Denver

Lights in Larimer Square

I successfully completed almost two thirds of my first ever whole 30 when I slipped.

I went to Denver for a long weekend - a trip I had planned months prior to deciding I'd do a whole 30 - and ate out for every single meal. I did great at first, but then relaxed with my ordering, and accidentally ordered some ahi sliders that were in burger form (why on earth I thought this would be in any other form, I'll never know!) with who knows what mixed into it, coleslaw on top and some soy based glaze.

The next day I was perfect! Then the next night I ordered lamb sweetbreads. I think I was so thrilled at the thought of organ meat at a restaurant that I completely overlooked the fact that they were fried. As in battered, and fried!

I was so hungry and they looked so delicious, and I was embarrassed if I'm being perfectly honest! So I ate them.

Which naturally opened the floodgates. It didn't help that my friends were thoroughly encouraging me to give it up already, and just enjoy myself for one weekend.

Donut holes from Jelly Cafe

So then I had delicious creme fraiche gelato with Mexican chocolate ice cream. And went nuts yesterday with a breakfast of four made to order gluten free donut holes: lemon custard, jelly filled, creme anglaise and chocolate anglaise. Then a late lunch/early dinner of tomato braised meatballs with burrata cheese and grits finished off with more gelato. Oh and coconut milk-based salted caramels that were thoroughly disappointing!

My downfall wasn't traveling, it was traveling and spending time with friends with whom I hadn't clearly communicated what a priority this was for me.

And so I reset! Jan 23 is the beginning of my second Whole30. I plan on making it last until March at the very least, and I also plan on not telling people of the date that I'm shooting for. If I leave it open-ended then perhaps I can avoid the ahh but that's only 2 days from now just enjoy yourself argument. I was going to reset today, but forgot that the breakfast/lunch food for today that I had frozen before I left has butter in it!

Either way, I am really committed to sticking to this. The rumbling of my tummy after the debauchery of the last few days tells me that I was on the right path!!

On a positive note, while I did indulge in sugar, dairy and a little gluten I was successful in not drinking alcohol or caffeine!

I think this is a good experience for me. When I considered doing the Whole30 in January, I figured that it would be a good challenge to do it when I had travel plans. Now I know that I either need to not travel on a Whole30, or I can travel on a Whole30 but I need to effectively communicate that with the people I will be around. it is also a bit of a lesson for me in knowing my limits. I took on a LOT this January with my ambitious 36 in 2013 campaign!

I also broke my spending freeze - an $18 purse at Target! I think I actually want to return it, but regardless, the spirit of the exercise was still violated. I think I'm just going to let my January spending freeze die a quiet death, and pick up on my spending freeze plan in March! I certainly don't plan on purposefully going out with the mindset of shopping, but I don't want to be discouraged by failing so much in my first month!

So here's to grabbing my goals by the horns and dominating!

Oh, procrastination...

I really should be doing homework so that I can enjoy my nice, long weekend off of work.

So naturally, I am writing instead! Being new to blog-writing, but as a long-time blog reader is an interesting experience. I know that the blogs I enjoy reading the most have a pretty solid mix of serious posts and funny posts, make good use of photos and also post fairly regularly. Blog reading is my most frequent time-killing activity, and always leaves me inspired to do more, give more, be better and encourage others to do the same. That is, as long as they post often! This is the most common denominator amongst my favorite blogs. 

So, I'm making an effort to keep that same balance present on my page, but it is really hard for me to be a judge of my own work. Most days it is also really hard to override the judgmental voice in my head telling me that every part of this is an exercise in arrogance! 

But, I'm sticking with it, because I am enjoying it so very, very much :)

In other news, my roommate and I are dealing with the aftermath of termite tenting. Well, for now it's just me since she is visiting family up in Nor Cal. But, she will be home soon and will be dealing with it, too! As I stated previously, I am definitely a hippie, so the thought of exposing myself to such a large concentration of chemicals does not make me happy! I don't care how much proof you have that the chemicals don't leave a residue - you are NUTS if you think I am not going to spend the next few days deep-cleaning the apartment while I spend nights at my parent's house. It's a chemical that kills bugs for Pete's sake! I know that the tent increases concentration, etc but I'll be cleaning for my own peace of mind. 

