Picture yourself: sweat band encompassing your boufy hair, ripped at the neck devil-may-care sweatshirt askew off your shoulder, baby blue leg warmers covering those calves.... and you're set. "You're a Maniac, a maniac on the floor!"

Jazzercise is white hot, it's back, just like leg warmers (yes, girls, 'fraid so). Remember how big it was in the 80s? It's big-time again. There's nothing better than dancing your way to firmness with your girlfriends. Though the atmosphere is generally sparse, it's all about the workout and the music. For $10 you walk in for a 65 minute circuit class...fabulous familiar tunes, dance-y steps that you can get into without feeling insecure and uncoordinated. It's energetic and a girly-girls club, and an amazing workout that works every part of your body.

Renee Newcomb is our Portland Pick for Jazzercise instructor. Let's face it; it's a good sign when the instructor has a killer figure. It's something that gives us hope, something to aspire to. ("Let's see. Maybe if I do this, I can look like her....." Makes sense, right?) Renee has the power, is a fabulous dancer and communicator, pumps up the room with her energy and her smile, and sings beautifully too.

You are dripping when you leave her class and wake up sore the next day. When Renee teaches, we drive miles to be there. She has quite legion of loyal fans. (And they have childcare!)

Visit Renee at the Jazzercise by the Toys R Us near Washington Square.

GREENBURG PLAZA JAZZERCISE CTR - #2455

10855 SW CASCADE AVE

TIGARD, OREGON 97223 UNITED STATES

tel: (503)620-1072

Or log onto www.jazzercise.com for a Jazzercise near you.

What's a diva to do when she lives to throw sumptuous banquets for her dearest pals or even that pesky husband, but, uh... lacks the culinary capabilities to pull it off without the help of the local takeout menu? Fear no more, www.styleandentertaining.com is here with a gourmet solution to your kitchen woes. Cancel those expensive cooking classes and learn the fun way. Christine Martin, a casualty of the dot com bust, loved the fine dining that her former expense account allowed, but suddenly found herself sans the perks when she lost her job. We think it was the best thing that ever happened to her AND us!

Martin's cooking kits are both fun and yummy, with detailed directions for even the most challenged of us in the kitchen. Try the Romantic Dinner Kit for 2 --- Arugula Salad with Shaved Fennel and Orange Vinaigrette, Herbs de Provence Roasted Chicken, Wild Rice with Portobello Mushrooms, Walnuts and Dried Cherries and Chocolate Pots de Crème. Comes with Ingredient Packs (you're on your own to buy the Chicken and Produce), a shopping list, a lesson on nutrition and healthy eating, food and wine pairing, romantic cocktail napkins, scent free votive candle and much, much more. Or, invite 7 of your closest friends over for a Latin BBQ Kit for 8 (Cuban Flank steak is only one of the delectable goodies).

Check out www.styleandentertaining.com for gourmet cooking with ease and a stress-free dinner party! ($29.95 Romantic Dinner Kit and $49.95 for Latin BBQ Kit.) Or pick them up at In Good Taste in the Pearl.

J Crew wedding dresses: Are you planning a wedding? Do you know of anyone who is? J Crew now sells gorgeous wedding and bridesmaid dresses.

Forget the foof, these are high quality, very classic in style, and incredibly well priced relative to the sky high figures at many bridal salons. In fact, if we were to do it all over again, we would choose this simple classic strapless gown.

Vivian strapless dress

Wear this beautiful satin Ivory dress as a simple, classic wedding gown. It has an empire waist, a unique built-in bustier with boning and an elastic bottom edge that provides extra support and a flawless fit. Picture your hair up, a simple strand of pearls – something borrowed from Grandmother, and you're ready to walk down the aisle. You look like a beautiful timeless beauty in this Vivian strapless dress. $550

Audrey strapless dress

Now picture 10 of your best beautiful buddies in this beautiful cotton cady dress with a fitted bodice and A-line skirt. Fully lined, it falls just below knee. Again, hair back, simple natural makeup, pearl studs and pearl strand and you're set. Imagine how gorgeous the wedding photos! Picture perfect, like your wedding, and your life. $195

Posie: Rosy Little Things – Boutonnieres are back baby! (But thankfully not of prom proportions.)

Our Portland's Posie makes gorgeous handmade bright flower boutonnieres to accessorize any outfit and make a bright unique statement. Just like the brooch, this hot accessory adds a vintage touch to any lapel, hat, hair or even shoe.

