March Madness: 3 Weeks

Week three—it was hard getting through St Paddy’s Day with no beer—but I made up for it with a couple of Rob Roy’s and a seat at the theatre for Young Frankenstein the Musical. I’m learning that going out to eat is becoming more and more difficult. I’m on the hunt for alternative places to eat on Toronto, which offer a more dynamic menu, sans carb overload.

I got this email by a friend that forgot about my March Madness project: Subject line:

“Don't Miss Free Pastry Day at Starbucks!”

I immediately began daydreaming … standing in line at $tarbuck’$ thinking about which pastry I was going to devour the moment it touched my fingers. Then I snapped out of it and trashed the email.

It’s tough. There’s nothing more I’d want than to sink my teeth into a bowl of spaghetti and tomato sauce. But I don’t – I feel the difference cutting back on carbs has made and I feel great.

Week 2:March Madness and an annoying email

I’ve gone two weeks, without my most favourite things. I’m doing well with the temptations of yummy desserts and amazingly delicious foods I see everyone else eating without a care in the world. Week two is frustrating because I don’t feel nor do I see a significant amount of change with my body. I have t constantly remind myself this is a process and it takes time for the body to readjust.

This week I found my most favourite chicken seasoning mix, La Grille, by Club House: Barbecue Chicken — I’ve been searching for this seasoning mix ever since I moved to the City. And I finally found it at Metro of all places. So chicken dinner is about to get a whole lot more exciting. Is it sad I get excited about chicken seasoning?

I received an email this week too. I very annoying email. As if the universe was pointing a finger at me and laughing. (See below) Cruel, cruel world.

Yeah, apparently Swiss Chalet has all you can eat fries. How thoughtful. Anyway I trudge on, distract myself with vegetables like Kale (my new favourite snack) and Season one of Mad Men. I’m proud of myself for taking a more healthy approach to eating and feeding my body. My skin is still glowing and my face looks less puffy in the morning – you know, less “carb face” as some would say.

I intend to get through St. Paddy’s day without the beer and maybe with a swig of my old friend Rob Roy (see recipe below). I’m also going to see Young Frankenstein, The Musical very much looking forward to it.

The Rob Roy

1.5 oz scotch

0.5 oz sweet vermouth

fill a mixing glass with cracked ice. Add scotch and sweet vermouth. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a cherry.

March Madness: Down the Rabbit Hole

Alice: But I don't want to go among mad people…


Cheshire Cat: Oh, you can't help that. We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad.

While some of you may be giving something up for lent, such as smoking, chocolate, sex or I don’t know, swearing, in preparation for Easter, I’ve simple decided to give up my vice—CARBS, for no reason other than curiosity.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” (minus the cake eating)

Now for those of you who know Natalie Daye intimately, you know about my overwhelming adoration for anything and everything bread, pasta, chips, cold beer, pizza, dumpling, tempura-related. Hello Bar One Pizza? Market Fish N’ Chips? Koganei Tempura? Don Don Noodles Dumplings? Nonna’s Gnocchi!?!?!?? I must be mad right!?

I just want to see what will happen. I’m not starving myself – I’m a size 12 in most my clothes, I used to be a 10. I’d like to be a 10 again. I’m not delusional about what my body is and how I’m built. I don’t want my grandmother to call me fat any more. And I know, size 12 isn’t fat, but it is to nonna. And it’s the last size before I find myself in Addition Elle or Reitmans. I don’t want that. I want to be happy in my skin.

I’m challenging myself to really think about what I put into my body. Buying more and more organic foods, farm fresh foods, free-run, grain and grass fed foods. My last supper, on Feb 28, consisted of about 12 potatoes, roasted in the oven and left over homemade cheese pizza. I am fully aware of how unhealthy that is but I’m also aware of how difficult it’ll be for someone like me to give it up – cold turkey.

About 3 days later I was craving an ice cold Molson, greasy pizza and pasta. It’s all I could think about. But I hung in there, and now, on day 7, I barely think about it.

On my 5^th day, I noticed my face is a bit slimmer, and my cheekbones have come out to say hello again. It’s nice to see some definition in my face again. Like summer face. My guy’s dad also noticed a slimmer me. It might have been my jeans, my new James Jeans—size 32.

One thing I noticed, while walking along the Danforth this weekend. As beautiful as it was outside, inside on dining tables all along the strip, wasn’t. Our diner tables and our dinner plates are FULL of filler CARBS. We spend on average $20 on lunch on the Danforth, but what are we really paying for? The bread slices? The bread sticks? The pasta? The French fries and potatoes!? We’re being taken advantage of as customer. We fill our bellies with all this bread and pasta and fries and leave satisfied because we are full. When really there was NO substance to our meal at all. It was a wake up call.

So after one full week, I’ve survived one potluck, a few diners out and about a dozen trips to Tim Horton’s. One amazing thing I’ve a

lready noticed is my lack of feeling full and my skin is clear, clearer than it has been probably since I was a kid. I’m never stuffed to the gills. No matter how many veggies, chicken or fruits I eat, I’m always satisfied, never bloated. I’m waking up earlier, and easier and have more stamina.

