Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Sunday, September 4, 2011
A change is comin'!
Hello, lovely readers! Those of you that know me have probably noticed a fairly significant change in the blog recently--It went from a place I would occasionally post recipes with very little effort, and as I've read other healthy living blogs and become passionate about sharing more of my journey with others, I have changed from my "Skinnified recipes" to posting more about life in general and how I choose to live it.
So lately I have been really hot and cold on the blog name--I think it's cute and catchy and still consider many of my recipes to be "skinnified", but I feel like the name can give the wrong impression. I'm not skinny. I don't want to be skinny. I am healthy and I of course I have goals in terms of my body that I haven't achieved yet, but skinny isn't one of them.
Soooo....I'm changing the name AND moving to my own domain! Holla!
The blog will stay focused on healthy living (mind, body, spirit), my life, and of course Winston and Clementine! I hope you all will continue to read and over at.....
!!! www.ArisMenu.com !!!
It's not 100% set up yet, but should be by tomorrow so excuse the dust in the move--I will be back ASAP! :O)
So lately I have been really hot and cold on the blog name--I think it's cute and catchy and still consider many of my recipes to be "skinnified", but I feel like the name can give the wrong impression. I'm not skinny. I don't want to be skinny. I am healthy and I of course I have goals in terms of my body that I haven't achieved yet, but skinny isn't one of them.
Soooo....I'm changing the name AND moving to my own domain! Holla!
The blog will stay focused on healthy living (mind, body, spirit), my life, and of course Winston and Clementine! I hope you all will continue to read and over at.....
!!! www.ArisMenu.com !!!
It's not 100% set up yet, but should be by tomorrow so excuse the dust in the move--I will be back ASAP! :O)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Winnie's first year!
I am just a teensy bit late on a post I've been wanting to write, but better late than never! This is a very special time in our family--call me sentimental, call me plain ridiculous--but we are celebrating a year with our first child--Winston (aka Winnie aka WinnieBear aka Winstibear aka Winstontaneous aka The Winstigator. Yes I am nick name obsessed--just wait til I write about Clementine when we've had her for a year!)
Just a couple of weeks after moving in to our house last August, Steve made me a deal--when all the boxes were unpacked, we could get a puppy. I'd been whining about wanting one of my very own for the last 6 years and it was one of the things I was most excited for when we bought our house--my own puppy! Well then Steve through his back out in the move and if you know me, you know I suck at things like unpacking, being organized and motivating myself for things I don't want to do, but the idea of a puppy on the other end helped put my booty in gear and within a few short weeks, I had everything ready to go!
We looked at a few other dogs before meeting Winnie. I kept telling Steve the others weren't right and I was waiting for some feeling I couldn't explain. He was starting to doubt my illogical approach to puppy selection until we showed up at the humane society, he caught a glimpse of li'l Win and said "I think this is the one!' We took him out to the trial area and within moments he licked my face and I felt that thing--he was SO the one!
I may or may not have started crying when I came back across this picture. The moment we knew he was ours (and I think he knew too)!
New puppy doesn't even have his collar yet!
He LOVES to ride in the car, but always wants to be closer to mom and dad!
But he'd rather be the driver
Not long after we got him, Winston got to take his first family road trip to Palm Springs with mom, dad and uncle Jacob. He shows his excitement in face licks.
And here is where I introduce Winston to the customs of he Jewish roots.
He was excited about wedding day with so many new friends in the house, but for some reason he thought I had time to lay around with him all day long. Good thing the ceremony wasn't until 5:30!
Before the "pay attention to me" growling comes (see below), he makes this face
This is how I get the growling to stop
And when I ask Steve to take cute pictures of him so I can blog about our first year together, he poses in full cuteness
Winston makes me feel special every single day. I freaks the heck out when I walk in the door like he hasn't seen me in years. He cuddles right up to me and insists on touching me at all times. If he wants attention, he growls at me until I let him up on my lap--I'll have to post a video one day--SOOOO CUTE! He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, he sits with me resting his head on my chest when I cry. He brings so much joy to my life and I simply cannot imagine my life without him!
