#i even wrote a packing list. and bought all meds. i go at the end of the WEEK i am just i should kill myself there is no other soulution to

[ashmp3]

everything is getting on my nerves everyone is getting on my nerves too i can’t go to the gym or a on a run bc it’s rainy maybe i should make some nails i don’t even know i am so agitated for no reason hehe

[paigenotblank]

Ten Things About Me

I was tagged by @fleurdeneuf and have finally put fingers to keyboard and come up with a list. It’ll be beneath the cut, so as not to annoy everyone with it’s length.

Without further ado...

1 - I really love watching baseball and soccer. I’ve been to a NBA, NFL, NHL, MLS, and MLB games in person, but my favorites are baseball and soccer. Mostly I just care to watch my Yankees (I’ve been a fan since the early 80’s when they sucked, so fight me), though I will watch the post season games even if my team isn’t in it. (Last night’s WS Game 5 was insane!!!) And soccer…I love watching soccer. And I don’t even have a team that I identify as mine, though there are several teams that I like more than others. I will watch the hell out of any soccer match. If there is a game on TV, it’s on my screen, all throughout the playing season. I will watch it in English or Spanish even if I don’t understand what they’re saying. I will watch MLS, Premier League, La Liga, Le Ligue, Serie A, Bundesliga, Champions League, UEFA, Jupiler League, FIFA, friendlies, my nephew’s under 8s. I don’t care. I love it all.

2 - I have 10 dogs. I am that person...the crazy dog lady. I am pretty immune to gross. Among my friends I’m the one who gets called for dog advice and gets the weird questions they are too embarrassed to ask “normal” friend. Just kidding, they aren’t really weird questions, they are totally normal, but may seem awkward if you don’t have a lot of experience with dogs. I’ve never not had a dog. Though I did get really involved with a specific breed (Italian Greyhounds) after I graduated college. I house sat for a family friend who was out of the country for 6 months and with the money I made bought my first show dog. And that was the beginning of that. I go to dog shows, I volunteer with rescue, I’m an officer or board of director for 3 different dog clubs. All my dogs are IGs (Italian Greyhounds) and I have friends all over the world thanks to them. They age in range from 16 (today is the oldest ones birthday - Happy Birthday, Fellini!) to 3. I can track most of my dogs’ bloodlines back at least 10 generations. I have two foreign bred dogs - one from Russia and one from Poland. The Polish dog I asked my mom to bring back after she went to visit a friend there, easy peasy. The Russian dog was more of an adventure/intrigue. The airline changed their policy on dogs the week before he was set to fly to the US (even though his ticket had already been paid for), aka they wanted more money and his breeder had to bribe a few people at the airport to get him on the flight (she assured my this a was common thing to have happen in Russia :O). Then there was a snowstorm the day he supposed to leave - 6 feet in Moscow. The breeder couldn’t get to her car, so she had to take a taxi to the airport (6 feet of snow and a hidden car but the taxis were still hustling it). I went to bed not knowing if I was going to have a dog to pick up the next day or not. Wake up to a text that the puppy was on his way. It was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and my best friend was in town visiting her parents. I casually ask if she wanted to take a ride to the airport with me. “Uh, sure. Why?” “Err, I am having a puppy shipped from Russia and I have to pick him up.” She didn’t even bat an eyelash. I’m not sure if that says something about her or me. Anyway, I get to the airport and I have to pay the currier who took the puppy on the flight with her. Cash. It felt like I was taking part in a drug deal going down in the middle of JFK. Fun times.

(Here is a pic of my dogs, if you count closely there are actually 14 dogs in the picture, my 10 and some of their friends who were over for a playdate)

