San Fran / Napa Valley

Okay, while this might have taken way longer than I had hoped, I have officially uploaded my photos from my California trip and want to share pictures of all the places I had previously discussed!  Enjoy the photo frenzy!


Climbing up Indian Rock at Indian Rock Park in North Berkeley, and the view of the Golden Gate from above (yes, note the fog)

Trolley!!

 Lombard Street - serious driving ability :-) 

Caffé Sapore - a block from the end of Lombard Street and their Vegan Broccoli Soup and Soy Latte. Yum Yum!

The Wharf! and Boudin's Sourdough animals

ALCATRAZ!!!

 

Okay, and now, off to Napa Valley.  By the way, I have officially decided I want to be married at Napa...it's that beautiful, and maybe even at Frog's Leap itself, because it was my favorite of the day.  They were, by far, the most accommodating and the most warm and welcoming of all the wineries we visited.

Frog's Leap: Wine bottles + Grounds.  They won an award for their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon and their Zinfandel was one of the lightest and easiest Zins I've had. 

Artesa Wine.  Their Cab Sav Reserva was my favorite, but the actual winery was a huge disappointment.  Buy their wine, pass on the "must see" stop.

Jacuzzi!!  Yes, the makers of the hot water tubs.  Their winery was very appropriately modeled after Italian architecture, but it's still very commercial feeling.  The wine is good, the samplings are tiny, but the price is right.  FREE!!  Plus, they have free samplings of olive oil!  Always a plus.

And then our finishing point:  Gloria Ferrer's sparkling wine.  YUM YUM!  Sit and enjoy the scenery, and just make sure you have a DD!

Stuff Students Say

Sometimes, part of what makes my day and what makes my job awesome is the students.  Those days are fun because they make me laugh, and I love laughing.


Today's incident happened on the way out of school.  I was fixing my shoulder bag and the outside handle hung loosely off my shoulder.  I was walking through the doorway and the handle of the door caught my bad, yanking me back about two feet.  Obviously, I was startled.  I hadn't expected to be thrown backwards, and so I looked at the door in confusion and unhooked myself.  


I started walking forward again and I heard one of my students, who was walking behind me, say, "That would be a door, Ms. Caprini."


Aaaaah, the blossoming sarcasm of an eighth grader.  And it was my favorite type, very subtle and almost insulting if you didn't know better.  It was the perfect zinger, and I laughed when he said it.  Hey, I never said I was coordinated.

Earwax Cafe

Although at first glance, the name seems unappealing, this tiny little vegan-friendly restaurant on Milwaukee Ave near North Ave is a cute, circus themed, locally visited restaurant.  I went there last night, and for $22 (with tip, cash only) my boyfriend and I had a really yummy and very filling dinner.

Tribune photo by Candice Cusic

The atmosphere is one of fun, friends, and, of course, the circus.  Circus banners hand from the walls, the table tops are circus rounds and the booths are decorated like the sides of circus walls would be.  It's very bright and larger than life.  I almost felt like I was on set for Water for Elephants or the unfinished set of Moulin Rouge.  There is also upbeat music playing in the background.  However, in addition to the overhead music, the tables are all very close together, making the general noise on the high end.  It makes you want to talk more loudly, but not too loudly because the table 4" next to you will certainly overhear.


The food was actually quite good and oddly unique.  My boyfriend had tofu-egg scramble with kale and breakfast potatoes and rice.  Must note, the eggs were not eggs but eggs made from tofu.  It also came with a deathly hot chili sauce, which I tried and he loved.  I had the mediterranean turkey burger, which was a turkey burger stuffed with feta cheese, onions, and I believe spinach.  I choose the side salad as my side but the sweet potato fries at the table next to us looked delicious!  The rest of their real burgers can either be made from bison meat or black bean quinoa, thus tailoring to both crowds.  The portions are huge, and breakfast foods are served all day!  Be wary, though, they only accept cash, and while there is an ATM on site, it would just be wiser to bring it upfront.


Would I go there again?  Probably, but also probably not unless mood arose.  I love vegan foods and just healthy food in general, and the price is definitely fair, but it's almost like thai or indian, you just have to be in the mood for it.  I'd probably give it a 3.5 / 5.  It was a fun dinner.