Love you Winnie! Happy 1 year anniversary--you turn 2 in one month! Holy cow, I guess that makes you an adolescent :O)
Just a couple of weeks after moving in to our house last August, Steve made me a deal--when all the boxes were unpacked, we could get a puppy. I'd been whining about wanting one of my very own for the last 6 years and it was one of the things I was most excited for when we bought our house--my own puppy! Well then Steve through his back out in the move and if you know me, you know I suck at things like unpacking, being organized and motivating myself for things I don't want to do, but the idea of a puppy on the other end helped put my booty in gear and within a few short weeks, I had everything ready to go!
We looked at a few other dogs before meeting Winnie. I kept telling Steve the others weren't right and I was waiting for some feeling I couldn't explain. He was starting to doubt my illogical approach to puppy selection until we showed up at the humane society, he caught a glimpse of li'l Win and said "I think this is the one!' We took him out to the trial area and within moments he licked my face and I felt that thing--he was SO the one!
I may or may not have started crying when I came back across this picture. The moment we knew he was ours (and I think he knew too)!
New puppy doesn't even have his collar yet!
He LOVES to ride in the car, but always wants to be closer to mom and dad!
But he'd rather be the driver
Not long after we got him, Winston got to take his first family road trip to Palm Springs with mom, dad and uncle Jacob. He shows his excitement in face licks.
And here is where I introduce Winston to the customs of he Jewish roots.
He was excited about wedding day with so many new friends in the house, but for some reason he thought I had time to lay around with him all day long. Good thing the ceremony wasn't until 5:30!
Before the "pay attention to me" growling comes (see below), he makes this face
This is how I get the growling to stop
And when I ask Steve to take cute pictures of him so I can blog about our first year together, he poses in full cuteness
Winston makes me feel special every single day. I freaks the heck out when I walk in the door like he hasn't seen me in years. He cuddles right up to me and insists on touching me at all times. If he wants attention, he growls at me until I let him up on my lap--I'll have to post a video one day--SOOOO CUTE! He makes me smile, he makes me laugh, he sits with me resting his head on my chest when I cry. He brings so much joy to my life and I simply cannot imagine my life without him!
Love you Winnie! Happy 1 year anniversary--you turn 2 in one month! Holy cow, I guess that makes you an adolescent :O)
Chipmunk spinning
It's a good thing yesterday was such a good day, because I woke up this morning feeling less than peppy. Let me rewind, first I woke up at about 2:30 am feeling like this
Apparently, I have a wisdom tooth situation. I started to feel the pain as it began to invade my mouth yesterday morning and by mid evening it have amplified. I treated myself to a nonfat hot chai latte from The Bux to ease my pain and make my heart happy (I love chai lattes, but the Starbucks ones are so sugary I almost never order them), downed 600 mg of IBuprofen and by the time I was done teaching, I had almost forgotten about my pain. That is until the meds wore off and it woke me up at 2:30 am screaming and forcing it's stupid way into my mouth. Let me tell you, these wisdom teeth don't mess around. My entire left side of my jaw hurts all the way back into the left side of my throat. And if you look closely, you can see that my left cheek is slightly swelled up like a chipmunk.
I laid in bed for a good 45 minutes in pain, hoping to fall back asleep before I finally got up, re-medicated and sat at the computer waiting for the drugs to work their magic until about 4am. Finally I was able to fall back asleep (the drugs seem to be doing their trick!), but when 7:30 rolled around and it was time to get up and get ready for spin, I was in no mood! Luckily I had already made the plan and had managed to convince myself that my burning leg pain would take my mind off the left half of my face.
Kara and I arrived at the gym for our second spin class this week!
Today was an endurance ride and it totally kicked my butt. I realized during Tuesdays class that I am kind of a wimp when it comes to speed. I will almost never turn back the gear, but have no problem dropping 10 RPMs when my legs get jello-y. The teacher on Tuesday gave us RPM ranges to stick to with specific numbers and I realized just how far behind I had been allowing myself to stay. My goal for today was to keep those numbers in mind and not let myself off the hook when it comes to speed--even if it means my hills weren't as steep. It made a big difference--I had been coming in lazily at 18-19 miles per ride, and today I definitely stepped it up!
I must say, the hardest part of spin twice in one week is...well...my, umm entire bike sitting section is screaming for mercy! I don't know if you've ever spent a lot of time on a bike seat, but it is painful in more ways than one, and my body is not pleased with it right now haha. Still totally worth it.