3 - My first “real” job out of college was at a TV station. It sounds way more glamorous than it was. It was an independent station that was owned by a family. The dad bought the station so that his kids has something to do. One sold advertising on the station, one ran the day to day operations, and the other was the host of a political talk show. He really wanted to be a senator, but I don’t think he was that successful in school, so he did the second best thing in his opinion. Anyway, it was kind of a shoddy production. They mostly played infomercials, but had the one talk show that was an hour or two long and a tiny bit of local news. I was one step above an intern, as I did get paid, and ultimately that’s why I left, they wouldn’t hire me “full time” or provide benefits. But I did learn a lot though. The craziest thing about that job is the ridiculousness of the things they asked me to do. I had no background in business or finance, and they made me write the copy for the business reporter’s on-air reports. I got a picture badge and made trip everyday to the NASDAQ MarketSite in Times Square where the financial guy did his reporting from. It was sort of surreal being surrounded by people from all over the world speaking in every language imaginable talking about the state of the world economy. I never really felt like I belonged there, though I guess I did a pretty good job with the business reporting because then they made me a sports producer. Well, intern, but they did’t actually have a sports producer, so… Anyway, I was my responsibility to research major sporting events and book guests. Kentucky Derby? Find someone to talk about the horses and the triple crown. See if you can get a Yankee or Met in studio (LMAO, yeah right…) Anyway, I guess that the highlight of my sports producing was booking former NJ Devil Ken Daneyko upon the event of his retirement. That still surprises me when I think about it. Back to the political talk show, one time we had Ann Coulter in studio as a guest. I helped write some of the counter arguments for her interview and some got used by the host. That was cool to have my arguments trip her up a little. The host was very rude to her, which wasn’t really professional, and she screamed at the whole office before slamming out of the building. Another time, I answered the phone and the guy on the other end was acting a little sketchy. He asked for my boss and when I asked who was calling, there was a long pause and then he says, “Tell her it’s the Secret Service.” I laughed I couldn’t help it. It sounded like a line. It wasn’t a line, it was the secret service, and that is how I found out our guest that week was going to be Hillary Clinton. Hard to top that one, but I will finish it up with not only did I write the business report, try to find guests for the sports reporter, and research for political guest interviews, but since I knew how to use all the equipment in the studio (thank you film school), I helped out there when the tech guy needed it. So one day, he asks me to mic up a guest. The dude was REALLY nervous. He was a newspaper journalist and didn’t do a lot of TV stuff and he was low key freaking out. Anyway I run the mic wire under his shirt, around his back, to the battery pack. I glance down to make sure it’s not visible…turns out the guy had a raging erection. Luckily the guy was sitting down and the shot was mid chest and up. And I know it was nerves, but holy shit, I couldn’t stop giggling.

4 - When I was a little kid, I wanted to be an actuary (um, I have no idea why, maybe I thought it sounded cool. I don’t think I even knew what an actuary does other than it involves numbers and I used to like to watch my grandfather balance his checkbook). Then I wanted to be a veterinarian because I love animals. I also love science. I started college with the general idea that I wanted to do something science-y. I took all classes to pursue an major in biology with a leaning toward pre-med. I figured I be a vet or a doctor or a geneticist. Well to keep kids well rounded, I had to take liberal arts electives and one of those was a film critique class (I liked movies as well as the next person). Guys, I fell down a rabbit hole. I found what I LOVED. I transferred from the school of arts and sciences to the film school and it was the best experience ever. (Though my mother still hasn’t forgiven me, and some days I do think that geeee it would be nice to have the income of a doctor.)

5 - So this might seem unrelated, to this next fact, but I am reminded of the time in film school in one of my writing classes where we had to write a treatment for a potential feature film. It wasn’t something that we had to pursue, but it was teaching us how to write a treatment, so we had to come up with an idea. Anyway, I thought I would do a modern telling of the Mask of the Red Death, but set in Wall Street under the guise of an insider trading scandal. The professor kind of pooh poohed it, saying insider trading was passé and “not an issue anymore.” Well, brah, let me tell you something, two years later Martha Stewart got busted for it, and I was ahead of the curve. Which leads to fact #5: I got called for federal jury duty for the Martha Stewart trial. I didn’t get picked, but I did have to go down town and fill out the questionnaire that weeded through ALL the people that got called. I knew they were going to toss mine cause one of the questions asked about news connections or something, and I was like “I used to work for a TV station and wrote their financial news.” LOL

6 - I once drove Dustin Hoffman’s Lexus. I worked on his son, Jake’s, senior film project and it required the use of a car. So Jake commandeered the car to film in it, and we ultimately drained the battery (don’t plug a powerful light into the cigarette lighter with the car turned off for long periods of time). I also jumped Dustin Hoffman’s Lexus, see previous statement. After filming in the car, we moved on to film in a park and Jake ran into his good friend, Ben Stiller, who had just wrapped filming in the same park. It was a surreal evening. Oh, and when I first met Jake for the first time, he was trying to be all impressive, so he had me and my friend (who was his classmate and acting as his producer on the project) to his dad’s penthouse office. I was seated 2 feet from an Oscar and an Emmy and a Golden Globe. When Jake left the room for a minute, my friend and I were like, “wuuuut?” I really wanted to just touch one of them, but I was scared the office had hidden cameras. On the same note, after the film had been edited, I went to the penthouse for a screening of the rough cut, and DH was in residence. Holy shit the level of security between my two visits was off the charts. I was there during my lunch break from the political talk show I mentioned in #3, and his friend was gonna stop by, so he was all “we should all go for lunch.” Yeah, ok. His friend calls that he’s downstairs in a taxi and he has no money so can Jake pay. Seriously? Anyway we go down and he introduces his friend, Jonah. It was Jonah Hill before anyone even knew who Jonah Hill was. We go get burgers and bring them back to his place and his mom was completely lovely and chatty. She told some embarrassing stories about Jake as a kid, and then his dad comes in the room, steals a few of my French fries and says I should come along to the taping of Letterman that he’s doing in a few hours. I was an idiot and said I had to go back to work. People, that was one of my biggest life lessons. If you get asked to go to a taping of Letterman by Dustin Hoffman, go. I thought I was being responsible, but even my boss was like, “No, you’re just an idiot.” One of my life regrets.

