Really depressing article

This article is hanging on the bulletin board in the kitchen at work. I read it while microwaving my pasta with butter and parmesean cheese.  Then I return to my desk to eat it…. while seated.  LAME.

Shall I summarize some of the inspirational highlights for you?

Men who spent more than 23 hours a week watching TV and sitting in their cars (as passengers or as drivers) had a 64 percent greater chance of dying from heart disease than those who sat for 11 hours a week or less. What was unexpected was that many of the men who sat long hours and developed heart problems also exercised. Quite a few of them said they did so regularly and led active lifestyles. The men worked out, then sat in cars and in front of televisions for hours, and their risk of heart disease soared, despite the exercise. Their workouts did not counteract the ill effects of sitting.

Most of us have heard that sitting is unhealthy. But many of us also have discounted the warnings, since we spend our lunch hours conscientiously visiting the gym. We consider ourselves sufficiently active. But then we drive back to the office, settle at our desks and sit for the rest of the day. We are, in a phrase adopted by physiologists, ‘‘active couch potatoes.’’*

Your muscles, unused for hours at a time, change in subtle fashion, and as a result, your risk for heart disease, diabetes and other diseases can rise.

Regular workout sessions do not appear to fully undo the effects of prolonged sitting.

Phys Ed:  "The Men Who Stare at Screens" by Gretchen Reynolds in the NY Times blog

*Do you think it helps that I am literally incapable of sitting still? Literally? I jiggle and bounce and bop around 24/7, much to the dismay of all those around me? Has to help right?


Ah ha!  I'm not alone!  Note the article comments:


100. July 14, 2010 4:34 pm
All this mouse clicking, keyboard typing, nervous bouncing leggy thing, moving in chair to get comfortable… that has to burn a lot of calories per hour. I also have to climb one flight of stairs many times a day to get various things (often times chocolate). That’s a workout out, right? That’s my desperate hope ’cause I spend waaay to much time sitting at a computer. I’m addicted. I’m hooked at night surfing endlessly while keeping my skype wide open in case various people around the world get online. I rarely sit and watch tv anymore. I could easily live without tv. The internet is my drug of choice. I really hope those dudes are just talking about tv potatoes but I’m pretty sure the bull’s eye is on me too. I’ve got two nervous bouncy leggy things going after that article.— Rinjin

Ordered

In the midst of sofa-hunting I realized that for months, while mentally imagining/decorating our new apartment, I was consistently picturing a red sofa. I was surprised at myself. Not really my color.

In the end couldn't bring myself to do a red couch - too big of a commitment, and moreso, we couldn't find a good red in a super soft fabric (which was a must for the sofa).

To compromise, ended up with a red chair.

(a very small scale yet comfy chair to fit in our wee living room)

The fabric is redder than this picture, and one of those microsuede materials, so soft without being old-lady-velvet/funeral-parlor-esque, which was my concern.

Lights out

Nearly one in four American couples sleep in separate bedrooms or beds, the National Sleep Foundation reported in a 2005 survey. Recent studies in England and Japan have found similar results. And the National Association of Home Builders says it expects 60 percent of custom homes to have dual master bedrooms by 2015.

- Married, but Sleeping Alone by Bruce Feiler for the NY Times

There's a very interesting article in the NY Times about the trend of married couples sleeping in separate beds/rooms. I found it particularly fascinating, because I'm a bad sleeper. I need the perfect amount of silence/white noise. No interruptions. Difficult when cohabitating....

Does any couple actually sleep a full, uninterrupted night's sleep in the same bed?

Luck

Good luck to my boy, who is currently 4 hours away, on Day 1 of 3 of

The Bar.

He is so. close. to. being. done.

xo

Letter lights

Adorable ceramic pendant letter lights that just HAPPEN to be my and Jared's initials.
A sign?

Methinks yes!

{by perch! design via daily candy}

Home inspiration

Hello gallery wall!

All neutrals + colorful art/accessories = lovely.

...and a great use of space for bookshelves/home office.

{via apartment therapy}

My weekend

BALLOONS!

Cutest child ever

OK. Maybe someday I could deal with having a boy if he looked like this...

{photo by Aaron Seable via snippet & ink}

Grown Up

I realized that this is the first summer since graduating college that I haven't felt completely shocked and baffled by the fact that as a Real Person in the Working World I do not have summers off.

