Blog Posts by Yana Berlin

I watched Sandra Bullocks interview with Barbara Walters. I heard her acceptance speech and saw her teary husband sitting proudly in the audience, and I thought to myself. "What a lucky gal, finally finding a man to complete her after forty".

My stomach twisted when I heard the news of her husbands' infidelity. I felt her pain, humiliation and dismay. In my head I heard her acceptance speech dedicated to her husband and then I saw the other woman.

Why men cheat? This has been debated over and over for centuries, yet no one has just came out and said it that some men do because they want to. Because it boosts their ego, and makes them feel good. I stumbled on an article by a guy who actually says exactly that. I "get it", I understand why men cheat, and no, I don't condone it but I'm not surprised by it. What I'm surprised by is everyone's reaction to the infidelity.

What makes Sandra Bullocks discovery of her husbands infidelity worse than that of a regular woman? I'll tell

Read More »from Why Men Cheat

Life Management and the art of Simplification

I remember the first time I heard the less-than-savory phrase "rat-race" to describe life, and even though I didn't understand the full meaning of it, I didn't like it. Granted, I was maybe 8 and I was listening to my father vent about his life in the Soviet Union to my mother, I knew his life was tough, and I felt really bad for my dad. No one should describe his or her life as any kind of race involving rodents, yet many do.

When we immigrated to the States, I don't remember life being so hectic and for a while I remember my dad and mom being happy and worry free. As I grew up, life became hectic, and I myself felt like I was in the rat race my dad mentioned so many years ago.

Due to the unending number of responsibilities and events scheduled into our lives many feel overwhelmed and depressed from the stress that surrounds us daily.

To get back on track to the life that's more pleasant, here are 5 easy ways to simplify

Read More »from Simplify Your Life

No, I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about a man's height.

Specifically, how tall or short is your man? And does his height have any bearing on his personality?

My father is of medium height. Both of my grandpas were of medium height, and so is my uncle. I love them all dearly, and their height has never been an issue with me. But when it came time to choose a man of my own, medium was not what I wanted. Call me shallow or vain. But in my little head, a tall man represented power, balance and stability.

I was so locked into tall that I refused to date short guys, no matter how good looking or how nice their personality. The one time I went against my rule and dated a short guy, it didn't last very long. I remember catching a glimpse of my short boyfriend as we passed by a storefront window. Seeing myself a bit taller caused a knot in my stomach and made me want to escape. I broke it off with him the very next day.

Yes, that's how shallow I was. And to make the

Read More »from Does Size Really Matter?

If I had to count how many times my new resolution was to diet and lose X-number of pounds, I'd be going back a couple decades. This year, I'm swearing off counting calories and scribbling in mandatory gym days into my schedule. This doesn't mean I still don't want to lose the pounds that crept on over the years, I just don't want to have o lose my mind to do it.

The problem with dieting is that often times, in our dieting attempts, we cut corners and go to crazy extremes to lose the maximum amount of weight as quickly as possible. Here are some of the biggest reasons explaining why diets fail, along with some helpful hints, techniques and goals to get your weight down without watching it skyrocket back up the next month.

Diets aren't realistic. Who eats a stick of celery with cottage cheese for 2+ meals each day? When you do a crash diet like the celery/grapefruit/juice diet, you're cutting so many calories out of your diet that you can't help but to lose weight

Read More »from 2010: The Year of ANTI- Dieting

For those living on the West Coast, specifically in the southern regions, life really is luxurious. Gorgeous sunny days make up the weather norm between mid-June and September, sometimes even running into October. Sunburns, allergies and mosquitoes are the only real annoyances provided by Mother Nature. But outside of the easy living of the West Coast, there are far more dangerous weather threats-primarily tornados.

Tornados predominantly plague the Midwest, wreaking most havoc in the Great Plains states. Tornados are classified into one of six types, as organized by the Fujita Scale. The Fujita Scale ranges from type F1 to F6, F1 having enough power to take roofs off houses and overturn cars, and F6 being a mythological terror with the power to level everything in its path, and then some.

With the annual prediction for tornados being 1000 per year in the Great Plains (42% of which are either F4 or F5 type), here are the best ways you can protect yourself and loved ones

Read More »from Tornados: The Real Summer Bummer

The saying "40 is the new 30" has never been truer than it is today. Call them cougars, MILFS or whatever you'd like, women out of their 30s and into their 40s and beyond are hotter than ever. Movie roles requiring sex appeal and depth are being taken by Hollywood's veteran leading women, many of which have dominated the spotlight for a decade and half or more.

Demi Moore	Cameron Diaz

Demi Moore made a fierce and highly talked about comeback in Charlie's Angels Full Throttle back in 2003. Ms. Moore stepped out of the surf in a bikini showing that age had done nothing but good things for her, even after three kids and a lengthy absence from Hollywood. However, these facts didn't stop her from effectively taking the title of hottest woman in the movie, despite sharing the spotlight with other Hollywood hotties such as Lucy Liu and Cameron Diaz.

Julia Roberts

Julia Roberts is still one of

Read More »from The Reign of the Cougar

A few years ago, most women in their 40's were not very computer savvy. Sure, we could send and receive e-mail, and maybe even share a photo online. But when it came to understanding the newer technologies - such as using social networks to make connections, share information and build relationships -- most of us had no clue.

Fortunately, we fabulous 40-ers catch on quick! Women around the world are now embracing social networking technologies in record numbers, a trend borne out by the explosive growth of fabulously40.com in the past year. It's interesting to see how this phenomenon has become an integral part of our daily lives.

This morning when I went to work out, I purposely left my cell phone in the car in order to enjoy a "tech-free" hour. But as I huffed and puffed away on the Stairmaster, I couldn't help but notice how technology has become pervasive even in the gym.

All around me, women were emailing, texting and twittering, simultaneously sweating and staying

Read More »from Technology & women over 40

I have always been fascinated by how different we women all are. And amazingly, short or tall, skinny or fat, pretty or plain, each woman has something that men are drawn to. I've always believed that looks didn't have a lot to do with it. Sure they help, but believe it or not that is not necessarily sexy to every man.

I've asked David M. Matthews to join me so that we might compare how similar (or different) the male and female viewpoints on this topic actually are. In case you haven't met David, or had a chance to read his "A Male's Perspective" column or read his bookEvery Man Sees You Naked: An Insider's Guide to How Men Think, here is a chance to get into the mind of a man and see what he thinks.

Is being confident an important part of a woman being sexy?

My Take:

Yes. Confidence is what attracts a "normal" man beyond the physical characteristics. Men are attracted to women who are not afraid to talk about their goals, dreams and aspirations. In my opinion

Read More »from How To Be Sexy