Napa Valley

Okay, readers, as promised, the long-awaited Napa Valley experience.  For those of you who have been, you probably already know much of what I am about to explain and can therefore appreciate it from an entirely different perspective.


For starters, I official experienced San Francisco fog.  Not the cold, only the fog, and woah. You guys definitely aren't messing around out there.  For a moment my friend and I thought we might not actually get to see any of the vineyards because the fog was so thick.  Luckily, by around noon the fog started to lift, so I was able to see the scenery in all its beauty.  The hills and cyprus trees reminded me of Italy, but then two seconds later I pass all these pine trees and can't help but think of Washington State, and then suddenly five feet later the street is lined with Palm trees and I'm in Florida.  It was so weird.  I was so confused; I didn't know where I was supposed to be!  Still, the scenery was breathtaking and just looking at it made me breathe slower and forget all of the worries bubbling about in my outside San Francisco world.  


So the first stop on our list? Frog's Leap, a cute little winery on Conn Creek, and it came as a recommendation from my boyfriend's persistent search for highly rated wines.  He'd never been, but their 2007 Cabernet Sauvignon won an award, and after showing my friend and her noticing they were LEED certified, it was a dead certainty we were heading there.  In fact, we were the first to arrive and we drove up to the home styled vineyard and sat on their wooden back porch in high chairs overlooking the countryside.  We had generous pours and nibbled on cheese and breadsticks.  The story of how their name came to be was charming and the service and company divine.  They even put out bags (cornhole if you're from the Midwest) and we totally made a fool out of ourselves playing in front of all the guests, but we didn't care.  It was the best 2 hours we spent all day.
Notes:  The Zinfindel = delicious.  Not jammy or spicy or rich like many, but extremely delicate and easy to drink.  The Merlot I found leathery.  Wine tasting = $20.


Artesa was next, and while it was supposed to be this Barcelona-inspired modern art meets wine tasting and environmental architectural "wow"-sperience, it receives negative points in my book.  The service was awful, and after coming from a "pay when you're done with the experience" winery to a "Card and ID" upon arrival was a quick turn.  Plus, the interior looks like a college cafeteria:  metal tables and chairs, sparse decorations, and just a very unfriendly atmosphere.  The wine, though, was delicious, but the view from the balcony unimpressive.
Notes:  The Cab Sav Reserve = DELICIOUS!  Highly highly recommended, but via the store, not the actual winery.  Tasting price?  $15.


Third was Jacuzzi because I wanted the Olive Oil tasting.  Both the Olive Oil tasting and the wine tastings were free, but the samples reflect said free-standing.  Though the wines are good, and it is more welcoming than Artesa, it is still very commercial and consumer driven, so I felt like I was in any old wine store, not some special Napa Valley hideaway.  The atmosphere reminded me of Carraba's Italian restaurant.
Notes: the olive oils were amazing.  Tasting Price?  $FREEEEEEEEEEE :-)


Fourth and final stop?  Gloria Ferrer, a beautiful sparkling wine winery, and the perfect ed to the day.  After all the wines I was starting to be able to only distinguish them as "white" or "red" because the tastes all blended together and I wanted nothing more than to sit and have space to look out over the land and chat with my friend, so she recommended this place.  And it was great!  A) the views from the balcony were stunning and perfect  B) the sparkling rosé was the best thing I'd had all day  and C) they came with complimentary red-pepper flaked almonds.  A-MAZING!!!!  And all for around $6-10 a glass.  De-lish!
Notes:  LOVED the rosé.  Price for mine?  $8.


Overall, a beautiful experience.  I understand why people love to visit and I can't wait to go back and spend a whole three or four days just seeing and experiencing everything.  I have also decided I want to get married there.  Done and done.  Wine and weddings?  Maybe someday in the next 20 year future.  :-)

The Box Experience

Every now and again the universal orbs align and bring a wonderful surprise to your life.  Mine happened to be box seats to the Bulls / Bobcats game with my boyfriend and his family.  YAY!


Box seat awesomeness:  private bathroom, fully furnished with upscale bar food, stocked fridge with wine, beer, spirits, mixers, and waters (including Pelligrino!!) and three-tiered cushioned seats from which to watch the game.  The seats are noisy, inside the box itself is conversational perfection, so you decide - watch the game and cheer like the rest of the crazy crowd or do private business deals inside while watching the game on the flat-screen. I preferred the actual seats with friends.


