O, The Oprah Magazine articles from December 2006

O, The Oprah Magazine archives from December 2006

It takes a village.(this issue: the back story)
December 1, 2006... ON AUGUST 27, O MAGAZINE BOR-rowed downtown Matthews, North Carolina, to photograph a group of Liberian children with the 15 local area families who have adopted them--and since all the townspeople were so supportive, we invited everyone to...

And the winner is ...(this issue: the back story)
December 1, 2006... Each month it starts with one box of postcards, then another, and then an avalanche. Rachel Bertsche, an assistant editor at the magazine, supervises the "Win Two Tickets to The Oprah Winfrey Show!" contest. Here she is (left) with the 13,266...

Top chef!(this issue: the back story)
December 1, 2006... A few months ago, our editor in chief, Amy Gross, was planning an engagement party for her niece, Joanna Robin. At first she figured she could do the food herself; then she realized she was entertaining 40 people and that a few blocks of cheese...

Coming of age.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... As I thumbed through the October issue of O, all I could say to myself was "Wow" and "Thank you!" I've been in great need of inspiration--recent changes have left me tired, disappointed, and fretful--and your stories about aging incited me to...

Sterling silver.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Anne Cushman's story ["I'd Rather Dye," October] struck a chord with me because, at 43, I came to the exact opposite conclusion she did. At 35 I noticed my first gray hair and swiftly took measures to conceal it--I got a pixie cut and dyed my...

Intimate relations.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Years after my dad passed, I got a letter from my mom telling me she was dating again--and that the man was a good kisser. The mental picture was a bit much for me to take, but it paled in comparison with what awaited me when I got home from...

Here we come a-waffling.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... I just read Martha Beck's "Yes? No? Maybe?" [October]. The article was wonderful, especially for someone tormented by a looming decision. Thank you--her advice hit home. Wanda Knotts JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

Smart is the new sexy.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... In reference to "The Real Sexiest Men Alive" [by Aimee Lee Ball, October], Fareed Zakaria can talk foreign policy in my bed anytime! Dindy Woodrome LA GRANGE, TEXAS Aimee Lee Ball got it right when she proclaimed Albert Pujols one...

The price of life.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Nowhere in "The Great American Debt Diet: Before and After" [by Jean Chatzky, October] did the financial advisers account for healthcare costs. Our insurance premiums come to $577 a month, and we have a $3,600 deductible--our total...

Strength in numbers.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... As I recovered from my fourth "red devil" chemotherapy treatment, I flipped through my October issue of O and was elated to find "The Devils Wear Sneakers," by Katherine Russell Rich. Though it's been tough to be diagnosed with breast cancer at...

With a side of satisfaction.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... After reading Joni Evans's piece, "That Scrumptious Dish, Best Served Cold" [October], I felt compelled to write a thank-you of sorts. As a young sales professional, I'm consistently amazed by the blatant arrogance and sexism that persist in...

Kudos for Kogan.(letters)(Letter to the editor)
December 1, 2006... Lisa Kogan's columns are vivid, concise jewels of insight that bring to life whatever topic she's addressing ["Lisa Kogan Tells All"]. She's wonderful at using dialogue and description to re-create scenes and to reveal the essence of people's...

Here we go!
December 1, 2006... THIS MONTH WE'RE MAKING A LIST, CHECKING it twice, gonna find out who's naughty or nice, For the nice, we got designer Nate Berkus; chef Art Smith; O's beauty director, Valerie Monroe; and the other editors here to act as your own personal...

December ... the subject is: good behavior.
December 1, 2006... "Manners are love in a cool climate."--Zuentin Crisp [TABLE OMITTED] "True politeness consists in being easy one's self, and in making everyone about one as easy as one can."--Alexander Pope "Rudeness is the weak man's...

Live your best life.(Quotation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "The great secret... is not having bad manners or good manners... but having the same manner for all human souls: in short, behaving as if you were in Heaven, where there are no third-class carriages, and one soul is as good as another."

