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Books and Puppies

I just finished reading a book that has been on my shelf for a while….

  I would definitely recommend it to anyone who enjoys Kingsolver.  It was spectacular and it made me miss a few things:

1. Kentucky (especially the fact that one of the main characters spent her college career in an apartment on Euclid Ave.)
2. Thunderstorms.  Big, booming, loud thunderstorms.
3. Writing and talking about novels.  Not enough to go back and take English classes again, but enough to make me want to keep reading Kingsolver.  I have Animal Dreams on my “to read” shelf…it was an assigned reading during grad school, but I don’t remember actually reading it—that seems like a bad sign.  I have also heard good things about The Bean Trees, and have my eye out for a cheap used copy. Any Kingsolver or Kingsolver-esque recommendations?

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Unrelated:

(Click Santana’s awesome face to jump to her blog for more pictures of her new squeaky dragon friend named Pinky.)

A Wonderful New Blog (and Giveaway!)

For any of you who love any of the following things:

1. Books/reading
2. Hilarious up-and-coming writers
3. Young Adult literature
4. Shenanigans
5. Free stuff!

One of my good friends, Corey, has started a site called Twin Pigeon.  I lived with Corey in my freshman year of Undergrad in KY and we spent a lot of time goofing around, eating wonderful college food and talking about music/books/movies.  Corey is hilarious…there is really no other way to describe her in a nutshell.  I am always thrilled when I see an email pop up in my inbox from her because it is full of goodness.  She got me hooked on the Twilight series, and I’m not sure if I should thank or curse her for that.  It’s too late now though, so we just spend a lot of time making stupid jokes about how many times the word “chagrin” is used in the series. 

In case you missed the subtle hints above, Corey is big into Young Adult fiction.  I am not as well-versed as she is, but I love it! For me, between semesters in an English BA (followed by more semesters in an English MA) program, something like Twilight is just what I needed.  YA novels tend to suck you in like no other (except maybe Picoult?) and get you to love characters who have a good chance of being ridiculously annoying and will probably make horrible decisions repeatedly throughout the book.  It’s awesome.

Another wonderful thing to know about Corey:  she had a KICKASS wedding…I was a super-helpful bridesmaid, dressed all in red.  We marched up the aisles of the KY theater for a dark and wonderfully romantic ceremony on the stage with a delicious reception full of movie-themed goodies all around.  Yet another reason she is great.  Does this make you want to visit her new blog???

ANYWAY, Twin Pigeon is currently mostly about reviewing YA books…it’s just getting started, so send her some love/suggestions/harsh criticism/knee-slapping jokes about vampires/whatever.  BUT to start things off on a blogger-friendly note, Corey is giving away a book!  A FREE BOOK! This one is a brand new, hardback, just released, fresh off the presses, exciting work of literary wonderment. You all know how contests work, so click your way over and enter Corey’s contest and explore her quickly growing site 🙂

PS.
Corey, WOOO!

Home!

HEY HEY HEY! First things first….get over to Missy’s blog and vote for your favorite salsa recipe in her contest!! I’m #8, in case you have trouble choosing a winner from all the yummy choices! 🙂

One more fair this morning and with a lucky traffic day, I was home around 3:30!! I am EXCITED!  I love being on the road and travelling to new places, but I get so homesick…I wish I could take Matt and Santana along with me whenever I travel! That would be the best!

Green Foodie Arguments

Here is a link to an interesting post that is probably of interest to some of the other foodie bloggers out there.  Anyone into the organic, slow food movement should be familiar with Alice Waters and her restaurant in Berkeley, CA, Chez Panisse. When the roommate and I went to California on a grad school visit/research trip the summer before our senior year, and we made it a point to have lunch at Chez Panisse (dinner was WAY out of our price range). Super delicious and fun to be eating at Alice Waters’ place.  I met her and listened to her speak at The Bale Boone Symposium put on by The Gaines Center at the University of Kentucky in 2005 (I think?).  It was really amazing and wonderful for me at a time when I was still sort of defining who I was as a cook. 

The Jezebel post by Sadie, points to a recent backlash against Waters and her push for organics.  One of the most vociferous, unsurprisingly, is Anthony Bourdain (who I have a bit of a crush on, fyi).  Sadie quotes Bourdain:

Alice Waters annoys the living s%#* out of me. We’re all in the middle of a recession, like we’re all going to start buying expensive organic food and running to the green market. There’s something very Khmer Rouge about Alice Waters that has become unrealistic. I mean I’m not crazy about our obsession with corn or ethanol and all that, but I’m a little uncomfortable with legislating good eating habits.

