Do you Aldi?

So I went to Aldi the other day and have some thoughts to share:

First off, Aldi is a grocery store, according to wikipedia, ALDI is short for "Albrecht Discount", and is a discount grocery store that started in Germany. Interesting enough, Trader Joe’s began from a family trust of one of the two founders of ALDI. There are over 1,000 Aldi’s in the US, and over 9,000 worldwide (while there are less than 400 Trader Joe’s).

Aldi has staples (food, drinks (including wine), toilet paper, and other inexpensive household items. it seemed the majority of the products were their own brand (think trader joe's but not cutesy).

{Pretty crisp!}

{I should have tried these}

{Need a crock-pot?}

Some pro's:

-Not hard to make a decision, there is usually no more than two different brands for one kind of product. You want green beans - BAM - 1 choice, done!

-It was a small grocery store, and more manageable to leave without buying crazy items you never knew existed much less wanted (I have a problem at big grocery stores).

-Near my job

-The prices were good (especially on salsa, hummus, and pita chips).

-The products tasted fine (minus the hummus which was wayyyy to garlicky (although with Halloween and loose vampires..maybe I need to reconsider))

-No decorations and marketing tricks

Some neutral items:

-I think you have to pay for a cart, I was confused slash cheap so just carried stuff in the store and looked like a crazy lady

-They don't give you bags at the end (pro - for the environment, con - for me forgetting my own bags...dangit!)

Some con's:

-Them not taking credit card, and me having to leave the store, find an ATM, and come back! Kinda embarrassing, but I love my CC and the delta miles...

Overall I would rate my experience a B, not B+, not B-. It is no trader joe's on fun-ness, but it was nice on my wallet. My next stop is IGA. What are you thoughts on discount grocery stores? Any winning items I should look out for

Happy 1 year anniversary to my sister Spectra and her hubby Sawyer

Yes, my sister's name is Spectra....don't act like you are suprised.

A year ago today, Spectra and Sawyer got married in Minnesota in a Harry Potter themed wedding.  2 reactions happen when I tell people that it was a Harry Potter wedding, reaction 1, people are insanely jealous and wish they could have a sister as cool as mine, or reaction 2, they roll their eyes and secretly judge it.  I don't care if Glamour magazine said having a Harry Potter wedding is a "don't"

I was skeptical myself, but trust me, they kept it classy.

A few highlights:
1) spells and wands used during the ceremony
2) spontaneous combustion in the ceremony
3) butter beer
4) chocolate frogs
5) gourmet s'mores
6) the savenger hunt "Hunt for the Horcruxes"
7) sitting with our "houses" at the seated dinner
8) the owl decor
9) lots of tweed
10) late night dance party

Here are some pics:

Love you two! Happy Aniversary! Can't wait for Orlando in a few weeks and going to Universal for Harry Potter World! Count down!

cleaning silver - domestic fail

So my in-laws gave Elliot and me this beautiful silver platter serving dish that I think belonged to one of the grandparents.  I wanted to spiff it up and remove any tarnish, and this lady at an antique store told me about a technique that "easily removes tarnish" - well 2 attempts later (approximately 45 minutes, which mind you is about as long as an episode of Mad Men) I still have a tarnished platter.

Here are specific instructions from a university chemisty deptartment (aka legit) - http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/homeexpts/tarnish.html

They even give the fancy formula (I have no idea what this means, but I like the idea of having equations and such in my blog!

3 Ag2S	+	2 Al		6 Ag	+	Al2S3
silver sulfide		aluminum		silver		aluminum sulfide

So chemistry...why did you not work for me!



Here are pic of the process (although, what is the point of looking, since it did not work!)


{Before}

 {The supplies - thank god it was all free!}

 {Action shot!}

 {Chemistry - bubbles!}

 {Hoping this magic would work}

 {The after pic - which looks the same as the before pic = domestic fail}

So can someone just tell me who I can pay to fix this?

Meet my friend/ Lessons learned from a month in Atlanta’s coffeshops

So, sorry that I have been bad about blogging.  But - don't worry - I have a ton good blog topics coming up. So, I have a special treat for you today - a guest blogger. So, meet Missy.  Missy is a person, she has brown curly hair, she was a dancer for a big chunck of her life, and she is in med school in Isreal.  She came down to Atlanta to spend time with her sister and to study.  Here are here lessons learned from a month in Atlanta’s coffeshops

"I spent a little over a month living with my sister in Atlanta and studying for Step 1 of the US Medical Licensing Exam; most of my studying was done at various cafes throughout the city.  What I first thought was reverse culture shock since I go to medical school abroad, became a working list of lessons learned through encounters observed.

