2012 Day 5

Fortune cookie say

2012 Day 4

Lunch  made from my CSA box.

2012 Day 3

Took this using the B&W effect on my Atrix.

2012 Day 2

Silhouette

Farm Fresh To Me

I was SO excited to walk in to my office this morning and see this box on my desk:

It had arrived just moments before I did. Having it delivered to the office was definitely the right choice. When I opened the box, I pulled out the plastic bag containing the vegetables:

I received one bunch of green leaf lettuce, two small Spanish onions, a bunch of carrots (with the tops, including a ladybug hitchhiker), and two stalks of broccoli. The onions were a substitute for the radishes which I had excluded.

Beneath that lay:


5 Granny Smith apples, 5 Bartlett pears, 5 D'Anjou pears, and a bunch of red grapes (which are probably NOT seedless)

I chose this CSA because A)it delivered B)you can customize your order and not get food you don't like or are allergic to and C)I had a Groupon.

I am not disappointed and can't wait to start eating. Stay tuned to see what I make!

Countdown to Flexitarianism

For reasons of health, and inpsired by the many carnivores I know who've recently gone vegan for health purposes, I have decided to officially become a flexitarian.

For those of you who don't know, this is basically an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet. However, two to three servings of meat per week are allowable, preferably fish or poultry. But even steak and bacon can be enjoyed guilt-free! (Well, not entirely guilt-free for me as I'm allergic to pork)

To help me along my path, I've joined a CSA and farm fresh produce will be delivered to my door. I've committed to one delivery/month to start. They recommended twice a month for a couple and I'm half as many people. I can always make that more frequent if necessary.

This week, I'm eating the two pounds of steak I had in the freezer and looking forward to getting those fun grains quinoa, bulgur and barley into my eating plan.

What I like best about this change is that I'm not thinking about it as a diet. I'm thinking about it as a lifestyle choice. That's a new perspective for me.

Of course, losing weight would be fantastic, but that's not the goal here. The goal is to eat healthier and be healthier.

If you have any yummy vegetarian recipes, I would love to hear about them. I will try to be good and blog about any yummy things I make as well as what's in my CSA delivery and what I make with it.

Change is exciting, and also delicious!

I Love New York - Day 1

Recently, I had the opportunity to take a vacation in New York. The occasion was my High School Reunion. I planned a few extra days so that I could spend time in New York City. It turned out to be on of the best vacations of my life. Almost nothing happened in the way that I had originally planned, but it was still awesome.

Over the years, I have had lots of friends living in or near New York City so I have rarely needed to stay at a hotel, but this trip I did. I browsed many websites trying to decide on the right balance of cost, location & amenities. New York is famously expensive when it comes to hotel rooms. I finally settled on Park 79 Hotel. I booked a double bed with shared bath.

I made tentative plans with several people to meet up. I bought a ticket for a matinee on Wednesday. I checked out the exhibits at various museums, thought about which favorite restaurants I wanted to visit again. I had a nice little itinerary in my head.

Best laid plans, right?

I arrived at the hotel at 8am (after as much dawdling as I could manage knowing that check in was at 3pm). They checked my luggage and asked me to come back around 1pm.
So I set off in search of breakfast. I found a great little bagel shop and sat down with my coffee and bagel with a shmear. I decided, since it was Wednesday, I would take the subway up to the Bronx and visit the Van Cortland House which is free on Wednesdays. I thought it would be fun to do something I had never done before and that it would use up some time. If you are ever in NYC on a Wednesday, I recommend visiting Van Cortland House. I'm not sure it's worth the price of admission on other days though.

For those that don't know about Van Cortland House, it's been preserved by the Colonial Dames as a historic site from the Revolutionary War. You can learn more here: http://www.vancortlandthouse.org/index-2.html

New York was having a massive heatwave and I was definitely feeling the heat as I headed back downtown. I got off the subway with the intention of visiting Grant's Tomb but it was closed so I opted for a bus ride back to the hotel. Did I mention that I had purchased the unlimited ride MetroCard? That was one of the best decisions I had made. While riding back downtown, I got a text from a friend who I'd been wanting to see but he was only available that day. I texted him back and told him I had matinee tickets, but maybe we could work something out.

A foodie co-worker had told me about the Shake Shack and there was one near my hotel so I went there for lunch. There weren't any tables so I took my lunch to the park and sat there eating and people-watching. While I was eating, the theatre texted me that the performance had cancelled so I quickly made plans with my friend. Now I really needed to shower & change!

I went back to the hotel and my room wasn't ready, but they did have another slightly smaller room that they offered me for $50 less per night. I took it! The price difference online had only been $10!

The room was small, but adequate. I couldn't wait to find the shared bath and take a shower after traveling all night. I was less than thrilled to find a palmetto-type bug sharing the bathroom with me. Yikes. But housekeeping took care of it and I was off downtown.

