It's Been A While

So I haven't posted in a long, long time, and that is for two reasons. A) Work caught up a little and then I went on vacation, B) I forgot I had a blog and had to see Julie & Julia to remember that I did.

This morning I woke up and there was an autumn chill in the air. For some people this means thinking about apple picking, and cider, and leaves changing, etc. I think of these things too, don't get me wrong. But as I stepped out of my apartment into the cool air for my morning run all I wanted was a cheap beer and a football game to go to. This is probably because school is starting up, and in past years that has also meant Saturday football games at Boston College. Swarms of college kids and alums in Maroon and Gold would be swilling back Natty Light and grilling in the Mods or at their tailgating spot. Though I am sad to see summer end so quickly, the fall does indeed have a lot to offer...

As a side note to this, if you read the Wall Street Journal this week you know that Bud Light is now producing beer cans in school colors and distributing them locally to the appropriate schools. While this is a genius marketing ploy (I would even put down my Sam Adams on game day to drink a Maroon and Gold Bud) one must wonder, "How low will they go?"

Tasty Bit:

Summer is still upon us and Labor Day weekend is the big finale. May I suggest a beer can chicken? Yes, you stick a beer can, 3/4 full with two slits at the top, up a chicken and grill it standing up. Put a nice curry and garlic rub on it and the beer evaporates into the chicken making it moist and delicious. Julia Child would be proud.

Useless Wisdom:

Back in the day they drank more beer than water because beer was sure to not have bacteria living in it that could kill you.

The Deadly Hour

It's 1:30. You have just finished your lunch and lunch break. You feel a little sleepy and could use a nap and perhaps an episode of Real Housewives. But the day doesn't end until 5pm, and the afternoon looms in front of as this big, scary monster that is in between you and putting your feet up. This is the scary hour...

Why is it that from 1:30-2:30 pm I wrestle with trying to look busy and not fall asleep at the same time? It is exhausting and makes me think the Italians got it right. When studying abroad in Italy I thought it was absurd that Italy practically closes down from the hours of about noon until 2 for "pausa pranzo." This is so they can all go home, eat a big meal together, and rest before starting up the afternoon. I think this is a lovely idea, except as Americans we couldn't handle it. People would try to squeeze in errands, trips to the gym, doctor's appointments, etc. and that would defeat the purpose.

Fortunately, time does move eventually, and the afternoon saunters on...but I still need a nap...

Fishy Business

There is a new edition to my desktop at home...

Fletcher the Fish. He is a bright red betta and we shared our first breakfast together this morning- me a bowl of Greek yogurt and Kashi Go Lean cereal, him betta pellets made of dehydrated shrimp. I also bought a betta kit, which came conveniently with a tank, gravel, plant, water conditioner, food, and instructions on how not to kill my new friend. All for the happy price of $23.

As Fletch and I were eating this morning, watching the Today show, I started reflecting on how fast the summer has gone. As a child I remember the two months of freedom stretching out in front of me as a limitless horizon of summer fun; one that one go on seemingly forever, with school in the fall far, far off in the distance. These were the days that my dad would leave work early and we would all pile into the station wagon and go to the pool for the night, or when we would sleep on the floor downstairs in the family room with fans on high blast to keep cool in my un-airconditioned house. The tinkle of the ice cream truck's bell was always around the corner, ready to inspire a mad dash into the house for 50 cents (perhaps this is how I started to become a runner?)

These days summer takes on a vastly different form. It has become a handful of weekends that one feels compelled to cram with as much stuff as possible in order to reap the benefits of the season. By June 15th I already had every weekend booked through the end of August, and even into September. As a coworker complained to me yesterday, "Why can't people stop scheduling things!?! I just want one weekend to sit and do nothing!" Instead she was traveling all up and down Southern New England going to beach houses, cookouts, sporting events, birthday parties, etc.

Add on top of all this the fact that K-mart, Walmart, etc. have now started running their back to school ads in early July, no wonder summer melts away quicker than a popsicle in this heat. But what are we supposed to do? You can't say no to a friend offering a hot dog and cold beer with open arms, even if it is on the one night you had scheduled to do absolutely nothing. So for the rest of the season I am going to try to savor every moment from watering my plants, to the 5 minutes I spend sipping a lemonade in between running here and there. If we can find the essence of summer in the little moments, like listening to Jimmy Buffet on the way to work or tuning out those pesky ads for backpacks, then maybe we can stretch the summer a little longer.

Hey, is that the ice cream truck I hear?


Tasty Bit:

When using lemons in cooking try to use meyer lemons- they are sweeter and have less of the bitter rind.

Useless Wisdom:

Not actually useless if you are a pet owner- the number one cause of killing your fish is over feeding it. Yes it is cool to see them eat, but fish (like some people with dessert...me) just can't say no to another bite and will end up eating themselves to death. Try feeding every other day to make sure their little stomachs can handle it!

