Pyrography

Don't ask me where I got the interest in Pyrography, burning wood, but it just came to me.  I think honestly I needed some other form of artistic outlet besides photography for a while.  Anyways, I bought myself a nice little Versatool and am prepared to teach myself the in's and out's of this game.

The Versatool I got at AC Moore and it was quite inexpensive for something so incredibly cool.  And with so many parts involved.

It came with the actual wood burning tool and then all the different points.  One of the points included was a photo transfer which will be super beneficial down the line.

I bought some practice wood at AC Moore as well and printed some stencils free online.  Here is step by step of how it worked.

1.  Printed Free Stencils, make sure you do this on xerox or a printer that uses toner.

2.  Heated up Versatool with the photo transfer point attached, but not too much because it would burn the paper.

3.  Attached stencil face down on wood and began rubbing semi hot tool over it in circular motions.  Numerous times.

4.  Once the stencil was transferred I carefully switch my attachment to the universal point.

5.  From there I began tracing, very lightly over the stencil.  It was a bit messy and difficult but I will continue to practice.

Here is my outcome.

I am quite proud of myself considering how difficult it is to actually hold the tool.  I thought it would be much easier.  I practiced some more last night and I might have gotten worse.  But I will keep trying.  It is relaxing and it smells good.

Friday Night Bites

Steve and I decided to brave the disgusting weather this Friday (after both skipping the gym) and head out for a nice dinner.  We decided to try Mi Lah Vegetarian on 16th and Locust.  I have wanted to go to Mi Lah Vegetarian for about three years now.  It always comes up on my Yelp search list.  However something about Mi Lah, probably the uninviting (or lack there of) decor.  I had this idea that it was just a vegetarian buffet or something, and buffets creep me out.  After Steve's suggestion I decided it was time, let's just try this out.

OHhhhhh.emm.G.  Ridiculous.  It was so so so so so good.

And everything is vegan/vegetarian and most items can be made gluten free.  I was in my glory.  I had so many options.  Typically, I have one maybe two options at every (non-vegan) restaurant.  How was I going to decide!!!

I had the Grilled Marinated Tofu in Red Wine and Cranberry Sauce with plantains and fingerling potatoes

While Steve had the Roated Brussel Sprouts with Butternut Squash and Potato Cashew Gratin in a lemon buerre blanc

Both we simply amazing and I highly recommend this restaurant.  I cannot wait to go back.  Oh an if you are vegan and living in Philly, they have Vegan Beignets on Sundays.  Seriously.

Cauliflower Rice

Last night was my first attempt with Cauliflower Rice.  Rice is honestly one of my most favorite things to eat so it was hard to eliminate from my diet.  I am okay to eat Brown Rice but I am still trying to stay as grain free as I can.

There are so many different things you can do with Cauliflower Rice.  I chose to have mine hot and simple because I cooked a bunch of veggies to go along with it.

Here is what I used...and I used a bit too much garlic (and I am a garlic freak) so you might want to cut it in half.

1 head of Cauliflower (feeds about four in total)
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste
A handful of cilantro
1 Tsp of smoked paprika
1.5 Tbsp of Olive Oil

Honestly all I did was pick the cauliflower off the head and put it in my food processor.  And added everything.  I chopped up the stuff really quick, because you can't let it get too food processed or it will be not "rice" like.

Mine came out more like couscous but that was fine with me.

I added a bunch of veggies with it :: zucchini, onions, mushrooms, celery.

For my mans...I cooked all the remaining meats from Thanksgiving that were in our fridge.  I really hate wasting any type of food regardless of what it is.  Luckily both he and I are not opposed to mixing a ton of random shit together at any moment.  That actually is how I cook majority of the time.  He is constantly surprised with how I make a complete full meal when there is barely anything in our fridge.

Turkey, Chicken, and Brisket.  I chopped them all up added a tiny bit of Vegan Mayo (I know go figure but he is obsessed with it) and cooked it all together.  He said it was amazing, but I would never know :)

I will be altering this recipe over and over again and might start living off of cauliflower.

Gua Sha

Last night I returned to the Wellness Center for my acupuncture appt with Cheryl.  I had a lot to say, especially after my gluten free disappointment had hit an all time high.  I needed to tell her I felt like shit and that I was ready to not feel this way anymore.