'Tis the season: O readers' Christmas secrets unwrapped, courtesy of an oprah.com poll.(GO FIGURE)(Survey)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... 43 Percentage of respondents who play hooky from work to get their holiday shopping done [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 44 Percentage who think it's morally acceptable to regift 18 Percentage who keep prewrapped presents on...

For Your Consideration.(Movie review)
December 1, 2006... AFTER SENDING UP REGIONAL THEATER (WAITING FOR GUFFMAN), dog shows (Best in Show), and folk music (A Mighty Wind), deadpan director Christopher Guest rounds up his usual wacky suspects to take aim at the Hollywood buzz machine in the giddily...

ScreenGems: two new movies worth standing in line for.(O-ZONE)
December 1, 2006... * Peter O'Toole (above, with newcomer Jodie Whittaker) gives the performance of his magnificent career in Roger Michell's Venus, making magic out of what might have been a cliched story about an aging Lothario and the much younger woman he...

Change 101: a Practical Guide to Creating Change in Life or Therapy (Norton).(NUGGET)(Quotation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "It has become fashionable in therapy circles to hold two beliefs: (a) You can't change another person, only yourself; and (b) you shouldn't change yourself for a relationship or for another person.... [But] we change each other all the time....

What's playing in Patti Scialfa's ear?(Columbia Records )(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... You probably know Patti Scialfa as Bruce Springsteen's wife but may not be aware that she had signed with Columbia Records before she joined his E Street Band for the Born in the USA tour. And that the Jersey girl with the bluesy lilt is...

5 now-you-tell-us! facts about orgasms.(O-ZONE)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... They may be short (averaging 17 seconds in women), but oh, are they sweet. And in The Science of Orgasm (Johns Hopkins University Press), neuroscientist Barry R. Komisaruk, endocrinologist Carlos Beyer-Flores, and sex researcher Beverly Whipple...

Hail to the chiefs.(D.B. Woodside)(Table)
December 1, 2006... Next month D.B. Woodside will join the list of actors whom Hollywood deems presidential, taking on the role of Leader of the Free World on the season premiere of 24. In honor of the inauguration of his character, President-elect Wayne Palmer...

Tidings of comfort, joy, and funk.(musical works)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... No matter what kind of holiday party you're planning, you can kindle the fire with these smokin' new takes on old chestnuts. * THE PARTY: FAMILY BRUNCH WYNONNA, A Classic Christmas (Curb). Wynonna, the Judd with the cathedral-sized voice,...

Love is on the air.(TV)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... PBS gets to the heart of the emotion that has kept humans pining after, wooing, and worshipping each other for centuries--in a new documentary, The Mystery of Love (airing December 13), hosted by actress and writer Anna Deavere Smith. The...

TiVoThis.(TNT's The Closer)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... * An already magnetic show becomes more so, thanks to a husband-and-wife collaboration: Kevin Bacon directs his wife, Kyra Sedgwick (above, with G.W. Bailey, far left, and Tony Denison), in a special episode of TNT's The Closer (December 4)....

Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners (Bloomsbury).(NUGGET)(Quotation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "Too much polish, in either appearance or manners, is in fact the sign of a flawed character, throughout [Jane Austen's] works; and more than one of her heroines is temporarily taken in by a man whose good looks and gallant 'address' are not...

The place to be: Miami--hotter than ever; an international arts festival draws heat-seeking culture lovers.(O-ZONE)
December 1, 2006... WHETHER YOU'RE an art connoisseur or just learning to distinguish a de Kooning from a Koons, Art Basel Miami Beach, a spectacular American version of Switzerland's 37-year-old contemporary art fair, is a must-stop this month. The...

... And while you're there.(travel destinations in Miami)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... WHAT ELSE TO DO... * Even if you don't have time to catch the Miami City Ballet, stop by architect Cesar Pelli's new Carnival Center for the Performing Arts (305-949-6722). The design is a show in itself--especially the terrazzo floor...

