I fancy myself quite a connoisseur of romance. I am a girl who has seen nearly every romantic comedy in existence, whose reading materials of choice consist of happily ever after type articles and books, and who is able to read a romantic undertone into nearly every song she hears. I suppose to say I am a romance connoisseur is an understatement; I am a love-junkie.

It can, and has been argued that the fine line between the real-life reality and expectation of romance, and the “fiction” type I hold on to seems to be a line I have blurred—possibly to an unrecognizable point. To put it simply, I think I might have a problem.

My name is Rory and I am addicted to romance. I am addicted to the idea of romance—the indestructible, all consuming passion for another person. I have fallen in love with every romantic gesture, declaration, and scene from every romantic comedy, I have swooned at every love song written, and I have melted with every romantic note or Hallmark card I’ve seen. I have used romantic comedies, sitcom relationships, happily ever after ending stories and love songs to develop my idea of love that is, well, completely and utterly unrealistic. Read More »

I know lots of people who swear by fasts.

Three day grapefruit fasts, weeklong juice regimes, monthly cleanses, I’ve heard them all, and haven’t wanted to try a single one.

Call me strange, but I’m a fan of food. I’m no holy profit or international peace symbol, and since shrugging off my Roman Catholicism, feel no guilt for eating a sandwich on Good Friday. Basically, I have no need to give up food I work two jobs to pay for.

My friends go on and on about the health benefits of fasting, but I’ve always felt eating a regular healthy diet has it’s own health benefits—with the added incentive of energy.

While I totally respect and appreciate people who abstain from food for religious reasons, I’ve just never been the kind of girl to equate being hungry with being healthy.

That was until I realized a good friend of mine, who is completely normal and well adjusted in every way, regularly fasted on Sundays.

“All I drink is green tea” she told me a few weeks ago when I asked her why she wasn’t joining me for lunch, and explained that flushing out her body and relaxing once a week was one of the best things she’d ever done for herself.

While my friend is on the thin side, she watches her weight very closely, and explained that giving her body one day a week to “get rid of toxins” in a simple, easy way has really helped her maintain her weight. Read More »