Just Another Girl: July 2010

July 26, 2010

Dear Gardener, Fed Ex Guy, Regular Trash Man, and Recyclables Trash Man

My 7 month old daughter took two hours to go down for her nap this morning.

Must you all show up within minutes of each other,
minutes after she finally goes to sleep?

It really stresses me out.

Luckily she is a deep sleeper or I suspect there would

be one less of each of you on this planet today.

Consider yourself warned.

Yours Truly,

July 22, 2010

Warm Spinach Salad

I'm trying to eat better and I've started to play around with salads. Yesterday I came up with this one and it is by far the bestest ever. Salad heaven ♥. All the ingredients are available at Trader Joes.

Ingredients:
Raw Chicken
Garlic
Lemon
Himalayan Pink Salt

Spinach
Rosemary Pecans and Cranberries (available exclusively at Trader Joes)
Crumbled Goat Cheese
Thai Peanut Salad dressing (the refridgerated kind in the salad section at Trader Joes)

Directions: Thinly slice raw chicken and saute in a little oil. Grate some garlic and lemon zest onto the chicken. Add salt. Cook thru and set aside. Toss out any extra oil.

Pour a generous amount of Spinach into the frying pan, it will shrink down as you add heat. Stir in pan until slightly warmed. Transfer Spinach onto plates. Add chicken on top, followed by copious amounts of Goat Cheese, Pecans and Cranberries. Drizzle with a little Thai Salad Dressing. Masticate and enjoy!

July 19, 2010

Sunscreen

Baz Luhrmann - the artistic genius behind Strictly Ballroom, Romeo and Juliet, Moulin Rouge, and Australia is also a recording artist. I stumbled across his song "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen" which is an adaptation of the poem by Mary Schmich. I adore the lyrics and can't stop listening to this track. So I've added it to my playlist and posted the lyrics. Enjoy!

Can't wait to see what he does with The Great Gatsby!

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If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be IT.

The long term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience.

I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded. But trust me, in 20 years you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked.

You are NOT as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future; or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubblegum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind; the kind that blindside you at 4pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts, don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy; sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long, and in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive, forget the insults; if you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters, throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives, some of the most interesting 40 year olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium.

Be kind to your knees, you'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't, maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't, maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary. Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much or berate yourself, either. Your choices are half chance, so are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body, use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it, or what other

people think of it, it's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance.

Even if you have nowhere to do it but in your own living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do NOT read beauty magazines, they will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents, you never know when they'll be gone for good.

Be nice to your siblings; they are your best link to your past and

the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but for the precious few you should hold on.

Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography in lifestyle because the older you get, the more you need the people you knew when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard; live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths, prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old, and when you do you'll fantasize that when you were young prices were reasonable, politicians were noble and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund, maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse; but you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair, or by the time you're 40, it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but, be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia, dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.
But trust me on the sunscreen.