If you like exercise clothes to be comfortable and stylish, then look no further than Alo Yoga.

Recently, I came across Alo Yoga and was impressed with the design styles and expansive range of options for yoga wear. Alo markets itself as being from “studio to street wear” and I think it’s well done overall. It’s also a lifestyle brand, with yoga studios in Soho, the Grove LA, Beverly Hills, and Palisades. Its flagship store is in Beverly Hills. Celebrities seen wearing Alo have included Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner, so this yoga gear is certainly street wear approved. I recommend subscribing to their YouTube channel as they have numerous yoga videos that can suit anyone’s tastes for their yoga practice. Yoga never looked so sleek and stylish until now.

During a summer when I was twelve years old, I had the opportunity to explore the gorgeous city of Trieste, Italy while on a trip with my mother that was primarily spent in her hometown in Austria. We did spend a day in Trieste that I will never forget. I distinctly remember finding the city as incredibly relaxing, stunningly beautiful, and all-around a “heaven on earth” type of feeling. If paradise exists, I think it was found for me in Trieste. Sadly, nowadays, the city is suffering from its share of economic down times and deserves its place on the tourist’s map: Trieste is truly spectacular.

The New York Times featured a piece about Trieste that is wonderfully informative for travelers. From the sea that urges you to jump in and enjoy the water, to the downtown historic city center, Trieste is a place worth stopping for days if not weeks while you are on holiday in Italy. It’s not often spoken about when people visit Italy, but Trieste deserves its time as it should always be considered a heaven on earth.

Rose Gold is a trend that doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. I think it’s a lovely shade of pinkish gold and it can be coordinated well across your accessories. From this tech forward Samsung Smart Watch that’s Bluetooth enabled, to the Princess Belle ring from Zales, I think rose gold accessories will be going into every season in the most lovely ways. Rose Gold party accessories are also gorgeous; who doesn’t want some rose gold balloons?

The British designers Tamara Ralph and Michael Russo (Ralph & Russo) have taken the fashion world by storm since their design debut in 2010. Quickly, their designs have been worn all over the red carpet, with names including Angelina Jolie and Kendall Jenner.

Their classical feminine designs have an eye for details in a way that’s spectacular. This is best exhibited in their unique heel design: the designer duo have re-envisioned the heel to be like a branch from a tree, adding an appeal to nature in its most glamorous form.

Ralph & Russo’s wedding designs are also spectacular; I don’t think Ralph & Russo will disappear anytime soon: they are here to stay on the red carpets and have already left an indelible mark on the fashion industry.

Lynda Carter is most well known for her role playing Wonder Woman between 1975 and 1979 on CBS. She is perhaps the most iconic image of Wonder Woman to date. Ms. Carter’s life has been remarkable; she spent time studying at Arizona State University before becoming Miss World USA 1972 and leaving the university to begin a music career where she mostly performed in San Francisco and Reno.

It is perhaps her role as Wonder Woman and her personal beliefs that come together so well for being an iconic Wonder Woman. Ms. Carter has been a longtime supporter of Planned Parenthood and the LGBTQ community. Wonder Woman, as a comic book character, was influenced by the ideas of Margaret Sanger, who is best known for being the pioneer of birth control. Sanger popularized the term “birth control” and opened the first birth control clinic in the US. This is was on October 16, 1916 in Brooklyn, New York; more than 100 years ago.

Wonder Woman was first released as a comic book character in 1942. I think the feminist iconicism of Wonder Woman is still relevant, perhaps more relevant than ever in an era where we consider how archaic rules against women’s bodies take center stage in national debates. We need strong voices who represent Wonder Woman, like so many women in our lives.

“No one could take advantage of her.” – Lynda Carter

How often are we presented with the idea that we are “less than” in today’s world? I would argue on a daily basis, if not hourly, when engaging on social media. It’s become almost a tired topic, where people are well aware that the images presented to them by social media’s Influencers are altered substantially, and moreover, it’s the spirit of life being portrayed as entirely utopic and solely committed to amassing huge followings that can cause us to lose touch with the fact that life is much more complicated than social media, but life is also a beautiful thing. It’s crucial to remember that nobody’s life appears as it seems, especially when it’s presented through social media.

“A flower does not think of competing to the flower next to it, it just blooms.”

Too often, we are presented with imagery which causes us to consider if we are doing enough to achieve our goals, if we are reaching the heights that we seek, and so on and so forth. However, how often do we take a moment to spend each day in moments of gratitude to simply remind ourselves that life is beautiful, that you are enough, and that the experiences that you had that day can make you grateful for countless reasons. We are all flowers meant to bloom in our own unique ways.

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin

Everyday we wake up and are accosted with news that is unsavory. It’s news that is emotionally striking in deep ways and it’s taxing. While journalism is important in these times, it’s also important to take a moment to recognize that there are good things happening in the world as well.

I was struck when I saw this artwork on Instagram recently: a watercolor painting of a pink flower in a hand, a peace offering of sorts, as the cover of an edition of The New York Times. Do we remind ourselves enough of how beautiful life is? I am starting to believe that we don’t and this needs to change. Yes, there are enormous issues that need to be solved, and yes there are issues that have extreme urgency. However, when does the news offer a moment of gratitude? A moment to be grateful that there are good things happening.

There are communities that are coming together to help one another.

There are individuals who are kind to one another.