So I arrive and immediately tell her I feel like crap.  My appointment with her two weeks ago for acupuncture was cancelled and now I have been without it for four weeks.  She informed me that my over indulgence in gluten over the holiday was my "lesson" and I should use it as a tool to stay on track.  Yea most definitely.  I will, I promise.

I talked to her a bit about my rib pain.  For those that don't know, and you should be glad I haven't complained to you, I have had this chronic rib pain for about 6 months now.  Sometimes it is worse than others but all together it is just annoying.  It is not a pain that I cannot live with, but it is more so just always there, it hurts to touch, to move in certain ways, and most certainly to stretch.  Hugging someone was even painful at times.

Let me just explain to you what I have experienced with this rib....

At first I thought my rib hurt because I was sleeping on a new bed, and it did not have a mattress pad.  So after shopping around for the best of the best mattress pad, I bought one.  It was no help.  I still had pain.

Then I was convinced I had a tumor.  Cause that is what I do...naturally.

So I went to the doctors.  The doctor told me it was anxiety and stress.  Like usual.  And I left with two different prescriptions to up the doses on my Xanax.  The doctor insisted on increasing my dose on my Xanax even though I explained to her I don't even take the ones she originally prescribed to me.  She suggested I take the pills and relax.

So I did.  And I was wasted and felt little to nothing.  Felt good for a bit.  But it returned.

I went back to the doctors.  Told her again.  She sends me for X-Rays and an UltraSound.  I get both.  Both are perfectly normal.  But anyway...all results were normal.

$1400 in medical bills and a mattress pad later I was left with no explanation.  And now just beginning to think I was just crazy.

So it continued.  And it was hard to do certain things at the gym, or sleep on my stomach, and even hug my fiance.  I was constant complaining about this stupid ass rib.  I was annoyed I had no idea what was going on and what I could do for this thing.

But mostly I wanted to stop diagnosing my self with a serious life threatening illness.  If you could even see the search results on my browsing history you would die.  From laughter.

I tell Cheryl about my rib pain, and its like its no big thing.  She touches my stomach and is like yea I feel some knots in there.  Let me do some Gua Sha.

"Some WHAT?!"

Next thing you know I am getting Gua Sha.  She is like "ohhhhh yea, you got an old injury in here"  Look she says.  I look down and my entire stomach is like red and looks like a serious skin rash/bruise.  She says, "when you have an injury your stomach turns red like this, otherwise it would just be pink from the little rubbing I am doing."

I am fascinated.  I didn't even feel anything.  It just felt like she is rubbing a cap to a jar smoothly over my skin.  This cannot work.

So we will see if it does.  Right now it feels entirely different.  It is just sore like a bruise, and entirely different feeling from before.

And here's the link to Gua Sha if you want to take a read.

http://www.delvalacupuncture.com/CherylsSite3/Gua%20Sha.htm


Crossing my fingers.

This is what it looked like after Gua Sha

Wheat Envy

So this whole gluten free deal, yea well I don't like it.  I have really been struggling with it.  Especially over these holidays.  I developed this mentality that maybe if I just follow the no gluten thing "most of the time" I would be fine.  Well yea, I will be physically living yes, and that is fine, but I will be in pain.  And lots of it.

I keep referring back to the fact that I used to eat all these things and it was okay.  But I tend to forget that I was constantly feeling crappy.  And after detoxing from gluten for a couple weeks and seeing how great I felt, I should not be okay with having this "most of the time" mentality.

This holiday I over indulged in plenty of foods that included wheat.  Even though I thought I did pretty well, the affects of it are not pretty.  I am still recovering.  Almost a week and I am just about free from indigestion, cramps, and bloating.  I have all these aches and pains throughout my body.  I constantly think, hey I worked out too hard at the gym, or hey I am just overly stressed, when really it could just be the affects of my lack of dedication to MY healthy eating habits.  The more and more I read about the negative affects of gluten the more it resonates that this is why I feel crappy.  I have a medical professional tell me I have an intolerance for a specific food and I continue to remain in denial about it.  I continue to make excuses.  And I certainly, continue to feel crappy.

NO MORE.