Hope on the slopes.(How Can I Help?)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... WHEN U.S. ARMY First Lieutenant Melissa Stockwell, who lost her leg to a roadside bomb in Iraq, first heard about Vail Veterans Weekend two years ago, she could barely muster an eye roll. "I couldn't walk or even wheel myself down the hall,"...

Your own private DJ.(pandora.com)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Suppose music had DNA, and suppose your favorite song was Stevie Wonder's "Sir Duke." If you could strip it down to its genetic coding, you'd learn that you're a sucker for major-key tonality, groove-based composition, and a busy horn section....

A Perfect Mess: the Hidden Benefits of Disorder (Little, Brown).(NUGGET)(Quotation)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... "Procrastination isn't always a bad thing. It can keep you from working on tasks that ultimately turn out to be less important than you thought. Or as Calvin Coolidge put it: 'If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that...

Overhelpers Anonymous: if you're always lending a hand, a shoulder, an ear, even a buck or two to people who can perfectly well solve their own problems, Martha Beck wants you to get over your rescuing addiction and start taking care of yourself.(advice, etc.)
December 1, 2006... MICHELLE AND I MET FOR COFFEE NOT LONG AFTER her youngest child headed off to college. She said she'd been roaming around her empty nest, assembling care packages for her kids, ironing her husband's socks. I clucked sympathetically and reached...

Dr. Phil: "stop using food as medication for your guilt"; Phillip C. McGraw, PHD, on making tough choices, ignoring a tactless relative, and bringing up children right.(advice, etc.)(Phillip C. McGraw)(Interview)
December 1, 2006... Q I feel guilty for what I did to my daughter during her last year of high school. I was going to lose my job unless I relocated, so I opted to move. Since then I've been laid off twice, and we may need to pick up and go again. My daughter...

Suze Orman: "it makes sense to buy property only if you can afford the what-ifs"; Trying to turn a profit on real estate ... managing your savings while caring for a parent ... and getting your due in a divorce.(advice, etc.)
December 1, 2006... Q I bought my first property to flip and had planned on making $20,000 in profit, but the market isn't doing so well lately and prices are falling. The house is sitting vacant--I can't even find somebody to rent it. Now I'm not making the...

Lynn Sherr's Aha! moment: her husband was gone, and she couldn't get on with life. Then, as the cameras rolled, she found her way.
December 1, 2006... FOR NEARLY SIX YEARS, I'D BEEN holding my breath. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] My husband, Larry, a captivating hunk, was under siege from lymphoma, the cancer that was killing him. Our lives had become a series of lowered expectations: one...

Peace on your little corner of earth.(something to think about)
December 1, 2006... You know what you have to do between now and December 31. You've probably got lists scribbled on Post-its, pages in day planners, the margins of parking tickets, and the back of your hand. We're all for setting ambitious goals and achieving...

The O list.(listing of gifts)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... "A few things I think are just great."--OPRAH Deco the Halls! "Colin Cowie's Art Deco-inspired cocktail sharker and glasses are sleek and smart--and so is the price. Friends will toast you for this gift. Smartinis, anyone?" ($4 for...

The world goes round: for some women, this jewelry is a signature, but even if your name isn't Ophelia or Opal or you-know-who, the shape is irresistible. These pendants, earrings, and bracelets had us oohing....(getting dressed)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... Share the Wealth It's chic to throw on "good" jewelry anytime. Circle motifs--naturally classic, universally adaptable--are a timeless investment. 1. Concentric circles define earrings with a work-friendly matte finish (Nine West, $28). 2....

The pick of the glitter: gold, silver, and bronze are glamorously neutral--good mixers with black or brown, quick fixes for dull workdays, and festive escorts after dark.(getting dressed)(Buyers guide)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... The New Mother Lode of metallics is so subtle, so lusciously textured, that you'll never look cheap (Just don't wear a ton at once.) 1. Sequined gold leather flats (Hogan, $425) balance casual with razzmatazz. 2. Skip the jewelry; a gold...

