The 100 day project and yeah I am on Instagram finally

Been a busy few months.

First the was the great Fall of 2015 baby sleep regression that lasted... until now. Which blew everything I was trying to do out of the water. Write everyday - Nope. Keep the house cleanish - there is a visible layer of dust on... everything. Lose the baby weight? HA. Not possible when you have had only 3 hours of sleep. Your brain is all "I'm tired. Given me all the bread. Also that cupcake. And beer, lots of beer." Every time I worked out I ended up injuring myself because I was so tired that form was a joke. Sing? Work monologues... hahahahahahahoauhg;oaeiurhgna;ohn;aoshdf;aoshnfg;h.... Ahem... It is like I forgot what infancy is like for the parent. (Hint: I did.)

All that said a funny thing happened in February. Despite the fatigue and the "why won't you take a NAP!?!?!?" frustration, I remembered who I am again and very impulsively reopened my Etsy shop. I never stopped making jewelry, I just stopped selling it when my day job got demanding (because selling your art is a full time job and don't let anyone tell you otherwise). This meant I had some pieces lying tucked away. Over 50 as it turned out. Just about 1 minute after I listed an item on my Etsy shop I remembered "right, full time job", particularly as during my selling the art break Etsy selling became a whole lot more sophisticated. 700 product photos and many, MANY, SEO rejiggers later I am up and running. Which brings me to the 100 day project and Instagram.

I joined Instagram ages ago at the behest of a UX colleague and then proceeded to do exactly nothing with it because I am me. Then about two weeks ago I decided to do something with it because why not, which turned out to be just in time to see one of my amazing Actorswork colleagues post about the 100 day project. The short version is do something for 100 days and post everyday on Instagram with the 100 day hashtag and your own personal hashtag. I am doing #100daysofredcurlsketches because:

1. I am really bad about recording my inspiration - I think "Oooooo I should make/write/sing/cook that" and then life happens and I think "what was that again?"
2. I have a thing about my sketching. I never think it is good enough so I use that as an excuse not to do it. Which is ridiculous, of course, but still... (this is a reoccurring theme in my life - "x" isn't good enough therefore I shouldn't do it).
3. I seriously forgot the last reason because not enough sleep and I am me. But there was definitely 3. 

So. There you go. You can find me on Instagram at redcurljo where I will be doing #100daysofredcurlsketch.


Oh and that Etsy store - You can find it here: Red Curl Jewelry 

Eating Clean

There is part of me that cringes just using that phrase. Not only is it a meaningly phrase but, for me, it has an association with the juice cleansing, "I need a detox" mindset. I don't buy into that (your liver and kidneys cleanse your body quite well without any help thanks. And a juice diet? No.) But that said... there hasn't been much eating clean around here since before L was born. With pregnancy came food issues for the entire 10 months. I wanted to throw up, or had terrible heart burn or both (christened nausa-burn - It was special). But there were two things I could reliably eat: cake, preferably chocolate, and ice cream, preferably in milkshake form. I was thinking (hoping?) that, like with my pregnancy with M, the food cravings would end with the pregnancy.

They didn't... There have been a lot of desserts. Also cocktails, because infants.

So here we are six months later. N is over his preferred max weight and I... don't want to talk about it. Let's just say choosing my clothes in the morning is pretty straight forward. Working out is proving to be difficult for both of us because L's sleep is all crazy with teething and he has never been a good napper. Trust me, it is difficult to focus on squats when there is a baby howling at your side because he isn't being held. Which brings us to eating "clean".

There are three weeks until the family arrives and the Christmas based eat and drinking starts. N & I are doing the exercise in discipline that is eating clean between now and then. Since "eating clean" has to be defined, in this household it means no dessert, no cocktails, no beer, no fried, and nothing that generally falls into the category of junk food. We get one cheat day a calendar week. This isn't about calories or portion control. One step at a time.

Also make it public, because going public can help you reach a goal.

That time I quit my job...

Two weeks ago I said bye-bye to my cubical... err - table in the "open floor" plan. Large online travel agent is running out of space.

It feels... weird. I am a stay at home mom. This is the first time I have left work without a plan or prospect to find another job in the not distant future. My brain still thinks I will need a job - I see things and think "Oh I could do that" or "That would be an interesting company to work for" except I am not looking for a job brain, knock it off.

I am certainly plenty busy as infants have a way of filling your days, and for the first time in ages I have creative energy. I want to make a piece of jewelry or paint or do some photography or make a pie... or write something (ahem). Not that I have the time right now (see "infant care"), but I have the desire to be creative in way I have not in a long time. In fact, I will have the time sooner than seems possible because infants become self sufficient little kids in the blink of an eye.

FYI "We have had people looking at this and..." may be offensive to your audience

This morning I was happily driving along listening to NPR and along comes a local story about prop 1 on the August ballot (the parks district one). This was a follow up story to a debate a few days ago. The No side went first and that was fine, then came yes on prop 1... and in he started with "We have have people looking at this..." to which I had an immediate negative response. Oh really "a lot of people" who are, what? Smart than me, and therefore can tell me how to vote. Eventually it became clear that what he really meant to say was that the measure has many endorsements from local groups. But it just came across so wrong that I couldn't get past the initial impression of the statement.

