Jessica Simpson Is An Everyday Woman

Today Jessica Simpson 'revealed' her post-baby body on Katie and debuted her first Weight Watchers commercial:

Is it weird that she didn't actually say how much weight she lost? Does that come in her next commercial then?

From earlier this week she was quoted in USA Today:

"I didn't realize it (the weight) didn't all come off with the baby," she says.

"I'm not a supermodel. My body is not bouncing back like a supermodel. I'm just your everyday woman who is trying to feel good and be healthy for her daughter, her fiancé and herself."

She's just your everyday woman who (presumably) has a personal chef, trainer, babysitter and a $4 million cheque from Weight Watchers.

Yes, you are like an everyday woman Jessica. At least that's what you are selling right?

Eating Organics: Is it about Nutrition?

Yesterday the New York Times published an article on a meta-analysis done by Stanford University that looked at research on organic and conventional foods.

From the New York Times:

"They concluded that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, which tend to be far less expensive. Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by dangerous bacteria like E. coli. 

The researchers also found no obvious health advantages to organic meats. 

Conventional fruits and vegetables did have more pesticide residue, but the levels were almost always under the allowed safety limits, the scientists said. The Environmental Protection Agency sets the limits at levels that it says do not harm humans."

No shit.

My understanding of why someone would buy organic was never because that organic was more nutritious, but because you didn't want to consume foods with pesticides. I'm not sure how this is a big deal, I thought we all knew this?

Thoughts:

-I do like how it was pointed out that this study conducted wasn't funded by outside financing

-"the levels were almost always under the allowed safety limits" for pesticides. Almost always.

-the article is written like this study is a big deal but it's not really groundbreaking here

Just Read: The Leftovers

The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
*spoilers after the jump

I remember reading this NY Times review by Stephen King of The Leftovers about a year ago. As I do with the many books I want to read, I added it to my ever growing book list (a messy google document that I cut and paste things to) and just left it at that. It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that Vulture wrote an article that via a Deadline report, that The Leftovers was going to be adapted into a project for HBO. Damon Lindelof (the co-creator of Lost) will team up with the book's writer, Tom Perrotta (he also wrote Little Children and Election) to write the pilot this summer.

So The Leftovers is based on a post-Rapture world. Remember Harold Camping? He was the doomsday prophet that predicted that Jesus would return to Earth on May 21, 2011 and that the world would after five months of fire, brimstone and plague on October 21, 2011.

Obviously that didn't happen. But this book is based on a similar idea of the world after a Rapture. Millions of people disappear for no reason and the story is about the people who are left behind (the leftovers) and how they deal with getting on (or not getting on) with their lives after the event. It opens up three years after the Rapture and takes place for the most part in a small town called Mapleton. It is largely centered around one family, the Garvey family, Kevin, Laurie and their two children, Tom and Jill. Though this family drifts apart it keeps up with each character as they progress over a year or so.

The mother Laurie joins the Guilty Remnant, a cult that stalks people to make them remember the Rapture and basically wait for the end of the world. They give up worldly frivolities and show their acceptance of death by smoking in public.

There's the son Tom, who after being at college can't deal with the stress and joins a hugging cult (a cult that gives out hugs) that turns out to have it's leader take on young teenage brides and eventually get sent to prison. After being feeling taken advantage of, Tom then joins the Barefoot People who believe they should party 24/7 until the end of the world.

And we haven't even gotten started on the dad Kevin or the daughter Jill yet. Or the rest of the residents of Mapleton.

On Purses

I admit that I have never really 'got' purses. Or bags. Or clutches. At least not in the same way that my girlfriends get purses. They get legit excited about them and though I don't get it myself, I love to listen to them talk about the new season's bags or compare their latest purchases. Bless them for loving and introducing me to an affordable line like Matt and Nat.

And it's not that I don't own a few bags, purses or even a great evening clutch myself (the clutch was gifted to me by a friend way more fashionable than I), it's just I don't understand the excitement over them. I see the functionality behind certain sizes and styles but really never shared the same love for the bag itself. I do have a favorite travel purse that has great pockets positioned well on the inside...like a great wide pocket for me to stash the passport and the phone and then a large middle section where my wallet, sunglasses, camera and various shit I want to keep close to my body goes, but again, it's about the functionality of that purse. It's about how much that purse can hold and how useful it is for me to access stuff inside of it. It is also the same purse that I think that the majority of girlfriends own, just in different colours that are much more daring that my white.

And I do try to learn from them when they show me a new purse that they got, or how they scored 4 purses on some crazy online end of season sale for like $20 each...it's just that I would never be the one to notice that it was a new purse unless they pointed it out to me or someone else noticed it first.

