figuring out 40

05.07.12 : Hello Monday

hello hectic morning getting 3 of us out the door on time (Hope interns at the company that I work for - so we go to work together)

hello to a lack of control over certain situations. I hate that feeling, but am learning to deal.

hello to healthy food choices and walking whenever I can.

hello to having a twenty-year-old tomorrow...how in the world did that happen?

hello to not feeling like working on Project Life this weekend...and letting that be okay.

hello to new flowers, veggies, & herbs in the garden. 

what are you saying hello to today? 

hello monday is a lisa leonard inspired practice

weekly eats 5/6-5/12

Random fact: Having one extra body in the house somehow results in approximately $40 more in groceries.

On the menu this week - 

Sunday (been there, ate that) - baked haddock, mashed red potatoes, green beans

Monday - tofu lettuce wraps

Tuesday - heading to American Flatbread for Hope's birthday. (I'm already planning on ordering the veg special - Wild Ramp Pesto, Amir’s Shiitake Mushrooms, Baby Spinach, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Chevre)

Wednesday - black bean & brown rice enchiladas

Thursday - fettucine with broccoli & romano 

Friday - sweet potato fritters & salads

Lunches will be a variety of salads + leftovers + hummus & pita chips. 

Note to Kirsten - I had your comment in mind today while I was grocery shopping - bought a bag of black beans & a bag of chickpeas instead of canned!

foodie friday: w(h)ine & cheese

(source)

I don't have any fun foodie friday recipes to share, really, so this is really just going to be a few rambling, possibly incoherent, thoughts that may involve food...

• I eat a fairly healthy diet. I eat very few processed foods. Some might say that I'm a bit of a food snob. Despite all of this? I am 16lbs heavier than I was at this time last year. I know that this has as much to do with my descreased activity level (thanks to the hip/back injury) as it does the food. Still. I'd like to see a bit more benefit. 
• Virtually my entire office is currently doing WW. I think it's a fabulous benefit for the company to offer, and I applaud the members' efforts to lose weight. So, for those co-workers reading - this is not about you. I have done WW many times in the past, and had success. However. There is NO way that I could spend my life counting points, AND I have processedfoodsnob issues with the boxes of low-points pseudo food that they sell. That's all that I have to say about that.
• I need to start bringing more interesting lunches. Any veg ideas? I think that I'm going to see how many different salads I can come up with. Can You Stay for Dinner has a great post on building a 400 calorie salad. 

That's all that I've got for today! 

let the rain.

I want to darken in the skies / Open the floodgates up / I want to change my mind / I want to be enough / I want the water in my eyes / I want to cry until the end of time / I want to let the rain come down / Make a brand new ground. (sara bareilles: let the rain)

A song that I've played on repeat many a day lately. I've had a fascination with Seattle for a long time (even before McDreamy), and the question that people always ask me is "but how would you deal with all the rain?" Hmmm. Well, I don't really know. It's been raining a lot here lately, and I've monitored my reaction a bit...I guess to see how I'm dealing with it. (I still dream of moving to Seattle one day) It's an interesting reflective exercise. 

So. Today I'm just going to let the rain come down. 

project life : week seventeen

Here it is...the last week of volume one. This was also Ali's A Week in the Life. I didn't really participate, but when I started to ponder the week, I realized that I had been a bit more mindful about the everyday. So, a seriously modified rendering of the project.. what?? no inserts this week! Just a few highs & lows from each day. (and Gina drinking from a chicken.) As I mentioned, I'm calling this album a wrap - volume one. I had the backside of a page protector to fill, so I did an infographic-style spread. Super easy!  Excited to start volume two...