January Gray Hair Update, very late

Hooray hooray, we're just a week away from internet at home! That means much more timely updates and regular blog postings. January is almost over, and I'm just now finally getting a good pic of me and the gray update. Les took this picture of me outside the NC Museum of Art (a surprisingly AWESOME free museum with a whole room full of Rodins. Swoon.) last week.

As you can see, I've got a lovely stripe and cascade of hombre-hued gray goin' on. I like it. BTW, did you see that Kelly Osbourne has dyed her hair gray? On purpose? I had read a few months ago that some big-time fashion blogger in her 20s has started dying her hair platinum silver, and that celebrities and wanna-bes across the US have followed her lead. Whatever. I can't even get on board with a trend like that, because mine is 100% natural. Maybe by next year you'll be able to buy "Chrome" or "Aluminum" colored hair dye at Target! Be on the lookout!

And just in case you don't read the AugBlog (written by G3 Editor-in-Chief Auggie), here's a repeat of the snap I took of the Editor and myself in the car last week. So you can get an idea of how the gray is weaving its way into my bangs and stuff.

The grain-free diet is going pretty well so far. If by "well" I mean that I am hungry all the stinkin' time but feel so so soooooo much better. I tried to "untest" both wheat and rice last week, and the results were not pretty. Literally. My face broke out and the GI issues returned immediately. Looks like I'm going to be a paleo-vegetarian. Hm. Maybe I could write a cookbook?

The new apartment will be much more amenable to cooking, and I am super psyched to try some new recipes. Follow along as I try to get all the nutrients I need on a crazy-restricted diet! Whoo-hoo!

When New Plans Start Early

My year-long experiment will wrap up in February, and I feel like I've made some strides, but when I look back on the last 11 months, I see what looks like groundwork for a much bigger trajectory. I used to think that I was going to have to look a certain way or weigh a certain number in order to love and appreciate my body, but one strange thing that has happened over the course of this first year of G3 is that I noticed that the more I cared for my body, the more I loved it. I was doing the practical (eat healthy, eschew toxins, keep it simple), but I was feeling the ephemeral. An unexpected sense of well-being and acceptance that I expected to have to earn "the hard way". If you've known me a long time, you know that body-love seemed about as likely as a lottery jackpot.

But little by little, something started to change. I stopped grimacing in the mirror and loathing my gray hair and started actually loving it. I started looking at food as something to choose thoughtfully rather than a system of rewards or punishments ("I ate 3 cookies yesterday, so today it's spinach and veg broth for me..."). And I started feeling that my stuff was, miraculously, just stuff. And now that most of it has been packed in boxes for 2 months, I realized that I don't miss 85% of it. So when we move into our new place next month, I want to be super-hardcore and honest with the question "DID I MISS THIS?" and if I didn't, maybe I'll put it back in a box for a while, and ponder whether it's time for some stuff and I to part ways. We have 3 dozen boxes of unopened belongings, but we have somehow managed to scrape through almost 2 months without any of it. Hm.

Anyway, all of this has felt really really REALLY good. And exciting. So I didn't plan to give up on the blog or the goals when Feb. 22, 2012 rolls around. But my hair will be totally grayed out by then, so I won't need to worry about that part, so I was going to focus on the food. We'll have space for container gardens in our new place, and a much more cooking-friendly kitchen, so I was all jonesing to announce that 2012 G3 would be a Real Food Year. We'll just replace the gray of hair with the gray areas of knowing the best way to go about that.

But, as they say, life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.

And so, after suffering in silence for a few months, I finally went to the doctor about some persistent GI unpleasantness that I was SURE I could "healthy-eat" my way out of. But 4 months later, I had not succeeded, so I went to the doctor. And guess what? That was a really good idea. She recommended a very strict elimination diet to try to determine whether a late-flaring food sensitivity may be the culprit. So, for the last 4 days I have eaten veggies, nuts, eggs, fruit and some particular grains like quinoa and spelt. And do you know what? (I would NOT have believed it if it were not so dramatic) I feel SOOOOOOOOOOO much better, I can't even describe it.

Sure, it is a lot more work. But I was going to spend the whole next year un-processing food and learning to really embrace large armloads of produce, so it really feels like the boot in the pants I needed to jump start a clean start.

Grain-free is even more restricted than gluten-free, but after I've been on the strict diet for 2 weeks, I can try to add corn or oats or something back into my diet and see if I have any adverse affects. Honestly, I feel so much better after being so uncomfortable for so long, I'm not sure I even want to do the "untest".

What is different?

• GI symptoms have largely gone away
• After 4 days of anti-inflammatory food, I am wearing my "skinny jeans" for the first time in months without them feeling tight, and my muffin top has vanished. At least in these jeans.
• My skin is clearer
• My joints don't ache like an old lady
• Even my back and neck and legs feel, weirdly, less tight and more limber

I really REALLY hope that this is not all in my head. I still have some more medical tests to do to make sure that food sensitivities are really the only issue to deal with, but I am hopeful that eating "clean" will turn my digestive ship around.

