McDonald's 4 Year Old Cheeseburger Video

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY REPULSIVE! So happy I do not eat McDonald's.

The United States of McDonalds

Isn't this disturbing! There are 13,000 McDonalds in this picture. When I saw this picture, I immediately thought of Food Inc. In that documentary McDonalds ways were exposed. From the farms to the actually contents of the meat! I also thought of Super-Size Me, which I just watched for the first time about a month ago.

Notice how congested the shore-lines are. When foreigners arrive they get a nice Welcome to the Fast Food Nation Greeting. Also.. you can actually see some lines of McDonalds locations.... must be the major highways.

California Giants

This is absolute breath-taking! I want to go see it!

Day at the Creek

A week or two ago I took Olivia, the 9 year old i am a nanny for, out for the day. We took a trip to Grings Mill. It is a beautiful walking trail that runs parallel to a large creek. It was beautiful day. She loves nature and is happiest when she is able to be in it. Me too Olivia!!!!

The Dirty Dozen

I found a list of the top twelve fruits/veggies you should buy organic. At foodnews.org they call them the "dirty dozen" top twelve with the highest pesticide content.

buy these organic as often as possible

1. peach

2. apple

3. bell pepper

4. celery

5. nectarine

6. strawberries

7. cherries

8. kale

9. lettuce

10. grapes (imported)

11. carrot

12. pear

Of course this list is also the fruits and veggies i eat the most of! The article said that people who eat the top 12 more often cosume an average of 10 pesticides a day! I know that this can get pricey, but in my store the apples and carrots barely have much of a price difference in the organic and non-organic.

I'm not sure why the grapes were listed as "imported"

I was a little surprised that tomatoes were not on the list. i imagined that they would have a lot of chemicals on them.

Tomatoes, along with avocados were on the top 15 of lowest in pesticides..... which made me happy! I love my avocados!!!

OH MY WORD!!!! This is so disgusting! No wonder America is filled with heart disease. I think this can put anyone into cardiac arrest, i'm sure they serve fries with it as well! I imagine some wash it down with a large coke as well! YUCK YUCK YUCK!!! I just don't understand why they would actually put this on the menu.

The Crying Glacier

I can not believe this picture! I think it is amazing someone even found this!

indoor gardens

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3505988824_71a5e88176.jpg

I just love how clever some people can be. I heard about this a while back, but never really checked it out! It's amazing! Fresh Salad YEAR ROUND!!!

I also think this is really clever as well!!

containergardening.about.com

berry banana breakfast w/ a book

Berry Banana Breakfast

This morning i made a yummy breakfast of Oat Bran Hot Cereal, org. blackberries, org. bananas, blueberries, a little bit of rice milk and a bit of agave nectar..... it was delightful!!! Very filling as well!!! Washed it down with a tall glass of water, and began enjoying my book!

This truly is a lovely morning!!!

Reading Rut

I recently got an account on www.goodreads.com. It's a website where you and your friends post about books you've read, are currently reading, or would like to read. I love seeing what friends have on their lists, and I like to see how they liked a book or not. I value their opinions and suggestions on a good book. It's interesting to see how alike our tastes are, and also how different.

I enjoy a good book, but have been having problems getting into one. So, I have read the first chapter of many books, only to discover..... I'M NOT INTERESTED!!! I just assume if i don't like the first chapter, i won't like the book.......

FINALLY! A breakthrough! I just started to read To Kill A Mockingbird....... a "high school read" that was never assigned to me. I am loving it. I am only a few chapters in, but i know already that this is the book I am actually going to read. I really didn't know anything about the story prior to starting. The back of the book only has one sentence pertaining to the contents. The rest, about the author. Often, I find myself loving both books and movies, that I have no information on. That way i don't have an idea in my head how the story will go, and if i think i am going to like it or not.

Women in Art

Here is a video that i found very interesting. I love to watch it! It's Women in Art over the last 500 years.

Tapped

Here is a documentary I really want to see. I have been in a documentary mood... maybe i will have a documentary marathon!

This film is about the bottled water industry. It is amazing how something so vital to our lives can ruin lives. If i see it, i will post about it.

flower power

This is so cool! In boston, toyota has set up solar powered laptop charging stations. It also provides wifi... all in an effort to advertise the new prius. I think it is cool, and would totally spend hours sitting on the flower station, wishing i could buy a prius.!:)

I have been wanting to watch An Inconvenient Truth lately. It is a so blunt about what is happening to the earth... it is scary to watch, but full of so much information. When i watch all the bar graphs line up almost exactly the same it amazes me. I wish i could see bar graphs of violence, immorality, and hunger. They too would have the exact same pattern, I'm sure.

