deTOX

So, last Monday we started the Whole Living Cleanse. This is three weeks of no added sugar, no processed foods, no caffeine, no alcohol, no dairy, no gluten. The idea, at least for me, is to kind of reset and be more mindful of what you’re eating. The first week was fruits, vegetables, nuts and oils and wasn’t really as tough as I expected. What was tough was that I was bone tired so much of the week. I also lost 10 pounds. In a week. Obviously this isn’t sustainable for a variety of reasons, but it did make me feel like how I was eating was very off to have that kind of effect after a week on the cleanse. And then there’s some unanticipated side effects—like two people only eating produce for a week is dirt cheap! And if water is all you’re drinking, you drink a lot of it! And I haven’t had a headache in a week. I don’t know the cause (caffeine? Alcohol? Gluten? Dairy? Everything I love?) but I have realized how unusual it is for me to go a week without one. I haven’t had the blood sugar crashing shakes like I sometimes get, I haven’t even gotten really hungry and have been satiated with little.
It’s so far also made me realize how much I associate some food with activities. Like I have actually done ok without the caffeine, but Saturday morning listening to NPR in the kitchen would have really suited a nice hot cup. Or a chilly Sunday morning at the dog park, a fellow showed up with a Starbucks cup and damn I’ve never wanted a latte more. And how food is one of the best parts of being alive, how sad it would be to never eat all of those things again... In moderation, but still.
So, so far so good. This week (as of today) we added back in legumes and fish. The protein boost has helped my energy level a lot.
Lastly, the smoothies are awesome. We bought a new blender/juicer/food processor ninja which works awesomely and smoothies may become the breakfast cure I’ve long been looking for. Plus I feel like I’m getting a leg up on the day when it’s 7:30 am and I’ve already had like 4 servings of fruit.

Dark Ages

I temporarily ditched my iphone, fried my ipod charger and had my camera charger crap out on me. Replacements for the second two are on their way. But it's like the dark ages up in here. Like 2002 or something.

Shiver.

Exit Through the Gift Shop

This movie is a total delight. It's a documentary about streeet art, specifically Banksy's, and it's not at all what I expected it to be. It also challenged me somewhat about my feelings about public art v. graffiti. Banksy does these political murals on the wall built in the West Bank. Art? Absolutely and not something I feel should be criminally prosecuted. The guys spraying paint, hitting each car as a train went by... string 'em up! It's destructive and... that's not art! Like the Supreme Court, I know it when I see it, apparently.

Anyway, check it out, it's on Netflix Instant which would be a really good option for those of you with a reliable internet signal...

Chappy Cholidays!

In the interest of full disclosure, that Gus ornament made it one day before its inspiration knocked over the tree and shattered it into a million pieces. We got some new ornaments, tougher ornaments, though. So don't cry.
Anyway, I am so in the holiday spirit already, you guys!! We have a tree up, I am drinking from red cups, I've gotten and shipped presents for both my and Charlie's moms, our sisters, for baby Jesus, I mean, preschool kid Johan and his mom, my wife. And for another birthday, not naming any names but she's totally turning 30 on Friday and it rhymes with Talison Menge.
I like it because I usually always have good intentions, I just forget. And then I have all this crap that is either totally outdated and useless or super late and it seems like I didn't really care enough. I've got some more elving to do but also have a ton of time to do it in. And maybe this future me will follow through since new me is setting such a good example for her.

In the meantime, it's almost time to go to Phoenix to go to Minneapolis tomorrow. Happy Thanksgiving, please enjoy this joke my client told me this morning in the psych unit:

Him: Want to to hear a joke?
Me: Sure.
Him: What do you get when you fill out all your paperwork?
Me: MMMmmm... I don't know, what?
Him: A thousand paychecks!
Me: Wow, that's a good deal!



I hope you fill out all your paperwork so your Thanksgiving is better than a thousand paychecks!

More Important: Many Good Things Also Happening

1. Long hikes. Last one was Thursday with another lawyer from my office that involved almost 3 hours of hiking and about 3 hours of drinking mimosas after. Perfect ratio, as far as I am concerned.

2. FREE regular-sized Aveda shit (shampoo/conditioner) for referring Charlie to my haircutting place. It was offered literally right after I was browsing all the product and telling myself something like, "Sarah, when you pay off your credit card, you can only use Aveda products." So, look for me to smell great all the time in, like, 10 years.