First of all, he loves to talk about the Khmer Rouge…I have zero statistics or citations to back this up, but I have heard that name come out of his mouth so many times that when I read about Khmer Rouge (even unrelated to Bourdain at all), I hear it in his voice and I picture him ranting. This kind of random association is wonderful…maybe I should choose something to be obscurely connected to.  Whenever you think of Mussolini, you will think of me! Maybe not…

Second, I love Alice Waters, but I have no problem with Bourdain’s ranting…he often goes off on a lot of topics that I don’t agree with, but that is basically his job.  He’s a complainer and a grumper and I think this is why I love him oh so much.  He openly hates on cultures, women, men, children, other chefs, things I would normally be very against  ranting about…but from him, it’s pretty enjoyable.  So I am not bothered by him particularly saying this.  And I don’t think his overall culinary stance eschews the organic, local side of things.  In the essay “The Evildoers,” Bourdain says that you should “try to eat food that comes from somewhere, from somebody,” and I think this applies not only to his signature “Chef’s Tour” mantra of eating the cultural food of wherever you are, but also to the roots of where you get your food…if your veggies, your meat, your dairy comes from somewhere, someone in particular, you are more likely to connect to it and more likely to appreciate and understand its importance.

About the post itself, I have to agree with Sadie…Waters can handle the criticism as someone behind the Green movement and any kind of revolutionary progress needs to be questioned and pulled in different directions as it develops.  Yes, we’re in an economic crisis and a lot of people are having trouble affording the bare basics for their families.  Yes, the cost of organics is often high and going fully green is not necessarily feasible for every family out there.  But I know an increasing amount of people who are not typical of the “elitist” perception that has been tied to organics, especially as I’ve discovered more and more food bloggers who are in super green mode in so many ways.  And I think if more and more people fit local, sustainable, green, organic ways into their lives on a daily basis, at a level that fits their lifestyle and economic means, then it pushes for more and more change towards the positive. 

While the individual families have to make these changes on the small scale, on the larger, more vocal scale, revolutionaries like Waters and critics like Bourdain are necessary to keep pushing ideas forward and honing and refining the ideas that have made it to the mainstream mindset. 

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Ok, that was more rambling than I predicted, but I thought some of the bloggers out there would find this discussion interesting! What are your thoughts on Alice Waters? Anthony Bourdain? Feel free to despise either one, despite my love of them! 🙂

Contest news:

Don’t forget to enter Dori’s Doormat Giveaway, and she has a second one this week for an Always Infinity Gift Pack!

Missy is also having a giveaway for the Always gift bag!

Jackson’s World is not only featuring an adorable pup, but is also having a Spring has Sprung Giveaway! Bring on the spring!

Lucky Taste Buds has a Big S Farms Salsa giveaway! Yum yum yum for Salsa!

Bar Review 4/5 and a bonus!

Today’s Bar: Bumble Bar Organic Energy in Cherry Chocolate

Package Goodies: Gluten Free & Vegan. There is also a random picture of a pretty cute little kid’s head floating on the back of the package and it says “Abby Adores Em!” and “Abby les adore!” for those French speakers out there. “BumbleBar is a delicious blend of organic, simple, whole foods. Made only from certified organic, gluten free, dairy free, ethically sourced ingredients, BumbleBars are the purest form of energy!” Pretty neat! Ingredient List: Organic agave syrup, Organic sesame seeds, Organic cherries, Organic non-dairy chocolate, Organic flax, Organic almonds, Organic coconut, Organic cocoa powder, Organic cherry flavor, Organic chocolate extract, Sea Salt, Tocopherol. Our bookstore only had regular chocolate and cherry chocolate flavors, but looking at the website, they have a ton of different choices! The Verdict: Wow! This is like the healthy kid’s no bake cookie. This is not a cookie bar or anything like that…it’s basically the seeds, nuts and fruits that are listed in the ingredients, smooshed together with some dark chocolate and rolled flat. I loved it! At first, it was a bit strange, since it was pretty different from the bars I’ve had the rest of this week so far. But after I tried a little more, I was completely hooked. Each bite tastes a little different because you’re getting a different bite of fruits and seeds and things. Some bites are sweeter, while others have a sour punch from dried cherries. Some are more chocolatey than others. Overall, it has a very clean chocolate taste, with nice pops of the different things that make up the bar. I would totally recommend this to people who love chocolate, seeds/nuts, OR chewy things! I want to try more flavors now for sure! I hope I can find these at Whole Foods where they have more of a selection!

