All posts filed under: Life as we know it

Autumn Days and The Whirling Thoughts…

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We got a glimpse of Autumn over the weekend, with cold weathers, strong winds, and rain, then sun, and it stayed brisk through last night. Which is hardly news, considering the snow storm over the mid-west and all other havoc around the globe. I do love this time of year, where all foliage are slowly turning various shades of red, yellow, purple, black, some blue, orange, magenta, and brown, the visual bringing a certain calmness to my soul. With the quiet there is much thinking going on, about the year, and the future, and all things necessary to sustain a ‘content’ life – happy is overrated. I learned that over the course of my life and I am now happy to be content. Doesn’t mean I’ve given up, but I am less stressed about finding the happiness detailed in fairy tales, and the need to have the lifestyles of the rich and famous. I am fine with who I am, and what I stand for, and have found ways to maintain a descent quality of …

Today’s Lovely Things

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It’s already Thursday – and thoughts for the weekend are in full-swing. Although, mine entail running too many errands and having little time for fun, I am excited to have a busy weekend no less. Strange you might say, but I thrive on busy. But in the back of my mind, I want to plan a few Fall/Autumn activities over the coming weekends – such as Street Fairs about the bay area, Apple picking farm, a trip to Tahoe before the snow and one to Napa, to see the Autumn colors taking shape throughout the fields. This season has become one of my favorites and I will do everything to make the most of it. In the meantime, I’ve got some questions for you. {source for featured image}

Some Thoughts For The Weekend

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This week flew by quickly, I guess because my calendar was packed with some positives which left me feeling more accomplished than stressed over what I didn’t get done. I love it when that happens, and I wish I can make that happen every week. In fact, that is the plan – to acknowledge my accomplishments so that I can feel less anxious. To-do lists help, just in case you are wondering. But even still, there are lots that go through my mind on a constant basis, and some topics are worth a mention here to see if you wish to share you opinion on any of them. For instance… In listening to a boss berate an employee the other day at the office, I couldn’t help but feel the need to hand him a how-do book or refer him to a website which might help his style or approach. In case you are curious, read on What would you do if you ran into an ex that meant the world to you – but …

Summer Swimsuits and Sunscreens and Oh That Hat

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Summer is in full swing – and I am planning a getaway for a few days, to celebrate, or better yet to reflect upon a few upcoming challenges, and how to best proceed. I do this a lot, where I need a week or so to simply disconnect from the day to day and regroup myself.  I am looking forward to the next six months, but for now a couple of days in the country is much needed. But even the getaway doesn’t exclude some anxiety and stress. Such as in my case, I am highly allergic to mosquito bites and tend to get very sick, which sucks for someone who loves the outdoors. So I stocked up on all sorts of ways to protect myself, even buying and hauling a mosquito repellent candle. Besides that, my next anxiety is the usual one for most women who are very conscious about their body when it comes to swimsuits. The fit, the look, the style, and most of all the comfort.  I recall once when wearing …

Food: Dinner Tonight – Feta and Honey and Cauliflower Salad

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I’ve had the weirdest cravings lately – not pregnant – just that I think my body is telling me what nutrients I am lacking. Which right now, or early this morning, I had a taste for feta, and cauliflower and sweet and sour – which I probably could consider combining into one big happy salad. But then I saw this recipe for pan fried feta, and my dinner plans got a whole lot better. Now the trouble is, I also LOVE pan-fried Halloumi cheese – maybe I’ll do both.  Anyway, here are the recipes: INGREDIENTS for Pan-Fried Feta PEPPERED HONEY 1/4 cup honey 1/2-1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more for serving 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, plus more for serving FRIED FETA 1 (10-12 ounce) block feta cheese 1 large egg, beaten 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 2 thinly sliced lemon zest (from about 1 lemon) 1 cup cherry tomatoes 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped pita chips or pita bread, for serving {more}   INGREDIENTS for Roasted Cauliflower Salad 1 large head of cauliflower, cut into florets 1 can (14 ounce) chickpeas, drained 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1 tablespoon chipotle chili powder 2 teaspoons smoked paprika …

Happy Anniversary Among Other Things

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On Thursday I left work very excited about a few plans I made for the weekend. Friday morning tennis, and a Saturday walk across the Golden Gate Bridge to Sausalito from my house by Ocean Beach, lunch and then ferry back to the city to the train back to my neighborhood. Sunday and Monday were dedicated to the Spring cleaning project I had embarked on the weekend before. Friday I woke up with a backache, and decided it wasn’t going to stop me from playing tennis. So, after a power breakfast, I met up with a friend at an outdoor tennis court in my neighborhood. We played, for two hours more because we were grateful the weather had cooperated – considering the weirdest storms we were having all of last week. I felt great at the end of the match, so we decided to do lunch. The second I sat down at the table, I felt dizzy but figured I was just hungry. But when the food arrived, I couldn’t eat, instead I felt as …

Dreams of Dolphins Swimming

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Lately I’ve had some strange dreams and by the time I woke up I could not for the life of me, recollect what it was about. But last night I dreamt that I missed my stop while commuting into work, because I couldn’t put my shoes back on in time to bolt out of the sliding doors to the train,  and when the train pulled up to the next stop,  I stepped out of the ‘hover train’ onto a pool of water covering the tracks and most of the platform.  This made sense, I figured even within my dream I tend to rationalize.  You see we’ve been having  a weird storm in San Francisco, between downpours and light sprinkles and clouds and sun and cold and even colder winds blowing in all directions, I suppose my subconscious went to bed thinking about global warming and all the worst of the scenarios. So when I stood there in a foot of water on the platform, trying to figure out where the water had come from, I …

Lifestyle: Engaging Your Brain

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Here’s what I normally do – when someone offers up information about something. I Google to read all about it – or even more about it. This is also when I am watching a film, I feel the need to know everything about the actors, why they chose the part, to the project itself and budget and why certain studios considered it a smart investment; not to mention where the film took place – especially destination filming. History is even more fascinating to me and although my educators brushed up on some things back when I was in school, I find myself needing to expand on their fundamental teachings. We are fortunate today, that there is so much factual or fabricated ‘trivia’ available online to tap into, not only to expand on the knowledge, but also to engage the ol’ brain, which could potentially help improve with memory and cognition. That’s what I woke up this morning focused on and the need to share.  Let’s start shall we?