Happy New Year!!

I can’t quite explain it – even though January 1 marks the start of a new year, I always feel like September is the real start of a new 12-month cycle. That may be because I spent 12.5 years going to school (well, 15.5 if you count preschool to SK, and 17.5 if you count college as well), so September was a time of a new classroom, new books, new teachers, new classmates (sometimes), new binders, new pencil crayons (Laurentien for the win!!)… Granted, there are a lot of other people that went to school for at least 12 years (that half-year was me doing OAC), but they may feel their “New Year” starts on January 1 or some other date. Maybe those people didn’t enjoy school like I did, maybe I’m crazy.

It could also be because I love love LOVE Autumn. Like, I made sure the apartment was ready with Autumn-y decorations for September 1 this year. Who DOESN’T want the year to start with their fave season?!?! (Man, if there is a land where Autumn is year-round, I AM THERE.)

Moving on – why am I going on about New Years in September? Well, about a week or so ago, Jim won this ab-electronic-pulse-y thing for ordering something online. He and I have been saying for months now, “Ok, THIS week we start eating healthy!” and then come Friday we’re eating WAAAY too much pizza/wings/Chinese and hating ourselves. Well, maybe not THAT extreme, but you know, that feeling when you were starving like 45 minutes ago and now you cannot WAIT for your food baby to get out of you.

So, he wins this thing, and inside the box is this Diet Plan. Now, I am NOT some expert about healthy eating, but I have done Weight Watchers twice (it’s a good plan, I just cannot commit or afford it), worked at Herbal Magic, and I read articles about diet, food, healthy stuff, etc. At the least, I have a basic knowledge of being healthy. I honestly believe that you should NEVER be on a diet – as in, an eating plan that restricts what you eat, doesn’t allow certain foods, etc. Sure, yeah, they work, but what happens when you have to go to a function, or you just couldn’t make your lunch the night before, or you go away on a vacation for any length of time? You either feel miserable as you say “No, thank you” to your fave foods, you sneak a few things but totally feel guilty, or you straight up overindulge and feel even worse.

I read through the plan, and it’s not BAD, per se – just kinda repetitive and well, not a WHOLE lot of variety. HOWEVER – since I’ve sadly reached a point where I can TRY to eat healthy but I get distracted because I don’t have a plan set out, this is actually my best bet for now. Am I going to follow it to a T? Uhhhh…no. For example, lunch today was 1 cup cooked high-fibre pasta, 1 cup cooked spinach, and 2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese. You have snacks through the day, and are encouraged to drink your water, but that is lunch.

Now, I like all of those ingredients, and I was excited to have it. I made it last night, had it all ready to go today…and eating it was not great. Blech. If I’m gonna stick with this, I am gonna have to make some changes to these dishes!!

So, I jumped online, and did a quick search for healthy and tasty ways to cook spinach. So far, the most promising option would be to sautee it with a little olive oil and minced garlic (or, failing that, a pinch of garlic salt or powder). I can handle a pasta dish without tomato sauce that also doesn’t have, like, margarine melted into it (because that’s how I would have made that meal myself). Or copious amounts of cheese. But a dish without flavor is something I know is a one-way ticket to “Screw This Diet-sville.”

Yes, there is also the whole discussion around the word “diet.” While I don’t exactly have a bustling social life, I do still have a life. I’m 30 – I want to spend some Saturday nights going to a bar, I want to go to the movies, I want to indulge in the delicious foods that basically are reserved for the last 4 months of the year (Thanksgiving, Hallowe’en, Christmas, hello!?). The idea that “Cheat Days” are becoming more…accepted (?) is a step forward, I think. So, maybe I’ll use the Weight Watchers term in place of “diet” – “Lifestyle Change.” Or something similar.

Either way, this looks like this is really it. I’m finally taking the first steps to becoming healthy again…to becoming ME again. I’ve spent the last year or so completely ashamed of what I allowed myself to become. I got married at a higher weight than what I wanted, but I figured, “No big deal, once the Newlywed dust settles, I’ll get back in shape!” That never happened, and I ballooned to an extra 30 or 40 pounds. I’m entirely self-conscious, and I actually find myself not taking part in activities I used to love, simply because I am so unhappy about what I think I look like to others. Jim has been nothing but supportive and tells me I’m so beautiful to him, but it’s hard to believe that when you look in the mirror/look at pictures on Facebook and hate what you see, and you don’t even recognize yourself.

