I got to The Relief of Unbearable Urges through  an excerpt of Englander’s latest book What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank in the New Yorker. I was so gripped by his writing, that I wanted more. Since the latest book wasn’t out at the time, my husband suggested I start with his first collection. It was a breeze to read. While it is clear that every word was precise and labored over, the tone is pleasantly comfortable. Englander focuses on the Orthodox community he knows well and brings the reader along, not as a voyeur, but as an invited guest. My husband is Jewish, so I am always curious to learn more about Jewish culture.  I also found the book to be a nice introduction into certain aspects of Jewish life.

1. The basics: For the Relief of Unbearable Urges by Nathan Englander. His first short story collection. 9 Stories  205 pages.

2. How I consumed it: Old fashion book.

3. Genre: short story, Jewish culture

4. One sentence description: An exploration of aspects of Orthodox Jewish life in the old world and new though nine beautifully written short tories.

5. Why it grabbed me: Englander’s characters  jump off the page, even the quietest ones. The stories range from light and humorous to deeply touching and tragic. He manages to get so much life into such short stories and with enough meat for thick discussions, especially about the stories’ endings.  I felt invited into a world I wouldn’t ordinarily have access to, but that wasn’t curated for my benefit.

6. Where it lost me: I am usually lukewarm on short story collections which can be hit or miss even within a collection. This book never really lost me.

7. It reminded me of: Nothing at the time I read it, but my husband suggested  Saul Bellow or Issac Singer if after reading this, you’re interested in Jewish life and incredible prose.

8. The verdict: Fabulous read. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

9. A second opinion: Check out a Michiko Kakutani’s review for the NY Times  here.

I’m almost done with Englander’s newest book, so more to come on that soon!

Last session we did a values exercise, that I can’t seem to get out of my head. Here’s how it works:

1. Go through a list of values and sort them into 3 buckets “Very important”, “Important” and “Not Important”. I found a list of values here. The list we used was much shorter.
2. Focus on the “Very Important” bucket. Go through this list and sort them again into the same three buckets.
3. Finally take the “Very Important” bucket of the “Very Important”, and narrow it down to just 10 values. It’s really tough to do, but worth pushing yourself to do!

Here’s what I ended up with:

I am happy with my list, but had a few surprises of things that didn’t end up on the short list (ambition, money, impact etc).  One of the things this list brought into focus for me was that I don’t live my values at work. My past work (consulting, retail marketing) just hasn’t had a lot of room for most of these values to come through. I am trying to figure out whether or not that’s ok. I live my values to death in my personal life, and I tend to keep work and life a little separate.  It seems the mantras these days are to “follow your passion”, and “do what you love”. I see the appeal of that, but I’m not sure it’s for me.

Last year I took some time off and worked at a restaurant as a pastry cook. It was a total dream job for me. The epitome of working at my passion. And you know what? I didn’t like the job that much. It was work, despite the chocolate cakes and apple tarts. And it actually killed my passion for cooking for a while.  But then again, every time I hear about that lawyer who left her crazy job to make cupcakes or that account manager who got laidoff and started designing clothes, I feel a pang. It’s a work in progress.

Where do you fall? Are you living and working your values?

It’s official – I’m a runner!

Running is something that I’ve struggled with over the years, taking it on for a while and then quitting after a couple weeks. If there is any place to take up running, Northern California, specifically the Palo Alto area, is it. Gorgeous trails, moderate temperatures and lots of fellow runners to keep you motivated. Running outside is way more challenging than running on a treadmill, but it definitely has its rewards. The picture above is from my typical running path, woodsy and peaceful.

One of my 27 before 28 goals is to run a 5k. It seemed like an achievable goal and a good way to jump start my running. When I mentioned this with a friend, she asked if I wanted to train for a half marathon with her. I dismissed it on the spot. Me? Umm I can barely run a mile. But I was 30lbs lighter  and feeling really good about my ability to accomplish things. So after a few minutes, I thought, why not me?

So now I am training for a half marathon! It’s been a blast. I run 3 times a week and follow the Hal Higdon plans for Ease into 5k and Novice 1 Half Marathon. What separates this attempt at running from my past ones?  I am telling everyone and their mother that I am planning to run a half in May. I’ve gotten so much support, advice and people to keep me honest.

It’s going to feel so good when I cross that finish line!

Last year, I made a list of 27 things I wanted to do before I turned 28. It’s been really fun trying to accomplish these, and with three months left I wanted to check in on my progress.

You can see the full list here, but I’m focused on the things I haven’t yet accomplished. I’m using the “stoplight” method: green for on track to complete, yellow for ‘could go either way’, and red for in danger of not completing:

1.  Get to 100 blog posts

2. Travel to 3 new  countries

3. Learn to use Adobe Photoshop

5. Learn to make macaroons

10. Go vegetarian for a month

11. Make a jam

13. Take a Blogging Your Way class

14. Plant a “garden”

15. Lose 50 lbs – I would love to never have this on my “to-do” list again.

16. Make a rainbow cake!

17. Join a singing group

18. Learn CPR

20.  Run a 5k

21. Cook every recipe from a cookbook

24. Come up with 10 viable business ideas

25. Learn CSS and edit HomeSpiceLife with it

26. Go on a hike

27. Make my own ice cream!

I would love to get at least 3/4th of my list done, so I have some major work to do! I find that periodically checking in helps me keep my goals front of mind. Luckily, many of my to-dos are more pleasure than pain. How are you doing with your goals or New Years Resolutions this year ?

