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Wednesday, July 13, 2011

See what grows

Planting seeds happen in so many ways.  I'm not just talking about planting shit.  I'm also talking about the power of our minds.  Some people call it manifestation, some call it fate.  Whatever you call it, I manifested some amazingly delicious pumpkin banana pudding today.

Today when I was babysitting at the gym, I was feeding a super fabulous toddler some pumpkin banana baby food.  Nasty in theory, delicious in reality.  As I was feeding her, I kept smelling it and talking about how delicious it looked with one my fellow kid watching cohort.  She and I talked about our love of pumpkin pie and I told her a story of my super fail last Thanksgiving when I tried to make a raw pumpkin pie.

On what seems like an unrelated note, when you have a compost pile, sometimes random stuff grows.  I have had a mystery veggie growing in the compost all summer and have been waiting to find out exactly what it is.  When I got home from the gym, fixed the girls lunch, and had a full compost container, I took the scraps out to the compost pile and GUESS WHAT????

My mystery veggie was sugar pumpkin and there was a perfectly ripe one waiting for me!!!  HELL TO THE YES!!!!  So I took it inside and decided I was going to rewrite the suckfest recipe from last year.  I don't have the exact ratios because I am kind of like a mad scientist in the kitchen, but the result was RAWSOME.

the meat from 1 magically compost grown sugar pumpkin
2 perfectly ripe bananas
1 healthy squeeze of agave nectar
1/2ish c. almond butter (that's what was missing at Thanksgiving)
a Lilah shake of cinnamon and a mama shake of allspice (Lilah shakes are generous and allspice is strong)

The kids loved it, I loved it, and I think it was the universe's way of treating me when I needed a boost and  a reminder of the beauty and simplicity of nature.  Sometimes it is as easy as putting unconscious energy out there is to get what you truly need from life.

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Great ideas for Great skin

One of my favorite things I get asked about/complimented on is my skin.  My skin "secrets" are so simple and cheap.   You do not have to buy La Mer like J-lo to get healthy, amazing skin.  So run to your local grocery store and/or Target and be ready to amaze your mirror, your friends, and the bar tender who will once again, check your i.d.

This is redundant as I have blogged about this before, but DO IT.  Use oil.  I know, it sounds greasy and yucky, but it works.  I used to be the biggest fan of coconut oil, but I have changed my tune and have moved on to almond oil.  It has a neutral odor and absorbs more quickly into my skin.  I use it on my face and my body.  My husband uses it too.  You can also use it in the bedroom if you catch my drift.  Better than hitting your lady/man parts with lubricant that is full of chemicals and yuck (I know I've told you guys that one before too, but just reiterating what I feel is of the utmost life importance). 

Dry brushing.  Get a body brush made of natural materials (I got mine at Target) and dry brush your skin once a day.  I do it before I get in the shower.  Dry brushing is a great way to rid yourself of dead skin cells, make your skin smooth, and to scratch any bizarre itches you may have. 

Drink water.  Lots and lots of water- 1/2 your body weight in ounces every single day.  Example:  I weight 130 pounds.  I drink at least 65 ounces of water a day.  Because I am active, it is usually WAY more than that.  And if you are boozing it up or drinking coffee, make sure for every ounce of fun you have an ounce of water to counteract the thrills of dehydration. 

Diet.   Please do not be a fat phob.  Eating healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, coconuts, healthy oils (coconut, flax seed, olive, etc.) and cutting out shit works wonders for the skin.  Eating sugar is almost as damaging to the skin as that lady in the movie There's Something About Mary with the leather skin who laid out with the tin foil.  Moderation my loves, when it comes to the unhealthy crap (booze, sugar, white flour, etc.)  Fruits and veggies.  Can't toot their horns enough.  Full of antioxidants and fiber.  How does fiber help skin, you ask???  Fiber moves shit out of your body.  Shit has toxins.  Toxins make your skin look like shit.  Getting rid of shit = healthy, toxin free skin. 

Exercise- Another way to move toxins from the body is to move your ass.

Cosmetics- As a former make up artist, I think the worst thing someone with aging skin can do is cake on the make up.  In my humble opinion, after age 30, powder is a no-no.  It settles into wrinkles and creases and makes women look old.  There.  I said it.  So invest in a nice moisture plus tint or liquid foundation and go easy on it.  And yes, I use almond oil on my face and THEN use the moisture plus tint on top of it.  To me, there is no such thing as too dewy.  I would rather look dewy than like a dried up old leather baseball glove. 

Hope that helps and please feel free to comment  with any questions or beauty secrets of your own!!!

Friday, July 1, 2011

Helping me so I can help you

Wow.  I wasn't kidding when I said I wouldn't be blogging that much during my internship, was I???
I have been busier than I have even imagined.  Between the weekday grind, the weekends packed full of activities and picnics, and keeping up with school work and my fitness regime, it has been insane to say the least.  The blog has been totally sacrificed to the busy as shit gods. 

One of the most horrific things happened to my group of friends.  Two of our friends passed away in a car accident.  Mourning myself and attempting to take care of those closest to them has not been an easy feat.  Sometimes, throughout the tragedy, I have felt more helpless in helping people than I ever have in my life.  Trying to know what to do or the right things to say has felt awkward and nearly impossible at times.  One of the therapists from my internship said, "Well, you know the stages of grief, right?  Just use them!"  Easier said than done when it comes to the people who I love like they are family. 

For the first few days after the deaths, I had no appetite, had diarrhea that went on for days (just keepin' it real here people), and just generally felt down and out. Then came the anger which I am still experiencing. Little things are just grating on me.  Things that don't normally phase me- the kids not going to bed on time, my husband hitting the snooze button FIVE THOUSAND FUCKING TIMES, patients who are just plain annoying me.   I also noticed myself trying to fill voids.  For me, the first thing I turn to is food.   I noticed that my appetite is still not there, but I am hitting the cartons of coconut milk ice cream like they are going out of style- a pint a day people- I kid you not.  And crunchy things have been constantly on the menu- peanuts, raw cereal with buckwheat groats (they give a major crunch for those of you who haven't tried them).  Thankfully, my fitness regime didn't go to the wayside during this, but my eating like shit certainly hasn't made me feel good or helped me in my work outs.  So what the hell???  If I know this about myself, why do I continue to engage in these patterns that aren't helpful- they are actually hindering me by making me feel like a person on an Activia comercial? 

The bottom line is comfort.  We revert back to comfortable patterns of behavior during times of struggle and when we just don't know what else to do.  Thankfully I have taken inventory of this before I hit that unopened bottle of vodka in my freezer.  So what am I going to do now???  Well, life is hard right now.  Really freaking hard.  So I, in true Jane fashion, am pulling out the "suck it up bitch" mentality and am knocking it off.  I need to be strong for the people around me.  So here's the plan.  Because as you know, I always have a plan. 

Hit the gym.  Run (I have a new goal that I need to work on- a 7 min mile for the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving).  Eat right for the love of God! 

By starting out small and taking care of my very basic needs, I can hopefully get out some of my pent up aggression and get my digestive system back to happy land.  If I am taking care of myself, I'm a better wife, mother, and friend to those who need me the most.