Monthly Archives: February 2012

February Progress Report + March Intentions


It’s hard to know where to begin when talking about Progress this month. I hit the gas pedal hard on many things this month, but others came to a grinding halt. All in all, I felt off and mostly unbalanced. If I were going to make this post short and sweet I would say February: You Did It Wrong. My one intention for February was to read more and it was one of the MANY things I didn’t even make an attempt to accomplish.

What I *did* accomplish was a ridiculous amount of professional things and fun side projects and at least lucky for me “Move Towards Your Professional Goals” is on my list. Forgive me that I won’t talk about that stuff here, but you know the drill. Mark my words though: it was good. The question I really found myself asking towards the end of the month though was — was it worth it? And strangely enough, I’m not sure. I thought my grand professional goals were SUPER IMPORTANT but when I put all my efforts into making them happen, I felt — quite deeply — the loss of some of my simple pleasures.

So my intention for March is a clear one: Balance Work, Play and Love. And for me love includes nurturing my family relationships, friendships and of course, Garrett. While we did have multiple fun outings together, and also dinner with friends I want to get back to watering those roots. Also, if you can believe this, I’m looking forward to a month without significant travel. We’re going to Portland in April, I’d like to get out of town in May for Garrett’s birthday, and then there is a long Sonoma weekend in June. I think I’d like to just enjoy being around our house this month, if that’s okay. And you know what? I think it is.

I want to get back to some routine: Eating well, sleeping well, taking care of my body, and staying creative. I want to have a chance to work on mundane things like Home Improvement and fine tuning our finances (I know…SNORE!!! But I really want to.) I want to be more present here. I want to cook more food and take more pictures. I want to read more books and tell more stories.

So that’s the plan, Stan.

I don’t feel like February was a failure at all, but I do feel like I spent the majority of my resources in a way that only met the minority of my needs. I’m ready to change that. It’s time to jump in with both feet.

Ready!


What’s In My Spice Cabinet + 4 Delicious Blends You Should Try

I LOOOOOOOOOVE spice drawers. I mean, that’s my Pinterest porn flavor if you know what I mean. A well organized, well stocked spiced drawer makes my heart go pitter-pat.

My spice drawer, while well stocked, had gotten to epic levels of DIS-organization and it was making me want to pull my hair out. Wanna see it? I thought you would so I took a picture.
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This is like THE OPPOSITE of pinterest porn. Now imagine having to find something with which to cook? ARGH. Such a mess! By the way, Garrett walked in on me taking a picture of my spice drawer and just mumbled, “I’m not even going to ask…”

I had reached my wits end last weekend and left the house to find a solution. I ended up finding it at World Market in the form of adorable little 99 cent jars. Can’t beat a deal like that with a stick! Now my drawer looks like this:
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It sings to me when I walk by now, actually.

I repackaged all of my spices and slapped a handwritten label on them except for the ones from Penzey’s since those have recipes on the side and already come in pretty nice, non hideous containers. No need to print out anything fancy!

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Anyway, this got me thinking that I should share 4 of my favorite herb blends/spice rubs with you. The ones that I use ALL THE TIME and are so easy to mix up yourself. So the next time you want to spice up your life a little, perhaps try one of these?

Homemade Taco Seasoning

I make this all the time because it is delicious, the recipe is for a huge batch and it works for a million different things. I brown meat for salads and mix it in. I add it to vegetables as a side dish with spicy food. I sprinkle it on taco salads when I want it a little extra flavor. So versatile!

Original Source: Food Renegade

Mix all of the following:
1/4 C. plus 1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
1 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
1/4 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1 1/4 tsp. Dried Oregano
2 1/2 tsp. Paprika
2 Tbsp. plus 1 1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Sea Salt
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. Black Pepper

Herbs de Provence

This is such a delicious mix and my absolute secret ingredient for the best tasting caramelized onions on the planet. Remember this recipe? Herbs de Provence is a MUST! It’s also really delicious and in eggs a fancy way to zshush up chicken. The lavender makes it interesting without being weird!

Original Source: The Herb Gardener

Mix all of the following:
5 tablespoons dried thyme
3 tablespoons dried savory
2 tablespoon dried marjoram
5 tablespoons dried rosemary
1 ½ tablespoons dried lavender flowers

Paleo Friendly Mesquite Seasoning

I love the smokey sweet combo of mesquite but most blends have lots of added sugar. This one has great flavor, but only incorporates a bit of palm sugar. Truth be told, I have made it without and it’s completely delicious!

