Thursday, February 28, 2013

It was one of those days.

The days where you cancel your things for the evening and sit at home drinking tea instead.

So what if I'm a 75 year old trapped in a 27 year old body?

Except I ate half a container of Pringles for dinner. That's a 27 year old thing to do.

Oy.

This is Day 8 of 100 Days of Blogging.

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Today, I went to work and left with the full intention of buying a new television when I left. (Decidedly, Game of Thrones would be much better viewed on a 39" Magnavox than on my 13" Macbook Air.) However, Target had other plans for me. SOLD OUT. Womp. I wandered around purchasing necessities like bobby pins and toothpaste while throwing in some impulse purchases like easter candy and a lavender candle. (I don't live near Target anymore, so this doesn't happen often. Promise.)

I was feeling a little dejected on my way back to James Island. I even looked at a few TVs online when I got home. (While eating the somewhat average frozen yogurt my freezer "helped" me produce last night. Try try again.) Since, I knew I was going to have to consult my consultants before choosing a new TV, I walked away and decided to give my evening a boost. Here we go. Pictures included.


I practiced my yoga headstand! It was a success. My skills with TimerCam were a smidge less successful, so this is as good as the documentation gets. Also, here are 10 Reasons to Do a Headstand Everyday.


I was hungry after all the shopping and head standing, so I made myself some baked onion rings and roasted asparagus for dinner. Lightly sprayed with coconut oil and sprinkled with crunchy sea salt and garlic pepper. I outdid myself.


And since no American meal is complete without dessert, I got started on these Cadbury Mini Egg Blondies. I didn't actually eat one yet, but I know it's going to be more amazing and fattening than I can even imagine. Easter candy baked goods. Nom. Maybe that's why it's my second favorite holiday.


And, finally, I did a little Pinterest work. I placed a magnet strip along the shelf in my bathroom, covered it in washi tape and made it the new home for my bobby pins. Hopefully now I will always have one when I need it!

My dejected late afternoon has turned into something productive and delicious and it's finally time for Game of Thrones.

And I don't even mind that it's on my Macbook Air.

This is Day 7 of 100 Days of Blogging.

xo.

Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The rain finally let up today and I could see the sun come shining through the clouds.

Isn't that how life can be?

I wouldn't call today the best day. There was a lot of rain. There were also a lot of hiccups at work. Nothing too overwhelming, but I got to come home to a lovely dinner and my first foray into ice cream making on my own. Enter Coconut Vanilla Frozen Yogurt. Unfortunately, it's still freezing. Yogurt is a breakfast food, right? I'll put raspberries on top. Those are healthy for sure.

Today, I also learned what HBO stands for - Home Box Office. Who knew? Everyone, but me. That's ok. I've been keeping up with it's show GIRLS. Lena Dunham is quite the talented lady - writer, director, actress. She's also the cover of Rolling Stone. (Finally! I've been getting a free subscription for a year and this is the only issue I've been interested in reading.) And, speaking of HBO, I watched my first episode of Game of Thrones tonight. I can tell it's going to be something I continue to watch despite the foul ending of this particular episode. 


You know what I love? Fresh flowers. I was just thinking about them earlier. I'm happy I have my little orchid in the window. 

You know what else I love? The kitten that lives on our carport. Her name is Snickers and she's so adorable that I often want to scoop her up and bring her inside to cuddle with me. That's sort of like saying I often want to stop breathing from a sudden allergy attack. Such is life.

Sometimes I wonder if we're looking at life wrong. (Certainly we are as a majority.) So much focus on work and money, but are these things that truly make us happy? Are we happy because money brings us a certain level of comfort? I wonder if we could get away with less of the work and the money and still have the same amount of happiness. That idea could lead to quite the paradigm shift.

That's a good word. Paradigm. You know what is another good word? Synergy. I think the first time I read these words was in the book 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. (I was a very motivated, self helped youngster.)

Funny how I ended up here - in this blog post (in the smallest sense of the thought).

