Still looking for Balance

About six months ago I wrote a blog about trying to attain a feeling of balance in my life between work and exercise and everything in between. And here I am still struggling with it… though admittedly not as much as I was. It is interesting to look back on things, and see how priorities have switched, projects have shifted, and yet I’m still finding myself in a precarious balancing act between my personal and professional lives and furthermore between my personal wants and needs.

Last time I was struggling with this, a friend told me that I just needed to set a schedule, and make time… and I’m really good at that. Maybe too good, actually. I’m finding time to enjoy life, but I’m slacking on some of the basics, like putting my clean laundry away, and doing the dishes that have been sitting in my sink longer than I would ever admit to anyone.  Perhaps my priorities are still a little askew? I’m still functioning under the “work hard, play hard” mentality. So here I am, instead of cleaning out my car, I’m sitting in a coffee shop, writing a blog, hoping that the cute guy behind the counter comes over to talk to me. I’m ignoring work e-mails for another hour, and I’m choosing to forget about the dishes that will be in my sink when I get home, and I’m totally ok with that.

The funny thing is that when I was in a relationship the balance just sort of worked itself out. My house was always clean, I always quit work at a decent time, and I wasn’t answering e-mails and tweaking advertising late at night. I was able to leave my work at work, maintain personal priorities, and have a life. Sure I wasn’t writing as much, and I probably ran late for almost everything, but I never dropped the ball, never felt overly stressed, over-committed, or completely out of balance. I’m not saying that relationships are the answer to maintaining balance, but it is interesting how just a minor change can throw things back to the brink of over-working, over-thinking, over-committing.

This is partially my own fault, as I am a procrastinator, and yet I often find myself in situations (be they, work, volunteer, or personal) where I know in my gut “well if I don’t do it, it won’t get done”, and this often leads me to push and pull things out of balance. And finally, at the very end of the day, when I am commitment free, the last thing I want to do is put away laundry and take out the recycling.

I was so proud of myself yesterday on my “day-off” for not answering any sort of work e-mails (though I may have looked at a few). But rather than tackling my laundry, or dishes, or the countless other things that I should have been getting accomplished in my free time, I spend a good portion of the afternoon & evening working on building a website for a volunteer committee that I’m on. It looks great, and I’m not complaining, since I did “volunteer” for it, but I cannot help but feel a little twinge of something when I realize that the dishes are still in my sink, the clothes still in front of my dresser, yoga classes unplanned, checkbook un-balanced, e-mails unanswered, and responsibilities untended. True, I made a choice, and yes none of these things are life and death, or even that fun… (This is why they have been left un-done) but the real truth of the matter is that there really is no one else to do the dishes, or put away the clothes… and even though I feel like at work there is no one to answer the e-mails, do the advertising, and cover the hours that need covered, there is still a little bit of wiggle room. Yes, the longer I put off the e-mails, the less professional we look, but the longer I put off the dishes, the more off-putting my personal space becomes…

At this point I know its all about discipline. I need to just do the dishes, and vacuum, and take a box of stuff to Goodwill. I need to schedule in the chores, and the errands, and in turn balance out my over-productive work/volunteer life. All work and no play makes me cranky… then again so does my messy kitchen.  It’s funny, because my mother is the absolute opposite of me. She cannot even think about relaxing before messes are cleaned up, everything is in it’s place, and order has been restored to the house-hold. I am all about dropping everything, forgetting about the mess, closing doors, living out of suitcases, and actively stepping over piles of things rather than putting them away. How did I get this way? Clearly it wasn’t a result of my upbringing (although maybe the compulsive organizing of My Little Ponies as a child lead me to a less than organized adult-hood?)

Maybe I’m just born to procrastinate? Or Multi-task, as I’m writing this, I’ve answered a few volunteer e-mails and I gave it an answered at least 6 work e-mails… Maybe this feeling of going all the time, working, writing, always on is really my balance?Or maybe I just need to set better boundaries...

Oven-Fried Chicken

I have been wanting to make oven fried chicken for the last three months. Why? I have no idea… it just sounded delicious, and seemed like something that would be fairly easy to whip together… and yet, I’d been putting it off and putting it off. So today, I had a few hours of free time in the afternoon, quickly brainstormed a menu, went to the store, and put something together.

