Home At Last

Sunday night I returned to California with fun memories, great experiences, tons of luggage and a massive hangover. That's pretty much the way every NYC trip ends but this one went much longer than I had anticipated. It went from a six week internship to a three and a half month adventure. After I had finished working at Bonobo's I decided to stick around and sign up with Innovative Artists and Ugly Talent to see if I could do in NY what I do in LA. I booked a Reebok and a Nationwide Insurance print campaign which is not bad for a newbie to the scene but was hoping for more commercial auditions which are, unfortunately, few on the east coast. Nevertheless, it was nice to see that I can book jobs on both coasts and an impetus for me to come back next year. Matt and I will be doing some apartment shopping out there next summer but for now I've got plenty of projects to complete so I'll be hunkering down at home with studies, music and screenplay writing.

A few of my favorite things that I will miss:
My flat


McCarren Park Pool


Moto


Walks over the Williamsburg bridge


Cruising around the neighborhood


Roebling Tea Room - my favorite brunch spot


It was such a cool experience to finally live and work in my favorite city in the world. It was hard to stay home and study when there was so much going on in the city. Almost too much going on. I think I stayed home about a dozen times the entire time and it was only because it was raining or I was exhausted from the night before (explains why I haven't blogged in 2 months). Definitely looking forward to going back when the weather warms up and I've accomplished what I need to do here. Hoping to finish the Scouts record over the holidays and then raw culinary school early next year. Either that or riding Matt's coat tails over to Europe again next year. We shall see...

Grease Lightning!

Matt and I are the new proud owners of our very own veggie mobile. This 1981 Mercedes runs on diesel, biodiesel and vegetable oil and with its extra large tank can go 700 miles on one tank. The guy we bought it from hasn't paid for gas in 10 years! He also told us which restaurants around Long Beach we can procure some grease lightning (the smell is pretty potent though...expect major french fry cravings when we come around). We are planning on replacing both of our cars with veg burners and expecting to save around $6000 in gas per year. It makes me so happy to be driving a clean, green machine but it makes me even happier to stick it to the Man! Take that Big Oil!!

NYC So Far

It's been almost three weeks since I arrived here and I'm amazed at how fast it has gone by. Seems like I just got here yet I've done quite a bit. The first four days I used just to catch up with friends and get settled in. The six days after that I spent training at Bonobo's. It's been an eye opening experience to say the least. I've never worked in a restaurant before and, well, never had to deal with so many rude people in one day. New Yorkers are CRAZY. I'm at Madison and E. 23rd which I thought was a pretty mild mannered business area but for some reason it seems to be a weirdo vortex. Maybe it's because we're right in front of Madison Square Park which can be a little sketchy in the evening. Yesterday a guy high on heroin started lunging at people on the sidewalk. Luckily, I was on the opposite side of him and slipped out of danger. Anyway, I've learned a lot about the raw food restaurant business and realize it's not for me. I'd much rather be a personal chef and work with individuals than try to please hundreds of hungry people every day. I'm only working three days a week there now for the rest of the month and then I'm done. On my off days I'm studying and writing new songs. Matt was here for three days last week so we visited as many raw food places as we could and walked around the city fantasizing about where we would want to live if we could afford a place here. I absolutely love it here and would love to spend half the year here and half in California. I don't do winter so you will not see me out here with snow shoes but the summer is fantastic. I don't mind the heat and humidity. My skin looks so great, no wrinkles! woot!

Europe Slideshow

Hello Brooklyn!

A lovely sunset view from the top of my building. I wish I had been here for the 4th of July. It is really spectacular up here. I've been in my Williamsburg flat for almost four days now and starting to feel like a real New Yorker. Been hanging out locally and downtown with friends. We went to see Martin Gore (Depeche Mode) spin on Thursday night and yesterday I took the train to Long Island to attend the Warped Tour to see lots of old friends. Today I was hoping to catch a free show at McCarren Park Pool but it's storming so I'm curled up on the couch studying Herbology. It's actually really romantic. I feel like the ultimate bohemian chick out here. I start working at Bonobo's tomorrow. I'm not excited to be wearing a uniform (t-shirt and cap) but excited about experiencing something new. We'll see how it goes.

