bits & pieces: july 1, 2011

Oops… I completely forgot to post this on Wednesday. That’s what happens when you leave a post in draft format and forget to schedule posts. Anywho, happy July, happy Friday, and happy 4th of July weekend to all. It kind of snuck up on us this year, trying to plan our move & all, so we really have no idea what we’re doing. Hopefully some kind of celebration will appear out of nowhere!  Enjoy these links. xo

Kitty pizzas!!! Must make these.

Nasty (but hopefully effective) new cigarette warning labels.

The best & worst foods for weight loss. The worst? Potato chips, sugar-sweetened beverages, red meat, and processed red meat. The best? Yogurt. The study also says the quality of your food is strongly linked to weight gain – i.e., eat organic!

Nat Geo graphic about our dwindling food variety. Warning: quite depressing. If you happened to see my post about Heritage Seed Co, this is what they are trying to fix, working to preserve heritage seeds and prevent the extinction of all these wonderful foods. (P.S. Thanks to my sister in law, Jes, for finding & sharing this one!)

A pool that floats on the rivers in NYC? Amazing!

Carrie Bradshaw’s budget in real numbers. I mean, of course it’s just a TV show, and we all know that TV shows are not accurate indicators of real-life spending & earning… but this was still pretty funny.

Vitamin testing reveals big brands aren’t always the best buy. I was pleased to see that the vitamins we take were the ‘best choice’ for General Adult vitamins (we take Alive! vitamins.)

I am SO excited for Project Nim to come out! If you aren’t familiar with Nim Chimpsky, look him up. Absolutely fascinating. Bonus, the documentary was directed by the same guy who did Man on Wire, which was another fabulous movie.

Most Americans couldn’t come up with $2,000 if they had to. This frightens me. So many people making a good living yet still living paycheck to paycheck. I understand life deals us hands that we can’t choose… but for the sad majority of us, we choose to spend above our means and push saving to the bottom of our priorities list. My honest opinion? Not budgeting & saving is just plain stupid.

How not to get hit by cars (while on a bike). Important safety tips… literally nearly everyday here in in So Cal a cyclist gets rammed by a careless/distracted driver. You have to be up on your game if you’re going to ride alongside the automobiles.

Anti-foaming agent found in Chicken McNuggets – this made me kind of nauseous. And also sad, because I’ve eaten many a McNugget in my life. I’d hate to find out what’s in that sweet & sour sauce that I love so much.

95 yr old cancer patient forced to remove adult diaper by TSA agents. Ok, this is getting a little out of control now, isn’t it? The worst part is they complained that the diaper was ‘soiled.’ Well of course it is! It’s a DIAPER! What would you expect looking inside an infant’s diaper?!

Cure for jetlag… walking on the Earth?

Filmmaker asks Trader Joe’s to stop wasting food. This guy has a new documentary about food waste coming out, called Dive! He’s also got a petition going at Change.org to ask Trader Joe’s to stop throwing out perfectly good food, instead asking them to consider donating to food.

And one last shameless plug asking you to all give a vote for Trey so he can land the cover of Parents Magazine. I’ve seen this baby in person, and trust me – he’s way cuter than the rest. No signup needed, just click & vote! Thaaaank you friends!