We love flowers and the opportunity to wear them after we stopped wearing braces is priceless. Instant elegance, up the ante, mood enhancing and so darn cute!

Posie: Rosy little things, handmade vintage inspired luxuries for every day. Ring around the Rosy, we love Posie!

Check out their beautiful store for endless handmade feminine treasures.

The Ella/Posie Boutique

2337 E. Burnside

Portland, OR 97214

Tuesday-Saturday, 12 to 6

503-236-2933

You are finally hip and happening with your pink I Pod – this generation's Must, as important as your right hand, as ubiquitous as a cell phone.

Okay, you've finally made it, but there's always more. You need to outfit it in a hip and happening case. You need to protect it as well as make a bold statement. You wear clothes, even your pooch wears clothes, heaven forbid your I Pod be caught dead nakey. Gucci makes them; Paul Smith makes them; Coach makes them.

Everyone is getting into the act. Visit any one of these online stores, retailers, or pop by Washington Square and visit one of the mall kiosks that specialize.

I Love Lucy!

Finally, Lucy is coming to Portland, opening their new retail store in the Brewery Blocks in the Pearl this month. Lucy has stylish sportswear that you can wear every day, as a sassy fashion statement or sweat proof and stylish for an actual workout.

Here's what you do: Stock up on your Lucy wear, and then simply put on a different fitness outfit each morning when you take the kids to school to give the illusion you are off to the gym! (Though if you still have it on when you pick the kids up, people may think you haven't showered.) Or, imagine.....you can actually wear it to work out, which automatically makes you infinitely more athletic and fit. It's an amazing transformation, kind of like osmosis. You look the part, now you can play the part.

Get moving, honey. Pay a visit to Lucy and leave athletically inclined or at least looking the part.

Lucy, Where Style Meets Sports.

Meow!

Fur is in and leopard rules. Check out Nordstrom's furry leopard line of fall fashions.

Glam it up with the season's 'It' item—a faux-fur shrug. Plush leopard spots are thoroughly fabulous. We love this Wendy Hill Faux-Fur Shrug. $180.00

Or check out their Cole Haan lush leopard loafers and matching bag.....to die for!

H2O – The Thirst for Intelligent Nightlife in Portland.

This is not really our scene, but we felt inclined to mention it. (We prefer swanky restaurants to clubs, where we can eat and talk, but this definitely works if your new jazzercise lifestyle has put the move in your groove...)

The new downtown nightclub, H2O, opened a week ago. There are sharks swimming in aquariums (hence the name), 2 bars, and plenty of drinking, dinner, dancing and debauchery til the wee hours. It seems the hot scene of the moment, particularly for the 25 to 30ish crowd.

Check it out.

Portland Arts & Lectures presents an evening with David Sedaris.

We cannot think of a better way to spend an evening than with David Sedaris. We love him. He makes us laugh out loud with his sardonic humor. We want him to be our friend. Actually, we want to go to dinner with him (David?). For those that might be less than familiar, David Sedaris is a witty, self-deprecating best selling author, a frequent contributor to The New Yorker, and famed National Public Radio commentator.

Here's just one little excerpt that brings back our last January snow memory. Snow we initially welcomed, but grew insanely hateful toward as it turned into Day 22 of Christmas Vacation.....

The winter I was in the fifth grade we got lucky. Snow fell, and for the first time in years, it accumulated. School was canceled and two days later we got lucky again. There were eight inches on the ground, and rather than melting, it froze. On the fifth day of our vacation my mother had a little breakdown. Our presence had disrupted the secret life she led while we were at school, and when she could no longer take it she threw us out. It wasn't a gentle request, but something closer to an eviction. "Get the hell out of my house," she said.

We reminded her that it was our house, too, and she opened the front door and shoved us into the carport. "And stay out!" she shouted.

My sisters and I went down the hill and sledded with other children from the neighborhood. A few hours later we returned home, surprised to find that the door was still locked. "Oh, come on," we said. I rang the bell and when no one answered we went to the window and saw our mother in the kitchen, watching television. Normally she waited until five o'clock to have a drink, but for the past few days she'd been making an exception.

"Hey!" we yelled. "Open the door. It's us." We knocked on the pane, and without looking in our direction, she refilled her goblet and left the room.

We pounded again and again, and when our mother failed to answer we went around back and threw snowballs at her bedroom window. "You are going to be in so much trouble when Dad gets home!" we shouted, and in response my mother pulled the drapes.

