She Nests

Thankful Thursday

2012-01-26T10:33:00.000-07:00

(moving right along not acknowledging that it's been forever since I've done one of these posts)

This is hell week for me. Sunday is my big event day at work- I'm responsible for the whole shebang from food to 160 volunteers, to coordinating a blood drive and, oh, raising about $200,000 all in a day. It kills me every year and every year at this time I am hanging on by the thinnest of threads.So what a great day to take a few minutes and remember what I am thankful for.

1. Education. D$ and I are taking a class together every Wednesday night. It's a pain to get off work on time, get some food in us, load our supplies in the car, drive 20 minutes away- but when we get there- we relax, sink in and soak up some valuable information. The drive home offers time to debrief, ask each other questions and reiterate what we learned together. In all our years together, we've never taken a class together, so this is a fun, new experience for us!

2. Avocados. I can't get enough of them lately and we make, if I do say so myself, the best guacamole. It's not spring yet, but it feels that way in Tucson and munching on avocado makes me feel even more ready for spring!

3. My new dress. I love it, it is comfortable, makes me feel pretty and compliments my ever growing 16 week baby bump nicely.

What are you thankful for?

Brain Dump

2012-01-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

HOUSE STUFFS

I have finally decided on a direction for our master bedroom, 9 months after we moved in. My mom is making us some pillows using this fabric and others from fabric.com

D$ is just about done with some renovations we did between two of the bedrooms, just another weekend worth of finishing work, and we should be ready to paint!

TRAVEL

We are planning a road trip in April and are thinking of New Mexico. We want to eat well, get in some hiking and have some time away. We've never been to Sante Fe together, so we might go there.

FOOD

We are following a high-protein diet right now, not Atkins where you cut out carbs, just lots of protein. We are trying to get in our daily grams through lentils and beans. Do you have a favorite lentil recipe?

my time

2012-01-12T17:39:00.000-07:00

I've recently discovered patience I've never possessed before. Perhaps, I've hit a stride of contentment I've never possessed before and that has enabled me with patience? Or perhaps we really do mellow with age.

It seems every (female) blogger I read (including me) has had the posting regarding comparing herself to others. How am I stacking up? How is my life playing out in comparison to my neighbor's? Am I on the right track? It is hard not to judge oneself against others when one is type A, a woman or both. I've known women who have the 2.5 kids, the 2 car garage and the dog all before 30. I was barely engaged before the age of 30. I also know a lot of women in my own life who aren't married, who aren't dating and who seem very happy and they are pushing 40. It has been a hard balance judging myself against the blog world ideal and the reality I know and where I am in my own life.

My mom has always said that D$ works "on his own time". Understatement of the year. It took him 5 years to "propose", 16 years to finish college, 2 years of looking for houses to purchase....dude just takes. his. time. I am much more impulsive. So D$'s time constantly chaffed my impulse, my expectations of where we were supposed to be based on my judgments of where we were. Add to that the "1. marriage 2. house 3. baby" which is the social norm, and a girl is bound to go straight up crazy.

Recently, I've hit a stride and like I said maybe just happiness, where MY time is melding with D$'s time and that time pays no head to social expectation time. I've stopped being concerned with who is doing what, why and how and really, truly begun to seek inside for what WE are doing, why and how. And subsequently WE, me and D$, have hit our stride too. (not that we weren't happy before) We've come into our time.

a great honor

2012-01-10T09:53:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago our favorite couple friends asked something truly amazing of us. They asked us to help them start a family. No surrogates or donors, but rather to be one of their references for the adoption process they are starting. Our letter of reference will be read by the bio-moms and will help to fill out the picture of who our friends are and why we believe they should be parents.

As D$ and I look forward to starting our own family ourselves someday, I marvel at the hoops our friends are jumping through to be deemed worthy of being parents, when for the average person it is a simple sexual act that makes them parents. No classes, no letters of reference, no financial obligation, no lawyers, no hoops.

I look at our dear friends who have made this decision to expand their family in a truly amazing fashion and hope and pray for them that this be a satisfying and swift process for them. We hope we can live up to their expectations and fulfill this honor.

2011, a year in review

2012-01-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

It seems silly to blog, now, after such a long absence- but I love a year in review, so here we go:

1) What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

traveled to a foreign country all by myself, two if you recognize Palestine
bought a home
hosted family for a major holiday
attended my first NFL game
went to Las Vegas
started taking the bus to work

2) Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?In the first 10 months of the year, I did great with my resolution to lose weight and get healthy. I lost 15 pounds, lots and lots of inches, looked leaner and more toned than ever. I've made a few for 2012.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?Once again, I knew an obscene amount of babies born this year, but none were birthed by any close friends.

4) Did anyone close to you die?No.

5) What countries did you visit?Israel and Palestine (if you recognize it as it's own state)

6) What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

More patience for my brother.

7) What date(s) from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?April 11, the day we moved into our home and November 7th, just because.

8 ) What was your biggest achievement of the year?Some major accomplishments career wise, but I'm going have to say getting the house was biggest accomplishment.

9) Did you suffer illness or injury?I had some major jet lag and a few colds. My hip issues flared up and interfered with running a bit.

10) What was the best thing you bought?House and a dinner at the French Laundry

11) Whose behavior merited celebration?My husband's. He is much nicer, kinder and gracious than me.

12) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?at times, my own.

13) Where did most of your money go?a house and dinner at the French Laundry

14) What did you get really, really, really excited about?

my first NFL game
my trip to Israel
seeing K-State play in the dance in Tucson
the house

15) What song will always remind you of 2011?“Pumped up Kicks"

16) Compared to this time last year, are you:
Wiser? Yes.
Healthier? Yes and no.
Richer? In all the ways that one can be richer that money doesn't play a part in- yes.

17) What do you wish you’d done more of?Blogging. Scrapbooking- I'm so far behind on my '11 book.

18) What do you wish you’d done less of?Wasting energy on people and situations that my energy didn't deserve.

19) How did you spend Christmas?With the in-laws.

20) Did you fall in love in 2011?yes.

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?I didn’t write many, so once again, I'll cop out and say the one I didn't post.

22) What were your favorite TV programs?

I watched very little tv this year, even with the addition of cable to our lives.

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?nah.

24) What was the best book you read?So many good ones: The State of Wonder may have been the best though.

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?Erato. seriously, watch this

26) What did you want and get?

Another vacation in wine country
A change in my career, starting this year, but negotiated in 2011.
the house

27) What did you want and not get?

A billion dollars
A new car (it is happening in 12 I tell you!)

28) What was your favorite film of this year?Um, I think we only saw one in the theater- so the last Harry Potter.

29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?I turned 34 and my dear husband planned and executed a surprise birthday party for me!

30) Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?Eric Stonestreet. Dude is funny and he loves KState.

31) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?Classic

32) What kept you sane?My husband

33) Who did you miss?I always miss my parents and wish I was able to see them more.

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.Try, try again.

35) What did you gain this year?a house, a new title, hope.

36) What did you lose this year?15 pounds, a habit, faith in a person who was once dear to me.

37) Who were the most interesting new people you met?I always meet interesting people through the running group I coach, but I met two new friends at a wedding this summer that I now have near-daily interactions with.

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year."I've waited for a long time" Pumped up Kicks

Thankful Thursday

2011-09-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

I haven't done one of these in a while and since I have had a down right awful, crawl under the covers and cry it out kind of weeks, I thought I should participate this week to remind me of all the good.

1. Football. College, NFL, high school. I love it. I love this time of year.

I love the increase in email exchanges and phone calls between me and my oldest brother as we discuss stats, our favorite players and our favorite team. I love having football on the TV all day on Sundays.
We have season tickets to UA football, and I love having our Saturdays sucked away by tailgating and going to the games. Our seats have been in the same area for 7 years now and we know and recognize our seat mates, catch up seeing pictures of grandkids and sharing stories.
In our new location we are a block away from a high school. We can hear the roar of the Friday night crowd, the band practices all weeks, the cheering. We love the noise and need to walk over there soon for a game.

2. Exercise. I love being able to release stress and frustrations by going for a run or participating in a fitness class. I skipped a workout on Tuesday, but had a great workout last night and this morning.

3. Books. I have very few friends, but I have a multitude of familiar friend like characters that I return to in books. When I 'm having a down in the dumps week (or two) I'm more likely to turn to Renee from "the Elegance of the Hedgehog" for comfort than to a flesh and bones friend.

Thankful Thursday

2011-07-28T10:28:00.000-07:00

1. New skills and long summer hair. my hair is the longest it has been in 8-10 years. About 2 inches past my shoulders, it is at a fun length. As I have the thinnest, straightest hair imaginable, I take to curling it most days, just to add some volume. Erin, from Blue-Eyed Bride recently posted about the Curl-Down, her newly adopted hair curling method. I watched the video and got to work. It is really easy, and makes so much sense. It has added a few minutes to my hair schedule, but it makes for great hair!

2. New adventures. I've started riding the bus (and I started blogging about it). It's been a fun experience so far!

3. Upcoming vacations. We are ready to head out for our annual beach vacation with my family. I am so lucky that D$ loves my family and wants to spend time with them, and vice versa. It'll be a fun 8 days of relaxation and refueling.

Numbers

2011-07-19T12:53:00.001-07:00

I've recently read a rash of posts written by women who are obsessed with the number the scale says. I will admit, I'm not immune to the power of that number, but there is a whole picture to see.

One woman (I won't link to her post, because I am disgusted by her obsessive behavior), admitted her arms look great, her clothes fit better, she had worked out every day for 2 weeks, counted calories and the scale only budged by 1lb. The horror.

I do understand the frustration. This summer, I've been participating in what I like to call, the Summer of Fit. I've gone to boot camp 2-3 days a week for 8 weeks. I've participated in a body pump, a weight lifting class 2 days a week. I attempt (and sometimes fail) to keep running and working out a total of 5-6 days a week. I cut back on a few splurges, eating better, smaller portions- yadda, yadda.

If I had judged my 8 weeks of hard work by the scale alone- I would be devastated. I've lost 4 pounds in 8 weeks. However, I have dropped 2-3 dress sizes, flattened my stomach, lost inches everywhere, toned my body and developed strength and endurance. The scale shows none of that. But I can see a difference, D$ can see a difference and I'm proud of my 8 week commitment to being FIT (not just thin) this summer.