Dita Summer Tour 2008...

...begins now!!

June 24-30 London/Brighton
July 1-4 Stockholm
July 5-10 Lithuania
July 10-14 Paris
July 15-22 LBC
July 23-Sept. 15 NYC

Lots of photos to come! Promise!

How I Spent My Birthday

Man, did I feel it the next day. Think I got a mild case of whiplash too. It was well worth it.

Ancient Chinese Secret

Wow, my legs look really unattractive from this angle. I've been seeing an acupuncturist for the past week and a half because I've got what my health practitioners believe is tendonitis which I developed during my last trip to NYC. I wasn't kung fu fighting in the streets or anything really great like that. I was just walking along and acquired a terrible ache in my left knee. After a week of suffering I met a retired athlete who told me to go to a chiropractor for an x-ray, back adjustment and ultrasound therapy. It helped a bit but I was worried since I only had a couple weeks before my European vacation (where I intend to walk a lot) I decided to step it up with some acupuncture. My first appointment was a bust though. He had me sitting up so he could have better access to my knee. I didn't think the needles would bother me but just looking at them hanging out my knee made me go down like a sack of potatoes. It was so embarrassing. My next three sessions I did laying down and went really well. After my second session the pain was entirely gone for two days. It was a miracle. I'm a true believer now in Chinese medicine. I'm hoping he can get rid of my allergies next and maybe even my addiction to cupcakes. That's gonna be a tough one.

Windows Server 2008 Commercial

Here's a spot I did back in December. Look for me in the spandex on the left. Meow.

One Year Of Being Rawesome

It was exactly a year ago that I changed my diet from meaty Atkins to almost vegan raw. Most of my friends and family are used to seeing me go from one extreme to another. From brown to blond to black to red, from NYC to LA, from athiest to religious, from filmmaking to songwriting to acting, from prep to goth to raver to rocker, etc. It's common knowledge that I'm a little nuts. Of all the times I've shape shifted though, going raw has drawn the most head scratching, inquisition and ire from my loved ones. Mostly because it's inconvenient. Going out to eat with friends can get complicated. "Umm, do they have salad?" is always the question of the day. Every social gathering the host (as well as myself) is concerned if there's anything for me to eat. I call attention to myself by bringing a lunch cooler to work or whenever I know I'm going to be out and about for several hours. Plus, some people feel guilty for eating meat in front of me. I don't preach or point out everything that's wrong about what people eat but I guess there's just an underlying conviction that comes along with having a raw vegan around. Kind of like the self imposed guilt you feel when eating bacon around a Jew I guess. Anyway, a lot has happened since I went raw. First and foremost, I got my acne under control which is the only reason I even attempted eating this way. It took a couple months of being consistent but my hormonal acne improved significantly. Now I get one pimple a month instead of eight a week. Yeah, it got that bad. I also lost a lot of baby fat. I was always on the slender side but I got incredibly skinny in the first month. I went from 124 lbs. to 107. It was fun to see my body change so much, but it looked pretty gross when my spine was sticking out of my t-shirt. Definitely not sexy. Now I average around 113 lbs. Skinny but still got some curves. Next thing I noticed was I felt so much better. My energy level was through the roof. Eating for energy was a whole new approach as opposed to eating to feel full. When you eat light you can be so much more productive and have so much more clarity than eating a heavy meal that puts you into a food coma. I used to think that was normal. The next thing I noticed were my nails grew stronger and faster. I have to file them down every day so I can play guitar. Eating raw has also helped the stiffness in my hands. I realized now it was mild arthritis I was developing from eating such an acidic diet. I've also noticed emotional changes in my life too. Less moodiness and depression. Getting the blues was a regular occurance for me for years. I controlled it with exercise and plenty of sleep but now I'm realizing eating natural whole foods is a big part of keeping your chemistry in balance. Those where the most obvious changes in my health. Aside from the physical changes, going raw also put me on a new career course. I realized health and nutrition has always been a passion for me so I have been working on my M.S. in Holistic Nutrition since last fall. I'd like to get my Ph.D in the next four years, write a book about healing (actually I've already started) and be a personal wellness coach. In addition to that I'm planning on going to Living Light early next year to become a raw food chef. All this on top of being a little actress/songstress! I realize I'm on a journey and though I don't have an exact map of where all this is taking me I'm happier and more excited about life than I have ever been.