3. It's almost Thanksgiving! Which means a) delicious and b) another trip to Minnesota, which is usually always fun. Also reminds me of the kid in my math class senior year who was kind of slow and sometime in the first couple weeks of school in September said, "I can't wait for Thanksgiving, I'm so hungry!"

4. I'm getting sent to a class in Phoenix on Friday for work, which I believe is my first business trip and involves staying over Thursday night in a hotel. Look for me to make a lot of references to my business trip and to specify I am there for business, not pleasure.

5. I want a gas fireplace insert for Christmakkah. It would so improve our quality of life but is non-essential and costs multiple thousand of dollars. Santa, you're on notice. Any concern about becoming domesticated and old and lame is obviously now moot. I am including this in "good things happening" to demonstrate the power of positive thinking.

6. I came into work today to a thank you card from a client's family. I did good for him and getting thanked... is great. Good start to a new week.

Haircut

Look! I got another $20 haircut. And she made it curly! And now I am listening to lectures about Trusts.

Bathroom

Because the bar prep precludes me from spending my time doing fun things. At all. There has been no painting and very little is on the walls. However, we solved a situation in the bathroom and I'm not talking about abs from Jersey Shore. The upstairs bathroom, "master bath" if you're on HGTV, looked like this:




How does one shower in that shower? Where does the shower curtain go? These are legitimate questions. You may think of one of those old-fashioned circular shower curtain rods like I did. If you do, you can google it and see they start at, like, $200. Too much. So I found this D-shaped one from Home Depot.com for $29 with shipping and we just now finished installing it. Because it involved drilling into TILE. And using special screws for hollow walls. But it turned out the ones we got first were too big (even though they said 3/8" but whatever) and then it turned out part of the wall wasn't hollow and then that ceiling rod was too long. But, we did it.








High five!

Next step is doing something about those horrible fixtures...

House a Home

Some advances toward home improvement straddled the new year. From consultation with HVAC guys about why half the house is freezing to a backhoe digging out the backyard, things are moving along. We went down to Ikea yesterday and came back with an awesome kitchen island and some sorely needed additional storage for the bathroom(s).

This is the new stove that was finally delivered and installed on Saturday. I love it. I was delighted, at 11pm last night after a long day in Phoenix and a long evening assembling furniture to pop a frozen pizza into its flawless self. I've never had a new stove before. And while I can feel myself getting caught up in the homeowner's lament of the expense and the hassle of it all, I hope to continue to be able to enjoy that thrill. Yes, it cost a lot of money, but I went to Sears and picked out that stove and which features I want and what I'm willing to pay more for... and now it's mine (ok, ours) and it's awesome. And some previous incarnation of myself might be horrified that I'm blogging about a stove... but screw her. The stove is awesome. And so is remembering that this is our freaking house!!!

Present!

Although spending less right now is the smart thing, sometimes one finds something that one wants so much that one sends her boyfriend an email with a link saying, "you might as well get this for me as a gift because our money is going to be used to buy it eventually." And then a few weeks later, you get this sweet piece:




Love it!

CONSUMPTION IS LIFE

Hi friends, you know how much I enjoy consumerism, and I missed it so being funemployed and poor. So I thought I'd share some of the products that have greatly improved our lives in, like, the past week.

I came home from work on Friday and Charlie had purchased and set up: A Wii. Rockband. Wii Fit. Mario Kart. I was delighted. Charlie was amused when I emphasized that this is the first video game system I have ever had... as an only girl-child... makes sense, but still. At 28 I've arrived!

Surprisingly, we still tore ourselves away from video game to go up to Colorado and spend a night at Mesa Verde. Uncharacteristically, we chose to stay in the lodge in the park instead of camping (partly to do with dog restrictions, truthfully.) I'm so glad we did, though. Not only because that night there were lightning storms that started 5 forest fires in the park and then put them out with the rain (reason enough to be glad we weren't camping) but- the hotel was so cool. Not deluxe at all, very basic, really, but it was this complex of sets of maybe 6 or so rooms that were free-standing and all had decks with different cool views of the mesa.

On our return to Flagstaff, we were converted by this article about coffee and bent on changing our coffee-making situation. We so far resisted a $130 burr grinder, but did spring $28 for the Aero Press. And decided to buy coffee from a local awesome coffee place to make at home. So far, so great! The Aero Press takes some adjustment, but the coffee it makes is really good.