There are peacemakers.

There are givers.

There are people who still have hope even in times that seem hopeless.

Don’t stop watching the news entirely to avoid the world’s events, build moments of gratitude into your days, reflections which are energizing and centered around the idea that life is beautiful.

1. No Poverty
2. Zero Hunger
3. Good Health and Well-Being
4. Quality Education
5. Gender Equality
6. Clean Water and Sanitation
7. Affordable Clean Energy
8. Decent Work and Economic Growth
9. Industry Innovation and Infrastructure
10. Reduced Inequalities
11. Sustainable Cities and Communities
12. Responsible Consumption and Production
13. Climate Action
14. Life Below Water
15. Life on Land
16. Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions
17. Partnerships for the Goals

Partnerships are essential for the execution of the 2030 Agenda and unfortunately cultivating meaningful partnerships at scale is quite difficult. There could be an entity that could generate partnership suggestions that could yield the scale that the 2030 agenda seeks to achieve, however that will necessitate global cooperation at unprecedented scale; yet it’s not impossible. After all, it’s one of the goals of the agenda itself.

The UN’s report coauthored by UN DESA and The Partnering Initiative about partnerships at scale entitled, “Maximising the Impact of Partnerships for the SDGs” outlines a typography of the different types of partnerships, all focused on value creation:

1. Leverage / Exchange
2. Combine / Integrate
3. Transform

The interest in making a strong argument for value creation in partnerships stems from how “despite the rhetoric around collaboration, we are still not seeing sufficient impact coming out of partnerships as an essential mechanism for impact.” This arises for a couple of reasons; the paper asserts that partnerships aren’t being modeled enough (it’s not a mainstreamed approach) and that “there is an insufficient enabling system that can systematically develop partnerships at scale that’s required to deliver the SDGs.” While this a challenging reality to face for the execution of the 2030 Agenda, I think it’s possible there are opportunities to overcome those challenges in creating, sustaining, and generating the partnerships necessary for the goals.

In the Leverage and Exchange partnership model, partners recognize that there is a complimentary relationship as “one organization recognizes another can provide resources that it needs to employ towards its strategic goals.” This is a commonplace model for a typical CSR relationship and it’s an important opportunity to form relationships. This type of relationship depends on the partnership for impact, but it can be very impactful depending on the entities partnering. For example, large tech firms offering their services to nonprofits which can enable more effective services to its communities by the nonprofit.

The second category of partnership, Combine and Integrate is more comprehensive in the sense that both entities are invested in the partnership in a deeper way: “This takes us into an area of what most people would recognize as a cross-sector partnership… where complementary resources are brought together to tackle a common challenge or shared strategic goal.” In this partnership model, both entities are engaging in the resource exchange, therefore their experience is more integrated in the sense that there is a shared experience, but also this partnership model requires more sensitivity to cultivating a commitment to mutual trust and respecting cultural differences.

The third partnership category, Transform, exists to tackle a goal which will result in systemic change. This is likely a complex environment where “partners bring differing world views and perspectives to the issue.” Stakeholders in this partnership model are essentially negotiating how to create change that is going to be systemic and is politically acceptable and feasible.

There is great value creation to be had for the partnerships across these different models. When engaging in partnerships, organizations can expect the following related to value creation:

Value Creation Across the Three Partnership Models

1. Leverage and Exchange adds organizational value
2. Combine and Integrate adds organizational value and mission value
3. Transform adds organizational value and mission value (potentially at larger scale as this has the opportunity for multi-stakeholder dialogues)

In a 2017 meeting at Davos, Raj Kumar wrote ” …perhaps the most powerful message from the SDGs for this meeting in Davos: at a time of great uncertainty when world leaders and corporate CEOs are trying to find their footing, the idea that the biggest global challenges are clearly laid out, have targets and metrics associated with them, and can only be solved in partnership by all people working together offers a much-need roadmap.” That is the essence of what the Goals represent.

A new beauty brand recently caught my eye – they have been rated by Allure as the newest up and coming beauty brand of 2019. In today’s competitive beauty market, the most important values for brands to integrate have themes of authenticity, inclusivity, and innovation.

Flesh is just that; perhaps Flesh is a similar concept than Glossier, but I think the product range is more comprehensive in so far that the focus is more on delivering innovative foundations in a vast shade range and unique lipstick colors, which live into their idea of highlighting the “flesh” in all the right ways. If you’re looking to try some new products this summer and fall, look no further than the comprehensive shade ranges provided by Flesh.

A lake of stunning quality located in the south of Austria, in the state of Carinthia, is Wörthersee. Growing up, when visiting my mother’s hometown of Klagenfurt, we would often go to this lake. Nicknamed “Austria’s Monte Carlo,” this lake lives up to that name and more.

I have such fond memories of the beauty of this lake that I am quite sure it will always remain in my mind as one of my favorite places in the entire world. Please make sure to include a few days in your trip to Austria to enjoy this lake, as it surely is much more than a one day stop.

The lake’s surrounding area has many activities to engage in, there are many spas and resorts, as well as a casino. The area is also very family friendly, so there is something for everyone; the lake’s climate is Mediterranean which makes it nice and warm. The largest car show in Europe for Volkswagen and Audi has been held every year there since 1981, Wörthersee GTi-Treffen. I think there is really no better place for a summer getaway!