1. Double Life Scarf - MOD CLOTH -$19.99 
2. Nordstrom Ombré Stripe Scarf - NORDSTROM (sadly no longer available online)
3. Women's Plaid Infinity Scarves - OLD NAVY - $16.94
4. Kate Spade New York University Stripe Scarf - BLOOMINGDALE'S - $148.00
5. Vanna snake-print scarf in Camel - BANANA REPUBLIC - $59.50
6. Women's Floral-Print Gauze Scarves in Red - OLD NAVY - $14.94
7. Indigo geometric print scarf - GAP - $29.95
8. Heritage print square scarf in navy - BANANA REPUBLIC - $59.50
9. Square Floral Silk Scarf - EXPRESS - $49.90
10. Burnt Umber Blossom Infinity Scarf, Ochre yellow - VINTAGE DUTCH GIRL (via ETSY) - $24.99
11. Silk Colorblock Scarf - Ann Taylor - $68.00

Sunday was my last day on the very low calorie part of the HCG diet. I was able to lose 33 lbs in 40 days. For me that’s just a start and believe me , it wasn’t an easy diet or a quick fix! I am now entering the maintenance phase of the diet where I can finally add in most vegetables, more meats, dairy, nuts and more fruits. I can also eat about 3x more calories, but no carbs or sugar. You’d think I am allowed to eat brownies, with how excited this has gotten me!

I think I may have gone a little over board on Saturday with grocery shopping, given that it’s just me in the house. But I am really trying to increase the amount of veggies that I eat and now plan to have salads everyday for lunch at school. I am so excited to continue my weight loss journey, and it finally doesn’t feel like a chore. I am also priming myself to keep it off, despite what the NYT reports in ‘The Fat Trap‘.

Exercise is also back in the mix…and I am actually trying to build up to a half marathon!!  Talking about exercise with exclamation points? I guess change is truly possible.

Hope you all took a moment to commemorate/think about MLK day. I, for one, am thankful for MLK’s message and legacy. I have been reading ‘Hellhound on His Trail‘ about the last days of MLK life and his stalker and killer, James Earl Ray. It’s super interesting and now I am more motivated than ever to finish it!

Week 1: Pink Carnations +  Football Mums – I was feeling sweet and romantic. It was the last week before my husband moved out of state.

Week 2: Hot Pink Carnations +  Neon Green Button Mums + Orange and White Daisies + Greens and Branches. I was feeling all over the place as school started up again.

Week 3: Purple and Yellow floral bouquets from Trader Joes (sadly not sure what all the flowers are) – I needed a serious pick me up. And just looking at these so far this week has done the trick!!

Every day I get up, weigh, grab a cup of coffee and log on to Lumosity. In 15 minutes I get to play games and train my brain. It’s my favorite thing to check off my to-do list.  In addition to being a giant (and proud) nerd who loves mental games, I am also concerned about keeping up my cognitive abilities as I get older. Lumosity is my go-to solution and it’s just the coolest. Why so much love?

FIVE REASONS I LOVE LUMOSITY

1. It allows you to strengthen specific cognitive skills. Lumosity can help you improve your speed, problem solving, memory, flexibility and attention. I love that I can focus the courses and games on the areas I am most concerned about like memory and attention.

2. The games are fun and challenging!  There are the games that I am a rock star at (Birdwatching, Rain drops, Memory Match) and always look to beat my top score. Then there are the games (Penguin Pursuit, Brain Shift, Monster Garden) that kick my butt, but where I can see hard-won improvement. All the games have increasing levels of difficulty to push you to continually improve. They’re also really fun and take me back to my early computer days in the library games like Oregon Trail.

3. Lumosity tracks my performance. Lumosity is  organized around your brain needs and helps you see where you are strong or weak through assessments, your brain profile and your Brain Power Index or BPI. After every session I am able to see how I am tracking on my goals as well as where  I track with other Lumosity users. Just the kind of friendly competition that drives me.

4. Lumosity isn’t just fun and games.  Lumosity is based in cognitive science. It’s an active participant in the conversation and research community on cognitive improvement. You can read all about it here.

 5. They have a pretty cool blog. If you’re looking for more information on brain power, tips and tricks, and new findings, the lumosity blog is the place to go. It’s updated once a week and is a good place to learn more about lumosity as well.

If this has piqued your interest, you can play some Lumosity games for free at lumosity.com or via their apps. They have various subscription plans which I thought were quite reasonable. Happy Braining!!

(images from lumosity.com)

Not bad for an iPhone camera!  Added bonus: I got to mark off the “Visit a national park or other cool outdoor locale” task on my ’27 before 28′ list!  I will be back to Lake Tahoe soon, ski pass in hand!