1.      Apart from the occasional patio, cafes are indoor spaces, which means indoor voices.  Apart from the occasional voyeur, people in cafes are usually there for their own reasons and don’t need to be party to the conversations around them.

2.      Nobody likes bananas poked, poked in their faces.

3.      When productivity is drawing to a lull, there are two options for continuing in a café: the blended coffee beverage or, if already shaky from caffeine, the 2 for 1 cookie special.

4.      Running lines for a production in a cafe is only acceptable when done in a language other than English.

5.      HR confrontations should probably occur in confidential locations—a cafe is not one of those.

6.      When it is over 85 degrees outside, wearing a wool scarf as a fashion statement might be met with: ‘oh, hell to the no!’

7.      If things are going wrong in life, it is probably a direct result of ignoring God’s very clear message to go do development work in South Africa.

8.      The decision to take a 2 hour work call on a cell phone at a cafe should be followed by treating tablemates with to a delicious beverage.  While teleworking is an important alternative to being in an office, there are more stringent rules of decorum; it is highly inappropriate to assume that it is socially acceptable to subject other patrons to business meetings.  Although, in all fairness, who ever really wants to listen to any one-sided cell phone conversations.

9.      Internet variability within a cafe offering free wi-fi is unacceptable, but the staff still has a moral obligation to report that to the clientele.

10.  White male privilege can be described as many things, but ‘oh, you know’ is not one of them.

"

My two favorite were the HR confrontations and the wool scarf!  My other friend here in Atlanta has a rule that for each hour or so you are there, you should buy 1 item. What coffee shop rules do you have?

Also - I want to start a blog feature called "what is in your purse/ wallet/ bag" - you know what I am talking about they are always asking famous people to look in their bag and see their fancy beauty products etc.  So I asked Missy - what is in your purse?

"I don't carry a purse, but I'm happy to tell you what's currently in the bag I carry most days:

Nalgene
Peruvian small shopping bag holding the tupperware from my lunch
Bills that I need to pay
White coat
Stethescope
Packet for history and physical in Hebrew
"Rapid Interpretation of EKGs"
Small notebook for writing down all of the things I have no clue about in the day

White cardigan
Mint mojito gum from the States
iPod
Hand sanitizer from Trader Joe's
Pens
A shell from my mom (probably from Cape Cod)
My wallet
A giant bobby pin

That's probably more than you needed/wanted to know.  And it sort of looks like I'm more studious and medical than I really am."

My favorites of these were the giant bobby pin and a random shell!!

Better be careful, I might pick on your next - what is in your bag?

Professional sports

Some memories from growing up:

- Being dressed as a toddler in a cheerleading outfit of my parents favorite college football team
- Fun tailgates outside of a football game of my parents alma mater
- Hotdogs with lots of toppings on it at a professional baseball game
- My parents always in the stands at my soccer games, cheering me on

Oh wait….those things did not happen….reminder – I was a child of hippies. I have tons of fabulous memories from growing up, but none of them involved sports. I did actually play soccer my freshmen year in HS in Oklahoma, and my parents showed up to a few games, but definitely brought a book to read!
Because I did not grow up with any of this, you can imagine, I am slightly overwhelmed at these types of events as an adult. Here are some of my recent experiences:

1) Went to my first professional football game (it was just a pre-season game though, but I still count it). It was the Atlanta Falcons vs. Miami Dolphins. I might rather be at Callaway Gardens watching the “birds of prey” show with a real falcon swishing over our heads, or at the Atlanta Aquarium watching the dolphin show. Elliot and I took MARTA in and it surprisingly easy. We had great seats that Elliot got super discounted from some girl on craigslist.

{Pics from the game}

Here is what I enjoyed:
Half time- they had tiny children playing football – this was wayyyy more entertaining than watching the professionals. Although I was concerned about the risk of concussion and traumatic brain injury. People were falling all over the place, and some of the kids were really good and fast, and could skirt around the other kids and make touch-downs. I loved this part! The tiny baby cheerleaders were also entertaining. I wonder if Elliot and I have kids if we would ever allow them to do something like this, or if we would pay them to play Oregon trail at home instead (read previous posts)

Here is what I spent the majority of my time doing:
Staring at 2 guys in their 30’s who came to the game with 3 dads in their 30’s, and their 3 sons. The dad’s were fully enjoying themselves, drinking a brewsky and watching the game, they would occasionally tell their 3 boys to stop climbing the railing and stop hitting each other. The 2 guys who did not have kids (at least with them), seemed slightly annoyed, and the 3 kids who were having a great time. I also enjoyed watching the couple sitting in front of the kids and turning around and giving evil looks to the kids (but not the dads). I guess some might consider this father son bonding time?

