Great Food and Some Elton

I volunteered at Cook Orlando this weekend, which is a fund raising event to benefit The Human Rights Campaign (HRC). They are primarily a lobbying organization that pushes the Federal Government to enforce equal rights, specifically for the LGBT community, I don't agree with everything they push for, in many cases I think they go too extreme when a more moderate take could get more progress faster, but at least they're doing something. So I decided to get involved, I'd rather be doing something than nothing as well.

Cook Orlando is a food festival, local restaurants set up tents and offer mini versions of their best dishes, there are drinks and music. Guests pay $45 for entry and unlimited food and then the culmination is an iron chef like cook off between the two most popular restaurants.

I worked the registration table and was given a 30 min break to eat and enjoy the festivities. I had so much fun. I met some great people, the food was amazing and it felt good to get out and help the community.

To make a good weekend great I also had tickets to go see Elton John play Saturday night. Now I'm not a huge fan of his but he's such an iconic figure I figured it was a no brainer. He was so adorable. After practically every song he would jump up and thank the crowd, pointing at us saying 'no you're wonderful'. During one song he and his band just jammed for nearly 30 minutes and he played the piano for every single number. The crowd was kind of lame so his encore was short, but he came back out and shook hands and signed autographs for a ton of fans along the stage. Overall it was a very worthwhile experience!

NYC At Last

I tried to go to NYC last weekend but the flights were too full. I've been wanting to get out of town, I've been jonesing for an NYC fix and I needed some catch up time with my buddy there so rather than hope Delta would cooperate I took matters in to my own hands and *gasp!* purchased a ticket.

I went out Friday night and flew home Monday early in the morning so I was at work by noon. Sounds a like a quick trip but three nights and two full days was just what I needed. After an hour of catching up on life with my buddy it was like always, like no time had passed since we last hung out. He had all sorts of things planned for us ranging from uber touristy to totally local. I have an art project in mind that requires lots of great shots of architecture and angles so that guided our travels ab it as well.

Saturday we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge, visited the newly opened 9/11 memorial, went to the Chelsea Market and had pizza at a new place he's been wanting to try. This is my favorite pic from the trip, taken from this elevated park they've built on an old railway platform.

Sunday we slept in a bit and braved the overcast, chilly day to wander Central Park, hitting some spots I hadn't been to yet, like Strawberry Field, then we went by Lincoln Center and did a little shopping for houseware goods (sounds boring but Bed Bath & Beyond NYC style is interesting!). For dinner Sunday we went to a Ramen place he'd been wanting to try but since they always have a killer long wait he just hadn't made it there yet. After an hour wait we only occupied our chairs for about 30 minutes, the soup was so good we slurped it down in record time. My wassabi veggie broth was so flavorful with these sweet bean curds on top - oh my. Then, as if that weren't enough of a treat for my belly we went to Milk, a place that specializes in wacky flavors of soft serve. I had Fried Apple Pie ice cream with Cornflake sprinkles. I kid you not, it tasted not only like apple pie but like FRIED apple pie. Yummy but bizarre.

It was the perfect blend of playing tourist, relaxing and catching up with a good friend. Paired with last weekend's beach trip I'm feeling quite content and loved :)

All of my photos are posted on Flickr here.

Good Weekend

Had some crazy stuff go down over the past week and just needed to get out of town. Megan was a great friend as usual and cleared her weekend and joined me for a night of girly insanity out at Clearwater Beach.

The traffic was insane, the NBA All Star game is in Orlando this year so traffic along I4 was slow going. Since the trip was so last minute we didn't even have a hotel booked. Once we arrived we drove around a bit, picked the least skeevy looking low budget hotel and pulled in. We got all dolled up and went for a nice dinner at the Beachcomber. The food was amazing and we had a couple of bottles of Kim Crawford wine which was fantastic. The service wasn't so hot but comical so that made up for it. We were sat next to a couple and the quarters were quite tight so we couldn't help but overhear each other's conversations, at one point they had stopped talking and were so clearly listening in on us that I had to really prevent myself from saying something outrageous just to shock them... :) We closed the place down and had a great night, one of those that will not soon be forgotten. :)

To finish off the weekend I went to a costume Oscar Part at John & Laura's. Everyone was asked to dress as a character from a nominated film, I dressed as Celia Foote from The Help. :)

Tip the Pilot

Found this article to be a amusing. Here's an excerpt: "Even if a mere 20 passengers did this [tipped their pilot] per flight, that’s $100 per flight. I read that regional jets fly somewhere between 3 and 5 flights per day, so let’s settle on four, and that makes $400 per day of flying. And if the pilots are flying, say, 15 days per month, that’s $6,000 extra per month. Even if you split the take 50-50 with the copilot, that’s an extra $3,000 per month, $36,000 per year. That doubles Bridget’s salary, and, quite frankly, ought to make you feel a lot better about Bridget staying focused on doing her job well and not fretting about the rent and the electric bill and her kid’s college tuition and getting her car fixed and funding her 401(k), etc."

