The ignorant sick Channing Tatum was on The Ellen Degeneres Show to promote Dear John (which I saw, by the way. Not quite The Notebook, but if you need a good cry/hot-guy fix, go see it) and Ellen brought up his past as a male stripper. I love how embarrassed/cute he is...so just because he made me smile on this cold, winter day, I decided to share...
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
50 Million Pound Challenge
I've been going through A LOT lately and suddenly feel the need to cleanse my life--of people, things, attitudes, and poundage. I just need a new energy. The last time I felt this great a need for change I was about 14 and I cut off all my hair--and it was life changing.
I feel the need to be better to myself: mentally, spiritually, and physically. While I've been gym'ing for ~2weeks consistently (at first my body resisted...now my body is IN LOVE the ache that follows a good workout), I've been eating like a pregnant horse which is kind of counter productive. One of my biggest issues is I use food to socialize which isn't always conducive to healthy eating.
I've decided to give Dr. Ian Smith's 50 Million Pound Challenge a try. Its a great interactive website that tracks your weight loss progress, gives you a 30-day meal plan with accompanying shopping list and an online food journal. Basically it takes away a lot of the CHOICE in it all, which with my busy lifestyle I need. While doing this challenge means no more bounding with friends over fattening lunches/dinners, I'm willing to make that sacrifice at this point. I think as I begin to transform my body and more importantly become more conscious about what I'm putting in my mouth, I'll begin to have clarity in other aspects of my life. Here's a look at the 30-day meal plan:
I seriously doubt I'll have time to eat 4 meals a day...just isn't realistic. I'll probably just have 3 meals and the 2 snacks. Also I need to start taking a multivitamin because I'm EXHAUSTED all the time. And exhaustion is NOT conducive to my lifestyle right now. Plus, a sleepy Akili is a bitchy Akili and NO ONE needs that! As a reward for sticking to this program, I've decided to pick out an AMAZING dress to wear to this years Law Prom and plan to look ignorant-sexy in it. As soon as I find said dress, I'll post. :)
I just need something new. I just need to shake things up a bit in my life. And this is my physical contribution. I'll blog about the rest another day {school is currently demanding my attention, imagine that}.
For more information on the 50 Million Pound Challenge check out the website here.
I feel the need to be better to myself: mentally, spiritually, and physically. While I've been gym'ing for ~2weeks consistently (at first my body resisted...now my body is IN LOVE the ache that follows a good workout), I've been eating like a pregnant horse which is kind of counter productive. One of my biggest issues is I use food to socialize which isn't always conducive to healthy eating.
I've decided to give Dr. Ian Smith's 50 Million Pound Challenge a try. Its a great interactive website that tracks your weight loss progress, gives you a 30-day meal plan with accompanying shopping list and an online food journal. Basically it takes away a lot of the CHOICE in it all, which with my busy lifestyle I need. While doing this challenge means no more bounding with friends over fattening lunches/dinners, I'm willing to make that sacrifice at this point. I think as I begin to transform my body and more importantly become more conscious about what I'm putting in my mouth, I'll begin to have clarity in other aspects of my life. Here's a look at the 30-day meal plan:
I seriously doubt I'll have time to eat 4 meals a day...just isn't realistic. I'll probably just have 3 meals and the 2 snacks. Also I need to start taking a multivitamin because I'm EXHAUSTED all the time. And exhaustion is NOT conducive to my lifestyle right now. Plus, a sleepy Akili is a bitchy Akili and NO ONE needs that! As a reward for sticking to this program, I've decided to pick out an AMAZING dress to wear to this years Law Prom and plan to look ignorant-sexy in it. As soon as I find said dress, I'll post. :)
I just need something new. I just need to shake things up a bit in my life. And this is my physical contribution. I'll blog about the rest another day {school is currently demanding my attention, imagine that}.
