Accidental Vegetarian

Well, maybe I should say pescetarian.  

I'll still continue to each fish, eggs and (my all time favorite) cheese.  I've always thought about becoming a vegetarian, but I wasn't sure if I could really do it. For a few years now I've unconsciously stopped eating meat. Every once and a while, I would have a piece of fried chicken or steal a piece of the hubbys bacon.  For the most part I eat a lot of sushi, salads and other things like that.  

A couple of my office mates decided that we should hold our own office Biggest Loser competition. We each put in $20, weighed in on the same scale and agreed that on July 31st we would come back together to see who lost the biggest percentage of weight. 

This got me thinking about my health and what I've been eating lately.  I know being a vegetarian can have a lot of benefits. I don't think I could ever give up sushi or my favorite shrimp stir fry dishes.  When Jason I go out for date night, usually he gets a steak while I order scallops.  I think I can do it, right?

Here are a few of the hardest places to stick to it that I see in the near future:

• Fast food.  In a perfect world, I could say that I never eat fast food. But seriously, there's always the time where you're in a rush or not in a good position to find food elsewhere. Usually Taco Bell is my first choice, but the one near work is the slowest I have ever experienced in my life.  This leaves McDonalds and Wendy's.  so far the best option I have found is at McDonalds. Sometimes I will order a Southwest Salad with no dressing and no chicken. The girl behind the counter always looks at me like I have 3 eyes, but with the lime slice, the corn bits and the little bit of cheese, this turns out to be a pretty tasty salad!
• Bacon.  On my own, I don't really eat bacon.  But when you marry someone who believes bacon needs its own food group, its often around and incorporated into everything.  
• Mexican food. I. Love. Mexican food.  My friends and I go out for it frequently to the nearby Mexican restaurant. I know margaritas are probably one of the worst things you can do to yourself when you're on a diet, but they're so good.  I usually order a chile relleno which sometimes is stuffed with meat, but most of the time is stuffed with cheese. I also often get enchiladas stuffed with squash and mushrooms drizzled with spinach sauce and sour cream. This is one of my new favorite dishes.

We'll see what happens.  For now, I'll continue to surf the internet to find articles like this for education, and snacky recipes like these kale chips to hold me through!  Here's to a skinnier tomorrow!

Little Talks... in little notebooks

I picked up these fun little notebooks from Target the other day to try something new.

My goal is to try to keep a journal of the foods that I eat, my weight, and whatever other little tidbits I end up jotting down.  I think if I start to keep track of these things, I can really look back and see what I'm doing and what I can improve upon.  I'm sure little sketches of pottery ideas will end up in there too!

Speaking of pottery, I got this cute little bowl out of the kiln room the other day, and I must say, I'm pleased with it!  I think I would like to attempt a set for our house, and this celedon green is exactly what I want to use.  

Also, I got this cool little tip from Ceramics Daily.  Too often do I think something is a great idea and then immediately forget about it! This guy is doing some details on the bottom of the teapot lid to add some beauty to something so functional.  I love it!  There's nothing saying that something can't be functional and beautiful  right?

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Who is the Muddy Pup?

Muddy Pup Pottery was inspired by my wonderful pup, Cody.  He's the first dog I've owned since I was a kid, and he is my right side pooch.  He's definitely a mama's boy, and has to be as close to me as possible all the time.  Yes, that's right.  He has a mohawk.  Not always, but he just got a summer cut and we couldn't resist leaving a little bit on top just for fun. 

I got him back in April of 2011, and have been loving every moment of his wonderful fuzzy self ever since.  He's half Shih Tzu, half Yorkie.  We call him a Shorkie, though depending on the day he can also be a Shitshire Terrier.  :)

As for the pottery, I've been playing with clay long before Cody was a twinkle in his real mama's eye.  In college, I started as an Elementary Education major.  At one point I decided it wasn't for me and switched to Art Education.  After another semester, I decided I needed to pursue art and I didn't want to teach.  I started taking all the studio classes I could: Wood working, stained glass, jewelry making, drawing, photography.  I did well in all of them, and none of them were a challenge.  Then, I came across pottery.  It was the first class that I didn't immediately get the hang of it.  It was the first time I had been challenged in any of my art classes.  This is where my passion started.

In college, I couldn't throw round things.  I don't know if it was lack of sleep for 4 years, or a time crunch on getting homework done.  Or maybe it was the police standing over me saying "The building closed an hour ago.. You need to get out... It's not my problem you can't bring your homework home with you."  Or maybe I hadn't yet developed my touch.  Regardless, I began to alter my pieces and explore some really interesting shapes.

If you look at my work then and compare it to my work now, its drastically different.  I would like to say I am a better potter now than I was then, but I think my touch is just more developed.

Throughout the year, my goal for myself is to start pushing the envelope again.  Start playing more.  Don't be afraid to make something totally out there.  Looking back, the 2 pieces that were in the highest demand that I made were juice cups that looked like toilets and a serving platter made to look like a uterus.  Why not push the envelope a bit?

Song of the hour:  I Believe in a Thing Called Love by the Darkness.  Have you ever seen this video?  It's pretty ridiculous.  In an incredibly awesome way.