The Parkland tragedy reverberated throughout our nation and hit close to home. Aung San Suu Kyi's pearl "When you are feeling helpless, help someone" inspired a local teen Charlotte Kerpen, to take action. She's organizing #PortforParkland, a benefit concert hosted here in Port Washington to raise funds for the families affected by the tragedy and aslo for Sandy Hook Promise, to do a small but important part in ensuring this does not happen again. She shares with us the mood amongst her High School peers in the aftermath of Parkland and inspires even the most regular person can stand up, take action and do something for good. Indeed, it's the Emma Gonzalez's, Cameron Kasky's, David Hogg's and the Charlotte's of this world that ensures us that the future is in very good capable grounded hands. 

About our Guest: Charlotte Kerpen is a 14 year old High School Student who loves theater, acting and drama and her family. She heralds from a family of entrepreneurs and this apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Charlotte will continue to Work It and inspire her generation. Click for tickets to PortforParkland 

#PortforParkland is her first in what I'm sure will be many, inspirational and motivational events. We are proud to supPORT #PortforParkland as our Charitable Partner for the upcoming MomTime Movie Event for "A Wrinkle in Time." Indeed, there are times, events and circumstances which wrinkle our plans and set us on a new course of action. 

Listen to how Charlotte is stringing this wrinkle into a positive.

I’m embarking on a 28 Day Self Love & Care Challenge. My friends, it's really been a challenge. On Insta, you'll notice self love & care is a common theme and I saw my beautiful friend Nitika Chopra's Chronic Self Love Challenge. Self love is a core element of her coaching practice. Nitika doesn’t let her chronic illness stop her from being one of the most vibrant and magnetic women on the wellness scene.

We're diving into Self Love with the help of our Show Sponsor Luna by Laurie B. We'll catch up with Laurie Bittan,, from our SUMMER FEAST Episode about how she designs her items for your self care practice. 

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Nitika Chopra is a certified life coach, wellness entrepreneur, go-to resource for young women around the globe, and a motivational lifestyle guru. Nitika is on a mission to inspire radical self-love. She began her journey as an entrepreneur by founding the popular online magazine Bella Life in 2010. She also hosts the talk show Naturally Beautiful on Z Living about a holistic approach to beauty. Her She is a a luxury beauty brand's on-air beauty expert for QVC. Nitika is passionate, colorful and inspirational. She inspires people to access more self-love by creating a lifestyle reflective of it. www.NitikaChopra.com

RJ Palacio, a best selling, award winning, inspirational author of the globally beloved book, "WONDER" joins us. In a previously recorded  conversation, we polish the pearls of the book, movie (now available on DVD & On Demand by Lionsgate) and the Choose Kind Movement. It all began at an ice cream shop which is another reasy I'm so fond of this momma. She threaded the story of an abnormal child, Auggie Pullman, age 10, who finds himself facing an unkind world. Auggie's mom, Isabel, brilliantly portrayed by Julia Roberts, mindfully creates a support system for Auggie to be empathathetic and brilliant who carries the most hearts forward. 

We explore if kindness can be taught, how communities can support and how there are 2 sides to every story. The best advice RJ's momma gave her is the pearl, "Children Live What They Learn." Indeed. Every story deserves to be heard.

She's one remarkable Momma. 

Guest Bio: RJ Palacio's family resides in the diverse NY borough of Brooklyn. She's a graphic designer/illustrator by day and moonlights as a globally renowned author and mom on a mission to encourage us to Choose Kindness. 

Her other published works ~ 365 Days of Wonder: Mr. Browne's Book of Precepts (August, 2014), Auggie & Me, ( October 2015), The Julian Chapter, Pluto, and Shingaling. Palacio wrote and illustrated her newest picture book, We're All Wonders, which introduces Auggie, kindness, empathy and tolerance—to younger children.

Farm to table is not just a movement it's a direct way to inspire community. Farmigo is one company planting the seeds. I'm happy to spread them. Janet Mermel joins us as a INN Holistic Health Counselor and my local Farmigo Champion to talk about bringing the best of the NY area farms to our community. Jessica Malcolm from Farmigo will talk about the company's mission and all together we'll recap an amazing dinner party we co-hosted bringing friends and the area's best foods to the table!!

