Calendar of Events

• From May 05, 2008 to May 11, 2008

  Mother/Daughter Celebration

  With workshops designed specifically for learning, sharing and growing, this week is the perfect time for mother and daughters to be together. With deliciously healthy cuisine, world-class spa services and a serene lakeside setting, Lake Austin Spa Resort is the perfect place.

  Friday, May 9  2008 
  What Would Emily Post Say?
  With Special Guest: Peggy Post

  You just fired someone via e-mail. Your brother-in-law never RSVP'd to your wedding invitation. Your college-aged daughter is bringing home her new boyfriend for the weekend and you two have opposite ideas about the sleeping arrangements. And what about the way that clerk at the grocery store treated you? Would Emily Post roll over in her grave to see our cell phones, low rider jeans and e-mailed thank-you notes? Hear Peggy Posts' insights into the state of civility today.  Plus, a look at the Emily Post Institute today and how it all started in 1922.

  Saturday May 10, 2008
  Top Tips for Hosts & Hostesses
  With Special Guest: Peggy Post

  Peggy Post, Emily Post's great-granddaughter-in-law, is the spokesperson and author for the Emily Post Institute. In the fall of 2004, her two new books were released-the completely rewritten 17th edition of Emily Post's Etiquette which marks the book's first revision in seven years. Peggy is also the co-author of The Guide to Good Manners for Kids with her sister-in-law Cindy Post Senning, Ed.D. Peggy's books include The Gift of Good Manners: A Parent's Guide to Raising Respectful, Kind, Considerate Children, The Etiquette Advantage in Business: Personal Skills for Professional Success (co-authored with her brother-in-law Peter Post), Emily Post's Entertaining, Emily Post's Wedding Etiquette and the companion piece Emily Post's Wedding Planner.  Spring 2005 releases will include an updated edition of The Etiquette Advantage in Business and a paperback version of The Gift of Good Manners.

  Peggy writes monthly columns in Good Housekeeping and Parents magazines. She is the wedding etiquette expert for InStyle Weddings. Peggy conducts lectures and seminars for businesses and community groups across the country. She has conducted spokesperson campaigns for Mirassou Winery, Hit Entertainment, The National Honey Board, VistaPrint.com, Keebler, Yahoo, American Express, the Canandaigua Wine Company and SBC Communications.

  Peggy began her career as an international flight attendant for Pan American World Airways, and then taught seventh grade English and history in New York City before entering the business world. With 30 years of experience in management, consulting and sales, Peggy has worked in commercial banking, relocation management and the travel industry. Born in Washington, DC, she was raised in Maryland and New Orleans and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in education from LSU. Peggy and her husband, Allen, live in south Florida, and she has two stepsons, Casey and Jeep.

• From May 12, 2008 to May 18, 2008

  The Culinary Experienceâ„¢

  Special Guests: Cheryl and Bill Jamison and Judd Servidio 
  Join us for a rich and interactive cooking school experience in May featuring Cheryl and Bill Jamison and Judd Servidio - plus daily cooking demos, informative classes and tastings! Our week-long Culinary Experience program will teach how to take the spa experience home with you with healthy recipes prepared for you in the waterfront Lake Kitchen. 

  Monday, May 12
  Special Guest Chef: Cheryl and Bill Jamison

  This couple really cooks! Cheryl and Bill Jamison are among the nation's most lauded writers, with four James Beard awards and numerous other honors to their credit. They've penned enough books on food and travel to endow a small library, all the while living out nearly everyone's fantasies about travel and food. Their new book, Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure (HarperCollins/William Morrow), is the latest example. The couple cashed in 440,000 frequent-flyer miles to spend three months traveling the globe in search of great food and adventure. They found it-from Singapore to Salvador, Brazil, from the South Pacific to the south of France-and are now ready to share the tale, and some recipes from along the way.

  Bill grew up in the Texas Hill Country, where barbecue is in the blood. It's not surprising then, that the Jamisons were among the first authors to take the fun of barbecue and grilling seriously, and have been called "America's Outdoor Cooking Experts" as well as "The First Couple of Outdoor Cooking." Their books on the subject include The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking & Entertaining, Good Times, Good Grilling, Born to Grill, and the landmark Smoke & Spice, which has sold to-date nearly 1 million copies. The Jamisons also have played a leading role in the recent revival of good, robust American cooking with American Home Cooking, A Real American Breakfast, and The Border Cookbook. Their expertise on these subjects regularly gets them quoted on subjects as diverse as the origin of the Frito pie and, during the recent New York-New England Super Bowl, which chowder is champ.

  Cheryl and Bill teach cooking classes regularly, and annually take small groups on culinary adventures to La Combe en Périgord in France's Dordogne. They write frequently for publications like Cooking Light and Bon Appétit. Media credits include NBC's Today Show, NPR, Food Network, QVC, Discovery Channel, msn.com, cooking.com, and television in the U.K. and China.

  The Jamisons live in a renovated adobe barn near Santa Fe, New Mexico.

