Resolutions Update

View from my balcony this weekend

I confess, since returning from my conference earlier this month, I have not been particularly resolved.  Let's see how things have been going shall we?

Tidy kitchen before bed every night, put away dishes in the morning: Miraculously, I have managed to continue this resolution through thick and thin.  No matter how tired or out of it I feel, my kitchen is clean when I take myself off to bed.  For this alone, I don't feel so bad about letting the rest slide...

Minimize my needs to give away more: Well, I've been meeting my budget for this so technically, things are ok.  

Eat less meat: No clue how this went down the last few weeks, but I was certainly not making any special efforts to keep track.  I suspect I had more meat plus days than minus.  This was partly due to my trying out a new roast chicken recipe (one roast chicken lasts a looooooooong time if you live by yourself) and also not bringing lunches into work very much lately.

Get to work earlier: Disaster!  I am still waking up fairly early to go to Bar Method but for the life of me I can't seem to leave my house at a good time after that.  Even on non-exercise days I wake up early but again, cannot leave.  Must fix this!

Writing out my progress has been helpful.  I see now that I probably need to plan my menus more specifically and perhaps keep track of meals and schedules again, even though it's a pain.  I definitely waste too much time on the internet in the mornings and that contributes to my late start on the work day.  Weekends are when I organize for the coming week so on Saturday I will put a little structure back into my efforts and see how things go from there.  The key is to stay conscious of these areas in my life that need improving.

Resolutions Update

I'm taking my resolutions more seriously than usual this year because I think several of them entail fairly major shifts in lifestyle (as opposed to the "make homemade cards!" types of resolutions I've made in the past).  In my opinion, being successful at anything takes a bit of planning and dedication.  Lifestyle changes in particular require consistency at first before it becomes simple force of habit.  Like brushing your teeth every morning. So how am I doing so far?

Tidy kitchen before bed every night, put away dishes in the morning: I'm really proud of myself for sticking to this one since December.  Last night was the first day that I really thought long and hard about not doing this - the kitchen counters were a mess from bread making and other cooking, it was close to midnight and I had spent most of the day working to get an abstract together for a deadline so I was mentally tired.  But I did it and felt great immediately.  Went to bed with a peaceful brow.

Minimize my needs to give away more:  I took a serious look at my expenditures (helped along by mint.com, love this service!) and realized that I was paying way too much for internet at home and that I don't watch my netflix movies enough to warrant the subscription.  So I've made the switch from Comcast to Centurylink ($30/month less = $360/yr) and canceled netflix ($12/month less = $144/yr).  It doesn't sound like much, but it's an extra $500 a year and requires no alteration in my current behavior.  I have also been trying to be maximally sensible about my grocery budget and being careful about food waste.  Bar Method of course, is quite spendy, but I am really good about going and I know that cutting this would eliminate all exercise from my life.  So to me, $175/month is more than worth it as a long-term investment in my health.

Eat less meat:  When I made this resolution a bit over a week ago I had put into place specific non-meat days and days that I could eat meat IF I wanted to.  This actually went well overall - I definitely ate less meat than usual and even on meat days I often didn't have any.  At least, until Thursday when I was derailed by an unexpected meeting that involved free pizza for lunch.  I dashed in late and grabbed the pizza closest to me, which of course contained pepperoni.  The rest of the week was back on track.  So I'm adjusting the details of this resolution to include more flexibility.  I'll simply keep track of days I eat meat and days I don't and make sure the meat eating days don't take over.  This resolution has not been at all onerous.  I only have to watch that I don't eat too much starch to compensate for lack of meats, but it's been very painless since I really like tofu.  Note that this resolution is helpful to my grocery budget as well.

Get to work earlier: This has also been generally successful in principle if not in detail, but also the hardest.  Here in Portland it stays dark out until maybe 7:15am when it just STARTS to brighten.  The earliest I've managed to wake up is 6:45 and it's only because I have to go to Bar Method.  However, since I've managed to get to work earlier (9 to 9:30) despite not waking up at 6am, this resolution is also being adjusted.  Especially since I'm not at all hungry upon first waking up so sitting around at 6am would be a total waste of time.  I think instead, I will wake up at 6:30 so I have time to have coffee, get my lunch together and work outfit laid out.  Then I will go to class and come home and go.  I've been eating a banana for breakfast at work on my class days and this works out great.  On days I don't have class, I have more time for breakfast at home.  On a related note, keeping track of my hours all week turned out to be quite laborious and ultimately, not terribly informative.  The most valuable part was keeping track of when I wake up and when I go to bed, so these are the notes I will continue to make, along with meat vs non-meat days.

Hoo!  I think that's it!  My internet usage is still an area that needs attention probably, but I still have not been able to formulate any specific resolution around it.  This may be a task for 2013.