I started with gathering all of the items that need to be washed, blankets, pillow covers etc. Basically, anything that wasn't in a cabinet or drawer I plan on washing. Perhaps even what was in the drawers (that just depends on how OCD I am about the whole situation!), but for now I'll just be doing the immediate needs. 

So, I was told that I would need to be on the premises for the gas and electric company to turn the gas back on. And that they would arrive between 10AM and 6PM. Yep. an 8 hour window! I waited for a few hours and then remembered lunch plans so I left a note letting him know where the key would be & when I returned he was relighting the pilots. He did let me know that unfortunately, there was an issue that prevented him from relighting the water heater. Even more unfortunate is the fact that this is the same issue that was 'solved' back in June. Sadly, the current owner is just about completely unresponsive to fixing anything.

The good news is that we are doing all of this ridiculousness because we are very close to having a new owner for the building (and really, I hope it isn't possible for them to be worse than the current owner!). The bad news is that I just have to wait for a response from the property manager. Thank goodness, my wonderful parents are happy to have me stay with them for another night, and then they are taking off for Toronto and I'll be house and cat sitting again.

36 in 2013 - Go big or go home!

I am a HUGE fan of goal-setting! One tip that I picked up from listening to Dean Dwyer's podcast on Stitcher Radio is to start small. If you want to be a stand up comic, start by telling jokes to groups of friends (good friends - the kind that will NOT laugh politely at un-funny stuff!) & slowly work your way up to going to amateur nights etc. Starting out with the big steps means that it is much easier to fail, and much more difficult to recover from.

So, in the spirit of starting small (while still going big?), I'm going to be picking a minimum of 3 goals for each month of 2013. I have to stick with the goal until the end of the month, at which point I can continue it if I want to, but I"m not obligated. Here are my ideas so far:

Smaller Goals:

- Complete all homework at least one week in advance

- Do the Whole30 and/or 21 day sugar detox

- Use Paleo Trail to track food daily

- Wake up early

- Prioritize quality sleep

- Learn Sewing Basics [Home Ec studio or Sew Hut]

- Go through my entire wardrobe & sell unworn/unwanted clothing

- Finish and practice Success Principles & Loving What Is

- Spending freeze on alternating months: Jan, Mar, May, July, Sept, Nov

        -Exemptions: Travel plans Jan 18-21 limited to food and fun experiences

- Call Crossfit Invictus to schedule a time to check it out

- Try one workout from Pinterest board per month

- Only go on FB with a purpose, or occasionally to see what others are up to

- Don't eat soy products. [Starting now, keeping it going as long as I can!]

- I am thankful for _____. Today, I accomplished _____. [Complete as often as I can before bed]

- Learn more about blogging.

- Pay for professional layout.

- If cleaning up my diet doesn't improve my skin, I will go see Dr. Noel.

- No Shampoo for all of January!

I've been using the baking soda/vinegar route since 12/27, and I can't lie - it is a bit rough to get used to! I'm not comfortable being in public if my hair is still wet because the vinegar smell is present until it dries, but it's not too bad. Today I went to work with it wet, because I simply ran out of time! The main differences I have noticed include needing to wash it more often because it's getting greasy faster, and it's fairly dull. I'm sticking with it for all of January to let my scalp adjust and hopefully it'll work out!

     

Year-long Goals:

- Break Habits:

       Crossing legs

       Speaking negatively/Making fun of others

- Improve Posture

- Use Paleo Trail to track food

- Make Random Acts of Kindness a part of my life [Started this already! I had a gift card for a coffee shop, so  I ordered my coffee, handed the card over & when he tried handing it back to me I told him to keep it and pay for other people's orders! He looked at me like I was nuts but it felt amazing!]

