More Than Some Pretty Face Beside a Train

Gosh you guys! Thanks for the wonderful comments you all leave on my posts. It really means a lot that people read and maybe even care about my ramblings. ;) Blogger says I have 17 followers now, which is amazing because when I started this I didn't really think about people actually following. Sooo...Thank you!!!

I FINALLY made overnight oats this week. Yay! So good and simple. I used 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup yogurt, and 1/2 cup milk with some flax, cinnamon, and maple syrup.

(The bowl I used was big, so it doesn't look like very much, but it was.) I topped them with pear sauce and a little honey before consuming. :) Now, I need to think of my next flavor - perhaps chocolate a la Ash?

So I was reading this at work yesterday:

(source)
It made me a little angry actually. Ok, I know US Weekly is not exactly a tome of accurate, truthful information and it’s known for being sensational just to sell copies. And I also don’t want to discredit someone because I know everyone is different. But, I’m just not sure how much I believe Bethenny Frankel’s story or her “new” outlook. In the interview she talks about her insecurities with her appearance and her many attempts to lose weight. She doesn’t go so far as saying she had an eating disorder, but its certainly sounds like it. Then she says that before a trip to Italy she completely changed her views. And now she’s all about balance and health. I guess that could happen, of course, and I’m sure she did go through changes, but then on the side of the article there’s a list of all her products -SkinnyGirl Daily cleanse and supplements, a book called Naturally Thin, a yoga DVD, and a body shaper!

Now I don’t really know much about Bethenny because I never watched Real Housewives or her other shows and I don’t want to discredit someone’s experiences, but those products do not sound helpful for people who struggle with body image! Aside from whether Bethenny had an eating disorder or not, I can’t imagine that something called SkinnyGirl is all that healthy to promote.

Anyway, I’m probably overreacting and I’m sorry to all the Bethenny Frankel fans out there. I’m not trying to be rude, I just get annoyed when I people promote “healthy” products that can easily feed into disordered thinking.

Well, I hope you are all having a lovely weekend. It’s raining here today, but tomorrow is supposed to be nice. I can’t wait to start a fresh new week - I need it after this one!
<3

Hello World

This past week/weekend was hard. Not so much eating wise, although that does suffer when I'm stressed, but school was seriously kicking my you-know-what. Monday, I had the hardest midterm I've ever had and I'm not being dramatic either. Nothing that the instructor said was going to be on the test was on there and it was a totally different style then the quiz we'd had earlier in the semester. Everyone in the class was mad about it, so I guess that's sort of good - at least it wasn't just me! I cried after that one though.
And today, I had another midterm with the same instructor (she teaches two classes - the joys of going to a small, private grad school!). It was almost as hard. Plus we've been having some financial problems in my family and my mom has been really stressed and depressed which always makes ME stressed and depressed. So, yeah...I've shed a few tears.

Speaking of which, I do tend to cry easily. Usually only when I'm by myself, but I probably cry a few times a month, at least. I'm not really sure if its good or bad or what - it's just me. Sometimes I just feel like I HAVE to cry, you know? Sometimes its just spontaneous and sometimes its in response to the news or a song or even a music video (I know kinda cheesy...)

On a cheerier subject I've had many good things to eat this week. :) I've been restricting a little from stress and all that junk, but I've still managed to have some tasty treats:

Fried rice:

Dal (Indian style lentils):

Borscht in a bread bowl:

Chocolate cake:

(Sorry for the poor picture quality)

As you can see, my sister and I like to experiment with international cuisines. It's fun to try different dishes and get ideas to incorporate into everyday meals!

I think I told a few of you that I was going to make overnight oats. Well, I never got around to it because of the above craziness, but I AM making it tonight! Crossing my fingers that it works!

Take care you guys. "Knowing" all of you makes watching the world news seem more important to me because I know alot of you are directly dealing with some of the stuff that's happening. Reading Ashley's and Katy's blogs make what I see on TV more relevant and real. I'm thinking of and praying for all of you!

Questions: Do you cry easily? What is your favorite type of cuisine?

<3

We Are All Lovers and Takers

Hey everyone! I’ve been MIA again, sooo sorry. I’ve been reading all your blogs, but my commenting has been sporadic and that makes me sad and a little guilty. :( I’ve been busy as always, but I’ve also just felt a little “off”. Idk what’s going on, I’m not depressed or anything, but I think life is just catching up to me lately. I had three in-class midterms plus a take home one. Which you’d think would be easy, but it took me forever because most of the questions were more on what the professor’s lecture in class, rather than what was in the book. So I had to go through all my notes and listen to my recordings…aah so frustrating. Then I took another skating test (I passed, yay!) and I’ve had to work a lot, too.