I will admit I was getting pretty frustrated, because I was relying on the scale alone. Then last week I went shopping pulled a pair of shorts and pants off the rack in my normal size and they fell off of me. So I got one size smaller- still too big. I nervously went one size smaller- perfect fit. I tried on a skirt in my closet that I haven't worn in 2 years- I wore it Friday.

I know body image and the scale hold a powerful pull over most women. It's a dangerous road to go down. Self esteem is hard to come by as it is...to attach our worth and value to a number, well that's just absurd.

Thankful Thursday

2011-07-14T09:06:00.001-07:00

1. I don't know if you remember this post about Cory? In January of 2010 she was diagnosed with leukemia just a handful of days after getting engaged. I am over-the-moon-thankful that I attended her wedding on Monday. It was a really fun event and Cory is the picture of health (and happiness!). I was so happy to be there for my buddy Gene and witness their vows.

2. (this is a stretch) Gene and I had a friend Dante who died 5 years ago. He truly was an amazing human being and his words he lived by and preached were "Don't Hate". He loved life and lived it to the fullest, although he died too young. Being at Gene's wedding made me think about Dante, brought up memories of old shenanigans and good times we had together. I've never spent a wedding thinking so much about someone who wasn't with us. Of course I thought of Dante and family members on my wedding day- but I didn't linger my thoughts on them, for fear of breaking down. But thinking on Dante on Monday was good, wistful and powerful. I'm thankful I had that time to remember my friend again.

3. Riding the Bus! Since we moved 3 months ago, I've threatened to take the bus. I'm 4 miles from work, right on a bus line and the schedule works with mine. Finally yesterday I took the bus. I absolutely love it. I listen to podcasts on my walk (there is a bus stop a block away, but I end up walking a half a mile to another one- no transfers, better schedule), I read the news on my ride (and do a lot of people watching). It takes extra planning- packing a lunch, getting up a few minutes earlier, having to walk out the door at exactly 7:52, making sure I have exact change...but I love it. I am so thankful my community has a good bus system and I am happy to support it!

What are you thankful for this week?

Nerves

2011-07-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

Tonight, after work, a work out and a quick trip to the grocery store I'll head home, and my world as I know it will be completely different. For the first time in 10 years I'll have Cable TV in my house.

I am honestly excited and nervous. Excited that I'll have internet at home (something we've been lacking since we moved almost 3 months ago), excited to have the Food Network- for the first time EVER and excited for the sports package we picked.

I am nervous that after 10 years of only existing off of antenna tv and most recently basic cable that I'll be sucked to the set (are they still called TV sets?) like something out of a horror movie. I'm fearful I'll lose my interest in anything other than HGTV and re-runs of shows I've never seen before like Project Runway and anything ever shown on Bravo. I'm nervous that our wonderful dinners that have always- ALWAYS- been eaten at the table, will slowly move in front of the TV.

For the last 2 years we had basic cable, but since moving we had to switch cable carriers and the new carrier conveniently doesn't have a basic option. So we dragged our feet, weighed our options and finally sucked it up.

I feel like I am running up hill to stay in good communication with my husband as it is with our phones and addiction to apps, now I'm concerned with, what my mother refers to as the boob tube, will do to our marriage. Will we sit on the patio any more? Will we still get up on Sunday mornings and listen to Wait Wait Don't Tell Me on the, wait for it, RADIO?

I think some things will be better with cable...no need to go to the bar to watch Monday Night Football, or any other sporting event for that matter, I'll now have it at my house. We will have access to the Food Network and I'll once again get PBS.

I hope our will powers hold out and we limit our tv watching time and still enjoy each other and our smart phones!

Thankful Thursday

2011-07-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

short but sweet this week-

1. Rain. I know I'm repeating myself here, but rain in the desert is very exciting!

2. Crafting. I'm a lazy crafter, but when I set aside the time to plan and then actually craft, it makes me happy. I spent 5 hours crafting on Sunday, I could use another 5 hours again soon.

3. 4th of July. It is one of my favorite holidays, and having grown up in the eastern part of the US, it is very different here than there (no grass or water). Year after year, I am appreciating the uniqueness of Arizona 4ths. Maybe no fireworks, hopefully rain, picnics indoors in front of a movie instead of outside. And now owning a house I ordered all my favorite 4th of July decorations, and they arrived today- so at least I'll have them for many years to come.

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling pretty grumps today- so this is a good exercise for me.

1. Monsoon Rains! In the Sonoran desert we are blessed with not one, but two rainy season, the best of those is in the summer. Tucsonans get obsessed with dew points, humidity levels and clouds- three things we pay no attention to at all the rest of the year. Last night, after a few days of very promising weather, the rains came with force to my house. At 3:15 I was awake listening to thunder, watching lightning and loving the rhythm of the rain falling. I woke up again at 6:00 and could still hear the rain. My drive to work today was filled with puddles and wet roads!

2. Tucson in the summer. I've said it before, but the Old Pueblo in the summer is magical. UA students go, snow birds flock north and even year-round residents travel away. So those of us who stay, benefit. Our city slows to a town. You can always get into your favorite restaurant and usually benefit from their summer specials menu. Last night was the perfect summer night in Tucson. I picked up D$ from work, we went to our favorite funky grocery store and ran into friends there. We then went to our favorite downtown bar and ran into 3 more friends there. After a quick dinner, and seeing a few more friends, we headed home to drink wine in our backyard and watch the monsoons roll in!

3. Summer fruits and veggies. I love the abundance of fresh fruits and veggies. I can't get enough of tomatoes, plums, asparagus (just another week or so), zucchini, melons, apples, berries etc.

How we bought a bed....and saved $3000.

2011-06-24T07:11:00.002-07:00

What!?! I know, right! $3k. That's a lot of dough. And yes, mattresses like cars are inflated to begin with, so all of a sudden once you get free box springs and that saves $700- really, it's no sweat off the back of the seller.

But I thought I'd share some tips.

Figure out what you want: In Tucson, we have a great locally owned store, BedMart, that sells beds. They provide what they refer to as "Mattress 101". It was the first stop D$ and I made, and I got to tell you, it made all the difference for us. We took about 1 hour with a great sales guy, learning about traditional, individual coil, coil counts, foam, memory foam, temperpedic and on and on and on and then. We were able to eliminate memory foam, temperpedic, and narrow down to what we wanted: high count individual coils. i.e. great for couples who roll over a lot. I should wear a pedometer to bed, I flip flop all night long.

Then we had to decide on pillow top, firm, plush, etc. I *think* I like I a firm bed, but since I sleep mainly on my side(s) a plush is better for me, but not too plush since D$ sleeps on his stomach. oy. But after all that and laying on lots and lots of beds- we had a great idea what we wanted.

Shop around, and use holidays!: Holiday furniture sales will be my middle name now that I'm a home owner. Big sales everywhere. We looked online, went through the Sunday circulars and just drove around over Memorial Day weekend. It took a lot of time- 5 hours in one day just to shop- but was well worth it. We knew what we were looking for, so now it was a matter of the right bed at the right price. We also played stores off each other, me acting as the dumb wife* asking loudly for the sales person to hear: "But didn't Macy's have that same Sterns & Foster for $300 cheaper?".
*Note- not going to lie- SalesMEN love working with other men. I'm the negotiator in the house, but D$ is the one everyone wants to talk to. Fine with me, I feed him intel, and he does the dirty work.

Don't worry about names or whistles: Here's a tip for you: Mattress makers rename identical products for each different retail store. Different labels, exact same guts. Read this great article on Slate.com about it (although it is from 2000- so the pricing is out of date). So don't get caught up in the lore of Sterns &; Foster. Yes it's a well respected brand, but no different, except for about $1000 more than the Simmons, Sealy or Serta right down the next row. At one store we liked a bed, it was our #1 for a while. The sales guy pushed us hard saying they were the ONLY store to carry Simmons Beauty Rest ELITE CLASS in Tucson. Okay, whatevs. We ended up buying a Simmons Beauty Rest PREMIER Class. The difference? $500, the retailer and the label.

Ask for a price break: Times are tough. Unemployment numbers came out last month at 9%. Consumers aren't buying, retailers aren't hiring. Sales people are eager to make sales. We said point blank to several sales people: "what can you do for us on the price?". The sales guy we purchased from worked the system for us. He got us a $500 rebate, another $50 rebate on the delivery, waived the additional $10, threw in the mattress pad that guarantees your warranty and that sells for $150 at no cost.

Check your warranty: If you don't like the bed in a month will the store or manufacturer take it back? What do you need to do as a consumer/owner to keep you warranty? Do you have to use a special mattress pad? Flip it/rotate it every 3 months? Is it a full replacement or pro-rated price break? For how many years? Note- Do not pay extra to extend your warranty for 20 years. The reality is, most of us replace our mattresses every 10-12 years, so don't get fooled by that trap.

Be patient: This is the hardest for me, as I'm not patient. But I sat and waited and when the delivery call I expected never came, I rejoiced. For my inconvenience I was offered another discount AND gift cards to the store I purchased from. CHA-CHING.

In the end our savings piled up from holiday weekend sale prices, discounts, and rebates.

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-23T10:02:00.001-07:00

1. A loving husband- for reals. He's been more thoughtful and kind this week than normal. He threw me a surprise birthday party and he has been a rock of support as we continue to deal with some not so easy to come to grips with stuff. He was supposed to be traveling this week, but his project was delayed and he is still here. At first., I was really annoyed not to get the week to myself, but I am extremely grateful he is still here and being so great this week.

2. A good pillow. We purchased a new bed, we went from a queen to a king, so we purchased pillows from ikea for our new king bed. I woke up everyday with my arms asleep, so switched back to my old pillows. It is a amazing what the right pillow can do for your sleep!

3. Naps. I wake up at 5:00am three mornings a week. Those days a nap is essential and I am so happy when I can grab 15, 20 minutes, or in the case of yesterday 2 hours. I love sinking into a good nap!

birthday surprise!