Original Source: Cooking with Cory
1 Tbsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. ground chipotle pepper
1/2 tsp. dried, crushed rosemary leaves
1/2 tsp. dried marjoram leaves
1/4 tsp. dried sage leaves
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1/8 tsp. ground dry mustard
1 tsp. palm sugar (optional)

And last but not least,

The Best Chicken Rub Ever.

I am totally obsessed with this recipe. It’s such an interesting combination of warmth and flavor and it makes grilled chicken breasts seem like the most interesting dish in the world. And if you know me at all, you know I am much more partial to the chicken thigh…so if I’m saying that, you know it’s a must try!

Original Source: The Clothes Make the Girl

Mix all of the following:
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 tablespoons curry powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Mel’s cookbook Well Fed is actually a pretty awesome repository of great spice blends. It’s one of my favorite things about it!

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So do you have any MUST-TRY spice recipes that you use regularly in your kitchen? Leave them in the comments, I’d love to try them out!


What’s Happening This Week?

So I had all sorts of fun things lined up to tell you this weekend and then on Friday morning one of the hard drives on our computer died.

AWESOME.

We are actually pretty good at backing things up (and by “we” I mean Garrett, of course — credit where credit is due) but it was a wee bit of drama there for a second. Garrett spent most of the weekend dealing with all the intricacies of that — insert computer talk here — and I spent most of the weekend figuring out what the hell we are going to eat this week. Both of those things prevented me from posting a What’s For Dinner post on a Sunday.

The main reason I didn’t post a menu is because, well…It looks pretty boring this week. This week is our first foray into trying The Zone ratios (in combination with our already Paleo habits, so nothing is changing there) so I am not cooking in the most creative way while I figure my way around these new parameters.

**A quick note to acknowledge that I do realize it is kind of ironic that I am in the midst of talking about why I don’t like counting calories while I am in making some stricter changes in my own diet. For the record: Still not counting calories, but I thought it was worth mentioning. If you feel confused about where I’m coming from right now, rest assured that when I am done with the calorie counting series I think my entire philosophy will make sense. Those posts will spill out slowly so that I’m not talking all diet/food/calories all the time — because my god, there are other things to talk about like Gwyneth Paltrow at the Oscars in a cape! Did we love it? Hate it? — but it is something I want to get out there eventually, so expect another installment later this week.

Anyway — back to The Zone. For those of you who might be interested, I thought I would break down what it is and how it’s going to work in our house.

Current Status:

We currently eat an unweighed, unmeasured Paleo Diet. Diet as a noun, folks. Not as a verb. This means that 90 % of all of our meals consist of meat, vegetables, fruit, good fats, nuts, seeds and we make an exception for a small amount of dairy. (Also sometimes we make exceptions for weekend long binges on wine and Nutella donuts. What can I say, life happens and usually when we do this I becoming even more in love with Paleo. Sometimes I want to kiss it on the mouth.)

We don’t portion things, weigh things or count things — we just eat a metric ton of vegetables with meat. Easy peasy. And if I was maintaining my weight, this is exactly how I would eat all of the time. But right now I’m looking to keep losing, so I’m dialing it in a little more.

Enter The (Paleo) Zone

One of the most concise things I’ve ever read about the Zone Diet is right here. But to give you the cliffs notes, The Zone Diet involves eating your food within a strict ratio of carboyhydrates/protein/fat (40-30-30), every few hours, which keeps your insulin, glucagon and eicosanoids (hormones! woot!) at optimal levels for fat burning.

Oh my god, are you asleep yet? Ok, just checking.

Timing and Ratios are important, so I’m going to spend some time being a little more disciplined about that over the next few weeks. What I’m committed to doing though, is not deviating from my regular Paleo Diet — I’m just going to dial in the “unweighed, unmeasured” part temporarily to see if my body could function a bit more efficiently. The important distinction I’m making is that The Zone allows for eating any foods (just about) if you eat them in the right ratio. I still plan to stick to meat, veggies, fruits, nuts and seeds. I do forsee temporarily incorporating a little more dairy in while I transition, but I don’t know that I’ll do that for the long haul. Dairy is something I tolerate okay, but I don’t always feel like I’m “thriving” when I eat it. But it’s an easy protein/fat combo. It will just take some time I’m sure.

