The return of Mr. Bento...

I fell in love with Mr. Bento in 2007. I had unhealthy lunch habits and he inspired me to make healthier (and more attractive) decisions. I used Mr. Bento frequently and even joined Flickr groups for Bento lovers. After I left my job as managing editor for a magazine to work in politics (lunch was usually carrot salad and grilled chicken from the Chic-fil-A next to the campaign office, if I had time to eat) and later, worked from home, I got out of my Bento habit.


Tuscan white bean & tuna with cottage cheese, fruit, mixed greens.

Now that I have a regular schedule again (and have had one for almost four months), it was time to break out the Bento from storage (the cabinet above the fridge where no-one ever looks) and stop eating lunch like a 12-year-old. Yes, Lunchables are an affordable and easy way to control calorie intake, but turkey + cheese + crackers - any green vegetables EVER = an ass that doesn't fit into my skinny jeans. I have also gotten into the habit of shopping for produce at farmer's markets on the weekends and saving all of that healthy stuff for home eating just wasn't practical.


Spicy noodles, yogurt and fruit, granola, avocado.

So I'm cooking again. I made a Tuscan white bean tuna salad last weekend (and even soaked the beans overnight and cooked them myself). I made spicy whole wheat noodles yesterday. I have a list of Bento-friendly recipes to try. My goal is to Bento my lunch every day between now and the end of the year. Two days in, I already feel healthier. My ass expects to wear my skinny jeans around the end of next week. And I have lovely, lovely lunches that I'm not embarrassed to break out in front of coworkers. Proud of me!

If you are at first lonely...

I first posted this sometime in 2010, but I love it so much I thought I'd share it again. It made me feel okay about being okay with being alone. (say that three times fast.)

"If you are at first lonely, be patient. If you've not been alone much, or if when you were, you weren't okay with it, then just wait. You'll find it's fine to be alone once you're embracing it."



Video by the extremely talented filmmaker Andrea Dorfman and poet/singer/songwriter Tanya Davis.

"Alone" doesn't always mean "lonely." And when it does, "lonely is a freedom that breathes easy and weightless and lonely is healing if you make it."

Luck and talismans, part one...

After realizing I've been living in Austin for a year and a half now and I still have no live plants inside my house (it's good feng shui to have growing plants in your home) because I gave the ones I had away when I moved, I finally broke down and bought lucky bamboo in a red vase. My first live plant purchase, which got me thinking about lucky objects, talismans, feng shui, and superstition.

I could have gone for a spider plant, a philodendron, or some other plant that's nearly impossible to kill. Even a cactus, considering I now live in Texas. But I went for the lucky bamboo. And as I placed it on my fireplace mantel next to my lucky Happy Hoi Toi (symbolizes health and happiness) that I got at LimeBlue in Charleston, a green candle in a Japanese bowl a friend gave me years ago, and close to photos of people I miss very much, I realized just how many lucky objects and talismans I have around my house. And whether they work because they work, or they work because I believe they do, I also realized that I am a lucky girl. I do believe we create our own luck, but that a talisman or two (or five) can't hurt, especially if they remind you of people you love.


Photo: Lucky Bamboo, Happy Hoi Toi, Lucky Candle, and my favorite photo of my BFF Mary Kathryn. A "quadplex" of luck.

I'm working with a theme this month, so this will be the first in a series posts about lucky talismans. Am I the only superstitious one out there? Do you have any objects in your home that could be considered lucky charms?

Seeking a Universal Truth...

I've been meaning to write about this for a while, but life - as it does - kept interrupting. In 2008, my friend Ida Becker set off on a journey around the world to seek a universal truth. I was in awe of her courage, her traveling bug, and her ability to document and capture something that is so elusive. I was lucky enough to be part of the project before she set off around the world while I was still in Charleston and just watched the video again this week. It reminded me that the truth I gave to Ida in March of 2008, the same day she shot my photo, is still true: "What I know now that I wish I knew when I was in my twenties: One, stop waiting for your life to begin — it’s happening right now. Two, your sense of humor can be a survival mechanism. And three, stop being so hard on yourself."

It took losing touch with my own truth last year to remind me how important it is to remember these things. And I thank Ida for putting together a beautiful video for her project. I printed out the photo and my truth and hung it up above my desk so I won't forget again.



Watch the video and see for yourself. And visit Ida's web site for more information and inspiration - it's worth it.

