A New Me

Hey, it's been a while! I started a part time job as a customer service rep for a small call center a couple of days a week. So far, I really like it. A small office with a male manager and 3 other women who do NOT chit chat. Nice and quiet. The manager is the most vibrant of us all so he entertains us a bit. There is one conversation a day that involves us all and usually ends in laughter....just a couple of minutes to break up the day. No complaints here!

The other change in my life has been finding "the 17 day diet" which is really 4 cycles of 17 days each and it has revolutinized my thinking and positivity for the better. I'm hitting weight loss goals fast without sacrificing flavor or foods I like. I just started cycle 3 today and lost 17 pounds up to now. In January I started eating less carbs and on my own, lost 14 pounds over 3 months.

With this new diet, I lost 17 pounds in 34 days...SO much better. I have steady energy throughout the day and at an average of 1/2 pound a day, I am so very happy, unlike any other food plan I've tried before. So with this new cycle I pretty much eat what I want now while watching my portions more closely.

I LOVE my daily walks where I really feel a different area of my body being affected each day. I'm walking almost an hour...not because someone told me to but because I love walking more than any other exercise, and my BODY is telling me how much it needs. Okay, so it "talks" to me...what can I say?

SO, I haven't produced ANY new jewelry during this time as I change my life, but I will if you need something special. Check back for photos of my slender self one of these days.

Cool Idea on a Hot Day

Still getting used to the new blogger features..ugh...but here I am so it's not so bad.  It is incredibly hot here in the east bay of San Francisco today.  The very rare Santa Ana winds are blowing hard.  This is air that blows hot from east to west whereas most winds blow in from the ocean...west to east.  The Santa Ana canyon is in the desert wayyyy south of me down in the lower third of California, but we still call these winds Santa Ana's.

Here is my cool tip for this hot day that I got from some magazine.  After trying several methods to keep fresh basil...well...fresh, I finally found the right one.  Wrapping in paper towel and then into the grocery store plastic bag didn't work....standing the clipped ends in water in the fridge didn't work.

But this totally works!  Just keep the basil in the bag from the store but trap air inside before you tie it off.  That's IT!  And it works so well that the photos I'm showing you is basil that is over a week old...usually by this time there is some blackening but look how FRESH that is!  Amazing and so easy AND it worked on my parsley and cilantro as well.

The ONLY negative?  Finding a darned location in my fridge for this big air filled bag...dang!  That wasn't so easy but it was worth moving other goodies around so that I could have my bruschetta several days after buying the basil...

Yum yum.

An old standby

Okay, my last food story. I've got to back to jewelry this week and finish my Valentine goodies!

I returned to my roots today and fixed a lovely bowl of cream of wheat. I know, some of you
probably detest the stuff, but when it is the perfect blend of creamy milk, brown sugar and bananas, I feel very comforted considering the cold weather. Used to have it when I was a kid and needed a "fix" so I bought my first box in probably 20 years. Sure was yummy! It will give me stamina when I take my walk later.

Okay, my goal is that on my next post I will have Valentine jewelry for you before the end of the week.

See you then!