My Weekend’s Work

I’m exhausted, but I have accomplished a lot of packing. I am the most organized that I have been since I’ve been in DC. I held fast to every organizing rule I knew and pushed aside my pack-rat tendencies.

I took every piece of clothing that didn’t fit or I hadn’t worn in a year to the local thrift store. I tore the pages out of my magazines that I wanted to keep and put them in a three ring binder and recycled the rest. I spent hours shredding old bank statements and receipts. I did five loads of laundry.

Shacking Up

Maybe this is where I should have started. Van and I are moving in together (gasp) and we aren’t married, yet.

I can’t say that my parents are exactly pleased. They understand all of the reasons. We truly enjoy being together. Well, most days. And, there are the financial benefits. I know that my parents appreciate the fact that Van is my family here.

No matter how much they understand, it doesn’t make it any easier for them. To my mom, living together is the same as being married and to me there is a huge difference. My mom doesn’t understand why we don’t have a civil ceremony to make it legit and then have a big wedding when we are ready.

I can’t think of anything worse. I want to get married once and have that ceremony be the wedding that I want with the flowers, music and all my family and friends.

I think that this clash is purely generational. I don’t see why living together is such a taboo topic for people my parent’s age. I don’t feel like I am committing this huge sin by being with the person I love. I know that I am not a bad person. Maybe being out on my own has changed made me more lax religiously. I can’t see God getting all bent out of shape with me moving in with Van a year or so before we are married when there are so many people killing each other every day.

It’s not like I’m moving in with some random guy I met at a bar. Van and I are clearly committed to each other and have every intention of getting married. We have been very open about our plans with both of our parents. Obviously, if he has put up with me for this long he’s got to be a good guy.

I am incredibly close to my parents and it’s not like I am trying to purposely make them unhappy. I am so incredibly lucky to have such a good relationship with my parents.

Thankfully, my parents have mastered the art of agreeing to disagree. Neither one of them is going to let this interfere with my or Van’s relationship with them. My mom even said that she knew both of us would be happier living together. She is looking forward to seeing the new place when my family comes to visit in March.

I know that this is a big step for Van and I. I know that it will at times be challenging and that it will also be great. I can’t wait for us to have the space to spend weekends cooking together. I think we really will be happier.

The Organic Argument

As much as I love to eat organically, I find that it is, at times, difficult to justify the cost.

Logically, it makes sense that the less pesticides farmers use on their crops, the less run into our water supplies and the happier and healthier everyone is. Do we really to add more chemicals into our systems?

I really started becoming serious about eating organically in college. I had gained a lot of weight due to some medication I was taking and I’m sure that the greasy cafeteria food wasn’t helping either. I was definitely way past my freshman 15.

Eating organically made me focus on eating healthier foods. I found that I had replaced the usual Bagel Bites and Hot Pockets with salads and fresh fruit. I dropped a ton of pounds and eventually made it back down to my high school weight.

I never thought twice about splurging on organic food until Van and I were seriously dating. The longer we were together the less I was buying organic, until I stopped all together. It was just a shift in priorities. We were eating more meals together and cutting costs at the grocery meant more money that could be saved or paid on my student loans.

Now that we are looking at moving in together, I was concerned that buying organic would be forever on the back shelf. I was worried that by not developing these practices now that we would ignore the importance of organic food down the line when we have our own family.

So I started looking into the real reasons that we should be eating organically. I needed to find out what was important and what wasn’t. I started researching and I found a wealth of good information.

According to a study at the at the University of California, Davis, certain foods grown organically like berries and corn contain more flavonoids than their traditionally grown counterparts. Flavonoids have been shown to help prevent heart disease and cancer. http://www.webmd.com/cancer/news/20030306/organic-foods-may-fight-disease

Researchers at Cornell have found that growth hormones like rbGH (commonly found in dairy products) have been linked to breast cancer.
http://envirocancer.cornell.edu/factsheet/general/fs45.chemical.cfm

A University of Washington study found that children who ate organic foods had six times less pesticides in their system than children who ate traditionally grown foods. The study shows that eating organic food can reduce the exposure in children from above to below the EPA guidelines.
http://www.horizonorganic.com/health/organicstory/uwstudy.html

If you are worried about the cost of organic foods, like I am, here are two great articles that outline how to eat organically on a budget.
http://www.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s1-2-67-802-7453-1,00.html
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/food/organic-products-206/overview/index.htm

Thursday Thirteen # 14 - Candy Bars

Here are my thirteen favorite Candy Bars. 1. Crunch Bars 2. Kit Kats 3. Twix 4. Milky Way Dark 5. 3 Musketeers 6. Reese Sticks 7. Butterfinger 8. Hershey’s S’mores Bars 9. Heath 10. Milky Way 11. Dove Chocolate Bars 12. Willy Wonka Chocolate Bars 13. 100 Grand

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!


