Topsy Turvy Planter

This weekend I planted some tomatoes, but not in the traditional sense of sticking some seedlings in a pot. No, in true NYC fashion the only growing place I have besides my window sill is my fire escape. It is south facing, and gets lots of morning and afternoon sun. I don't want to clutter it up with a giant pot, so in a way that I'm not sure is entirely NYFD approved, but much less cumbersome than ceramic planters, I decided tether a topsy turvy planter to the steps.

The plants dangle upside down, attached to the escape with an S-hook and some galvanized wire. The roots grow upwards through the about 10 pounds of soil it took to fill up the planter. I planted 2 plants in hopes of lots and lots of tomatoes. There is nothing like a sun ripened tomato in the summer time. The store bought ones just don't hold a candle to em. It eliminates the need for stakes and tomato cages, and with all the rain we've been getting lately, as an added bonus I don't even have to water them! Homegrown tomatoes here I come!

Spring Coats

Recently, I bought two spring coats. I had been searching for a new spring coat for a while. My wool coat is a little bit too heavy for this time of year, my rain coat is only appropriate when the weather is bad, and my fleece coat is just a little too casual for the office. The search has been on for a while. At first, I was convinced that I needed to have a brightly colored coat (yellow, blue or coral). I was enjoying the brights of spring, but the more and more I ran into people wearing easter egg hues in the subway, the more the colors offended me, and I realized I needed a nice neutral to add to my wardrobe. I mean, a bright yellow coat could be very limiting to my work wardrobe unless I want to run the risk of looking like a bumblebee every time I wear black.

The first one I purchased was from Ann Taylor Loft. Their spring stuff is SO adorable. It was all I could do to walk out of their without maxing out my credit card. Their sandals, accessories, coats, and dresses are totally wearable for work and play, and I left with a list of at least 5 things I want to go back for. It doesn't help that I am slightly brainwashed by What I Wore because she makes everything look so cute, and LOFT is currently sponsoring her. I am happy that LOFT is getting the publicity they deserve this season.

The second is from H&M and is part of their garden collection, which is made with all "green" sustainable materials, and some of them organic. What a better excuse to feel good about shopping than saving the environment? I went back and forth about buying this coat, because a coworker has the same one. But from the moment I saw it, I knew it had to be mine. Finally I gave in and just bought it. I'm not usually a copy cat, but we both have such different styles, it's almost like a different coat. AND it is a gorgeous creamy beige that I am such a sucker for.

The initial plan was to buy them both, compare at home and then return one. But let's be serious, does that ever work? I tried them both on at home, and decided that I loved and had to keep both. And I don't feel bad about it either. The Ann Taylor one was on sale for a mere $75 from and original $128 (half off!!!). And the one from H&M was only around $50 to being with. You can't beat two coats for only about a buck twenty. I've already worn them both about 4 times. They are perfect for the slightly warm, slightly chilly spring weather we've been having lately, and totally worth it.

Sun-Kissed and Beautiful: Who could ask for anything more!

In an effort to avoid skin cancer, but still not be that girl at the beach who is blinding everyone with their skin, I'm embarking on a little tanning experiment this season. Faux tanning that is. Yes, that's right, I'm going to use self-tanners of all forms. I swear that they are better than they used to be, and rather than streaky orange, you actually look tan (so I hear). Get your cringes out now, because here's where it gets exciting.

I happen to be allergic to self tanners. I'm not talking slight irritation. I'm talking, last time I did a full-body self tan, I broke out in full-body hives to match accompanied by burning itchy eyes that only susided with a healthy dose of benadryl. And, no, it wasn't the self-tanner I used. A friend had used it, and things turned out just fine.

To add to that, I have been graced with Polish ancestry, and the lily white skin to match. This gives me a high risk for skin cancer when exposing myself to UV rays. Until I discovered tanning beds in high school, I don't think I had every been tan. I have two skin colors, white and red, pale and burnt. Granted, by the end of each summer, I have managed to get a slight golden tint, but I have never been by any means nearing brown or bronzed. Even with tanning booths, I barely got to what most people call normal. Yet, tanning beds changed my skin. They allowed me to change to slightly tan after a burn instead of going back to white. However, they also gave me the starts of pre-mature wrinkles, and a 75% increased chance of someday having melanoma.

