Monday, January 26, 2009

For Goodness' Sake

I've been eating these super-hippy shakes lately for breakfast and sometimes even for dinner! I mocked Ken for bringing home protein powder a few weeks ago, but it turns out that stuff is my friend, and when you put it in a blender with some berries and yogurt and milk, you can throw in a handful of spinach and not even notice.

Hippy Hippy Shake
(adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

- 1/2 c skim milk
- 1/2 c nonfat plain yogurt
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (we have Designer Whey, but you know, whatever you like)
- generous handful of spinach (I probably throw 2 cups in there)
- 1 T ground flax seeds (here's where it gets all hippy-like)
- 1/2 c frozen berries (I like strawberries best)
- 1 T agave nectar (mmm... hippy sweetener) (optional; you could also use honey or maple syrup)

Directions: Blend. Drink.

I'm also waaaay into oatmeal these days, and pretty much just thinking about it makes my mouth water. I make McCann's Quick-Cooking Irish Oats (mmm... endosperm).

Gillian's Mouth-Watering Oatmeal
(adapted from Clean Eating Magazine)

- 1/2 c oats
- 1/2 c skim milk
- 1/2 c water
- 1 tsp almond butter
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 T ground flax seeds
- cinnamon
- salt (get the good stuff for this - it's expensive but so worth it)

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring, until it turns into oatmeal. Remove from heat and stir in almond butter, honey, and flax seeds. Sprinkle with cinnamon and salt. Enjoy with a cup of Earl Grey tea in your favourite mug.

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Happy Inauguration Day!

Happy, indeed.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Inspiration


A friend put a link on Facebook to one of his friends' most amazing Flickr photostream (seriously, I could spend days looking at her pictures, which are mostly of pages from her illustrated journal). That inspired the treatment of this photo of Hermosa Beach. I used Poladroid (via Amy) to get the Polaroid effect, then added the drop shadow in Photoshop. Fun!

Sunday, January 18, 2009

DYKWIL?* Volume 5

1. Hot chocolate (especially the spicy kind!) on a cold January afternoon.

2. Psyching myself up to run for 30 minutes and stepping on the treadmill just as a new episode of "30 Rock" is starting.

3. This little beast:


* Do you know what I love?

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Feline Bliss


Feline Bliss
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

Some friends came over today to eat eggs and waffles and apparently, to pet Memphis. She wasted no time in coopting Jessica's lap and stayed there for most of the afternoon. As it was a mere 9°F (-12°C!) outside, I'd be quite happy to spend the afternoon napping as well.

Friday, January 16, 2009

Stop, Collaborate and Listen

For the last few months I've been trying to become a better listener. A friend of mine (who is my inspiration for lots of things lately, holla Ali!) told me that she did this a few years ago, consciously, and I've been trying since she told me.

It turns out that listening is harder than it sounds.

When someone tells me a story, I have a tendency to want to share a similar experience. I've always thought of this as a form of commiseration, almost like I'm giving the other person *permission* to feel however he or she feels. I considered it a way to let him or her know that it's OK to have experienced that, because I have too! Like, I felt the same way once, so it's totally cool that you do - let me tell you about it!

In most cases, however, I interrupt you to tell my own story. And I've realized that when I do that, you don't usually finish your story, and the conversation derails (thanks in part to my compulsion to add at least 50% unnecessary backstory/detail to any story I tell). Not much permission there, and not much listening going on either.

So, I'm working on that. If you notice me interrupting you, let me know - I promise I'll try to listen.

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Christmas Hangover

After many festive Christmas celebrations in Waterloo, we're back in NY just long enough to unpack, catch the Rockettes tomorrow night, then repack for a quick trip to Los Angeles for New Year's. Then we'll start Hotbody January to burn off the Bailey's. It was all worth it, of course.

P.S. Remember Charlie, the young lad for whose birth I undertook the Amazing Race almost two years ago? He's becoming quite a character.

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Merry Christmas Eve!


Snow Globe
Originally uploaded by Kitty LaRoux.

We're flying to Toronto for a few days and will return Monday with bellies full of Mom's homemade cookies and a CF card full of pictures of Charlie. Merry Holidays everyone!