'Where Does My Time Go?' Resolution

I was trying to figure out how to reduce my time online (or if I even should), when it occurred to me that I don't have a very good notion of how I spend my time in general.  I know I lose a lot of it by being online and even at work I probably am less efficient/productive than I could be.  So as part of the first step in reclaiming time, I will start keeping a log every day for the next two weeks and evaluate.  I'm hoping I'll remember to keep tabs and I'm a little curious if I'll be better at managing my time once I have to write it down.  The main impetus for this is work - I have a few major things I really need to get done and I've not been doing it.  I know I have enough hours, so I just have to find the discipline and schedule it.  If it's not obvious by now, I respond really well to schedules and deadlines...

In other resolution-related news, I have been working on the "wake up at 6am" thing.  Obviously I have to transition to that point gradually so I don't wind up a useless wreck at work.  On Thursday I got up at 7:45, Friday at 7:30, Saturday at 7:30 and today I relapsed at 7:45.  Tomorrow I'll try 7:15 (Bar Method at 8:15) and see how that goes.  Wednesday and Friday I will have to get up at 6:50 though for 7:15 BM class.  Slow and steady!  Once my body is trained it should be easy peasy.

New Years Resolutions Part II

So I wasn't going to make any more resolutions except I found myself secretly making a few more anyway.  So why not formalize it all?  My early resolution (cleaning the kitchen every evening and putting away clean dishes in the morning) has been going fantastically well since implementation.  Almost immediately I found myself not wanting to do this, but since it was a resolution, I've stuck to it no matter how tired I've been and the more I do it, the more I want to keep doing it.  Every morning I wake up to a clean kitchen and it's such a lovely feeling.  Other resolutions I'm contemplating:

1. Eat less meat.  The reasoning behind this is a little complicated.  Part of it is health - if I eat less meat, hopefully I end up eating more vegetables.  Part of it is cost - I'm trying to be more frugal and minimize my needs a little so I can give more to those who need it (see my main resolution).  And part of it is creativity - cooking meat is very easy but it's harder to cook delicious vegetables as a main dish, at least for me.  By forcing myself to do this, I expand my culinary horizons.  A reasonable start will be implementing 3 no meat days per week.  I'll make those my non-exercise days so I can keep track easily.  On exercise days, I can eat meat, but I don't have to!

2. Get to work earlier.  My hours at work have shifted later and later, partly because of my Bar Method classes in the mornings.  Fortunately they now offer 7:15am classes on my BM days so I will start taking those classes instead of the 8:15am ones.  Ideally, I'd wake up at 6am, have coffee and a little breakfast and get mostly ready, go to Bar Method, come home and change and go to work.  If I can stick to it, I can definitely get to work by 9:30 (or earlier) on exercise days and hopefully much earlier than that on non-exercise days.  Then I can leave work by 6pm, have a few hours to putter around at home and go to bed at 10pm.

3. Spend less time online.  This one I have mixed feelings about and I alsodon't know how I would implement.  I use gchat to keep in touch with my best friends and I would hate to lose that connection with them.  Must mull over more!

New Years Resolution

from the nytimes.com

I only have a single resolution to make this year.  I had been wondering what to do and I got my wakeup call in this article from the nytimes.  What I want in 2012 is to remember the really important things in life and help make the world a little better.  To make sure that others have the right to live as I do, in peace and security and with freedom, to be fully human.  I've been making efforts toward a minimalist life, but it was effort without true purpose.  I think I have a purpose now - the goal of this minimalism will be to live more simply so that I can give my excess to others in need.  I can only give my dollars, but hopefully they will allow others to directly help people in my stead.  As women's rights is something I feel extremely strongly about, I will likely focus my giving to these groups.  My charitable giving in the past has been mostly sporadic, sparked by some catastrophic event (earthquakes, tsunamis, etc), so I need to institute a system and schedule.  I'm thinking to start reasonably within my budget at first ($100/month) and then see if I can add to that.  My clothing budget is probably the most frivolous, and I think I have enough to wear certainly, for a year.  So whatever I can manage not to spend in this category will be funneled toward charity.  I want to be less selfish, and when I look back at the end of 2012, to see that I've done a little good, the best I can.

The Beginning of a Minimalist Life

I think my move from Philadelphia to Portland really opened my eyes to how much my stuff had been weighing me down.  In preparation of the move, I did a ruthless cull of my belongings; little did I know what it would be the start of!  The hardest part of that first purge was books.  I was very attached to my books, lugging them around with me everywhere I moved, whether or not I ever reread them.  To me, the books represented my wish to be seen as an educated, interesting person and reflected my love of reading.  In getting rid of these books though, I realized that I didn't need to prove anything to anyone.  The only people I ever invited over were friends, and they already know I'm educated, already find me interesting and are fully aware I love reading.  In other words, I don't need my things to say anything about me, I am what I am, with or without these external things.  So I kept the best loved books, the ones I returned to again and again and donated/gave away the rest.

Since moving then, I've continued to declutter and refine my belongings to only items that are in regular use and/or beautiful.  I try to be fanatic about what I bring in and beg everyone I know not to give me things.  Every time I take another bag to Goodwill I start filling another.  It's funny how much easier it is to part with things over time.  After a while, it is apparent that I really never wear that skirt, even if it's lovely and the material is so fine - it doesn't fit quite right and I don't feel great in it.  Same with the sweater that's 100% merino and feels so soft but looks so awkward on.  In the process, my house and life feel simultaneously more serene and also more focused.  I am never searching for anything because I know what I have and better yet, where it is.  

