Golden spring

"Nature's first green is gold, 
Her hardest hue to hold."
Credit

Image: Mine!

Daily Eye Candy

Sodarncute. Vinylux recycles old vinyl albums to make jewelry and accessories. Earth-friendly and adorable? Sold!

Guitar Earrings, $25.

Robot Earrings, $25.

Anchor Earrings, $25.

Daily Eye Candy

Just popping in for a bit of delicious eye candy. My blog posting will probably continue to be light as I dig myself out from under a massive amount of work that has blindsided me. Yuck.

These lotus hoops make me feel better though. Aren't they gorgeous? Melissa Odabash, $45.

Daily Eye Candy

I cannot believe how quickly spring has sprung. See my mind? It's boggled.

Yesterday, YESTERDAY the tulips were just starting to plume their slender leaves, and today I walk by and they've got full on buds, ready to burst.

I've got a fancy new macro lens, and I need to get to stepping with it before I miss everything! Expect pictures.

In spite of the fact that I am dressed today head-to-toe in black and gray, my eyes are seeking out bright, beautiful colors of late. That's probably why I'm so drawn to this Japanese porcelain tea set from Yedi, $49.99. Can I get an amen?

Tricking your face-hole

I love Coke. A lot. I'll take a bottled Coke, I'll enjoy a canned Coke, but a fountain Coke is the holy grail of carbonated deliciousness. Ginger ale or root beer will also suffice.

I recognize how bad pop is for people (yes, it's "pop" 'round these parts, and don't you dare listen to my pretentious husband who insists on calling it "soda"). I've whittled down my consumption to a can or two only every so often. We never buy pop for the house unless we're sick (ginger ale, sprite), because if it's there, Imma drink it all up.

So, I've decided to share my trickery with you. I've been buying La Croix. La Croix contains 100% natural spring water, and it doesn't have any calories, sweetener, or sodium. The flavors offered include pretty much any kind of fruit you can pick off a tree, and my favorite is pamplemousse (that's French for "grapefruit." No, it isn't my turn to be pretentious, that's really what they call the flavor.).

It's carbonated, y'see, so it feels like I'm drinking a pop without actually taking in any calories or naughty, frankenfood ingredients, and it's much more exciting than plain ol' bubbly water.

I've tried just about every flavor (I like grapfruit, lemon, and lime the best), except for coconut, which is just disgusting. Had coconuts never existed, my life would change exactly zero percent, except that maybe Tom Hanks would have died in Castaway instead of being sustained by the flesh of those repulsive, hairy monstrosities.

Ew.

I've found La Croix at places like Target and Marsh, but not Walmart, at least around here. Try some today and trick yourself into thinking you're getting a treat!

NOTE: This post has been brought to you by first-world inconsequential topics.

Life is pain, Highness.

Husband has recently gotten me to accompany him a few nights a week to our local high school's activity center, which is free to county residents evenings and weekends and offers a track, basketball court, and weight room.

Aside from the awkwardness that comes along with seeing your old teachers stationed at the entrance desk, and any number of former classmates sweating while working off the beer guts they acquired in the intervening years, it is a really nice facility for our community.

I've started out power walking for 30-45 minutes, the Wicked soundtrack blasting through my iPhone. I haven't worked up the courage to publicly attempt to jog (because I am hilariously uncoordinated), but perhaps soon. Husband has been running without stopping for 20 minutes or more every time, plus some weight work, and I'm so proud of him.

We are planning to embark upon a full day of kayaking next month on the lower Colorado River, so I'm going to need some semblance of stamina, even though I've been assured that the trip is easy and for beginners (I'm not convinced the company had me in mind when they determined the "beginner" label).

As I watch my grandparents shuffle around their assisted living center, I'm reminded of how important it is to establish these proper eating and exercise routines now, in my twenties. Certainly not all of their physical problems can be attributed to a sedentary life (not that I would ever associate my grandmother with the word "sedentary"). But as I've watched her in particular deal with more falls than I can count, leading up to an inevitably broken hip and two operations, I understand more deeply that taking care of my young, lithe body will hopefully keep me from experiencing the same pain and heartache as her in my own old age.

I've always been the kind of person that lived with my head rather than my body. Physically I was and remain awkward and uncoordinated and uncomfortable with the husk in which I reside. But my mind is more flexible and sprightly. Plus, I really despise sweating.

But I hope that we continue our new routine. I enjoy feeling as though we are doing something good for ourselves, and doing it together provides some accountability, hopefully keeping us going when we would much rather sit on the couch eating barbecue sandwiches and watching Hoarders.*

A little pain now, a little less pain later, perhaps.

*This already may or may not happen on a weekly basis.

Daily Eye Candy

Home sweet home.

The Social Department, $25.