2011-06-20T14:58:00.000-07:00

Nobody loves their b-day more than me. Usually. In years past, I am unabashedly obnoxious about the whole ordeal. I send out memos, countdowns and generally just nudge everybody into acknowledging MY day. This year I was feeling really blah about it. I turned down offers to celebrate and just wanted the day to come and go. When my day arrived I did enjoy it, I got a special work b-day breakfast, I got a nap, had lunch with my pals and a lovely dinner made by D$. I felt good and loved and happy on Wednesday. The end.

On Saturday D$ and I were hosting a house warming party. or so I thought. D$ had contacted everyone who was coming to what I thought was a house warming party (with Jenn's help- thanks Jenn) to let them know it was in fact a birthday party for me. And surprise. He pulled it off wonderfully. As did my friends. No one let it slip, no one tipped me off. It was wonderful!

Ready to serve the cake!

My 34th b-day theme was overwhelmingly Princess related.

Fun times!

Me in all my birthday glory!

It was a fun evening showing off the house to our friends and being showered with more birthday love! Having walked into this year grumpy and not excited- it certainly was the best birthday I've had in a long time. I am amazed by my husband and his ability to pull this off (and to not let it slip). Honeslty- I don't always give him the credit he deserves, but after this great weekend, I owe him a lot more credit and appreciation.

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-16T08:56:00.001-07:00

1. I am way thankful today for Facebook this week. Despite all the problems and hassles and social awkwardness that this technology can bring- it also brought me tons of birthday messages from all over the world. The wall posts streaming in all day- really made my day!

2. Time away. As much as we are in love with our new house, D$ and I needed a break. I found a great deal for a boutique hotel in Scottsdale, just 2 hours up the road. (Seriously, if you want to stay nice for cheap, come to AZ in the summer- it's hot. But I paid $50/night for a room that goes for $350/night in October.) We didn't do anything, we just hung out and shopped and enjoyed free AC- but we both felt rejuvenated and reconnected after our weekend away.

3. Books. Every birthday gift I received was a book. I love them, I can't get enough of them. I devoured a book and a half this weekend. I love to read books.

4. Summer Deodorant. From September- mid-June I wear Dove deodorant everyday and it works well enough for me. However, in 105 degree heat, you need a bit more. So every summer I switch to Mitchum- so powerful you can skip a day. For real. You can. This used to be my every day deodorant, but I learned you can develop basically an immunity to it, so I now just use it in the summer or when I need something so powerful I can skip a day!

Birthday year Review

2011-06-14T14:23:00.001-07:00

Today is the last day of my early* 30's. Tomorrow I enter my mid-30's. I am feeling okay about this birthday, but always worry about the passage of time. Although I am never necessarily in the place I want to be, I am always exactly where I should be.

Age 33 was good to me, fun-filled and a year of firsts. I wonder if I'll ever be able to top this year.:

July 2010, hiked Half Dome.

July 2010, went to my bff's wedding in California!

Sept 2010, hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and out again!

Thanksgiving, spent time with our nieces!

January 2011, Went to my first Steelers and NFL game, the AFC divisional playoff game in PHG!

March 2011, Ran my third half marathon, celebrated my oldest friend's b-day and went to Vegas for the first time, all in one trip!

March/April 2011- trip to Israel, including the Church of the Holy Seplechure.

April 2011, closed and moved into our first home!

May 2011, D$ and I went to Chicago for the weekend which included a dinner at topolobampo!

*as it was pointed out to me earlier 34 is still rounded down to 30, but I feel like I am making a shift from my early to mid 30s.

Thankful Thursday

2011-06-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

1. Neti pots. I am in love and a full convert. After going to the doctor this weekend for a sinus infection and my records indicating that for 3 years in a row I show up the same time of year for a sinus infection the doctor really pushed the neti pot on me. I tried, I (luckily) got the hang of it in one try- I love it.

2. New furniture! I referenced last week that my FIL had made us a table for our entry way, it arrived and I love it! It is perfect for our space and gives us an anchor for that room. On Sunday, D$ and I shopped for 5 hours for a bed. We purchased one and it should be delivered tomorrow! With the arrival of the new bed, we will finally move into the master bedroom.

My new office. I was selected to move into a larger office and one of the perks of the new space (besides being bigger) is my new view. Grass is rare (thankfully, since it isn't native) in Tucson, but the estate I work at is old and plush and we have lots of grass and big, beautiful, old trees. I see 4 huge trees from my new view, listen to birds chirp all day and can catch a glimpse of bunnies or lizards scampering around.

Thankful Thursday

2011-05-26T12:51:00.001-07:00

I stole this from AJ, what a great idea! I'm, also following her suit by setting aside the more obvious things I'm thankful for (husband, family, friends, health, home, job) and focus on the little day-to-day things that I'm thankful for.

This Thursday I am thankful for:

1. Our neighbors and their chickens! Today I was greeted by Bob Marley the chicken hanging out on D$'s jeep. I went next door to let them know that Bob had escaped and Susan (our awesome neighbor and super mom to 3 ENERGETIC children) came over and took Bob away. It added a touch of whimsy to my day!

2. My in-laws. (I know, right?!!) D$'s dad made us a table for our entry room and is delivering it right now as I type! I can't wait to see what he did- and *if* he followed my suggestions.

3. Summer in the desert. This is the best time in Tucson. My job slows down to a trickle, I have more free time, longer days and less people. The snowbirds are gone, the U of A kids are gone, anyone with enough money to leave is gone. Leaving me with my city, great deals at bars and our favorite dinning spots!

the smart phone is ruining my marriage

2011-05-25T13:12:00.002-07:00

Every night is starting to blur together. D$ and I get home from work, gym, running and shopping to our new and lovely house. We make a meal together, start some laundry or clean up, or not. We may unpack another box, stand in one of our several empty rooms and talk about possibilities. Then at some point we retire to the patio for a cocktail. That's when it starts.

No one is at fault, not one is to blame, but one of us will pull out our phones and start playing Angry Birds (me), MLB baseball (him), solitaire, Words with Friends or Yahtzee. We troll on facebook, check gmail. And we sit. In silence. For hours. On our phones. I recently asked D$ if he remembered our first summer together- you know the puppy love stage? We would lay in bed (get your minds out of gutter!) for hours talking about everything and nothing, sharing our stories, getting to know each other. I jokingly commented that if we would have had iPhones then, we would have never gotten together. But, I think there may be some truth in that. Sometimes we'll play each other in Words with Friends, when we have a scrabble board the next room over. We play Yahtzee simultaneously when we could be rolling dice at the table.

We'll decide to do a phones free night- then someone we'll need to look up the name of Gwen Stefani's band and the phone gets pulled out, unplugged and all of a sudden we are plugged in again.

I am proposing for the summer, we spend a few nights unplugged. I'm not sure if we'll succeed, but I fear the alternative. D$ has agreed. Week nights will be tough, cause he does work on his phone once he comes home, but we've agreed to at least one week night and 2 weekend nights. We did a dry run last night and actually talked to each other. Marriage is built on communication- and we've lost that. If something doesn't change, I fear we'll lose the art of conversation with each other. There is no app for that.

Dinner creation

2011-05-23T11:16:00.002-07:00

I really thought I had made up this meal, but a quick Google search this morning, proved me wrong. I did make it all on my own, sans recipe- and for a cook like me that appreciates the art of baking for a reason: measured, finite, chemistry at its finest- this was a huge step in my creativity in the kitchen. I love to follow recipes, rarely stepping a toe over the line, but I long to be a baker and a cook that can throw together a creation- even after trial and error- that is truly theirs. So even though Google tells me I'm a fraud, I'm counting this as my dish:

Chile Rellano stuffed with calabacitas.

The final product!

I love chile rellanos: roasted chilies, stuffed with cheese, battered and fried, served with a red sauce and more cheese. My farmer's market had Pablano peppers in abundance, so I couldn't pass them up, I knew I wanted to make a version of chile rellano, but with less cheese and more healthy stuff. The market also had gorgeous squash, onions, corn and tomatoes- all the ingredients used in a traditional calabacitas. You can find lots of variations of calabacitas, but this is my favorite mix. I decided I would put the two recipes together and I came out with a great meal!

Since I was only wanting to make a small amount of calabacitas to stuff the peppers with- you can always increase the recipe.

Calabacitas:
1/4 cup of yellow onion- roughly chopped
1 small squash or zucchini diced into small cubes
1 tomato diced
1/4 ear of corn, kernals removed. Canned or frozen corn is an easy substitute.
1 tbls vegatable oil
1 clove of garlic, diced or pressed.
salt to taste

This is a variation of lots of calabacita recipes I've pulled together. The order in which you cook the veggies is most important and keeps everything from getting mushy. Heat oil over medium heat, add onions, a bit of salt, cook till translucent- about 5 minutes. Add garlic, till fragrant, 30 seconds. Drop in the tomatoes, I add more salt, and let cook for about 3-5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Squash in next- cook for 5-8 minutes. You don't want to squash to get soft, so pluck out a cube at the 5 minute mark and taste it. It should be like al dente for veggies- a little bit firm, but full of flavor. Drop in the corn and if you are using fresh corn, cook till it turns bright yellow. Canned corn just needs a minute to heat up and mix together. Remove from heat. *If you are making this as a side dish- serve right away. For me, I let it sit for a minute while I prepared my chiles.

Red Sauce- variation from a family recipe.
1 half can of tomato sauce ( I prefer Hunts)
1 half can of water
couple dashes of red pepper flakes
couple of mashed garlic cloves
a pinch of red chile powder
a pinch of cumin
a generous dash or two of oregano
salt
pepper

Simmer for about 20 minutes, taste and adjust.

Roast your peppers however you wish- on the stove top, in the oven, on a grill. Yesterday I turned on my gas burner and just held the peppers over- was quick and easy! Let the peppers rest for about 10 minutes underneath a kitchen towel then peal off the blackened skin. Keep the tops on, but slit the pepper from top to bottom and scoop out as many seeds as you like- I always leave some in, Pablanos are pretty mild.