7 - My college roommate gave her (actual!!!) number to a guy she met in the park while walking home from classes. Even though she knew she wasn’t interested in him. It was the shared number to our dorm. He was weird (referred to himself in the third person - his last name was Love, just consider the puns)  and bordered on stalker-ish. He’d call everyday asking her out. She said she wasn’t interested, but he kept trying. Finally she just refused to answer the phone. And since we didn’t have caller ID on our dorm phone, I was left to answer the phone every time it rang. At some point, his stalker affections were transferred to me (and I had never even met the guy.) He’d call me and say things like, “Hey I’m going roller skating at the Roxy tonight, wanna join me?” “My friend, Christina Aguilera, is in town and she really wants to meet you, we should all go to dinner.” “There’s a 10 year anniversary screening of a movie I did, when can I pick you up?” (this was legit but some people probably wish it weren’t - think West Side Story with street fighting dance competitions and roller skating, needless to say it has a 0% on rotten tomatoes). A couple of years ago, I’m talking to my boss, because we are at a convention and see an ad for a guy with this guy’s name as a contact for a roller dance company. And my boss is like, “Yeah, I know his mom, he really does know Christina Aguilera.”

8 - I have a pretty large, complicated family. There is no easy answer when people ask if I have siblings. I have 1 full blooded brother, 3 half brothers (one from my dad’s first marriage; two from my dad’s third marriage - I am from my dad’s second marriage), 3 step brothers (from my dad’s fourth marriage) and a sister who is adopted from China. Do I say I have a brother, do I say I have 4, 7? I’m closer to my three step brothers than I am to two of my half brothers. It’s confusing.

9 - I have a tattoo and a nose piercing which were both done pretty spontaneously after hard days at work. Don’t regret either. I also have my ears pierced which was done when I was 3. At some point one of the ear holes closed up, but I found a really great pair of earrings that I wanted to wear, so I thought to myself, “how hard could it be to re-pierce my ears?” Ice, sterilized needle, temporary post earrings to keep the hole open while it heals. Check, check, check. Guys, if you’re gonna do it yourself, have a friend actually stick the needle though your flesh. It will probably go much faster. I kept just stabbing at my earlobe and slowly pushing it through the pain until I felt like I was going to throw up. Or better yet, go to the mall and have them use the gun.

10 - I am shocked I had all these facts to share, because I really consider my self to be pretty boring. I like introvert activities. Staying home, hanging with my dogs, reading, writing, watching TV. I do like people and am generally pretty easy going and easy to get along with, but I am a homebody. I have to talk myself into going out, even though I find myself enjoying myself when I am out. I am always open to chat, so send me a message if you so care to do so.

Tagging randomly from my mutuals, sorry if you’ve already done this! @everything-she-did-was-so-human @agentkalgibbs @aalissy @thetaswolf @ciara-jane @waitingonthetardis @skyler10fic @buffyann23

[guitarboard42-blog]

Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice

This spicy Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice is my go-to for a hydrating morning drink. It is especially helpful for me right now since the air quality in Los Angeles is still not great from the wildfires. I have asthma so I have to be extra careful about taking care of my lungs. And for some reason spicy ginger juice has always helped when my lungs start to feel cranky. But even when I feel great, this juice is awesome.

This is my current fave drink to start the day. Come sunrise, I pop out of bed and crave it's vibrant, sweet, spicy, mildly grassy flavor. Sometimes I add more celery to make it less sweet, and other days (like today) I add extra ginger for more spiciness. I also love the boost of vitamin C this recipe brings.

Get the recipe and a few breathing wellness tips + products I use..

Quick thank you to everyone who has purchased a Finding Vegan Meals kit in the first few days of launch! I am so excited to have you guys in the private Facebook group and help you eat more plants, get inspired and organized or even try vegan for the first time. Please remember to order before the $10 coupon code ends in a few days (find the promo code in this post). Also snag my menu + recipe +inspiration-packed Holiday Guide for FREE before 12/1. Seriously, everything you need for a vegan Thanksgiving (and December!) is in this 40-page guide. OK, now onto this juice...

Raw Ginger! Love this stuff. Ginger root kinda looks like mini lungs, yes? Funny how that works.

The one caveat for this recipe is that you will need a juicer to make it as a juice. You could absolutely blend this into a sort of smoothie, although celery can be a tricky blend since it is so stringy. If you want to blend a ginger-green smoothie, I would sub out the celery and sub in some spinach. I would also add in a few splashes of water. For the ginger, you would need to microplane the ginger to add to a smoothie - for best texture outcomes. Apples blend pretty well - just chop well to prep. And as always, use a high speed blender when possible. But yes, making this 'juice' into a 'smoothie' is possible.

Breathe Well. So as I mentioned, I keep lung health high on my 'wellness' priority list due to my asthma. Thankfully, my asthma is well-controlled. And though I had a flare up a few years ago that required me to go on a daily inhaled steroid - I was able to go off those meds and now I just manage things by taking precautions in my own home -- and being extra careful with allergens and air conditions when I go out or travel. And with the horrific wildfires messing with air quality in California, I wanted to bring you guys this recipe and a few tips ASAP.