(and still in my head I think, "well maybe just sometimes")

I am going to use this blog to document my struggles with this and my journey towards being strong and feeling healthy.  All these other "wheat free" blogs are so inspirational but sometimes I feel like, "don't you ever mess up" and "how do you live this way all of the time?"

As a vegan, it is even more difficult (I think) to eliminate gluten.  I mean what the hell else is there left for me to eat.  And it actually makes me sort of angry inside.  I have thought about adding some animal products (such as eggs) back in to my life to make it easier, but it makes me really uncomfortable still.  I still think about this daily, but I am not there yet.

Oh and on a side note...my fiance found out he is allergic to gluten as well.  Which seems great right?  We can live this hell together??  Not so fast.  He decided that with this whole gluten hell thing, he is going to try out the Paleo diet.  And it makes me want to crawl into a ball and cry.  And cry some more.  How can this be, how can this even work?  Why me, why me? Over and over and over again.

But I am living, and for that I should feel thankful.  And not pissed off at the world because wheat makes me feel horrible.  It honestly is not the end of the world.  And even though sometimes I might feel like it is, life will go on without it.

So here I will be documenting, and struggling, and winning, and probably struggling some more.  But at least this can be my motivation to be a Super Stellar Healthy Eater/Blogger that rarely makes mistakes...Paleo and Vegan and Gluten free.

Wish me luck.

This is actually how we feel

Here is a quick and easy test to get an idea if gluten is affecting your health
http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/gluten-sensitivity-self-test

And if you think it is please make an appt with Cheryl Broad for Allergy Testing here
http://www.artofwellnesscenter.com/

And if you then are hit with the worst news ever (according to me) here are some websites that have really helped me so far.

Against All Grain http://www.againstallgrain.com/

Wheat-Free http://www.wheat-free.org/

Inspiralized http://www.inspiralized.com/
*** soon to be the basis of my whole existence once I receive my new spiralizer in the mail***

Food Babe http://foodbabe.com/

Art of Wellness

So thanks to Fran, I was able to go to my first appointment at the Art of Wellness yesterday.  Fran bought me a gift card for my birthday because 1. she really enjoyed her own appointment, and 2. because my body has been extremely out of WACK lately. 

For those of you that know me well, and I guess those that don't, I have been experiencing a tremendous amount of anxiety in the past four-five months.  I've tried to blame it on just about anything and everything, and have spent countless hours trying to figure out my triggers.  The craziest thing is that I should be the happiest I have ever been in my life, but for some reason at times I feel exactly everything but that.  It is a constant battle for me. 

Since I have been a child I have always been a worrier.   And in turn, have always felt sick.  I go through rough periods of these feelings, which are far worse than others, but ultimately I never exactly feel okay.  I go through mixtures of remedies and techniques to battle this anxiety but somehow it always finds it way back to me.  Happy or sad, somehow it always creeps back in.  I treat my anxiety like a really super annoying friend.  Someone who shows up just a the most inappropriate moment begging for attention.  And who just will not go away. 

I listen to friends, family, co-workers, doctors, gurus, strangers, anyone who will give me advice to fight this craphole of a friend.  Sometimes suggestions work, sometimes they don't, but somehow, like I said it all comes back to me at some point.  There's periods where I feel like giving up on learning to live with this shit, and other times where I am determined to find the best ways to fight back hard against it. 

Recurring Cycle.

But anyway, back to the point.  I went to this Allergy Testing appointment.  I really did not know exactly what to expect nor if I really believed this testing would even feel accurate or justifiable to me.  I mean really, how can a metal stick and energy waves tell you what your body can and can't handle.  And how in the world was that going to help my anxiety?  I barely eat anything that is not good for my body.  If I cut anything else out you could basically categorize me as a bunny (which I am fine with).  And again, what the hell does this have to do with my aches, and pains, and most importantly my mental status? 

Welllll...let me tell you this test was fantastic.  And I left with soooo much insight and so much hope for a life without this annoying friend.  I learned that I in fact am not crazy, and surprisingly my brain is functioning rather well.  Rather, I have one of those "chemical imbalances" they talk about.  Talk chemicals or science for that matter to me and I check right the fuck out.  Not listening, don't understand.  Just tell me what I can do to fix it.  And don't shove Zoloft and Xanax down my throat, even though, they sometimes may be rather enjoyable.  But not for me ultimately. 

