On not stress eating

Either the universe is trying to show me how far I've come in the past few months, or it is just a big jerk sometimes -- either way, I have been TESTED.

As you may have read, today was a stressful day. When the full impact of my crummy situation hit me, I reacted: I cried, I yelled at myself, I threw a few things, and had myself a nice meltdown.

But here's what I didn't do: calm my stress with food. And I didn't even want to. Success! (And believe me, even in the moment I realized this was big).

Bad day? I'll take about a million of these.

SO often over the past few months I have reacted to the many stresses in my life by giving myself a temporary shot of comfort in the form of something delicious. I don't even want to think about how many times I have been dealt a mid-morning blow at work and then ditched my healthy lunch for a slice of cheap pizza from the hole in the wall on the corner. And it never works!

And so today ends in a MUCH better way than it began. Crisis averted, and I didn't add insult to injury with a big pile of chocolate. Today, I made the best choice.

Boo for losing my wallet -- but hooray for small victories!

People are GOOD

I went to sleep last night full of milkshake goodness and warm fuzzy thoughts.

I spent this morning in a panic upon discovering that I was no longer in possession of my wallet.

I guess somehow during the course of my magical little spring stroll and all of my daydreaming I managed to lose my wallet. The pretty pink one I was so excited about here. Not good.

Warm spring evening

Even though things cooled down a bit after the sun went down, it still felt a little bit sticky in NYC today. A welcome change from all of the RAIN of late, but I'm not in any rush to jump into summer. I love spring!

I realized today that things are really falling into place in terms of my workouts and fueling -- YAY! I'm eating mindfully and making time to keep my fridge stocked and plan my meals. I'm scheduling my workouts and actually enjoying them (and I'm not TOO sore...ugh, note to self: never get out of shape again). I'm not quite in the zone yet, but I feel like I am getting there. (Is there a limit to how many times one can cross-reference one's own post? I probably passed that limit).

Peacock 2.0

So, you may notice a bit of a different look around here. The changes are mostly the result of my 2am tinkering and saying things like "I wonder what THIS button does". For all of the hours I have spent obsessively reading blogs over the past years, you'd think I might know a thing or two about html or blogging. Turns out, I don't!

I am quite pleased with the results, and I think that everything still works (bonus). I hope that the end result is a blog that is easy to read, has a couple of nifty gadgets, doesn't drive you crazy with ads, and is maybe a little bit attractive.

Let me know if you have any feedback, if you find any broken links/bad buttons, or despise the color yellow (to which I will say, "Oh, I'm very sorry. I love a pop of yellow, and it is definitely staying"). And as always, thank you for stopping by!

Cheers!

Photo credit: Rachel Ferney via Oh Happy Day

Weekend report card

Ah, Sunday night. It is always tough to see a good weekend come to an end, but as hoped I am feeling pretty good.

I had a hefty list of expectations for myself this weekend...so how did I do?

Work in progress

I'm doing a little spring cleaning of the blog right now, so if things don't look quite right or something is missing, please bear with me!

Don't worry, I totally know what I'm doing

Happy

I felt relaxed and happy all day today, a marked difference from the stress/frustration/anxiety that have been defining my moods lately. In fact, the feeling was so noticeably different that the voice in my head (don't worry, there's just one) kept repeating, "I'm happy!", like my brain was trying to acknowledge this feeling it and capture it forever. Don't worry Brain, I'm working on it.

Happy dog iz happy

Here are some of the things that are contributing to this wonderful mood:

Lovely Life List

And now for something totally original...a list!

This is something I've been working on long before I got started the blog, inspired by the wonderful Maggie over at Mighty Girl. Do you know Maggie? Oh, you must! Just do yourself a favor and go check out her blog at once! I hope you have the next 137 hours free to spend obsessively reading.

Maggie is a Blogger with a capital B, and she does big and important things like inspire people to chase their craziest dreams. She is Amazing (capital A), and if I can contribute nothing else to this little blogosphere but introduce a few more people to Maggie, then I will die a happy peacock!

Among Maggie's wonderful contributions is her Mighty Life List - a list of 100 things she wants to do before it is all over. And she encourages all of her readers to dream big and think about all of the things they want to cross off of their list. Big or small, practical or totally out there, ANYTHING can go on the list.

There's something about Boston

Woo-hoo! Boston Marathon fever -- did you catch it?!?!



