Hello, Goodbye, Hello!

It's finally happened - Inherit the Sun is moving to a new home! Please find all future writing on my shiny new WordPress site.

I'd been considering the switch to a new blog platform for a long time (years, actually!) but kept holding off for one reason or another. Inspiration struck last night and behold, a new blog is born! (Well, actually the same blog, with some extensive cosmetic changes.) I'm loving the crisp new layout, but I do wish there was a way to not have my "author photo" pop up all over the page when you click directly on a specific post. Oh well, maybe I'll take a foray into the guts of the website and manage to figure out how to make some changes without causing the site to explode... What? Anything's possible, right? :)

From now on, all blogging will happen over at inheritthesunblog.wordpress.com, but I haven't yet decided whether to migrate all my old posts or just keep them here. If any of you have opinions or advice about that, I'm all ears!

Thank you for reading (especially those of you who have been here for the long haul!), and I hope you'll continue to find my thoughts just as ridiculous, relatable, and enjoyable as ever. ♥

All my love and best wishes for an excellent September,
K xoxoxo

Happy October!

Am I the only one scratching my head as to how it's suddenly October 2013? I swear every year the days whiz by faster than the last...

Since I'm spending more time than I would like on the couch this week, recovering from late summer/early autumn cold #2, I thought the first of October (historically, my favourite month of the year!) would be a good time to bring you this delicious inspiration:

Baked Pumpkin Pie Oatmeal from: Budget Bytes

'Tis the season for all things pumpkin-y, and I have a feeling this simple yet scrumptious-sounding (and looking!) recipe will be making it into the breakfast rotation next week. If I can even hold out that long. Happy October, friends!

xo,
Kate

P.S. Looking for more festive fall flavour ideas? Previous pumpkin-obsessed posts here and here.

Food Blog Update

Just a quick note to update the url for my visual food log. You can still follow my progress here, on my spiffy new blog (I actually just gave the old one a facelift and new name). And to all of you who have written or made comments in person, thanks for all the love! xx

Progress makes Perfect?

Sometimes when I reflect on some of my main goals (like eating well), I can't help but feel overwhelmed by how far I still want to go. Healthy eating in particular seems a daunting task in today's frenzied fast-food culture, with sugar lurking behind practically every label (bread! yogurt! pasta sauce!), different opinions on what constitutes a healthy fat (to wit, the butter vs. margarine debate), and the cold hard reality that buying local and/or organic produce costs at least double the price of your average grocery store option. (I'm sorry, but I get really fed up with all the people who say that eating healthier foods does not cost more. It does! Do the math, people!!)

While I'm doing my best to navigate the sheer bombardment of food choices we are faced with on a daily basis (a blessing or a curse - you decide), there are inevitably days where I get to the dinner-making hour and just run out of steam. And in those moments, I would dearly love to drop a packet of ramen noodle into some boiling water, toss in a handful of veggies, and call it dinner. (Or better yet, just order a pizza.) Fatigue just makes everything seem bleak, I find. Making a dinner that at 2:30 pm seemed like a wonderfully balanced and not too time consuming option suddenly becomes The Impossible Dream right around five o'clock.

It doesn't help that I seem to be prone to severe bouts of sleepiness anytime between 4:30 pm to about 7 pm or so, and have been every since I was a child. (My mother used to have to force me to keep moving/do something active in the late afternoon/early evening when I was little, because otherwise I would fall asleep and then end up awake for the entire night.) This natural (genetic?) state of fatigue does NOT help matters when one is trying to pump out healthy dinners night after night (all those veggies won't chop themselves, you know!) and resist the urge to be lazy and just eat something convenient (read: unhealthy).

Last night, as I attempted to ward off sleep by plugging away in the kitchen (and calling my parents for a pep talk ♥), I was feeling kind of discouraged. (Along the lines of, why does something so basic (ie. feeding oneself) have to be so ridiculously complicated? What if after all this work I'm still not able to make any progress? etc.) And then it hit me, that just because my eating may not be perfect*, just because every goal I've made has not yet been reached, does not mean there has been no progress!