Quick note, of extreme importance: Breathing problems are nothing to mess with. If you or someone you love is having trouble breathing, don't wait, call your doctor or head to an ER or urgent care facility, ASAP.

Also a quick note regarding the fires: I want to put this out there in the universe: THANK YOU to every first responder and firefighter caring for the people and animals affected by these fires. (And all natural disasters, really.) - My heart is broken for so many animals and people and places, but seeing the rescue stories brings some light to a very dark thing. I hope everyone closer to the fires is safe and on their way to healing. If you want to help, there are so many funds to donate to. One that I found is for the Chico Animal Shelter. They actually have an Amazon Wish List set up, which makes it super easy to buy something for them. They are handling many of the animals from the Camp Fire in the Northern California Paradise/Chico region.

Let's all hope the forecasted rain in NorCal (and maybe LA) on Wednesday is a downpour.

But aside from exceptionally bad conditions like wildfires, for just maintaining lung health, for me personally, these are five things that have helped..

Allergy + Breathing Wellness: 5 Things that Help Me.. 1. Air Purifiers. So important! Invest in at least one really good air purifier. We love out IQ Air (tip from my allergy doctor - he has one in his office) and also mini Austin Air machines. Rabbit Air is also great.

2. Keep Pets out of the Bedroom. This is a challenging one! But if you have bad allergies or asthma, you may want to at least 'try' it. I never though we could do it, but it works out ok... We have done this for a few years now. It's not 100% by any means. They still dart in and do a few laps around the bed on a daily basis, just to rebel. I happily chase them out. And sure, they come in on some mornings - usually after meowing a bit too loudly at the door -- and we cave. But for the most part, they sleep in their little beds right outside the door. I will say, I have noticed a difference since doing this since - technically - I am allergic to cats. They love this cat bed.

3. IQ Air Visual Monitor. I love this thing!!! I bought it just a few months ago when we needed to track our outdoor versus indoor air quality and I love this thing. It gives you an accurate reading for your air quality, humidity, CO2 levels and even particulate levels. I love seeing how things like cooking and even opening the windows effect our indoor air. Plus, the App is really great -- and you can download the App for free in the App store to view all the global data from IQ Air. IQ Air Visual on Amazon.

4. Ginger Juice + Today's Recipe! Seriously, ginger shots and spicy juice for some reason always helps me. I cannot really explain it and maybe it is just me! But it helps. I think it moves around the mucus that may be building up in your lungs. One thing I noticed is that ginger sure does look an awful lot like little lungs! I love that whole theory that foods that are good for certain parts of your body actually look like that body part... like walnuts and your brain, etc. Other foods that I have found help me: breathe easy tea, apples, a bit of caffeine from matcha, foods rich in magnesium, rooibos tea, spicy brothy soups and high-enzyme fruits like pineapple and kiwi.

In regards to why ginger helps... My friend Abby has some really cool info on her Instagram about how amazing ginger is for respiratory problems. Abby says, "..ginger contains chemical compounds that help the lungs function and improves blood circulation.." See the full quote on her post. PS. If moved, follow Abby on IG for inspiring content.

5. Exercise in Good Air. Around the time when my lungs were bad a few years ago, i was only exercising indoors, around my cats. I noticed that doing this really inflamed my lungs. I also notice that if I play tennis or run outside on humid or poor-ish air quality days I don't feel so great. So I always work out in gyms or yoga studios etc with GOOD air quality. And I try to minimize exercise around my kitties to strength training and basic 'dance parties of one.' You may have seen those in my Insta-stories.

Tips When Traveling. So those are just a few things that help me feel good. I also always make sure the hotels I am staying in when traveling are not dusty -- or have wood floors. I always request allergy-friendly bedding in advance too. And I try to stay super hydrated when on airplanes. Hot tea is the best. Running a steamy shower upon check-in is also a good idea for me. You just never know about allergens and asthma when traveling so ALWAYS bring some medication like your inhalers - or whatever. I always bring my inhaler even though I haven't used it in years. With asthma, you can never be too careful.

Anyways..... even if you have perfect lungs this juice is pretty dreamy and feel-good. The bright sweet-tart flavor is energizing and fun.

I am definitely on a juicing kick right now, and this is basically the only juice I have been making. I also like beet-ginger once in a while too. That pink color is irresistible.

What Juicer Should I Buy? I have owned many juicers guys. And these are three I can personally vouch for:

1. Breville. This is one of the more reasonably priced - all around good - juicers. It is more high speed than a "slow juicer" but it still does a good job and is easy to find. Breville on Amazon.

2. Hurom. This is the juicer I use now. I received one as a housewarming gift from one of my PR company friends and I am so grateful for that. I didn't think I that into juicing anymore until I received this gift. And since ONE juice in LA can cost $9-10, this thing is saving me a ton of cash. Hurom on Amazon.