The Numbers

For those of you familiar with The Zone, I’m going to be rocking the 13 block model for the next few weeks and Garrett is going to be adhering to 14. It’s based on the amount of body fat you have and your activity level. I was conservative with my activity level factor, but if I find that I’m starving or not recovering as fast as usual I might tinker with that factor. We’ll see.

Pounds-wise, I would just like to see the scale trending downward, so that’s what I’m aiming for. I’m going to give it my best shot, and we’ll see how it works. You know I will keep you all posted!

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Anything you want me to clarify, or that seems confusing? Let me know and I’ll do so in the comments.


Why I Won’t Count Calories


Source

Years ago I heard a doctor speak about some of the (many) problems with the current state of “health” care in our country. She gave an analogy that continues to give me perspective today, not only on health but about life in general. I’m not going to get political, don’t you worry, I actually don’t want to talk about our health care system at all, but the story is an interesting analogy that sets the stage for what I really want to say in these posts.

Imagine, she said, that your neighbor across the street has a bright, beautiful, green, leafy tree growing in his front yard. One day out of nowhere, the leaves begin to turn unseasonably brown and it becomes clear the tree is in distress. The neighbor heads down to Home Depot and comes back with brilliant green paint. He then takes the time to painstakingly apply a fresh coat to every individual leaf. And every day thereafter, there he is out front going through the same routine. Problem: Solution.

The three questions she posed to the crowd were:

*On a scale of 1-10, how effective of a strategy is this for addressing the immediate symptom of brown leaves?

*Now on that same scale, how effective of a strategy is this for addressing the long term health of the tree?

*Does this nut job with too much time on his hands get an invite to the next Block Party/BBQ?

(Ok maybe that last question was one that I threw in.)

Immediate vs. Long Term is an interesting distinction to make, I think. Sometimes when you focus on controlling a symptom rather than determining the root cause of the problem you can actually do damage in the long run. We often don’t take that factor into consideration, or at other times recognize it but think we will get to it later. None of this sounds too inflammatory, right? This isn’t a giant light bulb moment for many of you, I would guess.

But I think the even bigger point is that both the Immediate and the Long Term strategies take work. And in most cases, daily work. When you choose to address a problem, there is rarely an option for “Do Nothing” right? Well unless your problem is that you are in a full body cast. But that’s another post.

If you are going to address a problem — if you are committed to doing work — why not put those efforts towards addressing the root cause of something, rather than towards addressing the immediate symptom? I think of this philosophy every time someone mentions counting calories, and I often just want to shout from the rooftops “STOP PAINTING YOUR LEAVES GREEN!!!” But obviously then I would get strange looks and well, that’s sort of uncomfortable.

If you are trying to lose weight, there are MANY things to consider. I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not a doctor and I’m not an expert on everything there is to know about the human body. But I have lost 100 lbs and I did it without counting a single calorie. Yep, NOT A SINGLE ONE. So if nothing else, I’m living proof that it can be done, and it can be (gasp!) ENJOYABLE. You deserve to be living a life you love, and it not necessary to doing something you hate in order to get there. That advice is straight out of my mother’s mouth and after all these years I’ve realized that she’s a pretty darn wise woman.

***Please note, I did not say “If you don’t find counting calories effective.” I’m not going to tell you that it doesn’t work for weight loss because at times it does. But like I said many moons ago so does snorting cocaine, but I wouldn’t recommend that either. If you *do* love counting calories and it’s the thing you look forward to most every day — well then, move along…nothing to see here.


Before Pics! And Some Thoughts on Weight Loss

Part of the reason I chose to focus on progress this year is because it doesn’t come naturally. I am a pretty self aware person, I can usually recognize and articulate where I am at any given moment, but then I’m instantly hard wired to start thinking about how to get to the next achievement. If I’m not conscious, my life becomes a series of separate Navigation Entries, constantly starting at an arbitrary Point A, making its way to Point B. I rarely take the time to look backwards and recognize the big picture progress, instead recalibrating my Point A and finding a new Point B over and over.

Anyway, you get it. Some of you probably operate in the same way. Tell me I’m not alone here. LOL

So one of the things I’ve been thinking about a lot lately is getting rid of this last 40 lbs. (Point B Alert! Point B!) I’m not THAT obsessed with the number actually, but here is my rationale: I feel great right now. I’m making slow steady fitness progress, my clothes continue to fit better, I feel healthier, my eating habits get more and more streamlined (obviously with the occasionally deviation) but overall life is good. I’m trending in the right direction so I know I’ll get there eventually.

