On Eating Healthy + Working Out

It is almost the end of Week 3 of my exercising/healthy eating endeavor (a lifetime one, I hope). I've cut down on sweets (my weakness) and carbohydrates, but although it feels like a diet to me, I am sure for most people it is a regular way of eating....called healthy eating. And I feel great.

Most day, I feel like this:

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But then, there are other days when I feel like this:

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I've learned, when I do eat sweets,etc., to truly enjoy them...and so I've revised my grocery shopping to consist of delicious, organic products so I can be sure that when I do indulge, I'm treating myself to the best.

But more on that next week!

The journey

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I've been dreaming lately - rather, let's be honest...I'm always dreaming - of airports and airplanes, of vintage suitcases and sophisticated travel wear.

For me, travel is at least as much about the journey as the destination. When I was little, I'd start packing the minute I found out about the next family vacation. And though I tend to pack at the last minute these days, the process is still pure joy.

I love being at the airport...enjoying a pre-flight cappuccino whilst watching people from all over the world rushing by. I imagine their lives, their destinations.

I relish my existence within that energy, that time between the departure and arrival when, suspended between two dots on the map, anything is possible. I don't just love traveling, I really love it. All of it. Delays and train strikes, lost luggage, misguided directions. I'll take the good and the bad, and with a smile on my face.

I may be the only person who purposefully chooses flights with the greatest number of stopovers, only for the chance to experience a new city, no matter how briefly.

Because I am a gypsy at heart. And traveling, experiencing both the journey and the destination, is as vital as the air I breath.

For a great post about investing in quality luggage, read this.

And check out this post for a beautiful constructed packing list.

Where are you itching to travel?

Five Things {that are making me happy}

1. Enjoying the sunshine, with a Pumpkin Spice Latte and lake views.

2. Catching up with my sister over lunch in Greektown (delicious tomato basil soup)

3. Looking up while walking. I worked on this street for a year, and must have passed this building hundreds of times, yet I never noticed that the street names were beautifully carved into the brick. Next time you take a walk in your city, look up. I guarantee you'll see something you hadn't noticed before

4. Lollia Relax Handcreme. I spotted this while browsing at Anthropologie yesterday and couldn't leave the store without a travel-sized tube. I'm already planning on returning for the full-size.

5. This Hamilton Beach slow cooker just arrived yesterday and I've already got a large stack of recipes I'm eager to test. First up - chilli !

Have a beautiful weekend!

Rain, rain

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Such a gloomy day today. The wind is ruffling the orange colored leaves and the rain makes a plunk-plunk-plunk sound as it is blown against the windows.

Today is a day for a sentimental movie, a mug of warm apple cider and a large knitted blanket. Or rather, it would be such a day were it not for the paper which is due tomorrow and which I've put off until the last possible minute. Typical.

So in the spirit of learning how to dance in the rain, I'm off to make myself some warm apple cider and cozy up to my computer and good ol' Microsoft Word.

Scenes from the {first fall} Weekend

1. Taking out the cozy sweaters (my very favorite pieces of clothing) + scented drawer liners

2. Lighting candles all around the house - apple crisp makes the entire kitchen smell delicious

3. Oladi (russian pancakes) with jam = Sunday indulgence

4. Running errands on a rainy day

5. Salted caramel gelato - a perfect end to a perfectly lazy weekend, and a delicious start to what will be a long, hectic week.

How was your weekend?

p.s. Several of you commented on the quinoa casserole mentioned in the previous post. You can find the recipe here . Note: I omitted the sage because I dislike the way it tastes.

Kitchen Goddess

The title of this post may be slightly misrepresentative of my abilities in the kitchen, but I am definitely improving! Since moving in with my fiancee and his brother, I've been cooking for three instead of..well...simply eating whatever my mother made for dinner.

And once I went through my tried-and-true recipes (lasagna, stuffed red peppers, kotleti), I realized I had to expand my repertoire (fear not, in the baking arena I am more than capable. Much to the dismay of my waistline.). And so I have.

Proof:

(Italian sausage with peppers)

(Quinoa + spinach + gruyere casserole)

(Strawberry spinach salad + sauce)

(deviled eggs, grilled chicken and asparagus (okay, the fiancee grilled), roasted crimini mushrooms and french beans)

Tomato quiche with olives and Brie (recipe via)

And I've discovered that I really like cooking (just not the clean-up afterwards). Pinterest has helped fuel this, as I'm a sucker for beautifully presented things, and food is no exception.

My favorite time to cook? Towards the end of the afternoon when the sun is slowly setting and the kitchen is filled with a beautiful, almost translucent glow.

Of course, I'm certainly not a saint - after a few days spent laboring in the kitchen, I tend to give the fiancee the "if-I-have-to-spend-one-more-day-in-the-kitchen-......" look. Thankfully he knows me well, and both him and his brother are amazing cooks.

Working Out

It is official - today I began my "getting fit" regimen. And this time I'm in it for the long haul. With the fiancee as my trainer/nutritionist, I'm guaranteed results....if only I can get out of my own way!

Obstacles: a debilitating sweet tooth and the urge to pick cuddling over any form of exercise.

Motivation: See below

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What are your favorite ways to work out?

But more than that, no unloving words were ever spoken, and everything was held up as another small piece of proof that it can be this way, it doesn't have to be that way; if there is no love in the world, we will make a new world, and we will give it heavy walls, and we will furnish it with soft red interiors, from the inside out, and give it a knocker that resonates like a diamond falling to a jeweler's felt so that we should never hear it. Love me, because love doesn't exist, and I have tried everything that does.

(Everything is Illuminated - J.S.Foer)

Wind

The past few weeks have been so hectic...and the trend continues this week! So, for now, I leave you with these beautiful images I found via Pinterest (somehow the amount of time I spend on Pinterest does not seem to depend on how much other work I have to do....and is growing into a dangerous addiction, I'm afraid).

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p.s. you can find me on Pinterest, here