Thus, I decided it would be a good self-encouragement tool to document some of the lasting changes I have already made that are fine evidence of how I am working towards my goal of improving my diet and health.

In no particular order:
-Cutting out all soft drinks (Not that I used to drink a lot of soda, but I would often order a diet coke when we went out for lunch or dinner. No more!)
-Increasing vegetable intake (There used to be days where I wouldn't eat anything green. No more!)
-Eating more kale (Or other dark leafy greens. I read or heard somewhere that you should have at least one serving of dark leafies (as I like to call them) and one serving of bright orange veggies per day, and I try to hit this as many times a week as I can.)
-Replacing simple ("white") carbs with complex (whole grain) carbs (Except on Sundays, we get all our carbs from whole grains, fruits, and veggies. This is a HUGE change from my old white flour, white rice-eating ways!)
-Vastly reducing our sugar consumption (Not only have I greatly reduced how much refined sugar I'm eating straight up (to almost none), I'm also much more aware of sugar in foods like bread and yogurt, and have changed what I buy accordingly.)
-Replacing vanilla yogurt in my smoothies with plain (unsweetened) yogurt (Just one concrete example of how I'm eating less sugar.)
-Eating less meat (I used to scoff at the palm-sized portion idea, but now I try to follow that pretty carefully.)
-Eating more fish (Aside from the last couple weeks, where fish has not made an appearance on our plates, we usually eat salmon or some type of white fish about 1-2 times per week.)
-Reading package labels (I was REALLY good at this for a few years, and then I just became lazy or stopped caring. No more! I am now super scrupulous about reading every food label on the products I buy. Of course, it's best if most of what you buy doesn't come with a label, but some healthy stuff like oatmeal is still packaged, and I want to make sure I'm getting what I think I'm getting, with no added sugar or ingredients that can't be pronounced by normal human beings.)
-Cutting out juice (I used to only drink 100% fruit juices (none of that sugary "cocktail" stuff, please!) but now, except for the rare occasion we have orange juice, it's pretty much just milk, soy milk every so often, and lots of water.)
-Not letting sickness be an excuse (So, confession time: I used to be awful at eating well when I was under the weather. I figured that I was feeling lousy anyways, so I might as well eat whatever the heck I wanted (both to feel better and I guess because I thought it didn't matter since I was already sick?). Well, no more! I now have a mental list of Sore Throat Foods, for example, and am overall SO MUCH BETTER at sticking with healthy options even when I'm not feeling well. Of course, there are exceptions to this, but not nearly as many exceptions as there used to be. I call that a win!)
-Controlling portion sizes (I'm not sure I'm entirely hitting the mark on this one, but short of measuring everything (which I have done before, what a pain!!) I'm doing my best to eyeball using the hand-sizing method. At any rate, I'm doing better than I was before, although I'm sure there's still room for improvement...)
-Keeping track of what I eat (Another thing I used to sort of brush aside, but now I'm a believer! I think this is such a helpful tool in sticking with any kind of eating goal that goes against the mainstream.)


*And by the way, who defines what a perfect diet looks like? Scientists, doctors, dieticians, governments, and everyone else do not seem to be able to come to a consensus, though for the record, I think Michael Pollen's take is pretty spot-on.

P.S. A longer article about why butter IS better! ;)
P.P.S. In case you're wondering, Sore Throat Foods are foods that are cool, soothing, and not in the least bit acidic (ouch!). They should also not be deep fried (or too fatty), sugary, or contain much dairy, as these can also irritate the throat when it's at its most tender. Examples of my favourite Sore Throat Foods include watermelon, cucumbers, bananas, frozen blueberries, and steamed green leafies. Watermelon is one of the best because it is also super hydrating, which helps the body flush out toxins and recover faster. Plus, who doesn't love watermelon? :)

Visual Food (B)log

In an attempt to stay motivated to eat healthy, whole, natural foods (in a world of highly processed "food" full of too many types of sugar to count, super cheap fast food on every corner, and an ever-growing number of unpronounceable ingredients in mainstream products), I've started a visual food diary to document everything I consume for the next little while. My hope is that this will not only be a faster/easier way to keep track of what I'm eating (and how much) than writing it down or logging it into an online calorie counter, but also act as a type of accountability to curb those indulgent desires that can easily go from "enjoying a once-in-a-while treat" to "let's eat macarons for lunch and have fried chicken for dinner" on a regular basis. Because nothing good happens when you visit Popeyes twice in one week and cram your face full of sugar.