Assembly:
I used personal baking dishes for ease in serving. I scooped some red sauce in the bottom, and placed the pepper on top. In the cavity of the pepper I put down a layer of shredded queso fresco. Mozzerella, colby jack or shredded Mexican mix could work well too. Over the cheese, I added the calabacitas mix and a bit more red sauce.

So far, so good!

It's not a chile rellano with out lots of cheese, so I added some more! And more red sauce for good measure.

I baked these for about 16 minutes (the time it took us to grill the carne asada and onions) at 350 in the center of the oven, uncovered. The cheese was perfectly melty and eveything was nice and hot.

Even though I am not the true mastermind behind this dish, I can't wait to make it, and tweak it again!

Time flies when you are having fun

2011-05-18T11:38:00.000-07:00

All day yesterday, I knew I was forgetting something. The day stuck out to me: May 17th, May 17th....but I just couldn't grasp what the significance of the day was. Then this morning as I was brushing my teeth- it hit me. Yesterday was 8 years since my first date with D$. EIGHT YEARS.

I actually remember it like it was yesterday- the lead up to the date, D$ trying to pin me down on a dinner time (I was very elusive), what I wore, how I did my hair. I remember what he wore, I can see him helping my lock my door (I had surgery 12 days prior on my right arm- so tasks like cutting food, turning a key and driving were difficult, if not impossible), I recall exactly where we sat in the restaurant, what I ate, walking to a club afterwards, sneaking a cigarette in the women's room (classy), having one more drink with him even though my arm was killing me and I was exhausted just so the date wouldn't end. I remember the brief kiss at my door and wanting him to stay, but knowing deep down in the depths of me that this was the start of something wonderful and not to rush.

I remember the glow of waking up the next morning on a date high. I look back at the silliness now, about me trying to bump into him out, trying to play it cool but I'm sure it was obvious to him that I was smitten. Our relationship was formed that summer- some ups a few major downs, but what I remember most was just laughing with him. We argued about Shakespeare v Milton while watching the NBA finals at a bar, we cooked up a storm, went out, stayed in and became best friends. I remember when he told me he loved me for the first time (he said it first- score!) and knowing that I loved him back.

Fast forward 8 years and he's the love of my life, my best friend, and my better half. When he drives me nuts (which has been for oh, the past three months) there is still no one I would rather be with.

Stationary, stickers and ink

2011-05-11T08:18:00.008-07:00

I'm not paper obsessed. I walked once into a PaperSource and immediately right out again- the store confused me and intimidated me. However, I do love stationary and note cards. For high school graduation I received a box of Crane & Co note cards with my name embossed on the card and the envelope. I fell in love. I've been lucky to receive a few more boxes of similar stationary as an adult and a few months ago, I took the plunge and ordered some for me and D$ from minted.

I purposely didn't order return address stickers or have anything printed on the envelope, waiting for the day we'd get a house. Well, we did- so it was time to order stickers or a stamp to go with our stationary. After searching on PaperSource (their stamps were on sale), I had a hard time finding something to go with 1. our stationary and 2. that could accomidate one house hold with multiple last names. Finally, my search led me back to minted, to find the wrap around return address stickers that match our stationary:

On the front (the orange part) I had our last names and address printed, and on the back- to match our stationary I had "Jennifer & D$" printed. I love the way they turned out- and they add a little fun and whimsy to our note cards!

For our change of address cards- I knew we wanted to do a photo card (I love photo cards!) and wanted to show off our new house. I was pretty underwhelmed by the options out there, but revereted back to my old standby Shutterfly for the card production. I was pleased with the quality and the price was right too.

Of course, I needed return address labels for the change of address cards and luckily, Shutterfly had a deal for me on those too:

Recently, I stummbled across this etsy shop and am trying to figure out why I would need to order this stamp:

Love it! Perhaps, I need my own set of note cards and return address stamps, for all my personal correspondance!

Nesting and the Repair man

2011-05-10T09:42:00.000-07:00

D$ is a really handy kind of guy. He's changed my oil since we were just dating, replaced my brakes, does his own car work, etc. But living in an apartment together for 6+ years, I never saw his house handy work skills. We always just picked up a phone if anything stopped working.

Growing up, I remember my dad fixing lots of things around the house, but as he got a bit older and his salary a bit bigger- we stated calling repairmen. And I guess I assumed that's how I thought things would be in my house.

I was wrong. Our washer and dryer came with the house and although it is nothing we would have every purchased (very pricey) I really appreciate them. They are energy, space and water efficient- our clothes have never been cleaner! I hardly use any detergent now and dryer sheets are a thing of the past. The appliances are made so that the average owner can make many of the repairs themselves. Which makes D$ happy and me nervous.

To be clear, we didn't buy a fixer-uper. This house, although empty for a year, was in great shape. But so far D$ has had the pleasure of fixing the dryer, replacing a part in the washer, doing a years worth of neglected maintenance on the water softener, swapping the water lines in the master bath (the hot ran cold and the cold ran hot), replacing the shower head in the hallway bath that I broke the first day, hooking up the irrigation system....In less than one month!

Hopefully my nervousness that happens whenever he picks up a wrench will subside, but for now it is still too new to be calming! Of course I am very proud of the work he does, and the money he is saving us, however, it is quite the change from being a renter to an owner!

Israel trip

2011-05-05T15:55:00.000-07:00

I was luckily enough to go to Israel for work in late March- April. It is definitely a country that wasn't on my "must-see" list, but when some one wants to send you half way across the world for free- I jumped! I am so pleased I went. Israel is a young, proud, vibrant nation. I am not sure how I feel, even upon my return, about the State of Israel and Palestine. I traveled the whole country (its the size of New Jersey) and even into Palestine. I was 3km away from Gaza, spent the better part of one day in Arab cities within Israel and visited a hospital that serves Jews, Arabs, Christians, and Bedouins. There is more happening there politically, historically and religiously than I can grasp. But I managed for a week to work hard, play harder and see sights I never thoughht I would see.

Here's a photojournal of the work part of the trip:

At a teen center that serves under-privilaged youth.

One of the many Ethopian Jews I met. I couldn't take my eyes off this kid.

This boy was a patient at the hosoital I mentioned above. He is a Muslim, but was playing and healing with Christians and Jews.

Our free night out in Tel Aviv!

A school in the Negev, just 3km from Gaza. This classroom is actually a fortified bombshelter. 4 hours after we left the school, a bomb fell. A week later a rocket hit a school bus killing a 13 year old student.

In the foreground you can see a depression from a rocket, behind the girls you can see a bomb shelter. When the sirens go off, students have 15 seconds to get to a shelter or fortified classroom.

We greeted Ethiopian refugees into Israel. They leave Ethiopia due to religious persecution.

My first, but certainly not my last falafeel in Israel!

We put in 14-18 hour days for 5 days and I met with collegues who hold similar positions to mine all over the country. It was a great professional opportunity for me and I made some new friends for life!

Las Vegas Weekend

2011-04-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

I felt just like George Clooney watching the fountains!

The first weekend in March, I met up with my oldest, dearest friend, A, for her birthday weekend in Las Vegas! Neither of us had ever been- so we jumped at the chance to meet each other in a new, fun, sin-filled city. A lives in New York, and if I'm lucky I see her once a year. I was really honored when I got the call asking me to join her!

Before the race! It is so cold in the desert in the morning, we needed Snuggies to keep us warm before moving!

A is a runner too, although a much better runner than me, so the impetus for the trip was to run a half-marathon in Red Rocks Canyon, just outside of Las Vegas.

Pre-race Sunrise.

The run was grueling, the first 7 miles were all up hill. I am not exaggerating this point. And the last 6 miles were all mostly up hill too. It was not the best half marathon I've ever run, but it was great to see A's smiling face at the end!

Red Rocks Canyon. Hills, hills and more hills!

My finishers medal!

After an afternoon of relaxing we went to L'Atelier Joel Robuchon for a celebratory/birthday dinner. It was an amazing culinary feast (reveiw is next).

This guy really wanted his picture taken with me. I oblige the people.

A little more than 36 hours after we arrived we were on our ways on seperate flights in different directions- it was a whirlwind weekend!

it's been a while....

2011-04-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I last posted and I have some updates to make.

We bought a house! Remember this preview I gave you in February? Yup- that's my kitchen! Well, part of it anyways.

Here's me in the kitchen enjoying our first drink just minutes after we got the keys!

And here we are this last weekend- posing for our change of address card.

We've been in the house for 2 full weeks and our getting settled pretty well. It is gigantic compared to our 900 square foot apartment, but we are easing our way in to home-ownership! Now, She Nests will actually include some posts about nesting!

Things to come

2011-02-22T16:09:00.000-07:00

My juggling dreams have subsided, only to be replaced by other stress dreams, but things are calming down and leveling out.

1. A dream trip has been scheduled and booked. My employer is sending me half way across the world for a 4 day conference and I'm staying on for an additional 3 days to explore and see a part of the world I have never been and may never see again. D$ isn't coming with me, but is supportive and excited for my adventures!

2. I ran this weekend- twice. I will be running the half marathon in less than two weeks. It won't be pretty, but I will do it.

3. Things are not final and I run the risk of jinxing myself- but here's a quick preview of the big purchase we hope to make in the next few weeks.

what goes up...

2011-02-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

I have too many balls in the air, people. Too many. Last night my dream was of a juggler- juggling all my stuff.
I have all these amazing opportunities at my feet right now, but instead of being amazed and grateful I feel overwhelmed and anxious. And even my go-to stress relieving activity, running, is no longer stress relieving. I have a half marathon coming up in 17 days, I am recovering from an injury and not sure if I'll be able to finish the run, let alone start it. So when I run, instead of focusing on the activity and letting my mind go- I fret over each step, my time and the distance.

I know this is how life works, that things happen when they happen. But for a planner like me, I am feeling swept away.

what's different this time?

2011-02-09T14:21:00.001-07:00

I should start out this post by indicating I am by no means claiming a victory and recognize I have a LONG way to go, but just wanted to recognize the difference in this journey versus previous attempts.