Basically, being a two-income household (in theory, I still haven't gotten paid yet...) is great. It's interesting because living in the boonies and in a place where you don't know anyone is a great way to save money. There's no reason not to bring my lunch and so far we have only been eating out on Thursday nights ("date night") after Charlie gets back from the reservation. On the flip side, I am enjoying spending money thoughtfully on things that improve our lives-- video games only kind of count, I know. I love picking up our CSA share every week and brainstorming meals based around the fresh and local fruits and veggies we get. I like spending a little more to get really good, local coffee. And, because I'm not eating out or buying coffee daily, I think we still come out ahead.

Obviously when you don't have money, there aren't many choices to make. But I am enjoying having the latitude to make some choices of better ways to shop and live and still being fiscally responsible. I can't speak for Charlie, though, word is Beatles Rockband will be arriving at our house tomorrow....

7 Good Things (Note: "Seven Pounds" was not one of them)

1. Well, you know, first is probably the JOB I WAS OFFERED TODAY. I start Monday. It's hard to express what a relief it is. If I chose to be cynical, I could describe it as the same job I had before law school but for much less money. But I choose not to be cynical. In reality, it's about the best situation I could be in (like, considering I didn't take the AZ bar, have no contacts in town, etc.). I am really stoked. I will have health insurance and a paycheck and county benefits and hopefully a full week before I remember that working isn't always that awesome.

2. We have a Sunday-only subscription to the NY Times starting this Sunday. This was the first week of Charlie staying out on the reservation, so number 2a is that he'll come home tomorrow night, we'll celebrate #1 with dinner out and the bottle of champagne Karen & Drew passed along for just such an occasion. Yes we moved inexpensive champagne to AZ. What? So 2b will almost certainly be how nice it will be to relax with the Sunday Styles with my boy and my dog in a couple of days, with the knowledge the next day will start my return to contributing member of society.

3. We were able to join in on the end of a summer CSA. Four more weeks of this one, which gave us tomatoes, turnips, beets, salad greens, potatoes, onion, carrots and cucumber last week. I picked up this week's share this afternoon, which was essentially the same but green beans and radishes instead of tomatoes and carrots. Yum!

4. My car insurance is over $200 cheaper per year in Flagstaff over Madison. Like, I have the exact same policy with the exact same insurer. So that's an unexpected perk of the move.

5. This week marks the tenth anniversary of going to college. Monday night we were able to toast it, Erica and I discussed it on the phone last night. It's a good thing. Incidentally, my sister went to college on Monday, too. We can sing Circle of Life together later if you want.

6. I found the natural foods store in town. I had gotten kind of worried/weirded our that I couldn't find a co-op or Whole Foods-type place. Well, Flag has a New Frontiers. Whatever, I don't need to do all my shopping at places like that (nor can I afford it, even with the new dual incomes...) but I was feeling panicky without a place to buy bulk spices-type things. I had some eel rolls with brown rice from there for lunch today. Stamp of approval!

7. Since today was Dog Day... well actually not because of that at all, but because I had to time and the promise of future earnings, I got Aberdeen a fancy new brush, brushed him and washed him in pomegranate fru-la-la dog shampoo that is supposed to reduce shedding. He hated the whole thing. Lucky for him in between the brushing and the washing we went on a walk on one of the nearby trails, where he can be off-leash and explore all the southwestern creepy crawlys he wants. Since his actual Dog Day was more bad than good, I thought I'd honor my constant companion by sharing his funniness. I had kind of gotten used to it and don't think it's so weird anymore, until the Monday visitors saw it and thought it was very funny.

Ok, so this is like what he does. Like immediately after I make the bed.



"Hey, Aberdeen... Aberdeen... You want to go outside?"



.....



He's magical.

So that's all the good things I can think of, there's a lot. Oh, perhaps the most critical of all, everything on clearance at Old Navy is another 50% off. So you can go, and like me, get 3 work-appropriate top-sweater things for $20. And then, like me, you'll be very thrifty as well as very lucky.

TSA Math

At the store, out of toothpaste, I decide to pay $1.97 for 3 oz. of toothpaste instead of $1.50 for 6oz... because, well, I'll be able use it again after I fly back to MN on Friday.

Um, President Obama, we're in a "recession," perhaps we should de-prioritize the federal subsidy of the travel-sized toiletries industry?

Product Review

Hello gentle readers, on this day of Jesus' alleged resurrection, I thought I would do a little resurrecting myself and tell you about some products that have changed my life for the better recently.


