It Snowed!

It did. It may have only been for about 15 minutes, and didn't even leave a dusting on the ground, but gosh darnit, it snowed. I hadn't been this excited to [finally] see flakes fall from the sky, since I was like 10 and routinely & fervently prayed for school to be cancelled. Saturday morning flurries marked the perfect end to our little stay-cation this past week, before heading to the airport to pick up the in-laws from their real vacation.

Some unrelated updates: after a 6 hour stint of computer repair attempts, I've managed to get my laptop working again. Sort of. You have to be patient and talk nice to it, but  at the moment I can (knock on wood) bang out a post or two before it goes into thermal shutdown. I've been having problems with it for a few weeks now, so bear with the lack of frequent posting, please!

Also, you can expect another "Diary of a Diet" post soon, because today marks my return back to the gluten-free world. Long story short, there have been a lot of signs pointing to gluten as the root of some recent health issues, and I really feel like it's time to kick it out again. Like I said, more info on this later in a separate post!

Last but not least, keep your eyes and stomachs tuned into Street Cred this week, because I've been saving up some yumtastic new recipes to share!

Have a great Monday and a fantastic week!

It's Ok

If you asked me about my approach to most aspects of life lately, my most probable response will include the words "over it." I'm not particularly stressed out or busy or overwhelmed; it's sort of the opposite. Waiting for my visa is literally going to kill me - right now it looks like I'm headed down the congestive heart failure route.

Between yesterday and today, I almost forgot that it was January. Sunny 55 degree weather (Farenheit, because I still don't know how to convert to Celsius) has tricked me into soaking up a little bit of the sun's rays - you know, before they completely disappear by 3pm.

I think I need a weekend doing something new, something out of the house, something in the sun to refresh me a little bit. Like a room that needs to have the windows opened so it can air out a bit, I'm a cramped up stuffy little piece of human these days. Let's see what this warm weather can bring, shall we?

New Year Goals

The word "resolutions" tends to bum me out. In my personal dictionary, you'd find the definition as something like, 'lofty and unattainable ultimatums which are expected to be quickly abandoned." Far from 'starting the new year off right', so far I've only managed to start off this year with a case of the flu and some complicated computer problems. So, I don't make resolutions. I'm going to make goals. Here are my goals for 2015, with hopes that I can achieve at least one of them successfully, and hopefully aspire to even more as the year progresses.

Create more art.
I love making and experiencing art in a variety of forms. Drawing, painting, photography, sculpture, dance, whatever. Well, I can't dance, but you know what I mean. In the move, I've had to ditch a lot of my supplies, but I also just haven't made time for my art in the past year. I used to paint, a lot. The walls of my old apartment were covered in my paintings. And I had sketchbooks full of doodles and drawings. It's a release, like having a diary, that I'd like to push myself to involve more, again. Because I miss it, and because it's fun.

Consume less.
This isn't a diet-based goal, it's based on consuming in the economic sense. I'm not going to make any brazen promises like committing to a spend-free year plan (though I totally respect and admire anyone who can), but it's a goal to consume less, to think that we need less, and to abandon materialism a little bit more. I took a few steps in that direction last year, when I decided to combine my love of vintage and thrifted clothing with my shrunken budget. I got rid of (donated) - are you ready for this? - 20 large trash bags of perfectly good clothing, shoes, and handbags when we moved. And my closet is still full now and I have plenty of things to wear. I cannot tell you how much countless CRAP dime-a-dozen pieces of clothing I acquired just because it was on sale, or for the sake of having one more thing in my wardrobe. Now I have the worthwhile pieces I need, and that's that. Not that I don't still love clothing, or shopping - but I don't NEED the senseless, cheap, disposable, things I don't truly like or want. It felt good to de-clutter even just this part of my life, so I'd like to do it in more areas.
This goal to consume less in  2015 applies not just to my wardrobe and shopping, but to lusting after things that we don't need, either, just because society and marketing deems something as a necessity. I don't need an iPad- and here's a really fun fact- no one does. Guess what? Man has survived for thousands of years without an iPad, and I'll survive without one, too.

So, those are my goals for the brand new year. What are yours?