Now time to toot my own horn: I've lost 7lbs since January 1st. Seven pounds. That's huge for me as my last few years of weight loss attempts follow the same "lose two pounds, gain three lbs, lose two more" cycle. I have lost and kept off 7 pounds. Since it is so different, I've been thinking and trying to examine why the success and (I hate to say it) ease this time. Here's what I've come up with:

1. I'm not restricting any foods, just trying to work on portion control.

2. I write down everything I eat. So if I want chips at three I can have them, if I didn't eat a bagel for breakfast. Also, I'm a lot less likely to eat junk if I have to write it down.

3. D$'s new job. He officially started in January and in the first month he was out of town for 7 days. That's 7 nights that I was left to fend for myself for dinner. I'm not going to lie- a few of those nights dinner was a bowl of chips and a half a bottle of wine. But the majority of those nights I had a balanced, light and small dinner. When I eat with D$ we tend to a) eat out more and therefore bigger portions or b) cook at home and eat a second helping. Neither of those things happen when I am eating solo. I am also more inclined to go for an extra run or yoga after work, because my evening is my own.

4. Busy days at work. When I am busier I am less likely to wonder into the kitchen, or get up 100 times for pretzels.

What helped you towards your weight-loss goals?

Meatless Monday AND What's for Dinner- the return!

2011-01-25T09:09:00.001-07:00

I haven't been cooking lately. A combination of working days and days without a day off, half marathon training, traveling for football games and a husband who now travels A LOT for work means I've become a totally lazy cook.

Last week while D$ was out of town, I ate chips and drank wine for dinner. Every night.

But yesterday I caught the cooking bug and wanted to make something healthy, easy and new. I visited one of my favorite food blogs: The Culinary Couple and they had just posted about the dish that would fit the bill. Fettuccine with Squash, Arugula and Pine Nuts.

What I loved most about this dish (and this is very NOT the way I cook) but I didn't need to measure anything. I eyeballed how much balsamic and olive oil to use, I just chopped up some fresh sage and dumped in pine nuts to my liking. I didn't take any pictures while cooking- because I was talking on the phone- seriously, it is THAT easy. And despite my break from cooking I had almost all the ingredients in my kitchen ready for use.

D$ loved it, and even though I am fearful of serving him meatless meals, he said he doesn't mind and really like the dish.

I think this dish (and the endless variations that come to mind) will be on the winter dinner rotation for a while!

out there

2011-01-17T11:47:00.001-07:00

I am so much a glass is half empty kind of person that I can't usually see when the glass is actually full. I find worries and negatives in just about every situation. Recently I had someone say to me "you live the best life". After some reflection I realized it is true. I do live my life pretty full. We travel constantly and I although I work hard, I play really hard. There isn't much I want for and nothing at all that I need. I am safe and healthy- and beyond that I am loved and love others.

Since my wake up call so to speak- I've had a few strange happenings. Some "The Answer" * type happenings. *I've never read (or watched) The Answer, but am just generally aware of it's claim about laws of attraction and putting your wants "out there" and they will happen. Inadvertently I've "put things out there" and they've been coming to fruition!

You might remember from my resolutions post I said "Meet up with my dad and brother in Pittsburgh in a few weeks for the AFC Divisional Playoff game" and this weekend I did JUST that! I recognize that there are concrete reasons why this wish come to fruition- I purchased plane tickets, I booked a hotel room, we purchased game tickets. However, in addition to writing about it in the blog post, about 2 months ago I entered a StubHub contest on Facebook. You had to list three events you wanted tickets to- and if you won, you got the tickets to all three events. Without much thought I put "a Steelers game in Heinz field" down as my top choice. I "put it out there" months ago- and now I can cross it off my list. I really hadn't ever longed or wished to go to a Steelers game- at least actively- until that StubHub contest. I didn't win the contest, but it did help me put my "dream" of going to a game in more of an active state.

Another example is more internal and serious- but is just as amazing to me. I've had this reoccurrring dream theme for about 6 weeks. I looked it up online and in dream analysis books. I *knew* what it was suppose to mean, but never paid it much thought...until the next night. Finally I acted on the dreams supposed meaning and then shared that action with a friend. To my relief I haven't had the dream since. I "put it out there" and it went away.

I'm not really sure what all this means to me (hence the rambling post), but what I do know is this:
1. A more positive attitude/energy has affected my life.
2. Putting things out there- along with work, planning and effort- has paid off for me recently.

Civility

2011-01-13T11:08:00.001-07:00

Thanks for all the emails and concerned facebook messages this past weekend. As a proud adopted daughter of the Old Pueblo, I can't express to you how weird this week has been.

I've gotten calls from friends all over asking if Gabby was my Congresswoman. Not only is she elected to represent me, but she truly is MY Congresswoman.

I know Gabby (Congresswoman Giffords), in the way that any Southern Arizona resident knows Gabby. I've volunteered a few hours for her and met her a few times and our circles and paths intersect each other and every time I say hi to her...she responds like we are BFFs. I know its not just me, she does this with everyone, which is why so many of us LOVE Gabby.

The Tucson community is shaken, but we are strong. On Saturday I shared so many hugs with strangers. When D$ and I found out about the news, we were on our way to breakfast. I kept driving, for lack of a better alternative. We ate breakfast in silence, watching the news spread from table to table as people checked their phones or received calls. Driving home, I drove past Gabby's office completely on accident. As I drove past, I realized where we were and D$ and I stopped to take a look. An hour and a half after the shooting took place, the vigils had already begun. There had to be 50 people in front of her office.

On Sunday I had a work event. We announced that morning that Gabby had "communicated" for the first time. I sat in awe as 300 women jumped out of their seats, cheering and hugging each other over the announcement.

On Monday morning my office stood together holding hands during the moment of silence. Later that day I walked into a Safeway (not that Safeway) without thinking, and then stopped short and started crying.

I knew Gabe Zimmerman as an email friend. I donated a little time and a little money to Gabby and Gabe always reached out to me in addition to the standard acknowledgements. When I had a question about Gabby's position, he was the person I emailed to ask. He always responded quickly and professionally.

Although I didn't know anyone else personally- Tucson is such a a small town, that I know people who knew the victims personally.

This week, we've been kinder to each other. Asking "how are you" sincerely and understanding when someone starts crying randomly. I haven't made it to work one day this week without crying in my car.

I can't do justice in trying to memorialize those we lost, but wanted to share, or rather purge myself of the experience and feelings around town.

Everyone I have spoken to is commited to civility and my hope is that we actually do move forward in that direction.

a happy little exchange

2011-01-04T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today- on instant messenger- it brought a smile to my face.
D$ says: If it weren't for you I wouldn't care about lots of things...
Jennifer says: oh?
D$ says: like books and KSU and chicken fajitas.

D$ says: you show me all the good stuff.

2011 Goals and Resolutions

2011-01-03T16:24:00.001-07:00

1. (if work approves the 1 day off I need) run my 3rd Half Marathon in Vegas with my oldest and dearest friend Amy.

2. Meet up with my dad and brother in Pittsburgh in a few weeks for the AFC Divisional Playoff game. Airline tickets- check!, hotel room- check!, game tickets- working on it.

3. Eat less, work out more...I am hoping to aid in this by a) writing down everything I eat and b) getting to do number 1.

4. Keep the air clear between me and my husband. I have been super frustrated with him, with me, with everything as of late- and on Friday- it all just poured out of me at him. We cleared the air and hopefully together we can keep it clear and resentment free!

5. Buy a house. I feel like this is always on the list. Any list: stuff I want, stuff I don't have, goals just out of reach. Good new is, by procrastinating for so long, we have a killer down payment. :)

6. Pursue my creative side more. I am often stagnate and this is the year to fix that.

7. Write more letters. For real, with paper and pen.

8. Improve my handwriting. I have awful penmanship. I failed it in 6th grade. For reals. I downloaded some tools off the interwebs that will hopefully help me develop a signature and penmanship I'm not embarrassed by!

9. Go to Alaska.

10. So far in 2011 I've read 2 books- start to finish. I'd like to keep up that pace, but don't think it'll work- but I plan on reading at least 30 and keep track of what I read.

11. See all my nieces. I'm just getting to know my 2 youngest- and they blow me away with their humor and smarts. I hope to see all of them in 2011 at least once!

2010 in review

2010-12-27T10:30:00.000-07:00

My favorite part of the end of a year- looking back over it and picking out the parts (good and bad) that defined this year.

1) What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?

Hiked to the top of Half Dome
Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and out again

2) Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

2010 resolutions were: keep not smoking, exercise 4x a week, absolutely NO texting, checking facebook, emailing while driving, and ALWAYS wearing a seat belt while driving

I did about a B- on these. I can always do better.

For 2011 much of the same, but a few more (personal) ones as well.

3) Did anyone close to you give birth?

I have a ridiculously large amount of acquaintances that gave birth this year, but nobody really close.

4) Did anyone close to you die?

my dog.

5) What countries did you visit?

California (that counts right?)

6) What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?

Some relationship/martial differences worked out and again- a house.

7) What date(s) from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

7/14- the day I hiked 16+ miles in Yosemite Nat'l park

8/19- the day my pooch dies

9/5-The day I hiked up from the bottom of the Grand Canyon

10/11- 2nd anniversary

8) What was your biggest achievement of the year?

I found physical strength and endurance I never knew I had- on several occasions.

9) Did you suffer illness or injury?

I have been sore just about everyday since July- does that count? I was diagnosed with vertigo in April and it has been easing up as of late (knock on wood).

10) What was the best thing you bought?

A month membership for a workout class- that has kicked my tail for the last month. I'll be continuing that in the new year!

11) Whose behavior merited celebration?

D$ worked hard and or a new job within his company- that certainly was cause for celebration.

12) Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

My own. Various friends.

13) Where did most of your money go?

Traveling, wine and food

14) What did you get really, really, really excited about?

My trips, my hiking accomplishments, D$'s new job, the best Chardonnay ever.

15) What song will always remind you of 2010?

Unfortunately "Hey Soul Sister" - I hate that song. and "Little Lion Man" by Mumford and Sons

16) Compared to this time last year, are you:

Wiser? In some areas.

Healthier? Yes.
Richer? Actually, yes. In spirit and coin.

17) What do you wish you’d done more of?

reading, baking, knitting, being a better wife and bettering myself.

18) What do you wish you’d done less of?