Dusk approached, and as it grew colder it occurred to us that we could possibly die. It happened, surely. Selfish mothers wanted the house to themselves, and their children were discovered years later, frozen like mastodons in blocks of ice.

"One of us should get hit by a car," I said. "That would teach the both of them." I pictured Gretchen, her life hanging by a thread as my parents paced the halls of Rex Hospital, wishing they had been more attentive. It was really the perfect solution.

Excerpt from David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim.

If you want to hear more and more, you must spend an evening with him:

An Evening with David Sedaris.... A Special Benefit for Literary Arts.

Thursday, November 11, 2004, 7:30 pm.

Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Tickets: $60 Patron (including reception); $40 Silver; $30 General Admission (Open seating within sections).

For more info, visit www.literary-arts.org

Dieci Soli Girl's Night - Get shopping every Thursday evening at Dieci Soli in Lake Oswego.

Here's what you do.

Go to dinner at Manzana and then stroll through the Lake View Village for some fabulous shopping. There's Urbane Zen, Duck Duck Goose, Sur La Table, Grapevine, Meringue, and the beautiful Italian store, Dieci Soli.

Dieci Soli carries gorgeous Italian pottery, fabrics and bedding. They have gorgeous little girl dresses, table linens, cashmere sweaters for your dog, and locally designed jewelry. Shopping is not something to be entered into lightly, we believe in mounting a posse.

Every Thursday you are welcome for a special Girl's Night Out! What other excuse do you need?

Dieci Soli

Lake View Village

345 First Street #109

Lake Oswego

503.636.3883

www.dieci-soli.com

Things are About to Get Way Better

For Cyber-Savvy Beauty Aficionados

Introducing B~Glowing.com

The Ultimate Beauty Website, Launches October 1st

From our own Portland, Oregon!!

B-Glowing will offer an elegantly edited balance of white-hot indie brands, rising stars and new discoveries in a chic shopping environment. Brands will be selected based on three key criteria: indie owned, definitive results and kick-ass package design. All purchases will be lovingly and luxuriously wrapped in signature, red organza pouches and sent along with choice free samples.

B~Glowing will feature fabulous and unique brands: Pacifica Natural Skincare, Kai Perfume, Ling Skin Care, Smith's Rosebud Salve, Comodynes Convenient Cosmetics, Evolu of New Zealand, Deep Steep, Femme Fatale Cosmetics, John Masters Organics, Cake Beauty, Apivita Propoline, Massato, Aromapharmacy, Clean Perfume, La Maison de la Vanille, Jessica's Bliss, Fenix Cosmetics, Lulu Beauty, Coquette Paris, B. Pure, and Mojo Cosmetics. Additional brands will be added on a regular basis.

And it all starts today! Log on to: www.b-glowing.com

TV Pick: Lost, starring Matthew Fox, Evangeline Lilly, Dominic Monaghan, Naveen Andrews, Malcolm Kelley, Yunjin Kim, Maggie Grace, Daniel Kim, Jorge Garcia, Terry O'Quinn (Wednesdays 8 pm PST on ABC; check your local listings).



J.J. Abrams, creator of Alias, has done it again. Along with Damon Lindelof ("Crossing Jordan"), this Fall TV Freshman is one of the most talked about shows of the new season. En route from Australia, 48 passengers survive a harrowing plane crash in the South Pacific and must now band together to survive. What's more, the mysterious howls from the forest foreshadow a danger beyond the usual island travails...



Matthew Fox, the oh-so-sexy former star of Party of Five, has been absent FAR too long from the small screen. Not only has he grown into his rugged good looks, as Jack, he's the perfect leader for this band of motley fools who must now rely on each other if they're to persevere. From a faded rock star with a secret (Monaghan), to a mysterious man who seems to have a deeper connection to the island than the others (O'Quinn), to a prisoner in chains for an unknown crime...Lost is shaping up to be a rollercoaster ride you won't want to miss.