As far as Valentine’s Day goes, I didn’t really do anything. I’m a single gal so its just a fun day for me. My sister made almond macaroons that looked almost like this (although slightly less pro)

I had a class so I took some to share.

I do have a kinda cute Valentine’s story though. The only time I’ve had a Valentine on Valentine’s day was when I was in kindergarten, lol. My class, of course, exchanged little cards with Barbie and Superman, etc. on them and I got one from my crush so I was happy. Of course you had to give cards to everyone in the class, but still… ;)
The next day, he gave me another Valentine card. He said that he’d told his mom that he liked me and so she said to give me a card every day. (I think she just wanted to get rid of the leftover cards :p) So he gave me cards for the next few days and that made him my boyfriend. Shouldn’t love always be that simple?

Anyway…I’m off to study about asthma and nasal congestion - fun! I should be able to post again sometime next week and have more interesting things to say and maybe some pictures. Love you all!
<3

That It All Works Out the Way Its Meant to Be

Thank you for all the comments and support on my last post. :) Just to clarify, I'm not jealous or bitter about my sister at all - I love her to death and I'm so proud of her, almost like she's my daughter. Sometimes, though, I just let my own insecurities get in the way of how I view my own self worth.

Sooo...yesterday's calender:

Which was perfect because I needed to start my 9 page term paper. Fun, fun! I know I said before that I like writing papers and that is very true - except it's a bit hard to be motivated when I also like catching up on this:

And this:

I don't watch alot of TV, usually. The morning news, FoodNetwork, and HGTV are pretty much it. But, every once in a while I go on Hulu and watch one of these. They're hilarious and good to watch when you need a laugh.

Aside from paper writing and mindless TV show watching, I've made alot of yummy food lately - if I do say so my self. ;)

My sister's b-day cake:

It's called a Tres Leches Cake. It was really rich, but really good. I should say that I ate some! In fact I always eat everything I make, even if its just a few bites (although, usually its more than that!) I eat dessert everyday and I always have, even when I was the most sick. Honestly, I think that's how I was able to somewhat survive the whole time. (Oh, yeah, we replaced the pecans shown in the cookbook with chocolate pieces.)

My sister and I like to experiment with different types of food. Here's our version of Indonesian fried rice:

South American themed fish cooked in paper w/ corn cakes and, of course, kale chips!

A mint chocolate-chip meringue that I ate at work:

(Not the best picture I guess, I'd already eaten part of it, lol)

We're giving out samples of this cereal at work, so of course I had to take one:

I love the little box! I haven't tasted it yet, but my boss said its really good. :)

And just so you know that I don't always where frumpy clothes and have messy hair while I hold up random items to my webcam:

(Ok, my hair's still messy :p)

Have an amazing weekend everyone!

<3

Welcome to My Silly Life

Just wanted to pop in for a quick hello! I'll hopefully have a longer post toward the end of the week with pics. I think about blogging almost every night and I have all these ideas and comments and thoughts, then when I wake up the next morning - poof! They've all floated away and I have a crazy day to deal with instead. Lol, it's all good though.

School is, of course, busy, but mostly I enjoy it. I'm still struggling with the whole social thing, but I've kinda decided that its okay not to participate in everything if I don't want feel like it. I'm not going to be anti-social, but I know what my limits are and, even though I might seem strange to most people,  I'm going to do what's best for my sanity. :)

It was my sister's b-day yesterday, so that was fun. We didn't really do anything, but we did bake a cake, which I'll show you guys next time. I have a pretty good relationship with my sister - she's my best friend. She's infinently better, smarter, and prettierthan me. I'm not saying that because I'm jealous, it's just true and I want so much for her. As the oldest though, I feel responsible for her and I can be a bit controlling. Especially about eating. I'm always so scared that she'll somehow get an eating disorder because of me. I know that's pretty unlikely, but I want to protect her. So its hard because I'm always comparing what I eat to what she eats.  She's taller than me and more active than me, too, so that doesn't help. But, I'm working on letting it go. We are both our own people and I shouldn't compare myself to anyone else. I love her, though!

Anyway, I hope you all are having a good week! I'm especially sending warm thoughts to those of you in the cold states back east. I think it's freezing out here in 50/60 degree weather - I guess I'm spoiled!

<3