Bonus Review!

Today with my lunch, I was feeling the need for juice over my regular water. I went for something new: Bossa Nova Superfruit Açai Juice! They had a few different flavors to choose from, and I went with Raspberry. Bottle Claims: “highest antioxidant fruit”, “Rethink Juice! Choose superfruits. Meaningful nutrition. Vital performance. Reject empty calories. No apple, grape, pear or cane juice fillers.” “Not all fruits are created equal. Superfruit: Açai (ah-sci-ee). Taste: Lush, tropical dark berry with a blueberry note. Superpower: Highest antioxidant fruit. Benefit: Reduces free radicals linked to premature aging, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and certain cancers; anti-inflammatory benefits; supports recovery after exercise. Profile: About 60% more antioxidants than pomegranates with about 40% less sugar; sustainable harvesting helps preserve rainforest ecosystems.” “Naturally Occuring Nutrients: Antoyanins (powerful antioxidants), Vitamin A, Magnesium” What a mouthful! For a tiny bottle, this was PACKED with random claims and exclamation points! Ingredient List: Wild-harvested Açai Juice, Organic Agave Nectar, Raspberry Juice (from concentrate), Natural Flavors* Nice and short…sort of. See below for some interesting ideas about “Natural Flavors.” The Verdict: Yum! This was a very powerful juice. Lots of flavor, so it’s a good thing it came in a little bottle, because otherwise I probably wouldn’t have finished it. It went really nicely with my lunch (leftover Italian wedding casserole) and was a great sweet break from my many cups of water throughout the day. I may try some of the other flavors, but these little guys cost around $3! Definitely a special occasion…free water from the office is my drink of choice on a daily basis!

* A note about natural flavors: I haven’t done a tone of research, so don’t use me as some expert witness to this, but in one of my grad classes a couple years ago, we read Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. Really really interesting. He has a lot to say about flavors (natural and artificial), and the way that flavors are manufactured in giant factories. Schlosser does a pretty decent job of citing the claims that he makes, so while I’m not going to throw him out there as an irrefutable scientific resource, his concerns in this area are ones that I tend to have as well. Here’s a brief excerpt (which I snatched from a random website in order to avoid having to type it all)…there is a lot more interesting stuff in the book. I’d definitely recommend it.

The Food and Drug Administration does not require companies to disclose the ingredients of their color or flavor additives so long as all the chemicals in them are considered by the agency to be GRAS (“generally recognized as safe”). This enables companies to maintain the secrecy of their formulas. It also hides the fact that flavor compounds often contain more ingredients than the foods to which they give taste. The phrase “artificial strawberry flavor” gives little hint of the chemical wizardry and manufacturing skill that can make a highly processed food taste like strawberries.

A typical artificial strawberry flavor, like the kind found in a Burger King strawberry milk shake, contains the following ingredients: amyl acetate, amyl butyrate, amyl valerate, anethol, anisyl formate, benzyl acetate, benzyl isobutyrate, butyric acid, cinnamyl isobutyrate, cinnamyl valerate, cognac essential oil, diacetyl, dipropyl ketone, ethyl acetate, ethyl amyl ketone, ethyl butyrate, ethyl cinnamate, ethyl heptanoate, ethyl heptylate, ethyl lactate, ethyl methylphenylglycidate, ethyl nitrate, ethyl propionate, ethyl valerate, heliotropin, hydroxyphenyl-2-butanone (10 percent solution in alcohol), a-ionone, isobutyl anthranilate, isobutyl butyrate, lemon essential oil, maltol, 4-methylacetophenone, methyl anthranilate, methyl benzoate, methyl cinnamate, methyl heptine carbonate, methyl naphthyl ketone, methyl salicylate, mint essential oil, neroli essential oil, nerolin, neryl isobutyrate, orris butter, phenethyl alcohol, rose, rum ether, g-undecalactone, vanillin, and solvent.

