Draggletail

I have been drooling over this this pretty food blog for the past few days, so when presented with my own especially delightful breakfast this weekend, I felt compelled to take a picture of it: My photo is not that great, but the meal was. Cristina's eggs: Crunchy toast with a bit of olive oil, topped with charred tomatoes, spinach, and poached eggs, and then finished with sprinkles of balsamic and parmesan. Now go check out Simply Breakfast ! It makes me wish I had leisurely mornings.

Take a multivitamin every day. I do this already. Plus I take all kind of other supplements depending on what strikes my fancy on any given week. I have high blood pressure so I'm taking some Omega business and some COQ10 business... and I can't even remember why I'm taking bee pollen right now. Energy? Anyway, I take plenty of vitamins, including the regular multivitamin. Done! Next mission: "Keep the Outside Out." This involves removing our shoes at the door and creating "a transition space to minimize unwanted outdoor pollutants in your home." I like the thought of this, actually - spring in this snowy town is a mess. There is mud and sand and road salt everywhere, the dog hair is everywhere, dust and leaves are flying around... I would love if it would be possible to keep some of that to a minimum. Will try to implement with my family and will report back! Stay tuned!

I think it's become obvious by now that I am not "making changes" once a week. I'm okay with that. It's mainly the blogging assignments that define my schedule on this project and sometimes I just can't blog once a week. So... it's going to be 52 changes over a general period of time, then. Okay? Mission #5: Develop an optimistic outlook. This has actually been a good lesson for me, and one that I do keep thinking about every day, which is good, I think. The objective is to see the glass as half-full. Now, I am simply not myself if I am not worrying or stressing about something, so I have been trying to channel that worry and negativity into more positive thoughts. Recent examples: (a) My condo complex just took away half our parking spots and we basically have to compete for the few spots there are or else park 3 blocks away. Everyone races home at 5:00 and peels around looking for one of the empty spots. It's pathetic and demeaning. I wan

sunny breakfast spot grapefruit from the tree outside our door! checking the score, even on vacation

Keep a food journal, and track everything you eat and drink each day. Forget it. I'm definitely not doing the food journal. The next mission, ironically, instructs me to BE POSITIVE.

Apart from exercise, incorporate regular and routine activity into your lifestyle. I am coming to the realization that these missions are clearly taking me more like 10 days to wrap up instead of a week. I can't seem to get started on time and then I just can't get to the blog often enough. So bear with me on that. Anyway, "Week" 3. Really, all I have in my life lately is "regular and routine activity", and no actual vigorous exercise. I walk the dog a few times a day, I live in a three-story home so I am up and down those hideous stairs all the time, I walk to run errands. I am fine with "routine activity", I think. But getting exercise , on the other hand? Total bust. I did not exercise once this week. On the other hand, I stress about exercising pretty much constantly, so there is really no danger of my not being worried about this part of my life. Onward! Next mission: Start a food journal. Ugh! I hate food journals!! How can I possibly c

I'm really digging Anthropologie's current wallpaper designs . I would love to paper just one wall of a bathroom, say, or a walk-in closet with one of these fun prints.

Get seven to eight hours of restful sleep every night. I thought this would be my favorite homework assignment of all time. I love getting into my bed at night probably more than I love any other activity. I am serious. But the thing is, I already try to get more and more sleep every night as it is. I worry about how fat I am for approximately 90% of my day, and I worry about my sleep habits for the remaining 10% of my waking hours. So compared to all the other topics in the world that I think about, worrying about sleep is right up there. Here's the thing: My husband snores. Loudly, and often. He also thrashes. So I lie awake for hours most nights, frustrated to the point of tears because I am never allowed to sleep. (For the record, I don't "blame" my husband. I know he's not doing it on purpose. He's perhaps not exactly trying anything that might help the situation? But that's another issue.) Anyway, the book told me to "optimize my slee

Drink an adequate amount of water each day to maintain a healthy level of hydration. Here we go! Week #1 of my 52 small changes. (I think I will call them "missions". Makes it sound challenging and therefore more satisfying when I complete them. Also sort of like I'm a spy.) And I'm already behind on posting my "results", but visiting guests and the holiday weekend threw me off. Anyway, as I mentioned in my last post, drinking water isn't all that hard for me. I am sitting at a desk from 8-5 every day, so it is easy for me to have a glass of water at my desk and drink from it all day. Which I do. I drink my water out of a giant plastic Duke cup that I have had since I was in college. I love this cup! It's got my sorority letters on it, I keep it for sentimental purposes, and it's huge, so I do n't have to get up and fill my glass 20 times a day. However, for a long time now, I have been thinking that it is probably not the healthies

I recently had an amazing girls' weekend at Miraval . I love that place. It is just so nice to slow down, focus on yourself and be quiet for a few days. We hiked, ate amazing food, and had a really lovely time. While we were there I ran into another friend, Maren, completely randomly. She was on her own girls' weekend with other friends. Such a bonus gift during my trip! Anyway, during a chat one day, Maren recommended a book called The Happiness Project . I don't feel like summarizing the whole premise, but basically the author (Gretchen Rubin) basically had a revelation one day that she needed more happiness in her life, so she set about it. Which you can probably tell by the title of her book. So while I was looking for The Happiness Project in the self-help section of the bookstore, I came across another book called 52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You , by Brett Blumenthal. While Rubin's book is overarching, and her monthly happiness pr