3. SuperAngel. We bought one of these super fancy juicers about ten years ago. It is currently in storage, but I still LOVE it. It is heavy duty - all stainless steel parts and will likely last forever. So that's pretty cool. SuperAngel on Amazon.

There are others out there too, but these are the three that I have personally owned.

This is my current juicer... Hurom. It's an investment juicer for sure, but is definitely a winner. It works great and is easy to clean. It has about6 parts I have to take apart after each juicing sesh, but they rinse off under hot water super easily. Takes me just a few minutes to clean-up.

And you might remember, when I started my blog I wrote a lot about juicing!!..

- My Juicing at Home 101 Guide Blogpost - My Juicing Project - some cute Nelly pics in here - Ginger shots - Rainbow Juice - My Super Angel review - PinCelCarGin Juice - Green Juice 101

Spicy Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice

By Kathy Patalsky

Published 11/18/2018

This spicy juice contains vibrant lemon, warming ginger, hydrating celery and the tart sweetness of green apple.

Ingredients

1 small green apple

1/4 - 1/2 bunch of celery

1 juicy lemon, squeezed

1 large knob of ginger - to taste

pinch of cayenne on top to serve, optional

Optional: 1 kiwi

Instructions

Prep your ingredients by rinsing the celery very well. Remove any grit. Slice off the rooted end of the celery and any dried out ends. Slice the apple. Rinse or scrub the ginger. Juice the lemon.

Juice through your juice press: apple, celery, ginger and lemon juice.

Pour the juice in serving glasses. Add a pinch of cayenne on top. to serve.

Yield: 1-2 servings

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 05 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 02 mins.

Total time: 7 mins.

Tags: juice, raw, beverage, drink, celery,lemon,kiwi,ginger,apple,spicy,wellness,

Pin it for later..

disclosure: this is not a sponsored post, but this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. The Hurom juicer, picture, was gifted to me.

Source: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2018/11/green-apple-ginger-juice.html

[badgerkick0-blog]

Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice

This spicy Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice is my go-to for a hydrating morning drink. It is especially helpful for me right now since the air quality in Los Angeles is still not great from the wildfires. I have asthma so I have to be extra careful about taking care of my lungs. And for some reason spicy ginger juice has always helped when my lungs start to feel cranky. But even when I feel great, this juice is awesome.

This is my current fave drink to start the day. Come sunrise, I pop out of bed and crave it's vibrant, sweet, spicy, mildly grassy flavor. Sometimes I add more celery to make it less sweet, and other days (like today) I add extra ginger for more spiciness. I also love the boost of vitamin C this recipe brings.

Get the recipe and a few breathing wellness tips + products I use..

Quick thank you to everyone who has purchased a Finding Vegan Meals kit in the first few days of launch! I am so excited to have you guys in the private Facebook group and help you eat more plants, get inspired and organized or even try vegan for the first time. Please remember to order before the $10 coupon code ends in a few days (find the promo code in this post). Also snag my menu + recipe +inspiration-packed Holiday Guide for FREE before 12/1. Seriously, everything you need for a vegan Thanksgiving (and December!) is in this 40-page guide. OK, now onto this juice...

Raw Ginger! Love this stuff. Ginger root kinda looks like mini lungs, yes? Funny how that works.

The one caveat for this recipe is that you will need a juicer to make it as a juice. You could absolutely blend this into a sort of smoothie, although celery can be a tricky blend since it is so stringy. If you want to blend a ginger-green smoothie, I would sub out the celery and sub in some spinach. I would also add in a few splashes of water. For the ginger, you would need to microplane the ginger to add to a smoothie - for best texture outcomes. Apples blend pretty well - just chop well to prep. And as always, use a high speed blender when possible. But yes, making this 'juice' into a 'smoothie' is possible.

Breathe Well. So as I mentioned, I keep lung health high on my 'wellness' priority list due to my asthma. Thankfully, my asthma is well-controlled. And though I had a flare up a few years ago that required me to go on a daily inhaled steroid - I was able to go off those meds and now I just manage things by taking precautions in my own home -- and being extra careful with allergens and air conditions when I go out or travel. And with the horrific wildfires messing with air quality in California, I wanted to bring you guys this recipe and a few tips ASAP.

Quick note, of extreme importance: Breathing problems are nothing to mess with. If you or someone you love is having trouble breathing, don't wait, call your doctor or head to an ER or urgent care facility, ASAP.

Also a quick note regarding the fires: I want to put this out there in the universe: THANK YOU to every first responder and firefighter caring for the people and animals affected by these fires. (And all natural disasters, really.) - My heart is broken for so many animals and people and places, but seeing the rescue stories brings some light to a very dark thing. I hope everyone closer to the fires is safe and on their way to healing. If you want to help, there are so many funds to donate to. One that I found is for the Chico Animal Shelter. They actually have an Amazon Wish List set up, which makes it super easy to buy something for them. They are handling many of the animals from the Camp Fire in the Northern California Paradise/Chico region.