But also, I want to get pregnant. And pregnant like, soon. The “eventually” timeline that I’m trending toward is okay, but not ideal. If I all of a sudden got pregnant and did gain 20-40 lbs, I would NOT feel as fabulous. So one of my Priority Missions is to just drop those last few pesky pounds (HA! Few! I’m sure 40 lbs sounds like A LOT to some of you, but consider that I’ve lost 100. 40 sounds like a piece of cake!) At 40 lbs lighter I will feel confident in my ability to maintain my health and fitness during pregnancy, if that is in fact in the cards for us. :::knocks wood:::

(That was my long winded disclaimer that it’s really NOT about the scale, I promise. If there is anything CrossFit has taught me it is that all things considered, what the scale tells ya ain’t much!)

So I have a big and urgent goal and of course you know making an action plan was the best part! Indulge me and let me tell you my plan, would ya? I’m going to experiment with Paleo/Zone eating. I’ll tell you more about that when I finalize my strategy, but it will involve a little more ratio measuring, which I’m willing to do TEMPORARILY. (Fret not!) Measuring food is right up there with calorie counting to me: not a helpful long term strategy (though I have a much longer and more informative post in the hopper about why calorie counting is lame and OMG stop with that nonsense immediately!

But I really need to find the nerve to post it. FOR ME, it feels controversial since I try not to tell people how they should lose weight or whatever, but calorie counting is something I feel SO STRONGLY about, I figure I should get it out there at some point.) Remember getting bmi scales to keep track of your process and succeed with your goals.

Anyway — whew! That was an anxiety causing sidebar! So right now I do need to employ a new strategy to get from A to B. And it comes at the recommendation of one of my favorite trainers at my gym, Larry, and he’s a smart cookie so I’m going all in. More to come on that soon.

But.

I don’t want to get so focused on this last 40 lbs that I forget where I’ve come from. So I figured just for fun, the best way to do that would be throw up some old pictures, because who doesn’t love a good before pic, right?

Anyway, here goes.

On the left, the picture that made me want to lose weight. Everyone has one. This was mine and it popped up as a tag on Facebook and I just about died. Then I decided it was time for change. And change I did. So see, Facebook isn’t completely evil, right?

On the left, a group pic taken recently that I felt must less anxious about having tagged on Facebook.

Second is a pic of Garrett and I at a wedding a few years ago. Sorry if my loving hand gesture offends you. I can be salty sometimes. And on the right is a picture of us just a few weekends ago. While I think we certainly look happy in both, no doubt we are healthier on the right. So um…YAY??

The thing about weight loss is that it’s never the answer you think it is. It’s not going to solve your problems or mow your lawn. It’s not going pay your bills or magically clean your house. In fact, in some ways it creates new problems. (HOLY HELL CAN WE TALK ABOUT ALL THESE NEW WRINKLES THAT I HAVE NOW THAT MY FACE IS THINNER, MY GOD. Tell me that goes away over time. But I have heard some treatments like cellulite slimming that can help!)

It doesn’t magically make everything great despite how you feel when you are desperately wishing the pounds would melt away. So I think it’s important to find the balance between acknowledging your progress and moving on to the next thing. This is my attempt to do both, but man are they both a challenge!


A Little of This…

I workout on Monday nights at 5pm. Then I hit up the Tuesday morning class at 5 AM, thus working out twice in twelve hours which honestly, sounds a lot worse than it is. Then I don’t workout again until Wednesday at 5pm which ends up giving me an entire day and a half off which feels like a rest day, even though I’m still getting in 3 workouts in 3 days. The efficiency of this makes me absolutely FULL OF GLEE! You are probably shaking your head right now thinking that I am one card short of a full deck but that’s ok — I take my glee where I can get it. Every once in a while though I do think about this line in an old Mimi Smartypants post and get a chuckle.

I enjoy making lists and spreadsheets and plans of attack, but I can get a little obsessed with efficiency. When things get really bad I realize that I am not only multitasking, but mentally rerouting my actual steps to maximize my efforts (I will take the laundry downstairs and bring X and Y on the way, that will save me a trip, blah blah blah). There is no prize for doing everything correctly, you know? At the end, we’re all just dead, no matter how sensibly and rationally we complete our activities of daily living.