I don't want to give the impression I have NO stuff though.  Compared to someone like Miss Minimalist, I have a lot!  But I'm totally ok with that because as Miss Minimalist would be the first to say, minimalism is really all about tailoring your possessions to only what you truly use and love.  It'll mean different things for different people.  Since I have done a lot of decluttering in the clothes department, here are a few tips that have worked for me in my journey so far:

• Do not fall for sales (especially with clothes).  It does not matter how much it's marked down, evaluate it as if you would have to pay full price for it.  There are so many clothing options out there that there is no reason to settle.  The only exception is if you lost all your clothes and you literally have nothing to wear!
• On a similar note, be aware of price/wear.  I no longer buy anything from H&M because frankly they don't stand up well to washing in general.  I've had too many $15 shirts/dresses (so cheap!) that shrunk peculiarly after a single wear.  $15/wear is the opposite of cheap.  People say this everywhere but it's really true - stick to a small wardrobe of high quality clothes and you will save money and look put together all the time.  Chances are, you are wearing only a small portion of your wardrobe anyway, so you might as well do this consciously and deliberately.  It will enable you to get nicer things upfront.
• Take care of your things!  Namely your sweaters.  I'm someone who is cold pretty much all the time so I'm constantly in a sweater or cardigan.  Before the great decluttering, I had too many sweaters and most of them were not worn on a regular basis.  Since all of my sweaters were kept together and they were all made of natural fibers, you can imagine the lovely moth community I was maintaining without my knowledge.  This is a great argument for keeping only what you wear - infestations like this cannot gain a foothold if your sweaters are in constant rotation.  In the summer, make sure to put them away safely and they will greet you like old friends come winter (or in my case, don't put them away at all because you will be wearing them in Portland year round!)
• Wear all of your clothes and you won't need so many.  My exceptions are my suits, the two dresses I wear to weddings and my workout clothes.  Everything else I can wear and I do.  My regular style tends to be a little bit dressier than is average for my work place but not inappropriately so, and these outfits take me easily to any social event as well.  
• Base your entire wardrobe on a strict color palette so everything matches.  For me it's black, gray, white, blue and darkish purple.  This seriously makes shopping and dressing 1000x easier and these colors happen to be flattering on me as well.  What you wear should make you happy not tortured, so pick colors accordingly!  The place where I make exceptions is shoes.  For instance I love red, but it looks terrible against my face so I relocate the color to my shoes.  And for me, I have found that red shoes go with every outfit I can put together so they are just as versatile as black shoes.

None of these tips is particularly novel, but the reason you encounter variations of this advice everywhere is because they're true and effective.  Simplifying my life is something that's very much on my mind these days so "Minimalism" will be a regular sort of feature from now on.

Early Resolution #1

(www.interiorrespector.blogspot.com)

I ended up not making any New School Year Resolutions after all, but while setting my apartment to rights tonight I thought of a good one for 2012.  It's one that I'm always half-heartedly trying to make, but this year I will officially resolve to do so and keep myself accountable.  It's not an easy one...

1. Make sure the kitchen is clean before going to bed.  

While I am generally ok at keeping my kitchen tidy, it's the main thing that falls to pieces when I'm busy.  And once it gets messy, I am loathe to clean it because it seems so daunting.  The worst situation is when the following happens: a) clean dishes are in the dishwasher waiting to be unloaded, b) dirty dishes are in the sink and also on the counter because the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, c) I can't unload the clean dishes because the counter is full, d) dirty dishes accumulate.  I also like to wash my pots and pans by hand because my dishwasher doesn't get them clean enough so I usually have a stack of clean pots/pans in the right-hand sink and for some reason those can just sit there for days until I finally put them away.  It's really silly.

So from now on, I get everything washed and counters wiped down before I go to sleep.  Dirty dishes can hang out in the dishwasher until it's full.  And then in the morning, I will put away the dried pots and pans from the right-hand sink.  I actually used to be quite good about all of this when I first moved in, but I think that was partly because I was a lot less busy.  But a nice clean kitchen makes me feel SO much better so I think it needs to be something I devote effort to maintaining.  And hopefully after a while it will be so engrained that it's something I absolutely have to do.

Happiness (Number Three): On Having Less Stuff

My mom and aunt ended their two week visit to Portland last night and I spent a quiet evening decluttering every room in my house after they left.  It was lovely having them here, but it also reinforced for me how much I value a life not cluttered with stuff.  My family is composed of women who simultaneously can't resist a "good deal" and also can't bear to throw away/donate anything.  My mom won't throw away 20 year old makeup that she never uses, nail polish I bought when I was 14 years old, etc.  My mom also likes to save her nicer things from regular use because she is afraid of damaging them (for example, my sister and I bought her a Le Creuset pot a few months ago for her birthday and she is afraid to use it in case the paint gets scratched.  She also has a lovely knife set someone got for her 10 years ago that she has never used) and whenever I try to get her to use these things, she counters by saying she is saving them for when I get married.  Which is completely absurd.  While they were visiting me, their favorite thing to do was shop.  They bought a whole bunch of things on sale, which wouldn't bother me except I knew that these new things were not replacements, but additions to already over-full houses. I can't change how other people live, but the thought of ever living in such an environment was enough to spark a cleaning spree.  I tend to have these fairly often anyway, but it was such a cathartic thing to do.  Here are the rules I apply to things:

Clothes - With the exception of more formal attire (should not have more than a very few of these items), everything must work for my day to day life.  I should be able to wear everything and they should all match with each other.  This actually makes shopping much easier because I then stick with a very strict color palette and can't get distracted.  I also end up gravitating toward a few basic silhouettes and that again makes future matching way easier.  This is a category I prune the most often I think, because sometimes I'll impulsively buy something that ends up not being a good idea.  But pruning these is not difficult for me at all.

Shoes - This is a total weakness.  I have 20 pairs of shoes, which I think is too much.  There are about three pairs that I rarely wear (2 for wedding-ish occasions, 1 to wear with my suit) but are functional so I have no qualms about keeping.  But there are also three pairs that I should not have bought in the first place, are completely frivolous and don't match the life I have.  I can't really part with them yet, but have been trying hard not to add to this group.  While I can't get my shoe collection down to a more comfortable number right now, I think starting now I will install a "one in one out" rule to shoes to nip any growth of this collection.

Kitchen - I'm actually ok with this category of items at the moment because I use everything I have, even though I have quite a few things.  The only thing that gives me any qualms is my bread machine, which takes up a lot of space and is seldom used (I bake a lot of bread, but not with the machine), but it was a graduation gift from two of my dearest friends so it's not something I feel ok about getting rid of.  

Bathroom - I wear very little makeup but like any other woman had somehow accumulated random piles of eye shadow and blush, etc.  I have a feeling most of these were samples gifted to me by my mom at some point, but last night I did a major weeding of my bathroom drawers and rid myself of such makeup, cheap jewelry, old nail polish, and random bits of flotsam.  I would actually like to get rid of more stuff, but at least the most obvious things are gone.

Office - I don't have a real office at all, but I do have a drawer of office supplies.  This was also scrutinized last night and many pens and again, random flotsam and jetsam were tossed.  The truth is, there is no reason for a single person to have more than 10 writing utensils in her home at any moment, especially if she can get a pen from work in the unlikely event that all her pens at home should simultaneously run dry.  In my life, I am constantly accumulating free pens from conferences and this can easily get out of hand.  In this case, even if the pens works, I don't have to keep it.  My mom would say that was wasteful, but what is more wasteful to me is maintaining 100 un-used pens all over my house until they finally run dry.

Food - I cook a lot so there are basic supplies (flour, sugar, grains, spices etc) that I have to keep on hand.  My mom and aunt took this to a whole new level.  Despite my protests, I now have 3 bottles of rice wine and a remarkable number of ramen packages.  I know I'll consume all of these things eventually, and if I had a large pantry I wouldn't be bothered, but as it is, I really do not want a 2 year supply of consumables in my house.  At the moment I also have more fruits than I desire to eat, but at least this stuff should either be eaten or spoiled in a couple of weeks and therefore off my hands.  My mom and aunt grew up very poor so I wonder if this stashing away of food is a consequence of that.  I get very stressed if I have too much perishable food in my fridge because there's such a pressure to eat it all before it goes bad.  I like to plan most of my meals for the week and only get enough for that.  Bah.

Mementos - What to do with the little gifts and cards and things that accumulate over the years?  I think the best idea is to keep it as small as you can.  Fairly generic "happy birthday!" cards I toss after about a year, while cards with more special messages I keep.  I still have the MIT stuffed beaver my sister gave me when we were both in college and a small collection of knick knacks from my best friends.  At the moment this category is well under control, but it's important to still be vigilant.  Things of sentimental value are always harder to part with, even if they don't necessarily add value to my life.  I try to remember that my memories and friendships don't rest on any physical things and that makes it easier.  Physical letters though, I always treasure.

Crafts - This is going to take a good bit of time to organize logically and efficiently.  Tackling this is a project for another day (possibly later this weekend since I'm on a roll!)

I think this is mostly everything.  Thanks to digital cameras, I don't have boxes of photos and albums thank god, and when I moved I ruthlessly pared my book collection to only beloved volumes.  Now that I have my kindle, all new books are also in digital format and clutter is automatically a non-issue.  I seldom have the urge to re-watch movies so I don't own many dvds and I expect this to also be completely digital in the future.  Technology is tops!

Bar Method Musings on a Sunday Morning With Earl Grey

Image taken from Bloomspot

I am back from a Sunday morning class and am nibbling on a chunk of challah toast smeared with some tasty cheese.  And of course a morning mug of Earl Grey.  Morning classes are the best (not that I've taken classes at any other time, since they don't fit into my lab schedule well) because I feel productive and awake after them.  My muscles are a little sore and endorphins are rushing about and it's just a great feeling.  While it's harder to go to class now that it's dreary and cold, I think BM will keep my spirits from sagging under winter blues.

