Getting on my soap box one more time!

Ok, ok... you get it, I like to eat healthy, organic, etc. And I bet you have seen the High Fructose Corn Syrup commercials. If not, here is one in the link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W40yHDFxkAY&feature=PlayList&p=25E93FB9AF0B1A7A&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=20

So after seeing these commercials (I am not a fan of high fructose corn syrup) I decided I should know why I am not a fan... so that I can explain it to people who don't see a problem with it. Below is an excert from an article I read and I think it puts it clear as day.... so if anyone else is interested in why HFCS(High fructose corn syrup) is NOT good, continue reading:

Why You Need to Understand Why Fructose is so Important
All sugars are not created equal, in spite of what you might have been told.
Glucose is the form of energy your cells were actually designed to run on. Every cell in your body, every bacterium -- and in fact, nearly every living thing on the Earth -- uses glucose for energy.
But as a country, regular cane sugar, or sucrose (50 percent glucose and 50 percent fructose), is no longer the sugar of choice. It’s now fructose.
This happened in the 1970s as a result of technology that made HFCS far less expensive to produce. Believe me, it was NOT done for its health benefits. This was purely an economic decision.
Let me clear up any confusion here, as fructose is the primary sugar in most fruits. It isn’t that fructose is intrinsically evil -- it is just the MASSIVE DOSES you and your family are exposed to that makes it dangerous. Because it is so cheap and makes foods taste so much better, it is added to virtually every processed food.
There are two overall reasons fructose is so damaging:
Your body metabolizes fructose in a much different way than glucose. Fructose is broken down in your liver just like alcohol and produces many of the side effects of chronic alcohol use, right down to the "beer belly"
People are consuming fructose in quantities that are 400-800 percent higher than they were 100 years ago due to its pervasive presence in just about all processed foods

Fructose Turns to Fat and Makes You Fat!
Unlike fructose which is nearly exclusively broken down in your liver and is directly converted to dangerous fats. This is one of the reasons why fructose is the leading cause of obesity. However, only 20 percent of glucose is metabolized in your liver. This is related to the fact that nearly every cell in your body can directly use glucose as a fuel source, so it’s normally "burned up" immediately after consumption.
It is also important to understand that the fructose in fruits and vegetables is not the same fructose molecule you’ll find in synthetic high-fructose corn syrup, which is manufactured in the lab. Naturally occurring fructose comes along with fiber, enzymes, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, whereas fructose sweeteners have no nutritional value at all.
Additionally it is actually attached to other sugars and molecules and needs to be broken down before it is absorbed which limits the damage it causes. In HFCS it is a free fructose molecule, just as the glucose. Because these sugars are in their free forms their absorption is radically increased and you actually absorb far more of them had they been in their natural joined state which would cause a higher percentage of the fructose to pass to the intestine unabsorbed.
But the menace of fructose doesn’t stop there.
Fructose also elevates your uric acid levels, which is actually more dangerous than elevated cholesterol levels as it causes chronic, low-level inflammation, which increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke, cancer, arthritis and premature aging.
Fructose also "tricks" your body into gaining weight by fooling your metabolism -- it actually severely impairs your body’s normal appetite-control systems.
Excessive fructose rapidly leads to weight gain and abdominal obesity ("beer belly"), decreased HDL, increased LDL, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood sugar, and high blood pressure -- i.e., classic metabolic syndrome.
Fructose metabolism is very similar to alcohol metabolism, which has a multitude of toxic effects, including NAFLD (non-alcoholic fatty liver disease). Metabolically it’s very similar to drinking alcohol without the buzz.

Remember to RADICALLY Reduce Your Fructose
These biological changes are not seen when humans or animals eat starch (or glucose), suggesting that fructose is a "bad carbohydrate" when consumed in excess of 25 grams per day.
However, it is important to remember that because fructose is so cheap it is added to nearly all processed foods. So even if you are seeking to eliminate it from your diet you will EASILY exceed 25 grams per day because it is "hidden" in so many foods. This is made worse by the deceptive and lax labeling laws which frequently allow gigantic loopholes for agribusiness to include it in the product and not identify it.
Making matters worse, your body easily becomes sensitized to fructose.
Fructose activates its own pathways in your body—those metabolic pathways become "upregulated." In other words, the more fructose you eat, the more effective your body is in absorbing it; and the more you absorb, the more damage you’ll do.
You become "sensitized" to fructose as time goes by, and more sensitive to its toxic effects as well.
Let me be clear that it isn’t fructose that is the problem -- but excessive fructose. And especially the concentrated amounts of fructose that your body was NEVER designed to process, such as what’s in HFCS and agave syrup.
Agave nectar is EVEN WORSE than HFCS because it’s even higher in fructose than HFCS (80 percent and higher), making it an even worse metabolic menace.

To read the entire article (which is actually about Agave) here is the link: http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/03/30/beware-of-the-agave-nectar-health-food-fraud.aspx

Do you Priceline?

I have a feeling this blog is going to lean towards my thoughts, stories and experiences of my travels. As my last one indicated, I am learning a lot to say the least.

Anways... do you Priceline when you travel? If not, you should and here is why.
Tonight, I am staying in a 4 star hotel, in Atlanta, GA for $70 dollars. The retail price I would guess is roughly $130.
Tomorrow-Friday, I am staying in the trendies part of Boston, in a 4 Star for $110/night. Retail at this place is probably right around $200/night.

I will teach you the trick of the trade if you need me to... but serisously?!

