M.I.A.

i haven't jumped ship entirely, but with everything that's going on with life right now i haven't gotten a chance to sit down and blog. unfortunately, this next week will be just as crazy. the good news, this craziness is all positive. good vibes and great things happening.

an update is coming soonish. pinky promise. 

:)

sunday football & what's on the menu

don't you just love the feel of a good, solid, productive day? that was today for me.

woke up, put on a steaming pot of coffee, and started cleaning right off the bat. the dude joined me around 10am and we made a morning of packing, cleaning, and watching the packers vs. bengals game. seriously, couldn't have been more content. :)

ran our weekly errands later on. first up was petsmart to buy the meows a couple of new name tags. target followed, and can you believe i got out spending under $50!! any target shoppers out there? ya get me. ;) we treated ourselves to a little sushi supper before ending the evening with a Trader Joe's stop.

can i just say how satisfying a full fridge is?

so, what's on the menu this week?

again, keeping things simple since the move is just around the corner.

breakfast: brining overnight oats back baby! i'll likely alternate between pb vanilla oats and choco pb oats.
lunch: lettuce wraps. simple. fresh. tasty. i picked up a pack of veggie lunch meat and lactose free cheese. yum!
dinner: tasty [vegetarian] taco salads. i simply love TJ's vegan "ground beef."

this week is promising to be a tad busy. just a few things i'm looking forward to:

1. monday will be my first day working out of the new office. :) it will also be my first time having a "real" commute to work. i'm so used to living a mile away from the office. a 30 minute commute is nothing to some people, but it's a first for this girl. 

2. we're meeting with a prospective wedding coordinator on wednesday!!! eeeekkk!!! we haven't done anything wedding related in a while.

3. jared's mom is coming in to town on business, but she's going to go with us to meet the coordinator. dinner is sure to follow.

4. thursday is my company's "all hands" meeting. not sure who our guest speakers will be this go-round, but he/she/they is/are bound to be engaging.

how's your week looking so far?

anyone excited that football season's back?

last days of summer

i am happy (cheesin' right now in fact) to report that things are on the up and up. woke up feeling better than i have in... well, since july! **mental note: never wait just shy of two months to go to the dr when you knooow it's not something that will just "go away with time."** ... anyways, enough of that. yup, i'm feeling pretty swell. :)

to top that off, i had a fantastic day with my best. sometimes, a little quality girl time is all it takes to make things right as rain. we started the day out with lunch at Crazy Pita. funny thing, neither of us ordered pita sandwiches lol. sadly, i have not one picture of my beautiful tossed greens salad topped with delicious grilled shrimp. what can i say, i couldn't stop myself from devouring it.

next stop was the pool. i've been itching to bid summer adieu with one last glorious pool day before fall begins its descent upon us. it was a beautiful 95°F, with not a cloud to be seen. now, i realize 95°F might be peak summer heat for many, but since peak heat is 119°F in my neck of the woods, i greet 95°F like a good ol' friend. 

the sun is up. the sky is blue. it's beautiful, and so are you.

my pool look

sun protection isn't just for the fair skinned :)

summer, it's been swell :)

and that is really the extent of my day. we lounged. talked. met a group of fun out-of-towners. oh, and finished our girly date up by sharing a couple of sweet treats from this bakery that practically cat called our names on the way in (or out?) to the pool. i mean really, what strategy! placing a bakery just feet from the pool's entrance? ingenious!! and bad. very, very bad. they had me at first sight. hook, line, and sinker...

finally wore my bad yogi tank top! no words. just love, love, love. so many thanks to the naked hippie and erin motz for this fun and awesome collab. :)

born to be bad haha

well, that's it for tonight! i hope you are all having a lovely, fun, and crazy (the good kind) weekend. :)

bikes. bogeys. and last days.

it's friday, friday (insert ridiculous rebecca black video here lol). what a relief it was to clock out yesterday and know that my weekend had begun.

today is day 3 of being on meds. i've had my ups and downs. mainly because i've always been on the sensitive side when it comes to meds, so the side effects have me in a somewhat zombie-like state.

i slept until nearly 11am this morning!! definitely out of the ordinary for an early riser. i'm feeling pretty okay so far though. really battling the urge to hit the gym for a hard cardio sesh. i know it's probably not the best thing to put my body though right now... being off my normal gym routine is making me stir crazy though. i'm such a physically restless person that it's nearly impossible for me to be idle. hurry up and get better body! this girl wants to get her run, lifting, and spin on!!!

