Sneak Peek...

This is what I've been working on:

To be continued....
Today's whiteboard quote:
"The thoughts we choose to think are the tools we use to paint the canvas of our lives."
~Louise Hay

Gnat Cool, Gnat Cool At All...

Maison a la Redondo Beach is under attack.

Nope, not by California earthquakes.

Not by drought.

Not by masked gunmen.

Not really by weapons of mass destruction (although this is arguable, considering).

But by these guerrilla bio-weapon holding terrorists:
Yes, it's the common household fruit fly.

And it ain't pretty.

It happens to the best of us. You leave a banana out for a day or two later that you should have, and before you know what happened, you have four or five maddeningly quick-to-avoid-attack gnats buzzing around your kitchen.

The best thing to do is to put out a cup of a vinegar/water/dish soap solution. They'll be drawn to it, drown (the soap breaks the liquid's surface tension), and all you have to do is pour their remains down your food disposal (or give them any other type of burial service, up to you), and you're good.

However.

In my house, we have produce-loving roomates (one of us is vegan, two are mostly vegetarian, and the last one loves to buy fruit and never eat any of them, rather opting to leave them in a bag, leaning against the wall in a not-so-often frequented corner of the kitchen until one of us discovers where the smell is coming from....sorry M, love you, but it's true).

This means that, although we have waged warfare and killed many of the little buggers, they lay eggs (where? I don't know. It's a mystery, but they are somewhere in the skin of produce and invisible too), and come back quicker than we can get rid of them.

I think it's safe to say that you have an infestation when there are 70 of them dead in your vinegar trap, in a bathroom, upstairs, and in the opposite corner of the house. (yes, there were really 70. It was M's bathroom, and being the inquisitive engineer she is, she counted. Gross? Yes. True? Yes.)

I'm cool with having four of us living there, but once the number of roomates go up into the triple digits I think we've gone too far with our hospitality. I'm not cool sharing my living space with winged creatures either....
So now it's all out battle.

Which, really means, that we're having to be quite OCD about the kitchen. Down to all of our fruits being in sealed ziploc bags.

Note: not a good idea.

Pretty gross, actually. They went in yesterday, and this morning the fruit was already starting to go south. Dark spots on our apples (and a rotten core on one already, GROSS), and my 3-day-ago-purchased banana is spotty and soft. I think it's because gasses get released in the airlocked bags, then make the rest of the fruit rot.

So I'm not a fan of the ziplocs. However, I also think my roomies would veto my veto of their use, so I'm SOL on the rotten bananas. Sigh. Ah, how I miss the days of living alone sometimes.... (and I never had one fruit fly...)

But c'est la vie. Cheap rent and company is worth sharing space and sparking personalities and the like, right? Ummm, we'll say it is.

So the fruit flies have won the banana battle.

But I'll be back. Governor-style.

Today's whiteboard quote:
"Everything nourishes what is strong already."
~Jane Austen
(hopefully the fruit flies don't qualify....)

Cheeseburgers and Fries and Sugar Substitues, Oh My!

I've been a busy girl.

I've written this, about America's unhealthiest foods.

I've also written this, about how xylitol, a sugar substitute, prevents cavities....what? Yep, it's true. Although my holistic self wonders how long it'll be before we find out that scientifically twisting up a naturally occurring chemical, no matter how good-for-you it is on the vine, has a negative effect once it's all down to chemicals and compounds....

But anyway. Have you watched Home yet? It's amazing. And is available to watch online, for free, and legally too. And no, I have nothing to do with the movie, and they don't even know I'm advertising for them :) It's that good.

Check it out. Let me know what you think. Seriously. It'll be the best 93 minutes you spend all day. Okay, I can think of a couple of better ways to spend 93 minutes....but anyway.

On another note, today is Tuesday. Which means we're into the week, and busy, but not tired of it yet :) I hope. Because if you are, there's still a ton to go! So just don't think about it. Besides, it's summer! And it's beautiful outside! And if you don't get to go outside the same way that I don't, we can always be thankful that we don't have any awkward tan lines, right?

By the way, I have a 1920's party to attend this Saturday. Any of y'all have any tips for flappering it up? I tried on a few of those short and fringed flapper dresses, but none of them caught my fancy, so I'll be doing a homemade costume. I'm thinking about going for a more evening look, wearing that awesome dress I got for the January wedding, and doing it up with long beads, red lipstick and a flowered headband...thoughts? Suggestions? I'll take em!

Today's whiteboard quote:
"What we must realize is that we cannot see everything. We do not know everything. More important, we must understand that it's impossible for us to control anything."
~Iyanla Vanzant

(I'm not going to admit that this one is a challenge for me, the control freak of the century. Wait, I just did...oh well.)

4th of July Weekend Review

If you'd been hanging out with us on Saturday, you would have observed:

A patriotic breakfast,

A patriotic Charis,

Some poolside Yoga,

And much sunny relaxation.

Let's not talk about the lack of foresight that led us to make a city wide trek on foot in search of food (although the Pita Pit was well worth it) and that canceled Sunday morning's hike (because I already felt as if I'd been on a hike, soreness and everything. Dodging Independence Day beach revelers who've had too much to drink is always a good workout...)

Instead, let us talk about the movie that T and I watched as we ate our red, white, and blue breakfast. It's called Home, and the next hour and a half that you have free, watch it directly. The shots alone are breathtakingly beautiful and enough reason to watch the movie, but you will undoubtedly be moved too.

If not, you can blame me. But I was.

Happy Monday! In honor of the sun's return to SoCal, and the long and restful weekend, I'm rearing to go and check off some big items on my to-do list.

Don't worry, I'll tell you when the site(s) is/are up :)

What are you going to do to make your life more like your ideal one?

Today's whiteboard quote:
"Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit."
~Henry David Thoreau

Lazy Friday Post

Today is an off day because of tomorrow's holiday. I'm hanging out on the couch watching Giada, my very favorite celebrity girl crush. Seriously, how can you not love her?

In fact, I'm not even going to post a proper blog today. I'll give you pictures from yesterday's concert and today's lunch instead.

Enjoy :)

(Happy 4th of July (sorry, white font won't work) too, by the way)

The Game On Diet

So there looks to be a new diet craze that is poised to be another check-out-line topic of conversation... the Game On Diet. I'm feeling a little torn about it, but am mostly happy with the concept. Check out my article from this morning here.

In other news, I'm off tomorrow! Yessss! That means I can enjoy the first Santa Monica Pier concert of the summer tonight and not have to have 6:00am coffee tomorrow to remain fully functioning at work :)

I'm very excited.

In other news, nope, still haven't made a vlog yet because my mic still isn't working. In truth, that is because I haven't looked at it again. Too mad. I need some time to cool down, I may say things to my laptop that I'd regret. Not good for any relationship.

Happy Thurfriday!

Technical Difficulties

Today's blog was actually supposed to be the link to a new vlog.

Didya know that? That I was a vlogger, before I was a blogger?

Well, I was. Then blogging took over my world and I haven't made a video in 9 months (oops).

So I recorded the whole thing, feeling very proud and capable, now that I'm back on the horse and all, then when I opened it to edit, I found....

dumdumdummmmm

No sound.

None.

So I tried to do a quick Skype to see if the sound was just for that one recording program...

Nope.

It's all jacked up.

So now I'm on a troubleshooting mission.

Anyone know about fixing a built-in mic on a Dell? (doubt it, but if you do, let me know!!!)

So now I'm frustrated. Slightly snarling, not gonna lie.

Perhaps tomorrow.....

Today's whiteboard quote:
"You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself into one."
~Henry David Thoreau