Checking in...

Here's the thing about committing to something: sometimes you really don't want to do it but you do anyways, because you promised yourself you would.

I'm just getting my feet wet in my self-imposed challenge and although I don't always want to partake, I'm already reaping the benefits. I have made some absolutely delicious, feel good food from Heidi Swanson's book - think Banana Walnut Espresso Muffins (I added chocolate because I'm a glutton), some amazing curried carrot soup, wheat berry feta salad, biscuits, cookies, etc, etc. I have stretched myself silly in restorative yoga which you all must try. But by far the most rewarding have been the books. Of the books I have read in the last month, these are absolute must reads:

• One Hundred Years of Solitude (Marquez) - Not an easy read, especially given that all of the characters over the several generations captured in the book seem to share the same name... but well worth the 400+ pages. It's a classic. Enough said.
• Still Alice (Genova) - Oh my goodness. I cried and I cried and I cried and I cried... Still Alice is an absolutely beautiful story about a Harvard professor who develops early onset Alzheimer's. It's a heart-breaking story about life, love, identity, loss, etc. A must read.
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Lee) - Hands down my favourite book of all time (and I have read a lot of books).
• The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry (Flinn) - Think "Eat, Pray, Love" but set at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. A deliciously entertaining read.

I leave you with a quote from Flinn's book:

Living is like driving," my grandmother used to say. "You have to pick a lane."