New Year's Regimens

I always have the goal to lose X amount of weight each year, but this year, I gave up on lofty goals. My goal as I approach 30 (eep!) is to be healthier. That means consciously eating healthier and taking better care of my body -- not just with exercise, but by having a stable skincare routine and taking my vitamins. These are pretty big feats for me, considering I am constantly traveling and spend a lot of time in my car. I always forget to take my vitamins, but I am making a conscious effort to do better.

A couple of years ago, when my hair suffered most from my stress, I began taking vitamins for my hair. I did a lot of research and consulted a hair specialist dermatologist who recommended none other than this Whole Foods Hair, Skin and Nails herbal vitamin. When I take it regularly, I get great compliments on my hair and skin. Biotin is also great for your hair, so I get obsessive and take that in addition to the Whole Foods vitamin. Calcium is extremely important for women and time and time again, I fail at keeping my calcium routine up, so I decided to get these Viactiv chews to get me started. I plan on getting Citracal petites next, because the Citracal was recommended by my doctor and because the Petites makes them easier to swallow. And finally, the One a Day, because as you can probably tell from my diet (which also needs work), I don't really get all my food groups in.

My ammo for being healthy

Other goals for a healthier me in 2010:

1. Sleep more -- really! I don't seem to ever get enough.
2. Eat better -- less fried foods, more raw veggies.
3. Live simply and stress less. Don't sweat the small stuff :)

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

The End of an Era

I wandered into the Borders on La Cienega today, planning to do some work before meeting up with a friend nearby. I haven't been in LA for quite some time (hence my absence), so it's been awhile since I've been around that area. Upon arrival, I realize that it's closing down! I remember coming here in between work and dinner to browse books and magazines. I remember being so engrossed in Can You Keep a Secret? that I found a copy while running an errand here, and sat down and read two chapters in the store. I recall having to run to this Borders to pick up a copy of a Def Leppard CD for work. Yes, for work.

As sad as I was, this also meant that everything in the store was on sale. And here, my finds:

Can you tell I'm really into Korea right now? ;)

While I was really excited to pick up Korean phrasebooks and a Korea guide book (for my *fingers crossed* trip to Korea one day), I really wanted a Pimsleur Korean language CD kit, a new copy of The World Is Flat, Dan Brown's new book (only available in Spanish -- that would've been a good language exercise), and a few memoirs and social science books that had already been swept off the shelves.

But my favorite find from all this is a collection of essays from famous women writers about another influential author, Judy Blume. One of my favorite young adult authors while growing up was Judy Blume. While being so controversial for her time for the topics in her books, the characters in her books helped me get through those awkward years. The issues were real. I remember writing a letter to her as a high school student, and years later, sending an email to her while taking a children's lit class, to thank her for her contributions. Reading Everything I Need to Know About Being a Girl I learned from Judy Blume is a bit bittersweet, as I remember how I felt when I read those books and how much life was easier back then, but it's nice to know that professional writers have also been touched by Blume's work.

So if you're in LA, stop by the Borders on La Cienega Blvd as they have their liquidation sale for 7 more days. Everything is at least 40% off!