For more information on the 50 Million Pound Challenge check out the website here.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Musical Memories
Music is a truly powerful thing. There's music to match EVERY mood possible. Music can celebrate with us "It's a celebration BITCHES!!!!" (Thanks, Kanye). Music can wallow with us "I'm too young to feel this old..." (Thanks, King of Leon). But what's must incredible is the way music can form our memories. Every Ludacris song immediately transforms me back to freshman year homecoming with "Ludashots" {aka the BIGGEST JELLO SHOTS EVER} and Chicken N Beer---oh the beginning of the Freshman 15 40.
Well today, in an attempt to procrastinate further from my law school studies, I decided to rewatch John Mayer's Vh1 Storytellers ONDEMAND. Mayer opened the show with "No Such Thing" which is the first John Mayer song I ever heard. All of a sudden I was 16 year-old living in Room 306 in the Female Dormitory at the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science. I had a smoking body--and didn't know it and hid it underneath baggy t-shirts and saggy-ass'd jeans. I lived with MB who was obsessed with John Mayer, Pete Yorn and Barry Zito. She believed that duck tape truly could fix anything and even constructed purses and yes a SKIRT out of gray duck tape. She played John Mayer's debut album, Room for Squares obsessively. I tried to pretend I didn't like it, but you can't fight John Mayer. He's just too damn good. I remember it all so vividly. Such a clear and powerful memory.
Its kind of like when we all had the projects when we were kids and you had to ask an older person, "Where were you when JFK or MLK was assassinated?" Songs bring me back to specific places. "No Such Thing" was the moment I discovered and completely fell in love with John Mayer. Because despite his douchey Twitter antics, John Mayer gets it. He writes incredible songs! He gets that even though I'm only 3 weeks shy of 24, its been a LONG TIME since 22. He, like me, wakes up every day trying to be the person who speaks when spoken to...and we both fail at that miserably. LOL. But perhaps most specially, I remember that "No Such Thing" was a good time in my life. I was living on my own--sort of. Doing my own laundry, going to bed when I felt like it, bouncing checks {hehe}. I was independent and it was so empowering.
"No Such Thing" marks the time in my life I began to grow up. Good memory.
Its kind of like when we all had the projects when we were kids and you had to ask an older person, "Where were you when JFK or MLK was assassinated?" Songs bring me back to specific places. "No Such Thing" was the moment I discovered and completely fell in love with John Mayer. Because despite his douchey Twitter antics, John Mayer gets it. He writes incredible songs! He gets that even though I'm only 3 weeks shy of 24, its been a LONG TIME since 22. He, like me, wakes up every day trying to be the person who speaks when spoken to...and we both fail at that miserably. LOL. But perhaps most specially, I remember that "No Such Thing" was a good time in my life. I was living on my own--sort of. Doing my own laundry, going to bed when I felt like it, bouncing checks {hehe}. I was independent and it was so empowering.
"No Such Thing" marks the time in my life I began to grow up. Good memory.
7 Mistakes Single Women Make
Here's another Yahoo! Personals find re: dating/relationships and I looooove. I'm definitely going to take the advice about writing a list re: why he wouldn't want to date me...its probably going to be scary. LOL.
Here’s what many single women do that we might want to reconsider:
1. We feel entitled.
Gottlieb: “Women try to be good friends to each other. We say, ‘You deserve this, you’re so great! You’re such a good catch! Any man would be lucky!’ [Men don’t say that to each other.] We are good catches, but we also are human and we’re not perfect and somebody’s going to have to put up with us for the rest of his life. And we forget. My dating coach said, write down all the reasons a guy would not want to date you. At first I didn’t think I had that many things, because you think you’re a pretty good catch. He said, what you think of as quirky, endearing, and cute, is really annoying to someone else. But he would love you so much that he would overlook that. And you need to overlook things in him. Everybody has to compromise.”
2. We think we have unlimited options.
Gottlieb: “You walk into a store and you know you want a sweater and it has to go with this outfit and it has to be this color, and you’d like to be on sale. You find something great, but you wonder if there’s something better out there, so you keep searching. In the end, after three more weeks of searching for the perfect sweater—was it so much better than the one you could have bought originally? Whether it’s with men or sweaters…if you just think you have unlimited options for the rest of your life, of course you’ll keep looking, who wouldn’t?”
