"all i've got at home is two dogs and four cats and six bunny rabbits and two parakeets and three canaries and a green parrot and a turtle and a bowl of goldfish and a cage of white mice and a silly old hamster! i want a squirrel!!"
-veruca salt, in roald dahl's "charlie and the chocolate factory".
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hi there.
do you challenge yourself occasionally? do you stretch yourself to your limits? do you follow through? do you look for the solution as you move through life? are you flexible?
these are all things i'm working on.
have you seen this video - "make it count" ?
i love that video. it's full of great quotes and has an inspiring story that makes me want to push through any and all personal obstacles + keep aiming higher and living life to its fullest.
there are classes on this sort of thing...
:::
eating gluten-free last week turned out to not be too much of a challenge for me (except for that night out with marley's class at that great italian restaurant where i couldn't resist a bowl of spicy pasta, while listening to the giggling antics of a table of pre-teens...). other than that, a gluten-free cake-walk compared to the water week! (haha).
it helped that my husband was hugely supportive (thanks you).
:::
we ate mostly gluten free oatmeal + whole grain cereal (without gluten), boiled eggs, greek yogurt with fruit, chicken breast or rice with pesto, lots of salads + handfuls of nuts. beans. smoothies. grass-fed bison + broccoli + corn.
what's happened because of it, is that we have both re-launched our appetites for simple, whole foods.
the ultimate goal now is to spend 80% of the time eating nutritious, fortifying foods and allow a little cheat room for the occasional treat (in moderation). we're still figuring out what constitutes a treat, but i'm thinking cocktails on the weekends, homemade desserts, that kind of thing.
we have been food conscious for a long time, but we seem to be getting even more food-aware now that we're in our 40's, trying to make a lifestyle change that works for all of us, keeping us healthy, fit and strong.
:)
here are a couple links describing the benefits of eating whole foods. Here, here and here.
:::
creatively around the house, i am just trying to get this quilt project done. it's taking me ages, but i'm having a lot of fun working on it. this is just the top. the plan is to turn the whole thing into a slipcover for an enormous lounge pillow we have, that we love to pile up on loaded with books. but the pillow has a tacky old cover we're tired of looking at. i'm thinking that with the new cover, we'll read even more books. we'll just naturally want to sit there and read, enjoying the handmade goodness of the new slipcover.
happy monday :)
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gosh. the hair obsession continues. just found another great hair tutorial at ::a beautiful mess:: for a messy top knot. it makes me want to trim long bangs. and here's another one for braiding a reverse crown. cute!
:::
so, i've decided to do a 'gluten-free' diet challenge for next week, monday thru friday. we are not gluten free in this house, but i do notice that we tend to mix up our grains a bit more and eat more nourishing foods when we don't have wheat to fall back on. it takes a little more planning but i'm game. anyone else want to play along? maybe i'll do a photo post at the end of next week with all the meal alternatives we come up with + talk about how easy or hard it was.
a friend recommended i read "wheat belly", all about the benefits of eliminating wheat from your diet. i'm sort of afraid, knowing it might prompt me to move in that direction and i happen to love baking, mostly with wheat. but there are a ton of no-wheat baking alternatives out there these days + i have multiple foodie friends who have eliminated wheat from their diet who seem to be flourishing so...
:::
happy friday!
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oh my goodness, more braids. i love the internet. i know what i'm doing this weekend.
1) marley, post cornrows; 1) succulent recovering from being nibbled by our cockatiels.
:::
in other news, my husband and i attempted a water challenge this week. the challenge was to drink only water for 5 days. eat normally, just replace sodas, juices, teas, coffee, alcohol, etc. with water.
i failed.
a friend brought over a bottle of wine, and he has very good taste in wine, so...
plus i drank yerbe mate twice. at least twice.
but. i did drink more water than usual (challenge ends tomorrow night, btw, haha. love that i'm blogging about this now as if it's already over). i also noticed that i was hungrier than usual, so i stuck more closely with the eat-five-small-meals-a-day rule. Rather than filling in with mugs of coffee or tea, i'd grab handfuls of nuts and raisons, apples with almond butter, things like that and water, of course.
i think i'm going to try again soon. anyone else up for the challenge?
:::
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hello there.
we have had a restful spring break and now everyone is being hurled back into their routines, most of them against their will. oh for a lake and a hammock and a beckoning rowboat and the stillness of a sleepy dawn.
///
things high on our list these days:
watership down and really the whole inspiring story behind it of richard adams
(the benefits of) drinking (more) water
a wild search for the ultimate waffle recipe (haven't tried these yet)
///
lately we are experimenting with hair-dos. this is rather big for us, because normally we are a no-fuss kind of family in the hair department + walk around with big tufts of hair sticking out in odd directions, as though the birds had their way making nests while we slept.
i'm in awe of the amount of hair tutorials that are out there and how accessible that makes things like braids. things like sideways french braids and cornrows + fishtail braids. braids i never knew how to do before. i'm even starting to collect photos of hair-styles that i find beautiful on pinterest.
why so keen on hair?
for one thing, it proffers me the occasional cherished moment with my now tween daughter who is otherwise preoccupied these days, nose in a book, surrounded by friends. she sat for over an hour while i attempted cornrows. she sat with me.
some of my favorite hair tutorials i've found around the internet lately:
et voila. momentary hair bliss.
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the rest of this week and next, i've decided that my mission is to act on desire, rather than fear of failure or fear of the unknown.
actually, i'd like to make this way of thinking a new part of my life. a permanent part of my life.
i am going to watch my kids carefully, for they are experts in this department.
it takes between 15 and 254 days to form a new habit. think i can do it?
:)
happy friday :::
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1. steamy view from the mondrian, 2. crosby street, 3. ham + cheese and a hazelnut hot chocolate from balthazar's, 4. another mondrian view, 5. chris, backstage, warming up, 6. a favorite spot for coffee + hip jackets.
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there have been so few photos taken lately. so few posts composed. so little cello playing.
but there are dolls completed.
there is lots of travel.
lots of hand holding + the seeking and enjoying of truly good food and cocktails.
there has been a bus ride or two, several rock shows + a brave stab at meandering through the crowd.
the making of walnut cake, eaten with whipped cream.
many important conversations had and a few things dismissed.
one book started and then stopped and another picked up.
there has been an art class begun.
the grieving of a lost pet.
a newfound interest in jumping rope and quite a few late nights.
i am all caught up on the walking dead and american horror story and am now looking for something new to sink my teeth into.
any ideas?
here are the dolls + happy weekend to you:
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