After the gym, I went over to Trader Joe's because I was out of protein powder and of course ended up buying like 10 other things that were not on my list.
I really am almost out of yogurt, bananas, Ezekiel bread and oh so delicious sunflower butter, but the rest were impulse buys. Especially the tofu. I always respond to the word tofu with a scrunch between my eyebrows and a look of judgement in my eyes, but I know it's a good source of non animal protein and I see people write about eating it all the time and loving it, so I decided to try some and see how it goes. Anyone have any recommendations on what to make with it that will make me fall in love?
After a good work out, a delicious iced coffee, grocery shopping (one of my fav things to do--I know you think I'm nuts, but I could go almost every day without complaint) and coming home to the cutest email from Steve (a link to this article saying "This would be you. Hope you're feeling better." He is seriously the BEST!), I am definitely in better spirits. Gonna keep medicating and live off of oatmeal, yogurt and smoothies for probably a few days.
PS: Does a sore throat/mouth area make anyone else want to eat ice cream and only ice cream all day long? Uggghhh. Must.fight.the.urge.
Apparently, I have a wisdom tooth situation. I started to feel the pain as it began to invade my mouth yesterday morning and by mid evening it have amplified. I treated myself to a nonfat hot chai latte from The Bux to ease my pain and make my heart happy (I love chai lattes, but the Starbucks ones are so sugary I almost never order them), downed 600 mg of IBuprofen and by the time I was done teaching, I had almost forgotten about my pain. That is until the meds wore off and it woke me up at 2:30 am screaming and forcing it's stupid way into my mouth. Let me tell you, these wisdom teeth don't mess around. My entire left side of my jaw hurts all the way back into the left side of my throat. And if you look closely, you can see that my left cheek is slightly swelled up like a chipmunk.
I laid in bed for a good 45 minutes in pain, hoping to fall back asleep before I finally got up, re-medicated and sat at the computer waiting for the drugs to work their magic until about 4am. Finally I was able to fall back asleep (the drugs seem to be doing their trick!), but when 7:30 rolled around and it was time to get up and get ready for spin, I was in no mood! Luckily I had already made the plan and had managed to convince myself that my burning leg pain would take my mind off the left half of my face.
Kara and I arrived at the gym for our second spin class this week!
Today was an endurance ride and it totally kicked my butt. I realized during Tuesdays class that I am kind of a wimp when it comes to speed. I will almost never turn back the gear, but have no problem dropping 10 RPMs when my legs get jello-y. The teacher on Tuesday gave us RPM ranges to stick to with specific numbers and I realized just how far behind I had been allowing myself to stay. My goal for today was to keep those numbers in mind and not let myself off the hook when it comes to speed--even if it means my hills weren't as steep. It made a big difference--I had been coming in lazily at 18-19 miles per ride, and today I definitely stepped it up!
I must say, the hardest part of spin twice in one week is...well...my, umm entire bike sitting section is screaming for mercy! I don't know if you've ever spent a lot of time on a bike seat, but it is painful in more ways than one, and my body is not pleased with it right now haha. Still totally worth it.
After the gym, I went over to Trader Joe's because I was out of protein powder and of course ended up buying like 10 other things that were not on my list.
I really am almost out of yogurt, bananas, Ezekiel bread and oh so delicious sunflower butter, but the rest were impulse buys. Especially the tofu. I always respond to the word tofu with a scrunch between my eyebrows and a look of judgement in my eyes, but I know it's a good source of non animal protein and I see people write about eating it all the time and loving it, so I decided to try some and see how it goes. Anyone have any recommendations on what to make with it that will make me fall in love?
After a good work out, a delicious iced coffee, grocery shopping (one of my fav things to do--I know you think I'm nuts, but I could go almost every day without complaint) and coming home to the cutest email from Steve (a link to this article saying "This would be you. Hope you're feeling better." He is seriously the BEST!), I am definitely in better spirits. Gonna keep medicating and live off of oatmeal, yogurt and smoothies for probably a few days.
PS: Does a sore throat/mouth area make anyone else want to eat ice cream and only ice cream all day long? Uggghhh. Must.fight.the.urge.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I love my life!