My friend and I had not seen each other in 30 years! But it was like yesterday. He lives in a great Greenwich Village neighborhood. We played with his new puppy and caught up with our lives and then went shopping for his planned tapas dinner for that night. After our visit, I headed back uptown to a tweetup I had planned.

Meeting Twitter friends for the first time is always fun but a little bit strange. We were both in front of the theatre on our phones and looking at each other to see if we were the ones we were there to meet. We had planned to meet for real the next day to stand on line for Book Of Mormon tickets but decided to meet briefly first to scope things out and make our plan. We picked a place to meet the next day and then I was off to meet another friend for dinner.

The heat was getting to me and I nearly passed out in Grand Central Terminal. After a couple of cold beverages, I was feeling better. Though I got a bit disoriented after exiting the subway at 86th. I finally made it to my friend's apartment and we went to dinner at Paola's at 92nd & Madison. I highly recommend it!

After planning our trip upstate for Friday morning, I grabbed a crosstown bus back to my hotel.

So far, my trip was going very well!

What I Ate - 2/15/11

Yesterday I did my BMI calculation and I'm down 2 points! I also tried on some new clothes and I have dropped a Dress Size. yay!

So even though I strayed a bit from my healthy plan (see after dinner snack), I still think it was a pretty good day!

B: Toast w/peanut butter, OJ, Protein Shake
S: Coffee, Apple, Orange
L: Juice Box, Turkey Chili, Salad
S: Coke Zero, Brussel sprouts
D: Broccoli Beef
S: Ben & Jerry's Imagine Whirled Peace

What I Ate - 2/14/11

It's been one month since I started trying to eat healthier. I've lost 14 pounds! Go Me!

B:Cereal w/nonfat milk, orange
S:Coffee, black bean brownie (I made them for the office for Valentine's Day)
L:Coffee Bean Grande Chai NSA Ice Blended, Chili Two Ways(two kinds of chili in a bowl)
S:Sliced Peaches, Access bar
D:Grilled Steak, Sauteed Cauliflower & Tomatoes
S:Black bean brownie

What I Ate - 2/13/11

I've been writing down what I eat as part of my plan to try and be healthier and lose weight. I decided to post some of my food journaling here to help keep me honest.

Menu for Sunday February 13:
B: Oatmeal with peaches & brown sugar, coffee
S: Roast Beef Sandwich bite, Turkey rollup bite, Tall Light Frappucino
L: Pasta Primavera with Shrimp & Pesto, Orange
S: Bagel w/Peanut Butter
D: Turkey Veggie Chili, Sauteed Cauliflower & Tomatoes
S: Lowfat Ice Cream bar

Somewhere

This film has not yet been nominated for anything, but I did go see it today and that's during "awards season". So I shall blog about it and we'll see if it get a nomination in the future.

Sofia Coppola calls this film her tone poem for Los Angeles. She was inspired by stories of the bad boy actors living at Chateau Marmont and the film Paper Moon starring real-life father & daughter Ryan & Tatum O'Neal.

I did like it better than Lost in Translation, but even less happens in this film than in that one. It's very European in its style and pacing.

I remarked to my friends that I would have enjoyed it more had it ended in a fiery car or helicopter crash. The story didn't really end so much as stop. And in a film that's not intended for sequels, that really bugs me.

So you might want to wait to see this one on DVD. Unless you are a huge Sofia Coppola fan.

The King's Speech

Golden Globe Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Drama
Best Actor - Drama
Best Supporting Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Original Score
BAFTA Nominations: Not yet announced
OSCARS Nominations: Not yet announced

Let me start by saying that every single one of these nominations is well-deserved and there should be some winners and more nominations to come!

From the script to the casting to the production design to the directing, all the techinal aspects are spot on. I especially love seeing a film based on a true story that I am familiar with that keeps me on the edge of my seat for how it is going to unfold. This film does exactly that.

You cannot go see this film fast enough! Do it! Now! Go! It's awesome!!!

Red

Golden Globe Nomination: Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
BAFTA Nominations: Not announced yet
OSCAR Nominations: Not announced yet

The best part of this movie is the amazing cast. The story is a bit on the weak side. It's kind of a re-working of Shane and Grosse Pointe Blank.

But it was funny, and touching, and hit all the right notes. And it probably didn't hurt that I saw it at the dollar theatre so the movie and the concessions together were less than $6.

If you haven't seen it, I definitely recommend it!

Burlesque

Golden Globe Nominations: Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Best Original Song - Bound To You
Best Original Song - You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me
BAFTA Nominations - Have not been announced
OSCAR Nominations - Have not been announced

Cher is in this film and I have seen every one of her films. But what happened to her face? Did she use too much BOTOX? Did she have bad plastic surgery? Every time she was on screen I had to shut my eyes. Her mid-film number is worth the price of admission regardless of the other faults of the film.

I liked Christina Aguilera and Julianne Hough in this film. And I liked the musical numbers. But the story holding them together was so thin and so trite. If this was one of the Best Musical or Comedy films, they must have really had to scrape the barrel (well, let's face it, they did - because The Tourist is in the same category and it is a drama).

