Hello Hello Hello, Beauties!!!
I know, I know…I’m falling off. Not really, I PROMISE! Things have just been so crazy this Fall. As soon as I returned from Wisconsin I hit the pavement running on “Project Buy a House.” This was the brilliant brainchild of my husband. What was most brilliant about it was that he scheduled it while he was 7,000 nautical miles away. So, being that I had absolutely nothing else to occupy my time, “we” decided this would be the perfect time for us to buy a house. And what makes it even more exciting is it’s perfect placement during the Holiday season. (We are actually scheduled to close on Christmas Eve!) What is Thanksgiving without a termite inspection or Christmas without a house full of (unpacked) boxes? “We” started looking the week I got back. I think I got back on a Monday and by Thursday I had my first full day of showings. Well, it’s been less than a month & I’m happy to say we found a house, our offer was accepted & today I spent the morning at the new house with my awesome realtor Jesus, the inspector & the Brownboy Superheroes. Nothing major found in the inspection so we are moving full speed ahead. I’m pretty much in panic mode right now. That seems to be how I operate best; however, writing to a deadline is something I rock at, packing up a 2,600 square foot house by myself with the “help” of a 5 and 8 year-old is not.
Yesterday I spent the whole day purging their play room. I’m really excited about the prospect of completely de-cluttering our space & creating a home. I really need that right now. We have lived in California for over 4 years & in this house for almost 3 but we are currently renters. With hubs in the Navy & the market being a mess when we first moved out here (not to mention the sticker shock on Cali real estate) we never intended on buying in California. If you had told me even 2 months ago that I was going to fall in love with San Diego after 4 years of actively disliking it, I would have totally dismissed you. But somehow (and I know how) it happened. I woke up one day & asked myself why I was so against liking such a beautiful place. We are within minutes of oceans, beaches & deserts and within a couple hours tops of mountains, snow, hot springs & forests…my 8 year old speaks, writes & reads Spanish better than many first-language Spanish-speakers his age & my 5 year old is quickly on his way due to a nationally renowned (FREE!) dual immersion program, I live in a great community & lots of people would kill to live here…so what my problem? I’ve been so focused on getting back to the East coast & being closer to my family & friends that I’ve forgotten to live in the moment & enjoy being truly present. It has left me really unsettled. The sort of unsettled I start to feel when hubs gets new orders & it’s time for us to relocate…except it’s not. This typically happens every 3-4 years and I’ve gotten so used to it, right around the 3 year mark I subconsciously start to get itchy feet. I have been in that space for at least the past year. But a few months ago some thing started to happen for me in my spiritual life–which I won’t go into here, & everything started to change…quickly. The moment I changed my perspective & got out of my own way, a lot of things started to happen for me…and I continue see wonderful things unfolding. One, I am ecstatic about not just living between 4 walls but nesting, growing roots & making a home–owning a home again, painting, hanging pictures, & cooking in my kitchen. We bought an older home with some character so we could make it our own & I’m really excited about my kitchen renovation project…yes, it wasn’t enough to just buy the house while hubs was gone, I’m going to renovate the whole kitchen before he gets back too! Ahhh, the life of a military wife. Oh! and a yard big enough to support a garden & lime, lemon & avocado trees was MUST HAVE. I’m super hype about growing my own herbs & veggies & sharing my recipes here with you.
Speaking of making moves…that’s another thing that has been happening for me…I’ve decided to take the blog to the next level…a domain of my own. And I need your help. I’m tring to decide if Kimchee & Collards is the best name under which to brand myself & I would love your help. Y’all have been here from the beginning & I would love your input. Up to this point, I have been blogging mostly about plant-based eating but I would like to incorporate other facets of holistic health like beauty & wellness & I’m just not sure if Kimchee & Collards speaks to that. What do you think? I would love to hear your blog name suggestions. Well, lovelies…I hope you all are making strides in the first phase & I’d love to hear about everyone’s progress, roadblocks, success I’m getting ready to introduce the next phase for those of you who want to crank it up a notch. For me personally, I will be chillin’ in phase one until after the holidays, at which point I plan to get hot in phase 2 because I am training for a 1/2 marathon in the beginning of February. Let’s be honest…the Holiday season is not exactly the best time to try & cut more things out of my diet. I do think, however, that having been in the first phase for almost a month, I’m in a good position to be on auto-pilot by the time the cookie exchanges & holiday parties creep up on me. BRING IT!
Well, Lovelies, back to packing…
love & light,
MK
k i m c h e e + c o l l a r d s 
Congrats on the new home! Possible suggestions for your blog…I actually like the current name. Here are some others:
Mia’s Moments
Mama Mia (probably used but something similar)
More to come…but I would ask your lil ones too:)
Thank you, Mike! I really appreciate the suggestions & asking the boys is a GREAT idea!!! I like Mia’s Moments but I think I want the blog to speak to the theme more specifically. Keep the suggestions coming…I love it! 🙂
Hey mama – firstly, congrats on the new home! I am so excited for you and the fam…I’m really curious about how you plan to renovate the kitchen so quickly – I think you may have superpowers, no joke. And, I absolutely love the idea of lime/lemon/avocado trees! How freakin awesome is that? Can I plant those trees on the east coast? I want some too…tehe. With regards to the name-ing question – I will marinate on that for a few days and let you know my thoughts…I do truly love your name as is though…hmmmm….
