Participating in the BluePrint cleanse really identified how bad my cravings get in the evenings so hopefully I can be a bit more mindful about that effect. In the end I lost 5 pounds, not a particularly big deal considering how much I actually need to lose but it was a great reminder that I really do have the ability to exercise some semblance of self-control over my abundant love of food.

Post from: XoXo, Erin

BluePrint Cleanse: Mission Complete

Wow. Yesterday was plain awful. I’m posting the above video from Annie in hopes that today will end on a high note. The catalyst which kicked off the horror that was my Wednesday began when the movers finally brought our furniture (22 days later). I was so excited and happy and then I started opening boxes. I soon learned that if I wrote “fragile” or “glass” on anything it was completely ignored. So many lovely items were smashed to bits. It was really devastating. Some of the items that were broken were irreplaceable.  So my good mood went sour very quickly and then the overwhelming reality of unpacking set in.

We literally gave away more than half of our possessions when we moved here and it seems that we should have parted with three-quarters instead. I have no idea how our things are going to fit in this apartment and as the day progressed I became more and more frustrated and the OMG MUST EMOTIONAL EAT RIGHT NOW mood set in.

Obviously it wasn’t the fault of the cleanse for my ever increasing insanity over the day but I don’t think it helped. I ended up taking out and putting back an Amy’s Rice Bowl from the freezer four times. Somehow I managed to keep my willpower in check and not eat food but it was ridiculously difficult. My advice to you is not to do a cleanse when you will experience any kind of major stresses in your life.

Anyway, my apartment is still filled to the ceiling with boxes and I’m just getting ready to drink juice #4 for today (spicy lemonade in case you were wondering). Day #3 on a whole has been a much easier experience but I’m very much looking forward to eating tomorrow. I’m craving avocado, which is a good thing. At least I’m not craving cheesecake.

Post from: XoXo, Erin

BluePrint Cleanse Wrap-Up Day 2

Next on the docket was yet another Green juice. I was starving post workout and sipping this concoction when CK checked in at some new burger place on Foursquare and I felt a wee bit jealous. First craving of the day at 2:00 PM.

Juice #4, Spicy Lemonade, felt a little harsh going down but tasted OK. Afterwards I spent 15 minutes staring at the entry for Biscoff Spread on Amazon before deciding it was probably a good idea to take a nap instead of looking at creamy graham cracker tasting things online. At this point all of my feeds on google reader were taunting me and I was dying to eat this Polenta and Poached Egg dish.

The CAB was up next. A bright pinky-red bottle of carrots, apples and beets. Now I love beets.  I eat them all the time, but this was definitely the hardest to drink yet. Yikes! I was definitely hitting the juice wall.

The final juice in the cycle was a Nut Milk that tastes exactly like rice pudding. CK gave it two thumbs up. I hate, hate, hate rice pudding, bread pudding, pudding in general really so this was just a big turn off. I know a lot of people say they love this juice the best but it was so not palatable to me. After drinking this milky “feast” I proceeded to obsessively point out just how many commercials on TV were about food. I was definitely in full OMG craving swing at this point. Eventually I drank some more water though and made myself go to bed.

Day 1 without solid food was complete and I didn’t cheat. Honestly I don’t think I’ve ever not eaten solid food for a day in my life. Looking back on the past 24 hours this morning it really seems like it wasn’t a big deal at all. I’m confident that day 2 will be a cinch. We’ll see…

Post from: XoXo, Erin

BluePrint Cleanse Wrap-Up Day 1

BluePrint Cleanse Green Juice #1

When the Fed Ex person rang my doorbell this morning shortly before 9:00 AM (and Dexter freaked out and sprang from inside the washing machine, where he insists that he belongs) I had already started to crash in a rather emotional/weepy way while going through my work emails.

Obviously I was hungry and freaking out but in my head I kept thinking about how cold it is here in San Francisco and how jealous I am of everyone back home who will probably be going to the beach, if not today, then over the weekend. See. I told you. Total whack-a-doo — that’s me when I don’t eat.

But now that I’ve consumed the first juice I feel fine. Crisis averted!

