Style Substance Soul | An online gathering of women who strive to look good, feel good, do good.

I have always believed we each have the power to shape our own destiny and that the way we look at anything can make all the difference. In fact, I’ve always tried to teach my kids that you can’t change other people but just changing your reaction to them changes the whole situation. So I was fascinated by People v. The State of Illusion, the new movie by motivational speaker Austin Vickers. There is so much great information in this docudrama (the docu part is excellent; the drama part, unfortunately, not so much) — the facts about the effects of stress alone are staggering. Here are some thoughts from Austin himself: … read full story →

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The eSSSence of Austin Vickers

Style: Down to earth, real and authentic.
Substance: I like to read a lot and I do think of myself as a substantive person, although I definitely have my shallow moments.
Soul: I see it in almost everything, and am beginning to look for it even more in places where it seems there is none.

In his debut novel, The Wedding Beat, author Devan Sipher does exactly what writers are always advised to do — write about what they know! As a reporter for the New York Times “Vows” column, Sipher covered the wedding beat for years and he’s turned his experiences into a romantic comedy of a novel that makes for perfect summer reading. What makes this book different is that the main character — the one looking for love — is a man rather than a woman! Here’s what Devan told me about that: … read full story →

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The eSSSence of Devan Sipher

Style: The native Californian in me likes to be in shorts and flip-flops whenever possible. Otherwise it’s a jacket and jeans, like James Marsden’s character in a certain movie. (But I never wear jeans to a wedding!)
Substance: Life comes first. It took writing a book and spending six days a week, 12 to 15 hours a day at my computer to learn this. But life should always come first.
Soul: Breathe. It sounds so simple. But it’s not easy remembering to be fully present and grateful for being alive. It doesn’t matter who or what inspires that gratitude. Just breathe. In the words of Gavin Greene, “Happiness is a choice.”

With almost half of marriages ending in divorce, it's no surprise that the kids are often the ones who stand to lose the most. But what we never really considered until reading An Accidental Mother is the devastating loss experienced by everyone involved when a divorced parent enters into a... read full story →