Sunday. I. Never. Want. To. Leave.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

As I look at this picture I can’t help thinking about my relationship with food. Like so many life-long relationships, our status remains the same: It’s complicated.

At one time in my life food felt like the enemy. I love it – the smell, the texture, the feeling really good food gives my brain and my body. But, despite the positives there were so many draw-backs. I am female, have some impulse-control problems, and am from a family of people who struggle with weight and health issues; I’m genetically predisposed to loose in every battle I wage with really good food. So, for a time I thought, why fight in a war you can’t win?

Funny thing is, I’ve never been much for war. So I decided to stop fighting and try for peace instead. If food was not my enemy, what was it?

Food is:

An essential component to keeping a human being alive.

A joyous and cerebral experience.

Art

Delicious

My ally.

Bad food and bad boys – they fall into the same category. In any relationship, when you go for the so-good-it’s-bad, head-rush, over-the-top guy ALL the time and NOT in moderation…it can be hazardous to your health. But a little bit of bad boy – in the right amounts – never hurt anybody. 😉

And that is what I’m spending my time teaching myself. Make good choices, don’t deprive yourself of the good stuff (or BAD stuff – depending on your position), and things that fuel you, refresh you, and bring you joy are good…in the right amounts.

 

 

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Religion. Iceland. Humanity.

I think there is room in the world for whatever you believe as long as it is peaceful, nondiscriminatory, and you don’t expect the public sector to adopt laws that uphold your beliefs in spite of how those laws affect others. But the look on someone’s face when you tell them you are an atheist is…actually kind of awful sometimes. I feel the reaction is especially bad if the person feels like they KNOW that you are religious…because “you are such a good person.”

The secret is…I do try as hard as I can to be a good person because my religion is love, equity, peace, empathy, self-love, respect, and kindness. My religion is humanity.

I can’t help but wonder what the world would look like if there were more atheists on every continent. My hope? Maybe more like Iceland.‪#‎myreligionishumanity‬

Fortunes . Futures . And Free Fun .

At lunch today I decided to hop on over to Panda express and suppliment my orange chicken Smart Ones with a few rangoons and a bit of sweet and sour (less than two dollars even if you don’t get an entree!).  As is customary, I was also given a fortune cookie.

I always thought my ideas were clever, but this OBVIOUSLY confirms it.

Rewards.  Hm.

As I have been doing often during this transition from the midwest to the west coast – I spent this afternoon crunching my budgetary numbers. And I’ve come to a conclusion…

I’m going to have to find some fun, free stuff to do with myself.

So, let us start a list, shall we?

1 – Find a library and get a card. I would really love to find a library near here with a kindle lending program. I love books and I love my kindle – having both of my loves available for free would be excellent.

2 – Learn a Language.  Here in Southern California, working in retail, it is becoming obvious to me that I desperately need to dust off the part of my brain that knew enough Spanish in college to make it through three semesters. My first attempt at doing this for free is going through daily lessons using this fun, free app for my phone called Duolingo. This program is also available over the internet on your regular computer.

3 – Find a good exercise routine using YouTube. One of the first things I did upon landing here in my new home is look for a gym. I know this might be hard for you to swallow – seeing as i don’t look the part – but I actually LOVE the gym.  I find the solitude that I feel just listening to music and sweating is very stress-relieving.  But, the privilege of sweating in an air conditioned building is out of my means at the moment.  SO, seeing as I’m not much of a runner (unless something is chasing me) I decided to turn to my favorite content platform and find a gym alternative.  My favorite one so far is the husband and wife team behind Fitness Blender – full length videos, free, and there are lots of fitness levels to choose from. I love that they actually DO the workout with you – they get winded and tired with you and everything – it’s great!

4 – Practice self-love. Hopefully, in 2016, this isn’t controversial. I believe in the stress-relieving, sleep-inducing, happiness machine that is the orgasm. I’m not much for anonymous sex and I don’t have a boyfriend – I think you can fill in the blanks from there.  BUT if you need more convincing, here’s a list of the positive effects masturbation can have on your health. You’re welcome.

5. YouTube, blog, tweet, repeat. I want to reach out. I want to create content that is interesting and engaging.  I want to create something that makes me really happy and sustains me. I moved away from almost EVERY PERSON that makes me happy – I want and need to make that decision worth it. So now, the only thing left to do is – to DO.

 

These are good ones to start.  What are your favorite free or low-cost forms of entertainment?  Leave me your suggestions in the comments!

 

 

 

Hot Guy . Making Cookies . ‘Nuff Said .

Macarons.

Those sweet, crisp, delicious sins of the tongue.  I’ve decided that I WILL learn to make these devil’s treats – especially because I can’t continue paying $3.00 per cookie at Whole Foods.

So…I did what I do and took my search to the YouTubes – and holy pistachio cookies – I found my new food OBSESSION.  Enter: Byron Talbot and his YouTube cooking show. At this point I have watched hours – no – DAYS of this handsome devil (and his super cute family) experiment, cook, bake, and sample all kinds of food that I WANT TO EAT NOW.

Wait.  Didn’t this post start out about macarons? Well, if I’m obsessed with Byron – Byron is obsessed with macarons.  He has a whole playlist. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is worth your time.

Take a look. Subscribe. Salivate. You’re Welcome.

(Clicky, Clicky!)  Byron Talbot – “Thin Mint” Macarons