Monday, December 30, 2013

Finishing 2013 @ the Sewing Machine

Discovered my sewing machine and a boatload of sewing blogs late in '13 so here's a sneak peek at my latest garment... A light weight denim shirt with a pleated cuff. I've never worn this cuff so I'm curious how it will wear - if it will drape too much and get in the way when I move across the desk or the kitchen counter.  As you can see, I finished all the seams with a bias tape I made from an old skirt

Update forth coming

Sunday, December 01, 2013

Nourishing Wisdom by Marc David

I have discovered this book by Marc David that I think will help me redefine my relationship with food. I have been struggling trying to define what foods are good for me and which ones aren't now that maintenance is a reality.  I've explored the GAPS, the Paleo and also the "Anything Goes" food routines and while the GAPS seems to be the one that enables me to feel the best, it is also the most restrictive - which is something I can't do when I'm bored or exhausted.

So in Marc David's book he is pointing out how we think about food and how important it is to move beyond the "diet do's and don'ts" to a bigger perspective, one that includes our bodily cycles.  He describes times when we are cleaning, times we are building and times we are sustaining and joins these together with three levels of eating: therapeutic, maintenance and experimental.

There's more but that's as far as I've gotten so far.
It's a good book and even though I'm just a little bit into it, I recommend it!
Enjoy

http://www.amazon.com/Nourishing-Wisdom-Mind-Body-Nutrition-Well-Being/dp/0517881292

Thursday, June 06, 2013

My new Little Friends...

are so happy I fixed asparagus today for breakfast along with a 4 egg white sandwich (on Paleo Coconut Bread) and then again with 3 oz of shredded beef and a simple salad for dinner. Asparagus and strawberries tell my Little Friends that summer has arrived.

But alas...I'm not so happy about not losing any weight during my visit with my sister in LA. We worked out every day but the last day and I really watched what I ate. It's probably water retention from traveling via plane and all the time in a car (LA is so huge!) but still...

Oh well, life goes on.







Oh and  this is where my Little Friends came from - this fun store in the Topanga Plaza Mall (a old high school hang out of mine that has gone through so many transformations it's not even funny!). I loved the Lucky Kitties.  I spent 20 minutes looking at them, they made me all happy inside.

Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Sunday, June 02, 2013

the 62nd

Here in LA, visiting my sister, ran a 5k on this, my 62nd birthday. Official results posted tomorrow.




Later we had a delicious dinner of grilled chicken, salad and sweet treats from Whole Foods.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

case bound book


So what have I made, you might ask.  It is the a pocket sized Case Bound Book covered with paste paper that I made my self. I look at this book and think, "Wow, now I can have "Moleskin" books that I design and enjoy without having to buy one." This makes me feel very accomplished

The stitching in the photo ended up being covered with book cloth (orange in this case), which is a shame since the stitching is so beautiful.  

The paste paper was super fun to make.  I used one of my old rubber stamps, stamping randomly with a paste covered stamp.  Once it dried, I colored the paper with colored pencils using blue, orange and lime green.  After the paste paper was glued to the book cover, I coated the paper with cold wax medium to protect the paper.
Now to do some writing and fill the empty pages...more on this in a later post.

Links:
Cake Flour Paste Paper Recipe (jokingly referred to as 'adult finger paint')

Saturday, March 16, 2013

one of my recent books


As posted...sort of...I'm taking a historical bookbinding class this semester and this is one of my finished books. It is made with a Coptic binding and the cover paper is paste paper that I made.  The pages are simple copy weight paper.  I sent this book to my granddaughter since she is an aspiring writer.  I can't wait to read her stories.

Friday, January 25, 2013

returned item

Yesterday I broke down and bought some yogurt since haven't yet mastered making my own yogurt. So I arrived at the grocery store afterwork tired, hurried and distracted.  I wasn't in the mood to read the labels so i picked up this:


Natural, organic, plain yogurt...can't go wrong, right? Wrong!  When I went to serve some up for my evening treat (I love ending my day with a small bowl of plain yogurt topped with a handful of nuts and dried fruit) and took a taste of the yogurt - YUK!! It was full of some kind of filler.  I could taste only the filler.  I realized I wouldn't be eating it or even using it in my cooking since, low & behold, it contained corn starch.  Now why corn starch has to be added to yogurt is a mystery to me.  So back I went to the market! Yes, I actually returned it! And this time I read the ingredients and will be filling my yogurt maker before the weekend begins!

Sunday, January 20, 2013

mark the calendar!

I baked!
And recorded the recipe in my LoseIt app!
Irish Soda Bread that I transformed into tiny muffins.


