the jetblue diaries

i am, yet again, in the jetblue terminal at jfk. ive been wracking up the jetblue points lately and im loving it. my flight home and back was only $100. that's way cheaper than the train, and it's equal to the train when you add in things like my shuttle to get from CT to NY.

i have a lot to write about. i had wanted to sit in this terminal and write my long, drawn-out post about what's been going on with me lately, but i instead spent about 40 minutes on the phone with my mom helping her pick out food while she was at the grocery store. it's occurred to me that i eat very differently from my mother's cooking now that im on my own. i'm sure my food is a great deal more bland, but ive found that i cant eat sauces and oils or i get sick. so now my diet consists of chicken and fresh vegetables, yogurt and granola and sushi and some pasta. ive cut out pizza and i barely eat sugar anymore. i drink less coffee. i often substitute my coffee for green tea. i eat a lot of dried fruit and almonds. in general, i do not make 'dishes.' i do not like sauces in general… the thought of preservatives and artificial colorings makes me cringe.

in general, ive become more aware of the toxins in my life. awhile back i purchased some organic health care products… face scrubs and face wash and makeup and lotion. it's also happened that most of my shopping has been done at trader joe's this semester just b/c ive caught rides with friends instead of walking to the neighborhood shaw's (which is more like a kroger or a ralph's). this has also made me aware of my diet… i used to never think about whether my dried fruit had sulphur in it or not, but now i do.

i also recently saw a story on the today show about prepping your house for a healthy pregnancy (no, im not pregnant), and the number of toxins in our houses really suprised me. a couple of women who had recently been pregnant and more recently had written a book about prepping the home for pregnancy did a walk-through with another pregnant woman in her house. you could see her freaking out as they went from room to room… the authors pointed out things like:

household cleaners should be non-toxic (i do this)
carpets and furniture should not be coated with flame retardants/stain protection as theyre carcinogenic (my stuff is definitely coated with stain-protectors and flame retardants)
mattresses should be organic as their flame-retardants are often formaldehyde-based (my mattress is like 50 yrs old… it's either too old for flame-retardants or is probably super-carcinogenic)
sheets should be organic, not bleached, cotton (my sheets are definitely bleached, and bleach is a carcinogenic)
paint should be non-toxic (i probably live in a building with lead paint)

anyhow… it's just made me think. it's also made me happy that i'll be getting rid of a lot of items from my current apartment when i move and that i can purchase new items with a new sense of what's good for me.