Sarah Walraven: Sarah in the Suburbs

Our Impromptu Turtle Adventure

2011-05-31T18:14:00.000-07:00

"We've got a new pet."

This is the text message I get today, accompanied by a picture of a rather large turtle hanging out in the floor of the truck.

Just another day in the life of the Walravens. We love animals.

Turns out, this giant guy was chilling out on the back porch of Wes' work. I would have been mad that he took the turtle from its natural habitat, except that the body of water I believe it came from is across a very busy highway. I've already seen one splattered turtle in the past week, so I think it's kind of cute this one was saved.

If we had a pond or large-ish water feature in the backyard, you'd better believe that turtle would be hanging out there now. Alas, we don't, so we began to figure out where to take him to live out his days. While we contemplated, we stuck him in the bathtub with some water and lettuce, to simulate his natural habitat.

I have a favorite local park that has friendly ducks, lots of shady spots and trees. We loaded the little guy up on a laundry basket and set of for the park.

As soon as we get there, the ducks greet us to check out the situation.

They are eager to check out their new friend.

We pick the perfect spot to set the turtle free. He gazes on the horizon, checking out his new digs.

Starting My Suburban Homestead

2011-04-24T19:54:00.000-07:00

When we bought our house in the 'burbs almost four years ago, we planned to live here two - maybe three - years. We made a few changes, but I tended to shy away from anything big so that it would be easier to sell the house.

Well, how times have changed. Since the housing market tanked and our neighborhood has had a few foreclosures (including both of our neighbors), we owe much more than our house is worth, keeping us here for many years to come.

This year I've made an effort to explore our little community and discover things I like, so I would stop driving 45 minutes to an hour away just to get my hair cut. I found an amazing kickboxing gym, excellent sushi restaurants (better than quite a few I've eaten at in the city) and a salon I trust to touch my hair. I love the parks and trails, and love that I have a beautiful (traffic free!) drive to work everyday. There are farms and farmers markets, and a natural foods store I've been meaning to try. I used to dream of breaking free from this suburban lifestyle, but now actually enjoy it.

Now that I know we will be in this house for awhile, I've started working on our little suburban homestead. Tucked behind our newly completed privacy fence is the beginning of a vegetable garden and compost heap. Two small steps in becoming more self-sustaining. I'll blog about the garden later, when I have photos of my progress to add (the cucumber plants have actually sprouted!). I eventually would like to have rain barrels, fruit trees and backyard chickens, but I'm waiting for the Georgia Right to Grow act to pass before I take on a tiny flock of fowl.

I think I abandoned this blog since my heart wasn't really in suburbia. Now that I'm establishing roots, I'm hoping to post much more often.

Eat. Pray. Love; or Binge. Purge. Rinse-and-Repeat.

2010-09-18T18:52:00.000-07:00

I know the book is a best seller, and I know lots of people swarmed the movie. I also know that I am probably the last woman in America to either read the book or watch the film, but hey, I've been busy. :)

I love books about women's paths to self-discovery. I think we are on a constant journey, ever-changing and growing ideally for the better. Separate many parts of the book from the whole story and they make very relate-able anecdotes. But take the well-woven tale in its entirety and it has a binge-purge-rinse-and-repeat feel to it that seems very irresponsible.

Let me explain. The first third of the book focuses on the trip to Italy, but also gives Liz's marital/boyfriend drama back-story. The short of it, Liz starts to hate her life and everything it has become. She's not in love with her husband, she doesn't want kids and she loathes the suburban home she always thought she should have. She asks for a divorce, then meets a new boyfriend, David, before the divorce is complete. Her and David break up and reunite many times and the relationship is always sloppy and tumultuous.

That's a brief synopsis, and I don't want to trivialize her divorce. Realizing at almost 30 that you are not the person you want to be can be a harrowing experience. Liz panicked often and slid into a deep, deep depression succumbed by guilt. This is essentially the springboard for her journey of self-realization and discovery; her search for God and balance. Her escape from the world for a year. I'm not going to comment on the reasons for divorce because, hey, I wasn't there and I don't know the entire story. But her narrative sets up the theme of male-dependence for self-worth.

Overall, I felt the book was extremely selfish. I understand it's a book about self-discovery, but it's self-discovery without regard to the well-being of anybody else; hardly the balance she sought to achieve. By the end of the book, I felt she was well on her way to falling back into the same pattern.

Binge

In Italy, Liz sought pleasure. Pleasure through food, through the Italian language, through the sites... all to help heal her ailing heart. She ate tons of pizza, drank a lot of wine, and could no longer fit in her pants.