tuesday i spent nearly all day at the Interbike trade show. cycling and triathlon are a part of my work portfolio, and happen to be the two areas i'm anything but an expert in. i have a road bike, but don't ride nearly enough (actually haven't ridden in over a year) to group myself in with the roadies. also, i've never done a triathlon, so there's that. but i love going none the less. there's always so much to learn about. new technology. new gear. and plenty more that really just goes over my head haha.

my day was pretty booked with appointments, which meant a lot of running around. i held up well, considering i realized half way in that i'd been running a fever all morning. the convention hall is kept at like 30 below zero (okay, a little exaggeration haha), so nearly everyone had a sweatshirt on. except for me. i was in a tee and still drenched in sweat and clammy as... well a clam? by the end of the day, my head was about to explode and my body felt like i'd been run over. needless to say, i crashed as soon as i got home.

yesterday started out rough too. i was supposed to go to Interbike again, but felt absolutely 100% terrible and so, so nauseous. i almost went home a couple hours within getting to the office, but held it together the best i could. even sick i am stubborn and don't like parting with my sick/vaca pay unless it's for good reason. by late morning the nausea had passed and i was feeling pretty okay. well, more than okay since i was starving. :)

i'm sort of glad i stayed at the office instead of going to the convention. my team begins working at our new headquarters on monday, so yesterday was our very last day at the "old" office. maybe it's cheesy, but i'm a little nostalgic like that. after nearly 5 years of working on the same campus, i sort of became attached. it's a little bittersweet, although i am thoroughly excited to begin a new chapter.

my desk looks so sad and lonely. and corporate!

a little highlight from yesterday was receiving my initial necklace from Fifth Bond. i love, love, love it.

i hope everyone's having a fine week. :)

dr feel [not so] good

finally got in to see the dr. guess what? i have a sinus infection... just like i thought.

10 days of antibiotics and prednisone (for the inflammation). *sigh*

that's about all i have for now.

i'll be at Interbike pretty much all day for the next two days. hope it's a good show this year.

:)

pack it up & what's on the menu - week 4

have you ever felt like your week was hands-down boring, although it was actually really busy?

this past week can be summed up as meeting after meeting, upon meeting after meeting, upon meeting...etc... i think you get the point. ;)

monday was the celebration of my company's new office grand opening. the day was complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony, a campus scavenger hunt, and a mad, crazy, crazy psycho cataclysmic storm (okay, maybe i'm exaggerating just a little) that manifested seemingly out of nowhere to crash the party. there was a happy hour after party, but this girl wanted nothing more than to go home, snuggle up and watch the rain and lightning show spectacular. 

soaked, soaked, soaked... at least i found something to stand under!

this will be my last week in our current offices. parting is such sweet sorrow. *tear* haha. i am really excited to check out the new digs, but will definitely miss our old office. 

one last potluck at the "old" office.
starbucks pastries. this is what happens
when i forget to make a dish. 

after a bit of confusion (on the property manager's part), we finally signed the lease to our new place!!! 16 days until we get the keys! yipppppie!!

and the highlight (noooo sarcasm here lol) of my week? friday marks the very first time i've had to report for jury duty. i've been summonsed twice before, but didn't have to show. unfortunately, i won't know if i'll be pulled into a case until october 11th! *sigh* 

from where i stand... in front of the court house.

funny thing is that it wasn't really all that terrible. i had to report at 9am and was out by noon. and it was really only filling out paperwork... granted if i have to report again it will be for an actual case. not too thrilled lol.

packing consumed pretty much my whole weekend. i'm one of those people who likes to start packing early, pack little by little and be done with it. little to no stressing. 

before pic of my living room wall. now it looks so naked!

today was the first day i ventured out since getting home from jury duty on friday. hermit much? i was dying to get out and enjoy the last bits of summer sun before fall starts to set in. hiking was my high of choice. 

the dude and i planned to explore a new-to-us trail. sadly, the trail systems at that spot were so poorly marked that we ended up on a completely different trail than we'd planned. we of course made the best of it. logged 4.64 glorious miles of trekking, trail running, and beautiful valley views. :)

i can see my house from here!! ;)

perfect post-trail refreshment :) i got sugar-free cherry &
sugar-free coconut!

the aftermath. cherry red snowcone tongue

since the move is only two weeks away, i'll be making really simple meals from here on. so, what's on the menu this week? delicious trader joe goods!

breakfast: overnight oats

lunch: spiral rice pasta with organic tomato basil marinara sauce (yum!)

dinner: alternating latin style black bean soup (topped with vegan sour cream and avocado) with baked sweet potatoes

snacks: juicy braeburn apples and some form of nut butter on a rice cake.