That said, now that I've wised up to the risks of tanning beds, I swore them off. I'd rather brave a few hives than cancer. I figure the only way to find out which self tanning products my body can handle is to try em out. I'm a reformed tanner, but I will not be caught in a bikini with no color anytime soon. The first on my list is the one pictured above, Nivea Sun-Kissed Beautiful legs. It promises a decreased need to shave (not really sure how it plans to accomplish that), along with a gradual natural looking color. I figured it was best to start out with a low dose of tanning agent and hopefully avoid the hives. All I have to say is so far, so good. Though it does have an unsavory tanning cream odor, if you put it on before bed it's not so bad. My legs are looking tanner without a sign of streaking. I'm on day 2 of application, and there's not a hive in sight.

Now, what to do about the rest of my body....

How old is your soul...

I always find it interesting when I hear people described as “old souls.” It’s an intriguing term reserved for people with an air of wisdom and maturity that far exceeds their age or life experience. The only explanation for their peculiar knowledge of this world can only be that their soul acquired this learning in lives past. It’s a rather alluring. You think of people with “old souls” as interesting, unique, not quite like all the others. I’ve heard young starlets like Scarlett Johannson described as such (whether I agree or not). I think of old souls as people who are slightly unnerving in their ability to perceive and understand. It always seems like it would be a compliment to be called an old soul. You are mysterious, clever, and have a grasp on things that not everyone does.

This website characterized old souls as having these characteristics:
• Giving and caring often putting others first
• More than likely had a soulmate relationship
• Somehow know you're different
• Have some psychic intuition and 'just knowing' things
• Find that you have deeper emotions and passions than most people
• People have extreme reactions to you - some just adore you and some seem to really dislike you yet you behave the same to everyone
• Have an inner creative passion
• Suffer lots of jealousy
• Feel your don't have much free will, like your life is being controlled by some outside force

Sounds appealing, right?


And yet, I think that if I had to guess at my soul’s age, that I’d probably be a rather young one (though this website rated my soul “Mature”). I have a tendency to feel and act younger than my age. I find most things amusing. I like to take on the world with a child-like wonder. There are always things to learn and discover, and some of them are pretty darn amazing. If you are too “adult” to oooh and ahhh over things why bother experiencing them? Sometimes I have a hard time taking things seriously. I still think that going on the swings or rolling down a hill is really really fun, and I love to play video games. Give me a really sugary drink and some cotton candy and I’m happy as a clam. Let me wear neon pink while eating it, even better. I enjoy being silly, and I don’t see why I should have to stop just because I get older. Maybe this attitude is really what makes my soul "Mature" and not quite old yet.

Today, wearing a flowery dress and a pony tail to work I felt like I was about 5 years old, pretending to be a grown up at work. Though I do have a real job, and real responsibilities, sometimes I look around and wonder how I’m old enough to be here, actually an adult. I still tend to feel like the same person I was when I just graduated high school and college, just much smarter. I was talking to my Gram about this one day, and she admitted that she still feels the same as she did when she was in her 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. Now she just has an older body, but not an older mind. I’m not going to lie, it was kind of a relief that you don’t morph into someone different when you get older.

There has been a disturbing trend I’ve noticed among people my age lately. Everyone is complaining about being 25 and being soooooo old (myself included). They say they just like to go to bed early, and stay in, and be healthy. Which, I agree, are all good things. I go to bed much earlier than I did when I was 21, but if I absolutely have to, I am totally capable of functioning on 2 or 3 hours of sleep. I eat much healthier than I did when I was 21, but sometimes a bag of combos and a glass of champagne is still dinner. I don’t go to nearly as many parties, or go to bars as frequently as when I was 21, but I prefer to go out—even if it is to the movies or for a walk along the river—just the same amount.

