Tag: consume

Pajamas on the Go: Ex Officio

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Last night a generous friend of mine gave me the opportunity to be her guest at a Google holiday party in Mountain View, CA. I ran to the airport, and just as I got there, realized I forgot my pajamas.

Pajamas are important to a traveler, especially when staying at another person’s house (of course, exceptions being when you and the other person are a-ok to sleep in the buff, or pass out in the party clothes you were wearing!) The choices for pajamas at Sea-Tac were dismal. I could have bought the ubiquitous Sleepless in Seattle sleep shirt (do people still watch this movie?) I could have bought the syrup-sweet “Life is Good” pajamas. Or, I could buy the questionably attractive, technologically interesting and always functional Ex Officio Give-N-Go Sleep Capri. Thank goodness Sea-Tac has a Ex Officio store! They weren’t much to look at, and at the particular store, had the choices of black or a bamboo print. I went for the black, and paired them with the Ex Officio Give-N-Go Moisture-Wick Tank Top, also in black.

Both the capri and tank were true to size, so keep that in mind if you want a bit of room. The fabric is supportive, with a bit of give, which I find quite comfortable. After one night sleeping in these pajamas, I can only say I wish I had these to sleep in all the time. They’re just that comfortable!

The packaging promises that these pajamas will be moisture wicking, odor-resistant, quick drying and light weight. They promise the same for their more under-underwear, which I’ve always been skeptical of. I can only tell you that I’m willing to give them a try!

Consume like it’s the last day of your life!

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by It we mean Economy
by "It" we mean "Economy"
Today is day one of a long weekend in the Bay Area with Jon while he works with one of the many companies down here. Since I had some time to kill, I wandered around the area near the hotel and found this bizarre little mall/village/apartment complex complete with your J. Crew, Coach, H&M and Old Navy, to name a few. The place is filled with these messages encouraging a complete disregard for restraint and personal finance. They’ve already started playing the holiday music. It’s infectious and desperate at the same time.

I love California!

Let the Eating and Drinking Begin!

Posted on Posted in Fitness and Diet, Food and DrinkTagged , ,

Last night was two birthday get-togethers, and today is Fremont Oktoberfest with some friends. (I haven’t been to Oktoberfest in Seattle before, so I’m curious to see if it holds a candle to Cincinnati/Covington or Chicago). It’s getting time for putting on that insulating Winter-weight, and chowing down for the big winter festivals.

It was two years ago that I joined Weight Watchers. I have lost about 80 lbs on WW, and that was lost in my first year. I returned to the plan after 6 months off, and after I took care of medication interference (norethindrone sucks) I’ve been losing. I thought I’d share some of the secrets to my success, both for anyone who reads this, and to remind myself because I still have about 40 or so pounds to go before I’m at goal.

1. Eat bacon, cheese, beer, wine, cocktails, cake and ice cream. Of course, if you don’t eat pork (or are vegetarian/vegan), don’t drink alcohol and/or are diabetic, please read this as don’t deny yourself what you enjoy about food. I’ve heard some people say that they have to totally exclude something from their diet because it’s a binge food, and I can understand that, however, I tend to crave what I’m denied the most. A 3 WW Point desert of Luna and Larry’s Coconut Bliss Dark Chocolate Bar, which is vegan and sweetened with agave nectar, is a fine way to end a day!

2. Eat real food. Limit eating foods that are fortified with extra vitamins, artificial colors, flavors, preservatives and sweeteners. If it’s a low-fat or no-fat version of a high-fat food, odds are they’ve added junk to make it taste more like the real thing. Same goes with sugary drinks and snacks. I prefer to just eat the real thing, in small amounts, for instance, giving up sugar in things where I don’t need it (morning coffee) in preference where I know I’ll like it (a Babycake from Cupcake Royale.) Instead of going for an energy bar that’s PB&J flavored, just make yourself a nice PB&J sandwich on whole wheat. Shoot for eating foods with five ingredients or less. This leads me to my next point, which is…