If you've ever been curious about trying a raw diet now is a great time to do it. Summer months bring lots of fun, juicy fruits. Strawberries, peaches, cherries, and melons are cheap and accessible. Try fruit smoothies for breakfast and salads for lunch and dinner. Make one a spinach salad with pears and walnuts with balsamic dressing and another romaine with avocados, tomatoes with tahini dressing. Get some recipe books for ideas so you don't get bored. I love "Raw Food Made Easy" by Jennifer Cornbleet. It's a great starter book but there are tons of raw recipe books on Amazon that you can try out. My other faves are "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen" by Ani Phyo and "I Am Grateful" by Terces Engelhart. If you want to try some really gourmet dishes "Raw Food Real World" by Sarma Melingailis is amazing. You don't have to be 100% either. You benefit anytime you eat fresh foods. Try going an entire week with only fruit for breakfast. The next week try fruit breakfasts, salad lunches and a sensible cooked meal for dinner. The following week try going all raw. Keep a journal and note the changes you feel physically and emotionally. You will probably discover a lot about yourself and why you eat certain foods. Have fun with it and enjoy the experiment. Who knows what can happen. I might see you at Living Light next year, too.

xoxo
Judita

Rawesome In The City

Matt and I will be spending six, hot, sweaty weeks in the big apple this summer. I got a job at Bonobo's, an awesome raw food takeaway near Madison Square Park, while Matt will be working his photo magic. So ridiculously excited. It's been my dream to live and work in the city for the past 15 years. There's a chance I might not come back!

Working Hard Or Hardly Working?

Some days my life is totally fabulous. I wish all job bookings were as awesome as the Cool Whip commercial I just shot on Thursday. Ok, I know, it's not raw or vegan but it's delicious and I got paid to sit around and eat ice cream and non dairy whipped cream all day. Surprisingly I didn't get a belly ache but I did go home with a terrible sugar headache. The stuff I'm holding is actually the fake ice cream which I found to be incredibly fascinating for some reason.
The food stylists make it out of crisco, confectioner sugar, karo syrup and something else. I didn't have to eat it thankfully. But it looked so real I wanted to. For every shot they just handed me a spoon loaded with real ice cream (chocolate chip Haagen-Dazs!) and a dollop of Cool Whip. This spot starts airing May 26th nationally so keep an eye out!

Martini & Rossi & George

So here's a tiny bit of irony. I had just started attending bartending school when I got an audition for a Martini & Rossi commercial. First thing they asked was do I bartend? Well, anytime you go out for an audition and they ask you "Do you wrestle sharks?" or "Would you shave off one eyebrow (I was actually asked to do this)" the answer is always "Absolutely!" whether it's true or not. Well, I barely drink let alone make drinks but I pretended to make a drink like nobody's business for the audition. Well, unfortunately I didn't book it (I think I poured it like a novice...you should see my two handed pours now!). BUT I did end up getting booked on it as an extra and, boy, was I thrilled because I knew at the audition two weeks prior that I was going to be opposite George Clooney in this spot. Now, I don't usually get too star struck but George Clooney isn't a huge Hollywood star for no reason. He was totally charming and funny and easygoing for the whole shoot. The spot is for a Martini and Rossi campaign where he plays a really cheesy over the top Italian actor. It's only going to be running in Europe and apparently he's been doing this same character for seven years unbeknowest to the American public (we couldn't bring cameras or cellphones to set so I guess it's a secret). They put a little fake mustachio on him and what I think was a really dark fake tan but I wasn't exactly sure. Another reason this job was pretty cool was that the stylist dressed all the extras in head to toe Dolce & Gabanna couture.

The location was at a gorgeous six acre estate in Beverly Hills that looks like Tuscany.