Age 24-ish to Age 30

So, no more excuses, it’s time to do this for yourself first and foremost, and hopefully do this for your future family. Become your own hero. Do it because you miss dancing. Do it because you miss shopping without always needing to try on the clothes. Do it because your husband deserves to have a smokin’ hottie on his arm. Do it because – let’s be honest – you have a ton of costume ideas, Hallowe’en or Fan Expo, that you wanna rock at some point. Or, at least wear a clever shirt about it.

Wish me luck!!!

How To Celebrate Rex Manning Day, Part 2

Hullo, all! Or, rather, “Empire Records, ‘Open Until Midnight!’ …midnight!”

I hope you had a lovely Rex Manning Day, full of Empire-y goodness, “deep fried in a vat of hot oil and served to our first hundred customers!” As promised, here is the list from my last post, and what I did in order to celebrate Rex Manning Day as best as I could:

1) Watch the film
Yup, totally did this with the husband, who also loves Empire Records. I actually didn’t know that until after we got married (kinda shocking, I know), so, hey, “The couple that Empires together, stays together.” Or something like that.

2) Play the tunes from the film
I actually work in two different locations, and thankfully my location today allows me to listen to MY music, as in, it’s quiet, secluded, and I use a laptop. So, you’d better believe that I was rocking out to Empire tunes all day! Bonus – I set my alarm on my cell to wake me up to my Empire Records playlist. Best wakeup ever!

3) Call your boss “Joe” for the day
As cool as both of my bosses are, I’m on a… “sillier” basis with the one at my other location, so I could have called him Joe. Not the boss from today, no. (Watch me find out later that he loves Empire Records…)

4) Chose 90’s/Empire-y clothing
The only thing I had to wear was something plaid, a scarf. My husband doesn’t own navy undies (although, really, he should, right? Blue IS my fave colour), I very much doubt he'd wear a purple silk shirt (Correction: apparently he would "maybe" wear one...huh...) and I don’t own a red bra…yet… As for buttons, I have cool ones, but I’ve put them on my purse. So yeah, I still give this item a checkmark for completion!



5) Eat foods/drink beverages used in the film
Pizza, check. Brownies WITH mini M&Ms, check. Peanut M&Ms, check. Cupcakes would be a little overkill at this point (and I make them all the time anyway). Didn’t have a red solo cup, but I drank my beer in a Star Wars cup, and Star Wars has Han SOLO, soooo…yeah? I drink coffee every morning, but I don’t like it too sweet (especially since I knew I’d be eating kinda junky today…well, I had sushi and salad at lunch!)

6) Make a choice with M&Ms
I had no pressing decisions when I opened the bag of M&Ms, so I used them to decide what I’d eat for lunch first – salad, or sushi? Salad won, with “o-range!”

7) Tell someone you love them by 1:37 PM exactly
Yup, did this. Told a few people, actually. It seemed a little silly (maybe because it had a deadline?) but I truthfully meant it when I said it to each person. I think this should really be a daily practice, saying and MEANING “I love you” to others. This world can be really harsh, and we don’t always get to dance on the roof with our friends while “This is The Day” by The The plays. Be the bright spot for someone, you never know what it might mean to them.

8) Be philosophical
In writing this post, I’ve had to get a little “deep.” (See Item 7, also see Item 10.) Plus, I’ve given some advice to a friend (also an Empire Records fan), so I feel this item is covered.

9) Take a chance with your money
I, uh...I failed at this. Just ran out of time today! Meh, just giving me money is taking a chance...ha ha ha, I kid, I kid...

10) Find a way to Damn the man, and save the Empire
This was kind of tough, since I am not aware of any corporations taking over something I’m close to. (Well, ok, I MIGHT consider Undertaker losing to Brock Lesnar as something similar. I've already unLiked and stopped following WWE on all my social medias. What a joke.) So, I scaled back, and thought, “What was at the core of this saying?” Fittingly, I think it’s the same idea from a well-known song: “You gotta fight for your right to party!” Nothing worth having in this life comes easy. The path of least resistance leads to crooked rivers and crooked men. All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. Any way you slice it: work hard for what you really want, stand up for what you believe in, fight the good fight – by yourself or with a like-minded group. I had a fairly typical day today. I can’t point to something today and go, “Oh, hey, I really raged against the machine here." I think what should be most important is that WHEN “the man” gets you down, you take a stand. Also, in the same vein as telling people you love them, if you see someone struggling because "the man" has got them down, come up beside them so they know they aren’t alone. Be the person that covers for Lucas until things get sorted, and when they do get settled, go dance on the roof together. It doesn't matter what "the man" represents to you or someone else - if it's in the way of happiness, progress, positivity, whatever, do what it takes to overcome it!