Purge

In India, Liz sought out peace through meditation in an Ashram. She lived a rigorous life of prayer, yoga, chores and a vegetarian diet. She had several transcendent experiences at the Ashram and was able to let go of a lot of the pain from her divorce and relationship with David.

Rinse

Indonesia is next; specifically Bali. The Balinese are known for balance, which is what Liz wants to achieve after the pleasure of Italy and discipline of India. And as soon as she feels she's balanced...

..and Repeat

Liz "takes a Brazilian lover." She spends most of the rest of her time in Bali with this man. She rationalizes it, even though she told herself she would be celibate for the entire year by saying this is all part of her finding balance. How often we all rationalize things to ourself. If you have to rationalize, you probably aren't attaining the success you anticipated. Human nature: we try to get what we want, when we want it.

This is where the book ends. (Don't worry, if you haven't read it I have left out a tremendous amount of detail and side-stories.) We would assume Liz goes back to America, restarts her life and perhaps merely sees this Brazilian on occasion. After all, they have both said they don't want to marry. But the next page of my book advertises Elizabeth Gilbert's newest book, about the Brazilian wanting to come to America and the only way is for them to get married.

Self-discovery is a wonderful thing, and I'm not sure we ever get to a point where we know who we truly are. It seems that once I am comfortable with my thoughts and beliefs, something shifts and I am knocked off balance again. But I don't run.

Save Some Money and Make Sushi at Home

2010-09-12T15:34:00.000-07:00

My name is Sarah, and I am a sushi-holic. Seriously, I have a huge problem and a limited budget to get my fix, so I figured I'd foray into the world of homemade sushi. I'd tried this once before with limited success, but today I was determined.

When most people think sushi, they equate it with raw fish, which is incorrect. Sushi refers to the specially seasoned rice, so when you make sushi at home, getting the rice perfect is super important. I followed a sushi rice recipe from food.com and it came out perfectly.

Since this was my first attempt, I stuck with easy ingredients and made avocado and California rolls. For non-sushi eaters, California Rolls contain cucumber, crab stick and avocado.

Basic Instructions for Maki

Maki are the rolls traditionally thought of, the little circles with filling in the middle. First, get your ingredients sliced and ready to go. You can see my avocado, cucumber and crab stick cut in uniform-ish sized pieces.

Then the prep area needs to be set up. You need space enough for your sushi rolling mat, bowl of prepared rice, ingredients, nori and bowl of water/vinegar. The bowl of water with some vinegar sprinkled in will save your sanity. You dip your hands in in when working with the sticky sushi rice to keep it off your hands. Also, when you get to cutting the sushi, you'll dip your knife in before each cut. Here's my station all set:

Lay out a sheet of nori on the rolling mat, rough side up. Spread around a heaping half-cup of rice on the nori, leaving a border at the top and bottom. Lay the ingredients across the rice on the bottom third of the nori.

Once your ingredients are in place, then you start to roll. You want to roll everything up pretty tightly, otherwise a mess will be made when it's cutting time.

Once your maki is all rolled up, dip the knife in the water/vinegar and slice into six or eight pieces. Make sure the nori is seam-side down, otherwise it may fall apart. Also, be sure you are using a VERY SHARP knife or the filling will just squish out the sides.

Voila! Now that I've had success with some basic ingredients, I can't wait to try out other things. I also am saving some rice to see if I can make sushi later this week. I couldn't find anything online about saving the rice, so I'll let you know if it works out. We had this for lunch with some steamed edemame and a salad with ginger dressing. I don't like any of the bottled ginger dressings, so yet again, I used a dressing recipe from food.com.

So how much cheaper is at-home sushi than going to a restaurant? Since I'm a little too lazy to calculate the per roll cost (hey, I work in PR, not rocket science), I'll give you the cost of the ingredients (not counting sugar and salt since I always have those at the house):

Bag of sushi rice (whole bag will make approx. 20 rolls): $4
Nori, 10 sheets (so 10 rolls): $2
Rice wine vinegar (12 oz. bottle): $3
Avocado, 2: $2
Cucumber, 1: $1
Crab stick (surimi): $2.50

Since the total of all of those ingredients is cheaper than one trip to my sushi restaurants, I'll consider this a money-saving success, and a fun experiment.

Have questions? Ask away!

Danger Lurks Everywhere: Do You Have a Plan?

