I see salads in my future - lots and lots of salads

I try to identify my bad habits and break them and not wait for the new year. Although sometimes the "identifying" comes with the retrospecting that is usually involved at the end of the year. And this year the "identifying" not only coincides with the end of the year but also a blood test. (My blood is showing some problems that could possibly be corrected by eating healthier and moving the old body more. (What a surprise!))

Upon retrospection though, I realized that I have been eating emotionally. I'm kind of amazed, to be honest. I love food. I take pictures of food, and write about my lunches, and basically a good chunk of my life is devoted to growing (and sometimes eating) vegetables.

But this year, and it did start early this year, I became depressed about my paying job, and the way I was dealing with it was I would to go out to eat or go to the deli market and buy junk for lunch. That's right. I would wake up on the day I would work and think where will I go out to eat today. And that would motivate me to go to work.

I tried to bento once a week or every other week or sometimes I did a few in a row. But basically when I thought about going to work, I thought about chile verde tacos, and biscuits and gravy, and bags of buffalo bleu chips, and thousands of Hot Tamales, and gallons of Dr. Pepper. And I did very little movement. As little as possible. Sure sometimes I would walk to get my biscuits and gravy, but most the time I would drive.

So when I ran into my friend "Mrs. Oz," and mentioned my woes, she suggested I look into glass jar salads on Pinterest. Lightbulb! Salads. Containers. Hope.

Donburi Bento Box (Donburi is normally rice with toppings)

Top level: Containers of purple sauerkraut and oil and vinegar dressing

Spinach salad with tomato, radish, and avocado

Also I got back on my bike. Ugh. People I need your help. I need workout music suggestions because I swear time goes backwards when I'm on that thing.

Calling Cards!

I am a Cloud Junkie. This is a fact that I have come to accept as part of my whole being. Clouds make break out in song. Clouds make me look like fool as I jump out of vehicles to photograph them. Add a sunset and I'm likely to dance a jig too. So what's a happy girl to do.

Make calling cards of my cloud photos!

This is the word side covered up.

Name.

Phone number.

Email address.

with my icon!

Speaking of which, here he is with his stuff. Catnip and crackers. What a mess!

And I know I haven't really blogged about notebooks much or at all, considering this is Judy's Notebook. But I do collect them and fill them up with words and pictures and other things. I guess you could call me a "journaler." Personally I am so glad I did not call this blog, "Judy's Journal." But if I were to rename it what would you suggest?

On the left is Martha Stewart's newest line with Staples. Totally bringing out the office nerd in me with a selection of file folders and labels and notebooks. I told The Mister "Get me outta here before I spend money on one in every color!"

On the right is the fabulous cult Rhodia lined notebook. It even smells good.

And I just blogged these postcards on Judy's Bento Box. These are postcards that I had made by Moo. There are 20 different photos from my Flickr account and I did some bento, some food, some clouds, some Si. A real assortment.

Do you like to get mail from your postal person? Email me your mailing address and I'll send you a postcard.

My Favorite Things

Si's eyes, 
Totoro bento, 
Weird clouds, 
Pinwheel lunches, 
and Purple flowers.


Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

Bento With Flash

I really like food without flash. I really like all photos without flash. But it was so dark today.

The Loaf

Giveaway Closing Soon

Winner will be chosen tomorrow night.

Enter now.

Enter here.

Giveaway Time

Hello Fine Readers!

It's time for a giveaway.

My current hobby is bento boxing and I'm just a beginner, so I need all the help I can get. I found a fabulous book that I would love to pass on to one lucky person who is interested in it. Will mail anywhere in the world.

Just leave a comment HERE at this post. Giveaway ends Halloween night.

New Bento Box Flickr Group

At first I wanted to start a Flickr group that would be all about Elegant Bentos, not copies of the Mona Lisa per se, but compositionally pleasing and sublime. I started a gallery and was quick to realize that bento is more about cute and fun. And a lot of bento is about eating a healthy and well-rounded diet as well. Not just for oneself either. And it's usually homemade.

All of this and the love of variety (and wanting to try something new), I made a new group on Flickr for all things bento. It's called Bentoland.

My Charming Polar Bear

Si just jumped up on me with the coldest ears. Indeed the weather has turned and soon there will be frost on the pumpkin.

When I purchased this charm stone, I was still thinking about how to keep my lunches cool as it was still in the triple digits. My idea is (was) to use this stone as a cold pack. Freezing it the night before tucking it into my bento box.

Of course now I'm thinking of making soup and sausages and putting on a pair of socks and a flannel shirt.

Origami Earrings by Sheri Chen

I purchased these charming earrings from allmydreams on Etsy the other day. They hang down about 2 1/2 inches and are absolutely adorable. I met the artist through my bento excursion of late and became re-acquainted with the now huge Etsy shop. Sheri was recently highlighted in a New York Times article for her beautiful bento box art that she makes for her family. She also makes really cute baby and toddler clothes, and you know, Christmas is just around the corner.

Si the Gargoyle

I've been searching for the actual photo that is at the bottom of this blog with absolutely no luck. Right now I'd be happy to find the scanned version on my hard drive because it was a film photo like the picture above and my new banner. The two photos above are in frames that sit on a very tall bookcase just underneath my gargoyle which is as it should be the highest thing in the living room looking down upon us protecting us from evil.

I'm on vacation and I decided to make a to do list so I wouldn't sleep the week away. On this list are some fun things too not just vacuum the carpet and clean the bathroom. I thought it would be no problem adhering to tasks such as read everyday. Of course I do read everyday but I meant from a book not a computer screen.

But I haven't read everyday from a book or watched that pile of dvds from netflix. Instead I've been in a spacey phase in between creative pops. And it's all because of Bento Boxes.

Yesterday there was a article in the New York Times about Bento Box Lunches and as I read it today I realized I knew the majority of the web sites cited and the people who were interviewed and I've only been into this my brand new hobby for three weeks! To me Space Cadet Judy that is amazing. Also my bento box photos on Flickr have gone wild. Usually I'm lucky if any of my photos are viewed twice. There's nothing like it when things all fall into place. So the natural progression is I'm making another blog Judy's Bento Box. Hope to get something posted there soon. [NOTE: First post is a go. Come by and say hi!]

Also I finally decided to join the world and updated my profile as well.