You can check out my progress here, or go to the "visual food log" tab at the top of this blog, where there is a page with the permanent link to the site. And while you're at it, Erin's food blog (my inspiration) is totally fantastic and encouraging (yay, lots of veggies, complex carbs, and whole foods in general!!) and has much better photography, so you should take a look-see at hers as well. Plus, how awesome is the name "No Sneaky Snacks"?!

Swept Away

They came back with viols as big as themselves, and with Thorin's harp wrapped in a green cloth. It was a beautiful golden harp, and when Thorin struck it the music began all at once, so sudden and sweet that Bilbo forgot everything else, and was swept away into dark lands under strange moons, far over The Water and very far from his hobbit-hole under The Hill. . .

And suddenly, first one and then another began to sing as they played, deep-throated singing of the dwarves in the deep places of their ancient homes; and this is like a fragment of their song, if it can be like their song without their music.

Far over the misty mountains cold
 To dungeons deep and caverns old
 We must away ere break of day
 To seek the pale enchanted gold.

                                                   --The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien

Having just seen "The Hobbit" last night, I can say without question that one of my favourite aspects of the film was this song, sung in perfect deep and haunting tones by Thorin (Richard Armitage) and his company of dwarves before they set out on the quest to reclaim their homeland. In the film none of them were playing instruments, but that in no way took away from the impact of the moment. I felt exactly as Bilbo did - that I was swept away and caught up in the beautiful, soulful melody that Howard Shore created to bring Tolkien's words to life.

(Apparently, someone who loves this song as much as I do has created a youtube video that just repeats it constantly for 25 minutes. Score! Plus, I love the clarity of the words/voices in this version, so you can hear their charming accents when they get to "the winds were moaning" - double score!!)

HT: Ruth at Booktalk & More, who inspired me to start you-tubing this song after this sweet post.

Pure Pumpkin Awesomeness

Just when I thought nothing could intensify my recent pumpkin-cravings, THIS HAPPENED.

Well, I guess we all know what I'm doing on Monday.

Fun Friday :)

A few fun things today, complete with Youtube videos. Enjoy! xx

1. The new theme song for the upcoming James Bond flick has been released. Adele was clearly the best choice to sing this rather epic number - what a lovely voice. Every time I hear one of her songs I'm drawn in by the depth and soulfulness of of her voice. ♥ Gorgeous! I also really love the graphic design for the "music video" - the font choice and timing of the lyrics on screen was just perfect and didn't distract at all from the impact of the instrumentation or vocals. Well done, designer(s), well done.

 

2. After reading this post, I'm inspired to line up some documentaries to watch with Wilson on some of our upcoming date nights. (We set aside one night per week that's just for the two of us to spend time together - easy enough before having kids, we'll see how long that continues once we have a little munchkin or two running around!) These three look intriguing to me... any other recommendations?

BABIES (Been wanting to see this one since I first heard of it a year or two ago. Babies!! ♥)

 



 

 

 

FIRST POSITION (Yikes - that "foot stretcher" looks like a medieval torture device!)

 



 

 

 

THE BLUE PLANET (Okay, technically this is a mini-series and not a documentary, but it still looks fascinating to me. I'm also interested in the highly acclaimed film Earth, which I believe was produced by the same team. This clip is from one of The Blue Planet episodes. The music drives up the intensity so much - love it!)





Hello, Harvest!