Mean Creek, Written and directed by Jacob Estes, starring Rory Culkin, Ryan Kelley, Scott Mechlowicz, Trevor Morgan & Carly Schroeder



Talk about your morality tales! Rory Culkin (younger brother of infamous Macaulay) leads an ensemble cast by first-time director Jacob Estes in a cautionary story of a revenge lesson gone awry. Culkin stars as a sweet young kid (Sammy) beat up by the overweight school bully. Encouraged to exact retribution on his tormentor by his brother and friend, the teenagers lure the bully on a "boating trip", where they plan to strip and humiliate him. But surprise, surprise...the bully has feelings too and shows his softer side...endearing him to the kids more than they thought possible ---it seems this bully has his own set of problems that have shaped him into the person he is today. Carly Schroeder as Sammy's young crush Millie is a standout as a sweet girl who's caught in the middle of a "plan" she knew nothing about and wants no part of. It's not hard to figure out something goes terribly wrong during the course of the afternoon, but the ensuing choices the group makes are what make this film both realistic and chilling...

Little Earthquakes, by Jennifer Weiner



If you loved Good in Bed and In Her Shoes you'll adore this romantic tale weaving together the lives of four very different women bonding over pregnancy and motherhood.

Becky, an overweight but sexy chef who's the heart of the story conveys Weiner's take on pregnancy, motherhood & the comedy and craziness that befalls these women as their connection grows deeper. From Becky's first encounter with Ayinde, the wife of an NBA star, who goes into labor after a pre-natal yoga class, to bubbly Kelly (who assists Becky and Ayinde during yoga), Weiner details the complexities of female friendships with humor and grace.

Last but not least, Lia joins the trio in friendship as she returns to Philadelphia after a tragedy and finds friendship with this unlikely group of women.

Go to www.amazon.com for a reaffirming novel chock full of warmth and laughs ($17.68).

• Dropped, ladylike hemlines
• Metallic bronze and gold in purses, tops & dresses
• Lavender eye shadows
• Short tweed jackets paired with jeans
• Mid-length tweed coats for an elegant Fall look
• Herringbone
• Tweed and animal print pumps (with t-straps) and bejeweled and bowed shoes
• Fun, funky & sophisticated takes on the "clog"
• Liquid eyeliner for a glam evening look
• Satin, chiffon & velvet
• Suede purses
• Slicked back hair (try Banana's Ocelot ponytail ribbon to hold it in place!)
• Knit tanks worn over tie-neck blouses...pair it with some cords or jeans and you've got a preppy '70's update on an old look
• Round toed shoes
• Blouson sweaters
• Winter white

PALEY'S PLACE HOSTS HARVEST DINNER

CELEBRATING LOCAL FARMERS' FALL BOUNTY

Reservations Now Accepted for Four-Course Fall Dinner

• WHEN:
  
  Tuesday, October 12, 2004
  
  6:30 p.m. - Cocktails
  
  7:00 p.m. - Dinner
• WHAT:
  
  Paley's Place will host a fall harvest feast honoring local farmers from Creative Growers and Greener Pastures Poultry. Executive Chef Vitaly Paley will prepare the four-course dinner, the first of four seasonal dinners as part of Paley's Place year-long, "A Season to Taste" series, celebrating the
  
  seasonal foods of the Pacific Northwest.
• WHERE:
  
  Paley's Place
  
  1204 N.W. 21st Avenue (at Northrup, on the Portland Streetcar line)
  
  Portland, OR 97209
• RESERVATIONS:
  
  $45 per person
  
  $15 additional with wine pairings
  
  Reservations now being accepted
  
  ~ call Paley's Place at 503.243.2403
  
  Family style seating

ENJOY A TASTE OF SOUTHERN OREGON

~ An Open House ~ At In Good Taste

Enjoy the "Best of Southern Oregon" where you will have the opportunity to try several of these wonderful regional products ... all for free! Tastings to include:

• Award-winning organic Dagoba chocolate
• Mouth-watering Cary's Toffees
• Award-winning Rogue Creamery cheese
• Cranberry Sweets
• Ken Wright's Tyrus Evans wine from So. Oregon
• RoxyAnne Winery wines
• Velocity Wine
• Abacela Wines
• Brandborg Wines
• ...and more!

• Date: Saturday, October 2
• Time: 1pm – 4 pm (Open House)
• Place: In Good Taste
  
  231 NW 11th Ave (@ Everett, in the Pearl)
• Contact: (503) 248-2015
  
  www.ingoodtastestore.com

Grand and Swanky Opening: Our soul sister from the Bee and Thistle has opened Sole -- today, and it's waiting for you right now! Be the first to shop for never before found fabulous designer shoes (one can never have too many), as well as other fabulous finds. Get shopping. The shoes await!

Don't miss this weekends three day Grand Opening Event!!

Sole

1033 NW Couch

503.222.SOLE