tiny treasures...a tall glass of water

raise your hand if you don't drink as much water as you should. okay, don't raise your hand, you'll end up looking weird. but let's just say we're all on the same page. so here's what i'm thinking...if we pour it, it will come. feel me? for this week's tiny treasure, let's all treat ourselves (for $5 or less, like the selections pictured here) to a really lovely glass or cup or water bottle to keep at our desks, on our counters or in our cars -- wherever we spend the most time. my theory is if it's there, and it looks pretty, we will use it. yes? worth a try, right?




all images

january stream of consciousness

my mind is in a zillion places this week, and there's so much i want to talk about with you that i have to just give it over to a stream of consciousness post...hope you're cool with that.

holly, of decor8 fame, says it best here on her other blog haus maus about the rush of thoughts that comes with the new year.

so, mitchell did an incredible job of organizing and decluttering at home while he was off from work last work, including my most favorite thing of all - he repurposed our now not-in-use bar cart as a "mancaddy," (his word. love.)

i have once again discovered the virtues of a light mani. loving mademoiselle right now. so sheer, so pale, almost too much so, but not quite. instead, it's perfect. next time, i plan on using an extra dose of top coat for super shine. i got said mani and threw in a pedi too, the first winter one i've had in a few years, i have to say, and it was glorious. the hot water and hot steam cloths felt even more luxurious with snow piled up outside. the pedi was totally necessary because...

i was starting yoga and had been forewarned that it was practiced barefoot. i took my first class with both of my parents (my mom almost couldn't control her laughter at one point) and it was great. so much harder than i thought it would be, but very gratifying too, and something i'm looking forward to getting good at. we went to a lovely little studio called om sweet om where they offer many, many yoga classes, acupuncture, chiropractic and meditation and reiki, which you might rememeber from my pre-surgical reiki healing circle experience. i loved all the yoga talk of balancing, sharing the weight of each pose evenly throughout one's body and quieting the mind while strengthening the body.

afterwards, we sat for a cup of coffee at sweet comfort cafe, a coffee shop in town that is so cozy and nice, and has the added appeal of providing employment opportunities for developmentally disabled adults, a population which has a 92% unemployment rate in new york state.

aside from copious amounts of decaf coffee with lots of skim, one of my favorite snacks has become blue diamond's 100 calorie packs of wasabi and soy almonds. spicy, a little sweet and very satisfying.

jennifer aniston's favorite snack is white peaches and string cheese. no wonder she looks like this.

and speaking of string cheese, have you tried the fresh mozzarella sticks from trader joe's? great invention.

and speaking of trader joe's, have you seen these cookbooks? we all know how great TJ's is, but these clever books aggregate some of the best TJ's finds and instruct on how to use them for easy cooking and entertaining. loves it.

another great healthy thing i've discovered, thanks to my loyal reader and awesome aunt jackie, is plain nonfat greek yogurt with some sugar free (or low sugar) jelly or preserves mixed in. since i haven't fully experimented with fresh fruit yet since my surgery, this is a great solution.

another jackie suggestion is exclusively recording shows you love in the room where you work out so you have to work out to watch them. desperate housewives here i come. and most of the own network lineup, you too. i also plan on recording khloe and lamar's show in there, with the rest of its kardashian brethren (or sisterhood, as it were).

and speaking of the treadmill, i was on it at 9:30 at night on new year's eve. now THAT'S the sign of a new year, i'd say.

namaste.

what are you thinking about this week?

top image, yoga image, sweet comfort image, jennfier aniston image

trick or treat

not to be messagey about something as innocent and fun as halloween, but i've given it lots of thought this year. i don't want to ignore it (like our crazy neighbor who thinks kids shouldn't worship the devil), but with obesity an epic epidemic in this country, especially in children, i've decided to make this year's candy bowl at our house full of everything but candy. add to the equation that i'm two weeks off a gastric bypass, i would find it a strange message to be doling out funsize snickers while i can still hardly bend over. feel me?

i hope my little trick-or-treaters will be pleased, and if not, maybe when they're grown-ups they'll remember that they have options the way i remember the people who gave out nickels and spider rings.

image from therabreath

a fall bounty

a couple weeks ago, my sister molly and i met our friend rebecca at the farmers market near our office at about 8 am. it was so beautiful to be there first thing in the morning on a cool, crisp fall day, and the morning sunlight streaming in created a totally different feel than i've felt at the farmers market before. it was like an otherwordly light filtering through all the layers of beautiful greens and colorful shapes.




as we perused, we talked about the ways we shop for produce and how to minimize waste and maximize the use of seasonal produce when it's at its best. just a few days before that, rebecca had emailed me to pose this question for discussion:

do you have a game plan when you go to the farmer's market? like, do you go there looking for particular things or with a recipe in mind? or do you just go and see what's there and figure out what you will make with it as you go along? it's just so hard to resist the beautiful things that they have there, especially when you don't know if it will still be available the following week.

so we walked and talked about this conundrum that i think a lot of people feel in some form. my personal thought is that it's a great idea to have a plan B for everything you buy at the farmers market. for example, you might see some beautiful squashes and peppers you want to try - interesting colors and shapes, and you have lofty goals of sauteeing or grilling them, drizzling with some herb-infused olive oil, blah blah blah. and that would be lovely. but if it doesn't happen, for whatever variety of reasons make things like that not happen, then you can have a plan in the back of your mind to make a big pot of chili on sunday to use up the things that never made it to their culinary promised land.

and about the idea of not knowing what will be available next week making it hard to pass over something particularly interesting, i say ask the sellers. one of the best things about farmers market shopping is that you're buying directly from the source (which is so nice in so many ways). they've known that huge eggplant since it was this big. so they'll gladly tell you when things will be available and when they won't, even when they're at their peak. and they can also give you ideas of how to prepare each specimen if you're not sure.


