outtakes from our Christmas card

Cameron and I got a real kick out of taking a family portrait for our Christmas cards this year. We had found these Santa and reindeer cat costumes at Target and I had to have them (the best $20 I have ever spent). Taking the picture required a lot of test shots with different positions, exposures, etc., using a jerry-rigged tripod of books and furniture stacked on the bed to get this angle in our tiny apartment. I know I might be the only way to fully appreciate the hilarity of this, but I have so many pictures setting this up that crack me up.








I laughed so hard everytime we forced the cats to wear these. Frankie acted like the reindeer hat rendered her incapable of movement, and would just squat underneath the table, frozen and humiliated. Finnegan went wild, spinning around like a drunk and trying to attack his own face. Getting them to pose for a picture was equally as humorous as herding cats.

The final eight exposures that were "winners":



I did feel a little guilty, but they both looked so cute it killed me. And here is the one we chose, and gave out to family wrapped in envelopes made from kraft wrapping paper:

Sundance kids

Checking in briefly to share some photos of Sundance from 2010 that I've had queued up on the blog but never posted. My sister Melissa and her now-fiance Chris were visiting from Virginia and it was so much fun to Sundance with them (yes, it's a verb)...until Melissa got food poisoning and had to miss our second movie. Most of these pictures were taken indoors at New Frontier on Main, a brilliant, free, heated space with couches for lounging, art, film, and music installations for browsing, and hot beverages for purchase. (The funny thought bubbles are part of Eric Gradman's Cloud Mirror.) This year they've expanded New Frontier and added an exhibit in Salt Lake City, which I am very excited about!

The 2011 festival started Thursday, and we are going to see our first movie tonight! I had plans for a long while to apply to be a volunteer this year, and really immerse myself in the festival, but it just didn't pan out. Now I'm experiencing major pangs of regret and jealousy when I see them all in their cute little blue puffer vests, being all helpful. No one to blame but myself.

I am really looking forward to:
-Seeing the two films we have tickets for, Martha Marcy May Marlene (U.S. Dramatic Competition) and Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles (U.S. Documentary Competition)
-Going to two mystery Best of Fest movies
-Finally seeing Blue Valentine next week! My regret for not seeing this at last year's festival has grown stronger and stronger throughout the year as I've followed it obsessively, read articles and reviews and watched/listened to interviews (this one with Ryan Gosling is so so good). It was finally given limited released in December, but no word of it coming to my beloved Broadway and I feared it never would until all of a sudden, bam! January 28!
-Today is healthy rewards day in the Whole Living Action Plan. It calls for visiting a spa, but I think I'm going for something slightly more budget friendly (we shall see.) In any case, I'm patting myself on the back for an almost full week of detox and treating myself today.

the cleanse

I've mentioned a couple of times that I was going to put myself to the challenge of the Whole Living 28-Day Action Plan. Today was my first full day (and I promise the only day that I will document the food I've consumed in such detail - this is not a detox/diet blog!)

So much of the purpose of starting this blog was to encourage me to stay positive and reserve a space for things that make me happy. I started blogging here a couple of weeks before I left a job that was causing major problems for my wellbeing, and the start of several months of (cherished!) unemployment. Which is to say, this is and always has been an effort to accentuate everything in my life that is good, and as a result (as with so many blogs) only show a very consciously edited version of my day-to-day that may gloss over or flat-out ignore anything in my life that's bad. Well, today I'd like to pull back the curtain a little bit, and share some of my motivations behind undertaking such a drastic mind/body transformation as this action plan/challenge/detox/cleanse. I think that sharing them here will shame me enough to stick with the plan, and keep the lifestyle changes I plan to make through this process last much longer than the 28 days.

So. Full disclosure. The reason I'm doing this challenge is because I've picked up some really terrible, unhealthy habits over the past 3-5 years. Although I've recognized how bad they are for me, I've also made excuses for them and allowed them to become ingrained so deeply that they seem unchangeable. These habits include:
-eating hardly any fresh produce in my meals, despite the fact that I'm a vegetarian
-eating the same portion sizes as Cameron, who expends about 1000 times more energy than I do in a given day from walking everywhere and working as a carpenter, and is, you know, a man
-eating kid's cereals/sugar cereals every morning for breakfast (all. my. life.)
-watching a TV show during every meal that I eat at home, and because I live in a studio apartment and have a problem keeping table surfaces free of clutter, that means eating every meal sitting on the bed, from a TV tray
-spending at least 95% of my working days sitting in a chair in front of a computer, and at least 95% of my workday evenings sitting or laying in bed, watching TV, internetting, reading, or sleeping, so if you do the math here I'm...
-getting alarmingly little physical activity in any given week, even in months when I'm attempting (usually failing) to go to the gym, or in good weather when I get out of the house more on the weekends
-eating out for lunch every single day of the working week; terrible not only for the food habits but also for my finances
-being a picky eater, and being reluctant to try foods outside of my standbys
-maybe the worst habit of all - never learning to cook anything except spaghetti, frozen pizza, microwaveable meals and canned soup! As noted, I eat out a lot, and at home, Cameron cooks all the meals because of a lifelong dread/hatred I have of preparing my own food.