3. We’re judgmental.
Gottlieb: “The guys I interviewed for the book said women judge them so much. Women gave me 300 reasons they wouldn’t go on a second date with a guy, and men gave 3. When guys are ready for that stage of life, they find someone who is good enough that they’re totally in love with—but that person may not seem to the outside world to be as appealing in superficial ways—maybe she’s not as accomplished or funny as the last girl. Whatever he sees in her, he does. Guys don’t sit and micro-analyze a woman the way a woman would with a man. He knows she’s not as hot as the last girl he dated, but that’s okay. She’s hot enough.”
4. We’re pickier than men.
Gottlieb: “With online dating, we judge based on objective criteria (height, sports nut), rather than subjective (attraction), which you can’t judge until you meet the person. When you read other people’s profiles, don’t make assumptions or rule them out because of one thing they wrote. You can fall in love with a guy who wrote that he likes Madonna, but you can’t fall in love with a guy who isn’t kind.”
5. We go for the alpha males.
Gottlieb: “In cities where you find a lot of really ambitious, Type A, driven people, like in NYC and L.A., with the entertainment business and Wall Street…you get a lot of ‘maximizers’ [people who keep looking over their shoulder for something better]. Maximizer women date maximizer men. They will be just as picky in a bad and unhealthy way. The men who are actually available and wanting commitment and who are smart and funny and cute—maybe one guy is a little bit shorter, so he’s not getting the women. Maybe he’s not smooth initially or in big groups, but he is one-on-one. These are the kind of people who when you’re 35, 45, 55, that you’ll be happy with when you’re married, and the guy who is super charming at the party and has the crowd of women around him, maybe he’s not going to make as good of a husband. Maybe he’s not going to call you back. That guy is going to be judgmental and picky, and who wants that?”
6. We think, “I love me more.”
Gottlieb: “We don’t need a man. We don’t. But if you want one and you go around with this attitude of ‘I love me more,’ [what Samantha said in the Sex and the City movie, after she dumps a hot guy who helped her through cancer (and female audiences cheered)] well, a relationship is about reciprocity, so you need to love yourself and you need to be able to have some selflessness and love somebody else. Women take Samantha’s message as really empowering. If you don’t want to be alone—maybe Samantha does—that’s a dangerous message.”
7. We think he needs to share every interest.
Gottlieb: “We say, ‘I’m a writer, but he doesn’t read! I’m creative.’ But people can be creative in different ways, and the fact that he doesn’t read the same books that you do, well, maybe he wants someone who he can talk about the baseball game with but you’re not that person. The guy doesn’t have to be one-stop shopping. You’re not going to share every single interest, and that’s okay. The shared interest should be, Do we want the same things out of life? Do we both want to be married right now?”
Marry Him is in stores this Thursday, February 4. Watch Lori Gottlieb on the Today show on Feb. 4 and catch her in NYC on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Borders (57th and Park Avenue), or in L.A., Feb. 10 at 7 p.m., Borders (Westwood Blvd.).
Here’s what many single women do that we might want to reconsider:
1. We feel entitled.
Gottlieb: “Women try to be good friends to each other. We say, ‘You deserve this, you’re so great! You’re such a good catch! Any man would be lucky!’ [Men don’t say that to each other.] We are good catches, but we also are human and we’re not perfect and somebody’s going to have to put up with us for the rest of his life. And we forget. My dating coach said, write down all the reasons a guy would not want to date you. At first I didn’t think I had that many things, because you think you’re a pretty good catch. He said, what you think of as quirky, endearing, and cute, is really annoying to someone else. But he would love you so much that he would overlook that. And you need to overlook things in him. Everybody has to compromise.”