Ladies with big boobies- maybe Miley can jog in a bikini top (and jean shorts?! What the heck?) but for us, the expensive sports bra is totally worth it! No more doubling up with what Target has to offer for fear that the boobies will be at your knees by the end of the work out (not to mention the plain old discomfort.) It's not THAT expensive and more than worth it. I do slightly feel like I'm on suicide watch when I wear it (nothing is going nowhere... including my rib cage to breathe...) so you're going to want to get out of it as soon as the sweating is done.


I can't find the entry where I talked about my 2008 New Year's resolution not to use bottled water. It was relatively successful, and even here in 2009 I try to avoid it. I haven't really fallen for this whole plastic water bottle will kill you thing... but I am kind of weirded out by reusing plastic bottle, even like Nalgene-type bottles because I just don't think of them as getting completely clean and kind of imagine them with a slimy spit layer in them. I am not terribly germ-phobic in general and I'll use them, but I have found, like the white person I am, I greatly prefer the metal one. I think I would like glass even more, but that would be heavy and hazardous. But I like this metal gorilla one I have. I also like that it's 20 oz instead of 32 because it doesn't get so heavy when full.



Which is important when it is in my backpack along with this awesome thing. There's almost nothing really to say, it's a mug I can throw in my backpack. It doesn't spill and even when it's open, the coffee stays warm all day long. It's amazing. Also, since the lid is part of it, you can't lose it. Go get one!



It turns out, one really simple way of drastically improving your life is buying a tupperware set. Yeah, see, you CAN use old hummous containers and take out tubs... but they you'll be spending lots of time and energy looking for the right top, making sure they don't leak, etc. You are doing all of this when, for $20 at Target, you can get a bazillion-piece set that doesn't leak and are various sizes, but all use one of two sizes of lids, and everything nests in each other so perfectly.


Yes, electric toothbrushes do a much better job of cleaning your teeth than regular ones. And, plug-in ones like this one (and like the one I got with my Westlaw points) do an even better job than the semi-disposable battery-operated ones.

Good things

Two good things happened today:
1. My harddrive crashed last night. Like, literally. It fell off the counter and then it was broken. But, thanks to Apple Care, the Genius Bar and a Time Machine backup from a couple of weeks ago... it was relatively painless. I did lose my most recent round of edits I was made on the video I am making to distribute to prisons. But all in all, a pretty happy x-harddrive story.

2. For Valentine's Day, Charlie gave me a mani and a facial at the salon at our gym. I'd never had a facial. Or a manicure from someone with a B.A. in Sociology. They were great. So great that I was totally hoodwinked in my hydrated state into buying the products. Well. Let me be honest... I resisted at the salon, then got home and bought them for marginally cheaper on QVC.com. So, yes, I paid $40 for face shit and yes, I bought something on QVC.com.

Anyway, this stuff came in the mail today and I am right not being exfoliated by mushroom extract.

Bargain City

First things first, Sophy is a mysterious badass/heartthrob.

But second, I did the funnest thing today, you guys. Well, yesterday I had Thanksgiving... which was very fun (and I didn't even shut down and sleep through half of it like I did last year...) But TODAY, Charlie and I visited a nearby Cub Foods grocery store that is going out of business. All regular groceries there are 40% off (including the cherry Pucker schnapps and alcohol-free wine) and some things, like greeting cards and medicine were 60-85% off. It was amazing. We got all this weird food from the completely picked-over store-- and for so cheap! One good find was an industrial-sized can of black beans-- 23 servings for $5. Also lots of marinades, salad dressings and pickled things, some cheese and mini-marshmallows. The whole thing made me feel very rich and it was one of my favorite things I have done recently. Which is weird and maybe a little sad.

I can tell how jealous you are, internet. There is a lot, a lot of Cream of Mushroom soup left-- so get over there!

Late Christmas, Nice Boyfriend

Dear Cake Batter Ice Cream,

I didn't know it was possible to love a non-chocolate flavor of ice cream this much. You've opened my eyes and made me a more accepting, worldly person.

Your friend 'til the end,

Sarah

ps. I have been home alone since Saturday night with very little interaction with other people... except for store clerks. It's been weirdly nice, but also has me cracked up. Writing love letters to ice cream flavors, for example.

Good Idea/Bad Idea

Welcome to the latest installment of Good Idea/Bad Idea. Let's get started:

GOOD IDEA:

Being done with finals and leaving for the Dominican Republic. Yes, thank you, I thought it was a good idea, too.

