All Things in Moderation

The saying goes, 'All things in moderation', but I am terrible about living that way. I have never in my life had a single cookie or just one handful of crackers. For me it is either all or nothing.

That's why I'm celebrating my one month anniversary of being soda free. Without getting too into it, I had a soda drinking problem. I could drink up to ten diet sodas in a day without even thinking about it. Every single thing I've read about nutrition and every friend or expert I've talked to just says I need to just cut it out. So with the start of the new year I did just that. I haven't had a single sip of soda in thirty-one days. (You may applaud.) I've missed it hardly at all so I will be continuing to choose non-soda beverages for the time being.

This got me thinking about other over-indulgences in my life. Since I am so terrible at moderation, I will be undergoing an experiment. As I did with the soda, I will live without one of my over-indulgences for one month, at which time I'll re-evaluate what place that indulgence has in my life. Does it need to be cut out completely like soda? Or will living without teach me to live with indulgence in moderation?

Next on my indulgence list? Alcohol. (Can I hear a heck yes from my fellow young people of America?) I love myself a great glass of wine, a pint of microbrew and a sugary-sweet cocktail. My problem is my tendency to drink several of each at a time. With my new attempt at healthy living I don't think there is room left for all the calories taken up with alcohol. So I've chosen February (the shortest month, not by accident) to contemplate my life without alcohol. I predict, come March, I'll toast to a new month with a yummy beer, but hopefully a month of doing without will help teach me how to enjoy a single drink, without going overboard. Here is to hoping!

What techniques do you have to live with moderation?

Claire Out.

LACMA Adventure

I was so busy dealing with a pesky cold this week that I neglected to write about my trip to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art aka LACMA. I had never been to this particular museum before and went on the suggestion of one of Mike's professors. What an impressive place. HUGE and such a great variety of artwork. About five buildings with art and artifacts from all parts of the world and all time periods. We were there for a good chunk of the day and left with a lot unseen. I will have to return again before I feel like I've defeated this museum.

During this visit we were able to see the Japanese Calligraphy collection which is housed in an AMAZING building. On the inside the building feels organic, almost as if you are inside of a sea shell. We also managed to tackle the majority of another building which included, Polynesian artifacts, modern american art, and practically every era of european art. Not to bad for a saturday afternoon.

I actually love going to museums, which I suppose is unusual since history has always been among my least favorite subjects. There is just something so magical about art and objects serving as little clues to an ancient way of living or a moment in time. Going to museums always puts my life in perspective, it reminds me how little and how much human's have changed over the years.

The first gallery we entered had no little plaques to describe the objects and I suddenly found myself adrift. What are these objects? What is there story? What do they mean? Which lead to a bigger question. Have I been experiencing museums badly my whole life? Do I rely too much on the plaques to tell me what to think and feel and not enough on the art or artifact? I think not, it is just my museum going style.

While I feel that a great piece of art can move you without knowing anything about why it was made or who made it, I feel that background information can enrich the experience. It is just my style to be curious about who the artist was, when they lived and why they chose their subjects. I'm sure others ignore completely the unobtrusive black and white text next to great works of art. And that's okay too. What is your museum going style?

Claire Out.

Balcony Improvements

This week I attacked something completely new and different, a home improvement project. You see, I'm what you might call a 'style novice'. I never enter a space and say, 'You know what this needs? Accent pillows!' Recently however, I've been making a big effort to get things on my blank white walls, and to make sure that my living space feels like home. I've been inspired in no small part by Young House Love and enjoyed many conversations with my 'style master' aunt about how to improve the look of my home. This week I tackled a project that has been lurking in the back of my mind for a while: to paint my patio chairs black.

You see I have a black tabel, and now a cool black plant holder thing and light green ikea chairs. (Which of these things is not like the others?) So I wanted to paint these chairs black to match the rest of the outdoor furniture. I choose my tools, a can of semi-gloss black spray paint, trash bags turned drop cloths and a sort of sandpaper sponge thing called 'The SandBlaster'. (Behold: The SandBlaster!)

As instructed by the back of the spray paint can, I washed the chairs, sanded the chairs, and washed the chairs again. The longest part of the process for me was waiting for he chairs to dry off before I got to painting.