Luck of the Irish (or German)

Well, I know there is a rumor that floats around that I am a "lucky" person. Do I think this? No... I think I am a very go-with-the-flow type of person, therefore, take things as they come and don't plan too much into the future (that way, if you have no plans, they can't get messed up..). Anyways, today is the first time in life I will admit that I got lucky this morning. As some of you saw, I posted on my FB status that I missed my flight. It wasn't really anyones fault. I woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5am on the dot... but one thing lead to another and when i got to the airport the security lines were the longest I have EVER seen. So... I missed my 7:30am flight. I was really bummed, but also had never missed my flight, so didn't really know what I was supposed to do.
I get up to the gate (watching the plane pull away that I was supposed to be on) and I tell the lady that I was supposed to be on that flight right now. She grabs my boarding pass and pulls up my name and is like "wow, that is weird... you are already scheduled on the 8:45am flight" I am like really?! She asks if I talked to anyone or called ahead and I was like NO. I literally checked in, stood in the security line forever and then came to you. Long story short (or long) she has no idea how I was automatically put on the 8:45 am flight without talking to anyone and it was a full flight. I will probably only say this one time in my life, but Lucky me! This saved me a lllloooonnnggg day of standby.

Chaos

Chaos is what I feel describes my life right now. I have been a traveling fool and have not really had to time to do anything besides work and think about work recently. Today, I woke up extrememly tired and stressed. Tired because I could not sleep last week for some reason and stressed, because I landed at 11pm on Friday night and am leaving on a 7:30am flight tomorrow (Monday) which means laundry, bills, QT time with Adam and Tyson, etc. just are a few of the several things I want to get accomplished before leaving again. On top of that, until a few minutes ago, I was not sure where I was going to be after tomorrow. Meaning, I am going to Atlanta on Monday and Tuesday and had a flight to Ft. Launderdale on Tuesday scheduled, but last minute- change of plans- now I am going back to Boston. I actually REALLY like this new position. When I am there, going on appointments it is soooo much better than what I was doing before. It will just be a juggling act until I get my life stabilized for the next few weeks.

Last week, Greg and I went to New Haven, CT for an appointment. New Haven is home to the University of Yale and we stayed at the Omni on campus and were surrounded by Yale folk. I loved New Haven... such a cool city. Anyways, I couldn't decide if I felt dumb or smart the whole time. Dumb because I knew everyone I was surrounded with went to Yale, but smarter because I am young enough for people to assume I was going to Yale :) which I let them believe. Ha! ANNNDD I could NOT stop thinking about Blair Waldorf the whole time for all you Gossip Girl fans. Remember how badly she wanted to go there?! Anyways....

Lastly, where do you all buy your work suits? I went to Express today to buy a new one, but need a few more. Any suggestions? Yes, I need tons of them as this is what I am supposed to wear and I only have like 2 or 3 that I kinda like. Probably need closer to 6.

XOXO

Too close for comfort

We rent a house in Denver. Basically, we have the whole top floor and a single guy, Neil, rents the basement. He is single, works a lot and is all around a pretty quiet guy that keeps to himself. He has a separate entrance to his part- so we don't really see him much, let alone to talk to him. And up until now, Adam and I have been 100% happy with our living situation.

Two weekends ago on Saturday morning, Adam gets up to take Tyson out. He gets outside and there is a strange women outside smoking in the backyard. Adam comes in and is like "Neil had a shacker... she looks like she is so hung over.... I thought she was a prostitute at first because she looks so bad" We both kind of laugh about it... not a big deal, he has had some lady friends in the past. Sunday comes... she is still here. Still not a big deal, this one was more than a one-night thing... weekend romance we think.

I kid you not... she has not left the house since the first sighting. In fact, Neil took the whole week off last week and stayed home. They holed up in the basement together, blared music all day, cooked dinner together at night and who knows what else. I am not even exaggerating... she has not left the house. To make matters worse, we are 99% sure she has moved in. In fact, we are 100% sure. Yesterday, she told me she wanted to bring her dog here and her grand kids are coming to visit this weekend. Ok, Neil is probably mid-40's. This lady does NOT look old enough to have grand kids- but she does! She has two kids herself (a 25 and a 22 year old) and they made babies (not together) so now she has grand kids.

Last night, which was a Sunday night, they were BLARING the music until late. Adam, had to wake up a 4:15am this morning, so he/we were not happy campers. We literally could hear her screaming the words to Celine Dion, like she was in the next room. It got so bad, Adam finally had to text Neil.

I don't mean to talk bad about her... she is actually really nice. Her name is Pauline, BUT.... anyone who has been to our house, knows it is not large. There is something about knowing 4 people + a dog live here that is making Adam and I feel a little claustrophobic. And she smokes outside several times throughout the day, so if she is out there, I don't want to let Tyson out because he will immediately run up to say hi, which means there is a strong probability that he is going to jump on her. So, it has just become a little inconvenient.

I don't think there is really anything to say or do at this point, so we are just going to wait it out a little bit. Along with the music last night, they got in a huge fight and I could hear her crying for a really long time. I am pretty sure she was three sheets to the wind last night... but still. I felt like I was in college again.

Jodi Picoult is my hero

I LOVE her books. Anyways, was wondering if anyone else has read Salem Falls? I finished it last night and would love to discuss it with someone else, because the last line of the book totally threw me for a loop!!!! I think this has been one of my favs of her's so far... is a must read for anyone who enjoys her books :)

PS- only have 2 more "Keeping Faith" and her new one "House Rules" until I have read her entire set... so sad :(

The Fabulous Life of Natalie Otto

Here are the pictures I got sent to me this afternoon after Natalie saw a few of the Jersey Shore boys on the beach in Miami (and was asked to stand in the background while the photo shoot was going on). The photos were for Cosmo. She lives a charmed life, thanks to Greg Parks!

Too bad she is not 21 or she could be fist pumping at the club tonight with them!!!!