special issue: colliding worlds

I tend to be fairly anonymous on my less serious life, but today, whether I'm ready or not, my two worlds collide.

Academic life, meet my my blog life. Blog life, meet my academic life.

Little did you know, dear blog readers, that before I began my less serious life, I went to school (for many years). They ended up giving me all these degrees and diplomas. Go figure.

Amongst other things, my research focuses on cancer outcomes and I somehow sparked the interest of the lovely folks at the American Institute of Cancer Research (AICR).

I'm not sure if it was my serious research publications, or my less serious blog ramblings, but they kindly asked me to write a guest post for their blog. I hope you'll go and check it out and learn a little bit more about me.

what i ate wednesday: issue 49

I can't believe you guys aren't sick of seeing my food yet...

  Figure 1. Breakfast: a bowl (x2) of All Bran, Kashi 7 Whole Grain Puffs, a sliced banana, and cow's milk.

Figure 2. Lunch out with the boy: a spinach salad with tart apples, candied pecans, and blue cheese, dressed with lemon and olive oil. A slice of house-made honey whole wheat toast on the side.

Figure 3. Afternoon snack: a Gala apple and smoked almonds.

Figure 4. Dinner: a random concoction of leftover wild rice, roasted eggplant and grape tomatoes, spinach, smoked almonds, and Italian dressing.

Figure 5. Dessert: homemade high-protein almond butter granola. Yums.

And that concludes another What I Ate Wednesday (featuring what I ate Tuesday, September 11).

my less serious day: medicated

Dear blog world, take a lesson from my boyfriend's recent mistake:

When you qualify "I love you just the way you are" with "...while medicated" - it is no longer a compliment.

Wearing.

Skirt, tee, and necklace: LOFT; pumps: Tsubo.

Doing.

Late this morning I went on a 30-minute run at working pace. After work I hit the gym for a 60-minute Body Pump class. The weather is beautiful, so I also included two 10-minute walks during the day.

Eating.

Breakfast was a bowl (x2) of Post Shredded Wheat, Kashi Indigo Morning, banana, and (gasp) cow's milk. 

Lunch was a spinach salad with leftover apples and onions, mushrooms, grape tomatoes an Amy's Sonoma burger, red wine vinegar, and ketchup. The classic carrot sticks + peanut butter rocked their usual side dish role.

 
My afternoon snack was a nectarine and homemade high-protein almond butter cereal granola.

Dinner was Annie's Shells & Cheddar, two hard-boiled eggs, and roasted green beans.

Dessert was Greek yogurt, Envirokidz Koala Crisp cereal, and Enjoy Life 'chocolate' chips.

Note: this post represents what happened in my world on Monday, September 10. 

weekend review: one pot, two pot

 Figure 1. In preparation: Skinny Taste's summery vegetables with sausage. This one-pot meal combines red potatoes, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, sausage, and fresh herbs for a hearty, balanced, and easy dinner. One dirty pot > two dirty pots.

Figure 2. Saturday night's dinner: summery vegetables with sausage and a lemony arugula salad.

Figure 3. Sunday morning baking: high-protein honey almond butter granola (my take on this recipe).

Figure 4. Sunday night' dinner: pork chops with roasted apples and onions, wild rice, and roasted asparagus with Parmesan.

the unexpected color combination experiment: discussion and conclusions

This post, the conclusion of the unexpected color combination experiment, is long overdue. This experiment forced me out of my traditional color pairings and inspired me to be a bit more unexpected in my color choices.

 Figure 1. Summary of evaluated unexpected color combinations. A) blue + black; B) monochrome; C) red + pink; and D) black + brown.

Discussion. The purpose of this experiment was to style four completely different looks using unexpected color combinations to provide excitement to my wardrobe and (hopefully) inspiration to my readers.

This experiment was certainly a challenge for me, but all of these outfits left me with a confident and comfortable experience. Hands down, my personal favorite combination was red + pink, which was color combination I had never braved before. The blue + black pairing was also a favorite. The other two pairings, monochrome and black + brown were certainly not far behind.

So, you tell me. 
What should the next fashion experiment be?

Figure 2. The original color wheel of inspiration.

Conclusions. Through this experiment, I learned that a lot of what makes an unexpected color combination successful is doing it with intention. So, throw your inhibitions to the side, pair some unexpected colors together, and walk out the door with confidence.

(image)

what i ate wednesday: issue 48

  Figure 1. Breakfast: a bowl (x2) of All Bran, Cheerios, Kashi Indigo Morning, a sliced banana, and almond milk.

Figure 2. Lunch: a spinach salad with carrots, cucumbers, grape tomatoes, celery, peanuts, cottage cheese, peanuts, dried dates, and balsamic vinegar.

Figure 3. Afternoon snack: a pear and raw almonds.

Figure 4. Dinner: roasted eggplant on top of raw spinach drenched in tahini sauce (1.5 T tahini, 1.5 T almond milk, 1 T apple cider vinegar) and sunflower seeds; leftover zucchini casserole on the side.

Figure 5. Dessert: dulce de leche pudding (Jello brand) with whipped cream!

And that concludes another What I Ate Wednesday (featuring what I ate Tuesday, September 4).

weekend review: cooking spree

 Figure 1. Friday night's dinner: BBQ spiced salmon with pineapple jalapeno salsa, wild mushroom couscous, and sauteed smoked paprika asparagus.

Figure 2. Saturday night's dinner: my momma's turkey meatloaf drenched in ketchup, zucchini casserole, and a spinach salad with beets, feta cheese, and almonds.

Figure 3. Sunday night's dinner: baked ziti with summer vegetables and salad of romaine lettuce, arugula, carrots, tomatoes, avocado, and a homemade spicy southwestern dressing.

Figure 4. Labor Day baking: peanut butter fudge pretzel brownies (i die).

Figure 5. Labor Day dinner: chili-spiced chicken kabobs with nectarine salsa, couscous with roasted grape tomatoes and parsley, and roasted green beans. Best meal of the weekend.

And...now I'm kinda tired of cooking...