Then the moment of truth, the actual painting. It always is a little more complicated than you expect, right? Well the problem with these particular chairs is all those little spindly bits. Spray paint is awesome when you need to cover a huge flat piece of cardboard for an EPIC Halloween costume but not so great when you are trying to paint something that is in at least four dimensions and is probably a möbius strip. Trickier than they look.

To further increase the level of difficulty I was painting them on my tiny balcony it was tough to get all the angles. (LONG STORY, but basically I was to nervous to paint them in the alley behind my apartment building. Because, A. stray paint may get on cars, and B. I would have to leave the newly painted chairs unattended on the streets of LA for hours while they dried. So I settled for the balcony.) On the positive side, the light green color was bright against the black, so I could tell areas that needed a touch up. On the downside the time of day I was painting made light green/almost white paint peering through looks exactly like wet paint with the sun shining on it. Despite everything, it turned out pretty well.

So what did I learn? If I were to do it again, I would choose to paint in a larger space, or even one at a time. (I can be so impatient). I would cover the ground with more drop cloths to take into account the wind factor. (My patio has a bit of a tan line now, shhh). And I would choose a time of day where the light is bright enough to see but not glaring off the wet paint.

Now to go reap the rewards of my labors by sitting in my (now dry) chairs and contemplate deep thoughts that are too big for the indoors.

Claire Out.

Pessimistic Tendencies?

My garden is turning out to be a success!

My Asian Salad Mix was the first to sprout. Followed by my pea plants and my morning glories. Now edamame, squash and basil are all joining in. (Still waiting on my pepper and tomato plants, but I have a soft spot for late bloomers.)

In fact my garden has been such a success that everything has come up at least four days before I expected it to. Way to go California Sunshine and, of coures, my previously unknown superior plant tending skills. The only problem now will be thinning the heard when it comes time to transplant. And no joke, I will have to thin the heard.

It seems I was a little heavy handed when it came to planting the seeds. I remember thinking at the time the extra seeds (or extra sprinkle from the package) were 'insurance' in case some of the seeds turned out to be duds. Pessimistic? Some would say so, but I choose to think of it as being prepared. Once a Girl Scout . . . However, my tendency to prepare for disaster has left me with an embarrassment of riches. There is no way my tiny balcony will be able to support so many plants.

So, dear friends, you might just want to prepare yourselves for the gift of a small plant in a few weeks. It seems I'll have extras.

Italian Inspired Four Course Dinner

My latest adventure of trying something new is a culinary one. My good friend Kaitlin came over for dinner on Friday. She runs an amazing food and healthy living blog called Kaitlin with Honey which you should absolutely check out. Since Kaitlin is a food blogger, I knew she would be up for something a little different, and what better way to celebrate a friendship than by trying something new?

I decided I wanted to try making an Italian style meal for the first time. I don't regularly eat meals with multiple courses, so it would really be a nice treat. I would have Kaitlin's help in the kitchen, so I wouldn't have to face the challenge alone. All lights were go. Except I first needed to figure out what exactly goes into making an Italian meal course progression. (I often decide things are a good idea before I know the whole story. oops.) I did a little research about traditional Italian meal structure and found a good summary here at my old friend wikipedia. Here is the menu I came up with:

Since we wouldn't be drinking I skipped the idea of an Aperitivo and went straight to Antipasto. After thinking of a million delicious options I settled on tomato, mozzarella and basil with olive oil and balsamic. So simple, so yummy and in my mind, very Italian. (Please forgive the ugliest picture in the world.)

The next course, Primo, is normally a hot pasta or soup dish. Since we were going to be eating four. whole. courses. I went for the lighter soup option in order to guarantee we'd have room for the next two courses. Sticking with the Italian theme, I made a modified version of this Healthy Minestrone Soup. (I cheated a little and made this the night before since it required at least an hour on the stove and I didn't want THAT much time between courses.) Here is it cooking away. Mmm I looking forward to enjoying the left-overs.

For Secondo, the meat course, I made a home favorite of mine, pork tenderloin with a balsamic cream sauce. While it isn't exactly Italian cuisine it is just too easy and delicious to pass up. While I worked away on making the pork, Kaitlin was left completely in charge of making our Contorno dish, a cooked veggie dish normally eaten along with the meat course. In our case we chose to make the sometimes unpopular brussels sprout. We used a recipe from The Daily Garnish that I had tried before, it lived up to my memory and beyond. Yum.