Monday, December 22, 2008

Christmas Cookies!


Christmas Cookies!
Originally uploaded by hickswright.

I didn't take any pics of this year's Christmas Cookie-Baking Festivities, but as it was one of my finest showings I'm very grateful that Tyler did! At one point I had not one but TWO KitchenAid stand mixers whirring away. Good times. If you haven't yet made the Chocolate Toffee Cookies over at Smitten Kitchen, hie thee to the kitchen! And save a couple for me, because they sure didn't last long around these parts.

Sunday, December 21, 2008

Still A Runner!

I just returned from a 4 mile run. I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've voluntarily gone running in close-to-freezing temperatures, especially with a plethora of excuses not to go (it's almost dark, the sidewalks are icy, there's a container of eggnog in the fridge that will almost certainly go bad if I don't drink it, mixed with rum, in the next 10 minutes). After all, I did drop a benjamin on a pair of fleece-lined Lulu pants for days like these.

Happy Winter Solstice!

Saturday, December 20, 2008

A Very Special Caturday

My company generously gave everyone everyone a Flip MinoHD for Christmas, and I will be using mine to do what any self-respecting cat-owner wielding a camcorder would do: Put video of my cat on the internet.



Featuring a sonata composed by Ken!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Not A Creature Was Stirring

The following is an annotated series of text messages from Ken earlier this evening.

Success!*

Plus I saw [ex-coworker #1] AND [ex-coworker #2].

Plus I found a dead mouse in my shoe.

Plus it may have been there while I was seeing them last night.

s/seeing/wearing**

Plus I'm eating a Vietnamese sandwich.***

*He'd been picking up a package at the post office for me! What a guy.

**Geek for "I meant wearing, not seeing, in that last message."

***Hanco's bánh mì. I was very jealous.

I don't even know how to follow all this up, except to say that when I asked him more about the mouse, he said he found it as he was taking his shoes OFF. He'd had his shoes on WITHOUT SOCKS and had been wearing them for approx. an hour before he investigated a lump in the toe only to discover the rodent in question. AN HOUR. His toes were touching a dead mouse for SIXTY MINUTES.

No wonder Memphis was so interested in his shoe earlier this morning.

Wednesday, December 03, 2008

Treats!

A couple of weeks ago I finally made good on my promise to pay it forward: Brianna, Kajal, and Tyler were all recipients of Chocolate Chip Cookies 2 Ways: The heavily-blogged NYTimes recipe (which I have to admit, totally lived up to the hype), and Martha Stewart's Thin & Crisp variety (very different from the NYT recipe, and also very delicious).

Tyler Griffin PhotographyTyler's now playing over on his blog, and there's still one comment up for grabs. I suggested he gift a pack of postcards showcasing his amazing photography, and he's also an excellent baker. So if you're a blogger, you might want to head on over to leave a comment for Tyler!

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Up And At Them

Thanks, friends, for all your supportive comments! I'm happy to report that I felt much better today, and even went outside, where I learned that Winter had started since I'd been inside, and I was tempted to return to my den to hibernate until Spring. By now I'm sure all interested parties have googled my affliction, so I'll spare you the details. (It really isn't that exciting, although the treatment is a hoot.)

Here are some things I learned while spending five days at home. Please note that I spent three of these days in bed, and two of those I was delirious.

1. My upstairs neighbours have a cleaning person who comes on Wednesdays. Their vacuum is very loud. And the cleaning person is very thorough. And may wear clogs (like, the Dutch wooden kind).

2. I am a terrible, terrible housekeeper. I saw so many cat-hair tumbleweeds and dust bunnies while I was huddled under the covers in a ball, staring at the radiator, that today I texted my neighbours to get the name of their clog-wearing cleaning person. [Richie.*]

3. CBS.com has 4 seasons' worth of the original and awesomer "90210"!

4. The fourth season of the original and awesomer "90210" is not enough to entertain a person through a week of being sick, evenespecially if that person is delirious for two of the days.

