More about Tiny Homes

I have discovered the beauty of cob! Here are some pictures of tiny cob-made homes. There is something terribly romantic about building your house from the earth, and something astoundingly practical about living mortgage free. These are images I found by going a quick image search on Google:

These homes are gorgeous, unique and ecologically sustainable. 

Why don't more people live in cob homes?

Test Results have Arrived

I have been hanging on an edge waiting for my test results. They took forever to arrive. Almost three weeks of waiting were envolved. The wait gave me plenty of time to ponder about the potential results. Half of me wanted the test results to be positive. Positive results would constitute evidence to back up my theories about what is going on with my body. In addition, and although nobody said this outright, I am sure that my friends and family thought I was a little crazy, what with my claiming that I was allergic to gluten and trying all these fad diets and all. Heck, even I thought my claims were a little weird. Positive test results would prove that I am, in fact, not crazy. The other half of me wanted the test results to be negative, because then I wouldn't have to live the rest of my life on a restricted diet. Who wants to be allergic to wheat? Everything has wheat in it. My favorite foods are made with wheat. Who would want to live the rest of their lives without cheese-its? Certainly not I! In order to be able to eat gluten, I would swallow bit of my pride. Maybe.

Anyway, now the test results are in and although my pride is intact the outlook is grim. The results are conclusive and ominous: I have an active gluten sensitivity and it is recommended that I do not consume any wheat, barley or rye for the rest of my life. The results gave me mixed emotions, which started with my lamentations over never being able to eat pizza again. Lucky for me, before I received the test results, I had already found a source or two of gluten-free chocolate. The gluten-free chocolate was just as comforting as the regular kinds of chocolate, and so I think I will live.

Chocolate, Please

Question: Can I have a bit of chocolate. Just a little bit of chocolate, please.
Answer: [Evil laugh] NO, BECAUSE ALL CHOCOLATE IS MADE WITH GLUTEN OR ON MACHINES THAT ALSO MANUFACTURE WHEAT PRODUCTS!!!

Gluten Intolerance?

It is very possible that I have developed an allergy to gluten. I'm getting tested for it, and I should get the lab results in about 2-3 weeks. In the meantime, I am doing something very similar to the Atkins Diet; a gluten-free diet. How did I come to believe that I might be allergic? Well, that is a long story but I can sum it up by saying that (1) there are a few indicators and (2) my 23 and Me DNA results indicate that I am about 200% more likely than the average person to develop celiac disease. Yay.

A gluten-free diet is not as crazy as it sounds. It is actually quite healthy for you. Even Oprah has tried it. However, what it lacks in craziness it makes up for in difficulty. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING has wheat in it. Even the Atkins bars have wheat in them, so I can't eat those anymore.

Since I don't eat out at restaurants that much, I exercise a lot of control over what I ingest. This part is key in being able to maintain a gluten-free diet. This, and obsessively reading food labels. Pretty much the only thing I can eat without having to worry about gluten is fresh fruit.

I can't wait to get my test results so that I can know for sure if I really have a wheat intolerance. I am not one to be prone to unnecessary food privations. Or patience.

The Book Club!

I've started a book club. This is The Book Club's Constitution!

Acupuncture

I've decided to try something new: Acupuncture. I've always known that I had bad circulation, amongst other small health-details that were not stellar. So, I've decided to give Traditional Chinese Medicine a chance. So far it has been really exciting! I looked up TMC online, and I found a couple of reputable TMC Drs. I settled on Dr. Ivy, of Ivy Acupuncture and Herb Clinic and I've already had a couple of treatments. The truth is, it feels kind of silly to be lying there with small needles sticking out of your legs and head. But, I have seen impressive results: my circulation has improved, I haven't gotten a single headache since the treatments started, and my eyes are not constantly dry. I think I will continue to receive acupuncture treatments.
Here is a picture of an acupuncture needle in my wrist (I'll spare you the ones of my legs and feet):

From Vegetarianism to Atkins Diet

So I've done a complete 180 and I am now following the Atkins Diet. I honestly am not sure about how this happened. One day I woke up, and my husband and I decided to try it out. We decided to start on January 1st, 2011, and start the New Year off with a bang. There are several observations that I would like to make about a low-carb, no sugar diet:
1) It is expensive to only eat organic meats and Atkins products.
2) Eating a lot of fat and meat is very counter-intuitive, but it works if you want to loose weight.
3) I used to get incredibly hungry, and feel like I would almost faint, if I didn't eat. Now I don't get those blood sugar lows. It is actually kind of nice.
4) I miss my whole-grain morning toast, but that is about all I miss form the world of carbs.

