The 30-Year-Old Intern

That's right - Sarah's an intern again! I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to work for an AMAZING company and learn a ton about web marketing as I help their Interactive Client Team.

I'm nervous and excited - what's will it be like to be a 30-year-old intern? I have no clue.

At least I know, as much more of a grown up than when I started my last internship, that comfortable shoes are very important on the first day and to put your name on your Lean Cuisine ('cause someone will be eating it otherwise!) It's knowledge for the ages y'all - I'm like a modern day Yoda with this kind of insight...

So stay tuned for tales of internships, web marketing and fun!

No Weigh In Monday!

Oh noes!

Someone's little dog is not feeling well so she is taking him in to the vet before a meeting today and didn't make it to WW as a result. So no official weigh in Monday :O(

I did weigh myself at home and was somehow the same weight as my last weigh in Monday (using the 2lb difference between my scale and the WW one), so yay to that!

Detox and Weight Loss

I've always wanted to try a detox diet. Knowing several people who have tried the apple cider vingar and cayenne pepper cleanse diet, I knew that crabbiness/turning into a space cadet could definitely be side effects and that fact has kept me from ever attempting it.

After 3 days of horrible eating thanks to a hill country camping trip with my granparents (gramping!), I was ready to get back to eating healthy again. Now that I'm a lady of leisure, a detox diet seemed more doable and I was less scared about feeling stabby. Also, it occurred to me that I'm detoxing from bad food and coffee, not crystal meth, so I need to be less of a Nancy about it.

We (yes I dragged Ryan into this too) based our detox diet on this one from Vegetarian Times (yep - I spelled it wrong again and had to spell check), but made some modifications. Actually, we pretty much ignored all the dandelion salads and other stuff completely.

Here's what we did for our 2 day weekend detox:

1. Eat mostly vegan. I say mostly because I didn't have soy milk for our smoothies on Saturday morning, so I had to use milk and Greek yogurt. 
2. Not add stuff to food. We didn't use salt or sugar in our foods. If they needed more flavor, we added some Bragg or some maple syrup (for sweet potatoes - MMM!)
3. Cut out the coffee. The Gabbarts are mighty coffee drinkers - we have like 4 cups a day usually, so this was the toughest part of the experiment. This and not being able to have a taco. I want a taco.
4. Drink a ton of water. We drank regular water, water with lemon, water with lemon and ginger, water with lemon and cayenne pepper, water with lemon, cayenne pepper and ginger - you get the idea. 
5. Took naps. I have a black belt in sleeping, so this was a cakewalk - NAILED IT! *swish*

Things I learned from the detox:

• After about a day, all your food tastes the way it's supposed to. Seriously - you can really taste your food. Apples were explosions of sweetness, carrots were sweet, broccoli was earthy and tart - I really enjoyed that part.
• Headaches come on quickly and make you yell at your husband for whistling in the car.
• Green tea is a Godsend.
• It's not that hard to do for a short amount of time. 
• The genius of a detox isn't some crazy amount of weight loss, it's that it resets your tolerance for salt, fat and sugar. It also helps strengthen resolve and willpower, two things that had been seriously weakened in the food-stravaganza of weeks prior. 

I have heard about 21-day cleanses that folks swear by, but eff that - I'm not going to be successful for 21-days on a plan like this. Life needs flexibility and variety. That said, we're definitely incorporating what we have learned into our regular life - eating mostly vegan at home, great ways to throw meals together with minimal ingredients and drinking a ton of water all the time. 

But dang y'all, I need my coffee. No coffee is a dealbreaker for me (sexually transmitted crazy mouth - bwhahaha!) 

Is there anything that you couldn't give up in diet?

PS: Weigh in Monday will be back next week - huzzah!

Digital sabbatical - over! Yes I realize it never really started...

Ok, so things that I have learned while away from the internet:

1. I am not good at being away from the internet
2. Two weeks = 3 days
3. I love the internet

Internet, I just couldn't quit you. At first I thought being off the internet would be a relaxing and rejuvenating experience - that it would get me in touch with some part of myself that I lost touch with back before I became a constant Facebook and Twitter updater. Before you shed a tear for my sad, sad life, please know that I do go outside occasionally and don't Tweet when I eat a PBJ! Well not every time...

What I learned was that I really enjoy connecting with people on the internet and it has become a big part of my life in a very positive way. I've made new friends, grown in my relationships with people I already know in real life and I have learned a TON. Granted, some of this knowledge is in the LOLCat and Lamebook region, but I have also enriched my education in crafts, marketing and community building though my time spent online. Conclusion: my life is better with the internet in it. If Erin would have never convinced me to be on Facebook, my life would have been poorer in experience.

Also there's this, which is the best gift anyone has ever given me (or anyone else) ever. Ever in the history of time. So grateful for all the people in my life - I love you guys.

So fail on the digital sabbatical. A wise woman named Ruthie told me recently that when you have time off it's ok to jump ship on your well laid plans and I'm taking that to heart. March so far has been about exactly what it should be about - doing what I feel like doing when I feel like doing it. I'm usually such a planner and this month has helped me give up that control to gain something better: peace.

I'm going to use the rest of this month to enjoy the peace that random lunches at a food truck/bar with a friend, camping with my grandparents (gramping, as I call it), girl's night, rodeo-ing and crafting brings.

In April, it's on the the job hunt!

Reverb10: I'm 30 and unemployed - huzzah!

Today I opened my inbox and received this prompt from the Reverb10 crew: If March 2011 was your last month to live, how would you live it? 
I have an answer for this!


I am almost officially 30 years old now and completely unemployed. This is the first time since 1998 that I haven't had a part-time job, internship, heavy class load, full-time job or business to run.


It's slightly terrifying and totally awesome! Don't get me wrong, I'm not a total bum and will be looking for work in the near future, but I am going to enjoy my time as an unattached woman for the month of March.


Mythical March, as I'm calling, is the only month out of the year that I might actually see a unicorn (hat tip to my hubby for the phrase, usually reserved for the week between Christmas and New Year's Eve).


I'm going to use the time to reflect, relax, meditate, ride my bike, sleep in and generally live like a River Oaks socialite sans the Neiman Marcus habit and propensity for wearing workout clothes all the time. If you see me in gym clothes, rest assured I'm headed to or coming home from the gym.


Things that will be happening in March:

• I'm going to unplug from Facebook, Twitter and this blog for 2 weeks (starting today!)
• Email checking is going down to once every 2 - 3 days (starting today!)
• I'm giving Meatless Mondays a go!
• I'm scheduling time every morning to meditate
• Bootcamp and WW are still on as scheduled!

Don't miss me too much, all 4 people reading this! I'll be back in a few weeks with Weigh in Monday and March reflections! 

My new Sew Weekly post is up!

In this week's challenge I made a dress that will blind you with bright flowers!