I was trapped in cubicle-land in NYC, but thanks to the magic of Twitter I felt like I was right there on Boylston Street in the middle of the action. And what a race it was! The men crushed previous records -- Geoffrey Mutai ran the fastest marathon ever (with a pack of competitors at his heels). And a nail biter in the women's race! Desiree Davilla kept things really interesting by leading the pack in the final miles, ultimately crossing the finish line just two seconds behind the winner.
And then of course are all of the amazing stories of the rest-of-the-pack runners. To anyone who qualified and ran the heck out of that crazy Boston course, CONGRATULATIONS! Today, you are my hero.

3 Pair of Shoes: Palm Springs

A little insight into the mind of me: yesterday morning I was flipping through the pages of a cheesy tabloid (I may or may not have found said magazine in the trash; if it was in the trash, it was definitely right on top and not touching any garbage-like material). I was skimming an article about Sara Rue posing in a bikini (good for her, she looks amazing) and noticed that she was wearing one of the cutest pair of shoes I had ever seen. And I HAD TO HAVE THEM.

The magazine was no help in providing a source or a designer, but thanks to the wonderful thing called the interwebz, I was able to locate them. A quick type of a few keywords into shopstyle.com and I learned they were Kate Spade Brook Espadrilles ($225). I'm not surprised (though my wallet was hoping they were from Old Navy).

just. so. pretty.

I started browsing through Kate's other offerings and within 3.2 seconds, I found a total of three pair that I was completely in love with.

Busy

I haven't been able to keep up with my usual blog reading for the past few days, and I definitely haven't been able to check in here.  Anyway, here is a quick update of what I've been up to.

There has been an awful lot of this:

Actual desk: I don't always use three different devices simultaneously...but sometimes I do

Change of plans

I think it is time to regroup. I have had a few nights lying awake feeling more than a little stressed about the progress of my training (or lack thereof) and my impending planned races.

Super cute, but no help at all these days...

When the clock struck 2011, I had sketched out a rough plan for training and the races I wanted to tackle. Looked something like this:

See ya real soon

Heading out of town for a few days...obligatory dog in the suitcase shot!

Yes my little fuzzball, I wish you were coming with me

Don't worry, neither of us will be having any fun. I'll be at a conference in Philadelphia (probably wishing I was anywhere else), and Audrey will be at the vet. This is the first time I've ever boarded her and only the second time I've left her...I suspect one or both of us may have a hard time at the drop-off.

The alarm is going off early tomorrow...time to get a little shut eye!

I heart Bill Cunningham, New York

This weekend, I finally got a chance to see a movie that’s been on my must-see list for a month: Bill Cunningham, New York.

Photo credit: First Thought Films/Zeitgeist Films

Most people know Bill Cunningham through his photos in The New York Times – he has a column on street fashion (my favorite!) and another on NYC’s glamorous party circuit. But you probably don’t know much about him, because it turns out…no one really does. This film gives us all a little peek inside the world of one of the city’s great artistic voices (and true characters!).

Motivation: Good, better, best

Let’s talk about food…and shame.

I try really hard to keep myself from labeling my food choices as “good” or “bad”. For so many people, there is so much shame and guilt associated with eating, and I have definitely found myself with unnatural feelings of guilt (and superiority) following a period of eating whatever foods I considered unhealthy (or healthy) at the time. But this kind of thinking always backfires. It messes with your head and just sets you up for failure in the end.

One of the strategies I use to combat this kind of thinking was actually introduced to me in a graduate school course on designing education programs in museums -- we were learning about effective teaching methods. My professor shared a philosophy that she used in her work and in her personal life: when it comes to making decisions, don’t think of your choices as good/bad. Think of them in these terms: good, better, best. You can make a good choice, you can make a better choice, or you can make the best choice. Of course, you want to aim to be the best; and when your decision isn’t ideal, reframe your thinking – it was a good choice, but next time you want to make the best choice.

What about thinking about food choices in the same way? Rather than feeling shame about eating a little too much dessert, figure out how you can do better next time. Don’t trash an entire day’s worth of eating because you had a slice of pizza – think about it as an opportunity to make the best choices at your next few meals.

This not to say that you have free reign to eat junk and say “Well, it was a good decision!”. It is just a way to remove the complicated emotions of guilt and shame from eating and give yourself a more logical way to view things.

So, what do you think….is this idea good, better, or the best? (See how nicely that works – I can’t lose!).

I made something pretty…

Have you ever seen something that looked so delicious that you needed to taste it right away?

Was that thing covered in rainbow sprinkles? (OK, maybe that’s just me).

The other day I came across a recipe for Cake Batter Chocolate Bark – sounds good, tastes better.

What's your signature?

Years ago I read an interview with a big deal actress, and the author described his subject as having the chic woman's holy trinity: a great haircut, a good watch, and the faint hint of the right perfume.

Is it that easy?