I have one main gripe. I’ve noticed that people are starting to use “being old” as a synonym for “being boring.” Turning 25 does not suddenly sap the life out of you. In fact, as women, this is one of the points in your life when you are most able and energetic. That’s why these are prime child-bearing years in the biological clock time line, because your body is young, healthy, and energetic enough to chase around the crazy little bundles that kids turn out to be. Turning 25 does not mean your fun life is over. I know many 30 year olds who party much harder and more often than I do. Though your definitions of fun may change through the years, getting older certainly does not mean giving up fun, at least it shouldn’t. That’s not being an old soul, that’s just being an old fart. How are you going to gain the wisdom of the world if you don’t get out there and take it on?

I mean we’re only as young as we feel right?

Famous Writers Under the Influence

This is entertaining. It is a list of famous writers and their works categories by the substances they were abusing when they wrote them. How they do it, I'll never know. very entertaining.

It's my birthday!

I was just listening to that Tim McGraw song, “My Next 30 Years,” and it got me started thinking about what I want my next 25 year to be like. In the words of Tim McGraw,
I think I’ll take a moment, celebrate my age, the ending of an era and the turning of a page, now it’s time to focus in on where I go from here, lord have mercy on my next twenty five years. Here are 25 things I would put in my song, to accomplish in my next 25 years, if I was a country singer:

1. Travel to Thailand, China, Japan, Bali, Egypt, Poland, India, South Africa, and other exotic nations
2. Go sky diving
3. Take a hot air balloon ride
4. Visit the rainforest
5. Take a road trip across the U.S.A.
6. Go skiing out west
7. Get a dog, or 4
8. Learn to salsa dance
9. Write a book
10. Find myself a hubby and have a fabulous wedding
11. Win the lottery (I can dream!)
12. Make/Actually finish a quilt
13. Own many more diamonds than I currently do
14. Buy a house in the country on a lake with a big porch and rocking chairs
15. Drive a Ferrari
16. Swim in the Dead Sea
17. Volunteer for OxFam
18. Have a job I enjoy (most of the time at least)
19. Have my own secret recipes that people want to get their hands on
20. Go zorbing. If you don’t know what it is, google it.
21. Ride an ostrich
22. Grow my own gardenia bush
23. Go to another music festival
24. Hike a section of the Appalachian trail
25. Try hot yoga

Even if I don’t accomplish half of these 25 things, I can only hope that my next 25 years will be as happy, and healthy as the past 25. I know that with all the fabulous family and friends I have surrounding me, I’m off to a good start.

7 Things you can do that won't have any effect on the condition of your midsection:

I was reading the May issue of Glamour last night at the gym, when I came across an article that seemed like it would be revolutionary to spring/summer and the implied quest to get out of our winter skin and into our bikini body. It’s called “Good News! You can flatten your belly Fast.” It promises to reveal your sexiest tummy in days, without dieting. Sound too good to be true? It is. Glamour then proceeded to provide me with these useless tips to get rid of tummy pooch quickly.

1.Drink more water, so your body is hydrated and doesn’t try to absorb water from your food, which causes bloating.
2. Do something every day to relieve stress to prevent stress related food binging
3. Eat a little fat every day (sounds counterintuitive, no?), but eating a diet entirely stripped of fat can cause your body to lose it’s ability to digest fat, and make you crave fatty foods (true).
4. Tweak the way you breathe so you don’t push your belly out when you inhale
5. Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night to keep from throwing your hunger hormones out of whack
6. Cut back on artificial sweetners and carbonated drinks
7. Stand up straight.

Well Glamour, I already drink lots of water. I’m not stressed. I don’t eat exclusively non-fat. I know how to breathe. I get 8 hours of sleep most nights. I don’t drink soda or eat faux sugar. AND I happen to have great posture. Can we get some useful tips? And by the way, no one wants to see Lauren Conrad on the cover of a magazine. I guess the only way to get flat abs is through good old fashioned exercise. Good thing there's a really cute personal trainer at my gym!