re-focus.

Now that I'm going back to my old job ("the mothership"), I want to create some good habits and routines that fell by the wayside because I was so exhausted by the baking job. I haven't made a decent meal in weeks (and now I'm sick), yoga practice has been sporadic (every 2 weeks... I can hardly call that a practice), the house is a mess and laundry is piling up. I am definitely looking forward to making some lifestyle changes and devoting more time to those activities that feed my spirit and making my home an inviting and inspiring environment.

Number one: feed my body! I was going to put the yoga practice first, but really I need a well-nourished body before I can consider any physical activity. The food log will be resurrected!

Number two: establish a regular yoga practice. Back at the mothership, I'll be taking lunchtime yoga twice a week plus I'm aiming for one class a week at Core Studio. I would really like to create a daily practice, even if it's just 5 minutes.



Number three: get the house in order. Before I left the mothership, I had a good cleaning routine and was happy to have friends drop by. Now I'm afflicted with "can't have anyone over syndrome"! Must get back into that routine. It makes a huge difference when you feel good about your living space.

Number four: establish a dance practice. I've been pretty good about practicing, especially since I have a performance at the end of the month, but it would be beneficial to practice more regularly and be more organized about it. I feel like I've hit a plateau and look forward to seeing more improvement - but it won't happen unless I work at it.

Number five: knitting, reading, arts and crafts. All the fun stuff. Do it instead of sleeping on the couch. Keep in touch with friends. Spend some time with the T-man. Cuddle with the cats. OK, those last two things should be slotted under Number 1.5. I have so many plans for fun crafty stuff but where do I find the time?? Ay, there's the rub.

books books books.

I'm looking forward to reading a lot during my 2.5 weeks of vacation. (I'm technically in between jobs but we'll call it vacation anyway.) I already have several books that are partly read, but I wasn't particularly excited about finishing them so I bought some more!! Hooray for new books!

Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac (I'm already halfway through this one)
Light on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by B.K.S. Iyengar
The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell (I really liked Blink)
Eastern Body Western Mind by Anodea Judith (Not loving the title, but I wanted a book about the chakra system and Roula has mentioned Anodea Judith's work in class.)

funny girl, but a good idea.

free burma.



www.free-burma.org

phallic dessert.


Just because you're in a nice restaurant doesn't mean they won't serve you ice cream arranged to look like a male body part. Willa was so embarrassed! We all thought it was hilarious!

baby cake!


This is a cake I made for T-bird's baby shower on Aug. 26. (Also her wedding anniversary) It was super easy to make, and uses baby food! You can find the recipe here.

T-man and I are now craving PC Crunchy Cubs cookies - we bought two packages yesterday!

banana, banana, go go banana.

I made banana bread yesterday, but I forgot to take a photo of it and now it's sliced up! It turned out perfectly again, and virtually jumped out of the pan. This time I added walnuts and chocolate chips.

You can look at the photo from last time. It looks exactly the same, except I didn't make muffins.

still crafty.

Even though I haven't been blogging about it very much, I am still being crafty. The ribs and lace tank is chugging along - only the straps to go! And then I have to shape the back, which is a sneaky way to add more knitting time to the project. Hurumph. If it fits well enough, I might just make it a halter. I am not excited about knitting 11 inches of stockingette on 18 stitches (9 per strap).


I already have plans for two new projects! One of them is a gift, so I can't blog about it (even though I doubt the recipient looks at this site). I've already knit a test swatch for it and cast on the first row. The target completion date is end of September. The next project lined up is a tunic from the summer issue of knit.1 magazine.


I already have the yarn too! I love going to Michael's and buying inexpensive yarn... I also love shopping at my LYS but always feel guilty over the price. This pattern only uses 3 skeins - that seems unreal. At first I reached for a reddish pink shade, then I remembered that I already have a sweater-dress/tunic in pink. So I opted for a mottled green and taupe colour, "Mediterranean".


Time to get knitting!

new appliances.

Oooooo new housewares are so much fun! Yesterday T-man and I went to the Bay and bought a new coffee maker (our old one conked out a few weeks ago)...


The only feature that I really wanted was a programmable start time, so that coffee will be ready for me in the morning. Mmmm coffee. It came with a re-usable "gold" filter, and it was on sale! 50% off!! We were about to buy a different one, and the customer service rep pointed out that the Kitchenaid models were on sale.

I also bought a slow cooker...


I've wanted one for a while. I picked up a cookbook way back in April! There are so many models that it was hard to choose. This one is pretty basic: only three settings, no timer, but it's not too big. As you can see in the photo, it's already in use too! T-man is so happy that these two new items are already out of the bag, out of their boxes and made to feel at home. (I tend to leave new things in the bag and set aside, to save their "newness". It's kind of weird.)

Dinner is simmering away right now! It's "Arroz non pollo" from Fresh From the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson.


It's not a magic time-saving tool, because you still have to prep all the veggies. But it moves the prep time to either the morning (ha ha ha) or the night before. Instead of coming home from work, cleaning up, making food and then eating, the new schedule will be come home from work, eat, clean up, prep food.

monster cookies.

