Let's make some noise. Vote for the best thing you've heard this year, be it a tune or a life lesson.
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Jenna Phillips Mission Possible
She says jump, you say how high. Over and over again. A personal trainer known for supplying giant doses of you-can-do-it, Phillips makes every workout worth it. Read More
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Originally published on June 4, 2007
Bond. Jane Bond.
Mission Possible Workout
Today you must expose the rogue spy, destroy the genetically modified disease, and disarm the plutonium dealer.
Whoops. Wrong memo.
Ah, here we go. Mission Possible: a 90-minute outdoor group workout with Jenna Phillips that makes bomb defusing look like child’s play.
Three days a week, Phillips meets “agents” (meaning you) at either Runyon Canyon or the Santa Monica stairs. After the warm-up comes a heavy combo of cardio, sculpting, circuit training, and cool down.
When the going gets tough (which it does), she pushes you further (even walking becomes deep lunges with oblique twists) and is ready with a pep talk when you are about to call it quits.
On off days, drop into one of Phillips’s other workouts at Pilates Plus, Train, or join her for a hike and nutrition mentoring. (Definitely ask about how she’s almost beat her type 1 diabetes through diet and exercise.)
So that’s your mission.
Whether you choose to accept it is up to you.
For more information, go to jennaphillips.com. -
Tara Kolla Silver Lake Farms
Kolla offers sage advice. Literally. Gardening classes at her half-acre farm on the east side have turned many a black thumb green (or at least a deep shade of olive). Read More
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Originally published on March 12, 2007
Miracle Grow
Organic Gardening Classes
Geez. One little embarrassing incident involving a poppy seed muffin, and suddenly every seed on the planet is your sworn enemy.
Maybe you just need a proper reintroduction — like Tara Kolla’s series of sustainable living workshops at Silver Lake Farms.
Known for her flowers at farmers markets around town, Kolla kicks things off this Sunday with Introduction to Organic Gardening, where you’ll learn to grow organic blossoms and veggies at home.
In the coming weeks, the garden goddess’s half-acre property will host groups of twelve as they dig into topics like local viticulture, canning and preserving, and water-conserving landscapes. A kids class is in the works, too.
But whatever the theme, each session is hands-on. So prepare to roll up your sleeves and get dirty.
Because everyone knows it’s not easy being green.
Silver Lake Farms (323-644-3700 or silverlakefarms.com). -
Lisa Garvey Life Made Simple
As your friendly neighborhood virtual assistant, Garvey's conquered piles, demessed disastrous days, and helped find whatever it was you were looking for. All you had to do was listen. Read More
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Originally published on September 11, 2007
The Simple Life
Virtual Assistant
Massaging your BlackBerry-hand cramp while reviewing page four of your to-do list sure makes life on a farm baling hay and pouring soap sound pretty darn good.
Almost as good as calling virtual assistant Lisa Garvey. With more than a decade’s experience assisting Hollywood hotshots, it’s safe to say she’s seen it all.
For hire by the hour, Garvey’s Life Made Simple service offers an extra set of hands to those who need it most: the small business owner, the busy parent, the young professional. After a brief telephone consultation, Garvey assesses your tastes and needs and develops a strategy to deal with whatever it is you can’t, won’t, or just don’t.
Be it booking travel, waiting on hold with the cable company, writing thank yous, or planning your next party, she’ll accomplish it all swiftly and with great attention to detail.
If only life could be so simple.
Oh, wait, maybe it can be.
Lisa Garvey (310-403-8004 or lifemadesimple.org).