englandsword

It seems that the Western world can be split into two groups: 1) People who are obsessed with the Royal Wedding, and 2) People who think the Royal Wedding is stupid and delight in mocking those who are obsessed. But I fit into a third category... I don't get it, but I don't want to make fun of the people who are into it. I kinda feel like I'm missing out on something. I just don't understand weddings at all. It's not caused by some obnoxious pessimism about marriage in general -- I have no plans or desire to get married, but I'm plenty happy for those who do, and I am a gay marriage activist (domestic partnerships are bullshit, but that's a post for another day). But I have never, in my whole life, fantasized about getting married. A couple weeks ago, my roommate was talking about how she would like to be proposed to someday. That really blew my mind because I never realized anyone thought about that stuff. A couple years ago, someone asked me if my dad or ...

I am exhausted! I have been so busy, but it's all good. BTW - I do have a Fashion Friday post, but I need some time to take better pictures. So it'll be another Fashion Friday on Saturday. Yesterday I woke up at 7 so I could sneak in some weightlifting before reporting to set at 9AM. I worked as a PA (Production Assistant) all day -- I was out of the house from 8 AM to 11:30 PM. I had an amazing day, it was so fun. All the actors were Australians playing Americans, which was fun to listen to. Their accents were great! After the shoot we went out to dinner and several of us ended up belting out Part of Your World, accompanied by a live piano in the middle of the restaurant. What can I say, actors love attention. Yesterday's food and exercise: Exercise: Weights/strength: deltoids, upper back, traps, obliques Food Diary: Breakfast: Coffee Lunch: Pineapple and cantaloupe from the fruit tray, a few cashews Snack: 1 serving edamame, 1 serving TJ's beefless strips Dinner: 1 bo...

I'm back in LA! First I had to leave this little guy: Ughh, break my heart. BTW, he's eating his snack on the windowsill, like a stand-up cafe! Isn't that so cute? I love it. I spent most of yesterday in airports, from about 1PM to 9PM Pacific time. But before I left I ate a big bowl of broccoli with a little leftover split pea soup: Flavored with some of this crazy stuff I found in my dad's fridge: It's like spicy jelly! I also had two Amy's bistro burger patties before I left -- I managed to eat all of the food I bought for the week. Proud of myself. In the airport and on the airplanes I ate my snacks I packed -- a sliced red bell pepper, a serving of edamame, and three small oranges. I actually thought the oranges were bigger but once I peeled them they kind of resembled clementines. I was pretty hungry by the time I got home so I ate some pumpkin with peanut flour and stevia, a favorite sweet snack of mine. Moving on to today! I started out the day with a go...

Four weeks ago I said I wanted to get buff . Then I charted my progress after one week , two weeks , and three weeks . Now it's been four weeks! This week was a challenge because I was in Kansas and because I pulled a muscle. I've been really careful with it -- resting, icing, and using a heating pad. It's feeling better so I know I'm on the right track, but it did put a damper on my workouts. I didn't get back to doing a little cardio until Saturday, and before that it had been since Tuesday. But I did keep up my upper body and abs workouts, using heavier weights because that's what my dad has. I did pretty well with eating, though I've definitely been eating more fruit and less protein than I usually do and I don't think that's best for me. Back to food and exercise diaries - Exercise: Weights - triceps, upper back, lower back, abs, shoulders 20 minutes elliptical Food Diary: Breakfast: Fruit salad Lunch: Broccoli with Amy's spanish red bean an...

Fashion Friday (on Saturday) tip: Vegan bag designer Susan Nichole is having an Earth Week sale, buy one get one FREE, that ends tomorrow (Sunday). Check that shit! http://susannichole.com/ I like this one -- shiiiny! Mmm, classy. Sorry, I would have posted this yesterday but I've been focused on family time. Tomorrow is my last day in Kansas. Boohoo. I think I'm going to go see Water for Elephants with my step-mom -- she read the book and gave it to me to read and I plowed through it in the last two days. It's a quick read and definitely enjoyable. I love historical fiction, there's nothing better than getting sucked into another time and learning and imagining what life was really like. Good news -- my pulled muscle is feeling a little better. I'm still doing upper body and ab work and I am looking forward to getting back to cardio as soon as I feel it's safe. Happy Easter, if you celebrate. If not, jolly Sunday.

