What I have learned recently. And so on.

When growing zucchini, plant 2 in a couple gallon plastic pot. They get huge and if crowded, will not produce as large fruits. Zucchini are fruits!!! Right? Seeds inside? Whatever.

Plant them with plenty of room to grow.

Caterpillars eat leaves of plants and while they are cool looking and cute, you don't want them in your garden.

You must water herbs every day, especially when they are in direct sunlight for several hours a day.

When trying to lose a bunch of weight rather quickly (I hypothetically have a wedding to go to in July that I need to lose about 15 lbs for in 3 weeks), drink a shitload of water and eat lots of veggies and whole grains and fruit.

Here is my yes and no list as to what I will (not) eat while dieting:

YES
Lean meats (chicken, seafood, pork loin, ham, turkey)
Vegetables
Fruit
Multi grains (Quinoa, Millet, Brown rice)
Oatmeal
Yogurt
Skim milk
Low fat cheese (goat, swiss, LF cheddar, parmesan)
Olive oil
Butter (small amounts)
Beans
High fiber cereal
Juice (in moderation)
Alcohol (Hard alcohol, wine, Guinness, Amstel Light)
Unsalted, raw nuts (moderation)
Low-sodium broth
Canned veggies rinsed & soaked in H2O


NO
Pizza
Fast food
High fat meats (bacon, sausage, beef)
Starch (Pasta, potatoes, rice, cous cous)
Sugar
High fat oils
Pre-prepared sauces (Chinese, Thai, salad dressing etc.)
Deep fried anything
Dessert
Alcohol (Beer)
Liqueurs
Canned food
Frozen entrees
Salt
High fat cheese (brie, regular cheddar, blue)

Do not eat bagels every day for two weeks and expect to lose weight. No matter how fresh and delicious they are.

I am beginning to make homemade compost because I want my veggies and fruit to be amazing and everything I read says I have to have it.

Jon and I are trying to buy a place and might close in the next week or so. This is an incredibly stressful process. I love our new place to bits, but I am now without any funds and no job and am hungry all the time.

My favorite ice cream is cookies and cream. Just so you know.

I have to eat now. Something healthy. Tonight for dinner I'm making baked chicken breasts, quinoa, beet salad. Yeah! Bring it on.

On Gardening and Auditioning

Well, I bought a begonia today. There are only so many times I can walk by my local garden center eyeing a bring orange/pink/white begonia before i give in and buy buy buy! I planted it and it looks lovely. I have a shitload of veggies and fruits, but not too many flowers. Well, one lavender plant in bloom and the dahlias and peonies (drool) are not growing yet. Altho i did see a hint of a peony coming up in one of the pots... hurrah!

My point is this: Do not buy terra cotta pots for plants. I have a few terra cotta pots, strawberry pots (3) and herb trenches (my wording, 2). Other veggies are in plastic pots because they are huge and pretty flowers are in glazed ceramic pots. Glazed ceramic is the way to go if you have something that won't expand rapidly at the root. It keeps the plant more moist (terra cotta absorbs water so you have to water the plant more frequently) and looks much nicer. Plastic pots work well if you are planting something like tomatoes or zucchini - i.e., something that will grow rapidly and not be a showpiece.

Today I auditioned for a play in Manhattan. I did a cold reading and LOVED the character. I saw her clearly in my head and had a fun time reading the script with the woman who was cast in the lead protagonist role. Then the director asked me to read it again in a totally different direction and I don't think I did very well. It was so hard for me to switch my mental image of this person, I couldn't erase all of the characteristics I had planted (tie in!) in my brain. Sigh. Oh well. I promised myself I would be proud no matter what the outcome - and I am. I risked something and put myself out there for criticism and rejection, always a hard thing to do. And I did have some fun... that was my goal.

Now I get to vacuum, do a yoga video and do paperwork before cooking turkey burgers for dinner (along with a goat cheese salad). Hurray for the domestic life.

At least I have my already-blooming, brightly colored begonia in a pot so every time I look out my window I can admire the gorgeous flowers and feel a sense of pride in accomplishing something today.

Sleepy time

in pjs. Man, there is nothing as comforting as coming home when I'm exhausted, putting on my comfy pajamas and snuggling in with a good book or movie.

I can be pretty adventurous and wild, but there is nowhere like home. And home can change, but you know it when you're there.

G'night.

My therapist curtsied today.

My therapist made a particularly astute observation about a nightmare I had this morning. I gaped at her in amazement and revelation while I stood, ready to leave her office, and said, "Ohhhhh. Right." She looked at me smiled, curtsied and said, "See you next week."

That's all.

New travel site

There's this article in the Times about frugal travel and how difficult it can be to find the right site, nevermind the right price/ticket, for your trip.

The one I had not heard of before is ITASoftware.com which sounds interesting.

Other notables are:

SeatExpert.com
Kayak.com
cFares.com has rebates with a low annual membership
Vayama.com specializes in international flights

Good luck with all of that.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

If you are looking for a page-turner, start this series. I couldn't put it down - read till 4:30am one night to get to figure something out. My brother just read the next one in the trilogy and said it was good too.

Also just read The Piano Teacher. I liked it. I couldn't put that one down too. Which is unusual for me - I'm often bored by books and don't finish them. Just been lucky, I guess.

Crazy Town

is where I'm residing today.

Don't want to get into it, but suffice to say, today I've been horribly grumpy.

And my friend and I just watched "Up" by Pixar - and it's wonderful! Reminded me what's important.

If you need (or if you don't!), I recommend it.