I give this film a 3 out of 5.

Award Season Movie Rush Begins

I am a movie geek. I own a lot of movies. I watch a lot of movies. I have two degrees in Film. Of the 22 years I have been working, only 2 have not been in the movie business.

I am very interested in the awards season. I like to see nominated films in all categories and I like to watch the awards shows. I pay special attention to the Big Three: Golden Globes, BAFTAs, and Oscars.

Starting the Saturday before Christmas and continuing through Oscar night, I watch as many nominated movies as possible.

This year I decided to blog about each film that I see in the theatre.

Are you ready? Lets begin!

2010 – The Year of the Tweet-ups

If you know me, and let’s face it you do or you wouldn’t be reading this, then you know that I love Twitter. Some might even say I am thoroughly addicted to Twitter. Thought in my defense, I have done the online quiz from @oatmeal and I am only 86% addicted to Twitter.
But Twitter has been an important part of my life in 2010 and so, as a way to re-cap my year, I am going to tell you about my Tweetups and the Tweeples I met at them.

The first, best, and most important Tweetup of the whole year was when I flew to Scotland to spend Spring Break with @GeekyMae. I had met her a couple of years ago on the Facebook wall of our mutual friend @aberforth. And even though we have had a very good friendship develop from that, we had never met in person. Not until the moment I saw her at baggage claim at Edinburgh airport. We had a great week, despite (or maybe because of) the freakish weather. I met lots of interesting people, saw all the interesting sights, and have loads of quirky stories to tell with each and every photo. To me, that’s the best kind of vacation. Mae and I found out that we are just as good IRL (that’s “in real life”) friends as we are Twitter/Facebook friends. Isn’t that the best when that happens?

My next Tweetup was much later in the year, in July, after ComicCon. I learned that @HellenaHeavenly was going to be in California for a while after Con so I invited her to stop in Burbank for lunch if she passed through. Which she did. It was my first time meeting someone I only knew through Twitter. But she was so much fun and we had lots to talk about over tacos.

Next, I had a coffee date with @katerz1. Kate lives fairly close to me, but it was the first chance that we had to meet in person. We had such a long chat that day that I was afraid that her hubby would be annoyed with me. We also had a lunch date several weeks later. And we are planning more fun things to come!

Next, I met @rebisCA at Wootstock at Largo, also accompanying me were @faffertime and her boyfriend. I didn’t get much chance to chat with Renee because the show was going on, but she will also be included in future plans with @katerz1. In fact, we already have a tweetup planned for January!

My last tweetup of the year was to #stlcttu in St. Louis. This was an awesome major tweetup!! It was there I met @beautifulmind1, @devtony, @watchout4snakes, @_amylw_ @angellio, @TheOtherEstevez, @TheKillerShrew, @DataLoreB4, @HollyHollows, @incognito117, @aura322 and @triefy. We saw the Cinematic Titanic show, did some sightseeing, stayed up all night drinking. It was great fun!! If you want to guarantee a good time, these are the people to invite!

So, if you are on Twitter, you should follow all of us, including me, @anastasiam. If you’re not on Twitter, you should think about it. I have 245 followers (today anyway). They live all over the world. We have great fun. We send each other silly presents. We watch sporting events and films together and tweet while we’re doing it. We give each other moral support through tough times. And sometimes we get to meet in person.

And that’s what it’s all about.

Primary Election Day - The Decline To State Dilemma

Today is Primary Election day in California. As a Decline To State voter, I have a choice of three ballots: Democrat, Republican, or Non-Partisan.

I'm still trying to decide which one to choose. I will probably not choose Non-Partisan. I want to vote for offices like Governor, Senator, Attorney General.

Most of the candidates that I like in this election are Democrats and most of the ones that I don't like are Republican.

A friend and I were discussing this last night. We both don't want Meg Whitman as governor and all the bad things she says in her ads about Steve Poizner make him appealing to moderate independents like me.

I'm leaning towards choosing the Republican ballot so I can vote against Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina and hopefully keep them from the general election.

I'll keep you posted.

Habakkuk 2-3, Zephaniah, Mark, Ruth, 1 Kings 1

This is my last post before I leave for Spring Break.

I will try to post while I'm away.

If not, I will catch up when I get back.

Matthew 4-28, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk 1

Two more days worth.

It's good to read the Gospels as Palm Sunday and Easter draw near. I especially enjoyed the translation of Matthew.

Galatians 3-6, Obadiah-Micah, Haggai-Malachi, Matthew 1-3

Two more days worth. After finishing Galatians, I decided to read some of the smaller books that I had skipped over in the Old Testament. Easter is fast approaching and I am so enjoying this practice that I wanted to try and read as many books as possible before Easter.

Speaking of Easter, I will be on vacation from Palm Sunday to Easter and may not have time to blog even every other day. But I will be keeping notes and blogging when I get back.