The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

View More Thursday Thirteen Participants

A Valentine

I have never seen Valentine's Day as a commercial holiday. Maybe it is. I have been forever endeared to Valentine's Day because of my father.

My mom is always the crazy one at Christmas, Easter and pretty much every other holiday. She loves to find ways to surprise us and spoil us rotten. Valentine's Day, however, belongs to my father.

Every year growing up, my dad would leave us presents on the kitchen table before he went to work. We would rush downstairs and open gifts before pouring a bowl of cereal. Without fail there would always be a card, candy and a present.

Then he would send flowers to my mom at work. I thought it was the most romantic thing. I was sure that it was a sign of true love. I longed for the day that I would be grown up so that I would get flowers too. I couldn't imagine anything better.

I think my dad's soft-spoken nature made the flowers that much more meaningful. It seemed like the highest honor to receive flowers from my dad. My dad has never been stingy with his affection. He would always tell us that he loved us and that he was proud of us, but on this day we always knew exactly how much he loved each of us.

A Fat Witch and Better Burger

Hooray for weekends in New York! It thrills me to no end the things that are there. Every time I go I am able to go someplace new or try something that I have never experienced.

Saturday, Sarah, Beth and I went to Chelsea Market, home of the Food Network. Seriously, I was in heaven. We sampled all sorts of great treats like Fat Witch brownies and Aztec hot cocoa. The bakeries there had the most fantastic looking cupcakes. They are definitely something for me to aspire to.

While we were there, we found these great boxes to give the boys for Valentine’s Day. We spent the rest of the day making cookies and brownies to fill the boxes. I was, of course, volunteered to supervise the baking.

When fully assembled, the boxes looked like they came straight from Harry and David. We were so proud of ourselves. I even had the opportunity to practice the signature Martha Stewart bow.

Sunday, Jenny showed me their new apartment and we made a trip to Better Burger before I caught the bus back to DC.

Most of you know my love for all things organic and Better Burger is no exception. All the meat is antibiotic and pesticide free, and mostly organic. They bake their fries, instead of frying them, and use heart healthy olive oil. The food was delicious and reasonably priced. The burger wasn’t greasy at all. If there was one in DC, I would go there all the time.

A New York State of Mind

I know that heading north when it is this cold doesn’t make a lot of sense, but I’m going to NYC tonight to visit my friends. There is no telling the trouble that we will get into.

I’m looking forward to spending some much needed time with my friends, although I’m dreading the 4 plus hour bus ride. I packed the knitting (I’m working on another hat) and I think I will pick up a magazine at lunch. Of course I have my iPod just in case. I'm sure that I over-packed again.

I think that this weekend will be good for me. I need some time to clear my head and not think about work.

The Big Chill

I know that I am from Ohio, but it is cold. The morning walk to the Metro has been a much dreaded ordeal. Layers, hats, gloves, scarves and then off to test my luck against the bitterly cold wind.

Somehow my teenage need to look cool has succumbed to practicality. When I was in high school I wouldn’t be caught dead pulling up the hood on my jacket or wrapping my scarf up around my face. Now the warmer, the better.

Out Sick

I haven’t run away. I was actually sick and, thankfully, I’m feeling better.

This is the first time that I have been seriously sick since Van and I have been together. Sure there have been bouts of flu and sinus infections, but this time I really needed someone to take care of me.

That person used to be my mom. She would sit with me at the doctors, go pick up my medication and stay home with me. Now it’s Van.

He picked up my medicine, cooked dinners, made sure that I stayed in bed and worried. He held my hand while I was being poked and prodded by the nurses. I know that I would have been miserable without him.

I am an incredibly lucky girl.