Food was good, bubbly water was a total bonus, and the pay-for-what-you-want dessert tray overwhelmingly enticing!  I picked the M&M covered caramel apple, for which I got shit for defending my "healthy" dessert choice.  Too bad, I still stand by my healthy chocolate option, even if it was the size of Big-Foot's head!


My favorite part of the evening included the TV-time out dance scene craziness, where the game randomly starts and stops in time with the TV commercials and, although they are annoying at times, they can have some really enticing entertainment blips.  

And, of course, who can forget Benny the Bull - the gem of the Bulls team and the comical relief, because if you're close enough to be able to follow his antics.  Last night he crawled across the floor after the Luvabulls dancers, he threw some child's shoe across the front row, he picked up another child and ran him down the side of the court, he tried his backwards mid-court free-throw shot, and then he even started climbing over fans and finished by driving off on a mini-motorcycle.  It was awesome!  Somewhere between that and the dancing with friends I had an awesome, awesome time.  I would definitely recommend eating before you go if you don't like bar food, but otherwise, it's a once in a lifetime experience.  

Life Happens Wherever

Yes, I know I still owe everyone both pictures and the Napa Valley experience "run down," which I promise are coming soon (Napa info faster than pictures, but both are to be up shortly!), but I felt a little "life learning" sharing was needed.

For someone that travels a lot, it can cause one to be caught off-guard when realizations hit regarding "home" and what that means.  For me, I've always been someone who loves to travel and who has moved so much within one locations or from one state to another (and even across the pond), that the idea of "home" is a little foreign sometimes.  To a good number of people, the need and desire to find "home" and create a life with roots and friends and a network close by is not only wanted but extremely important.  It creates in one a sense of life and purpose, a reason for existing everyday, and a community in which to interact.  For me, growing up, that included a family all within a 15 mile radius, more or less, and that was sometimes rather suffocating.  I love to travel and I love meeting new people and experiencing new places that being that "grounded" felt more like a prison sentence than an opportunity for growth.  Yet, as of this weekend, I feel I have learned something new:

Every place is exactly the same

Now, what do I mean by that?  Simply what it says, when all is said and done, every place is exactly the same.  They all have grocery stores and places to see movies, they have restaurants and connecting roads from town to town.  There is someone living there who loves it and someone who wants out, but, when all is said and done everything is the same.  Some places might be more rural, some urban; some people may find the pace of one city too fast and another too slow, but the basics of every place are the same.  You exist by making your day to day living, and what that day to day living entails is what ultimately matters.  Some people can't stand the cold, others love the opportunity to take part in winter sports every year.  Some people still want to feel alive by seeing the mountains, or need to have water so as to use their boat regularly.  While these specifics are important and can determine ultimate happiness in a location, be wary of believing that the location alone is what will actually create happiness.  It's not the locale that brings meaning to your life but what you do in that location. 

Therefore, every place is the same.  You still have to make something of your life no matter where you are, and if the atmosphere doesn't jive with what you like or what you do for a living, no matter how much you love where you are, that probably isn't the place for you.  I love to travel, but I'm learning that I love the fast-paced nature of cities like Chicago, NYC, London.  I love the warm weather and I abhor snow and cold, but the cities that give me the energy I need to feel alive and accomplished every day are ones where there inevitably will be snow, so I will just have to learn to deal.  Maybe when the pace of my life can afford to slow down, or my friends and family all retire to Hawaii will I consider moving as well, but until then, I still have to go grocery shopping and buy clothes, take my car in for repairs and make coffee every morning, and I can do that in any location.  It's a question of if I like my life and the people in it where I am at the moment, not if the location can make me do any of the above.  The land will always be there, the people and the experiences that go along with it may not.

And for the semi-questioning still, just remember, there is always a plane to take if you ever need a quick vacation.

Welcome to San Francisco!

Hello all!  I am currently spending this lovely long weekend in the Berkeley area near San Francisco, CA with a friend, and it is WONDERFUL.  I know there's the old saying, "The coldest winter I ever had was a summer in San Francisco," (Mark Twain), but this weekend has been everything on the contrary.  It's 60 and sunny, and I absolutely love it.  I left all the snow and cold in Chicago, and found myself a clear sky and a place where no coats are needed during the day.