I'm having a lovely time with my family. My baby brother is so freaking cute and since I was here over Christmas he has developed some rather adorable OCD tendencies. He's going through a "helpful" phase and loves to clean. He's "vacuuming" the garage. He meticulously set up his Elmos next to him, and adjusted them so they were perfect. Hugs! He is so adorable. I do have some bad news. =( I pulled a muscle! The muscle right where my left hamstring connects to my butt really hurts. So I'm sticking to upper-body weights for a few days, icing, and taking aspirin. Hopefully it will feel better in a few days. But it's very hard to rest your butt, seeing as I use it every time I walk, stand up, sit down, bend over... I've been eating a lot of the same things because I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff that wouldn't get eaten while I'm here. Cereal with blueberries, apple slices, and banana for breakfast: Broccoli with soup for lunch a...

I have a new post up on Chic Vegan ! We all know how much I love Nature Mart and the Santa Monica Co-Op, and now everyone else does, too. I wrote an article all about LA's best indie grocery stores and co-ops. Check it out ! I also have a fun new video to watch! I narrated this funny short video all in French. It's very silly! Les Profils Francais from Sean Cruser on Vimeo . I spent my whole day just hanging out with my family. No baby pictures yet, but I'm on it. I did get a good workout this morning, though! Exercise: 40 minutes elliptical Strength/weights: quads, triceps, abs (ab lounge!), obliques, chest stretching Food Diary: Breakfast: Cereal - Cracklin' Oat Bran, Multi-Grain Cheerios, and Special K with almond milk and blueberries Lunch: Broccoli with Amy's Lentil Vegetable soup Dinner: Amy's Bistro Burger, more broccoli and soup Snack: Orange

I'm going to Kansas today! Today ended up being a rest day from exercise just because I didn't have time to work out before my flight. But it probably isn't a bad thing to get a little rest! I've been trying to eat my food so it won't go bad while I'm gone. For breakfast I had the rest of my roasted brussels sprouts and squash. I also had a little almond milk to finish the container and the last serving of Chicken-less strips, which Faith asked me about -- they taste like the kind of chicken strips you would get in a fajita, and I think they're fairly accurate, but not creepily so. I like them. I also bought these beets, which I put on my salad last night - Kind of an impulse purchase and now I'm afraid I can't finish them before I leave. =( Oops. They're just beets, by the way -- the cheese in the picture is a "serving suggestion." Here's what I packed for my flight: Aaaand I'm off! Next post should feature some cute baby pic...

I had a busy day getting ready to go out of town tomorrow and then at the LA Actors Tweetup tonight! I'm exhausted. And I ate a couple weird food combos today, which explains the name of the post. Food Diary: Breakfast: 1 serving TJ's Chickenless strips, 1/2 serving edamame Lunch: Roasted kabocha squash and brussels sprouts Dinner: Spinach salad with beets, sauerkraut, and mustard (divine combo), more roasted kabocha squash Snack: Pickle with horseradish, hummus and pita I went to the LA Actors Tweetup tonight and afterwards went to Canters Deli with a couple friends. It was 1 AM and I was starving so I got hummus and pita, which I shared with my friends - all the hummus got eaten, but only about half the pita - and I ate a pickle that I smeared with horseradish. It might seem crazy but it's actually quite tasty. I had planned on doing another workout when I got home from the Tweetup but I stayed out so late that the plan got scrapped. Oh well! Exercise: Weights/strength: a...