2. We think we have unlimited options.
Gottlieb: “You walk into a store and you know you want a sweater and it has to go with this outfit and it has to be this color, and you’d like to be on sale. You find something great, but you wonder if there’s something better out there, so you keep searching. In the end, after three more weeks of searching for the perfect sweater—was it so much better than the one you could have bought originally? Whether it’s with men or sweaters…if you just think you have unlimited options for the rest of your life, of course you’ll keep looking, who wouldn’t?”
3. We’re judgmental.
Gottlieb: “The guys I interviewed for the book said women judge them so much. Women gave me 300 reasons they wouldn’t go on a second date with a guy, and men gave 3. When guys are ready for that stage of life, they find someone who is good enough that they’re totally in love with—but that person may not seem to the outside world to be as appealing in superficial ways—maybe she’s not as accomplished or funny as the last girl. Whatever he sees in her, he does. Guys don’t sit and micro-analyze a woman the way a woman would with a man. He knows she’s not as hot as the last girl he dated, but that’s okay. She’s hot enough.”
4. We’re pickier than men.
Gottlieb: “With online dating, we judge based on objective criteria (height, sports nut), rather than subjective (attraction), which you can’t judge until you meet the person. When you read other people’s profiles, don’t make assumptions or rule them out because of one thing they wrote. You can fall in love with a guy who wrote that he likes Madonna, but you can’t fall in love with a guy who isn’t kind.”
5. We go for the alpha males.
Gottlieb: “In cities where you find a lot of really ambitious, Type A, driven people, like in NYC and L.A., with the entertainment business and Wall Street…you get a lot of ‘maximizers’ [people who keep looking over their shoulder for something better]. Maximizer women date maximizer men. They will be just as picky in a bad and unhealthy way. The men who are actually available and wanting commitment and who are smart and funny and cute—maybe one guy is a little bit shorter, so he’s not getting the women. Maybe he’s not smooth initially or in big groups, but he is one-on-one. These are the kind of people who when you’re 35, 45, 55, that you’ll be happy with when you’re married, and the guy who is super charming at the party and has the crowd of women around him, maybe he’s not going to make as good of a husband. Maybe he’s not going to call you back. That guy is going to be judgmental and picky, and who wants that?”
6. We think, “I love me more.”
Gottlieb: “We don’t need a man. We don’t. But if you want one and you go around with this attitude of ‘I love me more,’ [what Samantha said in the Sex and the City movie, after she dumps a hot guy who helped her through cancer (and female audiences cheered)] well, a relationship is about reciprocity, so you need to love yourself and you need to be able to have some selflessness and love somebody else. Women take Samantha’s message as really empowering. If you don’t want to be alone—maybe Samantha does—that’s a dangerous message.”
7. We think he needs to share every interest.
Gottlieb: “We say, ‘I’m a writer, but he doesn’t read! I’m creative.’ But people can be creative in different ways, and the fact that he doesn’t read the same books that you do, well, maybe he wants someone who he can talk about the baseball game with but you’re not that person. The guy doesn’t have to be one-stop shopping. You’re not going to share every single interest, and that’s okay. The shared interest should be, Do we want the same things out of life? Do we both want to be married right now?”
Marry Him is in stores this Thursday, February 4. Watch Lori Gottlieb on the Today show on Feb. 4 and catch her in NYC on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m. at Borders (57th and Park Avenue), or in L.A., Feb. 10 at 7 p.m., Borders (Westwood Blvd.).
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Blue Valentine
Blue Valentine premiered at this years Sundance Film Festival. It stars Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The movie was supposed to be filmed a while back, but Williams took time off after Heath Ledger died. The romantic drama tells the story of married couple Cindy (Michelle) and Dean (Ryan) who, in an attempt to save their marriage, steal away to a theme hotel, where they relive their entire love story from beginning to tumultuous present.
I'm really excited about this movie. If two people were EVER going to have chemistry, I think it'd be Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. I love both actors as individuals and so I'm really pumped about seeing them as a tortured couple. I hope this isn't one of those films that's only going to show in NYC/LA. Its at times like these I hate being in a small town, hehe.
