Skinny Minny!!

Well, almost.

Doomsday prepping.  (that is, giving up
 alcohol,  caffeine and sugar)

BUT since my last post, I completed my 10 day detox diet and am now…..drumroll, please…….. 12.6lbs lighter!!!  (I obviously had a lot of tox-es to de-myself of!).

Yep, I survived the Hell that is Life Without Caffeine, Alcohol and Sugar and my body seems to like it very much!  As per my last post, the first couple of days were definitely the hardest - I had zero energy and just felt, well, off, but by day 4, I was starting to feel better.  Now its day 13 and counting and I feel completely fantastic!!   Now I won't bang on about it too much like an evangelical bore, but it was surprisingly easy (once you got past the first couple of days) - I was following the plan in the 10 Day Detox Diet book by Dr Mark Hyman (he also wrote the Blood Sugar Solution diet) and I loved that it told you what to do and when for each day, so you didn't have to think, just follow instructions.  The food was GREAT - all his recipes were fantastic and I found myself rediscovering the fun of cooking.  Pootling about in the kitchen while making supper and listening to Radio 4 Extra is just so comforting and homey.  Love it.

Now this was bloody lovely.
Steamed sole with ginger and scallions.

One of the hardest bits was committing to getting up at 6am each morning to get to the gym for 30mins of exercise before breakfast but now I'm over that initial hump and I'm actually - shock horror - starting to look forward to my morning run!!  I've even signed up for a 5K run round Lincoln Park Zoo on June 1st!!  And this time I won't be hungover or wearing a penguin costume!  So yey me - and here's to the next 12lbs - onwards and downwards!!  The only question i have is - why, o why, did I not know about this book when I was doing the Get Lean and Loopyliscious Challenge?!!!  Just think of all those forfeits I wouldn't of had to have done!!!

Grilled tofu with basil cilantro pesto
and grilled courgettes

Anyway, enough of that, but I wanted to share as I'm feeling in a rather chipper mood and considerably more perky than I've been for a long while.  It also helps that its not sub-zero temperatures outside any more and the whole town seems to be bursting forth with life and sproutiness.  Walking to go buy a paper last Saturday (and to have a hot stone massage to treat myself and my new Temple-like body), I walked past a little crop of bluebells, right by the train station.  It reminded me of growing up in Cornwall, the vast swathes of bluebells and daffodils that used to dot the countryside, and it made me feel warm and vaguely nostalgic.  I think i'm definitely getting soft in my old age.  Its also getting more and more beautiful around town, as the trees start coming in to blossom - today, it was a glorious 65 degrees and the simple joy of feeling the warmth of the sun on your face is definitely appreciated more after the Snowmaggedon I've just endured!  Its even getting warm enough now so that a trip up to our gorgeous roof deck is now completely pleasant and a sensible thing to do, rather than a hypothetically good idea that turns out to be bloody freezing, but which you sit out for at least 10 mins anyway, in an act of futile meteorological defiance!  It did, though, force me to finally figure out how the fire pit worked, so that trip wasn't completely wasted!

Its alive!!  The ground has finally unfrozen and it lives!!

So, the date for Operation Elephant Freedom draws ever closer.  I am SOOOOOOO excited to move and, not surprisingly, to actually see the new apartment I've already committed to living in for the first time!  I'll be able to get access on May 10th so as to measure up, then I get the keys on Tues 12th!  WHOOOOO-HOOOO!!!!

I've got the movers booked, the Elfa people on standby to do a rapid turnaround of Old Closet to New Closet, the cable man sorted, the new furniture delivery sorted AND I figured I might as well throw a Housewarming party into the mix for good measure!  One day off my clean living detoxed diet to enjoy champagne, sushi, pie and pizza!  Yey!  I've invited a bunch of folk from work and from the building and am also going to invite my immediate neighbors on the 5th floor - be nice to start to get to know a few more folk in the building.  I already know one guy - I sold him my acoustic Martin guitar (yes - I finally parted with it!) so perhaps he can bring it, so i can hear how it should be played!  I can't wait to share my new place with you all - the main living area and bedroom are very very different from the style I've had since I moved to NYC over 10yrs ago.  I just fancied a change - and the tax return man kindly obliged, so I thought, why not?  Today the indoor/outdoor table-top ethanol fireplace arrived and looks very fancy - it'll be perfect on my new black honed granite dining table or on the cocktail table in my patio outside.  The cats are also enjoying trying to destroy the lovely tiffany blue and cream swirly indoor/outdoor rug I bought for outside, so the sooner I can get that out of the way of their little Feet of Destruction, the better.  Also, it goes without saying that - as soon as my move is done, my place is open for visitors!!  So come to Evanston and visit!!! (and for you cat allergic peeps, my building also has a non-fluffed guest suite that you can reserve, so no excuses!!)

Anyway, THANK YOU for your suggestions so far for places for me to visit and Stuff to Do.  It was all remarkably sensible with a low probability of my getting arrested, so that was a pleasant surprise.  I've decided to wait to do most of them until Mumsie arrives in 3 weeks (yey!) and will put all the suggestions into the TARDIS of Dreams and draw one out each weekend.  Keep the suggestions coming, though - we need to have enough to keep Mumsie out of trouble for her entire trip….

Oh go on then.  Don't mind if I do.

I did, however, stop into the Botanic Gardens a couple of weekends ago as the weather was absolutely glorious and there was an Antiques Fair And Some Other Random Attraction on that weekend.  (side note: this is how crazy-assed the weather is here - Saturday, it was 72 degrees and I got burnt, Monday it was bloody well SNOWING!!).  So, i decided this should be my first foray into Doing Local Stuff - especially as its directly on the way home from work, so I can see it becoming a favorite place to stop off afterwards and.. umm.. smell the roses.  Also - as there was an antique fair on - I thought i might look for some fun or distinctive bar ware for my soon-to-be delivered bar cart (G&T anyone?).

Well.  Its amazing the shite that people will buy.

To give you a sense of the immensity of turdy tat that was on display - I didn't buy a single thing.  Nada.  Nought.  And remember, I'm the girl who successfully managed to shop in the cafeteria at work the week before in Zurich.  So for me to walk out completely empty-handed gives you an idea of just how much crap and tack there was on offer!  You have to wonder how people manage to make a living selling frogs made out of stones and "faeiries" made out of wire and whimsy.  Unbelievably, at the other end of the spectrum, were stalls selling estate Chanel jewelry and Hermes purses - i mean, who comes to an Antiques fair and drops 20 grand on a second-hand handbag?!  Craziness.

But, it was fun to people watch and to sit outside in the It'll Be Beautiful Once Everything's Sprouted garden and enjoy the sunshine.  Here are a few pics from the day (the stuff I could find that was already in bloom!) - enjoy!

No idea what these are.  But they were there and
 so was I, so it seemed rude not to…. 

Loopy - these are for you as I know
how much you love 'em…. 

Path with green stuff - a welcome change

I guess they really like white.

And - finally - Dylan showing everyone how its done.