Hello, Gorgeous!
First of all, welcome, Mamapedia readers! Also, allow me to heartily thank everyone who emailed and commented after my weight loss post the other day. The answer to the most frequently asked question: yes indeedy, we’ll be going into specifics and expanding the series.
There are sane, rational, downright pleasant ways to lose weight, keep it off, and get healthy. If you’d like, you and I shall walk through them together; I’ll even hold your hand. We can sing kum-bah-ya, or, if you’d rather not experience the shrieking that is my warbling, not. (Like Elizabeth Gilbert says in Eat Pray Love, I, too, am the world’s most affectionate life form.)
Let’s start now: I’ve actually folded one of those nifty Stay Fit tips into today’s Weekend Happy.
Current City:
I’m writing to you from a Delta flight to Memphis — Tennessee, not, alas, Egypt although this place definitely boasts better grits. So today’s Weekend Happy will focus a bit on travel fun.
The good news: decent seat mates. No need to sound yawps — barbaric, civilized or otherwise. The bad news? The woman in charge of the exit row reads Cat Fancy. No offense to cat lovers, but I’m thinking she’s not very Alpha in an emergency.
By the way, when you’re in Memphis, don’t miss the grits. For those of ya’ll who are ethnically challenged, grits = bliss. The End.
Current Travel Breakfast:
Eggs, which I'll eat off the plane so as to spare fellow passengers. A banana. A handful of raw almonds that I dusted with cinnamon.
The guy across the aisle just inhaled a pizza he got before boarding the plane. At 5:45AM. I’m having BBQ tomorrow, so I’d rather save up my calories and eat something nourishing now. String cheese works well on longer flights, as do homemade sandwiches. (Note: subscribers to this blog get a pdf with more Travel Fit ideas.)
Current Song:
When I travel, I like to either create the zen (which requires either classical or Moby’s Play album) or pump the energy up. This morning was a Rachmaninoff one, but this song will pick me up later at the gym:
My four-year-old friend Max gave me that song for my birthday. He is magic. He is also far, far hipper than I shall ever be.
Current Baking Obsession:
I bake bread all the time; it maketh the hubby happy and creates a homey feeling in our little apartment.
Harold McGee is a chemist who really understands food. When he speaks, I listen. Here, his thoughts on baking bread.
Current Hero:
I’d never heard of Temple Grandin before reading a profile of her in the Wall Street Journal the other day. She’s also featured in this month’s Delta Sky magazine, as I found out today.
Gradin is autistic. She’s probably the most famous autistic person on the planet, and she’s world-renowned animal scientist and inventor who is probably the only person simultaneously lauded by both PETA and McDonald’s. She credits her autism with her rare ability to understand animals, and she has translated that ability into making their lives (and deaths) more comfortable. Dr. Gradin designed equipment to keep cattle calm before slaughter, and her invention did the seemingly impossible: it made factory farming more humane.
If you haven’t read about her, it is worth seeking out the WSJ piece on her: in it, we learn how she avoided institutionalization during an era when autism was not understood; her thoughts on the deplorable study linking autism to vaccines and what her definition of true success is. (I 100% agree with it.)
You can also find her at www.TempleGrandin.com.
No, I didn't grow these. I have a black thumb. I could be in Nebraska and orchids seven states away will wilt at the thought of my care. These purty things bloom under very capable hands at Miami's historic Vizcaya estate.
Current Happenings:
In Miami this weekend? Don’t miss the Food & Wine festival. Yes, it’s expensive, but it’s deliciously so.
Orchid lovers will bloom this weekend in San Francisco at the Pacific Orchid Exposition. OrchidSanFrancisco.org
In Minneapolis? The Guthrie Theater is one of my favorite regional theaters in the country. Right now, they’re putting on a production of Noel Coward’s Brief Encounter. Coward is always elegant, witty and entertaining. Should be great fun.
And, people. Sit.
If you are in Dallas on any Monday or Tuesday night over the next few months, check out this fantastic “guerrilla dining” experience: 48nights.com
You won’t know who your chef is (although he or she is bound to be fantabulous.) You won’t know what you’re paying for (except that the proceeds from the dinner will go to benefit organizations such as the Red Cross.) And you don’t know whom you might meet (although, according to a friend of mine who went and then panted breathlessly about his celebrity encounters, it could be someone really interesting and cool). But you’ll know that it will likely be an unforgettable experience.
And if you missed yesterday’s post, check it out to see what’s going on this weekend in the world of good grub.
Alright, loves. That’s it for now. Until next week, I bid you vim and vigor.
Check out the mamapedia story! Fun times.
Holly
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
FYI, HBO did a biopic on Temple Grandin w/ Claire Danes in the title role. She was amazing. Having an autistic son-in-law, I think I have some insights into this condition and I just have to say that TG is an amazing woman and Claire Danes got it!
I used to bake all the bread we (and most of our neighbors ever ate). One time Brooke came home from a friend’s house and talked about the yukky bread that stuck to the roof of her mouth when she ate her sandwich! This was pre bread machines of course. There’s nothing like the feel of kneading bread dough!! I would do 6 loaves at time. I’m going to send you my french bread recipe — so easy and so good!!
Please do!