Monthly Archives: February 2009

A New Toy

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Today, Corey and I bought a new toy–a treadmill! :D

Reebok 8000 SE Folding TreadmillWe bought a Reebok 8000 SE folding treadmill.  It’s normally around $700-1000, depending on where you buy it, but we found it for $350! :D

It has a built-in iPod dock with speakers, cup holders, eight pre-programmed workouts, a fitness journal for up to two users, and a heart rate monitor.  It also measures time, distance, and calories burned.  And, of course, a treadmill wouldn’t be complete without being able to incline.

We went to the store today and tried out a couple of treadmills.  I really liked the way this one felt.  Corey had done some research on this model ever since he found the ad for it, so I also knew I was getting a nice model.

Trying to Stay Healthy

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Last week was a whirlwind of events at work and it continues until Friday.  I have a couple of tight deadlines I’m trying to meet.  As a result, I’ve been working long hours without taking a lunch.  I even worked a few hours on Saturday and Sunday.  As you can probably imagine, I’ve been pretty tired and stressed.

I’m still doing really well with my eating despite my hectic work schedule and I’m still continuing to go to bed at 10:00 pm on workdays.  What I’ve been slacking on, however, is getting up early and exercising.  I just feel so exhausted that I’ve had a hard time.  I know this is an excuse and at the moment, I’m okay with it.

I didn’t lose any weight this week, which is probably because of the stress and no exercising.  But, the good thing is I didn’t gain any weight either!  I’m not discouraged or frustrated.

I’m going to recommit to exercising and getting up early once my project is done on Friday so I can get back on track.  I’ve realized what a difference it makes.  I know that everyone falls off the wagon once in a while.  I also know I’m not perfect, even though I expect myself to be.  The important thing I need to learn from this is to not give up and just keep going.  There’ll be good weeks and bad weeks.  It’s all just a matter of keeping up with my commitments and goals.

The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger

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The Devil Wears Prada CoverTitle: The Devil Wears Prada

Author: Lauren Weisberger

Series: Stand-alone

Genre: Chick-lit

Pages: 368 Pages (Paperback)

Original Publication Date: June 15, 2003

Overall Rating:
Buy on Amazon · Add to Shelfari · Add to Goodreads

Summary from Goodreads

A delightfully dishy novel about the all-time most impossible boss in the history of impossible bosses.

Andrea Sachs, a small-town girl fresh out of college, lands the job “a million girls would die for.” Hired as the assistant to Miranda Priestly, the high-profile, fabulously successful editor of Runway magazine, Andrea finds herself in an office that shouts Prada! Armani! Versace! at every turn, a world populated by impossibly thin, heart-wrenchingly stylish women and beautiful men clad in fine-ribbed turtlenecks and tight leather pants that show off their lifelong dedication to the gym. With breathtaking ease, Miranda can turn each and every one of these hip sophisticates into a scared, whimpering child.

The Devil Wears Prada gives a rich and hilarious new meaning to complaints about “The Boss from Hell.” Narrated in Andrea’s smart, refreshingly disarming voice, it traces a deep, dark, devilish view of life at the top only hinted at in gossip columns and over Cosmopolitans at the trendiest cocktail parties. From sending the latest, not-yet-in-stores Harry Potter to Miranda’s children in Paris by private jet, to locating an unnamed antique store where Miranda had at some point admired a vintage dresser, to serving lattes to Miranda at precisely the piping hot temperature she prefers, Andrea is sorely tested each and every day—and often late into the night with orders barked over the phone. She puts up with it all by keeping her eyes on the prize: a recommendation from Miranda that will get Andrea a top job at any magazine of her choosing. As things escalate from the merely unacceptable to the downright outrageous, however, Andrea begins to realize that the job a million girls would die for may just kill her. And even if she survives, she has to decide whether or not the job is worth the price of her soul.

My Thoughts

This month’s tag on Shelfari was chick lit and I had high hopes for this book because I enjoyed the movie so much.  However, this is the first time I can honestly say that I enjoyed the movie much more.

