The Red Cross has responded to more than 40 major disasters in more than 30 states over the past three months alone – delivering help and hope to people affected by floods, tornadoes and wildfires. They need you—now more than ever—to roll up your sleeve and give blood.

Eligible donors of all blood types are asked to visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to schedule an appointment to donate as soon as possible.

Please check out this important video message from Jim Cantore, Meteorologist, as he highlights the need to avoid this personal kind of disaster.

Now I really must go! Have a great day and as always…B positive!

Right now I’m using plastic Target bags to tote my stuff to the gym. Don’t judge.

But, I do have my eyes all over the new gym bags from Live Well 360, like the sleek little Accel pictured here.

I don’t own one yet, but I did buy the Core bag for a gift a few months ago so I can confirm these bags are all they are cracked up to be. Not only are they well made but they have a gazillion compartments for storing all of your favorite accessories.

Speaking of accessories, to celebrate the launch of their new bags, Live Well 360 is hosting a fabulous giveaway and they just so happen to be tossing in some of my favorite things (and clients!) including Attune Foods, fitbook, Protein Bakery, and Words to Sweat By.

Be sure to stop by Livewell360.com to do some shopping and enter the What’s In Your Gym Bag Giveaway…hustle up, the contest closes on July 14th, 2011.

Now I really must go shop and then hit the gym so I can stay…on Target!

As an even younger Fitness & Spice girl I remember marveling at my Grandma as she’d sit at our kitchen table snacking on tomatoes straight from my Dad’s garden. She’d eat a tomato just like you’d eat an apple, only she’d add a sprinkle of salt between bites.

Any day now I’ll be able to enjoy that simple pleasure myself once my tomato plants finally pump out some fruit. But until then, I borrowed the first tomato from my niece Ali’s garden and made a Baked Parmesan Tomato as a side dish from a recipe I found on EatingWell.com.

• Preheat your oven to 450 degrees
• Slice a tomato horizontally and top it with olive oil, oregano, Parmesan, salt and pepper
• Plop the prepped tomatoes on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil
• And, if you happen to have some garlic handy, smother it up with some olive oil and toss it on the pan for good measure
• Bake for 15 minutes

You say tomato, I say tom-ahhh-to!

Now I really must go tend to my garden and my garlic breath!

Now I really must go…excuse me!

Now I really must go get off my comfy red chair and kick some abs!

There are two kinds of people in the world…those that like cheesecake and those that are wrong.

I happen to adore cheesecake so I hopped into the Fitness & Spice test kitchen and attempted to shave off some of the calories, the guilt, and the work involved and came up with…

No Bake Greek Yogurt Cheesecake (Sorta)

• 8 ounces of homemade Greek “cream cheese” (any flavor will do, I used 2 single serving containers of Chobani lemon)
• 1 tub light cool whip
• 1/2 cup Splenda (go ahead and use sugar or your favorite sugar substitute if you’d like)
• 1 t lemon juice
• 1 reduced-fat graham cracker crust or crushed up graham crackers (I used New Morning organic graham crackers from the Attune Foods family)

In a large bowl whisk together the “cream cheese”, cool whip, Splenda, and lemon juice. I whipped this by hand because it’s a good little tricep workout especially if you forget to thaw the cool whip or give your “cream cheese” time to get to room temperature. Next, taste the batter. It’s good, right? Finally, pour the mixture into the pie crust and toss into the fridge for several hours. Or, do what I did, and break up graham crackers into the bottom of cupcake liners and top with the mixture, refrigerate for a few hours.

My photo does not do this recipe justice so you’ll just have to no-bake it and taste how amazing it is for yourself.

Now I really must go…the College World Series is in town and rumor has it there’s another sweet batter up!

Now I really must grow.

I live nowhere near the ocean, but who’s complaining?

I am.

But, I was born in California and I’ve done a lot of vacationing in Florida, so I have a mad appreciation for catching waves both in the ocean and in my hair. That’s right, my hair. There’s something so wonderfully carefree about a just-from-the beach hair style and now you and I don’t have to go on vacation to get that look.

I was surfing pinterest.com last week (pun intended) and came across this simple way solution for creating beachy-locks using a few ingredients commonly found under ANY Fitness & Spicer’s bathroom sink. Just grab an empty spray bottle and add about…

• 2 tablespoons epsom salt
• 2 tablespoons hair gel
• 4-6 ounces of water

Shake, shake, shake. Spray it on your damp or dry hair. Scrunch or style as usual.

Will this formula make your hair shiny? No. But it will give your hair some texture and if your hair is anything like mine it will unlock a little bit of curl. And, the best part? It will make you look like Pamela Anderson in an episode of Baywatch. No it won’t.

Now I really must go hit the gym, take a shower, slap on a sundress, and do the wave!

What is better than slipping into bed with freshly cleaned sheets?

If you answered ice cream you are correct, but clean sheets come in second.

Speaking of laundry, I was washing my linens this weekend and realized I was out of dryer sheets. Instead of running to the store I made my own. Here’s…

How to Make Your Own Dryer Sheets

• 1. Cut up an old race t-shirt or orphaned gym sock into small strips and tie together.
• 2. Add about 10 drops of your favorite essential oil to the fabric.
• 3. Toss into the dryer. Dry.
• 4. Remove from the dryer and store in an air tight container to use for another load or two.
• 5. Repeat steps 2-4.

You can find essential oils at essentially any natural foods store or online. I recommend lavender or vanilla oils for your laundry sheets. But just for grins, if you’re lucky enough to find essential oils at a store near you, see if they have frankincense and myrrh. Don’t buy them for this project but smell them anyway…interesting, right?

Now I really must go…sleep in heavenly sheets.

Now I really must go…with the flow.