25 THINGS {BY SAYEH}! 4 Jul 2012

As Lithe continues to grow, so do the group of women who help us choose the Lithe foods that nourish us, answer our myriad and pressing questions about class, and generally make us smile as we walk in and out of various studios across the city. Thank you to Laura Mackie for this 4th of July edition of 25 Things!

1. If I could make a living out of assembling Ikea furniture and untangling knots, I'd be set for life.
2. Instead I've opted for being an esthetician, since there didn't seem to be a promising future in knots.  My true passion is skincare (I've been using anti aging products since I was 14).  I've wanted my own line for as long as I can remember...it might not be too long before I get wish!
3. I absolutely love researching.  I don't make a decision or buy anything without knowing everything about it.  I once lost two afternoons researching cat food.  It's exhausting being crazy.
4. Speaking of being crazy, I'm a bit of a crazy cat lady.  We have two kittens, a mama and a baby named Padmé and Leia.  They have such distinctive personalities and funny interactions with each other; I could watch them all day.
5. I love the idea of cooking and wished that I loved actually doing it.  I'm (mostly) Italian and everyone in my family cooks, but I can't get into doing it on a daily basis.  I leave most meal preparations to my boyfriend, Dimitri.  He is an absolute marvel in the kitchen.
6. I believe in signs and that everything happens exactly as its supposed to.  I'm also a touch superstitious.
7. I can't send a text message that doesn't have the appropriate words capitalized, proper punctuation and all the words spelled out in their entirety.  But I have to tack on an "lol", "haha" or a smiley face on the end.  If not, I feel like they sound too serious.
8. I am the ultimate power nerd.  My favorite books are of the fantasy genre and I'm most often listening to the classical broadway show tunes station on Pandora.  The list could go on.
9. When I'm lifting something really heavy (or doing the umpteenth rep with the bands) my upper left lip raises up in an Elvis like fashion.  It's uncontrollable like a muscle spasm!  Does this happen to anyone else??
10. I don't get down with chemicals (one of the reasons I want to create my own skincare line).  I make my own cleaning supplies, deodorant, sunscreen, toothpaste...just about everything you put on your skin.  I don't miss any of the old stuff.  Except toothpaste, using homemade toothpaste is really a labor of love.
11. I love love stories.  I'm a super sappy, over emotional person who cries over everything so I like my movies to have happy endings and for everyone to be in love.  Favorite love story movie: Dangerous Beauty.
12. I tend to use run on sentences, I love words (sometimes I make up my own) and I hate grammar.
13. I'd love to be totally self sufficient one day.  Live in a house I built, eat food that I grew and wear clothes that I've made.  I'm trying to hunt down a sewing machine on Craigslist so I can get started, one goal at a time.
14. I absolutely love scary movies right up until they start.  Then I get gripped by this awful sense of terror and wonder why I ever wanted to watch this movie.  It's a vicious cycle.  
15. When my dad was growing up he was nicknamed the human garbage disposal.  My sister and I have unfortunately inherited his voracious appetite.
16. I can't sing at all.  Not even a little.  But I will enthusiastically sing along to every song.  Probably because I've always dreamed of being in musical theatre.  Too bad I have a terrible fear of doing anything at all in front of people.  Sigh.
17. I'm looking for a good book on meditation.  I desperately want and need for it to become a part of my daily routine, my mind is never quiet and I just need to shut it up sometimes :-).
18. I feel like I am always saying "I don't know what possesses me!" in response to something really strange I've just done.
19. My job at Lithe is the perfect example of things happening just as they're supposed to.  I've been a long time Lithe admirer from afar (I used to live in NJ...which seems like afar with a $5 toll looming over every trip), and a loyal FitHipHealthy reader for a few years.  I had recently started a job that was supposed to be full time and only turned out to be part time.  As a result I was feeling really downtrodden and bummed to still be hunting for a job.  One day after reading the latest blog entry I was musing out loud how I wished I could just work for Lithe, a company that I loved everything about.  Lo and behold I opened up Craigslist and the very first listing was for an opening at Lithe.  Serendipitous!  I couldn't be more thankful or feel any luckier to work with such wonderful people and to be a part of a company with such an amazing message.
20. In 2006 I was in a car accident (sleeping and driving aren't the best combo) that broke every bone in my right leg.  I'll always have a titanium rod in my femur and like to tell people in the bionic woman.  
21. I talk too much.  Plain and simple.  Oddly enough that statement is my shortest and least rambly of all my 25 things.
22. I can't stand mayonnaise.  I can't even smell it!  But I love tuna salad, egg salad, potato salad, all the salads.  Go figure.
23. I've always wanted to go back to school to become a librarian.  Librarian by day, skincare chemist by night and seamstress by weekend!
24. I love reading. I'd read all day and night.  I'd stay up late at night with a flashlight reading under the covers and blow off weekend plans when I was older to finish a good book.  My mother used to forbid me from bringing a book in the car because she was afraid I'd never develop a sense of direction if I didn't pay attention to my surroundings.  She was right.
25. I don't love being photographed. I tend to ruin it by hiding or making a silly face.  That explains my picture above.  I couldn't bring myself to take one of myself so I decided on this picture that my boyfriend took last night at dinner in Florida.  The only way to get a picture of me is if I'm not paying attention!

Laura, I don’t do the Elvis lip thing, but I do this other weird lip thing where I roll my entire top lip under and expose my gums and teeth in an effort to gather more strength somehow, but I just look frightening! And I’m totally with you on number 17, my brain will NEVER shut up. I actually went to the library 2 weeks ago to find a book on mediation. NO DICE. I went home, and donated to the Free Library. I figure I use it enough, and maybe they can score me a book on meditation. Glad there’s another book nerd in the Lithe family!

See you in class!

Image of Laura Mackie via Laura

Comments

[Lauren Boggi Goldenberg]

Love Laura!

[Katie C.]

Beautiful picture of you Laura! I'd love to steal some of your recipes. Natural sunscreen?? Do tell!

[Krista]

Laura's the best! I'm constantly picking her brain in regards to all of homemade natural products she makes...she's fascinating!

[Anya N Burnett]

Enjoy reading the 25 things! Laura, look forward to reading more about what you have to say.

Love the picture of you!

[Laura]

Thank you guys so much! I'm an open book, all of my recipes are yours!