The story was fun at times, but I got bored with it very quickly.  I kept wishing for it to be over.  I contemplated not finishing the book several times, but I like to finish what I start.  (I’ve only not finished three books I’ve started to read, other than those in high school I just kind of nonchalantly acted as though they didn’t exist. :lol: Two were because of too much gratuitous sex and the other was The Hobbit.  I’ll attempt it again someday; I just didn’t like the way Tolkien wrote.  Maybe, I’ll like it more now that I actually enjoy reading.)

If you’ve seen the movie, the book’s pretty much the same thing, but longer.  The events happen a little differently, like any other movie made from a book. Of course, there are more instances of Miranda Priestly’s abuse to her assistants and pretty much everyone else around her.  And, even though Meryl Streep did a wonderful job of portraying Miranda Priestly, the movie character wasn’t nearly as devilish as the book character. You also get to be inside Andrea Sachs’s head in the book and hear/read how she feels rather than relying on Anne Hathaway’s portrayal of emotions in the movie, of which I thought she also did a superb job. But, it’s just not the same as reading someone’s feelings.  In those instances, the book did a better job.

As a warning to parents or anyone interested in reading this book, there are a lot of F-words.  Even though I can “skip” over language while I’m reading, I never appreciate the incessant use of the F-word.  There were probably over 100 uses in the 368 pages I read. :?

BBC Reading List

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I was tagged in a note on Facebook and I wanted to post it on my blog too because I thought it was interesting.  The BBC believes most people will have only read six of the 100 books on the following list.

I’m not sure why some of the books made the list and others didn’t, but after reading this list, I realize that I’m one of the “most people” because I’ve only read eight of the books on the list.  But, as all of you know, I’m kind of a late bloomer when it comes to reading.  Many of these books are on my to read list.  (I’ve bolded the ones I’ve read.)