BAD IDEA:

Bettern Peanut Butter. See it here. The consistency is weird and sticky and it is too sweet. And tastes only vaguely like peanuts. Yes, it is a good diet food... because it's gross and you won't eat it but will feel guilty about buying more real peanut butter as long as you have it. We finally overcame this by deciding the best thing to do would be to mix the fake-o peanut butter with real peanut butter. I'll review that later on.

GOOD IDEA:
Getting beautiful regular manis (and less regular pedis.) I just love looking at them and not gnawing on them because they are painted. Friend Danielle provided a good idea that you buy the color you want, have them paint you with that and then you can do touch-ups on your own at home. An even better idea is what I did, use the nail polish she bought for this purpose.

Look how beautiful I look!

BAD IDEA:

"Body Pump" class and "Body Attack" class back to back over two days. Ouch.

Another BAD IDEA:

Letting me out of the house? At Target the other day I bought a 5-piece luggage set. Long story short is that an extra 4 pieces were like $10 more than just the suitcase I came for. So consumerism won, I was super American and bought it, whatever. At check out, the checker says she has to check through the "pieces" trying to make it sound like it was to be sure they were all there, but more importantly probably making sure I wasn't stealing anything in the 5 pieces. So she starts going through the suitcases, which are nested inside one another, and I say:

"If this were Law and Order, I'd be stealing a baby out of the store in those."

Yeah, um, it seems she was not the L & O fan I am. What a weird thing to say to a stranger, Sarah. Jeesus.

GOOD IDEA and BAD IDEA:

Bar Bingo. Or "drinking like you're still in college."



Bad idea for the way I feel (probably contributing to the pump/attack full body pain.) Good idea because I came in 3rd... I mean, if you're going to play, you might as well win, right?


Ok, time to get back to a little packing, a little paper-writing and a little getting ready for the trivia playoffs tonight. My next dispatch may be from the DR... or you, my adoring public (of three?), will have to wait with bated breath until after x-mas.

Happy Holidays but mostly Happy Chanukah.

I've Always Wanted a Hobby...

A week or two ago I went into Starbucks. Now, I wanted a medium, skim, sugar-free vanilla latte, but I am hip to their lingo (aka trained like a Pavlovian dog) so I asked for a "grande skinny latte." I move to the end up of the counter and wait, eventually the barista puts a drink up on the end and says, "grande standard." I didn't take it, no one else took it and they called it again, "grande standard" then kind of giggled and said "grande skinny vanilla latte."

Now I never really thought I was going to Starbucks for the respect... but this seemed to cross some line. Like you extort $4.50 out of me for a coffee and then you say I am just like every other ugg and leggings-wearing bimbo to walk through these doors (except, notably, with neither uggs nor leggings)?? I don't think so.

So I engaged in what I plan to become my hobby-- complaining to corporations. I spent longer than probably necessary on Starbucks.com telling them how on one hand their success to due to them serving the exact same thing all over the world... on the other hand they have had this whole campaign of expressing yourself through your coffee. Either hand means it's bad business to alienate your customers and make them feel like losers. Or try to, since in reality it didn't really work. But on starbucks.com, I was very offended. And it resulted in two free drink coupons in the mail. A little righteous indignation and 6 minutes of work for a $10 value? This is like having a job or something!

So my new plan is to complain to lots of corporate HQs, in the hopes of being similarly compensated. The one kind of rule I created is that I can't make up what happened, but I dial up the actual outrage I felt in the situation. So, for example, Chipotle will soon be hearing how offended I was that they told me the guacamole was extra-- I am just unsure whether to explain it was because they didn't recognize me as a "regular" or because I felt like they were calling me "poor."

I'll let you know how it goes.

Time for a Little Evolution

Why does this shoe exist?

It doesn't even make any sense.

Just so we're clear, this is a rubber flat made to look like suede, lined with some kind of synthetic fur and finished off with a promise ring? And here I was thinking Crocs couldn't get stupider.*

*Full disclosure, I do kind of want these. I have held off, not only because they are crocs and not only because they are not apparently sold in the winter and not because $30 for plastic shoes just seems wrong... but they actually make my feet look pregnant. Not like pregnant person feet, but like my feet are going to have their own feet babies.

And while we're on the topic, I also want these. I was looking for less expensive alternatives when I stumbled across God's mistake, the promise ring furcrocs. I guess I can lay the groundwork for xmas.

Oh, also, I am going to New York tomorrow. When is a better time for a little mid-week getaway than finals?