Les and I bought this book to help me get started:

All the recipes in here are vegan and gluten free, so it's a good resource. I am not vegan, and she uses some grains that are technically gluten free but still on my "eliminate" list, but this book goes a long way towards getting me started with a new food plan.

Please remember that I'm not a doctor, and I'm not recommending a grain-free diet to anyone, and we haven't made many of the cookbook's recipes. I'm just sharing what's up with ME these days, and how it has helped me to follow my doctor's advice. Go to your doctor, and get her advice before doing anything that anybody mentions on this blog :)

So there you have it. I'm a grain-free vegetarian for the time being, and I'm about to start planning out a grander-than-practical container garden scheme, chucking out unneeded possessions, setting up a Cooking Kitchen, and re-teaching myself how to eat. And keeping the Grace always in focus. Oh, and trying to keep greening along the way.

The Best (and Worst) of 2011 Part 1

My Favorite Purchases of 2011This was the first year I really tried to get a lasso around my spending impulses. It was tough, but I can say confidently that I learned from experience in 2011 that More Stuff Does Not Equal More Happy. It's not like I went on a permanent spending fast. Trust me, I spent plenty of money in 2011. But No-Buy July went pretty well, and I have talked myself out of dozens (maybe hundreds) of purchases this year. By putting the kibosh on some of my most long-standing chemical dependencies (commercial face-wash, hair dye, fancy makeup, perfume, chi-chi body wash), my feet darkened the door of my arch-nemesis (Target) far less often in 2011. Staying out of Target greatly reduces my tendency towards impulse-purchasing.
But I did buy some great stuff in 2011. Here were my faves:

Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm.
Love. It. I love everything about it. It's a lovely sheer shade that makes your lips look like a better, rosier version of their natural pink. It is actually quite moisturizing, too, as opposed to some of the BB line that is a bit drier and less smooth that this version. Plus, it's 100% Natural AND it's made right down the road in Durham. Yay!

My Nikon D5100
I'm still learning how to use it, and it was by far the spendiest thing I bought in 2011, but I have grown to love it. Really, if you are only going to make a few big purchases, it's best to make sure it is something you love.

I went back to using bareMinerals makeup after several years of liquid foundation. It's not the #1 most greenest-like-ever makeup brand, but one shaker lasts me a good 4 months, so factor in the longevity and I think it does pretty well. It rates pretty well on the Skin Deep site as well. Not awesome, but a solid good choice. And it works for me, so I don't have to keep trying and then discarding other failed attempts.

To-Go-Ware reusable bamboo utensil set
Yes, I am one of those intolerable people who brings her own utensils to restaurants. And after many solo lunches to get my courage up, I will now even use them when I go out with friends if disposable stuff is the only option. I keep them in my purse, so the other bonus is that I am never without a spoon in case I find myself in a "I wish I could eat that Ben and Jerry's right here in the grocery store parking lot" emergency. That alone should inspire you to go get some of these.

I'm sure there are other cool things that I bought this year, but those are my favorite.

And here's a quick list of my LEAST favorite ill-fated purchases to serve as a cautionary tale:

• Physicians Formula "eco" mascara - smears, greenwashing, ugly packaging
• Natural Toothpaste - I've tried several, and they all either have SLS in them and/or taste like semi-liquid chalk. If you have any suggestions, please send them my way!
• Natural deodorant - I didn't find one this year that would work for me, an office drone, for whom pit stains and constant, distracting dampness and vague odor are a workplace liability.

So there you have Part 1 of the Best and Worst! I'll work on the other installments during upcoming lunch breaks. Did you have a great new purchase in 2011? Tell me about it!

The Local Christmas Rundown

We spent the beautiful, sunny, almost-70-degree day scouting apartments around Raleigh, and I just kept thinking "We'll have proper internet soon! Hooray!". But for now, we're sipping tea at a Starbucks and ganking wi-fi.

Moving to Raleigh was a massive green trade-off. We have given up the low CO2 emission commute (by estimates in a recent National Geographic article, the #1 eco-benefit of living in a city is the walking/public transport lifestyle), but hope to earn at least some offset by committing to REALLY shopping local, which is much easier to do in a place where fresh fruit and veg are growable almost all year round. Not only that, but other cool things that we use regularly are produced right here in the Carolinas. So Christmas shopping was a fun treasure hunt of locally made treats. Here's what I snagged:

Cold Mountain Winter Ale for Les, made in NC

Chapel Hill Toffee for the Christmas Eve party with my fam, and one for Les's fam.

Local Chocolatier

Woot! Burts Bees is made in Durham! I gave my fave new lip balms to my best girls.