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Oh, speaking of Workouts, I made this early this morning. Yes, that is my CrossFit Games competitor profile. Now don’t everyone start laughing at once. I feel kind of dumb mentioning it, but I’m pretty sure I’ve told you more embarrassing things, so hey.

Anyone can participate in the CrossFit Games Open and lots of people at my box are playing along so we are all being encouraged to sign up just to build up camaraderie in the box and to have the experience of participating. I waited until the last possible minute because I kept telling myself I had no business doing it because I’m not one of The Best Athletes in the Box, and then this morning I just decided what the hell! It will be fun to see how I stack up against other athletes participating (If I can even do all of the workouts at all.) So I’m doing it. Whatever.

(But secretly, I’m a little nervous even though it’s NO BIG DEAL.)

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I’ve been basically obsessed with reading Ready Player One for a bit (albeit slowly since my reading time this month has still been in short supply) but all the silly gaming and movie references have me wanting to lock myself in my house and watch terrible 80s movies. For a silly bit of nostalgia Garrett and I procured The Wizard the other day and I can’t wait to pop that bad boy in. I loved that movie back in the day! Also I’m pretty sure I spent the 80s wanting to BE Jenny Lewis, which frankly is not that far from how I feel today. HELLO?? She is freaking adorable!

You know Troop Beverly Hills is next on the docket, right? Well, that or Ladyhawke.

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Speaking of movies, I have EPICALLY failed at watching the Oscar contenders. This is why I am vowing that March will be the Month of Fun! I have spent a lot of time in January and February being productive and efficient, but you know what: EVERYBODY DIES AT THE END and there is no extra credit for being productive every god damn day. So March: Month of Fun!!! And do you know what is getting me all riled up about that? Making my Spring Bucket List.

There will be brunches.
There will be wine tasting picnics with friends.
There will be Theater Tickets.
There will be creativity.
There will be dress buying.
There will be Trail Runs.
There will be reading.
There will be PRs in the gym.
There will be self-tanner experimentation (HA!)
There will be awesome Paleo cooking.
There will be a Plan of Attack to lose THE FINAL FORTY. (Yep, I’m only 40 lbs away from the lightest I’ve ever been in my adult life. Could you die? I could die.)

And more importantly I will get back to posting some fun stuff around here that isn’t just me blabbering about many unrelated things at once. But I love you all indulge me in that anyway.

What are you looking forward to doing this Spring? My bucket list isn’t set in stone yet. I’m down to hear some suggestions!


What’s For Dinner

You know my life is out of control when I can’t even come up with a weekly menu, or make time to blog it.

How To Menu Plan

I’m taking back my life this week though, so I’ve at least scribbled down a template that I am damned determined to follow!

We’re getting back to basics (and I can’t wait!):

Monday
Lunch: Taco Salad + Kale Chips
Dinner: Tri Tip + Roasted Butternut Squash + Salad

Tuesday
Lunch: Carnitas Salads
Dinner: Grilled Chicken + Bacon + Egg Spinach Salads

Wednesday
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salads
Dinner: Chile Relleno Casserole (again, it was bomb!) + Salad

Thursday
Lunch: Leftover Chile Relleno Casserole + Raw Veggies
Dinner: Turkey Burgers (the type TBD) + Sauteed Snap Peas + Salad

Friday
Lunch: Ground Beef Hot Plate + Cauliflower Rice
Dinner: Steak with Garlic + Mushrooms + Sauteed Swiss Chard + More Brussels Sprouts

Saturday
Lunch: Out // Leftovers
Dinner: Out // Leftovers // Must Go

Sunday
Shop!

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What’s cooking in your neck of the woods?

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Whirlwind Weekend

I feel like I posted that Fashion Emergency post about 5 minutes ago, that’s how fast this weekend went by.

Thank you all for weighing in on the four options — in the end I went with Option B, which I’m pretty sure no one voted for. How’s that for being an ass? Actually I had decided, thanks in part to all of you cheering me on, that I should just wear the dress I planned to wear (Option D) and forget the fact that I had a stupid injury but then when I woke up on Saturday morning it was like 5 degrees out and I panicked and Option B looked cutest with my coat. In the end I was appropriately dressed (lots of tights and boots and dresses abounded!) and I had such a great time.
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The drive was beautiful, and the afternoon was fun but I have to admit there was a moment though where I thought to myself Holy Smokes, I think am actually living in Pinterest right now. (Actually I think I tweeted that too, but at that point I was probably like 5 mimosas in so I’m not sure.) Have you had this experience yet?

