There’s something crawling on the ceiling!!

I woke up startled last night at 1:05am as Grant leaped up and over me out of bed. I turned over to see what the hell he was doing and he was half standing, half crouching – naked – peering up at the top of the bedroom window.

“What the hell are you doing?!!” I asked.

“There’s something crawling on the ceiling near the window!” he replied.

“What? Something crawling? What do you mean?”

“It’s there!”

“Oh my god. Turn on the light and look then. Fuck.”

He turned on the light. There was nothing on the ceiling.

“What the fuck. I swear there was something there. I saw it!”

“What was it?”

“I don’t know!”

Grant then stands on the bed and shakes the curtains. Nothing.

He then whips open the curtains. Standing full-length in front of the window (that faces the street and the houses 10 metres across from our house) – naked.

“What the fuck!”

Nothing.

“How could you see something? You’ve been asleep for an hour and you were sleeping on your stomach!!”

“I swear it was real.”

“So, what was it? A ceiling mouse or something?”

laughter.

“You were sleeping. Like the time you screamed for me to wake up and sit up in bed with my knees pulled up because you swore something was at the foot of the bed. Remember? Sleeping.”

“Sorry babe.”

True story. It’s always an adventure sharing a bed with Grant!

Mega BLAHs

I had such good intentions of pushing my exercise regime to the next level by adding pre-work runs to the mix. Here’s what last week looked like:

Sunday: 1 hour Zumba
Monday: 20 minute morning run, 1 hour spinning after work
Tuesday: 1 hour pilates, 1 hour Zumba
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 1 hour Zumba
Friday: rest
Saturday: 40 minute elliptical

My goal was to do a pre-work run three times last week. But, SHIN SPLINTS. The combo of running + Zumba (lots of jumping) was NOT GOOD. But I really enjoy running, so I’m determined to work at it. I already bought a new pair of shoes, and I’ve modified my running technique to take some pressure off my shins. I’ve also started icing my shins post-workouts, which helps the pain…a lot.

I will not give up!

This week, however, has started mega-lazy. I count Sunday as the first day of the week (fitness-wise), and yesterday I was recovering from a copious amount of vodka. And since I haven’t really been drinking for the past month, I really felt it in the morning.

I didn’t leave the flat yesterday.

Actually.

I didn’t leave the sofa yesterday.

I will go spinning tonight and sweat away my Monday Mega-BLAHS.  I’m also going to update my workout playlist, because you guys gave me a lot of great tunes!

Take some flowers, stuff ’em full of cheese

I’ve been dreaming of piping some minty ricotta into some courgette flowers for a long time. Like, years.

courgette flowers, a rare find in Amsterdam.

The problem is that our local markets, even the expensive organic one around the corner, never seem to have them. I asked a few stalls and they mumbled something about ‘yeah, sometimes’, but didn’t offer me more than that. So every Saturday, I’d hunt around looking for those gorgeous, sunshine yellow petals. Nothing.

So, I decided to grow a courgette plant on my balcony. Problem with that is I never have more than one or two flowers opening at a time.

And if I’m going to stuff them, I’m going to stuff 10 of them. Not two.

BUT THIS SATURDAY WAS DIFFERENT.

This Saturday, we were ambling along when BOI-OI-OI-OING, a flash of yellow caught my eye and I’m pretty sure I squealed with glee.

Okay, so I squealed with glee and probably did a little clappy, happy dance too.

We bought 10 for about EUR 7. Each flower, as I’d expect, had a perfectly sized courgette still attached to it. Liz bought four, and I bought six. Her and Colin came over the following night for dinner.

So, six of the flowers were in the fridge, and the ones Liz and Colin had were out of the fridge. Advice – keep them in the fridge.

It was a very delicate operation cutting the stamen out of the flowers. Definitely a two-person job. I peeled open the paper-thin petals (that had now closed together) while Liz cut out the stamen with my little, gold sewing scissors.

Next, I filled a piping bag with a mixture of ricotta, lemon zest, nutmeg, mint, chopped chilli, and salt and pepper. The recipe said to use a spoon…I can’t imagine how difficult that would be.

Use the piping bag.

pre-cook

After they were all twisted up, they were dipped in a tempura-like batter (250g self-raising flour + 350ml white wine), except, I had used the last remnants of all the flour I had baking a vegan courgette pecan cake, so I had to use 100g corn flour in a pinch. It seemed to work fine.

Carefully place in safflower oil (180 degrees), a maximum of three flowers at a time, and fry a few minutes until golden. Sprinkle with salt (I use Maldon’s Sea Salt, the only salt worth using in my opinion), a squeeze of lemon, and freshly chopped mint.

Eat.

Dream dish. Achieved.

Recipe is from Jamie at Home, which is a fantastic cook book.

My Gym Music – what’s yours?

My friend Karley (who makes very cool eco-sleeves for hot drinks –> http://shesewslovely.blogspot.com) just asked me what music I listen to for a cardio workout, so I thought I might as well post it here:

Le Tigre – Deceptacon
Rapture – House of Jealous Lovers
MSTRKRFT (A-Trak remix) – Bounce
Amanda Blank – Make it, Take it
Kid Sister – Right Hand Hi
Shy Child – Astronaut
Cut Copy – Hearts on Fire
Shake it to the Ground – DJ Blaqstarr feat. Rye Rye
The Faint – I Disappear
MSTRKRFT – Listen Up
Rage against the Machine – Killing in the Name of
Cassian – Fuck Song
Science & Industry – This is How its Meant to Be

…I am always looking to get new cardio tunes. What songs do you listen to?