There wasn't a whole lot to complain about except my D&G shoes where starting to kill after two days of standing around. In one of the shots, George is trying to make his way to the bar except party guests are constantly in his way. The director told me to make it difficult for George to get past me so when he came by I grabbed his arm to flirt with him and then gave him a little *innocent* bum grab. I got to do that eight more times. Not bad for a hard days work. *swoon*

BRB

About to hop on a redeye flight to Costa Rica to hang out with Ginger Pumpkin in San Jose. We'll be attending Festival Imperial (Imperial is one of Costa Rica's signature beer companies) and one of the last Smashing Pumpkins concerts for a little while. On Sunday Matt and I will go to Mal Pais to hang out with the monkeys and eat coconuts. I'll have lots of amazing photos to share since Matt just bought me a Leica camera for my photo endeavors. He calls me 'Leica hurricane' now. For now I'll leave you with this photo of two super cute lunch coolers I got. I have been searching for some discreet coolers I can tote around on set or when I go out. I guess the doggie lunch cooler on the right isn't exactly discreet but it was too adorable not to get. My goal now is to convert a Louis Vuiton bag into a cooler. Gotta keep my raw goods fresh while looking sassy.

Twenty Dollar Make You Holler!

For Matt's birthday I took him to one of those $20/hour massage places that have spread like wildfire all over southern California. They advertise as foot reflexology salons but they do head to toe massages. It's pretty crazy. I went on yelp.com to find the best one and found LH Foot Massage in Little Saigon to be our jam. First they soak your feet in a hot herbal foot bath for 20 minutes. You lay down (clothed) in the reclining chairs and they do pressure points on your head, neck, shoulders and arms. Then they work your feet. Just as you sink into a state of pure bliss they turn you over, climb on top of your back and smack the crap out of you. I was grunting because she was working me so hard. I looked over at Matt and he was getting pummeled too. It was hilarious. I wanted to get my camera out so bad. Even though it was a bit rough, I would definitely go again but I'd ask them to take it easy. I almost felt bruised afterwards. I also felt super thirsty. I'm not sure if that's a normal response to massages as this was the first time I ever got a 'professional' massage. It was definitely a birthday to remember for Matt. He said he'd go back for sure.


As we were leaving the massage parlor, Matt and I came across a Vietnamese vegan supermarket that sold all things soy and I mean ALL things soy. I was shocked to find soy chicken feet and internal organs as being something that people would want. Is there really a market for this? I'm going to have to ask my Vietnamese friend what the deal is. It was kind of ironic that we ended up going to a wedding last night that served a seven course Vietnamese feast. I completely forgot to pack some raw goodies but figured at least there'll be some salad. I guess they don't eat much salad in Vietnam because all they served were tons of fried shrimp, fried scallops, fried fish, lo mein with meat chunks and whole roasted duck, including the head. Oh and sliced oranges...to clean the palate...I had quite a few of these. I also had some tiramisu. I know, I'm bad. I need to find a discreet, fashionable cooler that I can tote raw supplies for emergencies like these. I almost always have Larabars in my purse but I brought my little Chanel bag that can hardly fit anything... I think I might have just come up with a brilliant raw food marketing idea! hmmmm...:)

Green Smoothie Anyone?

As the weather starts warming up in California I am going gaga over smoothies right now. This is my typical breakfast, a tropical delight with a few leaves of romaine in there. It's an easy way to sneak in an extra salad and you don't even taste it. Really! And my blender is so badass it breaks the cellulose down so I digest every bit of life force it's got. I've been getting crazy in the kitchen lately as well. My dream right now is to go to raw culinary school but it's a bit out of my budget at the moment so I'm learning as much as I can through the dozens of recipe books I've been acquiring through Amazon. I'm trying 2-3 new recipes a day and I'm surprised how proficient I'm getting. I made a rocking dark chocolate ganache tart for Matt's birthday.

The recipe is from Raw Food Real World and it's pretty simple to make. It's more rawish than it is raw but I was really just hoping to make a great vegan dessert so this was perfect. The main ingredients are cocoa, maple syrup and coconut butter. The icing is vanilla cashew cream made from cashews, coconut meat, agave and vanilla. Its a very rich and elegant dessert that makes a big impression. It was a big hit with the friends. We've been hoarding the leftovers and take little nips off of it every day. It's like crack so be careful!