Apopka Folk

We spent the day with some friends at a festival in Apopka. We went primarily for the chili cookoff and people watching. Chili was sad, the people did not let us down...

I especially enjoyed the irony of the Hunting & Fishing tent next to the Wildlife Conservation tent and the inflatable kids shooting range.

The Alligator Snuggie disturbed me. It's a 16 year old Cayman, born into captivity, no tape on the mouth, kids petting the head... Not sure if they're sending the right message...but I admit I was a little jealous :)

Booth Shopping - Wishing for Art

This weekend we went to the Mount Dora Art Festival.

I'd never been to Mount Dora's before and I don't know why but I expected it to be small compared to the Winter Park Art Festival but man were we surprised. It was huge! It was well planned, well laid out and super busy. The quality of art was really impressive.

I always take the business cards of the artists that I really like and add them to a growing list so that one day when I can afford to buy art I know who to go to. Here is who I added to the list this year:

John Moran Photography he had all sorts of amazing shots, mostly of Florida Flora and Fauna. I tend to be more impressed by photographers who can capture an amazing shot vs one who can add all sorts of filters and techniques after the shot - John had a little of of technique but most of his stuff is exactly what I like.

Jackson Junge has a sort of etherial style. Some of his pieces are abstract with lots of subtle shapes and colors while others are fun and whimsical representations of themed alcohol.

Lilian's Oils on Canvas - I wasn't in love with the colors she uses but her technique was great, you can't tell in her online gallery but she gives the flowers a great 3D effect with the oils. This was my favorite.

The craziest artist of the day was the couple at Out of Paradise - when you walk up it looks like their frames contain gorgeous paintings with smooth gradients, bright colors and intricate details, but upon closer examination they aren't paintings but embroidery. It's absolutely mind blowing the effect the manage to get, here's a picture from their website but it really doesn't do their work justice at all.

I did buy one thing, an anklet. It's woven of this really sturdy fiber and has delicate silver studs woven in. It has a clasp so I can remove it as well. It's a really unique piece. I wish the artist had a website I could share but all they have is a phone number. Jenna Hirt of Tying Tribes - 352-219-8039.

Our Next Home...

Looks like a normal house in Winter Park only this one is on Key Biscayne. $8.5 mil!

Bowl o' Rum

The cups weren't big enough for 'Chryle' sized rum'n'cokes....

Jimmy Buffett Miami 2012 Set List

List of songs played on 1/28/12:

1. The Wino and I Know

2. License to Chill

3. Cuban Crime of Passion 

4. 5 O'Clock Somewhere

5. Grapefruit Juicy Fruit 

6. Come Monday 

7. Jamaica Mistaka

8. Pencil Thin Mustache

9. Everybody's Got a Cousin in Miami 

10. Volcano

11.  Cheeseburger on Paradise

12.  One Particular Harbor

(break) Creola

13. Knee Deep (cover Zach Brown)

14. Havana Daydreaming

15. Get Drunk and Screw

16. Margaritaville

17. Last Mango in Paris

18. Changes in Latitude Changes in Attitude

19. Son of a Son of a Sailor

20.  Pascagoula Run

21. Pirate Looks at 40

22. Back Where I Come From (cover of Mac MacNally)

23. Southern Cross

Encore:

24. Fins

25. We Are the People our Parents Warned Us About

26. Trying to Reason with Hurricane Season

Last Mango in Paris

Last night our friends Kyle and Rachel arrived for our Jimmy Buffett weekend. Last night we enjoyed 4R followed by Kyle's Key Lime Pie and margaritas.

Now we're about half way to Miami. The concert starts at 7pm, tailgating at 5pm. Rachel is trying to get as much studying done as she can since she has to take a big exam on Monday. The rest of us however plan to chill in Miami until Monday afternoon.

I love mini vacations and maybe after tonight I'll love Jimmy too.

This is your Life

Another Manic Monday

Tonight we felt like being chefs. Earlier Chris went to a new local butcher shop and got some naturally raised and fed, local ground Chicken.  While I made red sauce Chris made us some meat balls.

I started with chopped onion and lots of garlic, added chili oil, salt, pepper and dried spices, once those flavors had mingled (and delightfully filled my house) I added a large can of pureed tomatoes and let the whole thing simmer for an hour.