Three Weeks Later

So, it’s been three weeks since I first ‘went public’ with my goal of getting healthy again and getting rid of the Euroweight that I’ve gained over the last six years. To be honest, I was a bit frustrated this week because the scale tells me I’ve lost about 3lbs. The last time I lost weight (two years ago) doing pretty much the same thing, I lost 8lbs in the same period. But, as my sister reminded me, I’m not doing this to reach a number on the scale, I’m trying to change my lifestyle. Here’s what I’ve been doing:

–  60 minutes of cardio 4-5 x per week (Spinning, running and Zumba) + push-ups and crunches every morning

– Eliminating alcohol, processed foods, sugar, etc from my diet (with the exception of my birthday)

I wore the same clothes today as I did when I first posted a photo three weeks ago. I’m fairly certain I can see a difference:

before, and after

…encouraging actually. I think this is a better way of judging results. I have a habit of weighing myself every other day, and I know that a lot of you probably think that’s foolish, but it helps me to keep on track.

Hi, I’m a Blue Lion.

I like making stuff. I go through obsessive phases, usually accompanied by copious amounts of spending to equip myself to make such obsessions. My gramma taught me how to knit and sew when I was 7-years-old and I’ve kinda loved it ever since. I bought myself a sewing machine and a bust form a couple years ago and taught myself how to read patterns. I made some stuff, and mostly modified some clothes for friends. I made a sweet yoga mat bag for a friend, which actually didn’t fit because the accompanying mat I bought for her was the ‘extra thick’ kind. Anyways, I digress.

My latest obessession has been crocheting. I taught myself last summer and have been hookin’ ever since. Mostly amurigurmi stuff, but some blankets too. I had to take a break because I gave myself mega-RSI, and I make sure I take lots of breaks when I’m making stuff now. My last project is this guy, a blue lion for baby Damian, Erica & Aris’s beautiful son.

Here’s the lion:

rawr?

Twitter Fight with a Homophobe (read from bottom up)

Us White Trash Like Cigarette Butts in our Cupcakes

Since my last post, I had a birthday. I turned 29 on 1 August, which both my boyfriend and my uncle pointed out to me was actually my THIRTIETH year.

Thanks guys.

So, we had a White Trash/Hillybilly party to celebrate. Costume, mandatory. The cooks amongst us also brought food, though I dare say it was a bit posh for the theme (no one could bare to eat hotdogs and Kraft Dinner).

We had roast pork belly, quesadillas, guac, fully-loaded nachos, fried chicken, and some salad and carrot sticks just to make us feel less guilty. My contribution was the dessert: Cigarette Butt Cupcakes, behold –

mmmm, chocolate carcinagy goodness...

I came up with the idea on my own, and I’m quite pleased with how they turned out! I used my favourite chocolate cupcake recipe from Chockylit with a cream cheese vanilla frosting. The ‘ash’ is made of crushed up Oreos mixed with icing sugar, and the ‘butt’ is dyed shortbread, which I rolled into butt-size pieces and coated in sesame seeds before baking. Once they came out of the oven and cooled, I dipped them in melted white chocolate and then into the ash.

Voila!

cough, drool, cough

These were taken on my iPhone, hence the blur, but you get the point.

I also wanted to have Twister at the party, but balked at the EUR 30 price tag at the toy store, so decided to make one myself using felt and some spare muslin I had in my fabric stash. It worked a treat!

That's how we do it in the South, ya'll

For my costume, I went with jean shorts, a white ribbed tank, knee-high sports socks, old grungy runners with the laces + tongue pulled out, a fake ‘tramp stamp’ tribal tattoo (on my lower back of course), a gold-cap on my front tooth, and horrendous make-up.

Call me Brenda Lee:

Brenda Lee shows off her tramp stamp

So we partied hard to the tunes of G’n’R, Billy Rae Cyrus, Scorpion, Twister Sister, Bon Jovi and other hits from the deep south (and the 80s).

we know how to party

Aren’t we PERDY?

A whole lotta brother-cousins and sister-mothers

And here’s me with my man, Delray:

we's gunna have some perdy chirruns

It was a fantastic party. A HUGE thanks to co-birthday girl Sookie/Nikki and Earl/Aidan for letting us throw down at her sweet pad. And also thanks to all my really sweet friends that accompanied me in my 8-hour vodka birthday odyssey.

I got some awesome gifts too. My man Delray got me a 60-minute massage voucher, a gift certificate for a cake decorating course, a cake decorating book, and a cupcake recipe book. I also got a great kitsch tray and a magnetic dress-up Michelle Obama set and a gift certificate for a cool cake decorating shop from my lovely colleagues.

Is this how I’ll sleep in my 30s?
So, I track my sleeping patterns using an iPhone app called Sleep Cycle. Here’s a typical night’s sleep:

How I slept at 28

And here’s how I slept my first night as 29:

practically dead

A sign of things to come? When I”m 40, will I have to sleep with a heart rate monitor just to make sure I’m still breathing? IS THIS MY FUTURE?

(gulp)