Hello Sunshine!

*Disclaimer: If you are reading this and live in, say, Chicago...you might want to skip this post.*

Now for the rest of you...helllooooo spring! I actually started writing this on Saturday – enveloped in pure JOY – having just come inside from a couple glorious hours out by the pool with Lizzi. I, for one, am someone who can 100% get behind being able to lay out by the pool in March. Oh how I love what the next several months have in store!

Happy Place

I love the beach. Love, love, love. So when I had the chance to go to LA a day before I had to start working, I was on it. And it was awesome. I saw my HS friend, Elizabeth, on Sunday, then spent all of Monday roaming. I drove to Malibu in the morning (I've always wanted to see it although I had no idea what to do once I got there); went to the Getty Villa (the Getty Center in LA was closed, but the Villa was still pretty awesome); checked into the Viceroy (baller hotel in Santa Monica); walked/shopped the streets of Santa Monica (including a trip to H&M where I found what I'm hoping will be my go-to white jeans for the season); got a manicure and pedicure (and perhaps a staph infection b/c the place turned out to be ghetto); walked along the beach and watched guys swing like crazy men on the rings at "muscle beach"; decided I should have the purse I left at Bloomingdales and walked back downtown to get it (I would now like to return it but am not sure how that's going to work out); had a glass of wine tried to get a glass of wine by the pool as I was reading before realizing that b/c of the time difference The Bachelor season finale was almost going to begin (another major event my day had been planned around); rushed out to find dinner (ended up being grapes & nuts from the grocery store...fail); then rushed back to watch Brad and Emily get engaged. Whew. Then Tuesday morning I got in a nice early morning run along the beach. Happiness, people. Happiness.

A little shopping center in Malibu, where I had breakfast in the morning. 

Getty Villa

Seriously? So awesome.

More...

Just your typical garden

Room at the Viceroy
(I've always been a sucker for fun hotels...they've just gotten more expensive
with time. The Embassy Suites used to really do it for me.)

Monkey Men

What is there not to be happy about here?

Well, $h!T

Today is the first day of my multi-city (Charlotte, Austin & LA) focus group jaunt and so far things are going awesome.

When we arrived at the focus group facility they said that they'd been having some plumbing problems but that the plumber had just left and everything was okay. Flash forward to me using the restroom and then washing my hands when out comes what I can only believe to be sewage – all over my hands.

Focus groups: 1
Amy: 0

Starbuck's Gold

I was doing some work at Starbuck's yesterday (because what fun is Sunday without work?), and overheard some pretty awesome exchanges between two old men (mid-80s). "Friend 1" was particularly entertaining. Here are a few highlights I jotted down so I wouldn't forget:

Friend 1: "She didn't have a mean bone in her body. I mean she was so sweet. If you could just overlook her looking like a basketball. And she really did." 

Friend 2: "I woke up, decided I didn't want to get up so went back to bed, woke up again, and had an english muffin and marmalade."

Friend 1: "Oh boy, now that is great. I love a breakfast like that." 

Friend 1: "If I lose 40 pounds before I turn 86 – that's only a pound and a half per day for the next month, people do that you know – will you still think I'm as charming?"

Friend 1: "You ever freeze your grapes? I tell you – they are so darn good. Oh boy. You just put them in the freezer a couple hours. Man, they are so darn good. Like frozen candy or something."

Sometimes it's the little things. Hug a friend today!

The "Real Food" Challenge

Mardi Gras is officially upon us, which means Fat Tuesday and Ash Wednesday are just around the corner. I’ve been thinking about what to give up for Lent this year and have decided to do something I want to do anyway but could use a little motivation/Catholic guilt to push me through!

Here’s the challenge: for the 40 days of Lent I’m going to cut out processed food and only eat “real food.” For me, the link to Lent is twofold: 1) real food = the food God put here, and 2) if I think about the Big Man every time I want to cheat (probably going to be pretty often), there’s something good in there too.

I just got back from dinner with Sarai and Michael and confirmed that having some input before Wednesday to “firm up” the rules would be a good thing. So, the rules. There are a ton of blogs out there on this very subject (which I'm sure will be awesome later when I need some fresh ideas – wink wink), but I found one, in particular, that is right on par with what I have in mind – 100 Days of Real Food. The author outlines the rules as such:

1. Whole foods that are more a product of nature than a product of industry
2. Lots of fruits and vegetables 
3. Dairy products like milk, unsweetened yogurt, eggs, and cheese
4. 100% whole-wheat and whole-grains
5. Seafood (wild caught is the optimal choice over farm-raised)
6. Only locally raised meats such as pork, beef, and chicken (preferably in moderation)
7. Beverages limited to water, milk, all natural juices, naturally sweetened coffee & tea, and, to help the adults keep their sanity, wine and beer!
8. Snacks like dried fruit, seeds, nuts and popcorn
9. All natural sweeteners including honey, 100% maple syrup, and fruit juice concentrates are acceptable in moderation

All of that makes sense, I’m just trying to think ahead to what I’m going to have questions about later/be tempted to cheat on. So here are some questions for you, my loyal readers, to weigh in on. ;-) 

• Cheese is on the “approved list” but I can see that turning into a problem without some stricter rules. I'm thinking limiting this to reduced-fat cheeses only might be a good way to put the kibosh on eating brie in front of the TV and convincing myself that it's okay because it's "real food." Thoughts?
• When it comes to seafood and meat, I’ll do my best to buy organic and local if possible, but that might be one that has to give a bit. 
• Salad dressing – obviously olive oil, vinegar, balsamic are all okay. What about something like Annie’s Naturals Goddess Dressing? It has a pretty clean ingredient label. I’m thinking that’s okay? 
• Soy sauce – I’m seeing brown rice sushi in the future and am wondering if it's kosher to dunk it in delicious soy sauce. I'm afraid this might be a no go, although I was reading another "real food" blog earlier about someone using low-sodium soy sauce (let's be honest, that stuff is just not as good). Still, could that be a happy medium? Or better to avoid altogether?
• Dried fruit & popcorn – I'm surprised about dried fruit because most have lots of sugar added. Maybe someplace (like Central Market) has the straight-up fruit? Guess I’ll have to check the ingredient labels on the bins. And what about popcorn? Is that like homemade popcorn or from a bag? Again - might have to check the ingredient label for that one.
• Green beans in a can – I know fresh is better and that canned have added salt, but nothing else is in there. So is that OK? What about other beans (e.g., black beans or kidney beans)? I'm sure fresh is better but in a time crunch you think these would be okay?
• Wine and beer – no real question here, just wanted to acknowledge how lovely it is that they're on the list without me having to secretly add them. Fermented grapes...as real as it gets. Mmmmhmmm!

If you're still reading this excessively long post, let me know what you think. And Happy Mardi Gras!

World Banana Day 3

My younger sister, Lizzi, has really been ratcheting up the blog posting lately, which makes me realize how incredibly quiet this poor little blogspot has been. As usual, I blame it on this place. Sigh.

I am proud to say, though, that in my little free time out of the office I've been able to do some important stuff. You know – like "solving world hunger through the cunning use of banana suits." If you're unfamiliar with the concept, you don't need to go any further than worldbananaday.org to get up to speed. (Is that maybe just one two three too many links in one post?) If you think it's a joke, think again. Those exact words ("solving world hunger...") came out of my mouth this weekend as I was trotting from one bar to the next, and some sweet little lady pulled a $1 out of her purse for me to donate! A-mazing!

I will leave you all with a few pics and one final thought, as so eloquently noted on worldbananaday.org: 

"Anyone not dressed as a banana that night will just be a dumb old fruit."