Although flavors usually arise from a mixture of many different volatile chemicals, often a single compound supplies the dominant aroma. Smelled alone, that chemical provides an unmistakable sense of the food. Ethyl-2-methyl butyrate, for example, smells just like an apple. Many of today’s highly processed foods offer a blank palette: whatever chemicals are added to them will give them specific tastes. Adding methyl-2-pyridyl ketone makes something taste like popcorn. Adding ethyl-3-hydroxy butanoate makes it taste like marshmallow. The possibilities are now almost limitless. Without affecting appearance or nutritional value, processed foods could be made with aroma chemicals such as hexanal (the smell of freshly cut grass) or 3-methyl butanoic acid (the smell of body odor).

The 1960s were the heyday of artificial flavors in the United States. The synthetic versions of flavor compounds were not subtle, but they did not have to be, given the nature of most processed food. For the past twenty years food processors have tried hard to use only “natural flavors” in their products. According to the FDA, these must be derived entirely from natural sources — from herbs, spices, fruits, vegetables, beef, chicken, yeast, bark, roots, and so forth. Consumers prefer to see natural flavors on a label, out of a belief that they are more healthful. Distinctions between artificial and natural flavors can be arbitrary and somewhat absurd, based more on how the flavor has been made than on what it actually contains.

“A natural flavor,” says Terry Acree, a professor of food science at Cornell University, “is a flavor that’s been derived with an out-of-date technology.” Natural flavours and artificial flavors sometimes contain exactly the same chemicals, produced through different methods. Amyl acetate, for example, provides the dominant note of banana flavor. When it is distilled from bananas with a solvent, amyl acetate is a natural flavor. When it is produced by mixing vinegar with amyl alcohol and adding sulfuric acid as a catalyst, amyl acetate is an artificial flavor. Either way it smells and tastes the same. “Natural flavor” is now listed among the ingredients of everything from Health Valley Blueberry Granola Bars to Taco Bell Hot Taco Sauce.

A natural flavor is not necessarily more healthful or purer than an artificial one. When almond flavor — benzaldehyde — is derived from natural sources, such as peach and apricot pits, it contains traces of hydrogen cyanide, a deadly poison. Benzaldehyde derived by mixing oil of clove and amyl acetate does not contain any cyanide. Nevertheless, it is legally considered an artificial flavor and sells at a much lower price. Natural and artificial flavors are now manufactured at the same chemical plants, places that few people would associate with Mother Nature.

Iiiinteresting, no? I am definitely not one to condone anything for being not completely healthy, but I like bits of info like this that make me think about food labels and ingredient lists differently. Makes me feel like I am not so swayed by all of the marketing gimmicks that are out there.

The Late Late Post

I haven’t posted since last Thursday! Yikes!! I feel like it has been a crazy few days between work, fun and more work, but there are a few delicious and random things to blog about, so it was all worth it 🙂

As I mentioned before, I am working on an editing project on the side and that is definitely taking up a lot of my time (and the piles of junk around the apartment are evidence of this). I really enjoy editing because it gives me a chance to put to use the organizational side of things…I love to research, write and edit my own papers, but when someone else has done the writing, I can step back and just sort of put together the puzzle and try to untangle the lines of argument and help the writer figure out the best way to organize their ideas. I have spent the last 7 years or so editing papers for some of my best friends, which is tons of fun!! Now that I am getting paid for this particular bunch of editing, it makes it feel like a real job and like I am actually putting my English MA to work! Hooray! It is still time-consuming, especially because it was sprung on me with somewhat short notice, so I spent a lot of time this weekend curled up on the couch with two colored pens, a big quilt, and a puppy sleeping on my lap. I felt like I was back in grad school…and it made me very glad that I was NOT still in grad school. It’s nice to be able to leave work at the end of the day, leave the pile of papers on my desk and not worry about them again until the next morning.

We also managed to get some fun in…we went to the gym on Sunday for some random weight training and swimming. The highlight of our weekend was actually Friday night when we went to the Showbox Downtown to see Blue October. The opening band was mostly annoying, too loud and a little too scream-y for my tastes, but Blue October was AMAZING. If you are a fan of them at all, I definitely would recommend seeing them live…the put on a great show and they played their entire new album which was just released really recently. In my experience, bands have usually played a mix of old and new stuff, but we got a wonderful taste of exactly what the album felt like before the played the older, recognizable songs. It was different for me, but really wonderful…we went out and bought the CD on Sunday!