Great big steps...

Many of you are already aware, but I've been away from here for a while and thought I'd get the official announcement out of the way so I can go back to my regular navel-gazing and micro-introspection. I've left my job at Skirt as of last week. A lot of people have gotten in touch (and I love you for it) and want to know why. The best way I can explain is to paraphrase from an email from a friend this week: "Little tiny dreams, Kelly Love, require little tiny thoughts and little tiny steps. Great big dreams require great big thoughts and great big steps."

I accomplished so many of my goals while I was at Skirt and I've made a positive decision to move on. I loved my job and I was really good at it, but sometimes that just isn't enough. I'm taking some time right now to figure out what my next move will be, but I am looking forward to what's ahead. My cell number will remain the same, for those of you who have it. My new email address is kellylovejohnson AT mindspring.com. Please feel free to email me there any time!

Drink your juice, Shelby...

Kris Carr, filmmaker and author of Crazy Sexy Cancer, and Dr. Mehmet Oz were on Oprah last year and they both talked about the "green drinks" they make every morning. Basically, they just throw anything green from the fridge into the juicer - cucumber, kale, celery, broccoli, etc. Dr. Oz's book, You on a Diet, has been my health bible since I started reading it in September.

Since I'm not a fan of most raw, green veggies (except avocado, baby greens, and spinach), I thought juicing might be a good way to get more green nutrients (right now I get them in pill form with a whole food multi vitamin. After a little research (mostly on Kris's blog, reading what her readers recommend), I bought a Breville juicer. I used it a LOT at first. I felt great, had a ton of energy, my blood sugar was stable, and my skin looked so good I got carded. Then, as with many of my "magic" solutions (exercise bands, belly dancing DVDs, raw food diet), my juice obsession gradually waned.

My first excuse was that juicing takes time. I can buy somewhat "fresh" unpasteurized juice, grab a bottle, and take it with me in two seconds. Juicing (even with a juicer that eats apples whole) is at least a 20-minute affair, including cleanup. My second is that I was throwing away produce. Unless I juiced twice a day for the amount of organic produce I bought, I ended up with bad fruit and vegetables. So even though store-bought juice is more expensive and not "alive," I've justified myself out of juicing for almost three months now.

As a result, I think I look tired and older than my RealAge. I definitely lack energy. And my super bad habit of skipping meals was screwing with my blood sugar enough to make me worry that I'm being a very bad diabetic.

This weekend, I decided to break my own curse and return to juicing. I bought a cart full of fruits and veggies, not a single processed item, and even if I have to juice three times a day I'm not going to throw anything out this week. This morning I had tomato, celery, parsley, spinach and watercress. Yesterday I had carrot/ginger/apple - twice. And now I'm searching through my favorite healthy web sites for more juice recipes. I have a pile of cucumbers, but haven't yet found the right cucumber-something combo. And cucumber by itself is OK, but not delish. Any ideas? I thought about cucumber-chocolate, but besides grossing me out I think that defeats the purpose.

Today is a lucky day for those who remain cheerful and optimistic...

I used to have this written on a Post-it taped to my computer screen, but I lost it a long time ago. My friend Jeff used to say it a lot and I think it's from a fortune cookie. I've realized lately how often my thoughts (and statements) are negative and how difficult it is to try and turn them into positives.

For example:
Negative - "I spend 50 f*cking dollars A MONTH on vitamins."
Positive - "I have really expensive pee."

Negative - "I feel old today."
Positive - "I feel things because I am human and alive."

Negative - "I'm creatively drained."
Positive - "You can't fill a well that doesn't need filling."

I'm tired, cranky, hungry, pained, anxious, and bored. But I should be grateful, buoyant, healthy, calm, and inspired. And even on the days when I feel like everything is made of red tape, when it feels like a trip to the grocery store is too haaard, when the treadmill at the gym feels like the wheel in a hamster cage (damn, forgot about those little guys...now I'm having mid-90s web flashbacks), I should be thankful. A lot of things come easy to me and I have to stop complaining about the things that don't (like having a sunny personality). I get to be around people who remind me that positivity comes from within and that a whole hour of yoga is worth the happy baby pose at the end. My family is healthy. I'm healthy. And even if I have already lived half of my life (we can talk about my "mid-life crisis" later), if the second half is going to be anything like the first, it's going to kick ass.

I know how lucky I am. I do.