Honestly, I’m really looking forward to the next 3 days sans food. Since moving here almost 3 weeks ago I’ve been on a diet of eating out, take-out, and microwavable things I can find in the grocery store. The movers gave us an estimate of our belongings arriving between 5 and 22 days. I had no idea they would actually take the absolute last day to deliver to us. How naive of me. Everything is supposedly arriving tomorrow though. Fingers crossed!

Of course I could have bought pots, pans and other accessories to cook with at home but I stubbornly refused. The new apartment is so small that I am actually baffled as to how I’ll manage to neatly arrange what we did ship so extras were completely out of the question. On the plus side I don’t think I’ll be tempted to shop for anything anytime soon.

Anyway, I’ve been going to the gym every day but I still feel pretty out of sorts. A reset was definitely in order. I’d actually been looking into BluePrint Cleanse since we arrived and balked at the price. It’s definitely not cheap.

Initially I opted to buy and read their book. Which is very informative and has all the recipes for the drinks. I’d just need to buy a juicer and a metric ton of organic fruit and vegetables. If this experiment goes well I very well may do just that. However, I still wanted to try the “real thing” so when Daily Candy had a BluePrint discount last week I ordered a 3-day cleanse and scheduled it for right after my birthday.

So here we are…hour 1, day 1. Wish me luck!

Post from: XoXo, Erin

BluePrint Cleanse Day 1, Juice 1

The kitchen the day we moved in: crisp, clean & empty

As you’re probably aware, via my incessant lamentations via Facebook and twitter, Chris and I have to move this spring as our home has been sold. Our pretty apartment that we’ve lived in for almost 3 years has always technically been a condo, but we were fortunately able to rent it (at what I’ve come to realize was a spectacular price) when they came on the market.

I originally chose our particular model because it featured an enormous eat-in kitchen with a large island. The floor-plan was pretty screwy otherwise. The master bedroom is ridiculously large and has the unfortunate distinction of having teeny tiny closets while the guest bedroom boasts a pair of more functional closets as well as a connected bathroom. But this seemingly mismatched room situation didn’t bother me. I only had eyes for my kitchen. I seriously miss it already.

We’ve looked at several places so far, all very very expensive and none really met my expectations entirely. If I could pick my current place up, clone it, and drop it off in Davis or Porter I’d be happy. Obviously that isn’t going to happen. So I need to come to terms with our impending separation. Goodbye fabulous and functional island! Goodbye oodles of cupboards! Goodbye gas stove that bakes perfect chocolate chip cookies! Goodbye shiny refrigerator!

Chris and I do have our hearts set on one place. We’ve applied for it and are waiting to hear back. I don’t want to say too much because this will inevitably cause some sort of jinx to occur. Time will tell. In the meantime I need to begin parting with a large amount of accumulated things for the inevitable home downsizing that is about to occur and also attempt to curb my book buying addiction for a few weeks. The great moving purge must go on even if we don’t technically have a new home yet. Farewell pretty kitchen. You served me well.

On occasion the kitchen was used very strenuously. Especially during high stress times of pre-dinner party prep, but we always took care of her afterward.

Post from: XoXo, Erin

Saying Goodbye to Your Kitchen

A little honesty for you.

In six very short months I’m going to be 30. Needless to say I’m in complete denial about it. Having spent the latter half of my twenties essentially in a fog of anxiety and angst, mostly due to the fact that I flitted about aimlessly from one horribly demoralizing assistant job to another, it was a huge relief to end the decade on an upswing. Thanks to a friend’s confidence in me I was finally allowed the chance to prove that I can do more in the workplace than photocopy and order catering.

Since beginning this new position, heavy on the web 2.0 decadence that I adore, the world has become a decidedly more shiny and happy place. I’m not sure what would have happened if things hadn’t worked out so wonderfully (for once). Honestly I doubt if CK could have stood my “down and out mood” for much longer. One can only hear someone loudly declare intense hatred for their job, usually followed by a flurry of tears and a bottle of wine so many times, right?

