New(s) Diet

A little less than a year ago, I (mostly) relinquished cable. I found that I was spending too much time with Housewives, Millionaires, Psychics and the like. I downsized to channels 1-30, which still includes my all time fav station UCTV. One result of this cable downsize has been a noticeable absence of news stations. Back in the cable days, I would have immediately turned to CNN after a tragedy like the recent tornadoes in OK, burning horrific images into my brain and crying myself to sleep. The 24-hour news cycle is not a good match for an anxious person, and I didn't even realize this until I no longer had access to it. Sure, I want to stay informed, but I don't need alarmist newscasters and repeated traumatic images produced as a slick news show to get there. These days I turn to the radio, usually NPR, to consume journalistic stories. A byproduct of this news diet is that I actually feel lighter - emotionally, spiritually, etc. Another is that I'm reading more than ever. Cable, along with its enormous bill, is simply no longer for me. I don't miss the Housewives as much as I thought I might, and I can get DVD's or stream the shows that I do miss (Mad Men, Homeland). This is a much easier diet than I anticipated!

Booked

Man, life has been busy lately.

The highlight of this week was a reading at the wonderful Book Soup.

I met my friend Lisa Harper in grad school. No sooner did we meet than we were impulsively road tripping up to Reno at 10pm one night with two other grad school pals. I think it took me a week to recover from that one.

Lisa was always a foodie, even before that term became hip. She would regale us with tales from her Princeton eating club - an idea very foreign to me, but intriguing nonetheless.

Our friendship continued long after our sun-soaked days in Davis. On a trip to visit me in L.A. she even met her husband (on the dance floor of The Derby).

A few years ago when Lisa asked me to contribute an essay on food to an anthology she was co-editing with Caroline Grant I couldn't help but laugh. She was the foodie, not me. But actually, at that time I had made strides in my culinary life - and it was thanks to an unlikely mentor: Rachael Ray. Eventually, I wrote my essay, and eventually they sold their book, and earlier in the week we had a reading of the book with all the L.A. contributers.

Little known fact: Zombie expert Max Brooks has an incredible green thumb. Upon hearing this, Lisa suggested he might have a good essay to contribute to the book, and she was right. Max joined in on the reading that night.

From left to right: Lisa Harper, Caroline Grant, Max Brooks, Melissa Clark, Dani Klein Modiset, Stacie Stukin and Lisa McNamara.

I am so proud to be part of this amazing book, and especially proud of my friend Lisa for seeing it through. You can purchase it here. 

On another note, I am booked for my summer plans. I head to Portugal very soon for a 3-week artist residency, and later in the summer I'm off to Montreal to celebrate a milestone birthday for my dad!

Rants and Raves

Rants:

- Alex Trebek's attitude, as though he really knows the answers on Jeopardy. HE'S READING FROM CARDS.
- The girl who keeps showing up in yoga in BIKINI BOTTOMS! 
- Airline prices to Europe. WHY SO HIGH?
- Airline prices to Canada. WHY SO HIGH?
- Students at school. WHY SO HIGH?
- Tax return. WHY SO LOW?


Raves:

-Yoga (minus BBG) Especially Sunday night restorative yoga.
- Bundles of Daffodils at Trader Joe's.
- ebooks from the library. 
- The bestie is coming to town this weekend!
- Shark Tank. The best show on television. (on a Friday night at least...)
- Reading at Book Soup on May 6!
- Pitch meeting next week.
- 3 more weeks of school.

More raves than rants, which makes it a great day!

Thanks, and a Rose

The Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure was a fantastic experience. Below is the letter I sent all the donors. I will for sure be doing this annually:

Yesterday was the Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure, and thanks to you I contributed nearly $2,000.00 to the cause.

It was a beautiful day, a hilly course, a supportive atmosphere and a lot of fun. (Did you know ankles can hurt? They can! They do!)

There were thousands of people there. With so many people "leaning in" it felt very hopeful that a cure is imminent.

Afterwards, I attended a party at my friend Patreece's home. I've known Patreece since Kindergarden and when we reconnected at our elementary school reunion a few years ago, she'd been battling breast cancer. She is about to celebrate her 5-year mark from the day she was diagnosed - and is now cancer free. I just know how involved Miranda will be with this cause once she is done with her ordeal.

I have attached some pictures. Thanks, again, from the bottom of my heart.

xo

 At the finish line...

 Patreece and her mom doing the electric slide    

                                                                                                  Party food


I am now at my favorite tea house dealing with taxes, a freelance project, grades, essays, emails, travel plans and the like...

 Rose tea makes everything manageable...

Tea and computer...

I am so grateful to all the donors to the upcoming Susan G. Koman Race for the Cure event. I reached and exceeded my goal several times and kept having to raise the thermometer to keep up with donations. Just because I stopped doing that doesn't mean you have to stop! Click here to donate any amount. This will be the first 5K I've run since 9th grade, when my friend Lori and I giggled our way through some UCLA course. I have two friends dealing with breast cancer and that is just two friends too many.

On another note, I need to kvell about yoga for a second. This past month has been one of the most stressful on record (details later, in another blog post) and my primary therapy has been yoga. I've been a recreational yogi for years now, but something shifted recently - a new source of comfort and calm washes over me as soon as I'm on the mat. The harder I work my body, the quieter my mind gets. I've never pushed myself to such limits physically before and the rewards have never been greater or more obvious. Yoga literally saved my mind last month. 


I'm reading this book for the second time and devouring every page:

Hey, and this book is on Kindle sale for a mere $2.99:

And by the way, how are YOU? Why don't you let me know in the Comments section.

xo
mc

Bunny Love

I'm over at the Girlfriends Book Club today, writing about the time I visited the Playboy Mansion to try and promote my book!