Let's all hope the forecasted rain in NorCal (and maybe LA) on Wednesday is a downpour.

But aside from exceptionally bad conditions like wildfires, for just maintaining lung health, for me personally, these are five things that have helped..

Allergy + Breathing Wellness: 5 Things that Help Me.. 1. Air Purifiers. So important! Invest in at least one really good air purifier. We love out IQ Air (tip from my allergy doctor - he has one in his office) and also mini Austin Air machines. Rabbit Air is also great.

2. Keep Pets out of the Bedroom. This is a challenging one! But if you have bad allergies or asthma, you may want to at least 'try' it. I never though we could do it, but it works out ok... We have done this for a few years now. It's not 100% by any means. They still dart in and do a few laps around the bed on a daily basis, just to rebel. I happily chase them out. And sure, they come in on some mornings - usually after meowing a bit too loudly at the door -- and we cave. But for the most part, they sleep in their little beds right outside the door. I will say, I have noticed a difference since doing this since - technically - I am allergic to cats. They love this cat bed.

3. IQ Air Visual Monitor. I love this thing!!! I bought it just a few months ago when we needed to track our outdoor versus indoor air quality and I love this thing. It gives you an accurate reading for your air quality, humidity, CO2 levels and even particulate levels. I love seeing how things like cooking and even opening the windows effect our indoor air. Plus, the App is really great -- and you can download the App for free in the App store to view all the global data from IQ Air. IQ Air Visual on Amazon.

4. Ginger Juice + Today's Recipe! Seriously, ginger shots and spicy juice for some reason always helps me. I cannot really explain it and maybe it is just me! But it helps. I think it moves around the mucus that may be building up in your lungs. One thing I noticed is that ginger sure does look an awful lot like little lungs! I love that whole theory that foods that are good for certain parts of your body actually look like that body part... like walnuts and your brain, etc. Other foods that I have found help me: breathe easy tea, apples, a bit of caffeine from matcha, foods rich in magnesium, rooibos tea, spicy brothy soups and high-enzyme fruits like pineapple and kiwi.

In regards to why ginger helps... My friend Abby has some really cool info on her Instagram about how amazing ginger is for respiratory problems. Abby says, "..ginger contains chemical compounds that help the lungs function and improves blood circulation.." See the full quote on her post. PS. If moved, follow Abby on IG for inspiring content.

5. Exercise in Good Air. Around the time when my lungs were bad a few years ago, i was only exercising indoors, around my cats. I noticed that doing this really inflamed my lungs. I also notice that if I play tennis or run outside on humid or poor-ish air quality days I don't feel so great. So I always work out in gyms or yoga studios etc with GOOD air quality. And I try to minimize exercise around my kitties to strength training and basic 'dance parties of one.' You may have seen those in my Insta-stories.

Tips When Traveling. So those are just a few things that help me feel good. I also always make sure the hotels I am staying in when traveling are not dusty -- or have wood floors. I always request allergy-friendly bedding in advance too. And I try to stay super hydrated when on airplanes. Hot tea is the best. Running a steamy shower upon check-in is also a good idea for me. You just never know about allergens and asthma when traveling so ALWAYS bring some medication like your inhalers - or whatever. I always bring my inhaler even though I haven't used it in years. With asthma, you can never be too careful.

Anyways..... even if you have perfect lungs this juice is pretty dreamy and feel-good. The bright sweet-tart flavor is energizing and fun.

I am definitely on a juicing kick right now, and this is basically the only juice I have been making. I also like beet-ginger once in a while too. That pink color is irresistible.

What Juicer Should I Buy? I have owned many juicers guys. And these are three I can personally vouch for:

1. Breville. This is one of the more reasonably priced - all around good - juicers. It is more high speed than a "slow juicer" but it still does a good job and is easy to find. Breville on Amazon.

2. Hurom. This is the juicer I use now. I received one as a housewarming gift from one of my PR company friends and I am so grateful for that. I didn't think I that into juicing anymore until I received this gift. And since ONE juice in LA can cost $9-10, this thing is saving me a ton of cash. Hurom on Amazon.

3. SuperAngel. We bought one of these super fancy juicers about ten years ago. It is currently in storage, but I still LOVE it. It is heavy duty - all stainless steel parts and will likely last forever. So that's pretty cool. SuperAngel on Amazon.

There are others out there too, but these are the three that I have personally owned.

This is my current juicer... Hurom. It's an investment juicer for sure, but is definitely a winner. It works great and is easy to clean. It has about6 parts I have to take apart after each juicing sesh, but they rinse off under hot water super easily. Takes me just a few minutes to clean-up.

And you might remember, when I started my blog I wrote a lot about juicing!!..

- My Juicing at Home 101 Guide Blogpost - My Juicing Project - some cute Nelly pics in here - Ginger shots - Rainbow Juice - My Super Angel review - PinCelCarGin Juice - Green Juice 101

Spicy Green Apple Ginger Celery Juice

By Kathy Patalsky

Published 11/18/2018

This spicy juice contains vibrant lemon, warming ginger, hydrating celery and the tart sweetness of green apple.