Unfortunately, right now I do not have any pictures to post, so I will have to do so when I return home.  However, I have already visited some wonderful places.  Since I'm staying at a friend's in Berkeley, we saw the downtown areas which are both within walking distance and completely charming.  They have a very Mediterranean feel about them, which may stem from the nature of the community, or simply the fact that it is all very walkable and all very unique.  The buildings are 1-3 stories tall, the shops are all original stores from the area, which is so nice when the rest of us live in cookie-cutter, factory-produced, chain-store land.  In fact, I even visited a cute little Italian cheese and meat shop, which reminded me of my family's own in Negrar, Italy, and a beautiful bakery that lay catty-corner from the italian grocery store.  Also, I saw the rock park which is a cool 20-25 foot rock with stairs carved in, and when you climb to the top you can see the entire bay area, from Oakland to San Fran, and from the Golden Gate to the area with all the houseboats.  It's gorgeous - and, yes, the fog really does exist everywhere!

In the afternoon we took the BART (their public "l" or train) into the city, and let me tell you, it is not on the cheap end.  It is much like the Tube in London where you pay for how far you want to go and therefore have to put in your ticket at the beginning of the trip AND at the end to ensure that you paid correctly and didn't just sit on it for ages.  It is not the cleanest train by any means, and the fact that everything is fabric based is a little creepy, but it definitely gets you right into the middle of the city.  When we arrived we went to take the trolley to Lombard street, but the "touristy" stops are packed with people.  The best thing to do is to go to the next trolley stop a few blocks away (there are no signs so it's best to ask the natives) and hop on there as you will not be forced to wait in a line.  The cool thing, though, is that at Powell they still manually turn around the trolleys which was fun to watch!

The trolleys are great, if it's warm and you can sit on the part that is open and can see everything.  If you're stuck on the inside of the trolley it's a little like sitting at the back end of a truck's exhaust...a little smelly and hard to breathe.  The trolley, however, is also expensive, but a great alternative if you know where you're going and don't feel like paying for a cab or walking up block after block of 95% inclines.  Our particular stop was Lombard street, which we walked down since we had no car, but watched the line of cars wind slowly in neutral down the coolest street I've seen in a while.  Sadly it's currently too cold for flowers, but the brick street and it's accompanying neighborhood view is breathtaking.  If you continue down Lombard street another block you run into Caffe Sapore, which is a cute café with drinks and food, and you can sit outside and just watch the foot traffic.  I had an iced soy latte and cream of broccoli soup, which was vegan and good for that fact, but a little on the bland end.  

Then it was off to the WHARF!  Fisherman's wharf to be exact and to take pictures of Alcatraz and see the sea lions on pier 39, and let me tell you, they are a fun sight to see, even when there are only a handful.  They're playful and loud and just make you enjoy being alive.  Definitely recommended.  Afterward, I also recommend walking back up to China town.  Why?  Well, it's definitely a fairly long walk, but it's not the worst, and you really get to see the nature of the city and the personality of all the different little sections along the way.  My friends, who live here, were even surprised how much they loved the walk because they'd never done it before, but since I forced them to be tourists for the day, they found it rather refreshing.  China town, itself, ultimately, is worth it. 

China town was AMAZING!!  It's busy and bustling, and the deals are incredible!  We stopped into a tiny, little, whole-in-the-wall bakery for red-bean-paste, sesame coated dough balls.  Sounds a little gross, tastes phenomenal!  Then we stopped in some little stores and some really huge tourists stores along a street parallel to Stockholm (the name eludes me at the moment).  Chinatown deals are incredible, first off, but if you want anything of value - cast-iron tea sets, chinese/japanese sushi plating sets - THIS is the place to be! Bought a few soup ladels and fine chop-sticks myself!  Very excited!

Then we finally caved in and "cab"d it up to the Mission - or 18th and Valencia St. to be exact where we stopped for drinks in the Luna Park and then dinner at Ti Couz.  Luna cafe had some great drinks and a very lively environment, but it lends itself towards the pricier end, and Ti Couz is a gorgeous whole-in-the-wall creperîe.  Yum Yum!  