I think that means I've come full circle for now.

This is Day 6 of 100 Days of Blogging.

Monday, February 25, 2013

Dear Rain,

That's enough.

Love,

Erin


This Day 5 of 100 Days of Blogging.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Today has been lovely so far.

This morning we went to Black Magic for Break Fast Breakfast! I had egg whites with tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and feta. AND a pumpkin chai made with almond milk. It was so delicious. Of course, it was followed by a walk down the pier to talk to strangers and watch the waves.

After, there was garden supply shopping. Cilantro. Lavender. A mini orchid. And so many seeds! I am going to make my thumbs green if it's the last thing I do!

Then I went grocery shopping! It's been awhile and I spent a lot of money! I bought practically everything in the produce section. And treats for the cat (Snickers) who lives outside - I got her to eat one straight out of my hand! When I finally got done putting away all of my purchases, I made a DELICIOUS smoothie - strawberries, blueberries, peaches, bananas, cranberry juice, spinach and vanilla yogurt. And while I was sippin on that, I whipped up a batch of Whiskey Walnut Blondies for the brother.

And this where you find me now. In between dirty dishes and episodes of Gilmore Girls. Before yoga class and before my work meeting this evening.

I'm not sad my juice cleanse is over, but I'm glad I did it. I feel lighter and like it was a good restart. My body is still trying to figure out everything I put into it today, so I'm being careful, but I'm ready to start cooking! (Who thought three days would feel this long??) I'm going to make all sorts of nonsense this week - sweet potatoes, burrito bowls, avocado & corn salad, brussels sprouts, and there is going to be RAINBOW carrots with hummus. Ooooh - maybe this Farmer's Market Skillet! I'm so thrilled about food!

Well, that's all I have for now. I'm going to make my way back to the kitchen to clean up! And then outside to sweep my porch. Such a domestic goddess today... What are you all up to this weekend??

This is Day 4 of 100 Days of Blogging.

xo.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Last night, I saw Silver Linings Playbook and I LOVED it. Please do yourself a favor if you haven't seen it yet.

Today is my final day of juice cleansing. I hate it less today. I also ate a handful of almonds. I don't feel bad about it. I'm so ready to be eating again though. I think that I'll definitely be thinking more about what I put into my body after this. I don't believe in forbidding food groups, but everything in moderation.

I have today off from work. It's been raining all.day.long. James Island turns into a lake when it rains this much. So, how does one spend a rainy day off? I went to yoga, cleaned, read a few pages in my new book (The Fault in our Stars), visited with the brother, and watched reruns of Kourtney & Kim take Miami. Don't judge me. I got a lot done today - I deserve trashy tv shows. And tonight, I'm going to bake with a friend. No, I won't eat the cookies, but I will tomorrow. Hooray!

My life is good. My life is calm. And I like it this way.

(This just in - Kim is drinking Pressed Juicery juice on the show. I'm just saying.)

Also, I had a dream last night that I went back to San Diego. I was visiting my lovely Megan, drinking coffee in the sun, eating fish tacos and tanning on the West Coast beaches. I need to go back.

I also need coffee, sun, fish tacos and the beach. I NEED SUMMER! Haha. I'm a desperate woman.

Oh hey, I'm going to learn run again. Glo Run in May! Yay!

This is Day 3 of 100 Days of Blogging.

xo.

Friday, February 22, 2013

I hate juice cleansing. I miss chewing and things that have salt. I don't remember hating this last time I did it, but I've been informed that I did. Note to self: Don't do this again.

Yesterday my juice didn't come until 1pm because the company accidentally used the wrong address. I tried to patiently sip on hot water with lemon until I ran out to greet the FedEx man. Literally, I was waiting on the porch for him.

I immediately ripped open the box and started guzzling a bottle labeled "1".

Juice 1 is a Green Drink consisting of kale, spinach, romaine, parsley, cucumber, celery, apple and lemon. I was satisfied.