Home-made local jam from the Farmers Market for my siblings

Tippy's Treats, made a few towns away, for my Dogs-in-law (Aug got some in his Stocking)

Aug wanted to open his early.

My elf.

Yes, I know, the ingredients for all these lovely finds were probably not native of NC (like cacao for example), but they were all made by local companies and didn't have to be shipped across God's Green Earth to get to me. Which is a start. I was planning to buy everything from the local farmers market, but didn't think my family and friends would appreciate hearty kale or a bunch of turnips as much as I appreciated that they were still plugging away this late in the season.

The New Year is almost here, and my Green Gray and Grace year is about to wrap up. But I feel like I'm just getting started, so I'm not going to quit now. I just need to get some real internet so I can blog all the new ideas I have for the next Year of Awesome.

Random Green

Les and I were perusing the Whole Foods here in Raleigh, and he pointed to this tea in a reusable glass and said "Hey! Why don't you try that! If you like it, we could replace all our glassware and have some tasty tea with the same $2!".

I love my hubs. And I love that he's on the lookout for reusable, double-duty materials. We've also started making pasta sauce selections based in part on the shape of the jar and lid. Which is awesome, because we recycled all of our repurposed jars before we moved. Too much of a pain to pack, especially considering how often we make pasta.

But hopefully, we'll be able to cut down on the jarred stuff all together and start cooking more and more from scratch. We're still on the lookout for our permanent housing situation, but it will DEFINITELY have a bigger kitchen than our last place. And with a year-round farmers market that still had fluffy green kale, root veggies, nuts, eggs, and cheese for sale in December, I'm hopeful that we'll really dig into Local in a new way here. I'm pumped.

PS - the tea WAS very good, and while the glass itself is a little "ladies who lunch"-style for my taste, it does the job and has a handy lid that doubles as a coaster. Win win win. Oh my gosh, I'm such a dork.

Gray Hair Update and December Christmas Shopping Mission

I know, I know, I really need to get Les to take a proper photo of me and my gray hair. I'm remarkably bad at self portraits, especially with the built-in laptop camera. BUT, I really wanted to update the blog, and we don't have internet at our little house yet, and we're currently ganking internet from a lovely, bustling little Starbucks in downtown Raleigh so I decided to just go for it. I don't foresee myself having a lot of blog time at work in the near future.

But there it is; full-out gray. That light color streak you see is really a shock of white-gray hair. And it is not alone. I'm 10 months into the gray experiment and I think it is safe to say I no longer have gray roots. I have gray hair. Not really even salt-and-pepper in a traditional sense. I have wide slabs of gray that lay thick across my head and hide nestled under my part. Those slabs, plus about 1,000 individual gray rogues sprinkled throughout the rest of my head. And I kind of like it. I don't love the way the gray hair is coarse and wiry, but I like the look of it overall. I just wish I didn't feel like it makes me look like I'm creeping up 64 rather than 34.

Anyway. It is what it is, and I generally like what it is.

Shifting gears here, I also wanted to go on record with my Christmas gift plan. This year, with a few very select exceptions, I will challenge myself to buy only Christmas gifts that meet one of the following 3 criteria:

1. Handmade/crafted AND I HAVE MET or CORRESPONDED with the maker - i.e. - Etsy is OK, but random department store "hand crafted" does not
2. Produced within 100 miles of either Chicago or Raleigh and I BOUGHT IT in one of those two locations (bonus, there are some really awesome things made around here, and around Chicago)
3. Somehow directly supports or promotes an organization that I trust and whose social practices I would endorse

I've already found some lovely gems that meet these rules, so I'm encouraged. And I don't have kids (or a hubby) pining after any particular gifts, so I've lucked out in that regard. I confess that last month I did buy Les a couple of things from a Big Store, but they were from a store that stores pretty well on the Good Guide, so I felt OK about it at the time. From now on, I'll be a stickler. Even if it means hours of agony over what to get my in-laws...

I'll let you know what treasures I find!

Gonna be Good

Blog friends, I'm sorry for the long gap since my last post. Life has been pretty nutty! The move has gone really smoothly so far (our stuff still has to arrive on Friday, so we'll see how the "move" part of the transition really went once that is all done), and we're starting to dig in to life in the south. We don't have internet hooked up yet in our new digs, and I've been pretty crazed at work so far this week, so the Gray Hair Update and December Mission are on my "To Blog" list!
But as a preview, I'll say that it *has* been fun to get random "I love your hair!" comments from people. It's the south, so of course everyone is too polite to say "I love your crazy gray hair!", but I still appreciate it.

We are definitely going to like living here, though. We'll just have a big GREEN ADJUSTMENT to make, what with all the "no sidewalks, only driving" predicament. I wonder if tons of green space, abundance of gardening opportunities, a long local food growing season, and a greater awareness of water conservation can possibly make up for the YOU MUST DRIVE EVERYWHERE sadness? I'll do some research and let you know.