We topped everything off with the Fromaggio e Frutta course, literally cheese and fruit. (Note: my pronunciation of this particular course made Kaitlin laugh out loud.) We simply sliced strawberries and ate them with a little goat cheese. What a great combination! It's creamy and sweet without feeling overwhelmingly desert-ish. No recipe here, I just came up with it. Oh yeah. I'm good. At this point we called it quits after a yummy and filling meal and skipped the sweet, Dolce course.

I absolutely recommend the Italian meal structure as a fun way to mix up the routine. I certainly enjoyed the more drawn our dinner with time to savor many different flavors, and of course more time to chat and catch up. Next time I try this multi-course meal structure (yes there will be a next time) I think I'll make each piece a little smaller, so that I don't end up quite so full at the end of the night. I'm pretty pleased that we managed to successfully pull off four courses, a personal record. And I certainly expanded my knowledge of the Italian way to eat a meal. Personally, I think those Italians are onto something. What cultural cuisine or meal progression should I try next?

Claire Out.

Happy New Year!

Ah, January! The feeling of a fresh year when anything and everything is possible. So many people make new years resolutions that these first few weeks of the new year you can almost hear the world striving for self-improvement. For me this new year, I only had one goal: to take more pride in myself and the things I do.

I have to confess no matter how touchy-feely my goal sounds, hiding behind high-mindedness there is the traditional new years theme of (you guessed it) weight loss.

Sure my resolution also inspires reading great books, starting a garden and reaching out to old friends, BUT the 'lose 10lbs (or more!) subtext is totally there. You see, I wasn't always the unhealthy person you read before you today. There was a time in my life when I could run without trouble and swim for hours on end. (Those were the days!) Swimming has always been my work out of choice. It is easy on the joints, works out your full body and best of all, it has a built in cooling system. An overheated Claire is NOT a pretty sight.

I've been away from swimming for a little more than three years and every false start at getting back was because, in my time away, I'd gotten worse at swimming. My expectations of what I thought I should be able to do were never met and I ended up being disappointed. Solution? Ease back in.

So I went to the internet for help. I found a seemingly reasonable 'get (back) into swimming' program and made myself a chart for motivation.

While swimming isn't new to me, this program certainly is, so I feel it qualifies for the blog. Today I successfully completed day number one! It was hard, I felt awkward and none of my swim suits fit properly BUT I did it. So I've got to say I'm pretty proud of myself. Aren't resolutions great?

Claire Out.

Starting My First Container Garden

Starting a container garden is something I've been thinking about doing for a long time. Growing up I always had a great garden. (Thanks Dad!) As a kid, my brother and I would each choose a vegetable to plant in the spring, care for all summer and harvest in the fall. All these pleasant childhood memories boil down to: I love gardens. They are beautiful, calming, and provide oxygen. We could use more of that in LA. However, being a young person, not only do I lead a rather nomadic lifestyle (since going to college I've moved six times), but the places I do live never seem to have a glorious back yard in which to plant my garden.

After years of wanting to start a garden and being scared off, I finally took the plunge. My waffling was ended largely because I read "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver, recommended to me by my friend Kristen. It is an amazing book about a family choosing to EXCLUSIVELY eat locally grown and raised food for one year. That means a lot of gardening. The book doesn't gloss over the hard work involved in gardening, but it does celebrate the rewards of growing your own food. And while their family ate only home grown foods, the book emphasized that every little bit helps. So that was it. I was sold.

This Christmas I asked for and received (Thanks Mom and Dad!) seeds, pots, tools and a watering can. As well as a super attractive garden shelf which serves the duel purposes of creating more space on my small balcony, and providing a little separation between my space and my neighbors.

So today I finally got around to planting. The baby plants will be staying indoors for the first few weeks before they move out into their future home on the balcony. I gathered my supplies.

My seed packets and labels. (Cameo by my new trowel!)

My seed starter kit

And some freshly bought dirt. (I think it is so weird that I have to buy dirt. Even though we did that for flower beds back home.)

Then I just loaded up the little cups, followed the planting instructions and gave them a good soaking with water.

Here is the finished product.

I'll let you know how these little guys progress. According to the packaging I should be seeing little shoots in about a week. I've got a wide range of things planted, several veggies, some herbs and even a flower. The challenges of my garden will be the space issue and the fact that it gets only partial sun, when most of my plants need full sun. Anybody have some good general advice for a beginner?

Claire Out.