My take on curvy vs. skinny

When it comes to women, I wonder, why do some people consider "curvy" as fat? It's something that I don't quite understand. To me, a women should have curves...it's sexy, and it's beautiful. Someone recently told me that she believed that Kim Kardashian and the rest of the Kardashian girls are all fat. She also said that Michelle Obama was a big fat woman. Really?! I have to disagree 100%. To me, Kim Kardashian has an UNBELIEVABLE and GORGEOUS body! To me, she embodies sexiness! Yes, I know, her rear end may be larger than most but it IS NOT FAT! She has a healthy, gorgeous body.

And Michelle Obama?! Yes, she's a tall woman...but she is so beautiful! And she's got an amazing body! When asked about how she got her body back after giving birth, she told Barbara Walters that she used to get up every morning at 4:45am and go to the gym. She did this because she knew that her baby would wake up at 5am...and this way, Barack would have to get up and feed the baby! I thought that was pretty funny!

So, if people believe that curvy women are fat, than what looks good? Skinny, boney women with no curves and no breasts? It's called anorexic and it's not pretty at all! I understand this is my opinion but I believe that women should look like women...not little girls. In fact, besides the fact that it looks awful, IT IS AWFUL for your body! Your hair becomes stringy and dried out and it even falls out! Your body doesn't ovulate on a regular basis and you become infertile. Your heart develops irregular heart beats...and overtime, can lead to heart failure. Your skin becomes rough and scaly...you get major gastrointestinal problems as well. And these are all just a few of the horrible things that happen to your body. So WHY is THIS what some women strive to be?! IT IS NOT PRETTY!

The media definitely puts out this "image" that women need to be skinny and petite...and I don't think that is fair what so ever to all of the young women growing up in our society today. What are we imbedding into their growing and VERY impressionable minds?! Essentially, we are telling them to not eat and to be as skinny as possible, and if they are not, they won't be attractive and pretty. This needs to stop! We need more role models for these young women. What happened to the days when Marilyn Monroe was looked at as a sex symbol?! Yes, I realize that this was 50 years ago, however, she had a GORGEOUS hour glass figure. I think that the best looking models out there today are the Victoria Secret models. They are NOT these unhealthy anorexic looking models but instead, are beautiful women that actually have curves. And I must say, it's about time that the fashion world is ending the days of the anorexic models on the runway. I understand that clothes look good on them because they "hang" on them. Well, if that's what the designers want, then why not just put them on hangers and show them that way? What's the difference, really?

Now, I'm not saying that everyone should be gluttonous and that being fat is okay. It is certainly not okay. It too has TERRIBLE health effects on our bodies as well. And it's not attractive either. But why can't there be a happy medium? We need to teach our young women that the anorexic look is NOT okay...that not eating is NOT okay. But that eating healthy portions of healthy foods is good! I've always believed that eating healthy portions of healthy foods throughout the day is the best thing for our bodies. It keeps our metabolism going. We also need to teach our young women that everybody is different and that we are all not meant to look the same! Variety is the spice of life, right? It scares me when I think how these young women think when they see food in front of them. How did it get to the point where a 14 year old would rather eat an ice cube than a healthy dinner full of essential vitamins and nutrients that our bodies need? Even though I put this picture up of Nicole Richie, I must commend her for gaining some weight (after this picture was taken) and making herself healthier again. Kudos to the celebrity women that are showing that curves are beautiful, sexy, and hot: Scarlett Johansson, Kim Kardashian, Jennifer Lopez and Beyonce. Keep up the good work ladies! Let's teach our young that skinny and anorexic is OUT...curves are IN!

Going once...going twice...SOLD!

After 18 long ass months on the Beverly Hills market, I FINALLY closed escrow on my listing! I first saw the home in December of 2007 when my business partner Stephanie and I took our client around to look at some homes. He is a very successful business man from Dublin, Ireland and was looking to buy a nice home here in Beverly Hills or the Hollywood Hills for he and his beautiful fiance. She wanted to get into acting so they were planning on coming to LA a lot. He only wanted to spend up to $3 million. Stephanie and I showed him about 18-20 homes one weekend and the last home that we showed them was the one for them! It was a 5 bedroom, 4 bath, modern contemporary home on a cul-de-sac, with a pool, in Beverly Hills. The owner had just finished a total remodel of the home. It was listed at $3.275 million. We offered $2.9 but the owner WOULD NOT budge below $3.25...so my client took it and we closed escrow the following month. Well, don't know you it, his fiance left him about 2 month later and they never even got to use the home! So he wanted us to try to lease the home. We listed it for lease and had found a renter for 3 months during the summer of 2008. She rented the home for $17,000/month...unfurnished. She was only in town for the summer working on her book. After she moved out (July 31, 2008), we immediately listed the home for sale. Our client wanted to make money and insisted on listing the home at $3.795. Against our better judgement and opinion on the matter, we did as he said. We got no bites on the property what so ever...and ended up chasing the market down the following months. Everytime we suggested a lower price reduction, he would come back and say he would lower the price, but not as low as we thought. It was, to say the least, VERY frustrating!

Having Stephanie as my partner was a gift from God! She is a GENIUS with paper work and knows EVERYTHING about real estate. And while I was sick back East, she took over the operation. We had several offers but none were to his liking. FINALLY, this past January, a recent divorcee came in and fell in love with the home. She offered $2.1 million and after much deliberation, our seller decided to throw in the towel, take what he could, and run for the hills! ;-) The escrow went fairly smoothly and we closed last week! If you remember, this was on my MUST DO LIST OF 2010! It is SUCH a relief to have that home sold. Giving the keys and gate opener away felt very strange...and the following week after we closed escrow, just knowing that we were done with that home, felt even more strange! But I am relieved beyond words and SO happy right now! And even better, I met two great new clients from this listing. One is in the market to buy a home around $3 million, immediately. The other is looking to buy something after April. So Stephanie and I are working hard on getting them both into something! One down...many more to go! ;-) I have a feeling that this is going to be a very good year for Real Estate here in LA! And I'm really excited about it!

To see pictures of the home, please visit the website: http://9903anthony.com/