{images via EW.com}
I'm really excited about this movie. If two people were EVER going to have chemistry, I think it'd be Michelle Williams and Ryan Gosling. I love both actors as individuals and so I'm really pumped about seeing them as a tortured couple. I hope this isn't one of those films that's only going to show in NYC/LA. Its at times like these I hate being in a small town, hehe.
{images via EW.com}
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Yum-O: Simple Chicken & Pasta
Lately I've been trying to do more things with myself--I hardly spend alone time anymore that's not academically related. In an attempt to get back to me, I decided to cook myself dinner. I adore food but even more importantly I love preparing food. Cooking is one of my favorite escapes. So anyway, I called my Mom to get a figure-friendly chicken recipe and she reminded me of one of the easiest and yummiest. I decided to make enough to eat for dinner and then take some for lunch sometime this week. The recipe doesn't really have a name. But here's the jist of it...
The dinner was soooo good. The perfect serving. I'm not too full. Just satisfied. I love cooked vegetables and this was just so easy to make. Plus its just so pretty to look at. I'm definitely going to cook more often--its such a stress reliever and the eating is quite the bonus!
- 2 Chicken Breasts (seasoned w/ fresh garlic, seasoned salt, and various Italian seasonings)
- Brown both sides of the chicken in a cast-iron skillet w/ olive oil
- After both sides are brown'd, put tomato, red onion, bell pepper, scallions (seasoned with salt/pepper) in the skillet.
- Place the skillet in the oven at 350. Cook until chicken is completely cooked.
- Serve the chicken/roasted veggies over a single serving of whole wheat pasta
- While in the oven, the olive oil/veggie make a sauce of sorts.
The dinner was soooo good. The perfect serving. I'm not too full. Just satisfied. I love cooked vegetables and this was just so easy to make. Plus its just so pretty to look at. I'm definitely going to cook more often--its such a stress reliever and the eating is quite the bonus!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Behind the Lyrics.
Maybe because the Grammy Awards were last night I'm in a pretty musical mood. One of my favorite songs from 2009 was Maxwell's "Pretty Wings". You know how you'll like a song but not really pay attention to what the artist is really singing? Well that's how I feel about "Pretty Wings". I just knew that Maxwell was singing the shit out of this gorgeous song, but after googling the lyrics last night, I looooove it even more. Its such a beautiful and bittersweet break-up song. I typically have no sympathy for unfaithful men, but the lyrics of this song have me wondering what it must feel like to have a relationship end and realize its all your fault. That's probably the most difficult thing to do--face ones own wrong doing, take responsibility and move on. Heavy stuff...
Time will bring the real end of our trial
One day there'll be no remnants,
no trace no residual
feelings within ya One day you won't remember me.
Your face will be the reason I smile
But I will not see what I cannot have forever
I'll always love ya
I hope you feel the same.
Oh, you played me dirty, your game was so bad
You toyed with my affliction
Had to fill out my prescription
Found the remedy
I had to set you free.
Away from me
To see clearly
The way that love can be when you are not with me
I had to leave
I had to live
I had to lead
I had to live
If I can't have you
Let love set you free to fly your pretty wings around.
Pretty wings, your pretty wings, your
Pretty wings. Pretty wings around.
I came wrong you were right
Transformed your love into lie
Baby believe me I'm sorry I told you lies
I turned day into night
Sleep till I die a thousand times
I should have showed you better nights, better times, better days
And I miss you more and more
If I can't have you
Let love set you free
To fly your pretty wings around
Pretty wings, your pretty wings, your
Pretty wings, your Pretty wings around
So Pretty wings, your pretty wings, your
Pretty wings, your Pretty wings around
Say Pretty wings, oh pretty wings,
Pretty wings yeah, Pretty wings around
Pretty wings, your pretty wings around,
pretty wings, your pretty wings around
Pretty , Pretty , Pretty
Pretty wings, your pretty wings, your
Pretty wings, Pretty wings around
Someone better is gonna love you
Someone, Someone is gonna love you baby
Pretty wings, your pretty wings,
Pretty wings, Pretty wings around
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