Blog Posts by Intent.com

Airplanes and your children: A good mix?

Greetings from 30,000 feet. We are somewhere over Baltimore - or maybe Richmond, Virginia - on our way to a family vacation in Florida.

Sunshine. Warmth. Grandma and Grandpa. Mickey Mouse.

What more could a sun-deprived, so-darn-tired-of-winter-I-could-just-spit, family from New England ask for??

This is a relatively easy trip for us.

I promised myself, when I adopted my sons (at the ages of two and three), that I would not give up my passion for travel. Just because there were three of us - and at that point, two of us became stroller-bound when fatigued or cranky - we needn't give up the wonders of seeing the world up close and personal. That would be taking the concept of "stay-at-home Mom" just a little too far. And so, we've become a traveling family.

The boys and I have flown from Boston, Massachusetts to Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, British Columbia; we've slept our way across the Atlantic to Ireland and England; and Read More »from My Top 12 Tips for Traveling with Kids on Planes

During these tough financial times, everyone is looking for ways to cut spending and reduce their overall cost of living. People are cutting back on all things considered "luxury." Unfortunately, along with the other non-necessities, people are choosing to spend less at the grocery store as well.

What are the implications of this? What are some ways to save money and stay healthy? Take a good look at your monthly spending habits and then read on. You may find that the foods you are putting in your body are worth every penny and the grocery bill is the last place that you should be frugal.

The old adage; "You are what you eat" should really be referred to as a law. Through a complicated system of digestion, filtration and absorption, your body literally processes and assimilates everything that you put into it. Your liver filters out contaminants including pesticides, chlorine (yes, bleach), and unnatural man-made preservatives.

In the small intestine, the body will

Read More »from Your Health and the Economy

We all love movies, but what is it that do you love most about those films? What about them draws you to the movie theater time after time? The actors? the filmmakers? the stories? the photography?

For me, it is all about the characters - fictional, non-fictional, human, animal or object. The ones that stay with you long after the movie is over. The ones that make you think, feel, cry and laugh. And especially the ones that you wish you actually knew.

So in honor of the 81st Annual Academy Awards this weekend, I bring you my Top 10 Most Fascinating and Memorable Film Characters of 2008 (and their Intents!). 2008 was a great year at the movies. There were some great films and some phenomenal characters that will stay with us for a long time. Who are they? What do they want? And what can we learn from them?

10. MARIA ELENA (Penélope Cruz in VICKY CHRISTINA BARCELONA)

"My intent is to work, love and live with pure passion"

María Elena is the fiery ex-wife of

Read More »from Top Ten Most Fascinating Movie Characters in 2008 (and their intents!)

Many of us find that our diets and lives get off balance - we celebrate the holidays and eat more sweets than we'd like, or we have a big project due at work and stay up all night drinking diet cola.

For some people, the solution to getting your mind and body back in order is to follow a self-cleanse. The purpose of going through a self-cleanse-or a detox--is to rid the body of poisonous toxins that have accumulated within our inner organs and tissue. These toxins may come from eating too much junk food, living a stressful lifestyle, breathing in polluted air-or, in many cases, all of the above.

Your body will strongly benefit from undergoing a self-cleanse. But which type of cleanse is right for you? A fast that eliminates specific foods from your diet? A 7-day liquids-only fast? We have listed ten cleanses below in the order of difficulty that will aid you in your path to physical self-purification.

Whatever cleanse you choose to pursue, keep in mind that many of

Read More »from Top 10 Self Cleanses - Which One Is Right For You?

To help you celebrate, the bloggers at Intent.com bring you our ultimate Guide to Valentine's Day! If you are looking for ways to 'green' your Valentine's Day, gift ideas, ways to celebrate with your partner, reasons to getaway or special recipes for the big day -- we have answers! Tune in to Intent.com each day until February 14th for our tips, advice, stories and more.

Celebrate Love This Valentine's Day
Relationship counselor Wendy Strgar writes about how to be bold and celebrate your love this Valentines Day.

You Make My Heart Pound
Darlene Mininni author of The Emotional Toolkit, tells us the key to happy relationships is all about your heart.

Getting Away to Get It On
Martial coach and the author of Tantric Sex, Diana Daffner gives us 10 reasons to get away this Valentine's Day to rejuvenate your passion

Have A Green Valentine's Day
Author, Norma Hartie gives us some green gift ideas for Valentine's Day

(Com)passionate Valentine's Day Gifts

Read More »from Intent.com's Guide to Valentine's Day

I can't remember the exact age that the visions started, but even as a little girl, I regularly saw visions of a single, dark-colored wolf. Figuring that people would think me crazy and haul me away in a straight jacket, I kept this secret entirely to myself for close to two decades.

In my mid-twenties, I decided to attend meditation classes with a remarkable woman who I later learned is a shaman and an intuitive. Toward the end of a wonderfully peaceful meditation, she paused and asked if she could offer each person in the class a unique message to help us with our spiritual growth. Everyone agreed. She looked at me and said she'd end with me because her message for me was so strong she wouldn't forget it. I waited as she shared a beautiful message for each person. Based on the large smiles and the nodding heads, I could tell her messages seemed to be exactly what each person needed to hear.
Then her eyes met mine and without further hesitation she bluntly asked me, "do you ever Read More »from How My Soul Found Its Mate

Flowers, chocolate and home-cooked dinners are elements of a lovely Valentine's Day. However, there are two things that really melt a person's heart: a hand-written love letter and good conversation.

Personally, I have sat with stuffed bears, jewellery and chocolate, in fancy restaurants all perfectly coiffed, feeling disappointed, unheard and frustrated, as I endured one-sided long conversations.

Valentine's Day can be like New Year's Eve - a lot of hype and high expectations and then you usually end the night outside in the cold, fighting for a taxi. Blah! Who wants that? Avoid this scenario by showing your partner gratitude and thoughtfulness and do your part to create a special day together.

Surprise your partner with a love letter, letting them know just how grateful you are to have them in your life. Think of a favourite or special activity, a memory, a moment shared and tell them in your letter why it is important to you.

And when you are talking with your

Read More »from Melt Their Heart with a Love Letter!

Question: I'm vegan, and he's not. Is there hope for our relationship?

Answer: Love is a mysterious thing. Sometimes it's a case of 'birds of a feather flocking together', other times it's the 'opposites attract' phenomena. If love and respect are present in the relationship, there is usually space to accept each others differences. On the other hand, if you are cringing every time you eat a meal together, it's important to discuss your feelings.

A lot of it depends on why you are going vegan. If you are vegan for health reasons, it may be relatively easy for you to accept your partners eating habits. If you are vegan for animal rights issues, or even environmental reasons, it will likely be more of a struggle.

If your partner is open to learning about why you eat the way you do, there are many resources available online for educating him. Try the Vegetarian Resource Group (www.vrg.org ) for starters. The best way however to introduce your partner to your lifestyle

Read More »from Have A Vegan Valentine's Day – ‘I’m vegan and he’s not’