Ever wondered why three of our seasons (summer, winter, and spring) have but a single name, while the most glorious of all seasons (ahem, no bias here!) can be called either autumn or fall? Just the other day I made an off-hand comment to Wilson about how it's called "fall" because that's what the leaves do, but I wasn't sure where the term "autumn" came from.

Said question was still rattling around in my brain earlier this week when I stumbled upon this article, which explains the whole linguistic conundrum beautifully. Apparently before either "fall" or "autumn" appeared in mainstream English usage, the period between summer and winter was generally referred to as "harvest." I must admit, that term has a nice homey, traditional ring to it that I quite like.

I'm sure most of us city-folk have little cause to call this season "harvest" anymore, but don't you think it's a nice reminder that despite having 24/7 access to pretty much every kind of food imaginable, there is still a pattern to growing things and the harvesting of crops that no cutting-edge technology or international trade can ever fully replace? In any case, call it what you will, I do so love this time of year... pumpkin-cravings and all! :)

xo,
Kate

P.S. Linguistic article found via Tim Challies' website. That man finds the coolest stuff on the web!
P.P.S. My favourite part of the article is the very last paragraph - love the whole Britain vs. America dynamics, tee hee!

Lewis

Friends, allow me to share my new obsession favourite pastime with you:

I am officially in love with this series! Poor Wilson will attest that I have no interest in watching anything else these days, and have basically absconded with the entire set between the library and my parents' private collection. Pretty much every night that we don't have other plans, I curl up on the couch, bat my eyelashes and sweetly suggest, "Honey, want to watch an episode of Lewis?"

There are a plethora of reasons I am smitten with this show. First of all, the Masterpiece Mystery! production itself is a throwback to happy childhood memories of movie nights with my parents, when we would gather 'round the screen and watch the ever so elegant Diana Rigg introduce that night's feature presentation (usually a Hercule Poirot mystery with David Suchet masterfully portraying Christie's brilliant detective). I still remember quite clearly the Masterpiece opening title sequence which I completely adored: a Gorey-esque animation in sombre hues with the occasional splash of colour and a "fainting woman" who had swooned on the edge of a crumbling parapet. Oh, BBC, even your opening credits are noteworthy.

Which brings me to point #2: the BBC seem to have rather a unique talent for consistently producing high calibre TV series. (In our family, other favourites include Foyle's War and Midsomer Murders). Maybe it's merely my British roots showing through, but I often find the quality of their programming to be head and shoulders above what we're producing in North America. I just can't resist British comedies, British mysteries, and even the occasional British romance/drama. Now if only the dialogue of these shows wasn't drowned out by the noise of gravel crunching underfoot, or what have you! But aside from that strangely British idosyncrasy, the production quality of this particular series is superb. Wonderful camera angles, story-telling, dialogue, and a talented cast that bring to life characters you can’t help but fall in love with.

 

Thirdly, Lewis (or Inspector Lewis, as we say on this side of the pond) is set in Oxford, which is pretty much the most ideal place to shoot a TV series, ever. I mean, it's Oxford! Steeped in tradition, birthplace of brilliant thinkers and some of the most beloved authors of all time, full of quaint shops, old churches, stunning spires, and home to two on-screen detectives who get to flip open their badges and say "Oxfordshire police" in charming British accents.

Excuse me while I swoon.

Lewis features tight plots that still twist deliciously and keep you guessing ‘til the end, a sublime cast, sumptuous visuals of Oxford and surrounding countryside, and a palpable chemistry between Detective Inspector Robert Lewis (Kevin Whately) and Detective Sergeant James Hathaway (Laurence Fox) that makes the whole series sing. Throw in enough Shakespeare quotations to satisfy even the fussiest English teacher, plus a dash of Latin and Ancient Greek (it is Oxford, after all!) and what more could a girl ask for?

Aside from providing a delightful distraction from the drudgery of daily duties, Lewis has sparked in me a passion for a trip to Oxford. Just to wander around Oxford’s many colleges, have a picnic in the Botanic Garden, stop in at the local pub for a pint glass of orange juice... Sigh. Well, maybe one day... A girl can dream, can’t she?