With respect to phase 1, i pretty much put my entire life into actively trying it out…I did a solid week and had tons of fun with it. I can’t say I notice any significant changes yet…a) it was only 1 week and b) I am struggling with some odd sickness this fall that come in bouts of 1 or 2 days…I have no idea what is going on with me, but it’s bad to say the least. When I go through one of these bouts, I’m completely depleted of all energy, my head feels like a ton brick – essentially I feel like I have the flu. And then it passes just like that. So, last week I had one day where I felt terrible and I haven’t noticed a surge in energy yet- but again, it’s only been a week. On a positive note, my skin seems to be looking a lot more glowy-esque if you ask me…you may be wondering why I keep saying I did phase 1 for 1 week and that’s it – I flew home to Cleveland on Friday after work and as soon as I got to the airport I found myself starving and rushing – I grabbed my old go-to bag of pretzels and some wasabi peas…my diet went down hill from there. My parents pale the fridge with my good old chobani yogurts and all the foods I typically eat. So, I kept in mind the 75/25 perspective and rolled with my diet all wkend – I did get all the makings for mango green smoothie – had those Saturday pm, Sunday and Monday morning, however, carbs were abundant at every other meal. So, here I am back at the airport looking forward to restarting phase 1 after a two and a half day mini-lapse. Looking back on my first week, I did notice that my cravings started to change. I didn’t crave carbs the way i usually do – after work I typically eat my triscuits, but last week I had a mug of tea and maybe some miso soup. After dinner was also a tricky time – I just wanted something more, but I held true to the tea and it worked out…I started looking forward to my tea! That sounds pretty sad…for lunch and dinner, Mia, your beautiful foods list has been awesome! Plus, the blog that gave a quick preview of every meal really helped out too. Here is where I am struggling – my coffee in the morning. I love my no sugar hazelnut coffee mate which is definitely dairy! It’s not realistic for me to cut out cream in my coffee now, bc I won’t maintain this habit for good…so, I bought trader joe’s non-dairy creamer and that’s okay for me. Here’s the question though- how bad is that on a scale if 1-10? I realize there are some ingredients that may be suspect, but is this better than doing the real dairy creamer? Also, are there any other delicious nondairy alternatives for cream that I may try? I did try the almond milk and its just not doing justice for me! And finally, I went to health food store for the probiotics and digestive enzyme…i could not find the magnesium oxygen supplements? Do I have to order these? If so, what brand do you recommend? Ummm, okay, I think that’s about it…oh yeah, the nutter butter smoothie is delicious! So yummy – a perfect treat for my sweet tooth! Maybe I’ll make one as a welcome home treat – yeaya!
Thanks, Megs! No superpowerss…it’s the JUICE!! No really, I just think I need to have a full plate because when I have too much down time I can’t seem to organize it! Plus, I’m so excited to get my kitchen together since it is the heart of my home & where we spend the most time. I will be sure to share pictures along the way! 🙂
Unfortunately, Lemon trees prefer a warm, tropical climate and aren’t at all forgiving of freezing temperatures whereas lime trees can tolerate light frost. However, with a little creativity you can grow lemon, lime & avocado trees indoors if you have a space to support them like a sunroom or mudroom.
Check out this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPw8KhE1ijY
I would love to hear your blog name suggestions. Please do marinate on it! I’m so glad that the food list is helpful to you & I completely understand the stop & go and difficulties getting into a groove. Especially when you’re traveling!! I have to be really on to take my show on the road…I had a hard time when I was home because it was for three solid weeks. I can do a long weekend but by half way through week 2, I was seriously falling off. Don’t dwell on it…just get back to it as soon as you can. Another late evening fix for me is warm vanilla almond milk sweetened with stevia. I think I added my cashew milk recipe here as well. If not, I will ASAP. It’s supereasy to make in the blender and tastes like heaven…even works well as a creamer. I use coconut creamer as a substitute. Almond milk doesn’t do it for me either. It’s just not thick or creamy enough. As for the coffee…it’s really acidic & pretty toxic Megs. An occasional cup isn’t aawful but daily, even one cup is no bueno. Maybe try chickoree or Yerba Matte? Ground chicory does it for me most of the time but I do have an occasional cup of java. You can find it with the coffee at any health food store or places like Whole Foods. It comes in tea bags & ground for brewing.