SO, don't use the statement "We have had a lot of people..." because you are essentially telling your audience that they don't really have the right to question you or that the people in question are some how smarter than your audience and thus their lead should be followed. And that might not go over well. It might not go over even when they are smarter because the tone has that authoritarian ring that isn't terribly popular.

And for the record I haven't decided how I am voting on prop 1.

Oil cleansing... not just hype.

So I have been oil cleansing; well creamy oil cleansing. Specifically, I have been using Ultrabland from Lush (here) since the week after Christmas and I have to say hurrah for oil. I have heard the hype for a couple of years but thought "Not for me" because I have always been acne prone. That said, ever since I swung north of 35 my skin seems to be getting drier each year. My solution has been heavier and heavier creams, which was really was only sort of working. We are talking a day cream labeled "intense moisture" followed by a BB cream. Still my face would be feeling tight by the time I got to work.

The very helpful and not pushy sales person at my local Lush store (which was way less choky-stinky than I remember) suggested the Ultrabland after having a feel of my skin. I have to admit I was skeptical but I thought what the hell might as well try it. Love. I am not only using the BB cream as my moisture in the morning, but also I need to buy a new night cream because my current one is to heavy. Basically my skin isn't really all that dry; I was stripping my skin and it just isn't necessary.

I will admit that at first I was using the Ultrabland twice a day and at the two week mark I started to notice a few white heads popping up. My solution was to add in a more soapy but not all strippy cleanser in the evenings (when may face is most funky because makeup, urban dweller, gym, life) then the Ultra in the AM only. Also every couple of days I use Let the Good Times Roll for some gentle exfoliation (again AM only). The only down side of this is that my very expensive (was a gift) Clarisonic brush is sitting unused at the side of the shower. I just don't need it.

So my new routine:

• AM: 
• get up, pull hair off face, wash hands then get a small amount of Ultra on my fingers by swiping them over the top of the tub. 
• Massage between hands (just using finger tips) to warm up, then massage on face for bit (I sing happy birthday to my self twice which is about 30 seconds. Yes, really. Happy birthday.). 
• Wipe off with a wash cloth wet with warm water. Dry, & lotion up. 
• Get on with morning having not splashed water everywhere while washing my face. 

• PM
• Get home from gym and take a shower. Wash face in shower with more conventional cleaner (Ok, I use Purity from Philosophy. I am too lazy to find a link, but you can get this all over the place). 
• Get out, lotion up. Need a way less emollient cream than I have, but use it anyway and then be annoyed that my face is all shiny-sticky-greasy because the cream doesn't soak in all the way because it is too heavy.
• Get glass of wine, relax.

That is it. I swear I even look a little younger because my skin is all moisture-y nice. Totally psychosomatic, but who cares.

A couple of product notes:

• Ultrabland has a distinct smell. Not a scent that is added, there is none of that. It smells like what it is - oil. I have gotten used to it, but I didn't love it at first. On the flip side there no fragrance and thus I use it right over my eyes.
• My Ultrabland is clearly going to last forever because you need very little of it. Makes it a really good value for money.
• Let the good times roll smells like a cookie. This was charming at first, but I have come to hate it. I will be buying something different for my exfoliation the next time around. Which will be ages from now, because again, don't need much of this either. 

Buy Nothing

So buy nothing has become a thing - Check it out!

I suck at this - you may remember my month of not buying things. You know, where I failed to not buy things I don't actually need. While did get some emotional insight into why I shop and impulse buy, did I bought all kinds of crap in the end. Possibly I am not trying hard enough, or maybe I just needed a group to make me serious about it. So yeah, check out the buy nothing project and find a group. It is pretty cool.

Brine that bird

In my pre-Thanksgiving "yes I am still alive" post I mentioned that I was thinking I might finally try brining the Turkey. Well I did it, roughly following Alton Brown's method, and it was amazing. Completely worth a little effort to do it - best turkey I have ever made. One thing to note is that rather than the cooler mentioned in Brown's recipe, I found and purchased very large food grade heavy duty zip top bags. One large enough for a 16 lbs turkey and a couple gallons of brine. We brined over night because of the size of our bird, roasted for 4 pm meal and really ate a lot.

Oh and we did cook the bird grill again. It just makes it tasty all around while freeing up my oven for all kinds of other stuff (potato casserole - yum!). It isn't really all that different from roasting in the oven. Get the grill to a nice roasting temp, keep it there till the turkey is done. We don't baste, or really mess with it at all. One thing we do is roast the first hour breast down, then flip it and roast until done in the standard orientation. Flipping can be tricky - our method involves a pair of rubberized, heat proof gloves. My husband dons them, then just picks the bird up and turns it over. Done. (Uh, by the way we use a v shaped roasting rack which make that whole thing a little easier.)

Another thing I did differently this year is the dressing. I used my standard recipe but instead of casserole I used one of my dutch ovens and about 3 cups of broth. It was the best I have made yet & the closest to from the bird stuffing (the brine + grill cooking means no stuffing the bird).

Overall the food was great, it was good to have family around and it was a nice break from rehearsal. The only down side was that my general level of tiredness meant that I was falling asleep on the couch at 7 pm. Or maybe that was the wine...