The anti little-black-dress; Partying is mostly about mood--and you've got a jump start on a good time when you're wearing a color that lifts your spirits, speeds your pulse, wins your heart. Ten women brighten way, way up. Plus: how to take your makeup from office to evening in three easy steps.(getting dressed)
December 1, 2006... Like Blazes Rachel Taylor, 36; "life purpose" coach with her own business, Break Free * "I need froufrou," says Rachel. "A theatrical Moulin Rouge look is a big part of my style." Which is why the poufy skirt of this mischievous dress...

What's Val's giving her friends: from O's beauty director, Valerie Monroe, gifts that would make anyone (men, too!) feel loved, pampered, gorgeous.(perfect presents 2006)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Beauty by the Book "I met the deeply curious C., who devours mysteries, in a reading group. She'll want to discover the intricacies of makeup in Laura Mercier's The New Beauty Secrets." ($35; amazon.com) [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

The plain truth about the Beautiful People: Simon Doonan grew up worshipping the BP--Countess This or Princess That--and only when he became a New York style czar himself did he recognize true glitz when he saw it.(beauty)
December 1, 2006... ONCE UPON A TIME, LONG BEFORE ANgelina and Lindsay and Blahniks and bling, there lived a long-lost tribe called the Beautiful People. We earthlings worshipped at their altar, and we called them the BP for short. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

Yoga--the new breeds: What's up? What's down? What happens when West meets East?(body wise)
December 1, 2006... THE ONE THAT got us was Yotox. The thought of those ancient, authentic postures and Botox in the same (deeply inhaled) breath was so unlikely, we knew yoga had gone wild. Everywhere you look, people are hybridizing, specializing, and...

Get more from your workout.(body wise)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... THE GYM IS ONE place you should curb your instinct to multitask. God knows the machines are boring, but using the time to read the newspaper or catch up on work really cuts down on calorie burn, which is why you're there, says Michael Olajide...

Why a biopsy is better.(body wise)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... After an abnormal mammogram, there are several next-step diagnostic options. A quick scan or painless ultrasound may seem more appealing than subjecting your breast to a biopsy. But according to a new review of 81 studies, you should get the...

I think (right), therefore I sleep.(body wise)(cognitive behavioral therapy used for treating chronic sleep trouble)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... FOR PEOPLE WITH occasional insomnia, popping a pill may save the night. But if you have chronic sleep trouble, you might rest easier with cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), according to a Norwegian study published in the Journal of the...

3 Obesity doctors: how to survive the holidays.(body wise)
December 1, 2006... EGGNOG, SWEET potato pie, Christmas goose, ham, fill in the blank. Calories are practically hanging from the mistletoe. O checked in with three top weight loss researchers to see how they dodge the seasonal fat. All three, who are members of...

Clear the air.(body wise)
December 1, 2006... YOU'VE ALREADY heard about the dangers of secondhand cigarette smoke. New research is suggesting that three lesser-known scenarios could be hazardous to your health: [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] * The scene: Scrubbing a shower stall in a...

Know 3 signs to save a life.(body wise)(Brief article)
December 1, 2006... STROKE KILLS twice as many women as breast cancer every year, and it can happen at any age. In fact, more than one out of four stroke victims is under age 65. The tragedy is that many could be saved if people recognized the symptoms....

The way to eat: David L. Katz, MD, sorts out the healthy, the harmful, and the hype.(body wise)
December 1, 2006... Q | I started drinking more water about 12 years ago because I heard it was healthy But now I'm up to three liters a day, and I'm always thirsty. Should I be concerned? --CARRIE SULLIVAN Atlanta [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] You're...

