Operation Beautiful

I really love the premise behind Operation Beautiful - change the way you see, not the way you look.

What a radical idea! I even participated in Operation Beautiful by leaving a note last year.

This self-love book is broad and covers a wide variety of topics. I'll always support messages that encourage women to love themselves and treat their bodies like friends, not enemies! I'd recommend this book for girls in late high school and college-age women. 63/100

Saturday

Today I woke up and read magazines for an hour, stared at the lush green of the leaves outside my window, met some old friends and new for brunch, browsed at one of my favorite consignment shops, returned a book I couldn't get into to the library, picked up a birthday cake (carrot) for a friend's milestone birthday tomorrow, did some laundry, made an appointment for a decent (read: expensive) haircut, talked to Dad, had leftover Thai spicy eggplant for dinner (just as good on the second day), went for a walk with My Heart's Desire around the neighborhood, read, and am going to bed early.

Sneaking in under the wire

Back in July, I mentioned that I was writing an essay for the Real Simple’s Third-Annual Life Lessons Essay Contest. I thought I would submit it in August, but I was too busy traveling.

I don't suppose it would hurt to mention that Real Simple is my favorite of all the magazines.

Tonight, I snuck in under the wire and submitted my (yes, revised) essay. Yay for deadlines!

Today I am grateful for: bookstores, having a tiny commute, laughing at myself when I won't buy a drugstore mascara without a coupon, Trader Joe's Irish Breakfast tea, Spa Week coming up next month, pashminas, lovely weather, clean laundry, old school jams, sharpies, my self-care cards that my mom gave me about 10 years ago, and fresh fall apples.

A photo is worth a hundred blisters

2010 Goal #5: I did my best

The Nobodies Album

The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst is a clever, thoughtful, well written whodunit, if a bit over literary at times. She explores the relationship between a mother (a successful writer who re-writes the endings to all of her books) and her estranged son, a famous rock musician accused of murdering his girlfriend. This book delves into their tragic past and intrigues the reader. Compared to her previous work, I enjoyed this book more than Lost and Found and almost as much as Dogs of Babel. 62/100

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie is a well written YA novel that will open your heart and break it. This semiautobiographical story is about Junior, a 14 year old growing up on a reservation near Spokane, Washington, who wants more. After a teacher recognizes the fire inside this often picked on kid, Junior transfers to the rural school twenty-two miles and a whole other world away. The only other Indian there is the school mascot. Junior straddles both worlds until he plays basketball for his new school against his old school. I read this short book (with illustrations) in one sitting and I'm still thinking about how good it is. 61/100

Fly Away Home

Well written, honest, and touching, Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away Home was the best novel I've read since Moloka'i. My honorary grandmother lent it to me and she liked it at least as much as I did. This book went beyond the scorned political wife story and opened up the hearts and minds of three women (the wife and her two adult daughters) and what happens after. Each of the women finds herself in a difficult situation and has hard decisions to make. Finding out what choices they each make and why is captivating. 60/100

2010 Goals: August Progress

I set specific 2010 goals so here's an update on my August progress.

As I mentioned, I was a traveling fool in August. I visited four cities — New Orleans and Phoenix for work and Denver and New York for fun. I did not blog much during my travels and then I came home exhausted. I'm very happy to be home and back to the usual. It really took me a while to become un-jet lagged and unwind.

Read/Write/Blog
1. I read 4 books this month, raising my yearly total to 58. I will post some more books that I've read soon. My goal of reading 100 books this year - I'm coming for you!

2. My writing group scheduled a meeting in September. I wrote an essay for Real Simple's contest. One of the writing group members critiqued it and I owe her an updated draft.

3. Submit... I had no idea that this would be as cumbersome a chore as it is. Well, I did not meet my goal of submitting once in August. But I'm on for September!

4. This is my 128th post of the year, so I'll take an educated guess that I'll post 200 times this year by Thanksgiving.

Healthy
5. I will be run/walking a half marathon later this month! It seemed so far away when I started training for it this spring and signed up for it this summer. My longest run so far was 11.6 miles on Monday and I was beat when it was over! And my feet! So sore! I think the sneakers I've been training in are shot. I'm going to do my best to break a new pair of the same style in so I can wear them in the race.

My workout goal for August was 31 workouts! I went for walks, I did Yoga, I swam, I went for walk/jogs, I worked out in hotel gyms, and at rec centers, and even went for a 7.5 mile walking/jogging tour of New York City! 31 was a very ambitious goal and I got in 26 workouts!

6. This month I did not keep track of how many meat vs. vegetarian meals I ate. I definitely ate way more meat than I have been and ate vegetarian meals a whole lot more than not. I'm still reevaluating my kibosh on eating meat regularly and trying to figure out how I can be healthier.

Fun & Friends
7. This month I tried new foods and lots of them. For the first time, I had barbequed shrimp and beignets, neither at all healthy but amazingly delicious!. It's a good thing I walked everywhere in New Orleans. I also took a big leap out of my comfort zone by signing up for a running (though in my case, mostly walking with a little jogging) tour of NYC through City Running Tours. It was great!

8. Seeing friends. Even though I was gone a lot, I still exceeded my goal of seeing friends at least once a week. Good times all the way around! I went to a bridal shower and saw lots of lovely ladies, saw a friend from college who I haven's seen in ages, went to a Mad Men-themed party at a museum, went to a cookout, and went to New York City for a super fun weekend with one of my friends! I love New York and came home with a moderate case of New York envy.

9. My Heart's Desire and I didn't see each other in August as much as we usually do. And we had to spend a lot of our time together doing errands or chores. We did have plans to go out to brunch at a new restaurant I've wanted to try for restaurant week, but I cancelled the reservation after I decided I'd rather stay home and lounge instead.

10. Photo taken of My Heart's Desire and I? Nope.

11. Bonus! It's All Relative.
I had family fun with my sister and her husband, my mom, my dad and stepmom. It was all terrific! I also got to see one of my favorite aunts who I hadn't seen in too long.

Heart of the Matter

Heart of the Matter by Emily Giffin is an after school special for adults. Maybe you haven't heard breaking news— marriage is complicated at times, especially when there are children, private school and egos involved. I really wanted a light, fluffy, enjoyable read (which her other books were) but I was disappointed by this very special tale. 59/100