But today I bring you interesting news of great proportions that should matter to all people:
I’ve recently been on a quest for better health. I mentioned here that I had started reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma as an ebook. I thought reading it as an ebook might help reduce the amount of time that it takes me to actually finish a book.

I made it through the first 800 pages in no time at all (800 iPhone pages people…different from book pages). And those first 800 pages inspired me to make my single largest dietary change to date. Mind you, this is not a book about what you should be eating. It’s about what you’re already eating. How it’s processed and the repulsive, yet very creative, industry that is food. It is definitely not the most exciting read that I have picked up this year (I have to admit that I quit The Omnivore’s Dilemma sometime shortly after page 800), but it educated me.

Now back to that single largest dietary change to date…I cannot bring myself to eat meat since reading this book (and watching Food, Inc, in which Michael Pollan collaborated). I am not saying that I am quitting meat forever, but I promise you that the next cow I eat will be grass-fed. I promise you that I will avoid processed food as much as possible and when I do have to consume processed food, I will read the label.

Now I’m going to stop myself before I become that preachy vegetarian who everyone hates.

Stay tuned for my next compelling book review: The Sivananda Companion to Yoga.

xoxo

I hope you don't mind that I stole this from your blog, Brecca.

Take it away Brecca

lessons learned in the classroom:

• find a way to take interest in what you are learning about. going to school is so much more fulfilling if you have a passion for what you are doing.
• making friends in a class proves to be very beneficial. you can help each other in study groups and have morale support through the grueling times.
• seize the opportunities that allow you to travel and see the world. that’s where the important learning really happens.
• don’t stress out too much. ok so this is basically a life lesson, but i try not to get obsessive about things that i’m not going to care about next month, enjoy the ride.
• be personable with your teachers. i don’t want to say i’m a suck up but i try to have some connection with my teacher. it’s who you know not what you know people.and i truly think it makes a difference when you are really a person and not a number to your professor.
• remember NOT to volunteer your laptop to be hooked up to the projector (during your final advertising pitch to the client you’ve been working with all semester) when this picture is your current wallpaper. might be a little embarrassing…


Brecca: far right

in the process of learning

• how to balance being a mom, working and school. i love my advertising program and that has been helpful in keeping me motivated to finish, 18 credits left!

• the art of organization. some people are just naturally good at it and for the rest of us, it just doesn’t come naturally. i hope to someday be on top of it!

• to be a better writer. i absolutely love writing and it has always been my favorite part of school. people don’t get it when i look forward to writing a paper, i just like the freedom of creativity that it offers as opposed to a stuffy test!

I have been so busy spending money. Even after I created a budget (and adhered rather closely to it) I am still wishing that I could find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. I will be out of debt next month (amazing!) and so I suppose my pot of gold will come then.

Until then, I will share with you the things I pine for that occasionally cause me to stray from my budget.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lululemonathletica/ / CC BY 2.0

Yoga: my favorite way to start the week and end the week and survive the middle of the week. I loved doing yoga when I was in college. I only wish I had done more of it, because back then the classes were free. Now, at $15 a class, it’s a sweet sweet luxury and I have to choose my classes wisely. So far I’ve tried two different Bikram Yoga studios and the absolutely charming Full Circle Yoga studio (which just might be where I choose to plant my yoga roots).

Lulu lemon athletica - Flickr

Naturally, you need some sweet, yet zen, yoga gear in order to motivate you to deepen your yoga practice.  Lululemon is definitely not the most budget friendly way of acquiring this gear, but it is guaranteed to be comfortable and adorable! I can’t wait to get myself into some of their yoga-inspired athletic wear at the outlets this weekend!

My latest aspiration (graduate school plans aside) is to become a yogi and open my own studio. Call me crazy if you must, but yoga is the only activity I’ve found thus far where I can let go of the stresses of the real world and the dirty dishes in sink and focus on myself. If that isn’t reason to preach the gospel of yoga, then I don’t know what is. However, until I achieve yogi status, yoga is simply another reason why I’m broke.

