
• Altruistic Beauty (working with Jacqueline Laurita, “Housewives of NJ”
• Board of Directors: Stage Left Children’s Theatre
• Board of Directors: walk4good.org

Find out more about Meryl here:

merylhartstein@yahoo.com

www.bouncebackwomen.com

A restaurant rant - why I won't eat at Gjelina's anymore

I met my friend Gail for lunch yesterday. She suggested a place about half-way between our homes on Abbott Kinney in Venice Ca., Gjelina, one of the new restaurant faves. I had been there once before about a year ago, and she goes there often with her son.

The menu there is quite creative. Gail had a chickpea stew with greens, israeli couscous and spiced yogurt and harissa, and I ordered a tuna sandwich with roasted peppers, arugula, and caper aoioli. I always order mindful of my dietary constraints. By a choice I made over thirty years ago I don't eat red meat of any kind, and I am lactose intolerant so I cannot eat dairy products.

We arrived a few minutes before Gjelina opened at 11:30 so we didn’t have to wait for a table. However, by the time we left at 1:00 the place was jammed with people waiting around the room's perimeter for tables. I suppose that they are so busy gives them permission for their no-substitution policy. 

This policy was stated to me when I asked that they leave off the ice cream on a piece of cake I wanted to order for dessert. No, said the server. We don’t do that. We won’t even put it on the side. She said I could move it to the side once I got the plate – but of course then I couldn’t eat it because ice cream would already be all over the top and seeping into the cake. What she was essentially saying to me is this restaurant doesn’t care if a customer with health issues makes a request in order to save him/her from getting sick from their food. 

So, I opted not to order any dessert, and the server lost a sale. She also lost my regular 18 to 20 percent tip. Gail and I agreed to only leave 10 percent.

I have never had this experience in a restaurant before. I’ve asked for the ice cream or whipped cream that is often served with cake or pie to be placed not only on the side but in a separate dish, and no one has ever flatly refused before. 

I find Gjelina's behavior unconscionable, and as a result it has lost my business forever - even though I admit the food I've eaten there is quite good. Hopefully those who read this piece will consider banning Gjelina or at least complaining as well. 

I get very ill if even a touch of dairy gets in my system. I would think that in these times when there are so many people with allergic and dietary issues, Gjelina would be more mindful and accommodating to its customers.

Hmmm. I just read a November 22, 2011 Huffington Post article about Gjelina that mentioned other blogger complaints about its no-substitution policy. Well, I wasn’t asking for a substitute. I was just asking for something to be left off the plate. The article was mainly about its recent drop from an A to a C-rated restaurant. Need I say more? Yes, I would give it an F. 

The eve of New Year's Eve

I think this is a perfect day for looking back. Usually we go to an eve, eve party where we always share about our events of the year. Since it was cancelled this year, I'll share our major happenings of 2011 here.


Major Happenings of 2011:

1.  My husband, Bob, and I traveled to Amador County and Sutter Creek, CA with Manhattan Beach friends to taste some native zinfandel wines in January. On our first night there Bob fell and broke the three metatarsal bones in his right foot. Bob had foot surgery to repair and pin his broken bones together in February and had to be off his foot for eight weeks. He got around on a knee scooter (Rolleraid) or crutches. I was his driver.

Bob on his knee scooter (Rolleraid)

2.  On May 8 (Mother’s Day) my memoir Leaving the Hall Light On was released by Lucky Press.  My successful book launch reading and signing at our local independent bookstore, Pages, was held on May 12. A couple of weeks later we celebrated my birthday in Lake Oswego, Oregon with my sister’s family and their sister-in-law from Denver.

Madeline reading at Pages book launch

3.  In July we went to Reno, NV to celebrate the marriage of dear friends.

4.  Our great-niece Alyssa traveled from Denver on her own to visit with us for a week in August just before we traveled to Frankfurt and Berlin Germany, Stockholm Sweden, and Oslo Norway. Our first stop was to attend the Bar Mitzvah of the son of friends we met on our Northern European cruise last year.

5.  Our son, Ben spent four weeks at CBS studios in Burbank in November acting in a major movie called “7500” that will be released next August. He also passed the National Association of Sports Medicine test. Besides being an actor, he is now a certified personal trainer and a tennis coach.

6.  Ben’s wife, Marissa, appeared in a commercial for Transamerica Insurance. She also learned to be a Reiki practitioner and is now regularly seeing clients in her home studio.

7.  Bob worked sporadically at a small engineering company. He is now there until the end of the year.

8.  I still write and have poems published, and I am a regular contributor to three websites: Huffington Post, Naturally Savvy, and PsychAlive, besides writing for my blogs at Choices and Red Room. I also promote my book at book fairs, signings, and speaking engagements as part of my non-stop book marketing activities. And I am currently over 50,000 words into a novel.