Old Navy

Whoa - Thanksgiving blew my mind. Too much of everything. Lots of binging, not much purging. Thank you, Thanksgiving, for pushing me 3 steps back. Bring on the next indulgent holiday. I love a parade. Holiday parade! I did manage to spend $90 at Old Navy. All for myself. During that 2 day sale, it was fairly difficult to spend that much money, as everything was ridiculously cheap. I had to buy new sweaters and warm clothes. That may sound weird as I live in Southern California and the 5 day outlook is literally "Sunny and Delightful," but I've become weak. At this temperature in Chicago, I would have been running around in a tank top (just kidding - I never run around nor do I wear tank tops). I have to prepare for winter road tripping in the northerly direction. And, I've somehow lost all the winter clothes I collected over 6 years in Chicago. Where did it all go? The stuff I can find I hate. Thus, the Old Navy trip on the weekend after Thanksgiving was completely justified. Do only poor people shop at Old Navy? I know some people who have lots of money who shop at the 99 cent store, but I'm not sure about Old Navy. I suppose there is a difference between clothing and plastic baggies. I also don't think that I really qualify as a technical poor person, but you know what I mean.

AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Oooohhhh boy. I have not smoked all day long. It turns out that I am addicted to those little f-ing sticks. In an effort to reduce my chances of getting lung cancer (or throat cancer or having a heart attack or stroke or having constricted blood vessels or losing my sense of smell or developing COPD or emphysema), I have decided to quit smoking. Again. How many times does the average person have to try to quit before it sticks? 7? I wonder what number I am on. Maybe 5. So, hopefully, I'm ahead of the curve. I have always been very advanced and I'm sure this is no exception. I've just been chewing gum all day, something I normally do anyway, so I doubt that it's helping. I am certainly not a heavy smoker, but I think sometimes it's more difficult to abstain when you have specific times when you usually have a cigarette. For instance, I like having a cigarette break as soon as my employers pull out of the parking garage for the evening. Today, instead, I made a chart for Thanksgiving and highlighted things. Not really as satisfying, but slightly more productive. If only I can keep track of it until the weekend. We'll see...
Also, I'm itchy. Not sure if it is related, but it's pretty annoying. My office was inundated by the smell of Chinese food this afternoon, but rather than ordering a ton of it for lunch, I ate the 300 calories worth of food I brought from home and called my friend and told her to meet me at PF Changs after work. A slight improvement in behavior. At least if I'm eating with someone else, I won't eat as much as I would if I was eating alone. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, the word of the day is PROGRESS. It is slow, but it is forward moving. One day I hope to function like a normal adult female. I'll keep you posted.

Oprah's Soul Series

My new bestie just turned me on to Oprah's Soul Series. On her website, you can find past radio interviews she's done with various types of spiritual authors, speakers, etc. Some of them are only audio, but some are webcasts. I started with her interview with Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Simple Abundance. This woman seems so incredibly grounded. As you may have gleaned from the title, her work is all about the power of being grateful for what you have even if it doesn't seem like much. The idea is to propagate positivity and thankfulness and open yourself up to seeing how much abundance you truly have. As with most "self-help" formulas, there are familiar elements here-Living in the moment, recognizing the gifts that are given. I was truly affected by this video, so much so that I immediately ordered her book. It is another tool for the box. I should say that I am not a frequent Oprah viewer. I occasionally catch clips, but that's the extent of it. But...I LOVE THIS SERIES. Here is the Thanksgiving themed cast:
http://harpo.vo.llnwd.net/o1/QuerySplicedItemContent?file_name=vc_54bde0f9d0d26f6cda57cde04de08471.ver_1.videosdyn3.20091105060401.m4v&case_number=54bde0f9d0d26f6cda57cde04de08471.m4v&volomedia_info=&llnw_original_url=http%3A%2F%2Fotunes-vm.oprah.com%2Fpodcast%2Fxm%2Fss%2Fsbb1%2Fss-vidPodLOW_sbb1.m4v

Hut-Living

I wish I lived in this hut. Doesn't it look like a nice place to practice yoga? Of course, I might change my tune when it rained, but I'm not sure. I think there is probably only one way to find out.
That's go live in the hut.
These office walls are squashing me.

Weird Encounters at the Grove

As those of you who live in LA can attest, every trip to the Grove/Farmer's Market is a lesson in patience and a literal fount of potential adventure. The Hollywood "They" are frequently filming/shopping/eating there. Tourists are taking pictures in front of the Apple store as though they've never seen a giant iPhone before. Like the one in the mall in the town where they live. This weekend, Chad (Mr. Jack-O-Lantern/Perfect Man)and I were tolling down it's brick, car-free streets when something out of the ordinary even by Grove Standards occurred. We were making our way to the Cheesecake Factory for Sunday Brunch (it only happens once a week) so we were deep in discussion about the wonders that awaited us. Or we were talking about flatware; I can't really remember. Anyway, suddenly, we both hear someone yelling my name behind us. It was VERY crowded and at first I thought this person was talking to someone else. But it was REALLY loud, so I turned around. A middle-aged man with several small children surrounding him was reaching toward us (he was about 20 feet away) and when I turned around, he waved. I'm quite certain now that I have never seen that man before in my life and that he was, in fact, yelling my name at ME. I was quite taken aback by it when it occurred and since I did not recognize him, I just thought it was a coincidence. I turned around and kept walking. Chad said, "Who was that?" I said, "I have no idea." Then we were quiet for a minute. Then I said, "Who the fuck was that?!" And we both laughed. Why didn't I find out who it was? He clearly recognized me. My behavior in that situation made absolutely no sense. Chad did an alarmingly accurate impression of me blowing that guy off and said if it was someone I knew, he would surely now think I was a bitch and probably tell everyone so. It was so bizarre. I keep thinking of that guy's face and truly cannot place him anywhere. I very rarely forget faces. I can't think of another instance in my life where someone has known me well enough to call out my name in a crowded outdoor mall and I have absolutely no recollection of who the hell they are. The only logical explanation is that I was having a Fringe moment, and, somehow, my universes briefly collided. The next time I post something here, it will probably be edited because I'll be working for the FBI.
If that ever happens again, I am definitely going to figure out who it is before I make a beeline for eggs benedict.

Cable and Candy

It's already Nov. 5th?!?! If you haven't already, you'd better pay your rent today. Is it sad that is the first thing I think of when it's the 5th of the month. I have been living without cable or internet in my home for approximately two weeks now. It is very difficult and I frequently don't know what to do with myself. I've supplemented my online TV viewing during work hours with watching DVDs of Seinfeld at night. It's like I'm living in 1994. At least then we had an analog signal. Luckily for me, the situation should be resolved tomorrow morning. If I can't watch the season finale of Mad Men on my own TV, I'm not sure what's going to happen. Other than the cable debacle of 2009, I am quite enjoying living by myself. I think it's really working for me. The time change also helped as it is now much easier to get up early enough to do my little yoga videos before work. I've taken to making oatmeal for breakfast. It's all coming together, people. We'll see how long it lasts. To counteract all this positivity, one of my employers brought in an enormous bag of candy leftovers from his childrens' Halloween activities. It is sitting right in front of my desk and it is filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Disaster. I've eaten so many that I'm going to have to blame it on the night cleaning crew. Of course, said employer is home today because one of the kids has swine flu. So, not only will this chocolate make me fat, it's probably crawling with H1N1. Fantastic.