Maybe this makes me not a very good girl. Maybe. I also don't get shoes either, but purses less so.

But, I think I've hit a turning point! Or maybe this will be a one time moment of understanding...because I got f-cking excited about a purse. Yeah, it happened. Maybe a small step in my life of shopping as a female in the city...but it finally happened. I was browsing J Crew for a pair of pants I saw on the internet and then I came across this blue-purple little gem:

The colour. Man, that colour. But then I looked at the price tag and my heart sank as I debated spending $190 (with tax) on a tiny purse. I just couldn't justify. Not when I had just booked myself a last minute vacation to the Northern California.

But then I found myself thinking about it on my trip to San Francisco. Debated buying it there since the tax is less in California, but the boyfriend gave me a dirty look as I suggested we walk blocks out of our way to find J Crew when all he was thinking about was a mongolian beef breakfast wrap from HRD Coffee Shop. 4 weeks later and I am still thinking about that small blue-purple purse. Then, to my delight, it dropped in price this past weekend to $145...so clearly that meant it had to be right? Clearly.

So I am now the happy owner of the first purse I have truly coveted. The first purse I have been really excited about. Maybe this feeling will never come again but right now, I'm still excited about it. Who knew you could feel this way about a purse?

Olympic Withdrawal

So two days out from the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics and I am already in withdrawal. Gone are the mornings where I got to watch sports for a solid hour before leaving to work and the nights of watching random highlights from the days events.

At least we'll always this gem to come out of the Olympics:



I hope he never becomes smart because there's just too much gold there. I might even consider watching Dancing with the Stars if Ryan Lochte becomes a contestant. Yeah, that's how much I love that video.

I wonder when the sports withdrawal goes away, will the want to buy the Givenchy sunglasses that Kate Middleton wore at the Games go away too? The desire to buy glasses online that I am not able to try on is rather strong right now.

Just read: The Book Thief

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

A few months ago while out for drinks over a hockey game, I was recommended this book by a friends cousin who swore that it was a great read. It was so good that she said this was her FAVORITE book ever. That's huge to say something is your favorite book. I have put in a ton of thought into what my favorite book is and every so often see if a new one has usurped it's title. At this point, and for the last 15 years, Brave New World has held the title in a stranglehold.

So since I needed something to read while at a work conference up in Kelowna, I borrowed The Book Thief from the library and proceeded to spend my two day conference plugging away at it.

The story is narrated by Death and is about the story of Liesel Meminger, a girl given up to live in foster care outside of Munich during World War II. Death has a witty personality and has quite the soft spot for this wiry girl. Even though her foster parents are introduced as vulgar poor people, by the end of the book you end up loving them so, so much; especially her foster father Hans.

I don't read that many Holocaust set books for several reasons. The first being that after I read Elie Wiesel's Night well I really thought that was enough dark bleak Holocaust lit than I need for the rest of my life. The second and this one being the more influencing on my book decisions of this topic is that through my family in Hungary, we have enough first hand stories. But that is a topic for another post.

But this story was good. It didn't gloss over details of how difficult it was to be poor or what consequences you had to bear if you didn't proclaim your support for the Nazi party. And yet it was cynical enough and had well placed sentimental moments that you didn't feel like the story was too heavy. The pacing of the story was well done and the 'drawings' that were included of the book she received were well placed.

The book was marketed as YA fiction, which I love YA fiction, but based on the writing style it really didn't feel like a young adult novel. I feel like labeling it as YA fiction is doing this book some injustice. I remember coming across this book a few years ago and dismissed it because it was just another YA fiction book about WWII and didn't think it was worth my time. My initial judgement is that YA fiction couldn't possibly do the content or setting justice. That things would be overlooked and details glossed over. This book doesn't do that and to me it was a bad marketing strategy by the publisher to label it as YA fiction.

Was it the best book ever? No, no I don't think so. It was a great read and one that I'm glad I have read it once but as for the best ever, I'm going to have to disagree with my friend's cousin on this one, BNW still wins this one for now.

Strawberry Shortcakes with Rhubarb Compote

This Sunday Stong's had California strawberries pretty cheap so even though I had only intended to pop in for a baguette, of course I ended up buying two boxes of them. And then I saw rhubarb for the first time this season in the produce section, so of course I ended up buying some rhubarb.

I used this recipe from Smitten Kitchen for Strawberry Shortcakes for the biscuit portion of the shortcake.

I have used this recipe before without any modifications and they have turned out really well every time. This time since it was dessert for just two of us I halved the recipe. The biscuit comes together pretty quick and since it needs time in the fridge prior to baking can be made ahead of time and just popped into the oven when you are ready to bake. The recipe for the stewed rhubarb is below.