one of my favorite things at the farmers market is seeing vegetables in their full, uncut form. it totally makes them more exciting to use, though it can sometimes be a little intimidating. seeing them (and buying them) that way makes me feel even more connected to the true source of this goodness, and that's really something to feel good about it, especially in a food world that we know is over-processed and so very disconnected from its source and its intended form.

i was happy to see all the gnarly and huge heirloom tomatoes (the uglier the better, right?) after last year's tomato issues. these are the kind of tomatoes that just sliced on a plate are a showstopper.


what have you been buying at the farmers market? and do you have a system or strategy to share?






some more honey living farmers market posts:

fresh ideas
local harvest
on the grid
good and green

cat naps

aren't afternoon naps the best? up until pretty recently, they weren't a practice of mine, but after years of hearing my friend kelly sing their praises, i started and let me tell you...best new discovery ever, and i hope the summer that starts this weekend is full of them.

here's my favorite scenario for a weekend summer day: wake up early, procure a big iced coffee, visit a farmers market, run errands, chat on the phone, hit a few tag sales...and then home. i'd love to sit outside and have the breeze lull me to not-quite sleep, and then retire inside to a dark, cool room and drift away. then i love to wake up slowly, no alarm clock involved and have an air-conditioned, tv-watching night in.

what's your favorite kind of summer day?

photo from easy art

dressed up in love

WOW. amazing, right? i think this deserves a listen to this song, from the last satc movie (the song from the new one bores me).

so happy for j hud!

photo from she finds

priceless smiles

when you think about the best moments you have frozen in time on film, most of them probably involve a smile. my favorite smiling photo is above, in the very first moments of being husband and wife. our smiles in this picture say something that words just can't.

tweetmysmile, brought to you by the same people as tweetmystyle and tweetmybag which you might remember from the rebecca minkoff bag giveaway, is asking everyone to take just a moment to upload a photo of yourself smiling. for each smiling photo the site receives, $1 will be donated to the smile train , a charity which funds cleft lip and palate surgeries in developing nations. you will also be entered to win stuff!

really, there's just no reason not to do this. spread your smile! go to tweetmysmile for instructions. all you need is a twitter account which takes literally three seconds to set up. you only have until friday!

in the (gym)bag

i'm loving these fun, bright workout duffles from old navy. there's something kind of 80's fab about the whole look, and i'm sure we all know that any modicum of fun that can be attached to the gym is a good thing. for only $15 each, it's an even better thing.

small details like the side-drawstring action make them a little different, and there's a separate compartment on the bottom for dirty clothes. love that!

i love the words "get active, get going" printed on the side of all of them, but for some extra motivation (and an extra $4.50), there's the motivational print workout duffle, in pink or black.

get active! get going! or at least...get a cute bag!

all photos from www.oldnavy.com

on another planet

i have to share my latest favorite place with you, and it's not the library this time (though i do still deeply love the library). mitchell and i are both working very hard on getting healthy and improving our overall lifestyle. as part of this effort, we joined planet fitness.

well, actually, i shouldn't really say we. mitchell joined, but because his black card membership allows him to bring a guest every time he goes, it means i can go with him every single time for no additional charge. his membership also includes unlimited tanning (who tans anymore?) and unlimited use of their massage chairs. and here is the (amazing) deal: he paid $33 to sign up, and will pay a $40 annual fee in june. on top of that, the monthly fee is $19.99. and that's it. oh, and most locations are open 24 hours.

the gym itself is pretty no-frills - a giant room with plenty of machines and weights - and there was really no scene at all. just a bunch of people working out at their own pace and then going on with their days. to me, it's so important that a gym like this finally exists - belonging to a gym should be accessible and affordable - for everyone. it shouldn't be a privilege.

planet fitness prides itself on being a judgement-free zone and even though i wanted to feel like that didn't matter, it was pretty nice to know we were somewhere that identifies itself so clearly that way. it's just about getting and staying healthy, and nothing else. here is the message posted prominently on the wall:

we at planet fitness are here to provide a unique environment in which anyone – and we mean anyone – can be comfortable. a diverse, judgement free zone where a lasting, active lifestyle can be built. our product is a tool, a means to an end; not a brand name or a mold-maker, but a tool that can be used by anyone. in the end, it’s all about you. as we evolve and educate ourselves, we will seek to perfect this safe, energetic environment, where everyone feels accepted and respected. we are not here to kiss your butt, only to kick it if that’s what you need. we need you, because face it, our planet wouldn’t be the same without you. you belong!

love it.

photos from www.projects.frchld.com, www.detroit.metromix.com, and www.planetfitness.com

go red!

so do you know all about GO RED? i have to be honest, i really didn't until reader and friend joyce let me know. and tomorrow is GO RED day! of course, it's to promote education about women and heart disease (#1 killer of women)... seems like a good cause to me. i think i'll wear a pashmina in the red family tomorrow - yet another reason why having pashminas in most colors is just good common sense.

i also thought this was a good time to share some of my favorite red things i've been bookmarking to show you...



sign up on the go red for women site and receive a red dress pin and stay informed of events and developments.



and if you're in the new jersey area, check out joyce's very own work at overlook hospital's annual cardiac health fair at the short hills hilton (really nice hotel, btw - okay i digress). call 1-800-247-9580 for registration and details.

thanks for the tip joyce. what will you wear in red tomorrow, lovely readers?

paintings from terracegallery on etsy, framed print from crate and barrel, fu dog bookends from cb2, bowl from juliasadorabowls on etsy, red and white clutch from littleellie on etsy, bottom two photos from http://www.shopruche.com/