In the meantime, I’m getting my fill of Oxford via any season of Lewis I can get my hands on, and picking up British slang while I’m at it (to wit: “dishy,” “get it sorted,” and my personal favourite, “rumpy-pumpy”). I might secretly be cherishing the aspiration to introduce some of these phrases into mainstream Canadian conversation, but you won’t get me to admit that at one point I started reading a passage of Jane Eyre aloud in a British accent. What?! You can’t prove a thing!

A Do-Nothing Day

Despite waking up this morning at 6:30 am and discovering that the back pain I was experiencing in my dream was actually back pain I was experiencing in real life, it's been a pretty good day all around. I cancelled my morning gym appointment, soothed my back with a hot pack that Wilson heated up for me, and then tucked in for a lazy day at home. Well, after making scrambled eggs and oatmeal for breakfast. I figured since I was already awake and clearly not about to go back to sleep anytime soon I might as well make myself useful before Wilson left for work. :p

Miraculously, my back pain has completely disappeared now (What the what?! Not that I'm complaining!), and I'm extra rested and ready to face a full day of work and errands tomorrow. Plus, I've checked some correspondence items off my to do list, researched what kind of tablet we should buy if we do indeed buy a tablet, and even signed myself and a friend up for ZUMBA! classes at a local studio, thanks to a great online deal.

So now it's off to listen to more tracks from Laurence Fox (my latest music obsession), read the graphic novel I borrowed from the library, and make a teriyaki shrimp stir fry for dinner. Life is good. :)

L'obsession

Forgive me for a slightly vapid post today, buuuut...I can't stop thinking about this perfume!

Quite a few months ago it was highlighted on a blog I frequent, and I was planning to check out a sample but I never actually ended up going to Sephora. (Admittedly, I have a bit of a hang-up about going into stores like Sephora. Always makes me feel so self-conscious, way more than I usually do!!) Then today it popped up on my radar again and I can't get it out of my head.

It's described thusly on the website: "This fresh, smooth floral fragrance evokes sublime powdery rose. The effect is chic, comfortable, and entirely addictive. Top notes of pink peony, freesia, and lychee embody subtle freshness. At the heart, midnotes of magnolia flower, lily of the valley, and rose rise to sublimated femininity. A base of velvety elegance comes to fruition through cedarwood, amber, and honey."

Alright, so the description is a little over the top. (Sumbilmated femininity, really?!?!) But don't those delicate, flowery scents sound perfect for summer? Or fall? Or winter...

One compliment I find secretly thrilling is when someone says, "Mmm, you smell great!" Haha, juvenile perhaps, but true! Who doesn't like smelling fresh and lovely, though? So maybe I'll do a Sephora-run tomorrow after all. (Bonus, I can pick up a refill of my favourite lip balm of all time. Yay, two birds with one stone!) I wonder if the Chloé Eau de Parfum will displace my usual scented shampoo/conditioner as my "signature" fragrance of choice?

Full-Body Malaise

Tonight, after a full-ish day of work (though I got to leave early, yay!), I decided to crash on the couch with mindless TV in the background and my laptop staring me in the face. A few hours later, the Internet had brought me a really interesting article about Meryl Streep (♥), another article about the intersection of faith and a modelling career, a blog post examining why the question, "So, how big is your church?" is probably not ideal, some links to pricey but nice-looking make-up at Sephora, and a final blog post in which the author used the term "Full-Body Malaise" - a phrase I am now officially adopting for excessive use on this blog and in real life. Oh, how beautifully these three little words sum up how I'm feeling tonight.

That, people, is why I love the Internet.

(In other random news: I have known for a while that I have an extreme aversion to clipping my nails, but I just discovered that I also have an even more extreme aversion to other people clipping their nails in my presence. The sound, the sound! Is it strange that it took over three years of marriage to discover this?)

P.S. Just because I love you, and we are on the topic of The Wonders of the Internet, I bring you this genius video. I'm not sure if it was actually staged or truly impromptu, but in any case, it makes me smile. Enjoy! xo