Today was one of those days. So many moments happened that made me look back and say "I love my life." I took a hard yoga class and worked my booty off in a totally different way than usual. I pushed through my soreness from the past two workouts and proved to myself that I could still challenge myself and not be a big baby!
Then I went to "work"
"It's supposed to be fun, that's why it's called a play!"
I am so lucky to love what I do. I love theatre. I love teaching. I love directing. I love choreographing. I love the inspiration that comes from working with children and I love the incredible students I have the honor of teaching every single day. Let me tell you, if you don't have days that you look at your "work" and feel pure joy, you have the wrong job. Don't get me wrong--there are bad days, and days I can't believe I was ever crazy enough to choose a career with so little stability, but it is all worth it 10 fold for days like today when I hold auditions and end up with twice as many talented kiddos as the last time! I really love my students. They make me so hopeful for the future!
Thhheennn I came home to Fajita Wednesday! My favorite. Wednesday nights I almost always teach until 8 (although once I start rehearsals every night will be a late dinner night) and Steve almost always has fajitas sizzling in the skillet by the time I get home. He makes the BEST fajitas. They're pretty much famous. Today, not only did I come home to delicious Mexican smells making their way through our home, but I came home to a clean and organized office! Steve managed to do about a bazillion tasks (including the dishes!) after work and the gym and STILL managed to cook me dinner! I am a lucky gal.
THEN I got good quality snuggling time with Winston and Clementine! Winston laid next to me, while Clem laid on my lap resting her little head on Winnie. So freaking cute. A picture wouldn't even do them justice.
I'm off to take the hubby out for some fro yo (he deserves it!) and spend the rest of my night making him feel special!
Then I went to "work"
"It's supposed to be fun, that's why it's called a play!"
I am so lucky to love what I do. I love theatre. I love teaching. I love directing. I love choreographing. I love the inspiration that comes from working with children and I love the incredible students I have the honor of teaching every single day. Let me tell you, if you don't have days that you look at your "work" and feel pure joy, you have the wrong job. Don't get me wrong--there are bad days, and days I can't believe I was ever crazy enough to choose a career with so little stability, but it is all worth it 10 fold for days like today when I hold auditions and end up with twice as many talented kiddos as the last time! I really love my students. They make me so hopeful for the future!
Thhheennn I came home to Fajita Wednesday! My favorite. Wednesday nights I almost always teach until 8 (although once I start rehearsals every night will be a late dinner night) and Steve almost always has fajitas sizzling in the skillet by the time I get home. He makes the BEST fajitas. They're pretty much famous. Today, not only did I come home to delicious Mexican smells making their way through our home, but I came home to a clean and organized office! Steve managed to do about a bazillion tasks (including the dishes!) after work and the gym and STILL managed to cook me dinner! I am a lucky gal.
THEN I got good quality snuggling time with Winston and Clementine! Winston laid next to me, while Clem laid on my lap resting her little head on Winnie. So freaking cute. A picture wouldn't even do them justice.
I'm off to take the hubby out for some fro yo (he deserves it!) and spend the rest of my night making him feel special!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Somebody call the waaaahhhhmbulence!
My legs are screaming! And I am a big fat baby. Steve has no sympathy--some loving husband he is! :O) He said "You subjected yourself to it." Ugghhh BOYS!
Yesterday I took bodyworks--my second time back after a way too long hiatus. Usually after bodyworks I am way to sore to do much of anything the next day other than walk uphill on a treadmill pretending I'm actually exercising and giving myself consolation points for going to the gym, but todaayyyyy, I got my lazy bum to spin class courtesy of my fav Dobson and Warner Starbucks barista turned friend turned group aerobics buddy Kara who did not let me off the hook this morning when I whined about being sore! Thanks Kara!
Today's class was super motivating. The teacher was amazing and kept everything really fast paced so I had hardly any time to think about how angry my legs were! Actually at the time, most of it felt really good and like it was loosening me up after yesterday's hour of squatting and lunging in bodyworks. I find that I love my workouts the most and am the most motivated when I go to classes regularly. Everyone is different, but having an instructor to push me and being around others brings out my competitive side and I almost always bring my A game.