Smoking, drinking, fighting, berating, resenting

19) How did you spend Christmas?

With D$'s family in the desert.

20) Did you fall in love in 2010?

Yes.

21) What was your favorite blog post that you wrote?

The one I didn't post.

22) What were your favorite TV programs?

Modern Family, Big Bang Theory, Grey's

23) Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

At times, yes.

24) What was the best book you read?

I'm reading "Freedom" right now and I'm pretty sure it'll be the winner.

25) What was your greatest musical discovery?

The Editors

26) What did you want and get?

Travel time

27) What did you want and not get?

Enough Time

A house

a marital difference resolved.

28) What was your favorite film of this year?

"Between the Folds" a documentary about origami.

29) What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 33 on my birthday and D$, Jenn and Todd took me out for Mexican and then for a fun night bowling.

30) Which celebrity/public figure did you like the most?

Anybody but Palin

31) How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?

Subtle

32) What kept you sane?

routines and solitary time and my almost daily emails to a friend.

33) Who did you miss?

I miss everyday I don't spend with my mom, which is most of them.

34) Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.

Resentment doesn't do any good.

35) What did you gain this year?

about 5 pounds.

36) What did you lose this year?

Respect for lots of people including myself and my husband. A friendship.

37) Who were the most interesting new people you met?

The women and men who participate in the running group I coach. Also, some people I already knew- just learning new things about them.

38) Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

"You're not as brave as you were at the start"

Boycotting for naught

2010-11-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

For years I was a loyal Amazon customer and then they really started to piss me off. I remember one particular incident, which happened to be my last purchase on Amazon, in December 2008: a package of Christmas gifts was never shipped, my credit card was charged double and little was done to rectify the situation. The package finally arrived 36 days AFTER Christmas.

That was when I drew the line in the sand: Never will I shop at Amazon again. And I haven't for 2 years. (I did get a Real Simple subscription for $5 from Amazon- but I made D$ order and pay for it).

However my boycott hasn't slowed down Amazon's business. I'm sure their "Customer Service" is as deplorable as ever despite my many letters, calls and complaints to the Better Business Bureau. In fact, D$ may be their number 1 customer. He buys everything from there. He shops and then finds the item on Amazon for cheaper and purchases from them.

My mom mails all my birthday and Christmas gifts from Amazon. My mother-in-law shops and gives from there.

All my boycotting has been for naught. Business with Amazon has been done in my name every time my mom buys a gift from there to ship to me. As the holiday season is upon us, I'm wondering if I just shouldn't give up the ghost and log back into Amazon.

The Abbey

2010-11-19T09:30:00.001-07:00

Last night D$ and I went to dinner at The Abbey, a new restaurant in town, that is within walking distance of our house! Dubbed as "distinctive American comfort food in a warm, neighborhood setting", they have it partially right.

Only open for a few weeks, the place was packed when we walked in for dinner at 6:30 on a Thursday night, we were told it would be a 20 minute wait and asked to wait at the bar. The wine list was decent, a nice mix of French and California wines and a few selections of both read and white available by the glass. Glass prices ran anywhere for $7 to $12. However, the white Bordeaux I ordered and the Malbec, Cabernet blend D$ ordered were both unavailable, so we ordered cocktails at $9 a piece. I had the "Holy Water"- orange vodka, citrus gin and triple juice". Although refreshing, it was served in a 16oz high ball glass and couldn't have contained more than a shot of alcohol total. If I'm paying $9 for a cocktail, I'd like it to actually be a cocktail. D$ had the Abbey margarita, which was too sour for my liking, and he agreed he wouldn't order it again either.

Holy Water. Water is a good description of my drink.

We were seated in the dining room after about 15 minutes. The small room is a "warm, neighborhood setting", but it was also very tight and too distracting for my liking. The have a row of the booth-chair hybrids off the kitchen, then a series of 2, 4 or 6 person tables from there. In the back, a few larger tables, and a little party area rounded out the room. We were at a 2 top that was along the main thoroughfare from the back of the dining area to the front of the restaurant. My chair was bumped no less than 5 times during my meal. In my opinion the dining room set up really distracted from the distinctive American cuisine we were hoping to dine upon.

Our server was nice and timely. She greeted us with some truffle oil popcorn (yes please) and went over the specials for the evening. We passed on all appetizers, although we will be back for "the board", listed on the menu as "lots of cool stuff" and described to us as a fruit and cheese board. I selected the crispy salmon, 90% because of the sides: whipped parsnips, shaved brussels and truffled tomatoes. D$ picked the Grilled Cheese "whipped brie, heirloom tomatoes and zucchini pesto".

After we ordered, a server, not our own, brought us bread, butter and salt. The bread was good, and even though I *think* it was pumpernickel, I'll never know because he mumbled so much when he put it down neither of us could understand him. (and with that sentence, I have taken one step closer to becoming my mother).

Our food arrived, my super blurry iPhone photo of my meal is below. My meal was.....okay. The salmon was unremarkable. It was only crispy on the skin side, and I don't care for the skin. The brussels were amazing, but there was no truffle on my tomatoes and the parsnips were whipped, but no seasoning was added to them. For $18 it was a fine portion, but nothing on the plate grabbed me. D$'s sandwich was served with greens that were lightly dressed. Those greens, and perhaps the truffle oil popcorn, were the best things we ate. The sandwich was good, very rich and flavorful. D$ said he would order it again, but it was really rich. For $12 he was pleased with his meal.

See that brown glaze around the edge of the plate? That's cinnamon, I'm still not sure why it was on my plate.

When our bill arrived we were surprised to see a 15% off coupon from the owners, for their other restaurant, Jax Kitchen, we will be using that.

Overall, we will be back. The atmosphere was nice and the service was good. Food was good, although not quite balanced: my dish was bland, D$'s was a cacophony of flavors. We will skip drinks altogether and request a different table if the try to seat us on the outside row again.

Social norms and civility, part 2

2010-11-17T09:57:00.001-07:00

My last attempt at this post was fired off in annoyance and wasn't too well thought out on my part, and as there is no guarantee this one is any better, and although I'm running the risk of starting another friendly debate (Jen sorry I never got back to you, but I ended up on my death bed last week- but I did enjoy your points!)...I'm writing it anyway. These two incidences happened to me on Monday.

1. I work at an organization that has the name of a religion in the title, such as The Hindu Group. Well there is a fairly prominent Hindu Community Center in town and a few people I encounter just hear the "Hindu" and not the full title of my employer and assume that I work at the Community Center. Well remember that old saying about not assuming? yeah..... Well after almost 4 years at the organization I have very few acquaintances who make that mistake anymore. However, this week 2 friends both made the same mistake within one day and it backed fired on one of them pretty bad. Friend one applied for a job at the Community Center and put my name down as a reference WITHOUT ASKING ME. When I explained to friend A that I would be no use to him as a reference, since I don't work there and know no one employed there, he was annoyed. He acted put out. When I gently pointed out that it is typical to ask a person before you use them as a reference.....well you would have thought I slaughtered his first born. I had never been a reference for this person, we've never worked together, there is no reason for me to be a reference, except he thought that I could get him the job.

My issues with this scenario are 2 fold:
             a) I believe you should ask a person before listing them as a reference. It is common courtesy. I have a bank of references that I hold in my pocket, depending on the job I am applying for, I confirm with them that I can list them again, give them a brief description of the job and thank them.
              b) The reaction from Friend A to me when I clarified that I don't work where he thought I worked. Annoyance at me? I am hoping that his own embarrassment and gut check reaction was projected on to me as annoyance and that he really wasn't annoyed WITH me.

2. D$ and I are having a party on Saturday night. We are really looking forward to it for a variety of reasons, but one reason is the guest list. We are having a wine tasting party featuring California wines we picked up on our road trip this summer. So the guest list was tricky and we had several criteria for picking our guests and we had to limit the number of guest based on the number of bottles we were pouring and our 900 square foot apartment. One factor, the main factor really, was that anyone in attendance must drink and enjoy wine. My bff doesn't drink and her husband told me recently he really only prefers red wine- so they didn't make the cut. We also wanted to vary the group a little bit. Not our usual group of go tos. So including us there will be 9 people, 3 couples, 3 singles- all of the same political party and none of them having met before, except perhaps briefly at our wedding. Two of the people coming are good friends we rarely see, let's call them W and C. We are all mutual friends with couple x. Apparently couple x called W and C about getting together on Saturday. W and C turned them down explaining they had plans with us. So couple x called D$ and pretty much invited themselves on Saturday. When D$ explained we couldn't accommodate them, that it was already planned out, etc- the reaction was annoyance, but also frustration with us. D$ explained why they weren't invited and it should be noted that one half of couple x doesn't drink and the other half doesn't enjoy wine, but he also went out of his way to invite them over at another time as a peace offering. {I feel the need to also point out, that we don't mean to exclude non-drinkers, but for a wine tasting party and for the size of our home, we really wanted the party to reflect people that would enjoy tasting the wines we love.}

My issues with this scenario are:
                 a) I AM sensitive to being excluded from events, but I don't expect those hosting an event to tell me everytime they are planning something without me. And maybe I'm not being 100 percent honest with my self, but if someone was planning a "the very thing you don't like" night, I wouldn't care about not being invited.
                 b) I've never once invited myself to a party. Who does that?

So again this week, I am left scratching my head at the civility of people in our lives.

Civility and the social norms in 2010

2010-11-10T09:00:00.000-07:00

I often get up in arms about civility and the lack of social graces in our modern society. I don't want any man laying down his overcoat on top of a puddle for me, but I would like a little more civility.

Yesterday I had two clear incidences of the lack of social graces.
1. I wore my hair in a different style. I was told by two people that it looked bad. One of these people I consider a good friend, so perhaps she was trying to "help" me by saying this. The other was no more than an acquaintance, so what was her gain? But more over- how was my hair offensive to them? How did my hair in a barrette hurt them? Was it necessary for them to remark on how my hair looked? My hair wasn't sticking up funny, so why mention you don't like my hair?