3.Learn to cook/assemble your own food. This is the one way you’ll know what’s in your food, and control for those sneaky cooks in restaurants who add extra butter to EVERYTHING. It may seem like a lot of time and effort, at first, but really – it doesn’t take much longer than a boxed meal to assemble some basics, and if you cook ahead of time, make use of left-overs, there’s a lot you can do. Never underestimate the awesomeness that comes from homemade salad dressing (all you need is sugar/agave/honey, salt, herbs/spices, a bit of olive oil and vinegar or lemon/lime juice and a jar to shake it in.) Throw a can of line-caught Pacific albacore tuna on top of some local greens, with some olives, cherry tomatoes and red onion slices, and you have a 4 WW Point (each serving) dinner for two! Check out my aStore for cook books.

4. Do not let the Nutritional Information and/or health promises on packages make your decisions for you. This rule transfers to things outside of food, so use it often. Some of the healthiest foods you’ll ever eat won’t have either Nutritional Information or health promises on them: broccoli, spinach, tomatoes, orange – basically, the entire produce section. These days, manufacturers are adding what used to be just in nutritional supplements to their foods as well as accenting the long established ingredients with labeling that ties the main ingredient to a vogue health claim (lycopene in ketchup, for instance.) The healthiest foods are likely to not come in slick packaging with health claims on it.

5. Limit soy and corn. This is more of an extra credit thing. You see, I already try to shop local, eat local, shake the hand that feeds me, etc. It’s insane just how much soy and corn is in the American diet. Corn is pretty much everywhere, from high fructose corn syrup and corn starch to xanthan gum. It’s fed to cows to fatten them up, in ketchup, in soft drinks. It’s cheap, heavily subsidized, and in everything. Soy is pretty much everywhere, too. It’s a condiment, fake meat, fake cheese, low-carb pasta, milk substitute, frying oil, the list goes on and on. You could actually eat soy in every part of your meal and not realize you’re eating mostly soy. Soy also contains phyto-estrogens and can play a part in endocrine disruption (a favorite article is in Men’s Health.) It’s also used in animal feed along with corn. Every time Soy Joy reps are handing out free bars at the farmer’s market, I think as I walk by with Jon, “Why do you want to emasculate my husband?”

Corn and soy are largely Big Agriculture. It’s lots of subsidies, lots of pesticides, lots of monoculture, and a lot of genetic modification. Also, it’s not healthy to just eat one thing, or things derived from one thing, all the time. Diversity in your food is good. This is why I try to be deliberate about my corn and soy ingestion.

So those are the top fives for what I’ve been doing. Just a few hours from now, I embark on Fremont Oktoberfest 2009. I’m glad I got my jog in earlier today!

Failed Shopping

Posted on Posted in Deliberate ConsumptionTagged , 1 Comment

I’ve been having a rough time lately. While I’ve been trying to emotionally get back on my feet, I find that I look in the mirror and I just think, “Yuck!” It’s not the way I look, it’s more my lack of style. I’ve reverted to junk-t-shirts (not hip ones) and jeans (old, not svelte). My shoes are orthopedically comfy. My hair is, well, victim of my telling my stylist to cut it supershort. I got what I asked for, I wanted it, I think it was the right thing to do at the time, but – now I want my long hair back. Yesterday I decided that a little bit of overhaul wouldn’t be a bad thing, and may be worth bringing out the credit card that I’m trying not to use.

I was ready and willing to drop a couple hundred dollars in the name of inexpensive, tasteful fashion. You know what I wanted? Something simple: dark blue jeans, well fit, black knit or button down top, comfortable and stylish black shoes, stylish and functional fall jacket and an eyeliner. If I wanted to *really* go for it, I might have plunked down some money for some foundation garments as well. I figured this was a simple task. Not so simple, though.