There, I've said it. Now you know my deepest, darkest secrets. Doesn't just reading that make you feel about 30 pounds heavier, and like you ought to go to the doctor to get your cholesterol checked? I know myself well enough to know that the only way I'll ever change these habits is a) a full immersion, baptism-by-fire plan for change that forces me to drastically alter the way I do everything, b) a detailed, step-by-step process designed by experts to do so, and c) accountability - from my partner in cleanse, Cameron, and by writing it out on this blog.

It boils down to using an extreme short-term method for getting to very simple long-term goals. They include:
-eating lots more fruits and vegetables
-becoming comfortable in preparing more meals myself
-testing out more varied recipes that I can add to the current rotation of favorite meals
-being physically active in some way at least half of the days of the week
-eating dinner at the kitchen table

I've now written a novel on my intent for the cleanse, so I'll save more of the non-food details for sharing later (if at all). If you've gotten this far, thank you for reading, and feel free to send encouraging comments or thoughts my way this week as I detox my life. Your support is appreciated.

Saturday

This morning has been the perfect start to what I know will be a productive and restorative weekend. Woke up early, began the prep for the Whole Living Action Plan (we are starting two weeks late, but starting nonetheless), went to queue up at the Sundance Box Office to get our free Best of Fest tickets, went to brunch at The Bakery (pictured: two thick slices of buttered and grilled cinnamon bread topped with amaretto whipped cream, fresh berries, and a drizzle of raspberry puree), and came home to begin one of the most extensive rearranging, reorganizing, and decluttering projects that the apartment has seen in our almost four years of living here. The process is already so soothing to the soul. Instead of always looking towards what I want in the future - in this case, where I want to live and how I'd like my home to look - I am making my best effort to be grateful for what I have in the present, and to be mindful of small changes I can make to be happier with where I am. Here's to hoping.

through the eyes of the iPhone

In which I share some favorites from my first week as a member of the elite iPhone user inner circle. We're going to skip right over my huge consumer guilt for owning such an extravagant piece of technology, and not talk about what smart phones and the internet are doing to the human brain, and all that really interesting intellectual stuff, and just get down to ooohing and aaaahing over the world's finest and most insanely practical conglomeration of every piece of technology you could ever hope to use in one convenient package. Can we agree to that?

In this edition: apps. In case the combo of phone, iPod, camera, video camera, GPS, compass, calendar, movie player, email and the internet in your pocket is not sufficient justification, then there are apps. I have barely skimmed the surface of the app library, but here are a few I've downloaded this week that have made me positively giddy with their utility.




1 - ShakeIt Photo - one of the main drives behind my desire for an iPhone all this time. The fake Polaroid (complete with sound & developing effects!).




2 - Cross Process - from the same developer as ShakeIt. Changes the color saturation and reminds me of Holga or Diana photos.

3 - 8mm Vintage Camera - old-timey video effects, like The Wonder Years-intro-amazing!
4 - Pocketbooth - photobooth in your pocket, with all the accoutrements.
5 - Whole Foods Market Recipes - basically what I've been dreaming of for years: you pick your dish category (Main Dish, Soups, etc.), prep preference (Quick & Easy, One Pot, etc.), and then choose from a whole bunch of dietary options (Vegetarian, Gluten Free, etc.) and voila! Recipes with photos! You pick the recipes you want, and bam! It makes you a grocery list. Change-my-life-amazing.
6 - Dirty Dozen - one of those handy little lists that tells you which fruits & veggies to buy organic and which are OK without. Easy peasy.
7 - NPR News - recent news at a glance, or my favorite feature: list of every NPR show, with the option to scroll through episodes & segments of any selected show and either stream them live or queue them up to listen to later. !!! I repeat, !!! Also can live stream any NPR station in the country.
8 - Google Earth - nothing new here, just portable. Sometimes nothing makes me happier than looking at places I've been and places I'd like to go on Google Earth.
9 - Angry Birds Lite - I'm not really into games, but I had to sample the craze. It's cute, the concept is ridiculous (and therefore the only type of game I can get behind), and the lite version is free. A win in my book.
10 - AllTrails - hiking trails, photos, and descriptions on-the-go. Can filter by trail type, difficulty, sort by popularity or distance, etc. Just looking near my house brought up plenty of options I'd never heard of and am excited to check out.