The way to eat: goodbye, cruel fat.(body wise)(Recipe)
December 1, 2006... Tricking the taste buds to prefer lean, nutritious fare over the rich and calorific is no easy feat: Those little suckers are fierce hunters for fat and sugar. So we asked women on oprah.com: Do you have any culinary secrets for turning a...

Losing weight: the mind game.(body wise)
December 1, 2006... Why is it that every time you shed a few pounds, you gain them back (and then some)? Because most dieters have it all wrong: They focus on what goes into their stomachs instead of what's going on in their stomachs instead of what's going on in...

What art's giving his friends; The niftiest gadgets, the best pots, the ultimate chocolates: from Art Smith, O's resident chef, delicious ideas for foodie friends.(perfect presents 2006)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Pour It On "Organic maple syrup spiked with bourbon or vanilla is fantastic not only with breakfast but in a glaze for roast pork or a sauce for wild salmon." (Bourbon Barrel Matured and Tahitian Vanilla Infused maple syrup gift pack, $50,...

What Nate's giving his friends; Here's the best thing about these buys for the house: one size fits all. Anybody-would-love-them ideas from O's go-to design guy, Nate Berkus.(perfect presents 2006)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Natural Wonders "This huge 16.8-pound book is science married to fine art--every page is stunning enough to frame." (Cabinet of Natural Curiosities, a reproduction of collector Albertus Seba's 18th-century work, $200, Taschen; taschen.com)...

Masters of their universe: riveting painters, stellar photographers, riotous nature--Francine Prose gets an eyeful of the season's picture books.(reading room)('John Currin')('Eva Hesse')(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Imagine an old master painter mischievously deploying the hippest, coolest, most ironic sensibility in order to get under your skin--and you still can't imagine the work of John Currin, a superstar of contemporary art. In John Currin (Rizzoli),...

Our fairest lady.(reading room)
December 1, 2006... HAT NECK! THOSE EYES! THAT ELFIN SMILE! AUDREY HEPBURN'S PASSIONATE fans will forever be convinced that a nymph or sylph consented to live among us and star in Hollywood movies. Hepburnophiles will cherish The Audrey Hepburn Treasures (Atria),...

Love, actually.(reading room)(Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... As you might expect, the checkered career and mercurial personality of Courtney Love has produced an entirely different sort of scrapbook. Dirty Blonde: The Diaries of Courtney Love (Faber and Faber) is a compendium of feverish journal entries,...

Jungle life, up close and magical.(reading room)('Rainforest')(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... Prepare to make tiny gasps of awe as you turn the pages of Rainforest (DK) and Thomas Marent's photographs confront you with the jaw-dropping beauty of jungles all over the planet. Without the effort and ecological guilt of the long, steamy...

How the world works.(reading room)
December 1, 2006... THE MOST GENEROUS AND INCLUSIVE DEFINITION OF Work provides the principle of selection for the photos in this collection, compiled by National Geographic. Your ideas about what people create and produce, how they pass the time and earn their...

The last view.(Willem de Kooning: Late Paintings )(Critical essay)
December 1, 2006... During the final decades of his life, Willem de Kooning produced a series of canvases that--in their tranquillity and their sheer surface beauty--came as something of a shock to his fans and critics. The lovely reproductions in Willem de...

Through a lens, family.(reading room)
December 1, 2006... So the Story Goes (YALE) BRINGS TOGETHERTHE WORK OF FIVE ICONIC AMERICAN photographers who have focused on the mysteries of the personal life and the terra incognita of the domestic landscape. Over the years, the faces that stare up at us from...

Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!(Lola Alvarez Bravo)(Brief article)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... The haunting image of Frida Kahlo that graces the cover of Lola Alvarez Bravo (Aperture) reminds us that no one (besides, and perhaps including, Kahlo herself) portrayed the tormented Mexican artist with quite so much admiration, affection, and...