Once I started reading about how Atkins works, I discovered that it actually makes a lot of sense. This was a surprising discovery, since I used to think that eating a meat-based diet was about the most awful thing you could do to your body. I now believe that the people who criticize the diet just don't fully understand how it works or what it entails. Atkins is all about finding the correct balance of foods for your body, learning about how your body works, and learning how to distinguish true hunger from compulsive eating.

White vs. Color

Since we have known each other, Alan and I have had epic battles over Christmas lights. He prefers multi-colored lights on the Christmas tree, while I prefer white. I think white lights are more elegant, and beautiful, while Alan prefers his tree to look like a rainbow. Since we have never actually set up a Christmas tree before this battle has remained unresolved, until NOW.

This year is the first we are hosting Christmas together for the family. Hosting Christmas means making a lot of food, putting up stockings, and decorating a suitable tree. We purchased LED tree lights, which consume less electricity and do not get hot... and the tree lights are WHITE! Our Christmas tree is lush, throughly adorned, and twinkles like the snow.

I got my way this year, but to compromise I promised Alan that we could have colored lights next year.

The Shopping Situation, in New York

Before my trip, almost everybody told me that the shopping in New York is fabulous, and that I should take an extra suitcase with me for all the wonderful things I was going to buy and bring back. To be honest, there were a lot of shops in New York. Unfortunately I found them to be, for the most part, the same shops that I can find in the shopping mall less than 3 miles away from where I live in California. There were plenty of exclusive designer stores in New York, which had superfluous attires I would love to own. But, these exclusive designer boutiques were so far out of my price range (or any normal person's price range) to seriously consider as anything other than a museum. At the end of my trip I was convinced that the Museum-Situation was much more interesting and exhaustive than the Shopping-Situation in the Big Apple. 

In terms of shopping around the touristy places, do not even bother! I do not understand why there were so many people in a frenzy to shop around Times Square. I thought almost everything in Times Square was overpriced and overcrowded with people. Plus, you could find the same stores, empty of crowds, just a few blocks away from Times Square. In any case, I can assure you that you would be able to find anything you would like to purchase in the stores around Times Square online, for cheaper.

New York!

I went to new York last week, for the first time in my life. It was the best week-long vacation I've taken in quite a while! I walked everywhere, and went to some amazing restaurants. I even went to an exclusive holiday party at the MOMA, and had drinks in The Standard's Boom Boom Room. I had so much fun, I didn't want to leave.

Here are a couple of pictures I took from the 86th floor of the Empire State Building:

Here is a picture of the view from my hotel room. Alan and I stayed at the Standard Hotel, in the Meatpacking district. We had a whole wall of glass on the 10th floor of the building, facing New Jersey:

This pictures represents only about 1/16th of the entire view from our room.

I had enough time to visit Brooklyn for a day. To get there, I walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. It was a beautiful walk! Here is a picture I took form Fulton's Point:

I also ate Ice Cream at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory. The ice cream was glorious. I had one scoop of Double Chocolate Chunk:

While walking around SOHO, on my last day in New York, I came across John Stewart! How crazy is that! He was filming something, and I just happened to run into the action. 

Naturally, I took his picture. For one split second, he actually looked straight at me!

Stewardess tried to sell me a credit card

I was on a short flight, counting the minutes till arrival, when my train of thought was interrupted by the flight attendant. A stewardess got on the microphone and started praising the virtues of the Alaska-Credit Card, and how many air miles you could gain if you signed up for it today. And, YES, you can sign up for it before we land. The scenario was surreal. At first I tried to concentrate on what the flight attendant was saying, less she mention something worth knowing. But, as soon as I figured out what she was doing I was shocked. Just shocked. Why was the flight attendant selling credit cards? There were several things wrong with this picture, but above all I felt violated. There I was, 14,000 feet above land, with no place to go. By law I'm obligated to listen to flight attendants. They abused this law by using it to force-feed me credit-card propaganda. I was obligated to listen to a less-than-graceful interlude while trying to get to my destination, and I didn't like it. Not one bit. Stewardesses should not interrupt you in order to sell you credit cards; it's just wrong you greedy airline. Just wrong.

Baby Bella

Vertical Garden

I am toying with the idea of a vertical garden in our patio. I found this website, for the Window Farm Project, which is pretty cool: http://www.windowfarms.org. But I don't know if this will work for us. I wonder if there are kits I can buy to install a vertical garden outdoors.