do you?

I don't know about you, but when it's midwinter and I'm gearing up to head to a tropical beach (after wearing 67 layers of thermal undergarments and a top layer of yak hair) I try and "tighten" up a little.

I like to head to the gym with a little extra fervor, eat mostly vegetables (with perhaps a little lasagna midweek), and I use a famous person's air-brushed, works-out-with-a-trainer-every-day photo. This month it's Jewel. She looks fantastic, and lives on a ranch where she rides horses and plays football with her neighbors. She's svelte. She's also not scrawny to the point of scariness, which makes me happy.

There's far too much of that Skinny Like A Scarecrow Actor thing going around, which is in direct conflict with the obesity epidemic in America.

I'm devoted to not becoming someone with Type 2 Diabetes, but I have found it tricky to be the "active svelte girl," too. As I enter my *gasp* mid-thirties, I have discovered that 4-5 miles a day is the trick. Whether it's walking the dog extra far, or going to the gym for 30 mins, I must do something at least 5-6 days a week or I don't feel as great. And isn't that the whole point? Feeling great, and feeling like you fit in your body?

Yep. That is the point.

In Shape Magazine - Jewel

long, long

Apparently I lost my mojo for a while there. It tends to happen from time to time, and then I wake up one day and realize I haven't written anything in weeks and my brain is filled with random thoughts that spill out everywhere but on the page.

For instance: I'm going snow skiing tomorrow and I have a pair of purple coverall ski pants. I'm planning on wearing them and I'm definitely not going to be the coolest kid on the mountain. Luckily, that is not my goal. My goal is to avoid falling, crashing, being run over by snowboarders, and cracking my head; most importantly to enjoy a hot cup of cocoa while resting in between runs.

In another vein, I am looking forward to Christmas this year. I love gift giving, gift receiving, gift wrapping, and gift making. I have a lovely mix of made and bought presents for people dear to me, and I am now on the hunt for some lovely, unusual wrapping paper. Pair that with some lovely, unusual ribbon and I am a happy camper.

Speaking of camping, and being creative, I read this advice from Ira Glass (host and producer of "This American Life" on NPR) to people just getting started on creativity. I understood it as: You'd better write a blog update immediately, or your brain will die.

"Nobody tells this to people who are beginners. I wish someone had told me. All of us who do creative work, we get into it because we have good taste. But there is this gap. For the first couple of years you make stuff, it's just not that good. It's trying to be good, it has potential, but it's not. But your taste, the thing that got you into the game, is still killer. And your taste is why your work disappoints you. A lot of people never get past this phase; they quit. Most people I know who do interesting, creative work went through years of this. We know our work doesn't have this special thing that we want it to have. We all go through this. And if you are just starting out or you are still in this phase, you gotta know that it's normal and the most important thing you can do is do a lot of work. Put yourself on a deadline so that every week you finish one piece. It's only by going through a volume of work that you will close that gap, and your work will be as good as your ambitions. And I took longer to figure out how to do this than anyone I've ever met. It's gonna take a while. It's normal to take awhile. You just gotta fight your way through."

Last, but not least, if you have wonderful clothing and a pretty closet to put it in, try color coordinating and making a lovely rainbow out of your vintage classics and new loves. Bri (from DesignLoveFest) did it, and it's dazzling.

DesignLoveFest

Ira Glass