Chris mixed the ground chicken with some spices and bread crumbs, then placed them in a pan and rolled them around until crispy. Then he covered the pan and left them on low for a bit to ensure the poultry had cooked all of the way through.

We added both of our masterpieces to a bed of linguine and topped it off with a side of garlic sunflower seed bread.

For dessert we made 'ice cream' again. In the afternoon Chris slided a ripe banana and a few strawberries, placed them on wax paper and in the freezer. After dinner we dumped them both into our blender and patiently pureed them into Strawberry Banana 'Ice Cream'. Yummy, though I will say that this combo did taste more like a smoothie. Next time we plan to try Banana Peach.

We paired the meal with the movie Larry Crowne which Chris rolled his eyes through but I thought was great. It was funny and cute, Tom Hanks is such an amazing actor though, it's hard for him to make a bad film...overall not a bad Monday.

Paddling Away a Sunday

We spent a couple hours kayaking around Lake Ivanhoe in the shadow of downtown Orlando today. Since it's more like three connected lakes there's plenty to explore in theory, our challenge was that we really enjoy the wildlife and since Ivanhoe is so polluted there really isn't much. We did spy plenty of birds though, I even managed to capture several in flight.

Even without any gator or turtle spottings it was still nice to get outdoors and get moving. Next time I think we'll take the time to drive out of the city though where wildlife is more abundant.

Butternut

Guess what I made tonight... It has a kick this time! Recipe is here.

Banana Goodness

Tonight we tried Banana "Ice Cream", a recipe from the Esselstyn cook book.

• Take super ripe banana (we used 1.5 larger) and slice.
• Place slices on wax paper and freeze.
• Place frozen banana in a blender and blend.
• Result is Banana "Ice Cream".

We were quite dubious, as I'm sure you can imagine. It was AMAZING! Creamy and sweet, almost too sweet for me. We at it with sliced strawberries and it was devine. The 1.5 bananas made just enough for us to split.

Next time I'll freeze some peaches as well and try adding other fruit flavors in. Apparently any fruit that is softer (peaches, berries, mango etc) can be mixed in to add flavor.

I highly recommend trying this. It's awkward to blend, you'll want to add milk or water or something, but just stick with it - it's well worth the effort.

A Pilot's Diet for Him

I am so proud of Chris. Being a pilot eating well is an incredible challenge. He's constantly in airports and hotels which means eating at restaurants. But with on new commitment to a lifestyle change he's had to really step it up.

We committed to get meat out of the house, but he does still eat chicken while on the road occasionally. He's nixed the cheese all together though! For the most part he's been getting salads and veggies, wraps and he's even been taking fruit and trail mix with him when he leaves.

Since he's spending a lot of time in his crash pad, being on reserve, he's also been taking left overs from home, life the veggie chili I'm sending him off with this trip. Last trip he took a huge ziploc full of salad and the time before that a bag of curried cabbage.

Being surrounded by other pilots who eat poorly, and with things like a TGIFridays deal of a $5 to-go burger for pilots I know it's not at all easy to stay committed. But he has and it shows, he's pants are all hanging on him, he's out of belt notches and his collars all loose.

As for me, I'm quite annoyed at my body, I lost 20lbs in the first two weeks and nothing since. It's been nearly 3 months! BUT my pants are all loose, my shirts fit better and I can actually see the slight outline of my clavicle again so there's definitely some sort of shift going on. I just wish it would make itself apparent on our scale!

On another note, while Chris and I may be moving toward a healthier lifestyle, Roger has become quite the addict. He actually sleeps with his catnip filled Christmas mouse doll...he's licks it until it's a soggy mess, it's quite disturbing.

New Home Away from Home

I started a new contract mid-December which came with a new office. It's a really cool building and I'm lucky enough to sit on the ground floor right near the lobby. Not only does this mean I have a short walk to my desk, but I also get super duper vaulted ceilings. I sit in an area referred to as The Fishbowl because it is just a mini cubicle farm encased in glass. Above the fishbowl is a massive skylight and the backside is all windows that are literally on the water of the lake.

The fishbowl is inside the smaller box to the left, the red box is the skylight. I can walk about twenty paces and be on the back patio which leads to delightful walk around the lake. If I skip the patio and walk to the end of the building there is a full cafeteria with very reasonably priced food which includes a salad bar, sushi, sandwich bar and two hot meal stations.

I went through the building as a child with my grandfather and for school my mom had us sketch the building so it's nostalgic as well. Add that to the fact that I have several work buddies who sit in the building AND my consulting firm has a strong presence so I have firm buddies now it's an overall nice working environment.

