the basics

practicing self-care

sleeping enough.
last night’s tally: 9 hours

eating a balanced and healthy diet.
number of home-cooked dinners made in the last 3 nights: 3 (100%)

enjoying some down time.
particularly down time sans internet: check

these are all things that often went by the wayside during residency (and which are still difficult for me on the weeks that i am on call). but on days like today, i realize how much better life is when the above basic needs are met. particularly the ‘sleep’ one!

with enough rest, big projects seem less overwhelming, barriers to success seem less insurmountable, and tedious tasks (like those involved in meal prep + cooking, for example) are more pleasant. no wonder gretchen rubin chose getting a good night’s rest as the very first goal in her happiness project (click on the link for her sleep-related tips!).

soon, my schedule will be far less flexible again and i know i will be tempted to stretch out my waking hours, skimp on home cooking, and eliminate (unplugged) downtime. but i hope that i will remember the value of truly being well-rested!

speaking of the ol’ HP
i sort of can’t believe that the memoir (which i really liked) is going to be converted to a 30-minute sit-com with kristin davis!

will it look like this? i guess we’ll just have to see!
i am not sure about the whole idea, but am certainly curious to see how it all pans out. details are here.

i found some of the reader comments on the HP site interesting. mimi D wrote:

“I appear to be the only person who is bemused.

To have a sincere and serious book turned into a sitcom? Please tell me it’s a joke. Gretchen, is this the “legitimacy” you’ve spent your earnest and well-educated life seeking? Or is this your personal version of “Money Power Fame Sex” and you’re laughing all the way to the bank?

Other commenters sure seem to think this deal is the ultimate affirmation: yay! to be played on TV by a pretty actress! Can I imagine Kristin Davis reading Boswell? No comment. I’m sure she can memorize a script that quotes Dr. Johnson. Will there be a laugh track?

I think this is the ultimate trivialization of all your good work. After championing your blog and book for many months, I am deeply disenchanted.”

ouch! but gretchen rubin responded very nicely with:

“I appreciate your kind words and thoughtful concern. For me, TV is exciting because a lot of people watch TV who won’t read a book. It’s a way to get ideas out to an entirely new group of people.

At its best, TV can be a terrific vehicle to make people think. It’s especially good about showing the evolution of people’s characters and their relationships — not in the same way as a book, of course — but still, this is a key element of thinking about happiness.

The kind of show envisioned is a “one camera” comedy, which means it would look more like a quirky comedy like The Office or 30 Rock than a traditional wise-cracking sitcom. It would be very, very different from the book and from the actual details of my life (my life just isn’t interesting enough to be a funny TV show! Which is probably lucky for me) I will keep doing what I do.

Everyone on the TV side has been so smart, engaged, and committed to doing something terrific and thoughtful. Interestingly, they’ve all thought a lot about the subject of happiness, in their own lives — which is why, I suppose, they were drawn to this.

So I’m pleased!”

fellow HP fans (or critics): what do you think? and will you be tuning in to the first episode?

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10.27.10

workout: 5 miles @ 9:13/mi pace, 0.5% incline. this felt way harder than it should have!

real simple plus: this meal of mushroom & herb strata may look innocent.

but if you actually follow their recipe and serving suggestion (which it does NOT look like they did in the above photo, unless that plate is truly enormous), this meal lands squarely in the realm of decadent:

fine for a special occasion, but for a regular ol’ wednesday night dinner, i made some adjustments. the easiest was just making and eating LESS — i cut the recipe by a third, and divided the pan into about 5-6 servings.

i am not a calorie counter, but some fairly easy math reveals that this cuts the numbers about in half already. (i still used a whole onion + package of mushrooms, though, because why not!?). i also used 1% milk, less olive oil, and whole grain WF seeduction bread (since that’s what we had in the freezer!).

my version seemed to turn out just fine!

it certainly appears much heartier than the official shot above – the magic of a normal-sized plate? my only complaint is that i couldn’t really taste the cheese very well! next time i might use half parmesan or smoked gouda for a more pronounced flavor.