11) Bonus Entry!!!!
I actually changed my phone notification to Mark yelling, “Damn the man! Save the Empire!” during his interview after Warren "shoots up" the place. It’s been pretty sweet any time I get a text.

Well, that’s Rex Manning Day 2014. Special thanks to @LinerNotes for quoting my original post in his post about today, which you can read here. I agree with his thoughts about Record Store Day, and was actually thinking about how Empire Records is becoming more and more important, and even more culturally relevant, as the years go by. In a world of insta-EVERYTHING, downloads of any music you could want, streaming, and file sharing, going to a record store maybe doesn’t seem so appealing. I’ll be 30 this year, so I still remember how excited I’d get when I got my allowance and could go to the record store to buy the next CD I wanted. I’ll admit, a lot of my music is downloaded, but there’s a fair chunk that’s ripped from the actual CDs. I refuse to own an entire album by downloading it – I’d much rather physically have the CD if I’m going to listen to the entire thing. It’s also become more of a cause for me since my husband and I have friends that are in bands (and my husband has dabbled in recording as well), and you see how hard they work just to play a gig or get some airplay.

Anyway, that’s all for now, my friends. Until next time, keep rockin’!

How To Celebrate Rex Manning Day, Part 1

We’re just gonna ignore the ridiculous time span between this post and my last post, ok? Ok.

Today is one week away from “Rex Manning Day.” Rex Manning Day is the day that the film Empire Records takes place on – well, MOST of the film does. It starts the night before, and presumably ends after midnight on Rex Manning Day. Now, I apologize, but if you’ve never watched the film, this entire post will make no sense/sound pretty silly. So, if you want, head to posts you haven’t read! I have a lot about cupcakes! Who doesn’t love cupcakes?!

As a fan of the movie, you’re probably eager to celebrate Rex Manning Day, most likely by watching Empire Records for the billionth time. But, if you’re like me, you like to put a little effort into things that mean a lot to you, so JUST watching the movie feels like you’re, well, kinda phoning it in. Fear not! I have come up with some ideas to make Rex Manning Day as Empire-y as possible. This post is gonna be the “A-side” and I’ll complete the “B-side” next week with the items I did do. Alright? Alright.

1) First and foremost, watch the movie at least once. If you own the DVD, watch all the special features, too.

2) I’m going to make an assumption here – risky, I know. I’m going to assume you have at least one song from the movie in your music collection. Take time to listen to the music featured in the film! Listen to the soundtrack, listen to the songs you had to download because they weren’t on the soundtrack, listen to your comprehensive Empire Records playlist. Bonus points if you get to play “Money (That’s What I Want)” on the PA system at your workplace, use “If You Want Blood (You Got It)” to relieve some stress, or dance with your friends on the roof while “This Is The Day” plays.

3) If your boss isn’t named Joe, ask him (or even her!) if you can call them Joe, just for today.

4) If you can, wear something plaid, a black turtleneck, or a sweet purple satin shirt. Men, how about a pair of Jockeys, navy blue? Letting someone guess the brand and colour is up to you. Ladies, rock a red bra. If you feel so inclined, take it off halfway through the day and leave it on your lunch table. (SIDENOTE – Uhhh, don’t blame me if you get caught for indecent exposure or something. Corey took it off UNDER her shirt, remember?) If you have access to a button-maker, or you have some sweet buttons, make/wear them!

5) Eat pizza, brownies, cupcakes, and M & M’s. Drink beer in a red solo cup. Drink coffee with enough sugar to cause a diabetic coma.

6) Before you eat your M & M’s, make at least one decision by assigning different outcomes to different colours. Whatever color you pull out of the M & M bag first is what you do!

7) Tell someone you love them by 1:37 PM exactly. Even better if it’s your secret crush!

8) Try and spout some philosophical, deep thoughts during the day. Tap into your inner “Chinese guy from the Karate Kid.” If you’re having a brain fart, simply quoting Lucas will suffice.

9) Play a game of Craps, or whatever you wish – Poker, Roulette, or scratch a lotto ticket. Take a chance with some money, preferably yours. You could try and use the bank deposit from your workplace, buuut you’ll probably end up in jail.

10) Last, and certainly never least – find a way to damn the man, and save the Empire.

That’s what I’ve got – if you have any other ideas, please feel free to share! Until then, always remember, “Play with their minds…”