30 Rock, Hearts and Flowers, and Dr. Oz -- all for Pink Saturday!

On Tuesday of this week, I went into Manhattan to 30 Rockefeller Center, also known by it's nickname "30 Rock."  Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings, covering 22 acres, between 48th and 51st streets in New York City. Built by the Rockefeller family, it is located in the center of Midtown Manhattan, spanning the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1987

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 30 Rock is a 70-floor, 872-foot building, now known as the GE building.  It is home to the NBC TV studios and the Top of The Rock observation deck, and the Rainbow Room restaurant, which, sadly, is closed right now as the search for a new operator is ongoing.

It is also the location for the NBC Today Show, and this is a view of the side street where hosts  Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, newswoman Ann Curry, and weatherman Al Rocker greet the waiting crowd in the morning.

Some views of the Rockefeller Center Plaza and inside the beautiful art deco designed 30 Rock building.  I was here to attend the Dr. Oz TV show, but  it was a little early, so I decided to window shop around around the area to take these photographs for Beverly's Pink Saturday Valentine's Day celebration!

Beautiful red hearts and pink and pastel flowers were in the windows of Swiss Teuscher Chocolatier, located  at 5th Ave and Rockefeller Center.  Teuscher's is especially noted for their fabulous champagne truffles!

The Anthropologie store at 50 Rockefeller Plaza always has wonderful window displays. Currently the windows are full of fanciful spring flowers made from colorful recycled drink bottles in shades of pastel pinks, yellows, blues and oranges.

The windows of the Godiva Boutique, located at 52 W. 50th Street in Rockefeller Center, was full of Valentine hearts and rose petals and their signature gold boxes.  If I had a little more time I would have stopped for one of their luscious chocolate covered strawberries.

The Swarovski boutique, located at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, not only had samples of its exquisite glass crystal jewelry in their windows, but also reminders that February is American Heart Month, and the symbol of the red dress is the national symbol for women and heart disease.  Heart disease is the number one killer of women, and this event reminds women of the need to protect their heart health and inspires them to take action to improve their health.

This was also a reminder to me to go back upstairs and wait on the line to be admitted into the audience of the afternoon taping of The Dr. Oz Show!

Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of “The Dr. Oz Show”, is Vice-Chair and Professor of Surgery at Columbia University, and he also directs the Cardiovascular Institute and Complementary Medicine Program at New York Presbyterian Hospital. He gained much popularity as the resident health expert for five seasons on The Oprah Winfrey Show.  His show is very informational and highly entertaining. Even though I am a registered nurse, I usually learn something new and interesting each time I watch his show. To see if his syndicated show is available in your area, and what time and channel it would be on, you can enter your zip code on this website link.

The Dr Oz Show is pre-taped and the episode I saw should be aired in two to three weeks. The segments of this show were about agoraphobia -- fear of the outdoors or public places -- and an interview with a woman who gained 100 pounds in a year after she lost her job, with suggested interventions that will help her lose weight.  Dr Oz also has a audience member come down on stage to be his assistant, as he does every show. This segment was very interesting, as he has two actual human hearts on display.  One was a normal heart and one was large and thickened through untreated hypertension-high blood pressure. To see the changes that high blood pressure could make to a heart was an eye opener to me.  Dr. Oz took the blood pressure of the audience assistant and found she was hypertensive, a fact she was unaware of.  Dr. Oz then said that many people are unaware they have high blood pressure and that we should all make it a practice to check our blood pressure on a regular basis. Preventing or treating high blood pressure will help prevent the ill effects of strokes and heart disease.  He suggested everyone buy a blood pressure machine at our local pharmacy so we could keep regular track of our pressure, and he also suggested that we all get to know our pharmacists, who are an excellent source to go to with our questions about health concerns, medications and supplements both over the counter and prescription, and possible drug interactions and side effects.

Luckily, for all of us in the audience that day, we were each given a $50 Walgreens gift card and a premium blood pressure monitor to take home, courtesy of Walgreens! 

So it was a day of Valentine hearts and real hearts.  A day to remember that heart disease is the number one killer of women, and that all women should be aware of the symptoms of heart disease and high blood pressure and how to prevent and treat it. 

I hope that this Valentine's Day you make a promise to schedule a time to treat yourself to a good medical check up, so that you will be around for a long time to love and be loved for many Valentine's days to come!

Please visit Beverly today at How Sweet The Sound  blog for her popular "Pink Saturday" event and visit all the links to blogs participating with special Valentine pinks and reds! Beverly had her gallbladder removed yesterday, so be sure to send her your prayers and best wishes for a speedy recovery!  All the best to you Beverly!  Get well soon dear friend!