Happy Monday!

On Monday, I spent some time with some wonderful friends; most of them were under the age of 10.

How simple and lovely the lives of children!

Despite conning their brother into eating a lemon, and putting their ice-cold hands underneath his shirt, they just might be the world’s best (and cutest sisters!).

photo evidence of kids-night-out on my desk at work

“Mom, just tell me it’s ok,” he says after Mom tells him to apologize to the waitress for making a mess.

“I’m just spitting at the sky Mom. See? I’m spitting at you, sky,” he says after being reprimanded for spitting.

I may not want children of my own, but I sure do love a refreshing evening with other people’s children. If only life’s problems could still be resolved with my Mom telling me that it’s ok, what a different life I would lead.

a post-college Justin

This week’s wiser today Wednesday featured blogger is Justin from The Freshest Oat. So please pull up a chair, grab a [healthy] snack and enjoy the wisdom.

Academic lessons you learned in college

• When in doubt, or when having trouble, don’t beat your head against a wall, go and ask for help!
• Time management, I stopped procrastinating altogether Freshman year
• Never trust anyone – always double check your work and verify information on your own. Unfortunately a lot of people will lie and cheat to get ahead in class.
• How to study and retain the information

Lessons you wish you had learned in college

• Networking – the only contacts I made were intradepartmental. Not helpful when job hunting.
• As stupid as it may sound, how to write a basic computer program.
• I wish I had learned something more specific and more practical for the job market. My major prepared me for a lot, but not enough depth to have any expertise.

Important life lessons you learned during college

• Have time to study, but also have time to decompress or you will slowly erode to nothing
• The value of friendship
• Hard work doesn’t always yield good results, but persistence is essential to ever moving forward
• Get help when you need it. Not just text book help, but in the case of depression, etc. Because without help your work will suffer and you will slip through the cracks.

Important life lessons you wish you had learned during college

• Success is largely based on chance, not just hard work
• How to approach an interview and the interview process
• Sometimes we have a planned out course of what is supposed to happen when, sometimes that gets derailed and we have to accept the changes and move forward with a positive attitude

To me, college was a time when the greatest lessons learned were not from a textbook or a lecture, and more-so were not recognized until after college. It was a time when you could have many friends all in close proximity – meeting up wasn’t an ordeal; maintaining friendships was as easy as showing up to lunch. College was also a time when responsibilities were at a minimum. Where I went, most people lived in dorms all four years, so there were no bills to pay, just the semesterly waiver for your student loans.

It wasn’t until after I left graduate school that I realized it’s not easy meeting people. Not out in the suburbs. I also came to the sad realization that most of what I learned is now forgotten, I would really have to refresh my memory to be able to do some of the math I was capable of doing with my eyes closed before. But one thing I have fallen back on is maintaining contact with the professors who helped me through college, as now they often email me with questions based on my experience.

So now in these days of thousand dollar per month loan repayments, car payments, rent, utilities, upkeep, etc. I look back to see just how I got here, and think of the memories tied together with college and grad school. I tend to remember the good things, but I do remember some of the bad – the stress, the insomnia, the pressure. I don’t know if I could handle that intensity anymore – I now work in a different environment, with its own stress and pressure, but I feel prepared for it. I feel prepared because of what I learned how to do best in college, which is to be able to quickly and thoroughly learn something.

Thank you Justin!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/booleansplit/ / CC BY 2.0

I feel terrible. I have no photo documentary on my ravenous pig culinary experience. You may be able to excuse me when I say that the fresh-out-of-the-oven gruyere biscuits with sea salt butter and the cooked-to-perfection-burger with blue cheese and perfectly- caramelized-into-a-spread onions  taunted me. I was thinking with my taste buds and not with my camera. But this gives me an excuse to go back very soon!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nate/ / CC BY 2.0

In addition to my new found passion for the gastro-pub concept, I have uncovered my love for breakfast. I know. I know. Breakfast: the most important meal of the day. I’ve been skipping it since 1998. I thought filling myself up with coffee instead of breakfast would boost my metabolism and cut my calories. All of that changed this weekend when I prepared a bowl of steel cut oats with a light sprinkling of chia seeds and a fruit medley.  It was this weekend that I became super woman.  After my workout, I biked 13 miles in a single afternoon and I wasn’t hungry again until long after my usual lunch time. In conclusion, I want to give a warm welcome to breakfast into my daily routine.