The recipe I decided on was not a traditional fried chicken recipe, but it was amazingly delicious. Coconut-oven fried chicken. Marinated in coconut milk, lime juice and a bit of Siracha sauce, then rolled in coconut flakes & panko, these little chicken thighs were succulent and tasty. The rich dark meat was incredibly moist, and the coconut flavor was subtle. Easy, delicious, exactly what I needed for my first attempt at cooking meat in a good long while.

My fall back side dish is usually coconut rice with cilantro, but I was a little worried about over-doing the coconut aspect, so instead I cooked the rice with miso paste. The result was everything I was hoping for. Interesting flavor, good seasoning, and the perfect pair with the with the chicken and salad/relish.

I couldn’t find a recipe that I liked for Papaya salad, so I ended up morphing about three recipes and doing some improvising and substitutions. I sliced papaya, avocado, and jicama, and then added some peanuts for texture, and cilantro for color. Topped with a lot of lime juice, and an additional dressing made of rice vinegar, honey, siracha, smoked salt, and more lime juice, this tangy salad married beautifully with the miso rice.

Ok, I know its not incredibly exciting for me to just write about my dinner…I was inspired by it, but now, hours after consumption I am getting ready for bed, thinking about the next few early mornings, and making an attempt to not be married to my job. I'm multi-tasking, which is never good when writing, but in case you didn't know this, Bridal clients are incredibly needy. Honestly, how many different ways can I tell the same client that Liability Insurance is required, and no it cannot be purchased through us... (Literally, we've had six e-mails going back and forth about this... what kills me is that she acts like I'm just being difficult, and like if she begs me long enough I'm going to change my mind/ the situation... I'm not being difficult, you just need your own insurance! It actually cannot be purchased through us, and in the time that we have written these six e-mails, she could have been insured like twelve times...) Sorry, I'm digressing quickly. Anyway, the writing isn't as magical as it could be, but hopefully you'll trust me and try the chicken. In the meantime, I might not be writing anything of quality, but at least I'm keeping my resolution of blogging more regularly... and cooking more at home.  Anyway, try the chicken, and I highly recommend experimenting with papaya (in a strictly culinary sort of way).

100th post!

Mmmm back from vacation less than 24 hours, and already I’ve taught a yoga class, spent the day in the office (sending out contracts, e-mailing clients, signing up for Farmer’s Markets, writing class descriptions, advertising) did some brainstorming & research for a volunteer non-profit project, met with the steering committee of the project, and am putting in one last blog post for January before calling it a night (which according to my blogger stats, is my 100^th post! I feel like there should be confetti and celebratory music) … who ever thought easing back into the swing of things was a good idea? I am headed into the week full steam ahead.

  

Here we are on the cusp of a new month… I always feel old when I say this, but time really does seem to speed up as we go through life. How is it that January is already over? My dear friend is challenging her blog readers to spend the month of February (the shortest month of the year) realizing and achieving some of their thrifty goals. So here it goes.

Firstly I know there is a lot I could do without, and things I could choose not to indulge in… But I also acknowledge that as a single-twenty something who doesn’t have to worry about supporting a family I do allow  myself to splurge a little bit on reasonable things. I put money in savings, I pay my bills, but I also eat out more than I should, impulse buy things more than I should, and am not great about taking advantage of local resources like the Library. So in February I plan on tweaking things a little bit, and am hoping some healthy habits form.

Let me just say that I will not give up going out for coffee… this is more of a sanity thing than a thrifty thing. Yes, I have a coffee pot, and a French press at home (both of which I currently use, I still supplement with a second store bought coffee) and now that I have Quicken on my computer I am VERY aware at how much money I’m spending on coffee a year. (for some reason that number doesn’t make me feel as bad as the amount of money I spend on burritos… though they are similar). I can honestly say that my coffee purchasing experiences are more social than anything else. It gives me a handful of moments every week where I can interact with people who aren’t my co-workers or clients, or even my closest friends. I get to have small talk, and flirtation, and an extra dose of caffeine… all of which are undeniably valuable to me. So, no, I will not give up my coffee habit; however, I will try to stick to ordering regular coffee rather than a latte.