The decorations were creative and crafty and awesome and the food was delicious and it was just a nice time celebrating the impending nuptials of people who I think are rad!

Unfortunately I did not even snap one picture of the happy couple that day because I am lame like that. Or maybe it was because after my 3rd trip to the mimosa/bloody mary bar I just put my camera away altogether.

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Also…didn’t snap a single picture of Garrett and I. That was mostly because he went out with the boys (while all us girls drank mimosas in the backyard) and enjoyed his own bloody marys with the groom so immensely that he was asleep by 6:30 pm. Day Drinking apparently cannot be enjoyed in quite the same way once you reach the age of 30: a hypothesis Garrett empirically confirmed this weekend.

(Also, no pictures of that. But I promise, you don’t want to see what those pictures *would* have looked like.)

Sunday we were up bright and early (Yep, Garrett loved that) to head back home and help my cousin move. It was a family affair so there was lots of visiting and laughing and telling awful jokes and singing stupid songs, and honestly it was as much fun as you could have while…you know…moving. It also capped off another fine weekend of eating garbage and you guys, YOU GUYS, this has to end like immediately.

Today is Monday and I’m sleepy and feeling like I ate 900 sandwiches along with more bottles of champagne than I have fingers but I am determined to right this ship this week and get back to cleaner eating and get back into the gym 5 times.

What are your goals this week? And more importantly, what is inspiring you to achieve them. I’m short on sleep AND inspiration this morning but I think that’s just the gluten talking. So why don’t YOU talk to me! You are way more fun anyway.


Fashion Emergency

Y’all — I need your help.

Tomorrow I am attending a bridal shower for a lovely lady (Hi Annie!) and I have a million appropriate dresses to wear and was totally looking forward to it. Then, I had that “incident” with the box jumping while on vacation and my left shin still looks like it’s recovering from someone taking a baseball bat to it. Um, but maybe with more scabbing? GROSS.

Very much, Not Cute.

AND NOW I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO WEAR.

So here is where you come in. These are some of the contenders:

Option A:
Blue Dress//Blue Tights//Boots

Sorry for the old, blurry pic. These are desperate times. 🙂

Obviously the tights render the giant gash moot, which is good. But something about this feels too casual? I don’t know, is it? Is it the boots that make it too casual? HALP!

Option B:

Black Dress//Black Tights//Boots

While I like this outfit, I feel like black on black is so dark. I want to be light and airy and fabulous! But also it is the middle of February. And also I have a giant gash on my shin. And also I have the boot concern again.

Option C:

Right Turn!

How about some jeggings? (HA! That word is so obnoxious!) Also, technically denim. So I feel as well like this is too casual. Also, not sure I’m feeling the whole ensemble, but it’s something different than tights and boots. You may also look at some new pieces from your favorite brand like Buffalo Bills womens apparel.

Option D:

Just say screw it and wear a dress with my lily white legs and nasty cut.

It’s been 12 days. It’s healing. I mean, yes it is still a bit black and blue up close (You are spared from that! You’re Welcome!) but hey — maybe the bruise matches with the dress! (THE DRESS THAT I LOVE!)

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So you see? EMERGENCY. What to do?

Weigh in, would ya!


Porkapalooza — 15 Paleo Recipes For Those Who Love to Pig Out

The other white meat is surprisingly versatile and in my area, seemingly always on sale!  Here are some breakfast, lunch and dinner ideas to make you want to lick your chops and pan sear them too!

1. Pan Grilled Ginger Honey Pork Tenderloin (sub coconut aminos for soy sauce)
2. BBQ’d Pulled Pork (NOT in a crockpot)
3. Pork Fried Rice
4. Paleo Al Pastor Tacos
5. Pork Tenderloin with Cilantro Pesto
6. Garlic Crusted Pork Roast
7. Pork Adobo
8. Thai Caramel Pork
9. Whiskey Pulled Pork
10. Asian Pork Lettuce Wraps
11. 3 Olive Tapenade Pork Chops (use this tapenade recipe, the one in that post doesn’t work.)
12. Stovetop Pork Carnitas (I LOVE THESE – well as much as one can love a pork dish.)
13. Carmelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam
14. Mediterranean Stuffed Pork Loin
15. Turnip and Pork Hash

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