Last weekend I made these cookies. Unfortunately, I did not take pics and now there's only one left! The first batch was a little overcooked, but the second batch turned out well. I was happy to be able to use natural peanut butter in a cookie recipe - the last time I made peanut butter cookies using a conventional recipe, it was a disaster. Ms. Pattycake and I had a little discussion about it, and she uses a "just peanuts" type of peanut butter and thus encouraged me to try this recipe.

The cookies were good. I didn't love them... perhaps it was the honey... next time I'll use maple syrup for a sweeter cookie. And next time I'll take photos!

carrot cake cupcakes.

These are not very pretty, but they taste(d) good! (There's only one left.) Vegan carrot cake, baked into cupcakes with a basic margarine-icing sugar-vanilla icing. The margarine is unfortunately not vegan. I used spelt flour instead of all purpose, since I didn't have any all purpose flour, and they did not rise especially well. No matter, it makes a nice flat surface for the icing!

Naked

Dressed

I should consider taking a cake decorating course - my icing sucks. I tried to get fancy and make curly cues using the spreader, but that obviously didn't work. Ha! Perhaps I didn't use enough icing... I had to ration it since I made a smallish batch of icing. Other cupcakes that I've ogled online have a huge pile of artfully swirled icing. But man! That's sooooooo much sugar. But it looks so nice.

My cupcakes are for eatin', not for lookin' pretty.

knitting progress.

The ribs and lace tank is coming along, slowly but steadily. I find it hard on my hands to knit more than two rows at one time: small needles + cotton yarn = RSI. (yeah, I'm making excuses, so what?)

the awesomest cupcakes EVER!

From VeganYumYum, Knit Night Cupcakes.

knitting update.


I haven't been working on the ribs & lace tank very much, but I've made *some* progress over the past month. It might be ready by fall...

This is the last post for today. I've been making up for lost time!

sha-na-na-na, ba-na-na.


Yummy delicious banana bread and muffins. This is Pam's recipe, and we've been making at work with mixed results. Either the oven temperature is not right or there's too much liquid, but whatever the reason it's been sticking to the pan and falling apart or sinking in the middle. I tried it at home and it turned out perfectly. Then I made it at work using the full recipe for the bundt (no muffins) and it popped out of the bundt pan like nuthin'. I did a little dance in the kitchen because I was so happy. No lie!

It really tastes good, even after being frozen and defrosted. It seems like a lot of sugar (2 cups for the bundt, 1 cup if you make a 9x5 loaf) but doesn't taste sugary or overly sweet. Just sweet and delicious. I had a small piece today and had to go back for seconds!

camping poker.

I'm not a poker player, in fact I don't play cards at all (especially not Canasta ahem), but I've watched World Poker Tour on TV and liked it. While we were camping I had a quick lesson and lo and behold! I won the pot. (it paid for our campsite) Beginner's luck, baby.

The winning hand

The booty

camping food. edited

This is a yummy chili dog that I made while camping at Grundy Lake earlier this month. Vegetarian chili (thanks Michael!), veggie hot dog, grated cheese, and chopped onions and peppers on a poppy seed bun.

coming soon.

Updates coming tomorrow! And photos.

i heart yoga.

I've just finished up my 2-week unlimited pass at the yoga & pilates studio near my house, and I'm very sad. It was so nice to go to as many classes as I had time for! I wish I could have tried more, but two classes in one day is too much. Plus T-man would miss me. :) J. and I met up for a pilates class last week and went out for a drink afterward - now that's motivation! It was fun. Next time I'm buying.

After my first yoga class there, I was so blissed out. Aaaah. I found the class challenging, but not so hard that it was discouraging. In subsequent classes, I've had a hard time not falling asleep in savasana... I did fall asleep in one class, for just a second. So embarrassing! I'm developing a method to catch myself before before slipping into dreamland.

Speaking of falling asleep, it's time for bed...

cornucopia.


T-man and I went a little crazy yesterday... We went to MEC to get another bike lock (I'm going to start double-locking my bike at work. It seems like overkill but a bike was stolen from in front of the cafe and I'm paranoid) and we ended up buying a couple of shirts, a couple of hats, and a million different kinds of energy bars. I didn't used to eat these things, but they are handy to keep in my purse in case I need a quick snack. I've lost weight since starting the new job, and I don't want to lose any more!

There are so many different kinds of bars and of course we had to get some of each flavour. And there are Power Bars with extra protein (24g compared to 10g) so I had to get some of those too. Do I need more protein or carbs or fat? I don't even know!

After MEC we went to the drugstore, and while I was browsing in the expensive makeup section, T-man was filling the basket with retro candy: Mike and Ikes, Hot Tamales and Goodies. He pointed out, but did not purchase, the rainbow-striped Twizzlers - perfect for Pride weekend! (Don't worry, T-man also picked up a new fancy toothbrush and a new tube of toothpaste.) I felt so good about not buying the $44 primer that I treated myself to the summer knit.1 magazine. Because I need another knitting mag full of patterns that I don't have time to knit. hehe. (I will eventually end up buying the $44 primer, although I hope that it's cheaper at Sephora, or perhaps I can find it at Duty Free. But that's a separate post.)