So let's do this the homeopathic way...I am in.  I understand NOW that my body is not producing enough serotonin, and without this it makes it difficult for me to fight these bouts of anxiety.   I know that because I lack serotonin my body has a hard time escaping that fight or flight mode, and in turn my heart palpitations and inability to deal with stressful situations are inevitable.  It finally makes sense.  I get it now.  And now I can work on fixing it through acupuncture and serotonin doses. 

That's it?  Really?  But yea...

I have so much hope.  And I am more than thankful I had the opportunity to be introduced to the wellness center.  I am confident this is the way, and I hope my experience through this will help others to see that prescription depression/anxiety medications are not the only way to go. 

I mean, anyone can do this really.  It's a matter of making it happen actually.  Which I am glad I finally did.  I got home and told Steve all about it.  He says, at the end of my rant, "give me a hug, come here." What?  Why? What did I do?  "I'm proud of you" he says.  And you know what?  He's right, I should be proud of me.  I really kinda am.  I've been talking about it (and now writing) all damn day.

OHhhh and on a complete side note: I also found out I am allergic to gluten.  Which sucks far worse than I could ever imagine.  But I will deal with that on its own.  I mean we live in a Gluten Free World these days.  And I am determined to get my body to learn how to break it down, so one day I can eat all the pasta I could ever want.  I am only on day one about 6 hrs into my gluten detox, so I am sure we will revisit this in about 24 hours when my longing for bagels and skinny sticks meets its max.

If anyone in the Philadelphia area would like to go to one of these appts I highly suggest checking out Cheryl at www.theartofwellnesscenter.com. 

And if you need some guidance on how to deal with anxiety, I am sure I have just about every suggestion for you.  Just give me a call.  I'll be sure to talk you through the worst of the worst kind of panic attacks.

With love.
Your chemically unbalanced gluten allergenic freak.

Hey hey, I am back

Okay so I haven't written on this thing in so so long.  Between photography work and my insane work schedule I have not much time to do anything.  But recently I have felt like I have so much to write about and no where to put it.  I felt like I had abandoned this thing, and it wasn't right to just pick it back up, but then I remembered the blog has no actual feelings.  It is not mad at me or something. 

So anyways, here I am.  I probably will return for now and then disappear again.  But hey, really who cares...no one probably even reads this mess on the reg. 

The amount of shit that has happened to me in the (almost) year since I have written is amazing.  Most importantly the fact that I got engaged, and holy shit, I am getting married.  Who would've ever thought that?  Sure as hell not me.  I noticed that in the beginning of my engagement I went to worrrrkkkkk.  I busted my ass and secured my venue in just about one week's time.  I was determined to get married in October of next year.   Most importantly however, I noticed that all I talked about for like two-four weeks was this god damn wedding that is one year away.  I wanted to tell myself to shut up and I am sure that my friends felt even more eye rolls and STFU's then I can imagine.  I've been there, trust me.  I said I would never be that way, and I have finally gotten to the point of annoying myself enough, that I am taking a bit of a break.  Well sort of.  I am sure I will write about this experience in just about every post, but honestly, this is my life and this is what I am experiencing, so bear with me.

After re-reading my last post to remember where I left off I still want to re-iterate...everything I said, I really really still mean.  Single ladies, do not settle for anything but the best.  I can hear you, see your eye rolls, "Shut up" right?  No.  There are still good ones out there, I promise.  And when you find one, don't sit on it and wait for it to happen.  You are in control of your life, stop letting feelings, and "I feel stupids" stand in your way. 

I can honestly say, I have found a man who is so much better than me every day.  He makes me want to be this person I never even thought I could even be.  Every single day I cannot wait to get home to see him.  I cannot wait to tell him the 8 hrs worth of shit that happen in our longest hours away from each other.  This is really real.  It happens. 

I am so happy to have started this whole marriage thing.  I have so much to complain about already :)


In brief: For those who I haven't talked to...we got engaged on our trip to Memphis.  Steve thought it was appropriate to be all cool calm and collective and not ask me until three days into our trip.  But it was all so incredibly perfect.  I cannot have asked for a better memory.