I left today not only wanting to participate in a 62 mile ride for Diabetes in March, but also with the hint of wanting to train for a triathalon. I'm not making any commitments yet, but I have been wanting to do some sort of race or event for a long time and since my body is not much of a fan of running, it's always been this idea that's been put on the back burner or the "Oh that would be nice, but will never happen" category. But I think it's definitely something I need to do for me. I need to show myself how far I've come and what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.
Tomorrow I have cardio and yoga on the agenda and then spin again on Thursday! I love planning and getting excited for my work outs and I love that I am finally feeling pumped about the gym again!
Thursday in spin the teacher said "I know your legs are getting tired, I feel ya, but when mine are at the point when I want to give up I just think to myself 'I wanna look good naked!'"
I loved that. When the idea of accomplishment and thoughts of the after work out endorphins just aren't cutting it (like oh say at gear 20), there's always that. Who doesn't want to look better naked?
Yesterday I took bodyworks--my second time back after a way too long hiatus. Usually after bodyworks I am way to sore to do much of anything the next day other than walk uphill on a treadmill pretending I'm actually exercising and giving myself consolation points for going to the gym, but todaayyyyy, I got my lazy bum to spin class courtesy of my fav Dobson and Warner Starbucks barista turned friend turned group aerobics buddy Kara who did not let me off the hook this morning when I whined about being sore! Thanks Kara!
Today's class was super motivating. The teacher was amazing and kept everything really fast paced so I had hardly any time to think about how angry my legs were! Actually at the time, most of it felt really good and like it was loosening me up after yesterday's hour of squatting and lunging in bodyworks. I find that I love my workouts the most and am the most motivated when I go to classes regularly. Everyone is different, but having an instructor to push me and being around others brings out my competitive side and I almost always bring my A game.
I left today not only wanting to participate in a 62 mile ride for Diabetes in March, but also with the hint of wanting to train for a triathalon. I'm not making any commitments yet, but I have been wanting to do some sort of race or event for a long time and since my body is not much of a fan of running, it's always been this idea that's been put on the back burner or the "Oh that would be nice, but will never happen" category. But I think it's definitely something I need to do for me. I need to show myself how far I've come and what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.
Tomorrow I have cardio and yoga on the agenda and then spin again on Thursday! I love planning and getting excited for my work outs and I love that I am finally feeling pumped about the gym again!
Thursday in spin the teacher said "I know your legs are getting tired, I feel ya, but when mine are at the point when I want to give up I just think to myself 'I wanna look good naked!'"
I loved that. When the idea of accomplishment and thoughts of the after work out endorphins just aren't cutting it (like oh say at gear 20), there's always that. Who doesn't want to look better naked?
5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
Ok so I admit when I was like 16 I was hooked on those silly forwards where you would answer all the questions about yourself. Seriously, I filled out like every single one. So when I saw this on a few other blogs this morning, I couldn't resist a chance to talk about myself. Yes, I am a little self involved and sometimes I am that person that loves to go on and on about themselves--it's an inherent trait that I try to fight *most* of the time, but really isn't a blog just that--a big open space to talk about yourself? That must be why I have one. I blame it on the theatre career. Feel free to re-post or leave comments with your answers :O)
5 words that describe you:
1) Silly
2) Sensitive
3) Goal oriented
4) Emotional...maybe this should be #1 haha
5) Child-like
4 favorite foods:
Ummm, can the answer be everything? :O)
1) Nut butters--All of them! Peanut, Sunflower, Almond--I could eat them by the jar!
2) Fro yo--need I say more?
3) Cilantro. It makes everything more delicious!
4) Cookies! Obviously I have a sweet tooth.
3 things I'm most proud of:
1) My senior showcase
2) Following my dreams (in case you didn't know this theatre biz is HARD!)
3) I feel like I am a good friend. It's a hard thing to put in writing because then I think of all of those times that I'm a less than perfect friend, but I didn't say I was perfect--but I am good at friendship and I think the amazing people that have stayed in my life (a special few for 10+ years!) proves that this is one thing I am good at, and I think that is something to be proud of!
2 favorite workouts:
1) Dance!!! Obviously.
2) Spin, but on a day I'd just taken body works, I might say that :O)
1 thing to expect from my blog:
Ummm...RECIPES! Of course :O)
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