What I did not enjoy:
People making fun of me as we walked to MARTA after the game because I walk faster than them. ANDDD that lack of vegetarian options at the game.


I also went to a Braves game – I used to go a lot when I first moved to Atlanta, but have not been in 2 or 3 years (wow-zer). It was a fun game, school was back in session and it was a week night, so it was not too crowded (which I liked). I also got a free tumbler – plastic glass with a plastic straw from Publix.

Ohhhh – and big announcement – Gaya joined a fantasy football league – so more to come on that in the near future.

What is your favorite memory from a sports game?

Ps – I would love to know who my readers are. Leave me a comment sometime and or click the link “join this site” – gracias!

Why do people do yoga?

Well according to a random website I found (http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/info/why-practice-yoga.asp), here are a few reasons:

1. Yoga relaxes the body and the mind.
2. Yoga can help normalize body weight.
3. Yoga improves your resistance to disease.
4. Yoga increases your energy level and productivity.
5. Yoga leads to genuine inner contentment and self-actualization.

I don’t disagree with any of those, but I wanted to add a few other ideas. Here are some hypotheses, that me and a friend came up with on why yoga is increasing in popularity:

1. To be trendy. Yoga has been “in” for several years. This includes expensive memberships and fancy pants yoga clothes, and fancy pants yoga gear/equipment. I am amazed by how expensive some exercise clothes are. I am also amazed by how put together people often look at these yoga classes. They get all cleaned up, like I would if I was going on a big date! Although yoga does not want you to be competitive, my friend and I hypothesized that many folks enjoy competing against others and themselves.
2. To improve their performance or experience (wink wink, in other ways, not just improving their half marathon personal bests!).
3. Because you can see improvement fairly quickly in regards to these poses. Literally each time they are a bit easier.
4. To be touched – I personally love hands on adjustments or enhancements, when the instructor comes around and helps align you or gives you a mini massage….heaven. The power of human contact and touch!!!

My yoga history: So in previous posts I have mentioned that I am trying to get in to yoga. I have done yoga about 1-2x a year since I was 16, and never really got in to it, most of the time I would get discouraged that I can’t touch my toes, then I would hold my breathe for the full hour grimacing in pain and boredom….but not anymore my friends, times are a changing. Here are my favorite new moves all of which make me feel strong and calm (although, I don’t remember some of these being called these names?):

{Pics by

http://www.bing.com/browse?g=yoga_poses&qpvt=yoga+positions&FORM=SGEWEB }

1. Corpse Pose

  2.   Legs Up The Wall Pose

   3.   Lord of the Dance Pose – I am shockingly good at this one – woot woot!

   4.  Child’s Pose, I love being in a tiny ball. I want to see if I can fit in to a small box

    5. Wide Leg forward bend

   6.  Handstand (against a wall obvi)

You might notice several of them are pretty passive – hence why I love it, I am workin out while resting at the same time – WINNING!!

One day, I might just do some of these:

Source: liliezencoach.tumblr.com via Gaya on Pinterest

Source: pics-site.com via Gaya on Pinterest

Source: healthful.tumblr.com via Gaya on Pinterest

Source: marasu3.tumblr.com via Gaya on Pinterest

Source: yogajournal.com via Gaya on Pinterest

 

Source: kimberlysnyder.net via Gaya on Pinterest

So basically if I keep this up, I might be able to do some of these crazy poses. AAANDDD If public health does not work out, I could join cirque de soleil!

A couple questions for you?

Do you love or hate yoga (or somewhere in the middle) and why?

If you love yoga, what is your favorite pose?

Any great yoga DVD's out there?

So many great gifts

So my birthday is coming up – woot woot! I got 4 early gifts so far:
1) A free beverage to starbucks – I need to still use it, I am thinking iced chai…oh the good ole days
2) A 50% off massage or facial from my gym, Exhale Spa (read previous posts to get caught up!)
3) A bi-weekly membership to a fruit and vegetable delivery service. This was a surprise gift from Elliot. I am pretty pumped about this one, mainly because it allows me to be lazy and not battle traffic and annoying people in the grocery store. My first delivery arrived earlier this week. Between Elliot and I, we have almost polished off the bananas (organic, mind you!). I love gifts that allow me to be lazy. What else can I outsource?

