The Oscars

The Oscar frenzy has started to wind down but I've just begun checking out the paparazzi shots from the big night. Did you watch the awards? I think it's great that Sandra Bullock not only won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in The Blind Side, but also the Razzie for Worst Actress for her role in the movie All About Steve. She even went to the Razzie award show on Saturday to accept the dis-honor and handed out copies of her stinker of a film too. Who doesn't like their leading lady to have a sense of humor about themselves? The shiny frock she sported to Sunday's event was a favorite of mine, along with these numbers worn by Cameron Diaz and Rachel McAdams.

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Lazy Sunday: Grocery Shopping

It seems to be on nearly every American's weekend to do list, a task some of us love while others loath - grocery shopping. My boyfriend falls into the later category, but lucky for him I'm an enthusiastic member of the former. While I tend towards the European grocery shopping model (buying my fresh foods throughout the week) there's something about toting home a trunk-load of tastiness and the sight of a fridge bursting with variety and flavor that can't be denied. This week I've got special motivation for my regular Sunday trip to Stop & Shop and I am positively giddy with excitement - my brand new blender will arrive tomorrow! This is no ordinary counter ornament kids, it's a 64 ounce Ohio-made VitaMix industrial strength food pulverizer! Stay tuned for my personal review to find out whether or not this kitchen crusher lives up to its reputation....

Weekend Wishes

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The sun came out today after a cool, cloudy week, and this weekend's supposed to be especially nice. What do you have planned? I'm checking out a new restaurant on Saturday (where these yummy photos are from) and off to yoga on Sunday before snuggling in to watch the Academy Awards. Some park wandering, library browsing, and glasses shopping may be in the works too...

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Desert Inspiration

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I've always had a thing for the American Southwest, and lately I've been longing for the dry warmth and beautiful views of the desert. If this picture from Zion National Park isn't enough to tempt you, just think about all of the yummy southwestern flavors (fresh corn, spicy peppers... cold margaritas) and electric sunsets over the cacti covered horizon.

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Spring Dress

The weather is starting to warm just enough to make me think Spring may really be on the way, and that means it's nearly time for dresses again. How cute is this floral flock? I like that it's not overly flower powered, and it looks perfect for a Parisian printemps* stroll (that's spring in french... at least according to Google translator).

Artist Spotlight: Martin Amm

Photo by Martin Amm

If you could not tell from my previous posts, I love animal art and animal photography. So when I stumbled upon the insect close-up portfolio of Martin Amm, I knew I'd found my kind of photog. Originally from Kronach, Germany, Amm also has some stunning landscape work - those shown here are from Sweden. There isn't too much info about this young artist online, but you can check out a wider range of his work here, which is where all of these photos are found.

Photo by Martin Amm

Photo by Martin Amm

Photo by Martin Amm

Photo by Martin Amm

Photo by Martin Amm

Fresh Idea

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I read a statistic today that I had heard before but had since put to the back of my mind - 95% of our thoughts are repetitive. Wow. That certainly helps explain why making progress can sometimes seem so difficult. And it's no wonder why negative thoughts can be so debilitating - they could quickly become a skipping record, playing over and over in our heads.

I started to wonder what the cause of this high rate of repetitive thought is. Perhaps it's just the human wiring, the way our synapses fire reaffirming our thought process. Or maybe it has more to do with our 21st century culture, with the inundation of information which is often very repetitive in nature (who hasn't heard the robotic Tiger Woods apology by now?).

But regardless of the cause, who wants 95% of their musings to be unoriginal? We may not be able to actually change the percentage of our thoughts which are repetitive or not (that's for the neuroscientists to analyze), but I know I spend a lot of time pondering, discussing, and wearing out the same tired topics and I will bet I'm not the only one. So what are you doing to inspire fresh ideas, new experiences, untrodden paths, and original thoughts in your life?

Just a question to take into the new week...