simple. my word of the week. 

tonight's word is relax. :)

seahawks vs 49ers, dinner (black bean soup), and dessert (wine and TJ cookies).

is anyone else excited for fall, even though you'll miss the warm summer sun?

chit chat city

funny thing about chit chat... it can lead to some serious talk. you know how i mentioned that the dude and i are moving in a few weeks? well, my friend and i were being silly and joking about her needing her own room at our new place. we mentioned it jokingly to jared and he... thought it was a good ides... like seriously. next thing i know, we're talking about getting a place for the three of us.she's looking to move out of her current place. we've got a wedding to pay for, and although we've been without a roommate for a few years, the added savings couldn't hurt to be honest.

first thought of course... can we all live together? should we live together? sharing living space can definitely test the boundaries of any relationship. we've been friends for years and years (the three of us in fact), and as friends go, we've had our ups and downs, but we've mutually agreed we're in it for the long haul. this is in fact THE friend whom i'll be asking to be my maid of honor. shhhhhh.... still under wraps. ;) after two very long talks and a night to sleep on it. we are all still on the same page. her mom is happy with the idea as well! which, i take as a really good sign since parents are usually the first to try to talk sense into you if they think something isn't such a good idea. she did suggest writing out a contract to remind us of why we're in this, and so we are all 100% aware of expectations, and have something to look back on if/and/or when times get a little trying. we all agreed it's a fine idea and will be drafting one up in the very near future. :)

oh, and the big news???? we found a house to rent and are going in to negotiate and sign the lease tomorrow!!!!! eeeeek! & happy dance :)

other than that, i've got nada! so, i'll leave you with a few pics.

isn't this the prettiest cappuccino?

the mini dude just being a wiener :)

he's is so cute, but so unphotogenic sometimes lol

sunday in our house means football and breakfast!! & yes, even a lil bacon!

any fun or exciting (or both) happen this weekend?

after clouds, sun

i left off on a pretty blah note tuesday night. understandably so, i hope. i like to keep things real. i'd never want to paint a picture of rainbows and butterflies, when in fact things are more grey skies and stormy clouds. that being said, i also don't want to be a constant rain cloud. this week has been a little off for me. not entirely bad. mostly just meh... so i decided to take a step back and hit reset.

i feel like i don't have much to say about the week's happenings, and yet i have a ton of pictures haha. i can be rather snap happy. ;)

such a bookworm ;)

we have a general rule of no furry pals on the furniture... but sometimes, just sometimes their cuteness wins out. in the case of me vs dexter... well, as you can see, dex won. we snuggled on the couch as i read. i know i've said it before, but i can't seem to put this book down!

should i assume he finds my book boring? haha

why's my right eye look smaller than my left?

wednesday's spin attire. i really needed my endorphin fix. 60 minutes of spin did the trick!

my socks NEVER match haha

thursday was back and bi day. i really wasn't feeling it all day, but once my heart started that familiar thump, thump and those endorphins started flowing... well, i just killed it!! left feeling tired and elated all at once. :)

warm up:

10 minutes on the treadmill 

back
* wide grip pull up (assisted):
   8 reps (displacing 58lbs)/ 8 reps (2 sets displacing 52lbs)/ 8 reps (displacing 40lbs)

* close grip pull down:
   60lbs 8 reps/ 70lbs 6 reps (2 sets)/ 80lbs 6 reps

* cable row:
   60lbs 8 reps (3 sets)/ 70lbs 8 reps
biceps
* standing dumbell curl:
   10lbs 8 reps (2 sets)/ 10lbs 6 reps
* incline bicep curl:

   7.5lbs 8 reps (2 sets)/ 10lbs 8 reps
* dumbell preacher curl:
   7.5lbs 8 reps (2 sets)/ 10lbs 8 reps

pre-run snack attack

friday was supposed to be a rest day, but i woke up with an itch to take a little run. soooo, i got the poodle doo ready and off we went!

my poor heal is still sore and blistered from monday's trail run

what a happy pup :)

hot + humid day = frizzy hair and sweaty sunscreen streaks 

finally a pic of my pasta toss (among other snacky snacks haha). i've pretty much been inhaling my food all week. i eat. turn around. and boom. insta-hungry. i'm surprised i even got these snapshot before they were devoured. got the chips and salsa to go with my burrito bowls (which were too unphotogenic ??, although yummy, to take a pic of). the guac (one of my hands-down favorite foods!) was a spur-of-the-moment snack that my stomach decided it just had to have. 