And some photos from the regular old camera phone:





So here's my question to you: do you have any app suggestions for me? I've found most of these either through reading blogs over the years and noting them as other people have shared their favorites, Top 10 lists on sites like the NY Times, or just searching for keywords I know I would use (like "vegetarian"). Outside of that, there are so many options, it can be very needle-in-a-haystack without the recommendation of someone who shares your taste. If you have an iPhone, which apps do you love that you think I would love as well? If you don't have an iPhone, are there any apps you know about that make you yearn for an iPhone (or was that just me??)

p.s. I know I might get some comments on the lack of the Hipstamatic on this list. I know it's extremely popular, and it's one of four trick-camera type apps I have saved on a wishlist. I will probably get it soon, but I figure the ShakeIt is going to be my favorite, and too many of a similar type of app might just be overkill. Can you convince me otherwise?

a year-end recap

My oh my, what a year! You may have noticed I did not fulfill my vow to "wrap up 2010 with a neat little bow." However, I did manage to post my Christmas photos before New Years, which I believe is a blog feat worthy of some recognition! Unfinished projects were a general theme of 2010, here and elsewhere. This is a fact about myself I both loathe, embrace, and am constantly trying to improve upon. On the one hand, I'm ambitious and organized and thrive on to-do lists and goal-setting; on the other hand, many, many of my aspirations go undone. Yet somewhere in there, reflecting back upon this year, I'm overwhelmed with how amazing it actually was. The thing I love most about myself and my life is my ability to make little adventures a priority. The day trips, the vacations, the exploring of my own city and state like a tourist, and the photo documentation of all of it - these are activities I excelled at in 2010.

A little photo-recap and some resolution assessment:


January
-Sundance Film Festival
-Melissa & Chris visit Utah

February
-Valentine's Day, day trip to Midway for snow tubing

March
-Holi: Festival of Colors

April
-my birthday, 3-day celebration including day trip to Crystal Hot Springs in Honeyville
-day trip to Spiral Jetty

May
-business trip to Minneapolis, Twins vs. Yankees game
-Cameron's birthday, trip to Las Vegas to see The Beatles' LOVE

June
-Utah Arts Festival
-trip to Washington to visit Heather

July
-trip to the San Juan Islands, camped at Doe Bay
-4th of July on the beach in Port Townsend
-day trip to the West Desert & Skull Valley, camped at Cascade Springs
-Pioneer Day at the pool

August
-day trip to lavender farm in Mona
-Craft Lake City
-Twilight Concert Series
-nursed Finnegan's UTI :(
-business trip to Las Vegas at the Palms

September
-Farmer's Market
-day trip up Emigration Canyon
-day trip to Snowbird and the Cliff Spa

October
-Oktoberfest at Snowbird
-Halloween as Popeye & Olive Oyl

November
-Thanksgiving
-trip to Boise to visit Devin & Liz

December
-trip to Zion National Park, stayed in cabin at Zion Park Lodge
-Christmas

My resolutions for 2011 are to continue with my resolutions for 2010, some of which I did not accomplish at all (Clean out & organize closet; Kayak on Great Salt Lake; Complete a photobook; Go berry picking, Bike to work...at least once) and some of which I either semi-completed or are simply ongoing (Purge unnecessaries (simplify, simplify, simplify); Make a plan to move; Read at least one book per month; Swim even more; Camp as much as possible; Spend more time outdoors & bring the outdoors in; More dance performances, more museums; Donate some amount, however small, to a charity each month). To those, I am internally adding some really boring and generic self-improvement goals in the arenas of physical, emotional, and social health and wellbeing. I plan to spend some time in January reflecting on what I most want those goals to be, and starting out with a huge challenge for me: The 28-Day Whole Living Action Plan. The point being, I have a lot of room to improve, and I like the idea of starting 2011 with simplicity and quiet and vegetables and decluttering and positive thinking.