Now if I could only wrap my head around my new job I'll be set! :) The new job is intense. I'm a Program Manager, managing the release schedule for a team that provides services to a massive composite of applications which support all of the reservations and sales for the business segment. There are so many moving parts and teams involved, I have much to learn. But I'm excited to have the challenge, it's like my brain is working out every day. The upside is that I can put in a solid 45 hours and be done (vs my last contract where 60 hours was a standard week) so I've actually had time to go to the gym, ride my bike, do Pilates and knit again! We'll see if this lasts but I'm really hoping so.

Childlike Men

My mind is a scary place and goes down all sorts of random tangents. Often I find myself trying to envision those around me as children, partly because I enjoy the challenge of seeing through their current features and partly because I find pleasure in picturing adults as wide eyed, innocent, energetic children. It seems that this is easier to do with elderly folks, and some people are nearly impossible to do this with.

I've recently discovered (and I hope this doesn't sound racist because I truly don't mean it that way) that when I look at people from the middle east it's incredibly easy. In fact most Indian men look like little boys with mustaches to me. I really like this quality.

Just a little window into my wacky mind.

My life on a tree

For a long time I've joked about opening or joining a commune. For the past year or so I've talked more seriously about it and those around me have begun joking about joining me.
Since birth my mother has bought all her children an ornament each year. Typically something with a link to their life theme for the past year. The original idea being that when each child reached adulthood they could take their ornament collection with them so their own tree wouldn't be barren. Now that I have my own collection on my own tree she still gives me, and now my husband, an ornament each year to adorn our own tree. I have ballet slippers, a piano, a teddy bear life guard and snorkeler, a secretary, flip flops, a suitcase and more. If you line them up by year you can see my life's story on my Christmas tree.
This year, of course, she managed to find me a commune themed s'more ornament!

2012 - The Year of the Vegetarian?

Over the past few months Chris and I have managed to enact a lifestyle change.

It started the week after Thanksgiving when we both committed to a Raw Diet Cleanse. We agreed to eat only raw fruits and vegetables for as long as we could. After some research we decided that at least 7 days was required. We found some quick and easy raw recipes on about.com which got us started. For me I had a headache on day 4 but suddenly on day 5 I had tons of energy and felt amazing. After 7 days we decided to allow cooked fruits and vegetables, but still no meat dairy or really any carbs. After 14 days I had lost 20 lbs, I was more clear headed, I was sleeping better, waking up easier and felt great.

Some friends recommended that we check out the documentary Forks Over Knives. We always try to be subjective when watching documentaries, keeping in mind that they have a natural bias etc, however we found the studies and evidence presented to be very persuading. They suggest that consuming a 'whole foods plant based diet' is not only healthier but can prevent and even reverse heart disease and cancer. That combined with the dietary changes we'd already made led us to decide to give the whole foods diet a chance.

So for Christmas Chris bought me the book by one of the scientists featured in Forks over Knives, Dr. Esselstyn, in it they outline the dietary 'Rules' and about half the book is recipes that fall within the Rules. However, we believe strongly in the 'moderation' philosophy and the Rules are pretty darn extreme.

We've been watching other documentaries as well such as Food Inc and Ingredients. All of which also have us thinking about where food comes from and the amount of energy used to get it to us and the hormones and pesticides used on our foods.

My brother and his wife took on a food experiment about a year ago and started a blog - withrespectforfood.com - and I think over time we're growing more toward a slightly moderate version of their way of thinking. Stuff we've learned from them, combined with reading, documentaries and simply how we feel on our new diet has convinced us to make the following changes in our house going forward.

•  Meat has been rare in our house for years, ever since I went back to a vegetarian diet, however going forward our house will be entirely vegetarian. On rare special occasions I will get meat for Chris from local sources only.
• Carbs are now a treat, especially complex carbs like bread and pasta, when they make an appearance we stick to wheat or whole grain
• Whenever possible leave fruits and veggies raw
• No more milk or cream - we've both switched to Almond Milk
• Cheese is now a rare treat - we thought about no dairy but yogurt and cottage cheese have stuck around

Because we've cut back so drastically on carbs and meat is gone, most of our meats are completely vegetables. We keep trail mix around for snacks, and have experimented with lots of new recipes and spices.

It's been fun in some ways though it can be challenging when I've worked a 10 hour day and just want something easy. But we're learning new tricks and recipes to fill the gaps we find.

I got my parents to watch ForksOverKnives and they surprised everyone and decided to cut out all meat and dairy as well. John and Laura only eat local, happy meat so now the whole family is basically vegetarian which makes it even more fun since we're all on the same adventure together.