Tardy Times

Why does an extra half hour in the morning still make me 10 minutes late? Summer hours are a great way to show employees that you appreciate them and their time, and taking an extra half hour off the day in the summer is a great way to show them this. Unfortunately, I still find myself being 10 minutes late to work, even though I have more time in the morning!

Maybe it is because this morning I stood gawking at my new cilantro plant which sat happily next to the basil. Though plants are fun to grow, I have decided that herbs are the only way for me because I can eat them too. I would rather buy flowers and put them in a vase inside.

Maybe it is because I tried out my new smoothie recipe for breakfast. Mango, banana, milk, thick style yogurt, and whey protein. Smoothies are supposed to be easy and portable, but chopping up all that fruit and measuring everything is much more time consuming than my Special K!

Or maybe it is because I stopped to linger over the Today show and weather reports. I am supposed to run a 10 mile race tomorrow night, and doing it in the rain will not be fun for me or my iPod...

Maybe it doesn't matter how much time I have in the morning, I will perpetually be 10 minutes late because that's who I am... I can't sit and ponder this any more however, I am late to a meeting!


Tasty Bit:

Limoncello is a great summer drink for after dinner... or in the afternoon...or really whenever because when isn't it a good time for limoncello?! It is super easy to make too. Take the zest of three or four lemons and put them in a bottle or jar. Make some simple syrup (about 2/3 c of sugar boiled down in a cup of water) let it cool, and pour it over the lemon zests. Then add 1 1/2 cups of vodka. Screw the cap on tight, shake it up, and let it sit in a cool, dry place for 3 weeks. Chill before serving, and you may need to strain out some lemon bits, but it sure is good!


Pearl of Useless Wisdom:

The smallest bones in your body are in your ear and there are three of them and they vibrate back and forth from sound waves to help you hear. (lame, I know it)

You Don't Make Friends With Salad

My boyfriend likes to say this whenever I suggest the proverbial Seinfield "Big Salad" for dinner. Though like Elaine I do enjoy a big salad, I have very similar feelings toward desserts. When dining at a restaurant for example, or perhaps at a summer cookout, and someone hints at a fruit plate for dessert with perhaps a little whipped cream, I get angry and think, "Where's the chocolate?"

Basically, dessert to me must include something chocolate in order to be dessert. Or, if there is no chocolate present, it better be because I am about to eat something with caramel...or gooey cinnamon...or peanut butter...

Naturally, with this mindset I rarely order something for dessert that is fruit flavored unless chocolate is there to make darn sure what I am eating is indeed dessert. Imagine my surprise at liking, no, LOVING the strawberry cupcake from the Cupcakerie I just tried. The cupcake is a yellow cake, with local Rhode Island strawberries baked inside, and topped with a delicious cream cheese frosting. The buttery-ness of the cake, combined with the sweetness of the strawberries was delicious, and you could top just about anything in cream cheese frosting and I would eat it. Though there were other flavors to try most including some form of chocolate, I would easily reneg my "Where's the chocolate?" moto for this delightful little cake. Now all I need is a glass of champagne...


Tasty Bits:

Warning, this is inappropriate! For all of you who have not been on You Tube and seen the "I'm on a Boat" video by the Lonely Island, STOP what you are doing right now and watch it. I promise if you like Andy Samberg, boats or T-Pain you will love this.

Pearl of Useless Knowledge:

Beekeeping is actually called apiculture. Queen bees can live 3-4years.

Life is Short and So Am I

This is a bit of a sad day for me. I am reminded by the sudden illness of a dear grandfather that one minute a person can seem fine and be walking around like every other day, while in the next moment they can be gone...

Sorry for the depressing thought, but there is good that can come from these experiences as well. I lost my grandfather this year, and what I took away from that time was a life lesson that I think is invaluable. Death is inevitable. It is the nasty clincher to the deal of life- and everyone must go through it just as everyone is born. What I remember most from those days with my family mourning the loss of my grandfather are the stories that were told of his life. In this way I learned the value of celebrating the lives of those we love, instead of dwelling on what was lost.

The other lesson I learned is a cliche, but always a good reminder. As Dave Matthews states, "Life is short but sweet for certain." I am reminded that life is short, but through all the ups and downs there is a sweetness in living the human experience that should not be ignored. I once read that people in our day and age spend too much time trying to avoid pain and upset. We have developed innumerable coping mechanisms for shutting out discomfort and redirecting our attention to "fun" thoughts again. The article suggested that pain and grief are just as important emotions as pleasure and ecstacy; they are just the opposite end of our spectrum of emotions. We should experience those emotions in their reality (not through a fleeting scene in a sad movie) and let ourselves exercise that side of the spectrum. Much can be learned from processing pain, and it is a healthy, natural part of existence.