  1. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: This is on my to read list. I noticed that the one Jane Austen book I’ve read, Mansfield Park, isn’t on this list.  Probably because it’s not one of her more famous or well-liked novels.
  2. The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien: This is on my to read list and I already own the books. I’m just a little terrified of them because I started The Hobbit a few years ago and couldn’t get through it.
  3. Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte: This is on my to read list.
  4. Harry Potter by JK Rowling: I’ve read most of the books several times.
  5. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: I was supposed to read this in high school, but I didn’t. I watched the movie instead to help me pass my test. It’s on my to read list now.
  6. The Bible: I’ve read most of the Old Testament and most of the New Testament, but I’ve never read the entire Bible all the way straight through.
  7. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte: This book is only on my to read list because of the Twilight Saga, as well as Romeo & Juliet and A Midsummer’s Night Dream.
  8. Nineteen Eighty Four by George Orwell: I’m contemplating putting this on my to read list.
  9. His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman
  10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  11. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott: This is on my to read list.
  12. Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
  13. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller
  14. The Complete Works of Shakespeare: I won’t read his complete works, but I’ll read a few of his more famous plays. I don’t understand him very well, but I want to take a literature class to help me understand him better.
  15. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
  16. The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien: I started this a few years ago, but couldn’t get past page 40 because I didn’t like the way Tolkien wrote. I’m going to give it another try now that I like to read more, but I’m still a little wary.
  17. Birdsong by Sebastian Faulk
  18. Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger: I’ll probably read this at least once to say that I did.
  19. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger: This is one my to read list.
  20. Middlemarch by George Eliot
  21. Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  22. The Great Gatsby by F Scott Fitzgerald: I was supposed to read this in high school, but I just watched the movie instead.
  23. Bleak House by Charles Dickens
  24. War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
  25. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams: This is on my to read list.
  26. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
  27. Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
  28. Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
  29. Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll: At some point, this will go on my to read list.
  30. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
  31. Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
  32. David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
  33. The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis
  34. Emma by Jane Austen: This is on my to read list.
  35. Persuasion by Jane Austen: This is on my to read list.
  36. The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by CS Lewis: I love how this takes up two spots.
  37. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini: This is on my to read list.
  38. Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis De Bernieres
  39. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden: This is on my to read list.
  40. Winnie the Pooh by AA Milne
  41. Animal Farm by George Orwell
  42. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown: As some of you know, I wasn’t going to read this for various reasons, but I’ve decided I want to read it and make my own judgment about it.
  43. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  44. A Prayer for Owen Meaney by John Irving
  45. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
  46. Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery: I had the whole set when I was younger and I tried to read them a couple of times, but I just didn’t like to read. I never got through the first book. They’re on my to read list now.
  47. Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
  48. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood: This is on my to read list.
  49. Lord of the Flies by William Golding: I was supposed to read this in high school, but I didn’t. I don’t know if I’ll read it now either because I didn’t like the storyline of the book.
  50. Atonement by Ian McEwan: This is on my to read list.
  51. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
  52. Dune by Frank Herbert: This is one of my favorite books. It’s the first book that I actually read as an assignment in high school. I’d love to read the rest of the series.
  53. Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
  54. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen: This is on my to read list.
  55. A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth
  56. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
  57. A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
  58. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
  59. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon
  60. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  61. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: I was supposed to read this in high school, but I didn’t.
  62. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  63. The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  64. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
  65. Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas: This is on my to read list.
  66. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
  67. Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy
  68. Bridget Jones’s Diary by Helen Fielding
  69. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
  70. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
  71. Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
  72. Dracula by Bram Stoker: This is on my to read list.
  73. The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett: I own this book because my mom tried to get me to read it as a child. I never did. It’s on my to read list.
  74. Notes From A Small Island by Bill Bryson
  75. Ulysses by James Joyce
  76. The Inferno by Dante
  77. Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
  78. Germinal by Emile Zola
  79. Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray
  80. Possession by AS Byatt
  81. A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens: This is on my to read list.
  82. Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell
  83. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
  84. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
  85. Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
  86. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
  87. Charlotte’s Web by EB White: My dad read this to me, but I’ve never read it. It’s on my to read list.
  88. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
  89. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle: These are on my to read list.
  90. The Faraway Tree Collection by Enid Blyton
  91. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  92. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint Exupery: I read this in French in my French literature class. I didn’t enjoy it. I’d like to read it in English to see if I’d enjoy it more.
  93. The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks
  94. Watership Down by Richard Adams
  95. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
  96. A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute
  97. The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas: This is on my to read list.
  98. Hamlet by William Shakespeare: This is one of the plays that I’d like to read.
  99. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl: This is on my to read list.
  100. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo: This is on my to read list.

Another Healthy Update

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I lost another 1.6 pounds this week.  This brings my total weight loss to six pounds in three weeks! :D I’ve been doing really well with my eating and keeping my calorie intake to 1200-1700 calories a day.  I don’t deprive myself of everything.  Otherwise, I’d turn into a half bulimic–binging, but not purging. :? I just eat the not-so-healthy-foods in moderation.

I think when I’m a little more in shape, I’ll start to lose more weight each week because my exercising will become more vigorous.  Right now, I’m taking it kind of easy because I don’t want to hurt myself and I get winded really easily.  One of the things I’ve been doing that has been helping a lot is avoiding the elevator at work.  Even though I’m almost out of breath when I reach the top, I can tell it makes a difference.

Corey and I are going to use part of our tax refund to buy a treadmill so I can do my cardio that way. :D I’m getting kind of sick of doing the same exercise routine each day and it has become harder to keep up with the exercise.  (Yesterday, I did DDR for 30 minutes and walked up and down the stairs over and over again for 15 minutes because I needed a change in scenery that badly.)  Even though walking/running on a treadmill can get mundane, I don’t think I’ll get bored because I can listen to my iPod, watch a movie/TV, or read a book while doing it.  I also really want to run a marathon some day so a treadmill will be a great way to train for that.