5. Memphis sleeps behind a box in the closet. I don't even know how she can get back there. Weirdo.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

P.S. Meredith said "Richie." on "The Office" tonight which is totally a shoutout to this blog. Holla!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Me, My Kidney, and I

I have a kidney infection.

I wasn't going to blog about this but by now any of my co-workers who read UFF know why I haven't been at work this week anyway, and since my diet of apples and chocolate milk hasn't caused any sort of remarkable weight loss (which, really? that would have been the one upside to this whole ordeal), they won't suspect that I've been away at a spa retreat. Trust me, it's been no retreat.

Last night I felt particularly crappy and Ken was out at class, so I called my mom. When she answered the phone I promptly reverted to being seven years old by blubbering, "Mommy, I'm so sick!" [-10 Dignity Points] Anyway, she was awesome. She gave me all the best Mom-advice possible.

Mom: You need to drink lots of water. Are you drinking lots of water?
Me: Yes.
Mom: Gillian, *promise* me you are drinking lots of water.
Me: I am. And apple juice, and chocolate milk.
Mom: Well, the apple juice is good, but not too much chocolate milk.
Me: I'm drinking two half-cup servings of chocolate milk per day.
Mom: Oh that's fine, as long as it's not a quart a day!

Apparently she'd mistaken me for her other child.

Also, I wasn't kidding about eating *only* apples and chocolate milk. Last night I spread some almond butter on the apple slices 'cause I was feeling wild. So I talked to Mom about whether she thought getting some Ensure or something like it would be a good idea.

Mom: Yeah, sure, that can't hurt.
Me: OK, I think I'll go get--
Mom: Oh no, you won't go get it.
Me: It's OK, I'm going over to Leslie's in a bit--
Mom: Oh no, oh no. You're not going anywhere. You're not to leave the house today, and I think not tomorrow either.

Which, yeah, considering I hadn't been out of bed for more than two hours at a time, and considering that I get a massive pounding headache every time I turn my head... She's probably right.

So then, for the first time in 15 years, I had to call my friend and tell her that I couldn't come over "because my mom won't let me."

[I do feel better this afternoon, and even though I stood her up last night, Leslie was awesome enough to send over dinner for tonight! Which is good, because I think we're out of apples.]

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Caturday Plotting

I knew it.

via Gill

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Geriatric

When I showed my friend T the picture of my hot hot sock, he immediately laughed and said, "Oh my God, you're SUCH a geriatric!" Then we ran home from work tonight, and oh my God, I am *such* a geriatric.

I haven't run since the half-marathon last month, save for 20 minutes here and there on the treadmill, which doesn't really count. For the first two of tonight's four miles, I felt like I haven't run in a year or more.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: That ain't me no more. Hotbody November is ON, People! In fact, I'm off to the gym for a little lifting and then a yoga class. Stay tuned.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Thursday, November 06, 2008

I'm Too Sexy For My Sock

Lately I've had a bit of pain in my heels, especially the left one. I'd chalked it up to the shoes I'd worn to run the marathon in September, which had already run too many miles before I went and added another 26.2. While we were in Berlin, I mentioned it to Meredith and Philip, both experienced runners and triathletes, and Philip suggested I might have something called plantar fasciitis. I'd never heard of that and figured that when I finally replaced my shoes I'd be A-OK. A few weeks and a pair of new running shoes later when I still had pain, Ken pulled out the ol' sports medicine bible and looked up PF. It described athletes at highest-risk for the condition as long-distance runners [check!] with high arches [check!], and worn-out shoes [check-o-rama!]. It might just as well have added, "especially if you are a red-haired Canadian girl with a penchant for red wine and things that are orange."

Yesterday I saw a sports medicine dude to have my hooves checked out and sure enough, I have plantar fasciitis. Thankfully, contrary to the advice in the sports medicine book, I don't need to take a break from running. Among other things like ice massages, I need to stretch my calves a lot. Fortuitously, last night I hung out with friends who are also runners. They told me about their experiences with plantar fasciitis and shared with me a neat little device that helps keep tension on the plantar fascia and alleviate symptoms.

And that, dear Reader, is how I came to be lounging on the couch wearing one of these:
I know. I'm turning myself on, too.