BibliO: deliciously quirky books about visionaries, truth tellers, and bedmates who sleep in style.(The Children's Hospital)(French Women for All Seasons: A Year of Secrets, Recipes and Pleasure)(On Truth)(The New York Times Practical Guide to Practically Everything)(The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God)(The Secret Language of Sleep)(Baby Be of Use)(The Ecco Book of Christmas Stories)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... * The first page of Chris Adrian's rhapsodic, visionary novel, The Children's Hospital (McSweeney's), brings you face-to-face with an angel--one of many eerily moving encounters in this tale of a watery apocalypse and the souls who survive it...

Books that made a difference to Zoe Heller: British classics of love and adventure, a Southern-girlhood reminiscence, and a collection of lashingly funny essays light up the novelist's imagination.(A High Wind in Jamaica)(Burger's Daughter)(Persuasion)(The Member of the Wedding)(The Moronic Inferno)(The Pursuit of Love)(Book review)
December 1, 2006... PEOPLE ARE NOT ALWAYS AS HONEST as they could be when compiling lists of their favorite books. They may not set out to fib; they may believe that they are digging deep into their memory banks to find their authentic reading passions. But...

Why poetry can save your life; It's been a long day. You're wiped out. But rather than reaching for a glass of wine and a rerun of CSI: Miami, consider breaking open a book of poems, sitting back, and devouring what'll really get you through. Amy Bloom on her personal recipe for feeling less alone and more understood.
December 1, 2006... AFTER A LONG DAY DOING WORK you do not love enough (or work you love so much, it sometimes leaves you hollowed out and in despair) and coming home to tired, hungry children (or wishing you had children to feed, or wishing your children were...

What we're giving our friends: partridges? Pear trees? This holiday season, our nearest and dearest will be trying these gadgets on for size.(perfect presents 2006)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... Pretty (Cool) in Pink You do the math: What's more than 170 channels of satellite radio plus hundreds of MP3 files? Pioneer's new portable XM radio records your favorite radio shows (Oprah & Friends, anyone?), holds your music downloads,...

Holding on: she was no stranger to letting go--happily shedding boring jobs, surplus boyfriends, even her adored adopted city. But at a point when half of all marriages would have shattered, Ann Hood discovered the meaning of staying power.(connections)
December 1, 2006... I LEAVE THINGS: DISHES IN the sink, clothes on the floor, magazines on tabletops, empty coffee cups in my car. I leave movies that are boring and parties that aren't fun. Once, in college, I left a waitressing job after an hour because they...

Taking a chance on joy: no matter what your daily struggles or the morning news might lead you to think, Roger Housden says, the potential for happiness is all around you. You just have to dip a toe in.(connections)
December 1, 2006... YOU KNOW THOSE MOMENTS when nothing special is happening, maybe you wake up early one morning to the sound of a thrush outside the window, or perhaps to the whir of the traffic below your apartment, and a smile spreads over your face for no...

"I am starting to throw away my worries, one by one".(O, The Oprah Magazine supports rape victims of Democratic Republic of the Congo)
December 1, 2006... We knew you'd come through. When O reported two years ago on the appalling brutality being inflicted in the Congo, our readers responded with overwhelming support: letters, postcards, woman-to-woman sponsorships--helping to raise more than two...

Where the wild things end up: in a remote California canyon, a remarkable sanctuary offers shelter and respect to some of the most beautiful--and ill-treated--animals on earth. Susan Heeger pays a visit to Shambala.
December 1, 2006... IT'S AN EERIE THING TO HEAR A LION roar in a remote California canyon. It makes the hairs stand up on your neck, especially if, gazing out over rugged hills, you can't pinpoint the source--you and the people around you, gathered under rustling...

O's guide to really excellent behavior.
December 1, 2006... Aah, the holidays! Gifts, cocktail parties, glasses raised, wine spilled, and families thrown together, often in very, very small rooms. Now's the season when questions of right behavior baffle us the most. So we've gathered a crack team of...

The hallelujah chorus.(Liberian orphaned children)
December 1, 2006... On paper, these boys from war-ravaged Liberia weren't the world's most adoptable orphans. But if you heard them sing (like angels, everyone said), or knew that their orphanage back home lay in ruins, or felt the mysterious tug that drew each...