A note to the two people who randomly met at the show and then proceeded to intensely make out in front of everyone through most of the songs: Was it really necessary to have your hands in each other’s pants in the middle of the concert?? I hope you enjoyed the rest of your evening in whatever way you saw fit, but some of us were facing forward and could not see past your groping. In the future, it would be greatly appreciated if you could relegate yourselves to some shady corner. Thanks!

Our original plans for Saturday included getting up early, heading to the gym, running errands downtown, being super productive. Our actual activities included sleeping in late, watching some Netflix with breakfast, trying to get the pile of dishes down in the sink, spending way too much money at Walgreens and Whole Foods, making dinner (see below), and watching more Netflix on the couch before bed. I also threw in some editing and cuddling with Santana. Not so productive, and definitely less active than originally planned, but we were exhausted so we went with it.

THE FOOD

Friday night, before the show, we went to one of Tom Douglas’s restaurants, Serious Pie. We have had this on our list of places to try ever since Matt moved up here. Serious Pie is basically a fancy pizza place. They have fresh ingredients, just a few pizzas to choose from, and a really small but cute atmosphere. We shared two pizzas—the buffalo mozzarella and san marzano tomato with basil (delicious, perfect thin crust, simple and addicting) and the guanciale (pancetta-type meat made from the cheek of the pig), soft egg, and dandelion greens (same amazing crust, ridiculously fresh-tasting runny egg, addictingly-salty pork product and a really fun treat). We decided it was a fun night on the town and also went for the panna cotta with blood orange for dessert. Panna cotta is one of my favorite desserts because it is smooth and creamy and usually not completely overwhelming. Serious Pie’s was a really great one and the blood orange was a great complement to the sweetness of the cream and sugar. Yum! Thumbs up for Serious Pie!

Saturday morning/early afternoon, when we finally crawled out of bed, I made breakfast burritos!! I am be  coming addicted to these things, so I thought I’d make them at home instead of dragging us out to breakfast since we had all the ingredients on hand. I filled spinach wraps with salsa, sour cream, center cut bacon, soft scrambled eggs, shredded cheddar, and an onion/garlic/pinto bean sauté…perfect breakfast/brunch for a lazy morning.

Since we had such a late breakfast, we skipped lunch and snacked to hold us over until dinner. Since I made a run to Whole Foods, I filled up on samples (chicken sausage, grapefruit, and other random yummies) and we shared some chips and organic fruit snacks while I was editing on the couch.

Saturday night was a semi-repeat of an Indian dish we’ve tried before: Major Grey’s Chicken. This time we had two mangoes on hand so we added those to the chutney to give it a little fresher taste…it worked out really well and made a TON of chicken (leftovers for today’s lunch!).

I have never seen mangoes like this before, but they seemed really similar to the typical ones I normally find and they were really the perfect amount of fresh fruit to add to our chutney.   

  

This time we also avoided any horrible side-dish recipes and just made stir-fried chick peas and onions with curry powder. Simple and yummy if a bit dry…next time maybe we’ll add some stock to steam them off at first. We also used our rice cooker for the first time to make some basmati rice which we added green onions to. I had a mini-breakdown and felt like a complete failure because even with a rice cooker, my rice got destroyed!! We had to make a second batch, and that one was not even close to perfect, but was at least edible. The rice we had in the cupboard was a brown basmati, so I am wondering if the measurements included with the rice cooker threw us off…they had three times listed: soft oriental rice, basmati rice, and brown rice. I had basmati brown rice…I had no idea which to use and flipped out a bit. Next time we’re trying regular white rice…I may be cursed when it comes to rice, just FYI. It was especially frustrating because dinner was running late and it was nearly 9pm by the time we sat down to eat!

It all turned out delicious though, so I am done being frustrated (until the next rice adventure).

Since we were running super late for dinner, we had an adventurous appetizer of steamed artichoke with a butter sauce. Neither of us have had artichoke like this. I love artichoke hearts in pasta dishes or in creamed soups, but I’ve never pulled off the leaves and scraped off the tiny bit of meat at the end. I think I overcooked them, and our butter sauce didn’t turn out very spectacular, but I thought it was fun and didn’t dislike it. I’ll definitely try again and maybe even order it in a restaurant (food is sometimes just more fun if you don’t have to prepare it). Matt wasn’t a very big fan even though he really wanted to enjoy the fun of picking the leaves! I was sad he didn’t enjoy it, but since we had a yummy dinner on the way, it wasn’t that much of a disappointment! Yay for new veggies! Here are some pictures of the artichoke massacre!