  Cheryl Alters Jamison, with her husband and business partner, Bill Jamison, is among the nation's most lauded culinary authorities. Recipients of three James Beard awards, the culinary world's most distinguished honor, the Jamisons have been called "America's first couple of outdoor cooking" and the "King and Queen of Barbecue." Cheryl and Bill are home cooks, not restaurant chefs, so their boldly-flavored food is easy to recreate by other home cooks. You may have seen the Jamisons whipping up meals on NBC's Today Show, the Food Network, or QVC, or read their freelance work in Cooking Light, Bon Appetit, or Every Day with Rachel Ray. With a dozen cookbooks to their credit, Cheryl and Bill's newest and most comprehensive work ever is The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining. Among their other titles are Texas Home Cooking, A Real American Breakfast, Good Times, Good Grilling, Chicken on the Grill, American Home Cooking, and the landmark Smoke & Spice, one of the best-selling cookbooks of the last decade. From their home near Santa Fe, New Mexico, they cook up plenty of fun along with great food.

  Wednesday, May 14, 2008
  Special Guest Chef: Judd Servidio

  Private Chef/Food Stylist Judd Servidio is most content doing what he loves. A self-proclaimed private chef/food stylist of contemporary, fun and exciting food, Chef Judd takes great pride in the fact that his cuisine is never "stuffy."

  After graduating culinary school in Minneapolis in 1996, he began his career at country clubs and hotels such as Hilton, Hyatt and Melrose, working his way up to five-star establishments including 510, Abacus and Elisabeth Daniel, enhancing his formal education by studying alongside French and American chefs. He travels all over the world and has worked celebrity engagements like catering the 2000 Masters in Augusta, Georgia for Bank of America and an event for American Airlines with Wolfgang Puck.

  In 1998, Chef Judd moved to Dallas and worked at the Melrose Hotel as a Sous Chef which led to the opening of Abacus Restaurant with James Beard nominee, Chef Kent Rathbun, who was ranked on Bon Appetit's January 2002 "A list". Chef Judd learned invaluable cooking skills and techniques under Chef Rathbun in addition to developing leadership skills in and out of the kitchen. During his time in Dallas, Chef Judd also catered large-scale charity events including "Taste of America," "Save Tibet" and the "Children's Fund Raiser."

  After his three-year stint with Chef Rathbun at Abacus, Chef Judd joined renowned Chef Daniel Patterson at Elisabeth Daniel in San Francisco now chef of Coi, where they specialized in Contemporary French Cuisine. Here, Chef Judd learned to accentuate the main ingredient to its maximum potential without crowding the plate or masking the original flavor. "We didn't have 20 ingredients on a plate, maybe five, but we would use techniques to extract all the flavors out of each ingredient and combine them to make one perfect dish." Elisabeth Daniel earned high praise from the James Beard Foundation and San Francisco Chronicle as one of the best restaurants in the city.

• From May 20, 2008 to May 22, 2008

  Fun with Astrology

  With Special Guest: Elexis Rice 

  Tuesday, May 20
  Personalities: Your, Mine and Ours... Astrology

  All relationships have their strengths and challenges. We have such a variety of talents, skills and gifts, some coming naturally and some with great effort. With astrology as a tool you can better understand yourself and all the people in your life both professionally and personally. Common interests, communication, compatibility and chemistry are all clearly evident with the ancient science of astrology as a tool.

  Your Days are Numbered... Numerology 

  The mystery of numbers has been studied throughout the ages. Each number from 1-9 has a different meaning. Numbers are fun way to see all the possibilities around you. This year 2007 equals a 9, come see what that means.

  Thursday, May 22
  Is the Moon Affecting Your Moods?

  Full moons, new moons and every phase of the moon has been used for years by the almanacs. Not only does the moon affect the tides, it can be influencing all of us in some mysterious ways. A fun evening to see if your moon is showing!

  What is all this talk about NLP?

  Neurolinguistics programming (NLP) is the way we have stored experiences in our minds. Did you see the movie "what the bleep"? This movie is the best depiction of how we connect certain thoughts and feelings to people, places and things. If anything occurs that is even remotely similar to the first experience we shift back into our original way that we had stored it. With a fun evening of NLP techniques we can delete the old tapes and install some new ones for greater permanent successes.

  Elexis Rice has been a professional astrologer/numerologist for 30 years.

  She has spoken in over 40 cities and has had consultations with thousands. Her presentation on "Astrology: A Fun Guide to Relationships, Money and Health" is sure to enlighten, educate and entertain you.

  Elexis is also available for private consultations. She will spend an hour or half hour discussing the cycles of your life for the next 12 months. There is a time and season for all things. This is a great tool to understand personalities and cycles of family members, friends and colleagues as well as yourself.

• May 25, 2008

  Transforming Stress

  Through this workshop you can learn how to decrease your not only your stress but the harmful effects it has on your body.Â

• May 26, 2008

  Living From the Inside Out

  Anne Irving teaches both physical and spiritual practices to show how to handle stresses from new worldly transformations.

• May 30, 2008

  Astronomy

  Join Michael Brewster to learn about constellations and view the stars with brightness and clarity unscathed by city lights.

• May 31, 2008

  The Healing Power of Sound

  Jan Blevins uses the ancient tool of Tibetan Singing Bowls to demonstrate the healing therapy of sound.