A Years Worth of Make Up

I bookmarked this a while back for future blogging.  It’s a fascinating and slightly horrifying video of a woman getting an entire years worth of make up put on it one day.

Now, I don’t know too  many people who actually USE those spray thingers, but  I have seen them in action at Sephora (side note: are we REALLY air brushing ourselves now?  Really ladies??)  So despite the method, which I imagine was just a little easier and probably what the professionals are using these days, this poor woman gets a whole lot of make up glopped on her.

It makes you think, doesn’t it…  How much make up do we wear?  How much is seeping into our skin?  How much gets left behind when we wash our face?  Yuck!

If you’re trying to be more conscious about products, a great resource is EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.  It’s a online site where you can look up what’s in all those products on your shelf and find out what’s good and what’s not so good.  Each product gets a safety rating for easy decision making.

What do you wear for makeup?  Any?  A little? A lot? Are you trying to make any changes in your products? I’m still on the hunt for the perfect anti-perspirant/deodorant.

CSA Week 3

Another HUGE delivery on Wednesday.  This week brought in red leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, escarole, scallions, beets, baby carrots, kale, red chard, radishes and cabbage.

csa week 3

Wednesday dinner (which also made a lot of leftovers) was a simple sautee of the beet greens and escarole with garlic, pan fried tofu and millet cooked with veggie stock and Penzeys “mural of flavor”spice blend.  Millet is a new grain for me and I was inspired to try it by the great food and fitness blog The Front Burner.  She’s got a lot of great recipes.

Lunch was beet salad with local goat cheese.  The red leaf lettuce and romaine got washed and chopped, same for the radishes and carrots, and the red beets and chioggia beets from last week were roasted with salt, pepper and olive oil.   I’ve never cooked with chioggia beets before and peeling them was a fun surprise!

chioggia beets

These little beets are so sweet!  If you’re not a big beet fan, give these a try.  They’re sweeter and less earthy than their deep red counterparts.

I’ve been using the Swiss chard in my green smoothies in the morning and it makes a nice and smooth alternative to my usual spinach.

Still have the head of cabbage and the scallions, so I’ll be doing some recipe hunting for something that uses both ingredients.  Any suggestions?

PSA: Eat Real Food

I post a lot of food information.  Nutrition and living healthy are priorities and passions for me so it makes sense that it’s going to trickle out into pretty much every medium I communicate with.

Today I was reading an interview from Slashfood with Michael Pollan about his new book Food Rules.  There was one section I just had to share:

Slashfood: I think your book is really needed, but it’s sort of sad that we need to tell people to eat more vegetables. It’s stuff we were told as kids.

MP: It is sad that we should need such common sense, but there’s a very good reason for it. Nutritional science, which is very well intentioned and has been trying to get to the bottom of what you need to eat to be healthy, has been hijacked by the food industry, which takes every new study and turns it into a clever way to sell processed food. Processed food is the most profitable food in the supermarket, and that’s where all the marketing is. So it’s not surprising that people have lost track of the idea you shouldn’t eat it. And of course it’s the food that carries the health claims. In fact, one of my rules is to not eat food that has health claims. The stuff in the produce section, which is the healthiest food of all, is utterly silent about its health benefits. I’m trying to give voice to the fruits and vegetables, so they’re not drowned out by the processed food.

Amen, Mr. Pollan!  A-FREAKING-MEN.

One rule, people.  One, simple rule to living a healthier lifestyle.  Eat real food.

Full text of the interview is here.

Decluttering

photo by Wonderlane @ Flickr

This blog post could also be titled “Letting Go: Part 2″.  Every year I look forward to changing over from the bulky, black/greay winter clothes to the lighter, brighter spring/summer clothes.  It also gives me a chance to declutter and clean out anything I haven’t worn.  My standard rule of thumb is that if I haven’t worn the item for 6 months or more, it goes to Goodwill. (The exception being business suits and formal dresses.)

Everything Yoga has a great post about cleaning out your closet and how challenging and freeing it can be.  Cleaning, decluttering and organizing for me is a huge stress-buster.  I derive a lot of satisfaction and peace from cleaning out, cleaning up and getting rid of extraneous things.  So while I don’t suffer the same level of angst, I can relate to the keeping clothes because they’re still in good shape even though I don’t wear them, and picking and choosing clothes because I think they convey a certain image, even when that image isn’t me.

I also love the discussion of body image and yoga.  Everyone has their days of dissatisfaction with their body, but since starting yoga I feel much better in my own skin.  There have been some changes in my shape since starting a regular yoga practice, but mostly I feel strong.  Stronger than I have ever felt in my life, which isn’t really saying much since I was never an athletic kid.   But I have muscle tone now and can repeatedly lift and carry my own body weight through sun salutations and arm balances.  There’s also a deeper feeling of strength and security that comes with being able to move your body in challenging ways.  As one woman in teacher training said “If I can touch my toes to the ground in plow, I can start my own business!”  There’s a powerful sense of empowerment that blooms with yoga practice.

Once teacher training is over my big project will be a total overhaul of the closet.  I’m really looking forward to it!

Grab Bag – February 2009

Time to clean out the Google Reader!    Here’s an assortment of interesting links that have popped onto the radar:

Food & Nutrition:
An awesome looking recipe for caramel cookie bars using Betty Crocker box mixes.  Can’t wait to try this one!

10 Reasons eating raw is better for your health and the environment.  I found this interesting because the leaders of the yoga teacher certification program I’m in are raw food vegans.  I’m still skeptical, but I’m interested to learn more.

Much more in keeping with my own nutritional philosophy is this little gem on keeping eating simple.  It perfectly illustrated my basic rule of food: food should grow and die.  Food that does not die is not food.

A Little Bit of Awesome:
This guy made a commercial for Trader Joe’s.  If you love Trader Joe’s, you’ll adore this catchy little clip.

New England is the least religious place in the country.  Massachusetts and Maine are #3 and #4 respectively for least religious of all the states.  Another awesome shout-out to the non-believers!

Debunking the myths of creationism in level-headed, logical ways.

Yoga:
How to avoid the most common yoga injuries.  A must for anyone just starting yoga!  Also really helpful for those who have been practicing a long time but could use a refresher on how to keep safe and healthy.

Yoga is proven to help reduce back pain.  (Well, duh!)

Tech Stuff:
Top 10 Facebook privacy settings.  Don’t be an idiot.  You can still share those pics of that wild weekend in South Beach without getting fires.

Ever wondered why your local library doesn’t have it’s catalog online?  (OK, maybe you’ve only wondered this if you’re a librarian.) But it’s still an interesting perspective on the roadblocks proprietary systems can pose to access.