Some things:

• I can hold myself fast through thigh and butt sections of class, no matter how much I burn and shake, but I can't consistently go through the tricep dips and ab sections without breaking.  Today's ab section felt especially killer for me, so I was constantly taking little breaks.  I hope to do that less in the future.  I AM proud of being able to go through more tricep dips than I could manage when I first started though.  Perhaps I am growing some muscles.
• During each section of class, in addition to trying to stay in the right position, I am often thinking about my goals and what I'd like to work toward.  I think I look fine generally, so my goals are things like: work up to 2 and 3 pound weights, be able to do the leg lifts without straps (and eventually managing a vertical leg), be able to lift feet during flat back, touch nose to knee during bar stretches.  Stuff like that.
• The other women in the class are really inspiring.  That's one thing I like about the studio here anyway, the people who come are committed but it doesn't feel unfriendly or competitive.  I never feel bad that I can't do the things that other people can do and am inspired to see women of all ages.  Keeping an eye on my fellow students also helps me to correct my own position and form because I can see what I'm doing wrong or right and I also push a little bit harder since everyone else is working so hard.
• I've scaled back from my 4-5 times a week to just 4 a week.  I don't think I'm at the point where I can keep on going to two classes in a row all the time (Last week I was hobbled by two different twinges).  So at the moment, it's MWF and Sun and I think my muscles are appreciating the rest in between classes.  Next week will be a little irregular because of my schedule, but this is the BM routine I hope to keep to, until I am stronger.

As for Earl Grey - I bought a canister of loose tea leaves from Whole Foods a few weeks ago and have been making cups whenever I am tired of my green teas.  It's a nice tea, especially now that I've finally realized that the water really does need to be boiling when I add it to the leaves.  The water from my electric water pot just isn't hot enough.  So I have to forgo a little convenience, but that's fine.  Leftover tea leaves of course, go to my worms.

Bar Method Two Months

I've been doing this for a little over two months now (minus my 10 days away in San Diego) and still really liking it.  It's become part of my routine.  This morning when I woke up to go to class it was JUST starting to grow light outside though, so I think the winter classes will be more difficult.  Especially once I have to throw on layers just to go outside.  But I love going to class and I definitely think I'm in the best shape I've been since I was 16 and running cross country.  Granted, that's not saying a lot...but I'm still proud of myself for going to this consistently.

The schedule I've set up for myself since returning from San Diego is 2 days of classes followed by one day of rest.  Some weeks this ends up being 4 classes a week and others 5.  I think that's a reasonable balance.  My progress since my last update has not been dramatic, but it's noticeable to me.  All the improvements are small and gradual.  I'm still on the 1 and 2 pound weights, but they are getting a little easier.  My flexibility is improving and I can put my leg on the bar easier.  I'm not shaking as much during the thigh exercises so I think I need to start going a little lower.  All in all, slow but steady!

Saturday Morning With Monkey Picked Oolong Tea

Insomnia is just the worst thing.  I don't know why I was hit with it last night but it was unpleasant.  I've learned the best thing to do is not to lie there and waste additional time, but to get up and do something.  So I decided to plant some lettuce and swiss chard seeds, make panna cotta and set some mung beans out to sprout.  After a bit of reading I felt drowsy and went off to bed but didn't actually fall asleep until 3:30ish, bah.  I had signed up for a bar method class today so I was up at 7:30 to give my bread dough one more knead for it's final rise (Cook's Illustrated Almost No Knead Bread) and then I was off.  I'm glad I went because now I feel totally energized, but I'm not sure how I'll stay awake all day.  Today will be busy with work earlier and fun later, but I really need to get some chores done as well - my house is such a disaster and I need to grocery shop in the worst way.  One thing at a time...

My sister got me a food processor for my birthday so I have all sorts of things I want to try making in it.  Top of my list: peanut butter and hummus! (not together)

(PS.  Neither cat nor garden shown above belong to me; both belong to my sister)

Update: Just a note on the monkey picked oolong tea.  I tried a sample cup at Teavana back when Ferret was visiting and decided to splurge on a little for myself.  The flavor is very light but pleasant and though the salesclerk told me I could brew the same leaves 5 times, I think it's maybe more like 3.  I have a hot water thing that my mom bought for me ages ago so having 195 degree water around is never a problem.  I'm not sure I'd buy it again, my tastes my run to something slightly stronger.  But I LOVE making tea via teapot instead of bags.  The little ritual and tinkering with the pot is all very relaxing.

Fall Wardrobe Planning Over Morning Coffee

Summer turns to Fall rather quickly in Portland since I have been wearing jackets outdoors the last few days and am missing the sun.  As I mull over potential Fall resolutions, I am also accumulating a little pile of things destined for Goodwill and making a mental inventory of things to purchase in the coming year.  As usual the focus is on my closet.  A few years ago, I had the terrible habit of buying things simply because they were on sale.  I'm not the biggest fan of shopping so these trips were infrequent, but the cumulative effect over years gave me a closet full of things I never ever wore, either because the style was off or the fit was off.  So maybe two years ago, when I was approaching 30, I took stock and did a major purge and have been more thoughtful about shopping ever since.  There were some things I held onto for sentimental value (hand me downs from my mom when she was my age, actually younger!), and these things I have been considering this week.  I would never donate these items, but anything I am deleting will go back to California with me next week.

