sarah
i really tried my hardest. no wait, that's a lie. i could have tried harder. but, in real life, i didn't actually fail; the opportunity to start fresh again or makeup for it the next day is always an option.

seriously though, i only made it through 2/3 of the day the past three weeks before my progress came to a screeching halt by dinner. the first week was not to bad as i ate cereal for breakfast. but i generally don't eat meat during breakfast, except during brunch on weekends and when Starbucks had these maple sausage scones, yum! but they discontiued those (._. ). for lunch, i went to my favorite Korean spot on campus and instead of having bulgogi or chicken sukiyaki, i had veggie sukiyaki. it was a particularly long day for me and when i got home i didn't feel like cooking or eating. but, the later it got the more hungry i started to get. so, i broke down and made chicken hash with an egg over easy on top. i could have easily left out the chicken and the egg, but i was disoriented by my hunger headache. i've got to plan better.
veggie sukiyaki - score!

chicken hash with fried egg - fail ( ._.)

the next week, i got a Facebook notification that Kooper's Chowhound Burger Wagon was going to be on campus. i ain't even gonna lie... i knew i was in for it. the Wagon rarely comes to campus, but they have a DEElicious turkey burger and sweet potato fries. THEN, my labmate informed me of dinner plans to go to this authentic Chinese restaurant i have been dying to get to since i moved to Baltimore. fail all around. well, not really. i held as strong as i could, skipped the burger, and had a Caprese salad for lunch, but i sho nuff scarfed down beef tripe & tongue, braised beef stew, and Schezuan Shrimp that night for dinner. bad Sarah!

beef tripe and tongue

and we're not gonna even get into Memorial Day, smh. i only ate meat once yesterday, for dinner, and it was salmon so it's not too bad, but i didn't even realize it was a Monday until most of the way through it. God kept me.

salmon & scallion rice with roasted asparagus

the one thing i am happy about is my increased consumption of fruits. i normally eat a lot of veggies, but i bought a variety of fruit for this endeavor and am glad that i have been grabbing a piece or two before heading out to lab each day. that reminds me, i have an apple in my bag...
sarah

i love food and cooking and restaurants and much ado about the Epicurean, decadent, hedonistic lifestyle. although i am not really an over indulger, except when it comes to dark chocolate, it wouldn't hurt to practice a little restraint.

i'm not a big meat eater, but in the grand scheme of things, evaluating my meat consumption and protein levels are important. i could rattle off a bunch of scary health facts, but that's not fun or entertaining. when you think about it though, Americans in general eat a LOT of meat. this isn't Brazil or anything, but i know for a lot of people, a meal just doesn't make sense unless a piece of meat takes center stage, unless it's breakfast, for which my poor stomach cannot handle a lot of heavy foods or flavors. personally, i arrange my menu based on the meat i'm going to serve. i defrosted a piece of steak... i guess i'll go low-country/southern and make cheese grits and sauteed french green beans. that's just how i roll.

i was once told that i could undo a meat-tastic week by just taking one day off from eating it. and that, kids, is how i was introduced to Meatless Mondays 4 years ago. Meatless Mondays is an endeavor to decrease the average amount of meat consumption by 15%, but it is also instrumental is reducing a host of health and environmental factors as well. a lot of people are not aware of how much energy goes into transforming meat from farm-to-fork. chickens don't hatch eggs of vacu-packed breaded tenders.

back in 2007, when i was trying to become the real adult to go along with the job and midtown apartment i had, i looked into Meatless Mondays as a way to not receive scary health reports from my doctor. i tried it out for a month, got bored, and ditched it. it wasn't as though i didn't have a wealth of information and recipes to keep me busy, but, as i've said, a meal just doesn't seem to make sense without meat. once, i made rigatoni with a carrot ragu, which was delicious, but i couldn't help to think how much better it would be with a piece of broiled salmon perched atop of it.

well, i am actually a real adult now and i have to make real changes. changes that stick. that frame of thinking no longer suits my maturity level. the goal is not to become a full fledged vegetarian, because i do have theories on whether or not humans should eat meat altogether. i remember going to a NY restaurant with my vegan bff Rachel and getting a burger, much to her disgust. but i do wish to change the way i consume food. i wish to be more conscious and considerate, not to mention more creative. i'm gonna start next week, which will give me time to re-up on some veggies and fruit.
sarah
so, i was watching TV and on the rare occasion that i had to sit through a commercial1, this ad came up:





i am not in the market for a car, but at that moment i wanted to jump up and buy one if it meant that this dude was part of the package deal. They don't even know me, but they knew how to pull at my heartstrings by taking a fully padded and grimy athelete and cleaning him up in a nice sharp suit. so, i rushed to my phone (hooray!) and googled this kid. Turns out he is a wide receiver for the Detroit Lions, whatever that means. the stats i only cared about was him being 6'5" and 240lbs. yum. too bad he is only 25... and out of my league. bah! enjoy!

Calvin Johnson




so, i was cruising one of my favorite new blogs when this feature came up:

and i said to myself, self! why is a half naked man on a natural hair blog and why does it not matter right now?? oh... pecs, that's why. seriously, doe! i stopped staring just long enough to read that he is a male model and artist. explains the exposed Calvin Kleins. or not, who cares. but he is definitely selling something to me. all the women who commented on the blog mentioned what a nice person he was and how powerful his painting are, and all i could think of is how well he fit into those jeans. but, much to my pleasure, he can also hang a suit ;-)

Ibrahim Baaith


1 i have a DVR, so most shows i watch are pre-recorded to some degree which allows me to skip commercials/save time. sometimes, i watch a show while one is recording so i can conserve time, like watching 5 1-hour shows in 3 hours. it's a problem. but i miss a lot of commercials, so when my friends ask me stuff like, "Have you seen that Doritos commercial? It's hilarious!" i give them the stuck face. the only time i do not do this is if i am watching TV with my friends. my bff and i, since we live far apart, watch the same shows at the same time and text/tweet our commentary to one another. it sounds lame, but at least we've ended up on Texts From Last Night. i'm famous.
sarah
if you've been peeping my Facebook or Twitter page, you'll notice that i've been lamenting my shitty shoe collection for about a month or so now. i've been whining non-stop about how all of my shoes are run over, out of season, or have been melted with lab-grade chemical solvents. so, i set out to re-do my shoe wardrobe and promptly failed.


my mother could tell you childhood stories about how shoe shopping with me is a nightmare. i am very particular about my shoes; i know what i want and won't settle for anything less. the problem with that is i don't necessarily follow trends. my sense of style is very intuitive and, not to toot my own horn, about a season or two ahead of a lot of people. blame it on the fact that i'm a psycho psychic Capricorn, but i was wearing moccasins and screen tees a whole year before the rest of the world ruined the trend. i'm classy and whatnot.

but, forreals, i get into my head about what kinda shoe i want based on how i'm feeling about the season and expect to walk up in a store and find it. this makes for very frustrating shopping experiences, a few "Come to Jesus" talks, and tons of settling on my part. i hate settling. but, it has gotten trifling at this point and my shoes are embarrassing. i've been scouring the net to see what's available, and of course all the shoes styles i like aren't available in the color/fabric i'm lusting after. #fail. something is seriously wrong with me. anywho, here is what i'm settling for thinking about buying for the summer. hopefully i'll be so busy and happy about getting something accomplished that i'll be distracted from the fact that i'll have to do this alllll over again come autumn, for which i haven't bought new shoes/boots for like 4 years. embarrassing.

want                                settling for


want                             settling for

i also want some Nike Dunks and some Sperry Top-siders, but i can't decide on which style to get... HELP!!!