2. A woman I coach in running group, who apparently has had some fertility issues announced last night that she was pregnant. When I asked how far along she told me "oh maybe 3 or 4 weeks". GASP. My heart stopped. What happened to waiting til the first trimester is over? I'll tell you what, Facebook, that's what happened. And emailable sonogram pictures. It's all too much.

2.5. A coworker had on acute new scarf so I told her I liked it. She literally looked me up and down while saying "I like your.....shoes". Although I appreciate her gesture and find it very funny, compliments need not be returned. A simple thanks will suffice.

Call me old fashioned but I want to be ignorant to that fact that someone dislikes my hair style and I don't want to know about pregnancies until after the first trimester (I also don't want to know gender and/or names until after the baby is born- but I know that is just me). I want people to be civil and gracious and nice. To say please and thank you. I also know I have to start projecting that more into the world to get it back.

Thank you.

WWJCD?

2010-10-29T10:27:00.000-07:00

This Foodie Friday post is a bit of a stretch, but it is in reference to my favorite foodie of all : JC.

That's right, I'm dedicating this post to Julia Child.

I've been in a funk lately: blog, weight, food, creativity, attitude, relationships, life. But last night I had a breakthrough. I've been watching old episodes of The French Chef lately and last night we watched Julie and Julia for the bajillionth time. For the record I fast forward past most of the Julie Powell scenes and just watch Meryl Streep's lovely version of Julia Child. I found myself looking at Julia like an old friend. Someone I want to hang out with, share a buttery meal with, write a letter to.

Not only was Julia an amazing self- taught servantless cook but she was funny, self-depreciating and as her beloved husband Paul well-documented in his letters, she was kind and nice to everyone. Everyone loved her. Dude(s), the French loved her! That's unheard of!

Now this is where WWJCD comes into play. I need to shake things up a bit. I need a new outlook on life. I'm attempting to drop the negativity and ask myself WWJCD?

What Would Julia Child Do?

I *think* she laughed stuff off more often than I do.
I think she smiled and was kind to strangers more than I am.
I know she was better at friendships than I am.
I know she cooked more than I do.

Those are my areas of focus: laugh more, be nicer, be a better friend and cook more. And maybe in the process- blog more. :)

2nd anniversary

2010-10-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

On this day two years ago -

He looked at me with his silly smile, after quoting The Office....

making me laugh, like only he can......

we kissed.

we cheered.

we were surrounded by all those we love.

and we continue to live happily ever after.

We've had an amazing second year of marriage: D$ finished his degree, we traveled the country and just last week D$ was offered and accepted a new job within his current employer that keeps us in Tucson and elevates his career.

Besides a fun year and exciting weekend, we've had our trials, but we are reminded all the time of the valuable lesson we learned in pre-marital counseling- we chose each other. And every day, we choice to continue to love, honor and cherish each other.

5 questions

2010-09-22T12:23:00.000-07:00

I stole this from my pal Tuffy, who essentially stole it from Mental Floss . Every week Mental Floss puts on their blog a list of 5 fun questions called "Friday Happy Hour." I'd never read it before, but after reading Tuffy's answers to the questions- I figured maybe I'd take a crack at it!

1. What's the most interesting conversation you've overheard?

I listen to conversations all the time. I'm always eaves dropping. I heard one recently where a woman was breaking off an affair. With her daughter's boyfriend. YUP. You read that right.

2. What childhood treasure did a family member/spouse accidentally lose/throw out?

I had a really cool lunch box/thermos that my mom bought me in 5th grade., I thought I was too cool for school and didn't want to use a lunch box, so I hardly used it. I'm pretty sure my mom gave it away and now I really wish I had it. It's amazing what is important to you later on.

3. What's the weirdest thing your boss has asked you to do?

Not my current employer...but I did have a boss ask me to hide his pot when the police showed up to raid the place of business. Um no.

4. Would your career change if you were the other gender? If yes, what do you think you career would be?

I would love to answer this question saying by saying no. That my pro-feminist parents taught me that I can be and do anything I want (which they did).....but the answer is unfortunately yes. I think society bogged me down. I learned early on that girls aren't good at math- and I played right into that. And clearly it isn't true- my bff is an engineer- I know she had to take some math up in there. Now as an adult, I do a lot of statistical work at work, and I love it. I think if I were a boy, I'd be working as a statistician for the NFL or the NCAA or something awesome like that. As a girl, I never even took enough math to take statistics.

5. How much money do you think Gilbert Gottfried has made in his career?

He voiced for Disney, so he has to have made a chunk of change, right? I have no idea.

Just say no.

2010-09-20T09:41:00.000-07:00

D$ and I are doing something we've never done before. We aren't going on vacation. We are trying a (shudder) stay-cation.

I have a short week next week, and D$ decided to take some days off to to join me. We were going to go to Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, northern Arizona, anywhere for an early two year anniversary, long weekend.

Seattle we had a free place to stay, but flights were pricey. Chicago, flights and hotels were good, but we couldn't get the into the restaurant we wanted. San Fran flight times didn't work out. The hotels in northern Arizona are just pricey enough to be annoying; if I'm going to spend $130/night- I'd rather do it in a big city.

After weeks of play planning- nothing worked out. So we just threw in the towel and decided to stay home. We are staying home. We have no plans, no real goals- nothing we have to do. And I'm actually excited for it!

10 on the 10th..on the 13th

2010-09-13T11:13:00.001-07:00

this month's list: 10 things I did on my summer vacation:

10. Ran a 10k in Boulder Colorado- Memorial Day
9. *Helped* in hosting a bridal shower for a dear friend!- June
8. Had a great birthday celebration all day! - June 15th
7. Enjoyed a 4th of July at home by viewing 4 firework shows around town from my porch!
6. Climbed Half Dome (16.5 miles)! July 13
5. Visited 6 National Parks and 1 National Seashore- July and August
4. Celebrated my anniversary of living in Tucson- 9 years- officially the longest I've lived anywhere. 8/5
3. Saw my family for a few days at the beach.- August
2. Took up scrap booking (egads)- August
1. Hiked down the Grand Canyon, stayed at the bottom and hiked out the next day (17 miles)!- Labor Day

What did you do this summer?!

May's Counter Chicken and Waffles

2010-09-10T10:49:00.000-07:00

Chicken and Waffles have come to Tucson! May's Counter opened on Tuesday to some quiet fanfare in town after months of speculation and excitement.

Chicken and Waffles are a combination with no known origins. Some people believe it dates back to the 1790's when Thomas Jefferson returned from France with the waffle. There are theories that 100 years later the combination was typical Black or southern food, however, although both foods appear together in some of the first Black cookbooks, they aren't paired together. However they came to be the combo is simply wonderful.

My lunch buddies at work and I went to May's on Wednesday. We were greeted at the door, promptly sat and immediately greeted by our server in quick succession. Although a bit early for the lunch crowd, the restaurant was about 1/3 full with customers. My group saw a man eating a plate full of tater-tots covered in chicken, cheese, sour cream, green onions, olives and jalapenos. Our server, Tiffany, let us know they were the "tot-chos", tator-tot nachos. For $7 we couldn't pass them up and as a group of four we made a big dent in the plate. The tater tots were crispy, even the tots that were covered in cheese sauce. Along with the pulled chicken- the jalenpenos were the star of this dish. Rather than comonly used pickled jalepenos, the jalepenos were fresh slices. Delish!

The Tot-chos!

I split "the Hen" with a friend. The Hen, $9 is two chicken breasts and a waffle. We let Tiffany know that we were splitting the dish and the dish was served already split and they kitchen added an extra waffle.

Half of "The Hen"

My breast was a little dry (that's what she said), but the waffle....the waffle was the best I'd ever had. Disclaimer: I only eat waffles once every 3 years on average- so I'm not the best judge of a waffle. This waffle was large, but thin. It was perfectly cooked and had a lovely light taste of vanilla. That sweetness in contrast to the salty crispness of the chicken really rounds out the dish. We had to task for butter, but the syrup and hot sauce was already on the table.

Another friend ordered The Coop, $9, a 1/4 chicken and waffles smothered in gravy and green onions. The gravy was flavorful, and although the menu described it as "smoothered with gravy" and it wasn't smoothered, it was still a good amount of gravy.

The Coop

Overall the first visit was a hit. Tiffany, our server, still needed to learn the menu better, but she did go ask and return with the answers we wanted and at the end of our visit she apologized for not knowing the menu better. Eh, something to improve on! Our drinks sat empty at one point, but the service was very friendly very proud of their new restaurant.

D$ was annoyed that I didn't go with him, so on Thursday I went back for lunch! I had a late and biog breakfast so I ordered "light" this time around. I got a fried chicken leg, $2, and a plain waffle for $5. D$ ordered the Hen and we shared a side of fried okra for $4.

The chicken was even better this visit, moist and juicy and the waffle was exactly the same as the day before: perfect! Yay for consistency. This time the restaurant was packed with customers, so we did wait a bit longer for our meal than I had on Wednesday. The fried okra was just eh, but I'd be happy to order it again sometime. Again, the service was friendly and helpful. Our table wasn't stocked with hot sauce, but before our meal came out, our server brought over a selection of 6 hot sauces for us to choose from.

Overall after 2 visits, May's receives an A+ in service, food and promptness. Now if they can just keep those waffles tasty and work out a few (and I mean very few) kinks, Tucson will welcome May's with open arms!

Winery reviews, part 1 - Paso Robles

2010-09-07T07:46:00.000-07:00

On our July road trip to California, we had the wedding and then the second week of the trip was dedicated to one thing: wine tasting.

We started the serious wine tasting (D$ had two days of tasting in the Monterey area while I was busy with wedding stuff) in Paso Robles- which just as an aside, they pronounce Rob-OLs, kind of like marbles rather than rob-LES. It was weird for us, being from a Spanish speaking community to hear it said with out a Spanish accent. Of all coincidences Wine Spectator had a feature on Paso Robles the month before we went there, it served as a great guide.

Our one and only picture from that day- Justin Vineyards.

Our first stop was Justin Vineyards and Winery. We had the 2007 Isosceles blend before traveling and loved it, so we were pretty confident that the tasting would be just as great. The grounds were lovely, even in the 100+ degree weather and the staff was helpful and welcoming (more on the welcoming staff later), but the wine was so-so. Nothing struck us as anything we needed to buy (and trust me, we were very liberal in our purchasing) and although it was all drinkable, nothing shook us.

