Adopt, Don't Shop.

I'm 5! I love you. I'm spayed! No more babies, yay!! I'm in the North shelter in Carlsbad. My ID number is A1392501.

It had been a while since I was at the San Diego County Shelter and yesterday with some prodding from a very well-intentioned spousal unit, I went back to do some volunteering.  So glad I did. Aimee was such an angel as I walked her, brushed her, loved on her and basically told her how great she was.  She loves just being with you. She's much happier than her picture would suggest, but she does need a good home with someone who will walk her and not just stick her in a backyard by herself.

I'm 5! I'm wise AND awesome! I'm Neutered! Yay! I'm in the North shelter in Carlsbad. My ID number is A1389882

 

 

 

Chief is something else. He's chill, well behaved, loves to listen to your stories, has the softest muzzle ever and gives doggie hugs. I'm telling you, if I wasn't at my critter limit at home I'd be bringing this fella into our lives. Since the spousal unit has imposed an agreeable and prudent 'one in, one out' policy, I can only give Chief my love and attention when I'm at the shelter. I promise to do that more.
For more info go see the PitCrew's facebook page.
xo

My juicer is my frenemy.

The ideal me juices daily and has her own wheatgrass machine.  The real me has a small counter top Braun juicer from the late nineties (no wheatgrass machine) and while I appreciate its diminutive size and the juice it produces, I hate cleaning it, which means I hardly ever juice.  Until I came across a blog the other day that spoke of juicing with such enthusiasm I decided to revisit this yummy habit.  Apparently, the key to a happy juicing experience is to juice en masse every few days and store the juices in glass in the fridge so one has access to yumminess without the soul-crushing clean up.  Here is my prep shot:

Beautiful rainbow kale getting ready to be juiced.

Rainbow chard has got to be the most gorgeous vegetable out there. How is it yellow AND red?

What I used (organic when possible):

-one bunch rainbow chard

-ten ribs celery

-three Braeburn apples

-one bag carrots (don't peel them if they're organic)

-two meyer lemons (pre-juiced.  I haven't put lemon peel in my juicer before and I don't know what would happen if I did...)

-one orange (peeled, segmented)

-five or six thick slices of fresh ginger

Keep your juice in glass jars for up to three days in the fridge.

Juices I made: 

Orange, carrot, ginger (My favorite, sweet with a kick) 

Chard, celery, apple, ginger, lemon (A nice second place green juice, creating smug nutritious feeling in drinker.)

Apple, carrot, ginger (A standard, basic, all round excellent beverage.)

Chard, celery, carrot, ginger, lemon (This was a bad juice.  A very bad juice.  It's the brown, sad one in the picture.  I couldn't bring myself to throw it out so I loaded it up with lemon juice and it's still gross but drinkable.  Lesson learned: Carrots and greens are hard to balance. Go easy on the carrots.)

I had the orange, carrot, ginger juice this morning with breaky. Delightful. Feelings of smugness abound.

xo

Sometimes, you've got to take the good with the bad.

*sigh*

Put it out there.

I’ve been thinking a lot about this blog, lately. I’ve been thinking about it for most of the year, feeling guilty and uninspired. So, I’ve revamped it and as you can see it is still in progress. Like me.  It’s about balance and goals, kids.  I am startlingly bereft of both these days and so it’s shakeup time. It’s time to invite good things and try to do some good work.  I’ve compiled a list of things that I will be engaging in and/or enjoying over the next little while: 

Food. One of my favorite things is twig tea. While hopelessly hippie-sounding, it is actually incredibly delicious tasting, both bland and jazzy and sets me right every time.  I don’t know why I don’t drink it every day.

I’m on day 8 of Full Vegan-no bull this time-Lifestyle. It's now four years into my Vegan Journey. Cheese was the second last thing to tempt me and I’m over it. The last hurdle is the Cadbury’s Cream Egg sitting on my kitchen counter.  It hates me.

Yoga. *sigh* I swear I will stretch more and become stronger this year even if I never get those fancy pants.  My friend D in Vancouver complained the other night about how “yuppie yoga” is taking over her classes.  She posited that no one is learning real yoga anymore since it became so popular and that this harms all of us who want to be properly aligned and actually taught something.  That reminded me of a class I took recently where the teacher (I use that term loosely), yelled at us.  She actually yelled the poses out at us and people around me ate it up.  She had fans lined up after class to compliment her technique.  Dude, yoga is not a competitive sport regardless of how much I want to wear the fancy pants and stretchy blue jacket that has sleeves that fold down to make gloves (gloves, I tell you!!).  There I said it.  

xo