Summary:

What I won’t eat:

• White sugar
• Bread of any kind including fresh Panini and toasted rye (my mouth is watering as I type this)
• Pasta (The Italian blood in me is boiling)
• Potatoes (The Irish blood in me is boiling)
• Rice (including one my most favourite dishes, risotto de fungi)
• Beer (my dad wouldn’t be happy)
• Junk food: chips, nachos, candy, popcorn, etc.

What I will eat:

• Vegetables (this is easy as I love veggies)
• Fruit (not as easy as my allergies come into play here, so I’m a bit limited, unless I cook my fruit)
• Chicken & Turkey
• Tofu
• Nuts & Seeds (again a bit limited due to allergies)
• Cheese
• Legumes
• Eggs

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle.”

Some of you, who know me, might be afraid of what I’ve created here. There’s nothing more annoying than a know-it-all-CARB-hating woman going on about how CARBS are bad. But rest assured. This is a one-month exercise in health, nutrition, body awareness and temptation. I’ll keep you posted on a weekly basis.

For more information on refined foods and why they're bad – here’s a great article by Alex Jamieson, a Holistic Health Counselor and Gourmet Natural Foods Chef. http://bit.ly/blst01

The Enemy:

Christmas on a Dime in 8 easy steps

I haven't had a full time job in 3 months. Money is tight. But I'm not going to let that interfere with the holidays.

I managed to create a comfy, cozy Christmas experience in an 8-foot x 3-foot space. This is how:

1. I cut over a dozen paper snowflakes of varied sizes and duct taped them to the wall. I also used left over pom poms from halloween as added snowballs.

2. I fashioned a fireplace and mantle out of paper and painted logs, flames and the texture of wood to make it look real, sort of.

3. I hung a wreath I made last year from vines I pulled off the outside of my stepfather's house.

4. I made garland out of paper and thread, cutting shapes of popcorn and berries.

5. I took a centrepiece I won at the BoobyBall over 3 years ago, strung lights and put a tree topper on it that I've had for years for a tree.

6. I installed a window, painted the background black, added a moon and Santa flying across the sky.

7. I took a wooden screen I've had for years and hid the kitty litter.

8. Finally, my boyfriend hung a stocking he made for me at his dad's workshop and a santa hat to the mantle and presto - all set for holiday festivities!!

New Paintings ...

"Ol' Blue Eyes"

Acrylic on canvas in Brilliant Blue

"Rosebuds"

Acrylic in Titanium White and Yellow Light and water colour in Pink on canvas

Halloween Inspiration

I’ve always been fascinated by the carnival and all things amusement park and local fairs. I find them wondrous, magical, scary and beautiful—all at the same time.

It’s been a dream of mine to ride the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island in Brooklyn ever since I saw the video to Please Don’t Go Girl.

The lights, the sounds and the smells of a carnival turn me around inside. There’s something nostalgic about it all. When I read The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom I couldn’t help but be whisked away and feel every emotion it conjured up.

I grew up watching scary movies. The movie Freaks scared me half to death—but something about it was relatable. Maybe I realized at a young age, I too was a freak in my own right, like Daryl Hannah in Splash.

Halloween is the one night we all get to be the things, people and creatures we’ve always wanted to be—there are no limits. This year a group of us are going out as Circus Sideshow Freaks. There will be a Ring Leader, a Clown, a Half-Woman-Half-Man and a Wolf Man, among others. I’m going to be The Bearded Lady.

Bearded ladies have been women of legend, curiosity, ridicule—even fashion. Her beard makes her the attraction, but it’s sexy, it’s mysterious, it’s something people will pay for the privilege of looking at her.

There is a raw beauty to The Bearded Lady. No smoke, no mirrors, just the presence of her own androgyny and frank sxual ambiguity.

A little history …

In ancient Egypt queens wore strap-on beards called postiches. Norse pagans worshipped the Earth goddess Friga, who was repeatedly portrayed as a woman with a beard. Many of the most well-known pagan deities, such as Aphrodite or Venus, were worshiped as having beards once.

These Bearded Ladies were Goddesses, complete, supernatural women who rose above the boundaries of our mere human existence. And their androgyny was a symbol of their own spirituality. The beard symbolized the fact that because of her divine status, Friga was able to take on both feminine and masculine characteristics at the same time.

Subsequently, what this reveals about the rest of us humans is that no matter the era, or the culture, androgyny can captivate us.

Catch Salma Hayek as Madame Truska the bearded lady in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant in theatres on October 23.

Bang Bang …

I woke up early this morning. I had a lot to do, some errands and things. I took a shower and like I normally do, carried on with my normal morning activities. I ate some Shreddies, answered some emails… thought about what I’d wear today, that sort of thing. It wasn’t until I put my bra on that I looked up and out the window, only to see a blonde and sweaty, 20-something year-old dude wearing a wife-beater and cargos working on the neighbour’s roof. About 40-feet between us.

I ran into the bedroom, only to see another blonde, sweaty, 20-something dude wearing a wife-beater and cargos working on the neighbour’s roof. So I ran into the bathroom, trying to act all cool-like. I managed to avoid eye contact with both dudes… but “did they see me?” I wondered. Then I grabbed a towel, kept my head down, grabbed some clothes and proceeded to change in the bathroom. Face flushed red, I ran out of the appt. and into my car to run some errands and get on with my day. Now I’m back, facing the music, bang bang go their hammers.

This is my view.