the rest of my afternoon and evening were spent with my best friend, my sister (from another mister... and momma haha), my confidant. we were well overdue for some girl time. first stop was thai food. a cheat meal for sure, but i did make a decent decision by opting for chicken satay instead of the usual pad see ew. next was a hip, new coffee shop, where we chit chatted until the sun went down. now, we're both sweet fiends, so it was no surprise that we ended up at our favorite vegan ice cream shop. i could feel guilty, but really, it's quite amazing. :)    

all ready for my girly date!

carmel vanilla latte with almond milk. yum!!

a little vino? why yes!

i love how time just stops, and at the same time flies by, with friends. we'd planned on lunch, but of course ended up jibber jabbing the night away. :)

let's not take each other for granted

i'm not sure what sort of post this will turn out to be... happy. sad. confusing. i just don't know, so i apologize in advance if i'm everywhere. and nowhere.

today began as and was almost entirely a good day. any other day i'd probably start out by saying, "happy tuesday!" today however, it just doesn't seem appropriate... i received some really sad news just before leaving work. my great aunt passed early this morning. she lost her fight against lung cancer. it was inevitable, but still comes as a shock to me. now, i may not have been super close to her in my adult life, but my childhood memories of her are all bright and shiny. i never got to see her before she passed. in fact, she was just diagnosed four weeks ago. it was never caught in time... and for some reason my mind wandered almost immediately to how i'll now have to remover her from our wedding guest list. such an insignificant thing to think about, but that's where my mind took me... it's hard to think that she's just gone. that i'll never ever get to see her again... i feel guilty for not being the emotional type. but i'm not. i think. i shrink inward. crawl inside of myself and think. that's just how i handle stress.

does that make me insensitive? weird? not all right in the head? 

this is the most "recent" picture i can find (Christmas 2010).
that's my great aunt on the right. you're resting soundly
and painlessly now. 

***
prior to this my day was pretty happy for a monday-tuesday (a tuesday that feels like a monday because there was a holiday the day before).

made overnight oats in a jar that i was pretty proud of. used my empty Bettern' Peanut Butter jar. added a scoop of vanilla protein powder, chia seeds, cacao powder and unsweetened vanilla almond milk for creaminess.

still made it to the gym after work. honestly, i think i needed it today more than anything. working out keeps my mind from turning too many gears at once.

today was chest and tri's.

warm up:

10 minutes on the stairmaster

chest

* barbell bench press:

   55lbs 8 reps

   60lbs 8 reps

   65lbs 6 reps (2 sets)

* incline bench press:

   50lbs 8 reps (2 sets)

   55lbs 6 reps (2 sets)

* cable crossovers:

   20lbs 8 reps

   25lbs 8 reps (3 sets)

triceps

* close grip bench press:

   50lbs 8 reps

   55lbs 8 reps (2 sets)

* lying tri extension:

   25lbs 8 reps (3 sets)

* dips (assisted):

   8 reps (displacing 58lbs)

   8 reps (displacing 52lbs)

   8 reps (displacing 46lbs)

it's a pretty sorry looking flex and bad full-body pic, but that's all i got. growing muscle and although you can't tell, very veiny arms. i'm very vascular in generally, so all my veins like to pop out when i lift. new ASICS shorts i got with birthday money. totally can't tell in the pic, but they have a herringbone pattern and are supper lightweight with a 4-way stretch. i was excited when i first got them...

anyways, i don't have much else to say. sorry if this ended up being a blah post. part happy. part sad. the happy things seem sort of meaningless in the wake of the sad stuff. ughhh... i should get in bed.

here's to health. happiness. and love. i hope you are all wealthy in all three.

night.

holiday weekend & what's on the menu - week 3 (abridged version)

happy labor day y'all! i've been spoiled with a l o n g four-day weekend. definitely much appreciated. and much, much needed.

i feel like i haven't done much. probably because i took last week off from the gym to get over that danged cold. and yet, i feel like i've done a ton this weekend. my thoughts are in about a million places right now, so i think i'll make a list of 7 things that happened over the past few days.

1. i finished reading Yoga Bitch. you can find a full synopsis here. i found it to be Eat-Pray-Love-esque, but with a much more twisted, outlandishly sarcastic, and boldly honest tone. i literally LOL'd several times while reading it.

2. i started reading my new "book club" read (posted a pic of it on saturday). a few girls at work started a sort of book club last fall. we tapered off after the holiday season, but are ready to pick it back up. the first book, The Passage, was selected by one of the girls. i've never really been a fan of fantasy, or zombie/vampire novels, but this one actually sounds like a legitimately good read. i'm about 85 pages in and find it hard to put down so far. aren't those the best kind?