I mentioned that depressing burrito category in my finances… lately I have been terrible about making meals at home. It seems like I am lucky if I get out the door with a balanced breakfast, and a lot of the time eating breakfast mean sacrificing the time to make lunch… And it is so easy to not take lunch to work when the best burrito place in the world is ten minutes a day, and you can order a vegetarian burrito for $3. It’s heaven. But this month I am going to make an effort to cook more at home, plan menus, go grocery shopping more regularly, and make sure that left-overs are packaged and ready to be grabbed on my way out the door. This is a win-win, because cooking can be a creative outlet, as well as a healthy one, and I know I’ll be saving money (not to mention I will feel better about how my monthly “fast food” spending is way down).

I am also going to utilize BOTH of my athletic memberships. I know, it seems slightly ridiculous to have two… but one is for the gym, and one is for the yoga studio.  Over the past 7 months, I have practically lived at the studio, and essentially neglected my gym membership. I was running outside prepping for the half marathon, and spending the rest of my time getting yoga hours. I know I could have easily justified getting rid of the gym membership, but I’ve had it since I was in college, and I’m on a yearly contract at a really great rate, and the idea of letting it go, and then possibly later wanting to re-join at a higher price somewhere down the road seems lame. So I guess the only sane thing to do, is actually get my money’s worth and work out, rather than letting another month go by. Especially since one of my resolutions in 2011 is to get more cardio. Already this week I’ve been slightly depressed because my schedule is so full of classes and meetings, and outings and appointments that most of my regular yoga classes aren’t going to work into my schedule. Rather than giving up on exercise all together this week, I guess I should get my butt in gear and use my gym membership. Realistically I might not be “getting my money’s worth” but I do plan on getting to the gym at least once a week this month… which is more than I can say about the last several.

Will these few adjustments make a huge difference in my February spending? Probably not… but they are still choices that are putting me a step closer to where I would like to be in life. Making better and more conscientious choices about how I spend my money, what I put in my body cannot be a bad thing.

What are your thrifty goals for this next month?

I'm on vacation!

Currently at PDX waiting to board my flight. I'm not bringing a computer, and refuse to write normal posts from my phone (typing on the mini keyboard is not my idea of vacation). Already i could write a post about people watching, or my traveling pet peeves (why is there only one tiny hook on the bathroom stall that will not hold my carry-on?)... anyway, I'm on vacation!

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over-packing

It’s Tuesday evening, and I’m happy to say that I am all packed for vacation! I really hate packing, and I’m a bit of a procrastinator so the fact that my suitcase is full and ready to go a good twelve hours before I have to leave the house is a small victory.

I have always been an “over-packer” and this time around I tried to remedy this by making a list of outfits for each day I will be gone (this may or may not have also been a procrastination tactic yesterday when I was trying to force myself to pack… making a list seemed more fun). In theory this is a great idea, and I did pack everything on the list… I also packed a number of things not on the list. I know it is completely irrational… I will be gone for a total of four days, so it is not logical that I need to pack 5 tank tops especially since I think I only have tank tops figured into two of my outfits. But when packing, I am filled with the “what-ifs” and the “Ready-for-anything” mentality. What if I spill red wine all over myself? What if I need to layer? What if the outfit I’ve envisioned in my mind actually looks terrible in real life and I have no alternatives? What if the weather suddenly changes? What if I need alternatives?

In the end I know over half of the things won’t be worn, and in 5 days I will be unpacking the suitcase cursing my tendency to over-pack. But a girl likes to have some options! Plus I have a track record with under-packing. The few times I have actually brought the exact amount of things I needed are always the times that I spill something, get messy, or discover giant wardrobe malfunctions. Once on a weekend trip to Seattle I only brought the pants that I was wearing (who needs more than one pair of jeans for 2 days?) 20 minutes after I arrived, I tripped and managed to rip a GIANT whole in my pants… my efficient packing lead to an embarrassing few hours spent at a museum (it was a class trip, and we were on a timeline… indecent exposure or not) and an unplanned stop at Macy’s.