And that, my friends, is the way to do the city in a day.  Shop here and there on the way from neighborhood to neighborhood, and really see some great things and eat at some fine fooderies.  


Today? Napa valley! 

Stupid Stars

I guess I'm already too late in making this announcement, but many of your zodiacs have changed, including this girl's.  Sadly, I am no longer a Gemini.  Although I am already born on the cusp (June 19th) I am now a Taurus.  I feel like someone just put me in the identity-crisis washer on "fast-spin" cycle!  I just lost everything about myself that I thought I finally understood and had come to love - astrologically speakiing!  I loved being a "twin" personality - the idea of constantly wanting to try new things and do more, never staying in one fixed place for too long, being creative and chatty, and just being it all 100% of the time!  I loved it!  I was starting to really embrace and understand it!

And then the astrologers and astronomers had to go and do what they've been predicting for years - change it all up because the alignment of the Earth has changed over 3000 years.  Well DUH!  Of COURSE it has!  If nature taught anyone anything it's that there is always constant change, so WHY would you make people think their zodiac signs and subsequent identity emblems were so solidly decided!  Maybe if you had warned us that our sign could change eventually we may have embraced the idea of change and our future, evolutionary star-growth...but this, to throw this at us so quickly, is like throwing out a perfectly good chocolate cake!  Totally not necessary and everyone was very happy with what they were originally promised.  Booooooo.


Well, that's just dandy.  All I can say is it's a damn good thing I never got a Gemini tattoo, because now apparently I need bull-horns, and if I had tried to combine those tattoo symbols I would have just ended up with a devil-crowed gemini symbol.  Brilliant.  This is going to take a while to get used to.  Yes, this is me being stubborn...or....oh....wait....is that a Taurus trait?

iPhone + Verizon

Well, the happy marriage of Verizon and the iPhone has been delayed.  While ceremonies were meant to be held today, the couple saw it better fit to have their official day be Feb 10, 2011, according to the Apple website.  While this long-awaited coupling pleases many (as the AT&T network is officially %*#@! on numerous occasions due to the plethora of people in their network), AT&T has a few tricks up their sleeve.  For starters, the iPhone release by Verizon will mean a brand new network for people to clog, and while admittedly thousands of people will be purchasing a Verizon package or migrating from AT&T to Verizon, AT&T will also be lowering the cost of the phone substantially, therefore attracting new customers by "Wal-marting" their prices.  And yes, I used Wal-mart as a verb.  Attention Webster, we have to talk.


So, for those of you like me who have secretly always imagined themselves with an iPhone but never actually purchased one for reasons of your own, now might be a time to start reconsidering and re-researching networks, prices, and competition.  Aaaah, the free-enterprise market.  Chalk one up to capitalism.  

When the Heat Goes "Bye Bye"

Yup, that's right, this weekend – Saturday to be exact – by boyfriend's place lost heat.  The furnace went "ka-put" and we came home to a condo smelling pungently of natural gas.  Mmm mmm.  Yum.  


Like all normal people, we did all the "tweaking" we knew how to do.  Shut everything off.  Turn it all back on.  Smells bad?  Try once more.  Still smells like ass?  Call the gas company.  In the city, that meant People's Heating and Gas who, lovingly, came out on Saturday night simply to tell us that we did not have a gas leak which we initially thought but that our blower had burnt out and that if we ran it any longer it would probably blow up.  Awesome. Furnace 1: Humans 0.


Next thing normal, sane people do is sit on the internet until they find a 24 hour furnace service, because, let's face it, when it's 8 degrees outside you pretty much are willing to sell your left kidney for heating.  The right one too, if desperate.  That is when we found this magical little company called Four Season's Heating and Cooling - a 24/7 heating service!  PERFECT!  They even initially offered to come out at 3 in the morning, but we already felt like zombies and figured 8am sounded much better.  When they showed up, they were great.  Found out our blower and capacitor were both out and that was when we discussed pricing options.


***NOTE*** furnaces need to be cleaned and checked yearly, much like you get 5-10,000 mile oil check-ups on your car.  Our furnace, a 2000 model, appeared to have not been touched since installation....brilliant.  New furnace anyone?  Because, here's what we learned, not only did we need a new blower, but the new blower meant it was no longer compatible with the circuit breaker / electrical set-up....aka more money.  All this means that it might be time to just say "screw it" and man up to a new furnace.  Some new furnaces even come with tax credits because they meet government standards of efficiency.  Plus, the company amortizes the payments over four years, which is the standard payment option, and if you opt to pay in less, you get a discount.  Might be worth rechecking the budget...


