New Hair!!

Side bangs are back. Here are three views of my hair, front, up-close and the side. The picture aren't the best quality because I took them on my computer. I got it done at Takamichi Hair, they do a great job. Let me know what you think!

An eventful weekend

Last weekend the weather was beautiful, so I decided that instead of going to hot yoga on Saturday morning, I decided to take my dog for a really long walk. We walked all the way from my apartment to Long Island City, where there is a really nice dog park for her to run around in. its about a 45 minute walk each way. When we got to LIC and were around the corner from the dog park I saw police tape and a crowd gathering outside a building. Olive and I walked by to see what was going on, not expecting to see what we did. A man was lying dead in the street. He jumped from the 25th floor of the building and committed suicide. He didn't even live there. It was one of the craziest things I have ever seen! Once I was less shaken and walking back home, I started to think that maybe I have lived here long enough (almost three years) that I am going to start seeing more crazy things. It seems that people who have lived here a long time have seen a lot and have lots of bizarre, often funny, stories about living in New York. This, unfortunately, was sad, not funny.

You can read a story about it here: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/queens/apt_buyer_tours_high_rise_to_jump_KKWhbFR6HLZrjb5XgxFIkN

The excitement didn't stop either. On Sunday, a blue parakeet wandered into our building and was caught by our doorman. The poor little bird was just walking down the street. The doorman called us because he knew we already had a bird and wanted to know if we could take it. We haven't found the owner, but we don't really want to because our bird is really happy to have a friend with her. Its a really pretty little blue bird. I will post a picture soon!

New Cookbook: Dishing Up Vermont

I saw this post on a blog I read from time to time, by someone who writes about restaurants in Astoria, N.Y. and other parts of NYC. Since I live in Astoria, I am always looking for new restaurants in the area to try and because I don't have much money, its nice to go somewhere that someone else has tried first, to see what their experience was.

Anyway, this blogger The Foodista wrote about a new book that was coming out called Dishing Up Vermont by Tracey Medeiros. Since I am from Vermont, I am interested in checking out this book to see what kind of recipes it has in it.

There is an event for the book in NYC at Murray's Cheese Shop in the East Village, you can read more about this at here:

http://www.foodistanyc.com/2010/03/win-murrays-cheese-event-dishing-up.html

NYT: Divorced Before Puberty

I saw this story recently in the New York Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/04/opinion/04kristof.html

Its an article about Nujood Ali, a third grader in Yemen who has already been married and divorced at such a young age. I would like to read her book someday, it sounds like a scary and interesting story.

The author of this article also recently wrote a new book called Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, along with his wife. It sounds like a great book, although I have not yet read it.

http://www.halftheskymovement.org/

Sleep

I have been so tired lately. Last weekend I went to bed early both nights and even took a nap on Saturday, which I never ever do. There were points last weekend when I just could not stay awake any longer.

Apparently, I am not alone. My friend Caroline recently also wrote about exhaustion on her blog, I guess we have had similar thoughts lately, since I did all this research earlier this week, but hadn't had time to write this yet haha.

I think March can be a really hard month, because its the tail end of winter, and this winter has been long and hard.

I did some research on sleep and found out a lot of interesting tips for sleeping better and getting the most out of sleep. I am one of those people who just pushes on and on until I am falling down dead tired. Hopefully, I can try to make resting more of a priority.

Here are some interesting sleep facts for women:

• 68% of American women admit to sleeping less than recommended average of eight hours per night.
• Women living in the populous Northeast and West Coast have the more trouble sleeping than people in other regions.
• 26% of women report trouble sleeping at least once a week compared to only 16% of men
  
• 19% of individuals ages 45-64 admit to losing sleep due to stress a few nights per week

These are some tips that I fund at the Better Sleep Council Web site:

1. Make sleep a priority by keeping a consistent sleep (bedtime) and wake schedule, including weekends
2. Create a bedtime routine that is relaxing. Experts recommend reading a book, listening to soothing music or soaking in a hot bath.
3. Transform your bedroom into a haven of comfort. Create a room that is dark, quiet, comfortable and cool for the best possible sleep.
4. Evaluate your mattress and pillow to ensure proper comfort and support. If your mattress is five to seven years old, it may be time for a new one. In general, pillows should be replaced every year.
5. Keep work materials, computers and televisions out of the bedroom; it should be used for sleep and sex only.
6. Exercise regularly, but complete workouts at least two hours before bedtime.
7. If you sleep with a partner, your mattress should allow each of you enough space to move easily. Couples who've been sleeping on a "double" (full size) may think they have enough room, until they learn that each person has only as much sleeping space as a baby's crib!
8. Avoid nicotine (e.g., cigarettes, tobacco products). Used close to bedtime, it can lead to poor sleep.
9. Avoid caffeine and alcohol (e.g., coffee, tea, soft drinks, chocolate) close to bedtime. It can keep you awake.
10. Finish eating at least two to three hours before bedtime.

There is more information here, as well as a lot of answers to questions about sleep.

http://www.bettersleep.org/onbettersleep/faqs.asp#SS2

Italy

Its official, I am going to Italy in October with my mom. Words cannot even express how excited I am about our trip. I am thrilled about going to Italy and especially about going with my mom. I know that we are going to have a great time together.

We are first flying into Venice, then going to Florence and ending our trip in Rome.

Here are some pictures of Venice, Florence and Rome (in order). I can't wait to see it myself and take millions of pictures!

I Wanna Dance with Somebody