Escape winter, 6-8PM: chef Alison Mesrop gives her friends a break from the holidays with a cocktail party that's like a quick trip to the tropics--coconut shrimp with mango dip, yucca chips, wickedly good pomegranate daiquiris.... Get out your limbo sticks! Mimi Read reports.(Interview)
December 1, 2006... THIS TIME OF YEAR, ALISON MESROP is, admittedly, out of step. She just isn't moved to make all those rich, semisacred holiday foods that weigh people down like lead boots. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "December to me is dreary," says Mesrop,...

OPRAH talks to Shonda Rhimes.(THE O INTERVIEW)(Interview)
December 1, 2006... The 36-year-old creator of Grey's Anatomy talks about the pressure to stay number one, the happy results of color-blind casting, flawed characters ("No one gets to be the saint"), the importance of a really great bathtub, her post-9/11...

Snip/Tuck: amazing what the right haircut can do for a face--narrow a jawline, plump up cheeks, add "bones," subtract years.... Here's how to find the right cut for your face shape.
December 1, 2006... HAVE YOU HEARD THIS ONE? A HORSE GALLOPS INTO A salon. The stylist looks at her and says, "Why the long face?" Thirty minutes later, her mane strategically layered, that droopy look is gone and she's one foxy filly. Actually, it's no joke: The...

Breathing space.
December 1, 2006... WINDSURFER ON PYRAMID LAKE INDIAN RESERVATION, NEVADA, 1987. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Photograph by Richard Misrach Courtesy of Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco, and Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York.

Are you waiting for your life to begin?
December 1, 2006... ELIZABETH SWADOS has spent most of her life in a state of foot-tapping, knuckle-thrumming expectation: for her vacation to begin, her food to arrive, true love to come knocking, and more. Cut to SHARON SALZBERG, who mulls over the downsides,...

No more cold feet: rubber soles that grip. A blizzard of features like laces and ties. The new winter footgear is cozy and chic to boot.(Fashion)
December 1, 2006... WINTERPROOF YOUR BOOTS Advice from Timberland's Michelle Poole and Michael Morelli, owner of Brooks Shoe Service in Chicago: * "Waterproof" means materials have been treated with silicone and seams sealed. "Water repellent" resists...

Not the same hold story: these are not your mother's hairsprays.(Beauty)(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... IF YOU SWORE OFF HAIRSPRAY after your last ballet recital (perhaps with a brief relapse on your wedding day), it's time to reconsider. That heavy cloud of Aqua Net has cleared, giving way to a fresh, new guard of sprays we love mostly for...

Escape winter, 6-8PM; Caribbean crowd-pleasers: crispy coconut shrimp, tangy Cuban roast pork, and chunky yucca crisps, the better to scoop up some killer guacamole (for story, see page 314).(THE RECIPES)
December 1, 2006... Crabmeat Shooters Quintana [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2 cups Clamato (tomato-clam cocktail) 1/2 cup tomato or vegetable juice 1/2 red bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 orange or yellow bell pepper, finely chopped 1/2 poblano or green...

Shop guide (all prices are approximate).(Buyers guide)
December 1, 2006... COVER/HERE WE GO P.77 Dress, Vintage Collection Lanvin; +33-1-44-71-31-73. Earrings, Kentshire at Bergdorf Goodman, $7,250, Bergdorf Goodman, NYC; 212-872-8653. Ring, Ginger Ignacio, $1,800; 818-634-1579. THE WORLD GOES ROUND P.141 1....

What I know for sure.(adopted children, gifts)(Editorial)
December 1, 2006... HERE WE ARE AGAIN IN this crazy season of wishes and expectations. Pressure to give and receive--and spend until you wish you hadn't. It's a part of the culture we need to change, or we'll all pay a price for mindless giving. [ILLUSTRATION...