Ingredients

1 small green apple

1/4 - 1/2 bunch of celery

1 juicy lemon, squeezed

1 large knob of ginger - to taste

pinch of cayenne on top to serve, optional

Optional: 1 kiwi

Instructions

Prep your ingredients by rinsing the celery very well. Remove any grit. Slice off the rooted end of the celery and any dried out ends. Slice the apple. Rinse or scrub the ginger. Juice the lemon.

Juice through your juice press: apple, celery, ginger and lemon juice.

Pour the juice in serving glasses. Add a pinch of cayenne on top. to serve.

Yield: 1-2 servings

Prep Time: 00 hrs. 05 mins.

Cook time: 00 hrs. 02 mins.

Total time: 7 mins.

Tags: juice, raw, beverage, drink, celery,lemon,kiwi,ginger,apple,spicy,wellness,

Pin it for later..

disclosure: this is not a sponsored post, but this post contains affiliate links to Amazon. The Hurom juicer, picture, was gifted to me.

Source: http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com/2018/11/green-apple-ginger-juice.html

[dknc3]

Well, grad party weekend is almost over and I appear to have survived. It was a close thing for awhile there, though! 

Long text post under the cut summarizing the weekend’s adventures. (And giving a pretty good illustration as to WHY I’ve been a tumblr absentee of late, LOL!!)

About 30 hours prior to party time, I received a call from #2 telling me he felt like death and had been unable to rise from his bed except to stumble to the bathroom for nearly 24 hours! Why he hadn’t felt it necessary to tell me this when texting with me the night before about coming home from school for his brother’s party, who knows? Anyway, he NEVER complains about being sick even when he is and he sounded like death and answered “no” to questions about having Advil, water, or cough medicine in his dorm room or any way to get them or any capability of driving his car around the block much less home.

So, I embarked on a 3 hour round trip to fetch my sickly second son, guiltily leaving my husband with an insanely long party prep “to do” list in my absence. One of us at least had to work on preparing both the deck and yard (where we WANTED the party to be) and the big ugly unfinished basement (where we feared a lot of the party might have to be because the weather forecast was getting shittier by the moment.) I had to be the parent who took the road trip because A–I am willing to drive much faster than my law abiding husband and therefore could accomplish the rescue mission more quickly, and B–MAMA is the parent best at caring for our ill babies, regardless of age.

When I got #2 into the car, he was burning up with fever, hacking like someone with tuberculosis, and complaining that EVERYTHING hurt! I gave him Advil and water and apple juice which I brought along and told him if it wasn’t May I’d swear he had the flu. Those words proved prophetic when I took him straight to the doctor’s office once we got back into town and he tested positive for INFLUENZA A!!! Seriously? Who comes down with the freaking flu in late May?!? Apparently, MY KID. On the eve of his brother’s grad party.

So I got him a prescription for tamiflu, a bunch of decongestant and cough meds, and tucked him into his bed before launching back into full force party prep.

Mr. DKNC, quite proud of himself, had purchased two nice canopies which he set up on the deck. They would do beautifully to shade folks should the sun shine and protect well enough from potential pop-up showers without bad wind, but at least overnight, potential thunderstorms with heavy winds were predicted. I mentioned we might want to take the canopies down until closer to party time, but this suggestion was met with “It’ll be fine.”

A few hours later as I was rethinking whether or not I had enough food in the house and ready for pick-up the following morning (after receiving a gleeful call from #1 that several more of his friends had just let him know they’d be able to come after all and three text messages from family friends letting me know their entire families were coming), the severe thunderstorms showed up, and at a rather ominous sound from out on the deck, Mr. DKNC raced out back and shouted, “Dammit! I didn’t know there was going to be a fucking hurricane!”

So the two of us set to work dismantling the canopies before they were torn apart by the wind. In a torrential downpour. While he swore and complained the way he only does when he feels he should have more control over situations which are completely out of his control. Sigh.

He’d done a ridiculous amount of work all day long–the house and yard truly did look amazing, and we’d actually begged, borrowed, and stolen enough tables and chairs that we had outdoor seating for nearly fifty people at a time–over half of that at tables. The house, after 3 days of cleaning, was about as spotless as it gets, and I’d figured out a plan to set up the musicians in the basement rather than on the deck and move a bunch of chairs in there if we really had to–while praying we didn’t have to.

Son #1 came home from dinner out with his girlfriend (he had cleaned the barn earlier in the day), and I sent him right back out to pick up our only non-driver–Son #3–from his job at the hardware store. (I cannot WAIT until May 31st when that kid can get his license!)

I made Ramen noodles for flu boy and ordered pizza for everyone else and decided to call it a night.