2010-09-11T16:03:00.000-07:00

I must admit, I pride myself on being a know-it all. So when a new client approached the agency I work at, saying he was holding a rally for women on situational awareness, I didn't think I'd learn anything new. I went to Georgia State downtown and lived in a sketchy part of midtown for awhile and always prided myself on being alert and observant. I thought I knew enough to keep myself safe. Oh, I was so wrong.

Today I went to Terry Vaughan's rally and was amazed from the beginning. The first thing he asked of us was to describe the car we parked next to in the parking lot; make, model, color. I had no idea. Then he asked us to describe the four men in the room; physical characteristics, demeanor, were they friendly. Besides my co-worker Mike and Terry's friend Tim, who I had met previously, I wasn't even aware there were other men in the room.

Then we learned the physiological effects of panicking. When your heartbeat is elevated and adrenaline pumping, you lose fine motor skills, such as the ability to press 9-1-1 on your cell phone. Think if you've had to dial 9-1-1 after a car accident with fumbling fingers. Then after you call 9-1-1, Atlanta's average response time for police response is 11 minutes. And that's if you get to an operator and not merely a machine. Yes, if you haven't called 9-1-1 lately, the odds are great you'll get an answering machine. This has happened to me in both Fulton and Paulding counties.

The whole point of Terry's rallies is to make women aware enough of their surroundings that they don't have to get close enough for self-defense. The two hours was packed with useful information that challenges the way I think about my surroundings. Women strive to be polite, but if we are approached in the parking lot by a stranger, polite can be a sign of weakness. The whole point is to make yourself a difficult target for crime, because if you appear difficult, the criminal will set off in search of a weaker victim.

If you want to read more about Terry's tips and lessons, go visit his blog. He's quite a funny guy, and when you read his posts, read them with a British accent (he's a former British Commando). He was also on Good Day Atlanta Friday to share his top 10 tips:

The Ghosts of Goodwill

2010-07-17T21:43:00.000-07:00

I am a fan of thrift store shopping; it fits perfectly with the reduce, reuse, recycle thing. Tonight I was on a mission to purge my closet of forgotten and unwearable clothing, since in its current state I can't even find what I have. Much like I'm sure all of you, the things that are long forgotten are pushed in the back. That dress that never fit just right, those pants you promised you would fit in again (one day...) or that top you just can't bear to throw away, but you won't actually wear it either.

Three hangers from the back wall of my closet, there it was: my green shirt. It is so bizarre that I remember the complete life cycle of this shirt. I bought it at Cumberland Mall within the first few weeks of moving into my new Vinings apartment with two friends. I had just colored my hair red with blonde highlights, so the dark green color was perfect. I pulled it over my head in the Charlotte Russe fitting room - so expertly lit, rearranged my hair around my shoulders and stepped out for the group evaluation. After it was deemed an aesthetic success, I purchased my shirt, which instantly became my favorite garment.

I wore this shirt all the time, layered with different tanks and camisoles due to the extremely deep v-neck. I wore it shopping, I wore it to dinner, I wore it to parties and I wore it to class. The shirt made me feel confident. It perfectly accented my hair color and clung in all the right places. I bought this shirt at a time when I felt invincible. The world was mine for the taking.

I tried on that shirt tonight before tossing it in the Goodwill heap. It's a little more snug than I remember (due to the dryer, I'm sure *wink wink*) and the girl in the mirror is a lot different now. I have a husband, a house, a job and in a few months a college degree. And the world is still mind for the taking, just in a more directed way. My hair is no longer red and my life not nearly as carefree, but I am a stronger and more independent version of that Sarah. A version the old Sarah could not fathom.

Now the shirt is in donation pile in the corner of my room. The green top and its ghosts of my memories will go to sit on the racks until some other teenager or twenty-something takes it home. The next time I visit Goodwill I can't help but think of the ghosts attached to the racks of clothes.

The State of Suburbia

2010-06-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

I live in a land where chain restaurants outnumber local ones. Where strip malls sit vacant, a sign of the housing boom and bust. Where you have to drive half an hour to get anywhere interesting, often traffic doubling that commute. Where subdivisions prevail and all of the houses look the same. Where public transportation is a pipe dream.

I live in suburbia.

My husband and I bought a house almost three years ago, so suburban life it will be. But we are changing the way we live. Instead of relishing in suburban excess, we are trying to live a more eco-sustainable life. I'm seeking out more natural and organic foods and making things from scratch. We are almost paper towel free (though toilet paper free is never going to happen).

This blog will be mostly about trying to live better on a budget, begin my public relations career and become the ultimate domestic goddess.

Small challenges, right?