Also, Al Gore is surprisingly, slightly funny!!!

Dread the Shred

oooohhh!!! last night i did Jillian Michaels 30 day shred for the first time. Ouch Ouch Ouch!!! I can not believe it.... i was literally on the edge of tears.... it was sooo intense. My favorite part was the crunches, because everything else was squats, and by the 10 minute mark i was in pain! At least the crunches i was lying down!!

I want to do it today, but i can not walk down steps, or sit down. Guess i didn't stretch enough!!!

Jillian Michaels is so fierce... every time i stopped to take a little rest she said "push through" or "if you want to see results you can't stop." It was funny how she said this right around the same times i wanted to quit..... i felt like she would have yelled at me if i did! hahaa

Spectacular Spektor

Last night I got the new Regina Spektor cd. I am only half way through it, but this is my favorite song!!!!

I love when she says "lets buy a silver bullet trailer and have a baby boy."

I just love all the lyrics!!

I think that is interesting that this song is on her new cd, but the video is 6 years old....

. it's a wonder when these artists write their songs, and why they wait to put in a particular album.

Weight Wars

I got together a small group of girls to compete in a weight war! We have 2 months to see who loses the most weight. It started monday. I really feel motivated..... which is the whole purpose in the contest... to motivate!!! I have been doing really well...... so well in fact that a "normal" sized meal fills me sooo quickly! i don't know how much i have lost yet.... but i do feel like i have lost some.

My plan was to exercise more as well... but i haven't been too motivated to do that...... only eat right..... but i hope to change that. I just cleaned up my "gym"...... i removed the big bulky recliner chair that tempted me..... revealing a large area of floor to do pilates on. I have heard from other "contestants" that they are having great workout sessions and i am jealous!! I have to catch up! MOTIVATION!!!! We are only a few days into it and the motivation is intense!

I'm in love with this music

I often will look up my favorite artists in itunes... and then look at the "listeners also bought" list to find new music..... today i started with andrew bird... who i wrote about before, and continued to bon iver... which i stumbled upon before... but today gave him a second chance..... I am in love with his song skinny love!!!! So I decided to google him.... which took me to his myspace..... on his myspace i saw another band.... Bowerbirds...which i thought was funny... ha birds... like andrew bird... anyway... I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!! Here is a music video of theirs..... the video is a little weird... reminds me of fleet foxes video in a way... which is funny because bon iver reminds me of fleet foxes in a way.......... anyway... enjoy!  I love the lyric ... it takes a lot of nerve to destroy this wondrous earth.

I just that accordion! 

Here is their story...

The roots of the Bowerbirds lie in the Raleigh, NC, indie rock trio Ticonderoga, who were led by singer and guitarist Phil Moore. During the recording of the trio's second album, 2005's The Heilig Levine LP, Moore took a job tracking birds for the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences, which involved living in a cabin in the Carolina woods, far from civilization. Moore's girlfriend, a visual artist named Beth Tacular (born Beth Salmon) joined him in the cabin to work on her painting; at night, Moore began writing songs influenced by the couple's rustic, natural surroundings. When Ticonderoga split up on tour supporting their second album, Moore and Tacular started their own band, the Bowerbirds, with Tacular teaching herself how to play the accordion and acquiring a marching band-style bass drum to keep rudimentary time....( this was taken from http://mog.com/music/Bowerbirds/bio)

It is my dream to live in rustic natural surroundings while i paint and my husband writes songs, and i learn the accordion and marching band bass drum!!!!! hahahaha    

Also, Bon Iver recorded his album deep in the woods in a cabin!!! I like him.... a little high pitched.... but i still like it.     

p.s. both skinny love by bon iver and in the talons by bowerbirds is free on amazon

 

David Gray: Beautiful Performer

David Gray is an artist I would love to see live. In fact he is on my top 5 to see..... coldplay is number one, but i am seeing them in 2 weeks!!! 

I love this live video... he sounds great live, and his concerts look like a lot of fun. Also, i think his crowd is a little more pleasing than a lot of concerts i have been to with a bunch of tweens and obnoxious college students.... although, i may be wrong!

