Currently reading…

After truly enjoying Michael Poblano’s Omnivores Dilemma, and in the spirit of.new year resolutions I’m squeezing some time in each day to flip through another of his, In Defense of food. I’m not too far in, but it’s already promising to be as mentally provocative a read as my first read. If I’m open minded about it, Michael’s writing brings up points that are worth more than a few seconds of consideration. This morning I read a quote that really resonated with me: “[If] foods are understood only in terms of the various quantities of nutriebnts they contain…even processed foods may be considered to be ‘healthier’ for you than whole foods if they contain the appropriate quantities of some nutrients.” Gyorgy Scrinis, quoted from In Defense of Food. As a healthy eater, who LOVES food, it really made me sit back and think if I cooked meals and food for the sake of their nutrients or not. And I think something like this rings particularly true for Vegans and/or vegetarians. When we exclude foods from our diet, a lot of time the focus is on what nutrients have we lost (not a lot, turns out) and how can we replace them. What turns most people off is the idea that vegans and vegetarians have to replace those nutrients with something fake (fake meat, cheese, etc). And to be perfectly honest, not all of them taste too terribly good. This past year, I’ve worked hard to limit my use of processed food as a crutch for the change in diet. The result has vbeen a massive increase in flavors that I try, can physically taste now and enjoy. I’m far more adventurous in the kitchen and very rarely ask if I’m getting all of my nutrients. By eating “whole foods” instead of processed nutrient counterparts, the hubs and I are getting a great variety of what we need. At least, thats been our take on things so far. But as always, being forced to reevaluate, like this quote did for me, is helpful to look at places that could use improvement. Interesting though, I know there are plenty of people, like my husband used to be (and sometimes still is), who eat only because it’s necessary for survival. Brandon used to claim that if they made a pill to provide everything that food did, then he’d take it. The process of cooking and creating a dish, then enjoying it slowly afterwards hold little romance for him. Whereas it’s one of life’s greatest pleasures for me. Which side so you sit on? Whew. Did that jumble of words even make sense? And just think, all of this from the first few pages… Hope everyone enjoyed their warm spell and are staying warm with winter’s revenge. Xo

Currently

While we were in Richmond this weekend, I saw a fun scarf and in the spirit of spend less, diy more, I opted to make my own! Luckily I found some appropriate yarn during our travels. I’m finding more and more crochet is becoming a meditative state for me. Ice just got to figure out more things to make than just scarves and hats! Hoping to show you the finished product soon 🙂 Happy Tuesdaying!

Finished!

Ya’ll, my to-do list was a mile long today.  Which makes for a long Wednesday with no yoga (at a studio, at least), but the productivity is 100% worth it. 

In other and more fun news, I finished my crochet project last night!  I was a little nervous about it, since general guidelines aside, I went from scratch with this puppy – but I’m super happy with how it turned out.  I have this beautiful soft grey yarn that I picked up and wanted to make a wearable, but unique hat out of it.  I didn’t like any of the designs online for what I had in mind, so I just went with what I thought might look nice together.  For my first go at it, I think it went pretty well. 

For you crocheters out there, I decided to crochet from the brim, UP as opposed to the top down.  The brim was stitched as one long band and sewed together to make the base of the hat.  And since I liked the stitches for the brim (front post single crochets), I used the same style stitches for the hat, alternating between single and dbl back post crochet  stitches, which would end up being perpendicular to the stitches on the brim.   Since its my first time using any of these stitches, I just sort’ve went with it, without truly knowing how it would turn out.

tadaaa!

close up of the stitches

I really like it!  Its wearable, unique and WARM, a huge plus for the chilly weather everyone’s been having lately.

Its just long enough for my head, but can also be worn back a bit for that slouchy beanie style, or with the brim folded up for a slightly dressier look. 

I’m super glad to have it done, although now that its finished, i’m itching to get another project back on a hook! 

I hope everyone is staying warm this week, it is COLD out.  I’m ever so grateful to be coming home to a crockput full of homemade soup and the opportunity for some at-home yoga alone in my room.

xo

Oh Earl

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpS-XFXxJvE

 

Because baseball season can’t come soon enough.

 

warning:  some foul language involved, its Earl Weaver, whatya expect 😉

 

xo

Happy MLK day

It’s been a productive “day off”. I’m starting to get back into a good work rhythm, so spending a little bit of time at work today when it’s pretty quiet was a welcome activity. Then again, so was leaving in the early afternoon 😉 Put the early day to good use and got in a workout, which leaves me with a guilt free evening to spend working on other projects – the start of which you see above. And of course, can’t sign off without a shout out for the Ravens victory last night! Xo