Last (and maybe even least) on the list of things I loved this weekend is the Super Bowl. While I am not a big fan of football, I am a huge fan of the awesome company, loads of junk food and inevitable comic relief that comes with Super Bowl Sunday. This year on the comic relief menu: my promiscuous puppy.

the one on top is mine...hehe

I hope you had a lovely weekend and I promise that in the next month (or two!) I will return to the ravenous pig and give you a REAL review with photos of the truffled fries and everything!

I’ll admit that having all of these guest bloggers imparting their wisdom on my blog has made me a bit lazy when it comes to the blogosphere.

I would love to provide you with a photo-update of the apartment garden, I don’t have any photos [yet]. But as a teaser, I will have you know that the basil is in full bloom.  While this means that it’s healthy, it also means that I pluck those pesky little white flowers from it’s tiny little leaves on a daily basis. More on this later.

Also soon to grace this blog is my upcoming visit to Winter Park, Florida’s only gastropub, The Ravenous Pig.

Well enough of me telling you about what you will eventually see here. I need to get some photos taken and share the wealth! In the meantime, check out what’s on the menu tonight!

Have a lovely Friday.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shinealight/ / CC BY 2.0

I am proud to present yet another wiser today wednesday courtesy of Talia of T-Recs and Faux Boheme. (Busy lady!)

Sit back, enjoy the show and do not forget to email me if you are interested in being featured in wiser today Wednesdays!

Year of college graduation: 2009

Lessons learned in the classroom

1. The rule of three in storytelling and design. This might sound simplistic, but just recognizing that things – stories, patterns, composition – need to have a beginning, middle, and end has shaped  the way I see the world and the way I work. Whether I’m writing a blog post or planning a project, I now keep in mind these rules so that I have a balanced end result that feels finished and coherent.

2. How to find the right voice for the writing project at hand. Writing marketing copy is a lot different than writing on your personal blog. You don’t want to use the word “deliquesce” in a product description of a children’s toy. The variety of projects I had to write for in college – from writing copy for the film festival I worked at to crafting screenplays for student productions – taught me that it’s important to find a voice that speaks to your audience and for your subject best.

3. How to navigate New York City. While this was probably the first thing I learned in college, once I tackled that I felt like any other city would be easy to handle. As a result, I’ve been a lot more fearless about traveling on my own and seeing the world as far as my puny budget has allowed.

3 things you wish you had learned in college:

1. I wish I had taken some business or finance classes. I think it’s unhealthy to just concentrate on the creative side of things, but as I try to teach myself business concepts post-college I find myself wishing I had a professor to lead the way.

2. Physics. I’ve never taken a real physics class and I’ve always found it fascinating. Plus, maybe I’d get more of the XKCD jokes without having to Wikipedia them.

3. Spanish. It’s a useful language, especially when people assume that you know it because of your coloring anyway.

3 Important life lessons you learned during college:

1. When possible, do things the hard way. You’ll learn more and be less afraid of future challenges.

2. Just because information doesn’t have an immediate practical advantage, doesn’t mean it hasn’t shaped your thought process to make you a better thinker and decision maker. You might never need to know the results of that photosynthesis experiment again, but the scientific method will color every decision you make in the future.

3. Always carry a notebook and pen. Always.

3 Important life lessons you wish you had learned during college:

1. The cute “I’m only in college so I didn’t know better” thing won’t fly in the real world.

2. Sometimes efficiency is more important and profitable than creativity for creativity’s sake.

3. Innovation comes when you need it, not when you want it.

Thanks Talia for imparting your wisdom upon us!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ivyfield/ / CC BY 2.0

to read?

