The silliest things can be found in airplanes

You never know when you might need one of those!


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Happy Halloween!

Why am I not wishing you tomorrow? Because I will be flying to Pittsburgh for a costume party. It's only for the weekend, but it'll be fun being back none the less.











Have a great one!

Adventures in dieting.

I have started dieting and exercise again - after a trip to my doctor who gave me a surprisingly clean health bill, and the realization that part of the rent I'm paying is towards the clubhouse gym, and though the exercise part is easy (go downstairs, get on the elliptical, work out, get off, go home), the dieting part is another thing altogether.

Good food is one of the things that get me going. I enjoy eating out, discovering cuisines, and cook at home when I can. I am taking a healthy approach when cooking at home but even then, dieting often means letting go of some favourite foods for a while.

One thing is for sure though. I cannot do without carbs. I can minimize fats from my diet, but carbs? Forget it! Living only on protein and vegetables is not going to happen. I never feel full after a no carb meal and their lack from my system makes me pretty cranky too.

So, I am following a moderately low calorie diet - I am using an iPhone app called LoseIt!, in which you set a weight loss goal, then log your food and exercise and keep track of your daily calorie quota. Pretty simple, it's like Weight Watchers w'out other people. Which is good for me, dieting with strangers would not motivate me in the least. And it doesn't tell you "du must eet zis and zis and zat" with a Frau Helga accent.

Today I was craving roasted vegetables, but the fridge was sadly empty. I only had a couple of tomatoes that don't roast well at all. So I opted for the second best thing which was:

1 of said tomatoes
1 bag of instant microwave basmati rice
1 good tablespoon of shredded parmesan
1 dash of my Italian Herb Mix

Instant comfort food that will stay with me for a while. Unfortunately, it doesn't photograph very well!

Made it to the trees!

The weather forecast was right for a change, and this Monday afternoon came with a temperature of 14oC and lovely blue skies - a perfect setting for visiting the Morton Arboretum as mentioned at my previous post.

If you do the clickity on the link you'll find out that it is quite a vast piece of land in the township of Lisle, IL, hosting trees and shrubs from all over the world. For $11 a person (adult price) one can stay on the premises till its closing at sunset. It is trailed with one way paths for cars with a no-rush speed limit of 20 miles per hour, which is great if you want to take the car half way and then get down and walk in one of the walk-only trails around the main paths.

Hubby and I got snap happy and took about 70 pics, and we liked quite a few of them. We hope to go back in the spring when the trees will be blooming again - I don't think that it'll be of much interest in the winter other than for the evergreens.

Resting at the mall

I unearthed my real camera just the other day and renewed my habit of carrying with me just in case. I'm loving my iPhone, but the quality is nowhere near the real thing.

Location's the Fox Valley Mall in Aurora, a nearby township. I normally avoid shooting towards people for a variety of reasons, unless I'm out at some festivity or something, but I don't think shooting ceilings from below fits into that :)

I had plans to visit the Morton Arboretum today, but the weather was less than cooperative (the nice blue sky that you see in the picture turned into a nasty overcast in less than 30 minutes!). It is supposed to be better on Monday, though.

Fall

It's fall for real. The colors on the trees and bushes around my apartment complex speak for themselves :)


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A new day yesterday

I rediscovered this blog and thought that maybe it's time for a post and a pic.



view from my bedroom window

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