Otherwise, I have discovered the newfound puppy-love of a little thing called a space-heater.  I always loved them, but it's amazing how wonderfully potent those little guys can be in a studio apartment!  Also, although I don't have one, I imagine a snuggie would have also been highly welcomed.  Mmmm warmth.  So, here's to all you warm folk, basking in your furnace's capabilities and powerful hum, and may it keep working until next year.

Dear State of Illinois...

For those of you who live in Illinois and haven't already heart, the state is said to announce an increase in state income tax from 3-point-something percent to 5-point-something percent.  It is said that this is occurring for only a four year period of time to help pull Illinois out of its insanely high deficit, but if history tells us anything, I'm thinking this is more of a permanent change.  My argument?  Toll-ways.  Case-in-point.


My problem with it?  It's not my fault you people can't manage your own money!  Maybe you should try taking a pay cut like the rest of us and see where that gets you - I bet you'll find it surprising how much extra money you suddenly have.  But that's also my argument for wanting to tax online purchases all the way back to 2004...again, still not my fault you can't manage your own money.  It's unfortunate, really.  The problem isn't that the tax increase is happening - it is what it is, and although annoying, sometimes things have to change.  My problem stems from the reasoning behind the increase and the short-sighted nature of everything.  Why always a band-aid solution when a full out surgical procedure is often the real answer?  *sigh* and this is why I would be terrible at politics.  Oh well, watch your money peoples!

Kings Bearing Gifts

Happy Three Kings Day!! Or, as they say in Spanish, "Feliz día de los reyes magos".  :-)  


Yes, that's right, today, January 6, is the official day in which Christians celebrate "Epiphany," or the arrival of the Kings to the manger of baby Jesus (who, apparently was technically born today as well, fyi).  In olden days, before Santa made his debut and Christmas was moved to December 25th to fall in line with pagan holidays so that conversion to Christianity was easier, January 6th was the day for "Christmas" celebration.  Traditions vary greatly across hispanic cultures, but some include leaving piles of hay for the camels, receiving little trinket gifts or boxes of coal (hopefully you were good all last year!), or receiving all of your gifts on that day.  In fact, New York City has a Three Kings parade in East Harlem, which can be found on youtube if you so wish to check.


So, if you want another day of presents, are looking for a new tradition, or wanted to know when the official "12 days of Christmas" ended...it's today!  Enjoy!

My "Whole Food" Resolution

Time:  New Year's Eve.  Location:  The Gym (Cardinal Fitness to be exact)  


Problem???  Too many damn people.


I am the first to congratulate and support people who are aiming for a healthier lifestyle.  I think it's wonderful and I applaud them for wanting to move their life in a healthier and better direction.  What I have a problem with is the New Year's Resolution or the crash diet / look at me I can be fitness poster child for the next 3 weeks diet.  Those don't work, and they take up my gym space!


Studies have shown new years resolutions typically last 3-6 weeks, 3 being common, 6 being the extended-version...no commercials....all the extras.


IF you are one of many wanting to get healthy and IF you are looking to truly revamp your diet and lifestyle, here are my takes on the system:


(1)  Exercise should be about movement and energy exertion and maybe even a little bit about fun!  It should NOT be about "how many calories can I burn today."  That mentality only ends in frustration, self-loathing when the plan is not followed to a "T", and eventual off-shooting from the intended path.  Instead make it your goal to get to the gym a few times a week and just move for 25-30 minutes.  Maybe somedays you kick your own ass and some days you find you just barely get by, but the goal is to be healthy, and movement of any kind is better than no movement at all.  Soon your body will start to crave regular exercise, and you'll find you push start to learn what your body needs in order to feel like you've done something healthy and productive for the day.  


(2)  Diets Don't Work.  I'll try that again:  Diets Don't Work.  I have tried them all:  weight watchers, Jenny Craig (which is my favorite if you have to chose one), the slim fast, the grapefruit, the lemonade diet...you name it, I've done it.  I've even tried diet pills, which just made my moral and cancer-fearing compasses hurt.  Here are the problems I have with diets:  they focus on artificial substitutes to take the place of those foods that are actually good for you.  What do I mean?  