Good Times In Wignall World

I attended my very first raw food potluck today. Check out that platter of raw goodness. I wish I could say I made that but I can't. Actually what I made tasted great but failed miserably in the presentation department, that's why I didn't take a photo of it. I made cashew cheese periogies and coconut walnut fudge. I was super impressed with what the other attendees made so I need to step it up for next time. It was better than what I eat at most raw food restaurants.

Here's a little still shot from the new TJ Maxx commercials I shot on Friday. I loved this green dress so much I bought it off the wardrobe department. It was tailored to fit me so why not. $40 bucks!!

Here's Matt looking grumpy at the Water Wells for Africa show last Thursday. He had a lot to be grumpy about it. He couldn't hang his photos on the wall because Boost Mobile had to have their obnoxious booth take up the lobby space. He had to put his artwork on easels and someone from the cleaning crew knocked one over and broke a photo. Despite the fact that he put the fundraiser together and sold out the show he was only allowed 20 guests total. Many of our friends showed up but couldn't come in to just see the art. On a good note, the show WAS sold out and the money raised will go to installing at least 3 wells in Malawai. Now that's good news!!

Recognize This Guy?

No? That's because he's not wearing his roller skates and turban. It's Harry Perry! I'm fully convinced if you stay crazy long enough you'll become a celebrity and get cast in Heineken commercials. Good for him. I'm stoked. This ad shot yesterday in downtown LA. Todd Haynes (I'm Not There) directed and plenty of fellow Dragons were cast. I was just an extra but it was a fun day nonetheless. I befriended a little person and got a grip of sudoku puzzles done. Next week I'm doing more TJ Maxx ads so that means I'm breaking out the juicer this weekend and losing the baby fat. No chocolate bunnies for me this weekend. :(

My Bum Made It Into The LA Times

Last month my very good friends (and former fellow Derby Dolls) and I went to Wumpskate for their Valentine's Skate Massacre. Tatiana was covering it for the LA Times and lo and behold my rear ended up in a photo! Click here to read the accompanying article.

Bringing Back The Rock!

A certain all girl band spent the day doing motion capture for a very popular video game today. Not at liberty to say much more right now. Hiatus over? Stay tuned!

Health Freedom Expo

Oh how I love natural heath. I got to spend the weekend at the Long Beach convention center checking out the Health Freedom Expo. The focus of the convention was on alternative and holistic medicine and practices. Though it was a bit small it was fun to check out the booths and see what people are peddling. I am so grateful for the education I've gained so far in my holistic nutrition studies because it's made me so much more discerning among the many snake oil salemen who were pushing their 'superior' supplement or product. Many of the booths had different supplements, superfoods and antioxidant drinks like goji berry, acai, pine extract, hyssop and the like. Alkaline water filters were big as were EMF shields. A couple of booths were selling these little saunas that you sit in that make you sweat out the toxins (as you can see from the guy giving it a test run). There were plenty of traditional chinese medicine practitioners and people giving out massages for cheap. I got the 'brain healer' treatment because I wanted to be able to focus on my studies better. I had to wear these strange glasses that emitted light pulses as I listened to a woman's soothing voice instructing me to feel my brain. When I was done I felt like I just went to a rave, the light pulses made me unbalanced instead of focused. The massage part of it was pretty nice though. $5 for 10 minutes. Can't beat that. The best part of the show were the guest speakers. I got to see raw food guru, Dr. Gabriel Cousens, who wrote one of my favorite raw recipe books, "Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine." He was on hand to talk about curing diabetes with live food. I also got to catch Elson Haas, a well known nutrition expert and holistic physician. He talked about detoxing through fasting. Something I'm quickly becoming an expert on. I also got to see Dr. Hulga Clark. I read her books "The cure for all cancers" and "The cure for all diseases" a long time ago. She was the key person to get me on the road to wellness. Because of her books, I got my metal fillings taken out, I removed all the toxic chemicals out of my life and started doing parasite cleanses, kidney cleanses and liver flushes. I owe my holistic path to this spry little lady. It was definitely a treat to see her still researching and lecturing at her age. I did walk out the convention with a big jar of pricy bentonite clay, some raw cacao treats and a spiritual reading. I've never had my aura read before and boy was it eye opening. I'm going to live a long healthy life (thank you raw foods!), I'll have two kids and many grandchildren (hmmm, I wasn't planning on having kids but ok), though my career is stagnant right now I am going to be very successful and famous in three years (now we're talking! hope that comes true). Also Matt and I are going to be taking a trip to a foreign country soon. That's pretty likely because we are always looking ahead to our next Costa Rica trip. I'll keep you all posted on those two kids that are in my future. Scary.