So back to this whole turning 30 thing…now that my personal and professional life is essentially in order I thought it would be appropriate to take this time to work on becoming the best damn 30-year-old I can. I wasted a big part of my twenties being miserable so my overarching goal for the next decade is to be as entertained, happy, and healthy as possible. The following is a list of goals (some serious and some on the more frivolous side) that I’d like to attempt to complete before the clock tolls on June 3rd. It will certainly be interesting to see which items I actually manage to accomplish.

Note: This post is inspired by Georgia; one-half of the fabulous duo behind the Alie & Georgia cocktail videos.

1. Lose 30 pounds. (This will NEVER happen but a girl can dream, right?)
2. Learn how to cook a steak properly so that poor CK doesn’t have to eat my horribly rare or overdone entrees anymore.
3. Find a way to actually enjoy blogging again because right now it feels like a HUGE chore to keep up three sites.
4. Wear red lipstick with confidence.
5. Level my World of Warcraft Human Warlock up to 50. (See I told you they wouldn’t all be serious).
6. Save $3000 (again…another reach goal).
7. Read Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens.
8. Run 3 miles without dying.
9. Learn how to back-up my MacBook so CK doesn’t have to do it for me.
10. Visit friends in Portland, Maine.
11. Book a fabulous getaway for the Fall. Preferably somewhere in Europe.
12. Enroll in Grad School again…or at least find a class to take.
13. Buy the new Apple Tablet (I suppose that will cut into the above goal of saving $3000 but priorities are priorities…).
14. Organize ALL of the closets in the apartment.
15. Figure out what to do with the overabundance of books I own and donate the ones I don’t want to keep.
16. Actually read the magazines I subscribe to.
17. Clean up my Google Reader. Do I really need to subscribe to 333 feeds? Probably not.
18. Try to get in at least one session of Yoga each week.
19. Finally eat at Hungry Mother.
20. Try my hand at canning something. Bread and Butter Pickles perhaps?
21. Stop freaking out so much about the cats shedding on the furniture.
22. Re-watch all of the Anne of Green Gables movies.
23. Purchase more organic foods.
24. Find another little crafty project to complete.
25. Write ten-pages of something (anything) that doesn’t go on a blog.
26. Finally buy some Truffle oil since I love it so much.
27. Take another cooking class.
28. Meet Jennifer Garner (ha ha … it could happen. She comes to Boston pretty often).
29. Wear more color. Less black.
30. Learn how to properly use my fancy camera.

Post from: XoXo, Erin

30 Things I Want To Do Before I Turn 30

Click here to view the embedded video.

This is the commercial that gets me completely teary and causes various “awe-like” sounds to repeatedly come out of my mouth lately. Each time it airs during a television show I instantly stop fast-forwarding and watch it. It’s my dream puppy complete with a “please buy me Erin!” face that I just can’t resist, in a candy pink room, with a girl in cozy pajamas that is so “obviously” me. Let’s be friends puppy! Call me!

Post from: XoXo, Erin

Fluffy White Doggie

Post from: XoXo, Erin

The Victory Bus

In case you’re wondering, no, I do not forgive Mr. Snow aka the Snow Day God. I now officially hate winter. Time to go find my boots.

Post from: XoXo, Erin

No Snow Day

Sometimes I think I want a puppy. Someday. Definitely not while we’re still living in an apartment in the city though. Unfortunately that didn’t dissuade our neighbors who have two very yappie dogs that bark hysterically every time someone gets off the elevator on our floor. When we were moving in one of the dogs barked so much that by the end of the day it was hoarse, but still croaking out pathetic noises through the door. I forgive them though. They’re really cute dogs.

To aid in my puppy research I took the Animal Planet Dog Breed Selector quiz and it gave me 56 choices. Out of those results my favorites are the: Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and the Shih Tzu.

I’m also a big fan of the Westie, but Animal Planet didn’t find it in their hearts to determine us “compatible.” For awhile I really wanted a Corgi, but I think their serious shedding would be a huge issue not only when it comes to house keeping, but also my allergies. For the time being though I can barely keep up with my own “shedding.” Sometimes I really miss having blonde hair. After I dry my hair in the morning the bathroom floor is always covered and since it’s so dark now it really stands out. Yuck!

[Note: Adorable puppy images were found online at The Daily Puppy]

Post from: XoXo, Erin

A Puppy Friend