1. Dark blue jeans – I could find dark blue jeans, but I couldn’t find ones that did not have that cheap look of too-much spandex.
2. Black or dark neutral button-down shirt – this is simple stuff, right? Go into a men’s department, and there’s tons of button-down shirts, different colors, styles, fits… is this too much to ask for women? I find myself longing for a Thomas Pink boutique, even if it is spendy. You’d think that a low-maintenance knit shirt with some nice details, neckline, etc might be easier, but it’s NOT.
3. Fall jacket – all I want is a tailored, light fall jacket in a dark or neutral color that will work well with a skirt as well as jeans. I don’t want a glorified hoodie or a jacket that belongs at REI.
4. Shoes – form and function. Comfortable for everyday, stylish enough for going out (if I had a social life.) Should be simple, right? Well, I’m tired of Mary Janes and I’ve got bunions that are sensitive. This makes plunking down the cash difficult.
5. Perhaps what should be the easiest item, EYELINER. I’m considering that maybe my current make-up style makes me look too impenetrable, so maybe I’m barking up the wrong tree by wanting a felt tip marker liquid liner. I love Lancome’s Artliner in blueberry, and after scouring online and Sephora, I can’t find the color and type of liner that comes close! At $28, and lasting only 2 months, it’s not quite what I want to spend. There’s great liquid colors ranging from $6.99-$30+, but I don’t have the patients or dexterity in the morning to deal with it.

So I came home, having not purchased anything! The thing I notice the most, shopping in Seattle, is that the mid-line goods are gone. Everything that I would consider work-appropriate seems to have vanished from all but the most expensive brands, and what’s left are chintzy, inexpensive (or inexpensive looking) goods. I’ll keep trying, but I miss the days of fashionable basics. Maybe I don’t know how to shop for my size? Or, maybe I’m just not willing to spend the cash?

The Seventh Seal – Criterion Collection Blu-Ray

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Jon and I recently watched The Seventh Seal on Blu-Ray. It was my first time watching it, and I actually knew very little about it. I did not grow up on fine cinema. While I did watch some great movies, classics such as The Seventh Seal weren’t part of my repertoire the way Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey might have been (sadly, both not on Blu-Ray.) Neither of those movies are high art, but thanks to my familiarity with both of them, it wasn’t too long into The Seventh Seal that I realized that Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Bill and Ted’s Bogus Journey shared The Seventh Seal as inspiration.

Death really does play chess. The Seventh Seal is a rumination on death. Given my current tendency towards acknowledging impermanence, this movie couldn’t have come at a better time. I asked myself a few days ago, how do you adequately express your emotional experience so as to conjure an empathic response in others that may give way to understanding? Big question, no?

It seems that with the really big things, it’s like shouting “The sky is blue!” louder and louder in the hopes that who ever may be listening may stop and understand the miracle that is living, breathing and seeing. That not only is the sky blue, but look at the amazing mystery that allows us to share in this moment of not taking that blueness for granted. How does one translate the leap in the heart, the moment of joy that one can experience with acknowledgment of the world, to someone who, for what ever reason, isn’t sharing that experience?

Ingmar Bergman tells the story of his own fear of death in The Seventh Seal. A fear so potent, that it is packed within each scene, giving you the terrible sense of foreboding, at first inclined towards hope for the knight, and as the film progresses, realizing that hope may be lost. I’m finding it is marvelous and rare that an individual’s personal emotional experiences can be translated effectively into art and brought to be a communal experience. The Seventh Seal is perhaps, so enduring, because it stands as a solid allegory for Bergman’s (and others) fear of death and search for spiritual fulfillment.

The Criterion Collection features for The Seventh Seal include the commentary track, as well as a few shorts from over the past few years. I found that the commentary track didn’t hold my interest in the way that The Third Man or Chungking Express did, which means that though The Seventh Seal is a fine film, I’m not inclined to purchase it for my own collection. However, it’s very well worth watching, and worth buying if you’re into the idea of having the complete Criterion Collection, or multiple viewings for your own analysis.