Hello everyone,

I'm sure no one really reads this anyways, however, if you would like to keep up with me, my blog has moved.

http://allensdesigngroup.com/blog/

Also, the latest posts goes into detail about the adoption of my kitty, Sophie.

Muah!

1. Millet: A well-balanced diet should consist of whole grains instead of refined grains like white rice and pasta, and millet is a beneficial and delicious staple of this category of food. This non-glutinous grain is over 10-percent protein, has high amounts of fiber and B-complex vitamins, and because it isn't an acid forming food, is easy to digest.

2. Asparagus: When losing weight, it's important to favor chlorophyll-rich foods, including asparagus. Asparagus is a nutrient-rich vegetable packed with folate, vitamins A, C, and K, and fiber. Asparagus also contains a carbohydrate known as inulin (not to be confused with insulin) that promotes healthy bacteria in the large intestine - which in turn promotes a healthier digestive function.

3. Pomegranates: Eating a balanced diet to lose weight should include eating fresh fruits, and pomegranates are a wonderful example of a healthy, nutritious fruit that has antioxidant properties and will help prevent cancer. While the benefits of drinking pomegranate juice have gained a lot of attention recently, you will be more likely to lose weight by eating the fruit fresh to increase your fiber intake and keep the calories down.

4. Pine Nuts: Pine nuts are the edible seeds of pine trees and are considered an essential ingredient in the tasty Italian mixture pesto. Chinese medicine uses pine nuts to improve gastrointestinal tract and digestive functions, and pine nut oil is even used for appetite suppression. Pine nuts and other nuts are a tasty part of a well-balanced diet intended for weight loss.

5. Green Tea: It has been found that consuming large amounts of coffee and caffeine can lead to food cravings, increase one's appetite, and induce stress-related eating. Green tea is a wonderful alternative to coffee in that it does provide a little caffeine but also contains beneficial antioxidants. So drink up!

Is it stupid that I want to go read Twilight because of all the Flair people have made about it?

Both of my dogs are snoring so loudly beside me that I can't stop smiling... Abbie's tongue is even hanging out... puppy LOVE!!!

At the gym today I looked to my left and saw a woman in her 40's wearing a Scooby-Doo t-shirt. I looked at the flat screen monitor attached to her treadmill and noticed that she was watching Scooby-Doo. I laughed.

I've discovered a new obsession called Twitter. I only signed up for the account because my iPhone offered a free application called Twitterific. Aside from my twittering friends, I also requested to follow the tweets of singer/songwriter/author, Tara Leigh Cobble. I only made it to page 43 in her book Here's to Hindsight but I think I'm going to finish it now that I know about her frequent coffee runs, dates and work-out regimen.

My brother, his wife, Jenn and I rode the pirate ship ride at Lincoln Park Days (my city's version of a "carnival"). Screamed like a wild banshee... I've not had that much fun in a LONG time!!

Current music I can't live without:
Amy Winehouse - Frank
Alicia Keys - As I Am
Christina Aguilera - Back To Basics
Robin Thicke - The Evolution of Robin Thicke
The Killers - Hot Fuss

This afternoon I bought a mint stress relief aromatherapy candle from Bath & Body Works. So far, so good... Can't wait to see how it handles a Monday.

My parents just took me to the store to pick out my birthday present... I've been needing this forever, I just haven't wanted to spend the fortune that I knew it would cost. I'm so glad I finally have it! My back will thank me and so will my fore–arms.

I have the opportunity to invest in my first piece of fine art. The item would be an original Warhol valued at over $25,000. I'm concerned that the art bubble will break before I can see my investment appreciate. Any advice from art collectors?

I've included a photo of the piece I'm considering.



WARHOL, Andy
United States of America 1928/1930 – 1987

After the party 1979
cinnabar Impression: 27/1000

Tonight is my last night in New Hampshire and I just wanted to share two experiences from this week. The first is quite simple but carries a lot of weight...

From the second story window in our motel room, I could view the play ground. One morning I was doing my hair and heard an exclamation of glee from what sounded to be a mother. My curiosity got the best of me and I stood on my tip toes to look out the window to see just what she was verbally rewarding someone for. It just so happened that her son, who couldn't be older than four, had accomplished the feat of crossing the "big kids" monkey bars. The mom, who looked as if she stepped out of the pages of Fitness Magazine, couldn't stop gushing over her son's accomplishment. It was intriguing how he took that validation as a sign to try even harder to cross the monkey bars over and over, each time seeking the same excited praise his mother offered on his first demonstration of the ability... I listened, almost sad, when she never did reward him again the way she did the first time. Of course, she told him he was doing a great job, and you can't fault a mother who takes her son outside to play; however, it was an interesting observation to see a child delight so deeply in his mother's approval.

Secondly, just tonight I had a conversation with a 70 something, former patent officer. Imagine Mr. Beene and you will have a perfect mental picture of the person with whom I was engaging. Our conversation started by me asking him if he was drinking coffee. From that, we went on to discuss bio-physics, Darwinism, creationism, molecular structure, patents, crowded airports... EVERYTHING... I've only witnessed such brilliance in a person maybe twice before in my life. His eidetic withdrawal of information was intoxicating. Of all my gifts, and don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for every one of them that the Lord has given me, I truly wish I had the gift of recollection...