3. went house hunting yesterday. we're moving to the opposite side of town. roughly between 20 and 25 miles away from our current apartment. our lease is up in october and with rent getting out of hand (and they want to raise it again if we resign!!), we thought it'd be a good move to relocate to a house. more space for sadly about the same we're paying for a two bedroom apartment. what is this world coming to? ugh. economy woes...
oh, and i had to stop for coffee and a sweet treat. my favorite doughnut shop is on that side of town. since i only get to stop by everyone in a blue moon, i figured this was as good as a blue-moon-kinda day.

my guilty pleasure

4. did my weekly Target run and grocery haul. surprisingly, i made out with only spending $40 at Target!! hallelujah!! happy dance!! stuck to my list and refrained from doing a lap around the store. that's usually how the add-ons end up hopping into the cart. :D
TJ's was a madhouse today! as was Whole Foods. it's like everyone in the city opted to all do a year's worth of grocery shopping on the same day, at the same store, at the same time LOL.

5. i should probably apologize ahead of time for #5... i just can't get it out of my mind. i saw a lady relieve herself. in the grass. in front of a bus stop. less than a mile away from my house. she just did it. right there. not 10 feet from the street. so casually! like she does it all the time! without a care in the world. not an ounce of shame! as though it's perfectly normal! as though we all do it!!! now, i'm not saying i live in the fancy part of town, but i do live in a nice neighborhood. stuff like this just doesn't happen!! i'll say it again, what is this world coming to?!!

6. the highlight of my day. week. year. okay, maybe not quite year haha. i mean, it's not over yet! went for a little trail run before dinner. there's a MUP path just down the street, and alongside it runs a drainage wash. the city built a few little trails down in it, but mostly it's just all sand, rocks, small boulders and scree. perfect for those off-road crazies like myself. the mileage was short. just 2.82mi. the pace, relaxed (read slow haha). but it was delightful. rock hopping and plodding through wet, and in some places deep, sandy terrain mostly. also lots of splashing lol. there was a very mini river running from the recent rain storms. not a ton of water at all. i'm smart enough not to run down there when there's a sizable amount of runoff. we get crazy flash floods here. anyways, i'm a sucker for running through water puddles, mini rivers, etc... descended 69 feet. climbed 89 feet. the air was heavy and wet. hello humidity! and, oh hi asthma!! turned back when i did because a) the dude strained his ankle last week and it began aching a bit, and b) because dark storm clouds came rolling in, and a light rain began to fall. these summer storms are known to start pouring without much warning, and again, being in a drainage wash, we were erring on the side of caution.

the Kinvara TR2 is my go-to trail shoe right now

testing out my new Tifosi shades... & of course no trail run is complete
without a minor scrap. ironically, it started bleeding heavier right
after this pic... i'm a born klutz. 

7. each time jared cooks on the cast iron grill, the whole house fills up with smoke. it's pretty funny and annoying all at the same time. tonight he opted to use coconut oil instead of olive or safflower... and he set the smoke alarm off!!! hahahahahaha... in the three years we've lived here, i've never heard so much as a beep out of it. tonight though, he learned that coconut oil smokes at a much lower temp than some others.

and now a little, what's on the menu (week three) update. i've got a few things in the fridge that i must do something with, so i'm keeping things pretty simple. being resourceful. green and thrifty. :)

breakfast: french toast. no recipe here really. i have about half a loaf of gluten-free bread left, and since i'm all sandwiched out, i figured why not turn it in to something else? french toast was the first thing that popped into my foodie brain. plus, i have a few eggs to use up as well. i use unsweetened vanilla almond milk, a dash of cinnamon, and voila! french toast. i was terrible at capturing a single pic of last week's food goodness, so this week i will make an honest effort not to disappoint. 

lunch: keeping with the simple meals and making burrito bowls. you could probably wing it, but i like to use this recipe i found on the Food Network site a while back. i'm making mine meat free and vegan, so i'm using vegan sour cream and cheese as substitutions, and skipping the meat entirely.

dinner: i'm using an old, all-time favorite, go-to, cheap recipe. it's a pasta toss. i found in an old issue of Self magazine. you can find it here. for this dish, i'll be subbing whole wheat pasta with rice pasta (it's gluten free and tummy approved) and vegan cheese for parmesan. i also prefer to use heirloom tomatoes.

what's on your menu this week?

anyone have a fun, exciting, or productive holiday weekend? or did you have to work?

any good books you've read recently?