Mmmmmacaroons

I know it doesn't look very exciting but these coconut macaroons are my very first creations out of my spanking new Excalibur 5-tray dehydrator. When I first went raw I decided I didn't want to deal with the whole dehydrating aspect of raw food preparation but I was lured to the other side when all my favorite raw recipe books kept flaunting all these exciting things that are possible with a dehydrator. These little poo nuggets are from the book Raw Food, Real World. One of the authors, Sarma, sells these on her website One Lucky Duck. I have been hooked on these macaroons (they have them at my local health food store) for the past few months but they sell them for $10 for a dozen. I can't afford to fork over that kind of cash just for dessert. Now I can make 3 dozen for $10 and they haven't been sitting on a shelf for who knows how long. They came out fantastic by the way. Now I'm making Matt Amsden's famous onion bread. It takes 36 hours to make. Yep. 36 hours. The house does smell amazing with that fresh baked smell but the wait is going to kill me. I've got about 12 hours to go till I get my hands on that goodness. Mmmmmm!

Happy Valentine's Day

Hope Springs Eternal

Three years ago Matt shot a wedding at the Hope Springs Hotel in Desert Hot Springs. A renovated, mid century boutique hotel, we were in love with it. We promised ourselves when we had a little extra money we would book a room there for our anniversary. The dream finally materialized this past weekend as we relaxed in the mineral hot springs and enjoyed the sunny weather. We did a little road tripping as well.

Taking It To The Maxx Again

Now those are some fierce calves.
So today we shot the spring ads for TJ Maxx at the Huntington Library in San Marino. It was such a gorgeous day. This was the first truly sunny day after a week of stormy weather, it was a total joy. I got to run around barefoot in the grass and act like a five year old. It was amazing. I also had to run around in pointy high heels which wasn't quite so cute. Good thing it'll be trimmed down to quick short edits. Anyway, I savored this day as this was my last booking for the time being. For the first time, I am so relieved to not have to work. I did an all day print job on Saturday and got a few offers to work this week on other projects but decided to turned them down in order to have a little breathing room. I feel like I haven't had much time to myself this month and I'd love to just catch up on schoolwork and music for the rest of the week. Of course, I'll be fretting in a couple days that I'm unemployed but that's OK. I recognize I've always been a bit bipolar when it comes to my career. I know I can turn into a workahalic and neglect the important things in life if I don't stay balanced. I'm looking forward to getting balanced and refocused tomorrow with some yoga in the morning and lunch at Flore, a vegan cafe in Silverlake. Ohmmmmmm.....

I <3 My Dentist

Who knew I would love going to the dentist. After a lifetime of going to lousy dentists and believe me, I've been to some horrible ones (even going as far as Tijuana because they are way more advanced than U.S. dentists), I finally found someone who gets it. When I walked in I was offered a cup of organic Yogi tea from their tea menu. I then sat in a MASSAGE chair while I had my x-rays taken. The dentist took my pH level, discussed my diet and how it was affecting my teeth. They performed the cleaning with lasers and a baking soda/sea salt solution. I didn't need any work done but if I did the dental work is done with lasers as well and are as non invasive as possible, many times not even needing anesthesia. They are against the use of fluoride and amalgam fillings and they also offer virtual reality glasses with a selection of 200 movies if I ever need a little distraction. Now that's taking care of your patients. It's so refreshing to finally meet someone in the medical field that looks at the patient holistically. That is not the western way of practicing medicine at all. I whole heartedly believe that good oral health is key to wellness, as much as a good diet. If anyone is in need of a new dentist I highly recommend visiting this practice. Comprehensive Dental Center

