This spring is a new adventure for us, since we moved from our big old house on ten acres with various perennial beds, the sprawling black berry bushes and cultivated blueberries, the field of wild flowers and surrounding forest, to our new apartment. Despite the downsize our desire to garden is still a strong impulse. Although novices to potted gardens, we are pleased by the possibilities on our sunny and spacious second floor deck. Already we have planted veggies for now, and later, and flowers to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. 
Monthly Archives: May 2014
#selfie satisfied
A selfie is a self-portrait photograph, typically taken with a hand-held digital camera or camera phone. Selfies are often shared on social networking services such as Instagram, Snapchat, and Tumblr. They are often casual, and are typically taken either with a camera held at arm’s length or in a mirror (Selfie). Monday mornings or Saturday nights, on every continent, 24/7, people are looking into their own lens and capturing just what they want. Sober or drunk, celebratory or melancholy, across religious or societal divides, beyond age or racial groups it matters not, the #selfie is taken through the appropriate filter and posted on a splattering of social media sites. It’s estimated that over 17 million selfies are posted every week: 35 million on Instagram alone. Are selfies evidence of a new wave of narcissistic behavior? Proof we have become a ME ME ME world?
Dare I remind you of the photo booth? How many of us spent our well-guarded allowance inside those finicky and fun booths, capturing a series of our own funny faces? I, and this will not come as a surprise to any Nine Cent Girl fans, am thrilled with the #selfie phenomenon, to a point, and am ready to tell you why.
Make it Yourself
If you are anything like me, you are among the zillions of health seekers who are considering switching their milk intake to almond milk. When I first considered making such a switch, I sampled the myriad store varieties. Taste was my first concern, but as I found myself drinking more almond milk, I started to question all the ‘extras’ found in the list of ingredients, especially carrageenan. This troubling additive made me consider if I could make my own; and if we did, would it taste as good as our favorite brand? Well, I am here to say, our homemade almond milk tastes divine and the health benefits are worth the effort:
“Almond milk is one of the most nutritionally valuable milk substitutes available today. It is high in a number of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, manganese, magnesium, phosphorous, potassium, selenium, iron, fiber, zinc and calcium. Almond milk is low in calories, at only 40 calories per eight ounce serving, and low in fat. It contains only three grams of fat per eight ounce serving. Almond milk is lactose, gluten, casein and cholesterol free; it’s also free of saturated fats” (The Healthier Choice).
Follow this simple recipe and you will love getting all the benefits with none of the additive concerns.
Nine Cent Girl 