I also tend to over-pack when I’m going on a trip, because half the time I throw on outfits here that I probably shouldn’t… a few weeks ago my mother commented that she noticed I had been dressing like a hobo… which was a little true. I tend to have a lot of bright clothing, and don’t always plan for outfits to coordinate and if I’m headed to Portland for a weekend with friends I often just throw stuff in a bag and go. The result is often questionable. Hot pink leg warmers, yellow sweaters, green hat, red scarf… some weekends I look like the color wheel threw up on me. And I’m totally ok with that, but sometimes I do like to coordinate. So I put in a few extra tank tops, and leggings, and an extra sweater for good measure, and a blazer, and an extra pair of jeans and two sweatshirts…But come on, how am I really supposed to know what I want to wear in the next few days? I like options! (which is slightly hilarious, since I am currently stuck in the biggest clothing rut of my life… I cling to my down vest like a security blanket, add jeans, a long sleeved tee shirt, and my dansko clogs, and you have my uniform for life)

And then there are the yoga clothes… and the mat… that is shoved in my suitcase. But I’m going to classes while I’m gone, and I’m going to need to plan classes while I’m gone… ok the mat might be excessive… but it fits in the suitcase!

I’ll probably be up three times tonight taking out excessive items, and putting them back in… but at least for now I’m packed, and almost officially on vacation!

Healthy Inspiration:

This week I was browsing for new recipes, and trying to come up with some creative winter meals. I have a standing agreement with my parents that I will cook them dinner once a week (which seems fair, since they let me do laundry, use the hot tub,  and feed me on a regular basis). As I flipped through the pages of Real Simple, I stumbled across an article about the Non-diet diet, and along with it was a listing of 30 of the healthiest foods.  I was pleasantly surprised to find a majority of these foods stocked in my pantry and constantly on my shopping list. Foods like Peanut Butter, Olive Oil, Quinoa, Lentils, Kale, Eggs, blueberries, mushrooms, barley, walnuts, (seriously are they just listing off my pantry contents?) Not that I am patting myself on the back. God knows I eat my fair share of un-healthy foods… In my diet, coffee and burritos practically get their own food group.

That being said, I was quite excited by the listing of foods, and the suggested recipes that accompanied each one. I tend not to follow recipes, but more so just scavenge through my existing ingredients, and hope that something semi-edible is the result of my experimenting.  I’ve come up with some pretty tasty things, and some that were lacking… so this ingredients guide with suggested serving ideas was like a breath of fresh air thrown into my cooking routine… lets face it, sometimes you need to be inspired, even when you have good intentions with healthy ingredients (I mean really, how many different ways can you cook lentils before getting a little bit bored... 4 or 5?)

And inspired I was. I found myself wandering aimlessly through the grocery store on Thursday afternoon, contemplating lunch/ a snack that was long over-due. Nothing was jumping off the shelves, and I was too hungry to spend a lot of time getting creative… I almost just picked up a box of mac and cheese, but was reminded of a recent blog I read about coconut rice, and it sounded like everything I needed. And as I made my way to the checkout, one of the suggestions from Real Simple popped into my head, so I picked up a bunch of Kale and made my way home to concoct some nourishment.

As my coconut rice simmered, I ripped the kale into pieces, threw them in a bowl, and tossed them with some olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper, placed them on a cookie sheet, and put them in a low oven for twenty minutes. The result was everything I was hoping for. A tray full of crisp, salty, savory kale chips. They were the perfect snacking item… delightfully thin & crunchy, with just the right amount of salt, and that herbaceous kale taste. Dare I say, they were better than potato chips, and better for me. And so, so easy to make. Literally five minutes of prep time for an incredibly satisfying and healthy snack! Though it took me a while to convince my family to even try the kale chips (ok they look a little bit like seaweed… but I secretly love seaweed, so it wasn’t a deterrent for me), I’m a total convert. I know these crispy green snacks are going to become a regular part of my eating habit… maybe even more so than burritos (but probably not).