Yesterday I put on this blue shirt and decided that actually I love it.  I suspect the material is synthetic, but it's remarkably well-made and fits pretty nicely.  Today I will wander around in a burgundy-ish velvety blazer that I used to wear all the time in college (update: nevermind, today is not blazer-day).  As part of my critical sweep, I am also taking inventory of my shoes and find that: 1) I have one pair of black flats that are comfy but not particularly stylish and 2) I have one pair of black flats that are more stylish but not particularly comfortable.  Naturally I wear #1 all the time but today I will give #2 a whirl and it will go out if it does not pass muster.  On my "to shop" list then, I think I need to add a pair of black flats that is both comfortable and stylish.  The goal for this week then is to try to wear such little-worn items and make assessments and decisions.

I like clothes but I don't like having a lot of clothes and shopping is often frustrating - how to reconcile all of these things is beyond me, but that is an ongoing process.  Ideally I would have a few perfect uniforms for each season, feel good about it and not have to bother much about it all for several years.

Too Much For One Post!

I've been in quite a tizzy all day.  My sister sent me an email this morning at 7:45am to tell me she was having real contractions so I spent the rest of the day, talking to my mom and my sister on the phone, in between squiring Ferret around the city.  My day went something like this:

Talk to my sister on the phone.

Go to First Republic Bank so Ferret could take out some cash (fresh cookies were available for all so naturally I grabbed one).

Talk to my mom on the phone.

Go to Public Domain to read and drink cappuccinos.

Text my friend about baby.

Go to Stumptown to buy coffee beans.

Talk to my mom again on phone.

Go to Peem Keaw (spelling?) for lunch.

Talk to mom.

Walk to Trader Joe and Sterling Coffee for more cappuccino and reading.  Talk to mom and sister.

Accompany Ferret to airport.

Talk to Ryan on phone.

Finally return home, continue talking to family members.

The suspense is killing me!  My sister is pushing now apparently and hopefully the baby will arrive within the hour.  All in all, being in labor sounds awful.  Oh hang on, my mom is calling.

Resolutions for 2011: Taking Stock

Even though I'm no longer a student, the start of a new school year still feels new to me.  So my habit is to make New Years Resolutions in January and New School Year Resolutions in September.  The Fall resolutions are smaller since they're only for 4 months, but it's a good time to take stock of where I am in terms of my January resolutions and to tweak things as necessary.  I never feel super committed to resolutions, but I love making them and they act more like guidelines for where I want my life to go and be.

So let's see how my January resolutions are doing:


1) Go running at least once a week once it gets warm (no way I'm stepping out in this 25 degree weather. Did I somehow bring East Coast weather with me to the West Coast? Is this my fault?)

• This one totally did not happen at all, but since I DID start doing Bar Method and have done some outdoorsy sorts of things (hiking in Israel and hiking in Arch Cape), I'm going to chalk this as a victory.  The point of this resolution was to be more physically active and get regular exercise.

2) Start a new garden on my new balcony! (yayayayyayaya, can't wait!)

• This was completely successful!  It's been interesting to see what would grow well and what would not. To my surprise, my basil never took off; the leaves stayed small and the plants grew leggy despite my best efforts.  The sage died completely for reasons unknown.  Parsley and chamomile did well.  

3) Make homemade cards all year (I've made two already so I'm totally successful so far).

• I've made several cards this year and will continue to make more.  

4) Finish the quilt already.

• Complete fail. I don't think I've touched the quilt at all this year.  Morale plummeted after realizing that I miscounted the number of patches I would need and that actually I still needed about 20 small squares.  This shouldn't be so long to cut and sew up but it's a bit of a production to haul everything out so this is on hold.

5) Start vermicomposting (try not to be grossed out by the worms).

• Success!  I was VERY disgusted by the worms when I first got them and could barely look at them, but now I've adjusted and it's fine.  I'm still wearing gloves every time I go near them, but I like to dig around and see if they are still there and alive.  There's a layer of composted material at the bottom of my bin already so I look forward to using it next year.  How I get that stuff out is going to be another production I think...

6) Learn to drive and join zipcar.

• This one is a little tricky.  I did look into driving schools but they all assume that you have a car of your own to practice on outside of classes.  This of course, I do not have.  My next plan was to just practice driving a bit whenever I was at home with family, but that hasn't really panned out.  This will require more thought, because I really need to do this.

7) Ride my bike around when the weather gets nice.

• Oops.  My bike still has flat tires and has not been fixed.  I would still very much like to do this and I think I have a couple of months left of decent weather left.  

8) Update my blog regularly.

• There are some weeks I update more than others, but I would say this was overall successful.  As a corollary to this one, I've started scrapbooking and that is a really nice way of documenting the important events in my life.  

9) Learn and memorize all of Bach's Two Part Inventions.