OK -- three weeks ago I said I wanted to get buff . Coincidentally, that post has become my #2 most popular post! I shared my feelings after one week and the results I started seeing and feeling after two weeks . After one week, I could feel new definition in my biceps. Last week, I could see some. This week, I definitely do! Last week: This week: Hells yeah, right? Can you see that? That shadow underneath my bicep is an entirely new development of the last couple weeks. Last week, right arm (I can tell by my freckle!): This week: Yes, it looks weird to take a picture in front of a mirror. But can't you see a difference in just a week? I can. I'm not bicep-obsessed or anything, but it's the easiest muscle to take a picture of. Last week I said I could see more definition in my legs and I would say I see more this week, too. I'm just starting to see some definition between my quadricep and inner thigh muscle, which I have never seen on myself. I even see more definition...

I am sore today pretty much everywhere, so I decided that today would be a good day to take off from weight lifting. I have some very interesting sore muscles in my butt and legs that I think came from my weird sideways-running exercises that were inspired by basketball warmups. After my morning workout I headed out for my two auditions! (I did shower first...) For the first one, I played a 16-year-old band geek. The script was super cute (a little "Freaks and Geeks") and I was so excited when I realized I owned the perfect shirt to wear: This was my dad's shirt, so I'm pretty sure it's really old. The audition went great. But I was a little early and they got me in early and then I just had time to kill. I was on the AFI campus, which is a gorgeous little campus adjacent to Griffith Park on a hill overlooking Los Angeles. It was super clear today and I didn't want to leave so I just walked around the campus for 45 minutes or so, dawdling and talking on the ph...

Because I accidentally forgot to publish Thursday's post on time, today's post will cover yesterday and today. Before I started this new workout regimen I didn't feel the need to chronicle every day but now I'm enjoying keeping track. It helps me plan my workouts by reminding me what I've done for the last couple days and I know I'll want to look back on it as I track my progress. Yesterday was busy! I got to sleep in (yay!) and then I got a good workout in and prepped for my audition at 4:40. The audition went well, though it was a little weird. They stopped me in the middle of my read and asked me to read for the lead instead! The audition was rather depressing subject matter so I cheered myself up with a walk around Ulta and looked at makeup. Hah. Then I picked up some necessities at Target and Trader Joe's. Because I had several places to go, I just parked once and walked around so I got some nice walking done. But it was really hot -- in the 80's! I...

I woke up at FIVE THIRTY today. I know that probably isn't too early for most of you professionals out there, but that is a little crazy for me. I frequently stay up until 3, and I've only woken up that early once this whole year, when I volunteered at ActorFest. I had to be on set at 7 because I was helping out as a PA (production assistant). I was ten minutes early! Before I left I packed this food for myself: Organic grapefruit and apple, edamame, Luna bar. I was there from 7-5 and I ate all of this. But it was perfect because it took me all through the day! Today was a lot of fun. I got to help out carrying boxes and stuff and I also dressed up for the Halloween Party sketch as a J-Pop (Japanese pop music) singer and wore my pink wig. Sorry I didn't get a picture! There was a photographer, though, so I'll probably get a picture I can post in a couple weeks. When I wasn't being my super helpful PA self, I got to sit in the audience and just watch sketches and lau...

My love for soup is well-documented. But you may have been wondering just how I have managed to eat so much corn chowder and lentil soup lately. Well today the secret is revealed. I've written about my favorite bulk soups before, and last time I was at Nature Mart I checked the brand. I looked it up on the internet to see if I could find a store closer to me, and discovered instead that I could save money by buying in bulk from the Taste Adventure website. So I bought ten pounds of each! It cost about $32 for 10 pounds. That's a lot of soup. Here is the nutrition information: Sweet Corn Chowder Precooked yellow peas, sweet corn, carrots, onions, sea salt, black pepper, parsley (2/3 cup dry mix) = 1 serving 190 calories 1 g. fat 470 mg sodium 35 g carbs 5 g fiber 7 g sugar 13 g protein 25% vitamin A 4% vitamin C 4% Calcium 10% Iron Curry Lentil Soup Pre-cooked lentils, sea salt, curry spices and herbs, onions, garlic (2/3 cup dry mix) 210 calories 1 g fat 620 mg sodium 36 g carb...