I got all of my bottles put away in the fridge and went about my day and the rest of my juices.

Juice 2 is a Citrus Drink consisting of grapefruit and mint. That's all. I love it. Tart, but refreshing!

Juice 3 is a Roots Drink. I feel like that says enough, but I'll tell you the junk is made of carrots, apple and ginger. I abhor ginger and this drink.

Juice 4 is another Citrus Drink. It's a blend of pineapple, apple, lemon and mint. It's good, but very sweet. Yesterday I drank it straight up, but today I mixed it with water to cut it a little bit.

Juice 5 is a repeat of Juice 1. Liquid salad. Thinking of it that way makes it difficult to stomach. I'll try not to do that tomorrow.

Juice 6 is the savior! Ah! Vanilla Almond Milk. This delight is made of almonds, dates, vanilla bean and filtered water. I add about 1/8 tsp of cinnamon to it and shake it all up. This is my favorite. I wish I had tried the chocolate one now because it's sort of like a healthy and delicious melted milkshake.

Mmmm. Milkshake.

Anyway, in addition to these 6 juices, I have Chlorophyll Water and Aloe Water. Chlorophyll water is to keep you extra hydrated. (Because six bottles of liquid is not enough.) Also, it tastes faintly of grass. The Aloe Water is to, um, keep you moving. It tastes like cucumber water.

Yesterday, I gave away Juice 5 since I had begun so late in the day. Today, I'm drinking Juice 6 before Juice 5 because I'm dying for some substantial.

So, what is the lesson I've learned from all this? When you go on a cruise, don't have hourly ice cream and don't visit the pizza bar.

That's certainly not to say I only did this cleanse because I felt bad after a week of vacation eating habits. Cleanses are an excellent way to reset your body and mind. Also, I've spent a lot of time trying to decide if I should go back to my vegetarian ways. I've done a lot of learning about vegan cooking. I'm reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and articles like Carnivorous Vegetarian to try and figure out the healthiest and tastiest way to eat. I want both.

Although, right now, I would settle for anything that involved chewing.

But if you all have thoughts on the matter, then I would love to hear them. Right now, I'm going to take a little nap and then go see Silver Linings Playbook with one of my loveliest friends.

This is Day 2 of my 100 Days of Blogging.

xo.

Thursday, February 21, 2013

It's that time of year again. Spring is coming! It's time to get out of the winter funk and into the summer fun. I'm a little more on board with the idea because I just came back from Florida & a cruise, but I promise - it's coming. (The groundhog didn't see his shadow, so it must be true!)

It's also that time of year where I do a crazy things like only drink juice for 3 days. Eh? Right. So, my Pressed Juicery 3 Day Cleanse should be arriving shortly. 3 Days. 18 Bottles of Juice. Lots of yoga. This should all amount to a healthier and happier, post-cruise Erin. (Because you can't really say no to 24 hour pizza and ice cream.)

Internal spring cleaning leads to external spring cleaning. And all sorts of cleaning usually leads to new ideas, crafts and resolutions. Maybe spring is the new New Year? Probably not, but I will tell you spring is my best time of year. I'm excited to see what it holds. The people in my life are very motivating, too. I'm sure they're going to make 2013 the best spring/year yet!

Speaking of motivating ideas, my friend Mandy is doing 100 Days of Blogging as a challenge for her creative juices. I've decided I would also like to take part in a challenge such as this. Why? My blog is something so dear to me that I've let fall by the wayside. I'm hoping this challenge will jumpstart me back into it. It doesn't have to be big or incredibly insightful. I just have to post. Consider this Day 1. 

Well, now I have to start cleaning. I have quite the to-do list today:

Yoga. Pick up Recycling Bin. Go to Goodwill. Go to Costco. Get a mani/pedi. Clean out my car. Clean the house. Start reading The Fault in Our Stars. More Yoga.

Busy busy little bee. I'll see you all here tomorrow!