- Push my comfort zone

- Happiness/Positivity Jar Project! [I found this one on Pinterest - shocker! Throughout the year you write down good/happy events & experiences and put them in the jar. At the end of the year you open it and go through it all.]

At this point, I'm committed to Whole30 for all of January so that's the number 1 goal. I will be using Paleo Trail to keep me on track (and maybe identify any problem causing foods?). I sent in a request for more info about Invictus last week (I'm anxious just THINKING about it!!), which is far, far outside of my comfort zone. I haven't heard back from them, so I'll be reaching out to them in February. Doing the Whole30 in January is going to be rough enough without adding that to it!

January Goals

- Whole30

- Paleo Trail

- Push my comfort zone

I'm planning on coming up with additional goals as needed throughout the year, which works out since they will be relevant! You may be wondering why I didn't make this a 26 by 26 or 30 by 30 list. I don't have anything against them - in fact I think a 30 by 30 sounds awesome! Maybe that will be what I tackle next? A sort of a bucket list. I chose 36 in 2013 because 3 tasks per month seemed like a good number.

So, this is my second day of super clean eating, and the only thing I am suffering from is lack of caffiene! I decided to do a combo of the Whole30 and the 21 day sugar detox, as well as giving up coffee. I don't think coffee is bad on it's own, but I end up running behind schedule and stopping at Starbucks instead of making my own. This is bad because if I'm at Starbucks, the only thing I want is a soy latte, and first of all it's soy, second it's vanilla soy so I know it's full of sugar + additives.

I tend to be an in for a penny, in for a pound type so I figured if I'm limiting my food options, I may as well go big or go home!!

The Holiday Season

Ahh the holidays! Cheery music, steaming mugs of coffee and stories about good samaritans. For some people, it isn't tough to be wonderfully happy during the holidays. For others, it can be quite the opposite. I consider myself incredibly blessed in life, and while there was plenty of potential for sadness this year, I didn't allow it to take over! My dad and step-mom spent the holidays in Canada with her sister, and my brother and sister-in-law left for Hawaii on Christmas day. My Christmas eve was spent curled up with a book and plenty of redbox movie rentals. And you know what?

I loved it!

Sure, it was far from a traditional Christmas Eve, but it was a chance for me to take a less than awesome situation and change the way I think about it. I have such a loving, caring group of individuals that I call my family (which includes my closest friends!) and they love me regardless of whether they spend a holiday with me. Christmas day was a whirlwind of time spent with two dear friends' families. I spent the afternoon driving up to San Marcos where I got to eat fried turkey. After dinner, I drove back to San Diego to pick my roommate up from the airport. We got caught up and then I headed over to another friends house.

There, I got to eat a second dinner with old friends! I've known Briana since middle school. We've had our disagreements over the years, but I really cherish our friendship. Spending the holidays with her family is always interesting. They are like a second family to me, so champagne was flowing while we all helped to put dinner on the table, and after, Briana and I squeezed in some much needed girl time in the hot tub! I was finally able to deliver an apology that was 4 years in coming. Pride can be so destructive, and I'm so glad I finally got over myself! I have a very tough time having hard conversations, and when the going gets tough I have a nasty habit of cutting my ties and bolting as fast as I can. I'm working on changing it, and the first step was apologizing to those who deserve it!

Welp - back to the grind for me! The holidays never seem to last long enough, do they?

The Blues

Not the sad kind! The music and dancing, of course. I love to dance. I know
how to swing dance (lindy hop, charleston, east coast), blues dance and of
course, crazy attractive white girl dance! I love them all, but blues
dancing seems to put me in the most awkward of situations.

To those who are unaware, and didn't click on the link, blues dancing is
like the dirrrty sexy sister of swing. It's fun, expressive and almost always
suggestive. Therein lies the dilemma. Anytime I find a partner whose style
meshes well with mine, assumptions are always made!