• Um, I was off to a good start on this but it sort of fizzled out around April or May.  I'm honestly not sure why, except things got rather hectic around then with visitors, travel, mouse course and fellowship.  I'd like to resume but must figure out a way to balance this with all of my other activities.

10) Speak louder.

• I forgot about this one!  I've been making a little more effort when giving presentations to speak louder but this is just an ongoing thing for me.  

I'll have to think about what Fall resolutions I want to make, but overall I feel pretty good about the state of my January resolutions.  I think I've made some positive changes in my life and am doing things that make me happy.  That's kind of all one can ask for.

Bar Method: One Month

So I'm 5 weeks into my BM classes and everything is still going great.  So far, I've established a schedule of 4 times a week, although I think I will bump it up to 5 times the next few weeks since I'll be going to San Diego for 10 days in September.  After some slight mental struggle, I decided to go with the monthly unlimited package (3 months) instead of buying a pack of discrete classes.  In a way, it's been better for me because the thrifty part of my nature forces me to go more often to get the price/class down to reasonable levels.  It's only tricky when I have to travel.  It sounds crazy, but when I was away last weekend I really missed taking classes!  Perhaps I've gotten addicted to exercise endorphins.  So, in anticipation for my next trip, I will buy a dvd to take with me so I don't lose everything during my 10 days away.  And it might be a good exercise to do with my aunt and mom while they are there too.  My aunt used to be a big runner and tae-bo person but she had to stop due to back injuries, so I think she will really like BM.

I've taken classes with three instructors so far and it's interesting to go through the same sets of exercises with different people.  Creature of habit that I am, it took me about two classes to get adjusted to each new-to-me instructor, but I like everyone so far.  The morning classes are fantastic for me and each class gives me energy all day.  The drawback is I do end up lounging longer at home after class than I probably should.  For instance, here I am blogging and eating muffin and coffee instead of going to work.  Overall I can see little changes in myself, mostly harder and a little more obvious (to me) muscles.

Progress:

Still on the 1 and 2 lb weights.

Thighs still shake uncontrollably but I can make it through the sets without breaking.

Flexibility in legs gradually improving although I am always still the least flexible person in class by far.  

Am starting to get a better hang of the tucked position (it still feels weird).

Ab exercises kill!  I must have a very sorry core.

Enjoying the classes, still not in the least bored.

Arch Cape

The Oregon coast is immensely beautiful. We arrived at SO's friend's beach house at around 6pm and they immediately dashed off to go surfing despite the cloudy chillyish weather.  Not knowing how to swim, let alone surf, I curled up on one of the many comfy chaises under a blanket and started reading the latest Dresden File book: Ghost Story.  (I have to say, this "beach house" was not like any sort of casual summer home I've ever seen.  Not that I've been to so many beach houses, but I was pretty blown away by the place.  I'm certain I will not have a home this lovely as my primary establishment ever.)

For dinner, SO threw together a simple but lovely meal in the remarkable kitchen (pasta not shown) and we accompanied our dinner with several glasses/bottles of wine.  This naturally led to an impromptu dance party in the kitchen until a polite neighbor asked us to be more quiet.  At that point I was already horizontal, first on the carpet, and then on the sofa, half asleep.  Maybe more like 3/4 asleep.

The next day, while SO and PH went to collect breakfast from a nearby bakery, I took a mug of coffee with me on a little walk along the beach.  It was beautiful and quiet and helped to chase my hangover away.  After breakfast, SO and PH went surfing while GS and I went on a hike up Neahkahnie Mountain near Short Sands.  I don't have pictures yet (edit: now I do!) because I managed to forget my camera at home in a fit of idiocy (I was charging the battery and then totally forgot about it), but I will have them soon hopefully.  It was 2.5 miles up the mountain and the same path down; the view from the top was very striking, although I felt a little precarious, clinging up on the rocks.  I've actually always been afraid of heights, even though I appreciate the view.  It was lucky that SO and I happen to wear the same size shoes as she was able to lend me her hiking sandals.  I ended up with a couple of blisters still, but I'm sure I would have ended up with sprained ankles had I attempted the hike in my flip flops.  

After the hike, we joined the others at Short Sands.  GS went to surf and I continued my book, resting on the beach against a log.  We then went back to the house for dinner on the deck before coming back to the city.  The night didn't actually end there though; since it was GS's last day in town, we went to Fez for their 80s and 90s dance night.  I loooooove dancing and don't really do it often enough so I had a huge blast.  The combined effects of drinking, hiking, dancing and then my 9:30am exercise class this morning left me pretty stiff and sore the rest of today though.  Aside from a brief stint in lab, I've been doing some light cleaning and finishing my book.  All in all, a lovely mini-holiday.  I can't wait to return to the coast!

Thursday Morning Bustle

It's always easier for me to wake up early in the summer than the winter, which makes sense.  This morning I slipped out of bed at 6:30 so I could attend my 7:15 bar method class.  It was actually quite nice to get it out of the way a bit earlier than usual, I feel like I have all the time in the world this morning.  This afternoon, I'm off to the coast and won't be back again until Friday evening. I hope it doesn't rain, but even if it does it will be pleasant since I will have good company, a good book and a change of scene.  

