Feed Me, Fall!

An unfortunate incident involving myself, a pair of pants, and a lunch meeting today has landed me in front of the computer googling healthy fall recipes and elastic…

Kidding aside, it’s time to get this train back on track. It’s amazing what a few weeks of work travel, a special-occasion friend visit (although I’m pretty sure calories don’t count when Nora visits SF), and a weekend away to celebrate 12 months and counting of matrimonial bliss can do to your resolve to eat well-ish and exercise regularly.

Thankfully, I’ve been talked off the cleanse ledge… although I’d be lying if I said that my web browser didn’t currently have the following tabs open: ‘diy juice cleanse’ google search, first person narrative about some adorable but irritatingly tiny chick’s diy cleanse, and this article on diy detoxing. As tempting as these things look (and by ‘tempting’ I mean that they’ve all convinced me I’d be more willing to pay through the nose for bottles of juice to magically show up at my door than wage war with a juicer I don’t even currently own), I’ve been on solids for years now and realistically don’t see myself throwing all that hard work out the window now.

So instead I’m currently drooling over the following (and trying to convince myself that I’m man enough to tackle the mid-week grocery shopping required to make any of these a reality). I will not do pizza again this week… I will not! Besides, why would I when I could eat:

• Anything from the aptly titled, ‘Skinny Pumpkin Madness‘ — disregard the obnoxious ‘skinny’ qualifier, and click the link. These recipes not only look incredibly yummy, but have relatively short ingredient lists and are legitimately good for you. Top of my must-try list: pumpkin butter, pumpkin oatmeal shake, and the skinny pumpkin granola… ooh, and maybe this pumpkin roll and pumpkin pancakes!
• Pumpkin muffins that look like they could break a double pane window… my kind of muffin heft.
• Whole Living’s ‘Eat Well’ Fall Recipes — I’ve yet to determine if the ‘Eat Well’ tag implies heart healthy or just the perception of such… but I’d eat each and every one of the 25 recipes they feature twice, three times on Sunday, if I could.

Great. Now it’s 10:30 and I want to raid the kitchen… probably not the ideal outcome after researching healthy eats to curb the amazing expanse of my bottom half, but I probably could have predicted this would happen.

Politics in SF: Best Served with a Trumpet

Living and working in San Francisco has had the unfortunate consequence of hardening me to any and all form of aggressive politically-motivated protest. It’s nothing personal, it’s a basic survival instinct. When you can’t schedule business calls in the afternoon because your office is sandwiched between the corporate headquarters of a Wells Fargo and Chevron, and the noise coming from people in the street is loud enough to drown everything else out, you die a little inside.

At some point, the occasional inflatable rat truck-float, the ‘power to the people, my people’, and creative rap ditties about economic injustice and inequalities don’t even elicit an eyebrow raise.

While I’m angry that overexposure, we’re talking once a week minimum — daily during high season, has made me deaf to the voice of unions and advocacy groups, I also take solace in the fact that every once in a while a little ray of sunshine pierces through.

This weekend I experienced one such magical moment while waiting for a girlfriend to join me at the Farmers Market. Completely unaware of my surroundings, I pulled out of my I’m-waiting-for-someone-fog when I heard a trumpet blowing ‘When the Saints Come Marching In’. The sound was beautiful. It was coming from a young kid, fully dressed and pressed and overall winning at life. It took me a good minute to realize that I was staring at him through an angry anti-government mob (complete with fake helicopter bleeding streams of monopoly-money cash).

The juxtaposition of the two made me smile. It made me listen. And it made me feel like I was witnessing a secret commentary on something larger than any one issue or performance could ever offer.

Of course, before I could decipher the deeper meaning of it all my girlfriend showed up and I was instantly wrapped-up in where we could find dill and a whole chicken for her soup recipe. I’m naturally averse to critical thinking, sue me.

It did however give me a great idea for when I go off the rails one day (it’s happening…) and start pounding the pavement with glitter-glue signs decrying the dangers of god-knows-what: hire an adorable child trumpeter to walk a few paces ahead… it will give your protest that allure of depth you’re striving for and likely not achieving, while also providing a rhythmic guide for your unintelligible chanting.

Win.

…minus the I’ve-clearly-gone-crazy-if-I’m-taking-this-advice part.

Hey, 30s… Let’s Do This

I know… I promised some grade-A midlife crisis freakout scribbles. And I hate to disappoint (because even I was looking forward to reading it and making fun of myself). Unfortunately, I may have accidentally processed all of my irrational age-related fears in a boorishly healthy manner prior to my birthday… so this post might be a little heavy on the positive outlook and opportunities for growth front.

Again, my apologies.