• Weight Watchers is based on points, and foods that are lower calories tend to mean lower points....which means you end up opting for the LIght and Fit yogurt over the Greek Yogurt.  The problem?  Light and Fit yogurt (and all others in that same vein) are HORRIBLE FOR YOU.  They are riddled with things like preservatives, added color, chemicals, and the worst:  ASPARTAME.  You may be eating less official calories, number wise, but the amount of shit you are putting into your body causes your body to go into "What the Fuck?" mode, and leads to it not knowing what to do with that food.  In fact, Yahoo!news recently posted an article saying how some of these foods are actually causing you to GAIN WEIGHT because they lack any hint of nutritional value and the fake sugars actually lead to your body putting on weight to try to metabolize it.  This goes for Reduced Fat Peanut Butter, and that Low Fat butter / cheese crap.
• Jenny Craig is a pre-portioned meal program.  Now, I will admit I did Jenny Craig on and off for a REALLY long time.  What I love about this program is that everything is pre-portioned for you and they still want you to eat semi-real foods.  They also push the importance of fruits and vegetables (and I should admit, Weight watchers does a good job of that as well).  I like this better than the Lean Cuisine Diet simply because it deals with you entire daily outlook, but the same problems I had with Weight Watchers I have with Jenny Craig:  They push low calories above all else, often at the expense of your health simply because something says "sugar free" or "low fat."  Also, I don't trust eating anything that's pre-packaged for that kind of extended period of time.  That can't be good for your body in the long run.  Maybe it's a great jumping off point, but not for the permanent fix.

Ultimately, here is what I recommend and what I follow:  the "Whole Food" diet, and no, I don't mean the supermarket.  I mean, when you go to eat something, eat something that is a "whole" food.  Don't have orange juice when you can have an orange.  Have low-fat PLAIN yogurt with honey over other flavored low-fat yogurts.  Have a REAL piece (notice I said PIECE not entire block or package) of cheese instead of the low-fat imitation crap (and, side note, another study showed women who ate 1oz of full-fat cheese a day had more stable weight).  Have real vegetables over V8 if you can, but at least have the V8 over a soda.  Drink iced tea (real...mind you) over sodas anyday.  Eat some nuts for god's sake or REAL peanut butter, not the stuff with hydrogenated oils.  If you want Chicken, have Chicken...just be sure it's not the fast-food version.  Eat homemade cookies over store bought or pre-packaged because you watched and controlled the amounts of everything that went into it.  Always choose the dark chocolate over the milk because it's higher concentration of cocoa is actually much healthier and beneficial to you!!  

And please, swap Olive Oil and spices for your current salad dressings!  Ew.  Olive Oil is SO good for your body when used daily in moderation.  Don't believe me, google it.

That is what I will be doing this year:  eating as much "whole food" as I can.  And the best part?  It's not a diet.  It's a way of life and the real foods, the kind with real flavor, are not actually off limits.  In fact, I recommend the book "French Women Don't Get Fat" to anyone, anyday.  It' REALLY makes you take a hard look at your food choice for the better.  Happy New Year, and may it be your healthiest one yet!

Happy 1-year Readers!

Happy New Year!!!!!  It's officially 2011, and today is actually 1-1-11...make a wish!!  I hope everyone celebrated in style last night, ringing in the New Year where you may be around the world.  Sadly, I was so busy rocking it out Rock-Band style I missed NYC ring in it's NYE, but managed to catch the Chicago ring in with my friends just in time to hear Lil Wayne sing the words "sex change," which appropriately became the joke of the night.


Also, I wanted to say Thank You to my readers - it is not only a new year but the official 1-year anniversary of TRUTHSC, and it is because of you that this blog is successful and I can't wait to share new thoughts, trips, experiences, and antics with you as this year progresses.  Again, visit the "About me" page if you ever have any good stories or comments to share, the "Living with B" page to follow the book I wrote or purchase it for yourself or your friend, and updates on the movie I was in (set to premier in Chicago in March) as well as updates on the latest book I'm currently writing.


Happy New Year and may 20-double hockey sticks be the best year yet!