#30: Emma and Priya
"If time is money and health is wealth, then hanging out and having fun is the richest thing you could ever do."
Emma and Priya (@priyaandemma) are a pair of friends cooking their way through the Dimes cookbook and blogging the whole thing. Today, they’re here to give us the lowdown on Ridgewood Chocolate, crunchy landlords, and eating your plate. Bon appétit!
(Key: ✿ = Emma, ★ = Priya)
#30: Emma and Priya
✿ Aquarius/Libra/Leo ★ Virgo/Leo/Sagittarius
Ridgewood, NY
What does health, or being healthy, mean to you?
✿ Health is about leisure and mindlessness. Ideally, you should never think about being healthy for the good grace that you already are. I’m healthiest when I’m happy and experiencing the luck of not having to worry. I am my least healthy if I’m inflexible in my body, mind, or spirit. Something is extremely wrong if it’s all three. If time is money and health is wealth, then hanging out and having fun is the richest thing you could ever do.
★ I feel healthy when everything that I do matches the other. I feel like I’ve wasted a healthy breakfast if I eat a garbage dinner. I have an all or nothing mindset which is something I’m trying to overcome. I feel healthiest when I abide by my routines almost every day. But it is impossible to do it everyday because sometimes I like going to the party or the club. In this sense I also feel healthy when I eat pancakes for breakfast and beer, shot, and hotdog for dinner because everything is matching. If everything is synchronous everything is okay. I also have to get 17,000 steps a day. I think running is the most powerful thing in the world and is the only thing that can save and protect and heal your brain. Health is regimen and discipline.
How would you describe your current lifestyle?
✿ My current lifestyle is about experimentation. Right now I don’t have a very consistent routine and I am finding joy in variety. In some ways it allows me to do literally whatever I want. I was in a bad mood during the month of September because of this, but I’ve been feeling great about it so far in October. All I had to do was reread my favorite book and sleep for a week straight to fix my attitude.
So far this year I’ve been trying everything I can think of. Being broke, being rich, being married, being single, being genius, being stupid, being early, being late. I have been being a lab technician, an athlete, a chef, a caretaker, a party girl, an assistant, an electrician, a shop girl, front of house, back of house, a scholar, a humanitarian, an editor, and a director. I think soon I will become a dancer again.
★ My current lifestyle is changing and I’m not sure what it’s going to be yet. Winter is my favorite season. I got a new job and I don’t know how it will affect my life. I just returned from a trip where I was eating and drinking a lot of delicious terrible things so I am working on trying to feel pure again. Taking my vitamins again and eating colorful foods again. Right now my lifestyle is waiting for the dust to settle.
How do you start and end your days?
✿ The first thing I do in the morning is drink water and take two probiotics. I am not sure they do anything but I like the practice. One of my favorite things in the world is to cook breakfast for an hour, and take just as long to eat it. I don’t always have that luxury, so I often opt for convenience. I’ve been having a hard time with breakfast recently, not because I am not hungry, but because nothing sounds good. I used to eat dinner for breakfast, but after I started living with Priya, I have switched to eating yogurt with blueberries and granola. Maybe this shift from savory to sweet is messing with my mind. I am planning on inventing a new perfect breakfast for myself. Maybe it includes fish.
I would say I go for a run about 8 times a month, but I’m going to start aiming for 15. I am trying to incorporate a 10 lb dumbbell I found on the street into my at home “fitness” routine. I either dress like a slob or like a French school boy depending on which job I’m working that day. If I don’t have work I try to wear something I’m not allowed to wear.
My best and newest habit is writing everything down. I think buying a notebook without lines has helped this practice. When I’m at work I just carry my journal around and if I’m bored for more than thirty seconds I’ll start writing something down. When I’m not at work I’ll write anything down anytime. I love when I get to do something fun after going to work, but I also love getting to go home. I only floss and wash my face sometimes. I am enjoying sitting in the living room with my roommates until 1am when I have to go to sleep.
★ I usually go for a 5.2 mile run when I wake up. I run the same route every time and I only listen to Lana del Rey (lol). I run fastest when I’m sad about a boy. I never eat anything real before I run but sometimes I will eat one date or one dried apricot. I always eat breakfast even if I’m not hungry because I have to take my vitamins. I consider frozen blueberries a part of my vitamin routine so I usually eat greek yogurt, blueberries, and granola for breakfast. When I go to sleep at night I am so excited to wake up and eat my yogurt, blueberries, and granola.
Every day ends differently. I try to write down what happened every day in my journal but sometimes I dread it because sometimes I don’t want to relive the day. Some days are hard and I don’t want to think about them twice. But I try my best to write everything down before the day is over. Sometimes instead of writing in my journal I write on my blog but this is a bad habit. I should always journal before I blog or else I will reveal too much compromising information on the blog. I put Tiger Balm on my décolletage before I sleep.