Today was a good day. We went to Kings Cross to check out train tickets and left luggage services. Then we popped over to Camden Town and wandered around the markets for a bit. I can’t decide about Camden. The market feel is cool, but all the shops mostly have junk in them. It is not a local market in any sense, it’s mostly for cheap stuff and tourists. I do like the canal there though. I have a strange love for canals. After that we decided to go find our favorite tea seller in Covent Garden. I like Covent Garden, cool shops and decent bistros. We had a snack and a lemonade then decided to head back.
Overall it was a good day. We are back in a cafe catching up with emails and what not. Haven’t been able to fully test the remote working yet as we are still on “holiday”, sort of.
Tomorrow it is off to Edinburgh in the morning. That should be a great train ride through England into a very cold Scotland.
I am ready to embrace my extroverted self, according to my therapist. I never in a million years would have guessed that I am totally extroverted. And I bet if you asked any of my friends they would say without a hesitation that I am an extrovert. I guess I always saw myself as mostly introverted with a few extroverted tendencies. But aparantly I am dead wrong. Which is extremely annoying because I pride myself on being able to read people quickly and accurately. How could I be sooooo wrong for soooooo long about myself?
That reminds me of a great Pasty Cline song.
So cheers to my new extroverted self, welcome to the party. (since i’m supposed to like parties now)
So today I ate:
gluten free hot cereal with bananas and raisins
veggie juice of cucmber, parsley, kale, celery and lots of other green stuff
I need to something fun to happen like now. I am bored and haven’t put real clothes or makeup on in 3 days. (real clothes are anything that doesn’t contain elastic) I am in desperate need of some excitement, Disneyland is coming but not for weeks and weeks. I think I need to go on a date or a drive or go downtown or something. I haven’t left Montecito in days and it is waaaay boring here although it is rather beautiful and I really do feel content and safe here. I think I am turning into a senior citizen, crap! But the really stupid thing is that I get invited to go places and what do I do? I say “maybe next time” because I would rather stay home.
Ugh! I know I’m going to miss this place once I leave for Europe, so I had better enjoy the quiet while I can.
So today I ate:
smoothie of raspberry, blueberry, banana and strawberry
leftover turkey meatballs from last night yum!
blanched broccoli salad with lemon, cherry tomato, pine nuts and basil
A friend of mine sent the following challenge to my Facebook today. I decided to accept the challenge and see if I could come up with 16 random things that I thought my friends would like to know. It was really hard work, it’s so tedious to come up with reasons why I am cool. I swear I almost started making things up.
Rules: Copy the rules and place on your Notes application, and then write 16 random things (facts, habits, or goals, etc) about YOU. At the end, choose at least 16 people to be tagged, including the person that tagged you. If I tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about YOU
1. I wake up every day and stick a small teapot full of saltwater up my nose so that I can pour it out the other nostril so that I can breathe. (that’s a netty pot in case you were wondering)
2. Over my school career I have been to 2 preschools, 2 kindergartens, 2 elementary schools, 2 Jr. Highs, 3 high schools and 2 colleges.
3. I secretly love Barry Manilow. I’m a Manalooney, or a Fanalow depending on how you swing.
4. When I was young I only wanted to be as tall as Paula Abdoul because she was a great dancer and I figured that I needed to be short to be a great dancer too.
5. I enjoy throwing or smearing things on my brother’s faces. Dustin got jello, Christian got pudding. If you’ve never tried it, I highly recommend it, so much fun!
6. I am waaaay freaked out by the cotton balls that come in bottles of pills. Or just cotton balls in general. I am getting tense just thinking about it.
7. I don’t know the phone numbers of anyone in my contacts, not one person besides Eric. Not even my parents.
8. I am an uber nerd and can recite and perform almost any movie musical you throw at me. Oh ya I know Sister Act II very well.
9. In high school I hated pop music so I listened to Oldies radio instead and now have a lot of Herman’s Hermits songs bouncing around in my head.
10. My uncle’s nickname for me growing up was “Amber Nickel” or “Amber 5-Penny”.
11. I’ve lived in 6 states including: Washington, Minnesota, New Jersey, Texas, California and Nebraska.
12. My voice can be heard on one of my brother’s demo tracks for his album.
13. I’m an aspiring amateur photographer and salsa dancer.
14. I have an impeccable sense of direction, I can always find my way back to where I need to go even if I haven’t been there in years.