Nope, it's more like "Oh. July already? THAT'S why all these children are running around during the day."

(as opposed to my past reaction: "How can anyone be expected to do work when it's hot and there are pools availableeeeeeeeeeee."

Sigh. Growing up....

Home Inspiration

Quite liking this neutral heathered-ish couch with the dark wood floors.

{via design sponge}

*thanks to the homeowner for info on the sofa: hudson low-arm upholstered in a Mokum fabric called ‘Ficus Seabreeze’ by norman + quaine

On Toms...

Finally ordered them. In light beige.

They look kind of gross.

I'm waiting for my dark gray pair to arrive - hoping they're better.

Because they were literally THE MOST COMFORTABLE THING I'VE EVER HAD ON MY FOOT.

However, the beige ones elicited some comments:

Sister comes around corner. Looks at my feet. Jumps back.

"Oh! Oh my. Eek. They literally took my breath away..."

Dad:  "What are those? Hospital slippers? They look like they were made in a sweat shop.... They're nice. Enjoy them."

JG:  "They are a bit silly looking. Perhaps more suited for mental patients of some sort. Mental patient beige is just a little ... off. Like, no sharp edges. No strings. No metal. No color. Nothing to set you off."

Our sofa

Ordered!

On to next obsession.

(very very light tan microvelvet - lighter than it looks in this picture - with espresso wood base hurrah!)

{Sullivan sofa by Rowe}

Reasons why I love my Soludos:

1. They arrived in under 24 hours. Seriously. How is that even possible?

(apparently they ship from somewhere in Bergen County NJ? Hurrah!)

2. They are super comfy. I am still in shock that I ordered shoes online AND THEY FIT.

3. They were only $24 + shipping. Hello!

I'm ordering more.

{you should all buy Soludos stat}

In short

LOVE this dress. The shoes. The hair.

{photos by krisatomic via cup of jo}

Is there anything better

...than the smell of a perfectly ripe peach?

I think not.

*on another note, why in the world did this pop up as a result in a google image search for "peach"?

{photo via here}

Kitchen Envy

{via decor 8}

Espadrilles!

I'm seriously not even exaggerating a little bit when I say I've been hunting for basic flat espadrilles for the past DECADE. Seriously. That long. Don't know why it's such an impossible task.

Spotted these soludos espadrilles on daily candy this morning and freaked.

Took a giant risk and ORDERED SHOES ONLINE (when you have fatty feet and are super picky thou shalt not order shoes online without free returns), however, I'm just living on the edge.

Come to me espadrilles! Save my flip-flopped feet.

angst

Do I pick the sofa that:

I sat in at the store. Was super comfortable. Has a higher back. Has nice wide arms at a comfy height that don't dig into my ribs. That isn't my ideal style. That looks a bit clunkier/bigger, especially in our teeny apartment.

Or the one that:

I have not sat in and is nowhere to be found, so is a bit of a risk. Has the same comfy cushions. Has a slightly lower back, which may not be as comfy to sit in, but will probably look better in our apartment, and might be easier to get up the stairs and thru the doorway. Has narrower arms which means more seating space.... yet might also mean less comfy arms to lean on. Is much more stylish.

MAKE THE SOFA HUNT END.


*Note:  It's the same manufacturer and the same cushions, so they should sit the same...other than slightly different cushion height and arm size/height/length.

3 months

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

{photo by Laura Heffington via Once Wed}

Want

{tulip dress by haiiku via daily candy}

Poetry Table

found that poem from this DIY poetry table from design sponge. she HAMMERED each letter into the wood surface. amazing!

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean-

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

- by Mary Oliver via poetry 180

Living With It

It is nothing that they did

Or could have helped, two people

Falling in love. Not even

Because they shared a toothbrush,

Once. It is their germs

Getting acquainted.

For weeks

They take turns being sick

–one makes the tea, the other

answers the phone. Slowly,

they can’t tell better from worse.

This goes on

Until one dies.

- by Craig Arnold via A Practical Wedding

A word I dislike

"tablescape"

ta-ble-scape -- noun

1. The bride finally settled on a urbanforestgardenparty tablescape, complete with rare imported roses, glass terrariums and balloons.

ugh

It just took me...

...a disturbingly long time to remember what day it was.

It is Thursday

(in case anyone else is suffering from the same problem).

The eye twitches on...