I Was Gene Simmons' Lova

Wow, this week just flew by. I had 4 auditions, 2 fittings and a booking. Doesn't sound like a lot of work but it was. The lastest job was for a promo for the Gene Simmons reality show on A&E. I actually had to audition twice just to stand there holding this sign all morning. The premise is basically Gene walks up to his grandiose mansion and all these women that he's slept with (legend says it's around 5000 women) are walking around holding signs that have what notch # they were on his bedpost. I grabbed 917 because it's my favorite NYC area code (I know, I'm such a nerd) but I guess that would mean I slept with Gene when I was a fetus or something definitely underage. Anyway, the job was easy, Gene was very friendly (he definitely loves the ladies!! he was flirting with everyone) and you'll all see it soon enough. Next week I'm shooting the spring TJ Maxx campaign and after that who knows what.

As for how my foot detox patch experiment went, I'm pretty unconvinced. I did five nights in a row and got the exact same result every night. I was even wondering if I was actually absorbing whatever chemicals are in the patch that supposedly pulls toxins out. Hmmm...as for the colon cleanse/juice fast, that went great. Matt wussed out after three days. I tried to go seven days but finished at six. I blame my nutrition studies for sabotaging my last day of fasting because I had to read a book called "The 150 Healthiest Foods On Earth" all week so all I could think about was food. Anyway, I feel great, my skin is clear and my tummy is flat as a board. Good stuff.

Officially Swedish

This sad face...

...made this awesome kitchen.

IKEA and Matt make a great team don't they? The kitchen isn't completely done yet but it's functional. See me juicing those apples? Yep, life is good. How about that stove top and oven I'll probably never use. I tried to convince Matt to return it when I went raw but he said no. I might get a big chopping board made to cover it so I have more counter space. I'll post the before and after shots once it's completely done.

Detox Foot Patches

Believe it or not, this was Matt's idea. He found this website that sells detox patches that you put on the bottom of your feet that supposedly draw out toxins while you sleep. I'm pretty skeptical about this and everyone knows that I'm into all kinds of weird stuff. Since we're on the Blessed Herbs colon cleanse we thought it would be a good time to try these out. The results were pretty gruesome.

I know what it looks like but that came from my delicate little foot. They smelled pretty earthy when I took them off as well. It was hard not to gag but I had to take a good look to see if this was legit. I really don't know for sure if there are really toxins in there without sending it to a lab for analysis. We have five days worth each so if by the fifth night the results are less and perhaps a *gag* different color I might become a believer. There are countless websites peddling these patches and the reviews have been very positive. We tried finding info from quackwatch but nothing turned up. Apparently, they're all the rage in Asia.

As for the colon cleanse, this has been day 3 of 5. Yesterday was a breeze for some reason. I wasn't hungry at all and I had loads of energy. Today I woke up ravenous but after a big glass of juice I felt great. Matt on the other hand is totally miserable and has sworn this is his first and last fast ever. What a wuss.

New Year, Fresh Colon

Today I started an exciting five day cleanse from a kit I got from a website called Blessed Herbs. It basically consists of five daily concoctions of apple juice and a packet of their 'toxin absorber' which is pretty much bentonite clay and psyllum seed husks. You drink this every three hours and each night you take an herbal digestive stimulator to keep things moving. They recommend not eating any solids if you want a really thorough 'cleanse.' Also, you can have all the apple juice and vegetable broth you want. I've done other cleanses in the past like the Master Cleanse, and I'll I do 3 day juice fasts every so often but the selling point for me were the testimonials on their website. The photos are so incredibly gross, who wouldn't want to get that out of their body as soon as possible? Since it's only my first day I haven't had anything nearly that gnarly but I have high hopes for tomorrow. As for hunger, I have loads of it. I had energy until about 3pm when I had to take a little nap but that might be because I've been doing housework all day. Definitely a good idea to start this over a weekend when you're home so you have a bathroom nearby and no one around to snap at. I get really cranky when I'm hungry so watch out.

Famous Former Raw Foodist

"I was actually a fruitarian at that point in time. I ate only fruit. Now I’m a garbage can like everyone else. And we were about three months late in filing a fictitious business name so I threatened to call the company Apple Computer unless someone suggested a more interesting name by five o’clock that day. Hoping to stimulate creativity. And it stuck. And that’s why we’re called Apple." - Steve Jobs