AddicTiON!

I admit it. I'm totally addicted to

1. Popcorn (but you knew that)
2. Lions (up there with popcorn)
   
3. Nikeplus.com (you've guessed that if you talk to me on any kind of regular basis)
   
4. Crazy japanese stationery
   
5. Beautiful unique stationery
6. Fun and festive stationery
7. Lion stationery (if I could ever find some!)
   
8. Tactile stationery
9. Handmade stationery (okay, i admit i would normally just say "Handmade cards", but you sense the theme, don't you?)
10. Stickers to decorate stationery
    
11. Did I mention stationery?

Seriously, I think I may have a teeny problem. Even though I went to the store with the express purpose of buying new jeans, I didn't come out with jeans and I also didn't come out with the cash I had.

I did find a good pair of jeans, but they were pretty expensive and I wasn't ready to make the commitment. (You know - running, eating healthy...makes you trim up and then my jeans wouldn't fit the same in a couple of months.) They were around $100, and the most I've spent on jeans to date has been $60.

Instead, I browsed every stationery store that there was in the mall and spent about as much as I would on the difference between normal jeans and expensive jeans. But instead of jeans, I now own a lot more stickers and stationery.

And to think I scold my brother for buying things for himself right before his birthday. Well, friends and family, if you are looking for gifts to get me for my birthday and currently tsking your tongue at me.. NEVER FEAR...as you can see (a) I can't get enough stationery and (b) I didn't buy those lovely jeans that I so wanted. (wink wink, nudge nudge, know what I mean, know what I mean)


---Update---
Well, well, well. Who knew the immense powers of blogging? THANK YOU, Family, for my awesome new jeans!! I LOVE them! They look great and feel soooo comfy! I'm so excited!!! I'm doing a little dance.

Great in 2008!

This is shaping up to be a pretty good year so far...

First, I actually completed my resolution last year! Which was something to celebrate when the clock struck midnight. Then I took it further and added to it this year!! Last year I minimized my intake of mixed beverages (hard alcohol) to 2 mixed drinks per Quarter. This year I've limited myself to 4 beers and 2 mixed drinks max per Quarter, with unlimited wine. yum! (Next year is going to be tough if I decide to continue this little trend.)

Second, my brother and his girlfriend gave me the Nike+iPod system for Christmas. At first I was intimidated at the idea of having to workout in order to use this very thoughtful gift. I hadn't worked out in at least 6 months. I was terrified. But also dying to get back in shape since I no longer walk everywhere like I did in New York. Well, turns out this was exactly what I needed to get back on track. I started running (jogging) on January 6th and have kept pretty steady ever since. I'm totally psyched about working out now. I even throw a Yoga workout in there every so often. The Nikeplus website allows you to set a 2008 resolution and then set monthly goals to attain your resolution. My resolution is "If I don't run 3 times or 6 miles a week in 2008, I will give up popcorn." (Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep this running thing up.)

And of course, when you workout, you start eating a bit better. I've started making dinners at home again. I mean actual, balanced meals. Not just quesadillas from the quesadilla-maker (super delicious, don't get me wrong). I've even started taking leftovers into work the next day for lunch. So much better than the slim pickin's from our cafeteria where I usually order an Egg Salad sandwich or Quesadilla because the salad bar makes me sick. That's also a $$ saver!

Lastly, my sister reminded me that I have a blog. And you know what - I'm going to try to start writing again.

And THAT is a pretty darn good start to being "Great in 2008!"

2/9/08 - Oh yeah, and towards the end of 2007, I started cutting back on my coffee intake. I now drink only half caffeinated and half decaf coffee and am down to about one cup a day of the half-half mix. If I have two cups, I make the second one decaf. Fun!

Life is Good

Sunflower Guts!

Sometimes I feel guilty talking about the hippie neighbors upstairs. I mean, they are well intentioned. Also, I told them how much fun I had toasting the sunflower seeds that they gave me an entire bowl full of sunflower seeds, already removed from the flower!

I washed the seeds and laid them out to be toasted. Then I had a thought! Since the hippies were so nice as to already remove them from the flower, why don't I remove them from their shells. This way, when they are done toasting, they will be ready to eat, sans shell. Brilliant!



5 HOURS LATER...



I had the product you see below.



Left: Hulled shells, sans seeds
Right: Seeds, sans shells...Not much of a pile.

And some rather bruised thumbs. Ow!


I persevere (despite the thumbs). I lay the freshly hulled seeds out to be toasted.

Seeds a toasting in the dim toaster oven.

I was amazed to learn that the seeds still POPPED! Despite the lack of shell. I had thought, that perhaps the shell cracking was the popping noise I heard the first time I toasted sunflower seeds. But there they were - right in plain view. Sunflower seed popcorn was jumping off the foil like mad.