Actually we can blame it on Adobe’s free version of photoshop for the iPhone. I’ve realized that there is nothing to worry about when embarking on a whole new decade when I can just demand that every photo taken of me ever be overlaid in Warm Vintage III:

See how healthy and lovely I look? That’s a woman who’s ready for all the enlightenment and body-acceptance falsely promised to accompany her 30s!

Those of you who’ve ridden the roller coaster of my last two weeks will know that I didn’t slide easily into this 11th hour zen perspective. Out of no where I started losing sleep, questioning the relevance of my existence, zoning out during movies while my own horror-flick montage of a life lived unfulfilled played in my head… and, worst of all, I was plagued with bizarre and taunting dreams… like the most recent in which I had to get to Napa Valley for my birthday but all of the freeways had been replaced with water slides and I was TOO BIG FOR THE FREEWAY WATER SLIDE.

No one deserves that. Well, I wasn’t about to let my 30th birthday break me. Birthdays can smell fear (or is that cats? babies?)… anyway, never let them see you sweat!

Luckily, with my good friends Warm Vintage III and a new pair of Gap True Straight (cough, stretch) jeans I feel both ready and optimistic about this next chapter. Maybe all this age-related wisdom is just the comfort that comes from being around the block long enough to know what you can change, what you can’t change, and what you can purchase in the event that all else fails.

I guess we’ll see how I feel about it next week.

For now, peace out 20s… it’s been real. College, foreign travels, a great job, the best friends, and my perfect match. So much to be thankful for, but so much more to look forward to.

There Are People Creative Enough to Make Upscale Furniture from Wooden Crates

It’s true. See above. Equal parts inspiring and obnoxious. Mostly inspiring… but, let’s face it, a little obnoxious when something that was once used to transport your produce from the central valley is sold back to you for $350.

Coming off a weekend spent at the Alameda Antiques Market, where we walked miles of stalls filled with handmade and reclaimed treasures, may have given us a false sense of confidence in our design skills. And selling a couple pieces to make room for new, improved, but non-existent replacement furniture may have been somewhat hasty.

As I sit in our considerably emptier living room, in what feels a bit more dormitory-drab than hipster-chic, I console myself with the knowledge that shock will soon turn into excitement over the possibilities that a new space represents. There are design blogs to review, opinions to be heard, and sales to be sniffed out and taken advantage of!

Until then, it helps to remember that there are people on this planet who can turn a few wooden crates into a drool-worthy cabinet and hutch.

PNS (Public Note to Self): You Like Flowers.

…so stop it with the hemming and hawing. No, they will not live forever (with your wonky steam heaters, you’ll be lucky if they outlast your manicure), but having flowers in the apartment makes you happy. It brightens your space. And don’t give me the cost argument… you spend more on less.

While you’re at it, plant a couple. Living in a concrete jungle with zero backyard gardening space is no excuse. Look at how nice those $2 minis look over the kitchen sink! You love it.

Look, I know you’ve been burned before. It can be hard to trust yourself again after the trauma of repeatedly planting, neglecting, and tossing. Set yourself a calendar alert and get over it.

Don’t let the fear of failure trick you into thinking it’s just not something you really want… because you like flowers and damnit there will be flowers!

A Timeless Community Contribution… Literally

It’s the waining weeks of the first month in a new year… a time when reality sets in and commitment to the most well-intentioned resolutions can be supplanted with work woes, family obligations, or any of life’s other precious little roadblocks.

So, consider it a favor to your most ideal self and take an easy route to bettering the lives of those in your community… without giving up a Saturday (just yet).

Here’s your quick and calendar-free way to give back, now:

1. Pick a cause that’s close to home… literally. Impactonline.org has a great search engine that allows you to insert your zip code and keyword (i.e. homeless, children, hungry, education) to target local non-profit organizations that could use your time, or, more topical, cash. If you don’t have a specific cause in mind, think outside the box and consider donating to your local public radio or television station, making a loan to entrepreneurs in your city or abroad, or, pick an organization close to a family or friend and donate in their name. The more you look for opportunities to give back, the stronger a connection you’ll feel to the community and improve your ability to pin-point a cause to lend your support.
2. Open your wallet. If you’re not sure how much to give, call the organization and talk to a program associate about the intent behind your donation. For example, if you want to feed a family of four for a full week, ask how much it costs the organization to provide that amount of food. If you want to save yourself the annual anguish of an unfulfilled resolution, ask about monthly subscription-based donations and make a financial commitment that you can be proud of all year round.
3. Sit back, feel fabulous, and prepare to take the next step… yes, volunteering your time. Look for a follow-up post on Dilly Daily for more details on ramping up your contribution to those who need it most. Consider your monetary donation a down-payment on future action. While you’re at it, share the news with your friends and spread the good tithings.

Ready… set… spend!

…and don’t forget to save your receipts for the tax man.