{First order}

4) This awesome map from my parents, where you use a coin and scratch off the countries you have visited.
5) A beer bottle opener that you screw in to the wall from Marlboro. I have no idea why Marlboro keeps sending me ads and coupons, and for my b-day they decided to send me a bottle opener. First let me start with a few facts about Gaya
a. I have never smoked a cigarette…Ever. I can’t even remember a time I have touched a cigarette (other than candy ones when I was a kid). Now I have picked up cigarette buds but that is when I have participated in a trash/litter pickup (I was in an environmental club in h.s.).
b. I have opened less than 5 beers in my life, maybe less. I have no need for a permanent bottle opener on my wall
c. Even if I did have a need for a permananet bottle opener, I am too lazy to install it (read comment above and fruit and veggies)
d. I am in public health…nuff said
e. I find the word Marlboro hard to pronounce, so even if I did smoke, I would not smoke these - I could not even order them at a grocery store!

Literally, Marlboro people – where are you buying people’s names from. You might need to rethink your marketing strategy….

Happy early early bday to me!

Trying to stay cool

It is a lost cause for me to try to become cool (as in the cool kid on the block) – so this blog post is simply devoted to how to stay cool from a temperature perspective – which pretty much means – leave Atlanta in search of a body of water.  Here are a few summer highlights in my attempt to stay cool

1) Go to Callaway Gardens ‘Aqua Island’ – pretty much the most fun I have had in at least a year (this sounds like sad in writing).  I had to go to a leadership camp for work (really intense 1 week experience that I am still traumatized from).  One evening after training, a bunch of my colleagues and I went to Aqua Island – a bunch of connected bouncy things in the middle of the water. You paid 10 dollars and got to be a kid again.  It was straight up like wipeout – super exhausting and awesome.  I highly recommend going to Callaway’s man made beach this time of year (school is back in session so you can cuss as needed as you play – and because it is still hot). Of course being type A we had to have a competition - let's just say I am a weak link!!

         Source: likeitalatte.blogspot.com google.com  via Gaya on Pinterest

      2) Natural Rock sliding – Elliot and I decided a few weeks ago to do a weekend away.  We went up to Clayton, GA to the Beechwood Inn (super charming inn with literally the best dinner I have eaten in years).  Clayton has all these wineries and antique shops and makes for a lovely weekend.  Best part – me sliding down a tiny natural rock slide and flipping out each time.  I loved it!!! Except for water getting in my nose each time and me worrying about the Naegleria, a microscopic ameba that can get in your nose and infect your brain (eeek!) - http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/naegleria/

 

Source: swimmingholes.org via Gaya on Pinterest

            {Pic - 2 from a winery, 2 from the Inn}

{{

      4) Shoot the hooch – also known as float down the Chattahoochee – this is an interesting one.  Tons of river operators have floating companies just outside of Atlanta, so you can rent inter-tubes and float down the river with your friends.  I use the term ‘River’ loosely.  I suggest drinking before you get there as the water is fairly dirty.  I am 98% sure we saw a guy going to the bathroom (use your imagination) – you also just see lots of trash.  That being said, with the right group it is quite fun. Be weary if the operator is too cheap, they might make you wait 2.75 hours in their parking lot before you get to go.  I did not get to take too many pics so I found some good ones online.  There is also a famous song by Alan Jackson about the river – to get you in the mood http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW5UEW2kYvc&ob=av2e (although I can’t imagine water skiing on this river?)

(this pic is from one of the nicer operations)

Source: shootthehooch.com via Gaya on Pinterest

{Pic from the bus ride - I have never been so glad to finally get on a bus!)

4)     4) Lake Allatoona and surrounding lakes.  So a few months ago, Elliot and I and my book club friends (and their partners), went and rented a pontoon boat on Lake Allatoona for the afternoon.  It was fairly cheap when you divided it by 4 couples and it was a super short drive from Atlanta. There were these coves called “cocktail coves” where all the cool fancy pants boats would drop anchor and all float near each other and play loud music.  We almost joined in on that fun, but noticed the pontoon might not fit in super well.  I will say at one point Elliot was waving to another boat (he realllllly loves waving at people and having them wave back) and the guy gave him the bird.  Elliot was pretty sad. So maybe this is not the most family friendly lake around. 


      {Pic of Elliot jumping off the boat trying to catch a frisbee --- makes me want a dog}
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       {Pic of the ladies going for a swim, I look like I am wearing a white shirt...I am not...I am just that pale!)