This is a GAPS friendly reciept that I found on Pinterest via SlowcookedRX.  I was raised on sandwiches and an appreciation of good bread so, for me, a tough part of the GAPS cleansing diet has been the elimination of grains - more difficult than the elimination of sugar.  I plan to get a couple of these types of receipts so I can stay clean. Links to grain, sugar, dairy free breads are more than welcome.

saturday morning inspiration

I love Saturday mornings! I get to sleep in and wake up after the sun has risen. The neighborhood is quiet.  And I spend my coffee-time reading my blog collection via Google Reader. This morning on the Etsy blog I found this delightful short film about making.  I love hearing and reading about how people work in their studios (in this case in a garage), how they organize it, and cherish the space and claim their time in the space - utilizing the space and time to create something beautiful.  These thoughts help me remember other reasons and methods of staying healthy - the beauty and energy that health provides us to do things that inspire others  - be it wonderful cooking, finally finishing a race or a difficult yoga position, or creating something as complex as a motorcycle or as simple as an embroidered tea towel.



Ahh...the relaxation of Saturday mornings!



Tuesday, January 15, 2013

stumbling thru a bad food week!

It's gotten really really cold here in PDX.

My budget is major strained!

I'm recovering from the flu.

So stressed at work due to the Big Event we hosted.

All excuses I'm sure for falling off my GAPS cleansing with

  • the purchase of a loaf of bread (I have to find a way to have sandwiches!), 
  • bought a couple scones this week (why? I ask myself, they really aren't all that good), 
  • ate freely from the Elephants Bakery left overs from the Big Event at the college on Sunday), 
  • and (finally) stopping one evening for Mexican food (it's been so so long since I did this that I was shocked at the amount of food they served - clearly enough for 2 meals, which I happily enjoyed.  One at the restaurant and one last night here at home).

Now...how do I jump back on the wagon? Hmmm....

  • No walking outside with icy sidewalks - yes it's that cold here in PDX. Time to visit the fitness center
  • No breakfast food in the house....so perhaps I can stop and get some yogurt and a banana (but I'll have to be very careful!).
  • Get this day all entered in my LoseIt program along with posting here some photos.
  • Oh and picking up some of my books to get some better language in my head to clear out the excuses.


Wish me luck!

Wednesday, January 09, 2013

influenza

Been sequestered in my house for the last day and a half...the flu, complete with temperature, body aches and fatigue which started Saturday evening.  So I spent the day surfing the web - check my Pinterest for a few of the finds.

Meals for today were light - yogurt and 3 bowls of chicken soup so far.  I still have dinner to plan but I'm getting tired so it may be as simple as some egg whites scrambled up along with a cup of tea.

Haven't walked since Sunday - boohoo.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

flavored water

I've been waking in the night really thirsty after a day of scratching at my dry skin so I figured it's time to step up my water consumption. And since I've gotten off of artificial sweeteners Crystal Lite (etc) isn't in my shopping basket I thought I would try some of the fruit teas.  The passion fruit, blueberry and mint herbal teas are great - so refreshing!  Then I came across some receipts for flavored water which inspired me to try making my own concoction... grated fresh ginger and a mint tea bag- a touch of a bite balanced with a bit of coolness. Volla - a very pleasant alternative to plain ol' filtered water.


Today's inspiration comes from: Drinking Enough Water/Flavored Water Receipts

Saturday, January 05, 2013

stress free saturday

Today I watched my sweet little granddaughter instead of spending the day struggling to stay out of the kitchen.

She wore my pearls while we played with play dough, colored and made iPhone videos of the dollies going to school. All the while a chuck roast baked slowly in the oven. When her folks arrived I served a simple dinner of roast and salad.


A fun playful low stress Saturday!

unintentional 1.54 mile

So I'm at work yesterday morning and it is one of those cold crisp sunny Portland days that always makes me sad to have to sit inside all day in front of a computer. I had had an extra cup of coffee and saw that I needed to do a count of tables, extension cords and table cloths for a big event we are hosting next weekend. So off I went, keys in hand. After an hour of wondering the cascading pathways of OCAC I took a look at my Fitbit and low and behold I had gotten a good mile+ logged. And here, it being the end of the week (which = exhaustion), I thought I'd miss my #amileaday.




The only bad thing is I did it in my Doc Martins since tennis shoes aren't exactly for the office.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

trying to track

Hey, I took a picture of my morning meal prep today since I thought it would make it easier to do my tracking. And sure enough it did the trick. So far I've only eaten 750 Kcals for B, L & D so I will make some fresh applesauce to pour over a bowl of yogurt later.

Mid afternoon, one of the maintenance guys came in to tell us that last night the wind blew a tree down onto one of the campus buildings. Stormy, windy night again tonight - hope every one will be safe!




Maintenance happening everywhere!

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

weigh-in

My weigh-in was 132...by March it would be nice to be stable at 126 so I broke out the FitBit to do some tracking. I managed to burn more Kcals than I ate! Yes!

such a surprise

So here I am living in the city and what do I find on my New Years Day walk... A small watershed! Right near my apartment! As i was covered on sunshine I so enjoyed this little surprise. I plan to watch it and post photos as the seasons change. Keep a look out with me.