Party day dawned grey and rainy, and Mr. DKNC (aka my personal Lord of Winterfell) got all “Winter is Coming” on me with various dire weather disaster predictions. I made him take #3 to work (yes, the kid worked evening shift the day before and opening shift on party day so he could get off early enough in the afternoon not to miss much of the party) just so #1 and I didn’t have to listen to him. #2 got out of bed, showered, dressed, said he felt a bit better, sat up and talked with me while I began setting up the buffet area in the kitchen, then began to feel crappy again–because FLU–and went dejectedly back to bed.

Mr. DKNC had come home after dropping #3 at work and picking up a few things I’d realized we’d forgotten about and put on a list for him. The rain had slowed to intermittent drizzle with only very brief spotty showers so I crossed my fingers and assigned him and #1 to put the canopies back up while I went out and picked up all the sandwiches and barbecue and fruit and vegetable trays and pasta and potato salad, etc. I’d ordered from the grocery and our local meat market. Then I headed to the bakery to pick up the great big cake.

Got home and just had time to say hi to the musicians who’d arrived and we’re setting up and then get all the food actually ready to serve and all the drinks (which Mr. DKNC had gone out and bought using my shopping list my road trip to rescue #2, calling me at least fifteen times from the store because apparently my directions weren’t always clear, LOL!) iced down and the balloons hung at the end of our road (because it’s easy to miss if you don’t know the way) when the first guests arrived, rushing onto the screened in porch with umbrellas up to protect them from the sudden downpour.

That rain lasted 30 minutes and then disappeared did not return for 6 hours. Seventy people ended up at the party and no one went inside except to get food, use the bathroom, play pool, or take a brief AC break because the temperature soared into the mid-eighties. The guests ranged in age from 2 to 84, and both the youngest and the oldest danced to the music which was fabulous. Our musician friends played for 5 hours straight, only stopping when the rain started to threaten again close to 9pm. Most of the older people and the families with small kids left around 9, but at least thirty people were here until after midnight, playing pool, sitting on the screened in porch watching the storm, snacking, drinking, laughing, and generally having a great time. The last of the guests above college age left around 1am, and Mr. DKNC and I decided it was time for bed. No idea what time the last of #1’s friends left or availed themselves of various sofas here to sleep on.

But it WAS a really good day–family from 3 hours away, friends we hadn’t seen in years–we really felt blessed by all the folks who came out to celebrate with our son. And while my husband and I both felt we never got to talk to anyone over 5 minutes most of the day as we kept trying to talk to EVERYONE (and keep food hot and drinks cold all day long), we had fun. More importantly #1 had fun. And I’ve got the video of him singing Johnny Cash with the band!!

The only person who didn’t have much fun was #2 who spent most of the day in his bedroom with Netflix and Advil. He did rally enough on two occasions to put in brief appearances to at least talk to relatives who hadn’t seen him in a long time–but he wasn’t allowed to touch anyone, I had to fix his plate as he wasn’t allowed NEAR the food, and he wrote BIOHAZARD all over his cup so no one would accidentally drink after him! And he still only spent maybe an hour total out of his room, poor guy.

This morning I woke early to take #3 to work (yes, again–this kid needs a driver’s license), Mr. DKNC went to church, but I stayed home because #1 (who as far as I know slept almost none at all) went out to breakfast at 10 with his girlfriend and two couples from her college who had come down for his party and I didn’t want to leave #2 (who didn’t have fever this morning–YAY!–but was still pretty achy) on his own.

I discovered the college kids had attempted to clean up a bit as there were several garbage bags filled and left out on the screened-in porch. Unfortunately, these must have been city kids who don’t realize why all of our outdoor garbage cans have lockable latches on them. So … Our local trash pandas had their own party on the porch some time in the wee hours. Their nasty, muddy little foot prints were all over everything, all bags were ripped open, and trash was strewn everywhere! No offense to my dear @thefairfleming, but trash pandas are evil incarnate!!

So … that was an hour of my life I won’t get back. I rewarded myself for doing that thankless job by eating cake for breakfast. Hey, the little bit of cake left was too big for the plastic storage container I had by only a couple inches!! I had to solve that problem!!

I’ve now cleaned the rest of the house. I don’t even want to know how cake crumbs and empty beer cans found their way to some of the places I found them! I’m almost afraid to check the barn as there was a veritable parade of folks going down to visit the horses yesterday.

But the only task left for today is another road trip to get #2 back to school. He isn’t well, but he is better, and he has only TWO days left. This time I’m taking Mr. DKNC with me. As long as we have to make the trip, we’ll take most of his stuff home with us so he can just leave on his own when he’s officially finished. I’ve got his drugs packed up and clean linens to put on his bed there, and that’s the best I can do for him at this point. I seriously hate taking him back still sick, but he has to finish the term.

And then, Mr. DKNC and I will come home and finally get to rest and relax. Just kidding!! We’ll sleep for a few hours and then I’ll go to work and he’ll fly off on a trip tomorrow! And as we realized as we got in bed last night, we’ll now be expected to do this crazy thing at least twice more!!! We both lay there and laughed hysterically when that thought hit us because really … no other reaction was possible!