The picture above was really from about two weeks ago, when I made my last Farmer's Market run.  I've never seen basil so fresh.  Usually by the time I get them from the grocery store they are sort of limp and lifeless.  These guys were so dark green and perky, I just plopped them into a glass of water and they remained gorgeous all week.  Whenever I needed some I would just lift a few branches from the glass.  The bonus of course was how lovely they looked and smelled on my counter.  The least rustle of leaves would generate wafts of fresh basil fragrance.  Can't wait to replenish my supply this Saturday!

Chamomile Flowers and Zen

Chamomile flowers are pretty funny. In the morning when it's cold, the white petals lie straight down against  the stem and then as the day goes on and the sun comes out, the petals lift out like the ones you see here.  These particular flowers aren't ready to pick yet, because the yellow buttons still have a lot of green in them.  Once they are completely yellow, they will be ready to dry for tea.  

I'm finally nearing the end of this application process and feeling pretty good about things.  As my advisor says, my proposal has been "well-cooked."  I'm going to take that to mean it's nearly done, and hopefully well done.  At least I feel that I put my best effort into it and even if it doesn't get funded (although of course I deeply hope it will be), the entire process has been interesting and useful for me.  While the real deadline is on Monday, my institution has a deadline of this Thursday (8am to be precise); at first I was covered with dismay but now I'm really glad it'll be over with sooner.  And the timing actually works out for the best because my friend invited me to the coast Thursday-Friday so it is all quite perfect.  I can't completely relax because I have to write an abstract that's actually due Monday, but that sort of thing is much lower pressure.  And I actually relax better if I have a bit of work to do, if that makes sense.  There will still be plenty of sunning and reading for fun of course.

Dinner Party

If blogging was my job, I'd probably be fired because those three pictures you see above are the only pictures I took of my dinner party Saturday night. And you don't even have to look too closely to tell that the middle photo is quite blurry. However, it doesn't matter because I had a great time. This was the first time I entertained non-family members in my apartment and I'm happy to say it was a success. While the timing of the party was a bit bad, because my fellowship application is due in three days (why am I blogging???), I didn't regret taking a break from writing at all. I spent much of the day cooking and cleaning, aside from a small trip to lab. Because my guests included 4 active and hungry people, I decided to err on the side of  meat and potato rather than  veggies. 

Menu

Crispy, sweet and spicy wings, using my friend's top-secret recipe

Homemade kimchi

Korean bulgogi

Korean potatoes*

White rice

Salad, brought by SO

Tofu dipped in wing sauce, brought by SO

Mango and Pistachio ice creams

Cherries, brought by SO

*This was the first time I made the potatoes and I think I made several mistakes. While the flavor was good, it turned out a little more mashed than it was supposed to be. Next time I will use Yukon gold or white potatoes instead of russets, and not cut the pieces quite so small. Definitely a dish worth repeating though.

I love my current kitchen because it's quite easy to socialize with guests while still cooking and getting things ready. It makes for a more relaxing experience for me I think. After dinner we had ice cream and cherries, served in actual bowls and not in sake cups as depicted in the picture. We then played ridiculous 80s music videos for the rest of the night and had a fun drunk time. 

Bar Method

I started taking classes at the Portland Bar Method two weeks ago and I'm totally hooked. Please note that I am not usually a fan of any kind of exercising besides walking.  And unless you are over 75, walking is hardly exercise.  When I was in grad school, I would go to the gym sporadically, usually because my friend made me go, but since moving to Portland almost a year ago, I've done very little.  There was some light jogging early on, but then the weather and my natural laziness put an end to that.  I've also never been one for exercise classes because scheduling my life around them seemed like such a chore; the most I've done in that front was a few yoga classes, again usually when my someone (my sister) dragged me.

I don't remember exactly how I heard about the Bar Method, I think it was a combination of having walked by it a bunch of times and also maybe reading about it back when Black Swan first came out in theaters and everyone was talking about ballet-style exercise classes.  In any case, once I decided I could benefit from more activity and that self-discipline wasn't cutting it, I decided to check it out.  I've always been really thin, but also really weak.  My goal obviously was therefore not to lose weight, but to gain strength and flexibility and tone up generally.  

The classes were brutal the first week and I was pretty much endlessly sore for the first week and a half.  The last few days have been better; while my muscles definitely feel tired after class, subsequent soreness was not as intense.  More, a pleasant reminder that I exercised.  The classes themselves run through the same basic sequence of exercises each time (with little variations here and there), which would seem boring except you have to concentrate so hard to maintain proper posture and alignment that it's actually really interesting.  And since I find them so challenging, they really require all of my focus.  The classes are an hour long but the time goes by in a flash.  I'm really enjoying it so far and actually look forward to my class days, which seems unbelievable for someone like me.  My morning classes always gives me such a little lift to the rest of the day. So far I'm going 4 times a week, but I can see stepping it up to 5.  The classes themselves are spendy, which is the main drawback, but I think it's enough of a benefit that it's worth the money for me.  I highly recommend it!