Sunday morning we actually got up at a reasonable time and I made ham and cheese omelets! There are no pictures from Sunday…partly because the omelets were a falling-apart (but delicious) mess, and partly because the camera was probably buried under all the piles of junk in our apartment. We had a much more productive day on Sunday, ran some errands, went to the gym, got work done…quite wonderful. For lunch before the gym we made turkey caesar wraps and some chips (which I had bought on a whim because they were on sale at Walgreens the previous day!!). Yummy and a nice not-too-heavy meal before swimming!

For dinner we took a risk and tried a new Chinese restaurant. We have had a hell of a time trying to find a good, cheap, takeout place around here and it is getting pretty frustrating…apparently Seattle has never heard of Lo Mein! The yummy (but a little pricey) place across the street from us has a noodle dish similar to lo mein, but it isn’t called that, and no place else that we’ve tried even comes close. Help!!

Anyway, the last time we tried a new Chinese place, it was the WORST experience of our lives. Most unsatisfying meal ever! Matt joined Yelp just to give this place a bad review.  Since Yen Wor Garden, we have been really hesitant, but last night we went to Szechuan Bistro in Greenwood, based mostly on Yelp reviews and location. Great choice!! Not only was it decently priced, it was really delicious!! We got a standard Sesame Chicken to figure out if this is going to be a good place when we are having late-night Chinese cravings and some fried dumplings because we are suckers. Both really really good…definitely not the best ever, but way better than most of what I’ve tried since moving to Seattle. I especially liked the dumplings because they had very thin wrappers on them instead of the thick doughy dumplings that some places have. Matt prefers the thicker dough, but I like the crispiness and meat to dough proportion of these ones. We planned for leftovers and got a second entrée: Sizzling Plate with Hand Shaven Noodles and Beef. Here’s a list to summarize this dish:

• I love things that sizzle!!
• The wonderful woman serving us brought out a super-hot cast iron pan in the shape of a cow (not a hippo, as I first thought) with sliced onions on it and a bowl of noodles, sauce, veggies, and beef and then the noodle mixture got poured onto the hot plate…SIZZLE!
• The sauce had a really mild flavor but a nice spice. It was a really interesting combo and let the noodles shine.
• The noodles!!! How amazing…hand shaven! This is obviously a huge part of this restaurant because they have it written in big letters on their window to draw people in. And they are yummy!! They are a bit thicker than regular noodles so they have a nice bite to them, but aren’t so thick that they’re gummy or too chewy. Very very satisfying
• The beef was not as good as Chef Liao’s (the place across the street from us), but compared to some other beef I’ve had from Chinese restaurants, not bad! And very flavorful!

All three of the items we ordered were delicious and went well together…plus, it was all ready and served to us in less than 10 minutes…crazy fast. Granted, no one else was in there at the time (I think it’s more of a lunch place), but SO fast! It is definitely a place I’d order take out from (free delivery!) if I was craving Chinese.

Tonight we had Open-Faced Bagel Sandwiches for dinner!  Toasted bagel, one slice of cheese, some super thin and crispy bacon and a runny egg! This was a super satisfying break during all the editing I was doing tonight!

   

We’re still planning butternut squash ravioli and an exciting secret meal that Matt and I invented last year and will be featured as a guest post on Dori’s blog! Stay tuned!

Random thing I just thought of: Stay Tuned is the name of an old movie my brother and I used to watch all the time…this family gets this crazy satellite dish and it turns out it actually sucks people into this world of television where they have to survive and everyone always dies because there’s some evil plot going on, and this couple (whose marriage is failing at the beginning of the movie) beat the system, escape from the tv and reignite the flame of their relationship! Awesome! For some reason I associate it with Mom and Dad Save the World—maybe we had them on the same tape?? Also, no one seems to know of these movies when I mention them!! I miss watching horrible movies with my brother!

Also, enter some contests! It’s fun! And possibly very rewarding!

– Kelly at Every Gym’s Nightmare is giving away a Gaiam Back Support! Wow! This is a super exciting giveaway and I would LOVE one of these to wear during the day…my lower back has always been a trouble spot and I am working on being really conscious of how I sit, stand and move!

– Cover up your Gaiam Back Support with an adorable tshirt from Strawberry Shortstuff. Diana is giving this away to celebrate 100ish blog posts! Hooray Diana!