Can I just say that (just how we learn in He's Just Not That Into You) if a
man wants to date you, he will make that known. And the same follows for
women!! For pete's sake - if I want to date you, I will make it abundantly
clear, I promise. Also, considering that the swing and blues community is
generally friendlier than your usual bunch, be stupid obvious if you want
to ask someone out! A great example is this: 'Hey, I'd really like to take
you on a date sometime!'

If you don't mention the word date, I will assume we're just hanging out as
friends. This will make me want to go purchase a gun to  use on you when
you make a surprise visit to my house upset that I don't want to date you,
because you thought we were already dating!

Yeah, that actually happened to me. 

I have a confession to make!

And absolutely 0% of people who know me will be surprised.

I am a hippie. Okay, not in every sense of the word (I would definitely NOT still drive my beast of a 95 explorer if I was a true hippie... although it says something about my commitment to using a product until it is truly dead!) BUT in terms of how much I care about what I eat and put on my body, I certainly fit the bill.

I mention in my About Me post that I try to live a Paleo lifestyle. I eat delicious, high-quality food devoid of processed anything, grains and dairy. I drink coffee with coconut milk, and prioritize what I eat and how it is cooked more than most people, let alone most people my age! I also do my best to avoid exposure to as many chemicals as possible. My deodorant is ordered online from a shop on Etsy (Although I did recently read a post that has inspired me to try making my own! The kind I currently use has a lot of essential oils and I feel like it's been irritating my skin a bit.), I use coconut oil instead of lotion, and a tooth powder instead of toothpaste!

But, I am about to cross a line I have never crossed before. The line where I stop using shampoo and conditioner! Okay, before you develop the permanent opinion that I am gross, please check out this post on the subject!

This girl simplifies it in the perfect way!

"For this cheap, super simple routine, Baking Soda clarifies and removes build-up and Apple Cider Vinegar restores your scalp’s natural pH balance."

I have tried using the 'natural' shampoo and conditioner options out there, and to be honest, they are super expensive, and quite often there is still gluten lurking in the ingredient list!!

So in keeping with my hippie (save-the-planet-and-money-whenever-you-can) attitude, when I realized that I'm nearly out of shampoo it occurred to me that it was the perfect time to try the no 'poo method!

I'm preeeetty apprehensive about this whole thing, but hey, I'm single so really the only ones who might complain are my roommate or the girls that sit near my cubicle at work!

Honestly, the true confession of this post is that in my mid-twenties I am dealing with acne for the first time of my life. It's totally embarrassing and I'm actually getting anxiety about possible scarring! 

I did get a helpful suggestion from a friend to try cutting eggs out of my diet, and it has helped immensely! Still trying to find that solution though, so I will keep you updated!

Telling others what you need

This is a crucial element to ensuring that you are living the life you want
to be. It is also something I have always struggled with and will probably
struggle with for quite some time. Surprising as it may be, no one has the
ability to read minds. If you don't tell those around you, with words
and/or actions, what you want, they will not know!!

 

 

I still really struggle with this. Most of the time, I'm concerned that I
will offend someone or make them upset. So, I try to turn my internal
dialogue around and ask myself how important the situation is to me. If it
concerns my ability to work, sleep or be comfortable at home or work, I try
to be firm in my communication, but still friendly and fair.

I had this odd dream night before last, where I was showing this man a brand new Xbox and game, and was overcome with the knowledge that he was about to steal it. I leaned forward and asked him if he could see the scissors that I was holding in my hand. He replied yes and I then calmly informed him that I would stab him in the femoral artery if he tried to steal my stuff. He grabbed another set of scissors and was about to attack me when I woke up. I was puzzled by this dream all day, and then mentioned it to my dad last night and he made an interesting comment. He said that in a strange way, it represented me standing up for myself.

Most of the time, you need to reach a compromise with someone and the most important thing to remember is that neither of you will be 100% happy with the outcome, but knowing that you reached an agreement that ensures as much happiness for both of you should make it worth it!

Anyone else feel like life is just one learning experience wrapped in
another? I know I sure do! It's a good thing I love to learn...

In other news, check out my awesomely fantastic new rain boots!!!

[Hunter Rain boots: on sale here!}