Seriously. I’ve been working on the same book that I vowed to read before the end of 2009.

I’m just not that into it.

It just so happens that I am into Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma. (I’ve been on a health kick 30 days and counting.) It just so happens that I can purchase the ebook for half price! But when will I have time to read it, if I don’t have time to read anything that is already on my to read list?

Despite considering myself to be technology savvy, I haven’t quite jumped on the ebook bandwagon. There’s just something about putting down my iPhone when I get home and picking up a real paperback. There’s something about the lack of tangibility of an ebook that irks me.

The thing is, I never put down iPhone. It dawned on me today that maybe I can make time for reading if I’m carrying a “book” with me as I wait in line at the grocery store or wait for a server in a restaurant. Maybe if I can read a page or two every time I’m waiting, I will actually finish a book some time this year.

I’ll admit, I tried an ebook once and it didn’t work out. Maybe this time will be different. Maybe this time I will see the inherent value in having a book without carrying the book around.

Maybe this time next week I’ll have an update on how my reading of The Omnivore’s Dilemma [ebook] is going.

my first day of college! (mum MADE me take this.)

Date of graduation: Hopefully 2011. eeeck that is too soon!

How to sing half diminished chords up and down in every inversion and every key. KILL ME ABOUT THIS. For my first two years of school, I had the craziest ear-training teacher. In fact, people started calling it fear-training.

World percussion! I’m a classical percussion major (meaning xylophones, timpani, snare drums, triangles, etc etc), but I am also exposed to so many different styles from around the world! Last week I came into my private lesson and said to my teacher, “teacher, I want to learn middle eastern drums.” And so I had a two hour lesson on the doumbek and riq. Then, today, I had conga class and learned about rhumba (did you know that rhumba and rumba are two completely different things?!) and mambo and bembé and salsa! Oh it was so fascinating. Also, a few months ago the cymbal player from the London Symphony gave a class, and I learned that London cymbal technique is about the polar opposite of American cymbal technique. I am totally dorking out right now, I’m really sorry.

Writing. I have to take one non music class per semester. My school doesn’t offer any math or science classes (I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or a good thing), but I’m in this AMAZING creative writing class. I love it. I feel sort of weird about having to write fiction, but that’s only because I’ve never done it, and it is getting more and more fun!

When in doubt, go to yoga. Self explanatory.

Things I want to learn before I graduate

How to be a girl in a male dominated field. I’m nice to the guys, they think I’m flirting. I’m mean to them, they think I’m a total bitch. I try to be one of them, I’m being too manly. WHAT GIVES?!

this is a picture of only some of the instruments used in that recital!

To play more pieces that use a lot of instruments. My sophomore year, I gave this recital that used probably around eighty different instruments- no joke! Oh, it was so much fun. I don’t know anywhere else where I could have pulled that off. Before I graduate, I really want to feel like I’ve taken full advantage of my school’s instruments and performance/rehearsal spaces.

The kicker: something I just recently learned, but am still working on sustaining- and this is one thing that I would like to pass on to everyone reading this…

No matter how much I feel liked I’ve failed in my work, or how much I feel I can to better, I will not let it affect my overall happiness. I used to really beat myself up about not doing well in auditions, or not playing my best in a concert… I would tell myself that I didn’t deserve to enjoy something because I didn’t do well in something else. And I would do silly things like reconsider my career plans because I didn’t play well in a class or something.  It was unfair and unproductive (maybe it was productive for my playing, but not productive for myself). A conversation with my friend Josh, and a Ben Folds song made me realize that if I’m always going to try to be the best at everything, I’ll never be happy with who I am or my accomplishments (that song, by the way, is called, “There’s always someone cooler than you.”). That’s not to say that I shouldn’t always try my best- but, it’s possible to do that and not let the outcomes affect my happiness.

Thank you Molly! This was absolutely enlightening, charming and entertaining. I hope to you have you back for more guest blogging soon!

-L