A little to quickly, too. Because, after five hours of intense labor, hulling seeds for easy and more delicious consumption...

I burnt half the product in just under 10 seconds.


Burnt and unburnt toasted sunflower seeds.

The upside is the ones that survived the carnage tasted pretty dang good.

And Andy wasn't complaining because he got to eat a bunch of tiny tasty sunflower seeds, in ten seconds flat. Plus, he likes burnt things.

Sunflowers Sun on Me

It's possible I'm totally oblivious to my surroundings. I'm not saying I am. I'm saying it's possible.

I live in New York, after all. There's a lot to take in. And, after the first couple of years, you learn not to look interested in your surroundings, avoiding all eye contact and walking briskly from point A to point B.

It was somewhat startling for me to discover a bushel of sunflowers in front of my apartment in early August. I mean, right outside my front window! IN FULL BLOOM! How did they get there? Were they there all summer? Do I really not pay attention?!

Everyday after I discovered the sunflowers, I made a point to take a moment outside my door and just look at them (and look around for any stalkers, people hiding in the bushes, or the like, which clearly I had not bothered to be alert to before.)

Here's something about my hippie neighbors that's nice. And hippie. Just yesterday, we bumped into each other outside the front door. They asked if I was enjoying the sunflowers. I said, "Why, yes. Did you plant them?" They said "Yes. Every summer." I asked how long the flowers had been in bloom. They said, "About a month, maybe a little more." (Phew! Maybe I'm NOT so oblivious.)

And THEN, they gave me a lesson in botany. Stripping an over-ripe (can you call it that?) sunflower of it's petals and soft plant fur, they revealed to me the seeds. Yep, sunflower seeds. Just like you buy from the store. You can toast 'em and eat 'em, or you can replant them for next summer. The hippies handed me the head of the sunflower for my eating enjoyment, with a warning to lookout for bugs.

I've decided to give it a try. Toasting sunflower seeds, that is. And because my sister likes sunflowers (and all flowers in general) I decided I would mail her some of the end product, if it turns out edible. (This will also serve as a test to see if she is keeping up with my blog which she professed so much interest in. Heehee.)

This is a quick photo synopsis of the process:

from left to right, top to bottom: 1. Pick sunflower in bloom; 2. Shuck sunflower seeds from center of flower, dispensing of bugs, if any are present; 3. Rinse seeds thoroughly; 4. Dry seeds and weed out weak or hollow ones; 5. Spread out on flat pan, season if desired and toast; 6. package for consumption; 7. Find a test subject and enjoy!

As you can see, there are a lot of steps involved. It requires a lot of loving care. Drying off each little seed, weeding out the weak ones. What I'm saying is...preparing the sunflower seeds for consumption has taught me that, where I might be totally oblivious to my surroundings, I am not totally unaware and detached. I can focus on the little details. Maybe the fact of the matter is, I'm overly focused on the details, and I miss the big picture. Hm.

Anyway, while toasting the sunflower seeds, I noticed they started making a "popping" sound the longer they cooked. And so I concluded, Sunflower Seeds = the new, Mini Popcorn!

Mmm...Sunflower Seed Popcorn!

So, there you have it. Not all hippie neighbor happenings end in me mopping up the water from our bathroom floor. Sometimes it ends with a new popping obsession!

Pop Pop STOP

I eat a lot of popcorn. I'm serious. A LOT. Ask anyone that's every lived with me. I eat a bowl of popcorn a day. (Pictured below is the bowl.) Lately, it's become two bowls. That's a lot of popcorn.
My friends say, "That's okay, popcorn is good for you."

My physical trainer says, "That's okay, popcorn is good for you."

My doctor says, "That's okay, popcorn is good for you."

I ask them, "Yeah, but certainly AS MUCH popcorn as I eat can't be good for you?"

To which they all reply, "It's fine." "Better than something else." "It's not going to hurt you."

How am I suppose to cut down on the eating or stop this excessive behavior if everyone's so positive about my obsession? Sure, it's cute. It's unique. It makes me ME. But, honestly, the main problem here, besides the kernels stuck in the teeth, is the GAS.

I'm a vegetarian. I already have a lot of gas. And what is popcorn, anyway, but a bunch of puffy white fiber balls just waiting to balloon out in my stomach. (I also eat way too fast for fear someone will one day share my obsession and eat more popcorn than me. This is perhaps a separate issue owing to the fact that I grew up in a family of five kids, me being on the younger end of the totem pole and having to fight dually hard for my rations. Rations being cookies, gummy bears, sinfuls, peanut brittle, "chicken" salad and of course, popcorn.)

So, please, I LOVE popcorn. But I hope that I can one day find someone who will at least say, "You know, maybe you should make smaller portions. You know, if it's just going to be you eating it."

To which, in reply, I will probably pop a third bowl of popcorn.

Anyone want to go to the movies?