Glad to hear you got your supplements! The Magnesium supplement I recommend is Mag O7. It is by far superior & can be purchased at the Vitamin Shoppe or Amazon.com. Warning…it WILL make you boo boo a lot if you take more than a couple pills. A couple pills will keep you regular and reduce bloating and gas but taking more is a great way to cleanse. If you decide to do this, take 5-6 capsules at bedtime and by morning you will feel the effects. It should produce 3 or more BMs throughout the day (very loose as the oxygen liquifies hard feces stuck to intestinal walls) so I suggest saving this cleanse for weekends. You can do this for a few days and then drop down to the 1-2 capsules daily. Keep pushing forward…I’m proud of you!!!
Every time you come back, I get a reboot. It’s like a reminder of what I should be doing. I have adjusted my habits such that I don’t think much about what I eat, because I think I’ve trained my brain to remember pieces of the beautiful foods list and the 75/25. I am still trekking with eating by the book during the week and allowing myself to cheat on the weekends.
Somehow, I fell off of juicing. Didn’t realize until today. My son has been on and off sick during the past 2 weeks, out of school for 5 days. So, I don’t recall recall rinsing and chopping greens & fruits, flash freezing, or cleaning the monster in many days. Dang! How does that happen .. . old ways set in like there’s been nothing new. I recall over a week ago questioning a bottle of juice, a large bottle by the way, that had been in the fridge from Thurs through Mon untouched. I was counting days on my fingers and asking is it still fresh . . . and pissed at the thought of wasting it. I remember the effort it took. I was set on drinking it and hoping for the best. I drank 5oz before my mind started playing tricks on me. I had every intention of contacting you to ask if there was any harm soon after. That was the day my son came home sick and it became out of sight, out of mind. As I type, I think that it’s still in the fridge. Long story short, that was the second time I’ve let juice sit for days due to a busy weekend. What’s the scoop on how long the juice lasts unopened & refrigerated? Ideally, I know it’s intended to be drank immediately, but that’s not always possible for me.
Hey Kim! I completely understand falling off of juicing…it happens to me often and I find that I revert to smoothies because they are easier and there is less clean-up (I HATE cleaning that screen even though I love the way juices taste). I have been finding myself dining a lot of the strawberry basil smoothie lately because it’s easy and so delicious! As for how long juices are good. I have drank week old juice with no consequences but i would say, the older they are the more oxidation & less nutrients. Still better than store bought. I wouldn’t recommend it on the regular though. I try to keep juices in the freezer until I know they will get drank. Hope that helps! And I do plan to be less spuradic once I get my life in order! Thank for sticking with me 🙂
Was rushing… *drinkinga lot of strawberry basil smoothies & sporadic, not spuradic. LOL.
wow, i give up on the edits, lol!
Congrats on the new house and the upcoming renovation. I would so love that! Best of luck on a smooth closing. All that is right up my alley….real estate is my lane/biz/wheelhouse/love. I’m excited for your plans for your garden. That’s up my alley as well. BTW, I have a gardening blog that I started this past spring with a whopping 2 posts! LOL. I had good intentions. But, it’s just sitting in cyberspace. I say that not for a high-5, but to say you get 2 thumbs up for your commitment to this blog. Keeping a live blog takes effort. So, good job sticking with it and even planning to upgrade.
I like the blog name, but I would appreciate it better if there were an explanation of its use. Forgive me if somewhere on here you share that;just point me to it. Or, I’d challenge you to make it more prominent. If I had to take a guess, I’m guessing it’s combining your two heritages? I think I picked up on your bi-racial-ness (love it when I’m not sure if I’m making up a word) somewhere along the way. I could be off. However, if I’m on to something then you should certainly keep the name b/c it’s clever and tells part of a story in two words. It strikes up a conversation that shares a little about who you are. I had been puzzled about why kimchee? But being the smart chic that I am, it clicked for me one day (weeks after wondering). I get that it may not tie into the other subjects you want to dive into, but a lot of clever names don’t always match the business it ultimately serves. I’ll let it marinate and share any additional thoughts. Gotta run off to taekwondo. Forgive any typos and grammatical errors b/c I don’t have time to proof.
Thanks, Kim! I would love to see you reignite your passion for the gardening blog…I would totally follow you! I am new to the gardening thing and that’s a whole new area of research I plan to conquer. Your blog would be right on time (hint, hint!). You are right, it is definitely much more time consuming & requires more dedication that one would think so you have to love it.
And you are correct about the title speaking to my racial background. I talked about it in my initial post, “What’s in a Name?” which you can read here: http://wp.me/p12Yx8-4i but I think it might be good to include a blurb in an “about me” if I keep the name. Maybe I need a subtile as well like, Kimchee + Collards: Health, Beauty + Wellness, or something like that? Thank you so much for the feedback and you’re right, a lot of clever names don’t always speak to the brand completely. I do love the name…just didn’t want it to limit me. Although, I suppose having a small niche is not always a bad thing. Please do keep thinking, I love the suggestions! And girl, don’t worry about typos. We all know you are brilliant & fabulous! 🙂