The Cello in this video is beautiful, and the drummer is a riot!!

This song is from his album white ladder... one of my favorites albums of all time. It even remains the top selling album of all time in Ireland, eleven years since it's release! ELEVEN YEARS!!! It's hard to believe that i was in 8th grade when i first saw babylon on VH1. Oh dear! Life goes by so quick!!!! 

new panera

I am sitting here in our newly decorated Panera Bread! It is beautiful! The walls are covered with fresh paint, eggplant purple and sunflower yellow. They have paintings and tapestries on the walls and it is so beautiful! The paintings are funny, but look like something you would see for sale at little independent cafe. All of them have a loaf of bread in them. One is a large loaf hovering over a cube of butter, another is a woman posing on a chair, in her lap her hand is resting on a french baguette. My two favorites:  7 loafs  floating in the air, like a dream or something. The other, a dog sitting next to the kitchen counter, nose in air directing towards the fresh loaf. I'd take a picture but the place is hopping! Lots of people are showing up now, it's a cooler, rainy day. People must want coffee or soup today!! I sure do!! I got a hazelnut coffee and now i am thinking of swinging by the grocery store to buy some soup to make later. I have about an hour before I have to go pick up Ethan, one of my "nanny kids". So, off i go to b&n, then giant (grocery store). 

Lush!

While I was out in Indiana, I was on a mission to find a dress to wear to my sisters wedding. I searched high and low in PA, but failed. I also failed in Indiana and Kentucky.  In the end I wore a dress I already had. While on this pointless mission, we were walking through macy's, I caught in the corner of my eye....... A LUSH STORE!!!! I was speechless....my mouth dropped and my eyes grew wide. I glanced back at my friends and dashed over to scope it out! It was actually in the macy's, like clinique has a little kiosk space. 

I have never been to a Lush store, but always wanted to. 

All of their products are hand-made. They make lotions, shampoos, soaps, deodorants, etc. and they don't use any harsh chemicals!!!  www.lushusa.com

I bought two shampoo bars. I love them! I wet my hair and slide the bar across my scalp 4 times... and voila!!! I have soap in my hair all ready for massaging and lathering up. It lathers better than shampoo liquids in my opinion. They claim it is the same amount as three bottles. Only, after looking online do I see the claim is three 250ml shampoo bottles. That's more like 1 and half normal sized bottles! But it doesn't use bottles.

I definitely recommend you try it out for yourself!!!  I do not regret buying the two bars, which is coconut, and the other patchouli.  I will only treat myself to this since i spent 15 dollars on it......i don't know.... i see how long they last and if it cost more or less.

Yikes!!

Thunder over Louisville
Bushkill Falls
My sisters wedding
Well, it has been 2 weeks since i last posted! Thought I was going to be pretty committed to blogging.... guess i was wrong. 

These past two weeks were pretty crazy and packed full of things to do. First, visiting my friends in Indiana, then my sisters wedding, and then my cousin visiting me.

I had a lot of fun in Indiana. I ate at great restaurants and saw a cool fireworks show, Thunder over Louisville. 

My sisters wedding went well. No crazy mishaps. 

And I had a lot of fun with my cousin Aly. We went to Bushkill Falls, which i have been craving for a long time. We went on the harder hike, which turned out to be really easy!!! Here are a few pictures of my past 2 weeks!!!

Got my Hair Cut!!!

I got my hair cut today. I really didn't need one, but i wanted it to be shaped up for my sisters wedding next week. It is such a beautiful day here in Reading, Pennsylvania! I want to go out for a walk at Gring's Mill, a runners, bikers, and walkers, path that runs along a large creek. It is gorgeous there, but unfortunately i cant. Why?  Well, I am a procrastinator!! I am leaving tomorrow morning to visit friends in Indiana, and I didn't not pack!!! ooops. 

I am really excited though, they live only 25 minutes from Louisville, Ky. It is a very clean city and i enjoy visiting it. Last time i was out there they took me to Ramsi's Cafe on the world. I had the most delicious vegan sandwich there. I still dream about it.....hahaha.... really great cuisine! www.ramsiscafe.com   I got the grilled vegetable panini....mmmm. I should try to mimic it! 

Well, there are plans being made for this weekends trip that involve other vegetarian/vegan friendly restaurants! I am excited!!

                                                 My New Hair Cut!