15. My first and last boyfriend were both named Eric.
16. I have never successfully peed in the wilderness.
17. I gained weight over the weekend Not cool.
So today I ate:
smoothie, banana, mango, pear, pineapple
oriental salad; carrot, celery, cucumber, pepper tossed in sesame dressing
I realized today that I always look forward to going to therapy, and then end up leaving upset and confused (in a good way). I am often confronted by my fears and by my own logic that tells me what I am doing and feeling is wrong. It’s like if I was listening to one of my friends describe my life as if it were theirs, I would know exactly what to say to them and could see clearly what is wrong and right. But when it’s right there in front of my face, I can’t see it. I can’t apply my great sense of logic when it comes to my relationships and my needs. But I think I am starting to turn a corner. Today we talked about my successes, my weight loss success and I recently started learning how to code xhtml, which is something I thought was incredibly complicated and above my head. I am finding that if I put my mind to something, there is little to keep me from doing it. So now I have to rediscover Amber, so that I can find out what I am passionate about. I can’t remember anymore because of all the years of pain and change and weight that kept my head underwater.
I have been existing for the last 8 years, not living, just existing. But this is the year it changes. I am going to move with Eric to England for 6 months in March and we don’t know when or where we’ll end up. I am going to find my passion, I am going to lose the weight that has been holding me back and making me feel bad about myself. These are all things you would never have heard me say 3 months ago. I was too scared and to petrified to try because I thought that I didn’t deserve good things and that they required too much energy, energy that I just didn’t have. But the small successes are making me see what might be possible, it’s still a little fuzzy but in time it will come into focus and life will be passionate again.
So today I ate:
Stewed apples over pear and blackberries
a grapefruit
miso soup
Fresh tuna with kale and caper dressing YUM!!!!!
juice of cucumber, celery, alfalfa sprouts, ginger
Adzuki Bean Hotpot with parsnip, sweet potato, leek, tomato and carrot
salad with blanched broccoli, green beans, asparagus, peas, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds
Ya i didn’t either. My daily meal planner had me eat three of the things today and I was in the bathroom every 5 minutes, I kid you not. But after all is said and done I have completed day 5 of my weight loss/ Amber gain adventure. I had cucumber juice for breakfast, cucumber juice for snack and more cucumber for dinner. I think my kidneys are now thoroughly cleaned out! And my colon is clean so what’s left, my liver? What cleans that out, I wonder.
Today I ate:
Juice of carrot, ginger, cucumber and celery
a peach and banana
leftover adzuki bean bake from last night
small spinach salad with cabbage and alfalfa sprouts, topped with lemon
Juice of fennel, beet and cucumber (better than I thought it would be)
Even if it sounds weird, you have to admit it is beautiful.
This is what I made for dinner tonight, it was really good. It is completely vegan and gluten free!! It has beans, squash, garlic, onion, leek, carrot, celery and the top is made by slicing sweet potatoes. Yummm!
I am doing good things for my body and I am feeling better already.
So to start the new year. . . we have a new Amber! I have a significant amount of weight to lose (upwards of 50lbs!) and this is the year I am going to do it. I have a wonderful personal trainer/friend, Melody, that is giving me the tools to get my big butt in gear and get some muscles going on. We have been working out for about 3 months and although I haven’t lost a significant amount of weight, I can feel my body changing underneath all my blubber. She also went with me today to do something I NEVER thought I would do; wait for it. . . . . . we both got colonics!!!! Holy Crap, literally. It was such a strange experience but really cleansing and I feel less puffy if that makes sense. Thanks Mel!
I am also an avid fan of BBC America’s show “You Are What You Eat” with Dr. Gillian McKeith. Boy is she a hard ass. I watched 10-12 people on her show lose massive amounts of weight just by changing the way they eat in 8 weeks! I mean it is literally mind-blowing how much weight these people took off in 2 months. I bought her cookbook Slim for Life and it has a very easy to follow plan for 28 days of meal plans. I have already lost 3 lbs since last week and I am only on day 4!
Posted by ambolino | Posted in rambling | Posted on 30-10-2008
This is my first blog entry from my iPhone 3G. It is waaaaay cool but typing takes a bit longer. Neato! This is the night when my brother let me smear chocolate pudding on his face, boys are so gullible!
Not cool.