This blog isn't written as eloquently as I was mentally preparing it to be, however, I had to write what I was thinking...

Unlike the animals, who seem quite content to simply be themselves, we humans are always looking for ways to be more than or other than what we find ourselves to be. We explore the countryside for excitement, search our souls for meaning, shop the world for pleasure. We try this. Then we try that. The usual fields of endeavor are money, sex, power, adventure and knowledge.

Everything we try is so promising at first! But nothing ever seems to amount to very much. We intensify our efforts–but the harder we work at it, the less we get out of it. Some people give up early and settle for a humdrum life. Others never seem to learn, and so they flail away through a lifetime, becoming less and less human by the year, until by the time they die there is hardly enough humanity left to compose a corpse.

I want to include a piece of scripture in Ecclesiastes that seemed a bit out of place for the Bible.

Seize life! Eat bread with gusto,
Drink wine with a robust heart.
Oh yes–God takes pleasure in your pleasure!
Dress festively every morning.
Don't skimp on colors and scarves.
Relish life with the spouse you love
Each and every day of your precarious life.
Each day is God's gift. It's all you get in exchange
For the hard work of staying alive.
Make the most of each one!
Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily!
This is your last and only chance at it,
For there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think
In the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.

Ecc. 9:7–10

More than a few people are surprised to find this kind of thing in the Bible... but it is most emphatically and necessarily in the Bible in order to call a halt to our various and futile attempts to make something of our lives, so that we can give our full attention to God... who God is and what he does to make something of us. Ecclesiastes actually doesn't say that much about God... his task is to expose our total incapacity to find the meaning and completion of our lives on our own.

It is our propensity to go off on our own, trying to be human by our own devices and desires, that makes Ecclesiastes necessary reading. It sweeps our souls clean of all "lifestyle" spiritualities so that we can be ready for God's visitation revealed in Jesus Christ. It functions not as a meal, but as a bath... It isn't our nourishment... it's a cleansing. We should read Ecclesiastes to get scrubbed clean from illusion and sentient, from ideas and feelings that cloy. It is an expose' and rejection of every arrogant and ignorant expectation that we can live our lives by ourselves on our own terms. This book clears the air... and once the air is cleared, we are ready for reality... for God.

Only Great Minds Can Read This.
This is weird, but interesting!
fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!

I have two visible scars. One on my stomach from a childhood adventure and a horrible mess of a scar on my right ankle from a pedicure gone terribly wrong... more on that later. It's just interesting to me that I'm not as self conscience about those visible, question inducing scars as I am about things like pale legs or dark circles under eyes. What is it that triggers our self awareness and insecurities? My boyfriend is self conscience about wearing designer sunglasses indoors even if only for a few steps, whereas I'm more aware of physical flaws. What causes such behavior and why are scars so shameful?

Franklin, Tennessee (which is where my boyfriend, Steve, lives) is like no other place in the United States. It is a real life Disney Movie meets Wisteria Lane environment... and the people know it... So, this morning (Saturday) Steve and I decide to go to the Franklin Farmer's Market at The Factory in downtown Franklin. Everyone there were sundress wearing, organic food eating, five mile running Granolas. For a girl from the outskirts of Detroit, it was a bit humorous. I couldn't tell if the people were there to be seen there, or to actually buy "Westward Winds Farms" down-home organic vegetables.

We did get some good deals on pickles, blackberrys, corn, green beans and tomatoes though...

And, just so you can get an idea of what some of the homes look like in Franklin, I've attached a picture of that as well.



Franklin, Tennessee Farmer's Market




Franklin, Tennessee Home

Its a peculiar experience to merge the existence of two people with two completely different life experiences. I'm not saying that I don't enjoy it... I'm just saying there is an extreme difference between those that marry who have grown up together and those who marry that haven't. There's more to learn, understand, sympathize with... Etc. Then to try so hard to do all those things while still expecting the same enthusiasm for your own sharing. I guess its hard to explain unless you go through it. There's always that constant of familiarity within your partner, its just everything else feels so strange and foreign.

I just drank a Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino® from Starbucks that was so gross... I drank it anyways because I was hot and didn't want to waste the money... so I get online and check to see how many WW points it is... 8 POINTS!! I could puke... literally...

I've had a very busy and random day. I designed all day starting at 9:30 sharp. Then, helped some friends/clients put together their wardrobe for their photoshoot. Then, picked up a little something for myself in the form of a pair of black Coach tennis shoes (It sucks that TN sales tax is 10%). Then, hit the 12:01 showing of SATC. It was definitely worth it. Tomorrow I'm sleeping in, working out, designing then chilling with a bowl of Captain Crunch and Season 1 of Boston Legal. I may also visit the Monet and Dali exhibit at the Frist. It ends June 1, so I have to haul the proverbial donkey.

I just purchased my Friday Morning (Thursday Night) 12:01 ticket to Sex and the City. I'm getting there at 10:30 just to make sure I'm first in line so I can sit in the middle of the theater.