So, today I suggest letting someone know you love them, or smiling at a stranger (yes, that can be awkward) or even just sitting and processing something that has been a downer in your life you may have been ignoring. We cannot change what happens to us in life, but we can change how we react to it. So when life gives you lemons, and it will, make some limoncello and toast to being alive!


Tasty Bit:

I heard yesterday that there is going to be a third installment of the Bridget Jones series. I am conflicted by this as a) there is no 3rd book, so it is being based on Helen Fielding's newspaper articles, and b) the second movie was a huge disappointment. Bridget was made into a bafoon, and that is not exactly how the 2nd book portrayed her. The appeal of Bridget is the fact that she is the embodiment of female neurosis, and this makes her relatable. The 2nd movie made her ridiculous, and therefore far less relatable (the audience was laughing at her, not with her). Hopefully, she will regain her "inner poise" and it will be a good flick!

Useless Wisdom:

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince became the best selling midnight premier ever...We all know someone who stood in line at midnight I am sure. My sister did so with chopsticks so she and her friends could pretend they had wands...

We can Work it Out

Every morning that I go for my 7 mile loop around the East Side of Providence there is this one spot where an army of a thousand seemingly docile pigeons decide to fly up in my face right as I run by, nearly giving me a heart attack and causing me to yell out, "GAHHHHH!!!!"

So yesterday was my training session with Akon (not his real name, but he bears a striking resemblance to the singer so we will call him that). Akon met me at 6 and sat me down in an office to fill out some paperwork and get some info on me and my athletic background before taking me out on the floor to "train me." The questioning was fairly basic and expected- birthday, personal and family health history, athletic experience, etc. He then posed the question, "So if you could change or improve one thing about yourself what would it be?"

Now, I am not a Perfect 10 Model by any stretch of the imagination. But after a little over two decades on this earth and a lot of help and experience dealing with self perception, I am pretty content with how I look and my body. I've come to accept that there is no perfect, and I think that makes me more interesting. So as I sat back in my chair and thought about Akon's question, I had a hard time coming up with things I wanted to "Improve". I ended up saying that it might be nice to have a little more upper body strength, and a six pack (but I backed off on that one, women with six packs verge on creepy after the awe wears off) and joked that if he could prevent my little Irish skin from getting blistered in the sun that would be great.

Now, Akon is an attractive guy...very attractive. But then, most personal trainers are; I mean, they work out for a living. So naturally he draws some attention when walking around the gym floor. What started to irk me throughout the session however, was that Akon, though in the middle of a professional training session with me, took every opportunity to flirt with any woman on the floor who batted an eyelash at him. This was more than a little annoying...

Akon then weighed me in the middle of the gym ( I am tiny, but standing on a scale in a gym during the afterwork rush hour was not my ideal scene) and then proceeded to calculate everything he could about me outloud, as he wrote apparently everything that mattered about my health down on a chart in a series of numbers that meant little to me. The next step was to take me over to the mats where he gave me a 20 minute lecture on how I could improve my running (note: I said specifically at the beginning of the session in his office that I run for fun and am not interested in improving my times, etc.). Every time I tried to remind him that I just run because it makes me feel good he would tell me that was "subjective" and if I really wanted to improve I should do what he was telling me. Reminding him again that I didn't really feel compelled to improve only set him off on another tangent on how I could improve. Akon finished up the session by watching me bend and balance and almost fall over in a series of odd poses that he used to determine that I have what he called "a weak butt".

When the "training session" was finally over, Akon proceeded to tell me that for $70 he could "improve" me in three sessions. I kindly told him at this point I am living off of beans and peanut butter I am so poor, but thanks anyway. Akon took this opportunity to tell me to lay off the peanut butter because it was going to eventually make me fat, and "have you heard of portion control?"

Sitting in my apartment later that night I sat glumly eating my 1/2 cup portion of non-fat frozen yogurt feeling out of shape and stressed out. I had started the day feeling confident and strong. In Akon's office I hadn't been able to really come up with things I really cared to improve about my body. Now, I felt my butt was weak, and I was one spoonful of peanut butter away from a saturated fat induced heart attack. Apparently what I felt was "subjective", and therefore, not as real as Akon's numbers.

As I continued to stew in that, I started to get really angry. How had I let this professional meat-head tell me that his numbers were more important than what I felt? How had I let him turn my confidence into dissatisfaction? The concept of "self improvement" is a dangerous one, and I had let this pretty boy tell me that what I was fine with was apparently not good enough. I wanted to scream back in his face, "I ran two marathons damnit!!! I am strong and beautiful and I run to feel the wind in my face, not to improve my oxygen intake or ATP usage!!!"

You see, numbers really last only as long as you can see them, but how you feel about yourself is what you have to live with. I am healthy, I workout regularly, and I am happy with myself. Realizing this I took a deep breath, got up from my state of gloom, and happily got myself a second scoop of frozen yogurt...and a spoonful of peanut butter to wash it down.