Farmigo is generously offering our Mommas Pearls community a special first time ordering coupon, enter "FirstOff" on your first order!!

About Farmigo:

Farmigo is dedicated to creating a healthy alternative food system that provides fresh, local, affordable and sustainable food for generations to come.

We envision a community-oriented food system in which people and farmers in the same geographic region are connected, and everyone has access to fresh-from-harvest food.

About Janet:Janet Mermel is certified as a Holistic Health Counselor by The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, the largest nutrition school in the world, in order to teach mothers how to achieve all of their health goals. She is also Board certified by the American Association for Drugless Practitioners. Drawing on her extensive knowledge, Janet will help you create a completely personalized “roadmap to health”. This customized plan will suit your unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals. You will feel empowered and supported as you embark on your personal journey towards health.

Winter is Coming. Feeling like you want to hibernate is natural and our guest Lisa Erickson of Mommy Mystic, will guide us through the energies at play as we approach the Winter Solstice to cure your family of the winter blues and invite you to her Meditate Like A Girl event.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Lisa Erickson is an energy worker, writer, meditation teacher and mom to three. Lisa’s primary modality is chakra-based meditation and guided energy work, although she is also a certified mindfulness meditation instructor. Her specialty is Women’s Energetics – women’s subtle anatomy, and practices and tools that women can employ to heal, empower, and awaken themselves. She especially focuses on helping women during critical life passages such as pregnancy, motherhood, and menopause, as well as on healing from sexual abuse and trauma. She is the author of the popular DailyOm course Fall in Love With Your Feminine Power, and the author of the e-book Women’s Energetics: Healing the Subtle Body Wounds of Sexual Abuse and Trauma.  She is the women’s energetics columnist for the online magazine Meditate Like a Girl, and the Buddhism editor for BellaOnline.com. She can be contacted through her popular blog, Mommy Mystic, or her website Enlightened Energetics.

If we are what we eat then why do we not take better care of what's on our plates, in our refrigerators and in our children's lunch boxes? We'll snack on bits of wisdom from my friend, fellow momma and Institute For Integrative Nutrition certified Health Counselor Melissa Halpern.

About Our Guest: Melissa Halpern is the CEO & President of Melissa Halpern LLC which provides corporate wellness programs in health and nutritional counseling for businesses and individuals seeking consultation for detoxification, low energy, weight loss and overall optimum health.

Melissa also consults with schools on their food and nutrition planning.  She helps educate children about food sensitivities and has had success improving the wellness of developmentally delayed children through proper nutrition.

Melissa received her training to practice Health Counseling from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, where she was trained in more than one hundred dietary theories and studied a variety of practical lifestyle coaching methods. Drawing on this knowledge, she helps people create a completely personalized “roadmap to health” that suits their unique body, lifestyle, preferences, and goals.  Her practice combines the knowledge of traditional philosophies with modern concepts like the USDA food pyramid, the glycemic index, the Zone and raw foods. Melissa believes in a progressive approach to teaching modern health philosophies and refers to herself as a "nutri-tarian". 

She is a mother of two, a yogi, snowboarder, singer and loves to travel.

Time is so precious, so fleeting and ultimately what you make of it.

Continuing our discussion on attachment parenting, breastfeeding and healthy boundaries with Ellen Shell, the director of the Le Leche League (LLL). Ellen has worked for 38 years with the LLL and as a lactation consultant to empower women. LLL's mission is to help mothers worldwide to breastfeed through mother-to-mother support, encouragement, information, and education, and to promote a better understanding of breastfeeding as an important element in the healthy development of the baby and mother. http://www.llli.org

Fifty Shades, Breastfeeding, Gay Marriage, it's like Moms Gone Wild!! What about all of this is natural and what is extremist? We will be exploring the controversy of the latest TIME MAGAZINE cover about attachment parenting and the pros and cons of breastfeeding.

Tis the season to be filled with love and support. Let's go to that happy place where santa's bag is always filled for you.