From there we traveled back across town and to our second winery of the day J. Lohr. J. Lohr has vineyards all around the central valley Arroyo Seco area- Paso Robles and St Helena and has tasting rooms in both Paso and San Jose. The tasting was free and the staff was fun, relaxed and helpful. Again, like at Justin, we had good wines, but nothing that blew us away. But free is better than not free!

Note: we paid on average $10 for each tasting and although all the wineries were open to letting us split a tasting- we always opted to pay for two. Almost every winery "refunded" some of the tasting price in exchange for a purchase, or gave a discount on any bottles purchased.

After J. Lohr we drove just a mile away to the Hunter Ranch Golf Course to enjoy lunch. I had the Da Vinci Sandwich, listed on the menu as: Marinated and grilled chicken breast, Kelly’s bacon, fresh avocado slices, lettuce, tomato, red onions and melted swiss cheese, served on our demi loaf with basil-mayonnaise. We learned later that Kelly is the chef and she makes her own bacon. I was more than pleased with this choice. The bacon was peppery, smokey, lean and perfectly cooked. I rarely eat chicken sandwiches, but the bacon pushed me over the edge and the basil-mayo intrigued me too. It was served with sweet potato fries. It was a great sandwich, the chicken was grilled nicely and all the ingredients were fresh. D$ ordered a prime rib sandwich that was a special of the day. He too got the sweet potato fries and a side of the basil-mayo. Although his prime rib was sliced a bit more thickly than it was advertised, he was happy with his meal too.

After lunch we headed to Eberle Winery for a tasting and our one and only tour of the trip. Eberle is the patriarchal winery in town. We heard many winemakers, tasting room managers, restaurateurs all speak about Gary Eberle and his winery with great appreciation. Eberle put Paso wine on the map. From the website, this bit of history sums it up:

In 1973, Gary Eberle began his career in the wine industry by heading his family’s Estrella River Winery (currently Meridian Vineyards in Paso Robles) and produced 500,000 cases a year at its facility. Eberle’s pioneering spirit didn’t stop there. In 1980, he co-founded the Paso Robles Appellation and in 1983, Gary opened the doors to his own Eberle Winery with the premiere of Eberle’s 1979 Cabernet Sauvignon. Today, Eberle handcrafts 25,000 cases of wine each year from surrounding Estate vineyards. And, after more than 25 years since the release of the Eberle label, the winery consistently remains one of the highest award-winning wineries in the United States.

We took the Cave tours, walking through just some of the 16,000 square feet of underground wine storage facility. The walls are rounded and naturally cool to store the wine. The tasting was nice, we bought two bottles: the 2008 Muscat Canelli and the 2008 Côtes-du-Rôbles Blanc.

Our last tasting room of the day was the Anglim Winery tasting room, located in "downtown" Paso, next to the train station. It was by far our favorite wines of the day. The tasting room host was, like all we found in Paso, helpful and kind. We walked away with 4 bottles: The 2006 Cameo, the 2008 Grenach-Blanc, 2007 Mourvèdre and the 2005 Best Barrel Blend.

On Anglim's recommendation we dined at Los Robles Cafe and enjoyed our favorite Tacos al Pastor. Almost as good as the ones we had in Cuernavaca and just as cheap. I think we had 4 each!

Our last stop of the night was the Vinoteca Wine Bar in downtown Paso. They have specials just about every night of the week and the bartender was helpful as were the locals that all worked in tasting rooms or wineries during the day and drink at Vinoteca at night (ah, the life!).

We headed back to our great motel for the night, The Adelaide Inn. Affordable, comfortable and easy to find- we will be sure to stay there again!

Next up: sparklers and Pismo Beach!

We've got buns hun

2010-09-03T06:23:00.006-07:00

This past Saturday we attempted our second meal made from my Momofuku cookbook. I can't say our second recipe, because you may recall, when we made the Ramen we actually made 7 recipes to complete the one meal.

When we dined at Momofuku Noodle Bar in NYC, beside the noodles we ordered the famous Pork Buns. I knew at the time that David Chang and his Momofuku restaurants were famous for their Pork Buns, however I had no idea what a Pork Bun was- I ordered it anyway. A David Chang pork bun is pillowy, delicious, sweet and salty, fatty and crunchy, hot and cold and the closest you can get to heaven with pork belly.

Momofuku Pork buns, photo fromesquire.com

D$ has been itching to make these buns at home and I have resisted only because the recipe for the actual buns makes 50 buns. 50! Although small and freezable I don't have the counter or freezer space for 50 buns. However, D$, found frozen "Chinese Buns" in one of our favorite Asian markets in Tucson- 17th Street Market. Finally on Saturday, we got to work making our pork buns!

The recipe is pretty straight forward (from the Momofuku cookbook, page 80):
1 steamed bun
1 tablespoon of hoisin sauce
3-4 slices of Quick Pickled cucumber
3 thick slices of pork belly
1 scant tablespoon of thinly sliced scallion (note: we didn't add this)
Srirachi, for serving

All of our ingredients gathered to create our pork buns. Top left to right: Pork belly, hoisin sauce. Bottom: frozen Chinese buns, quick salt pickles.

D$ worked on the pork belly, using the same recipe we used for the Ramen as that is what the buns called for. We halved the recipe using 1.5 pounds of pork belly rubbing it with equal parts sugar and kosher salt before nestling it into an oven safe dish, we used a Le Crusete baking dish. We let it rest over night, putting it in the oven Saturday morning for one hour at 450, basting the pork, then for one more hour at 250 degrees. After allowing it to cool on the counter- we wrapped it up with plastic wrap and placed it in the fridge till it was time to slice.

Pork Belly!

I wanted to try my hand at pickling for a while now and decided to take a crack at the salt pickles needed for the pork buns. As David Chang writes in the cookbook, there is hardly a need for a recipe. In 10 minutes flat I had the best pickles! First we sliced a cucumber up using our mandolin.

We loved the waffled or crinkle cut texture the mandolin gave. Another bonus for using the mandolin is that every slice is equal. Then I added equal parts, 1 tablespoon, of sugar and kosher salt.

Once mixed thoroughly the pickles just rest for 5-10 minutes. After resting, taste the pickles, you can adjust the flavor as necessary adding more salt, more sugar, or as I did, rinsing them in a colander to stop the "pickling" process. Just pat them dry with a paper towel and serve.

They must be used that day within 4 hours. So although easy, not a true pickling method.

Once the pickles were made, D$ sliced the pork after warming it in the oven for about 10 minutes while we steamed our buns.

Once the buns were steamed all we had to do was assemble the sandwiches and enjoy!

The frozen buns were a hit, not as fresh (obviously) as we remember from our visit to the Noodle Bar, but very good, cheap and easy! This fall I will attempt to make my own buns, but knowing we have a frozen option available to us means more pork buns in our future!

Random food musings

2010-09-02T09:57:00.001-07:00

Did you hear this story on Morning Edition on the way to work? Mark Zable, my new hero, has figured out how to.....wait for it.....FRY BEER.

He takes a ravioli-like dough, fills it with beer, fries it and when you bite in- the beer is still in liquid form! How genius is that!?!

Mark has been working on this recipe for two years. Have I said he is my new hero? The fried beer will debut at the Texas State fair this month. I'm now considering traveling to Dallas just to try this food that was made for me.

Me, enjoying my first Five Guys in Va, December 2009

In Tucson news- On Tuesday September 7th Tucson's first Five Guys Burger will open! I've met the owners a few times, one of the owners having graduated from my Alma Mater! I can't make it Tuesday, but you better believe I'll be there Wednesday. Tucson’s first Five Guys Burgers and Fries restaurant will open in the former Hollywood Video store in Campbell Plaza, on North Campbell Avenue near East Glenn Street.

Happy eating!

Fa- Jai- Tas

2010-09-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

One of our dinner standards is chicken fajitas. Monday, after standing in the grocery store for 20 minutes trying my darnedest to come up with a meatless meal (and actually deciding on one) I ended up making chicken fajitas. (note to self- PLAN for meatless meals)

Like most dinner standards, I don't follow a recipe, at least anymore. I may have had a recipe in the beginning, but I recall making these fajitas in my very first apartment after I graduated college. Pretty easy and hard to screw up, this dish is also very quick to make.

Green bell pepper and half of an onion, sliced.

Into the skillet, with a bit of olive oil, fresh squeezed lime and of course salt and pepper.

Slice chicken breast into strips, add to another skillet with olive oil and a clove of garlic. We went to a dinner party on Saturday night with some of D$'s co-workers, some who are originally from Brazil. I learned they call a clove of garlic a "tooth of garlic", and as some do in the States, refer to the whole bulb as a head. I think from now on I will also call a clove a tooth...so, with a tooth of garlic and a drizzle of olive oil in goes the chicken.

Once the chicken is no longer pink, I squeeze a half or whole lime as well as a splash of tequila, what ever we have on hand.

When making fajita chickens, I like the chicken to be a bit browned, all that good citrus, tequila and oil just coats on and gives the chicken a great flavor.

The extras: tortillas (made fresh in Tucson), sour cream and shredded cheese.

Warm up a few tortillas on the stove and put everything together!

Big Sur detour

2010-08-31T07:21:00.000-07:00

After the wedding we were headed south on our California road trip. We had all day on Sunday to get to Paso Robles and we decided to take the scenic route, down the Pacific Coast Highway. I was exhausted that day and could hardly keep my eyes open in the car, but when I did look I saw views like this.

We pulled over for brunch at the Big Sur Bakery. D$ had read about it before our trip, but as Big Sur wasn't on our original itinerary he put it out of his head. Until we drove right to it. It is a bakery and a restaurant and we were seated outside in a beautiful little courtyard. Good service and great food enhanced the experience, as did the gallery/recording studio next door. Known for their wood fire grilled breads, fresh butter and sea salt we couldn't pass that up. And a Mexican Coke for me.

I was fascinated with the seasalt that was served with our yummy plate of breads. I haven't been able to find any seasalt like this in Tucson, but if you see it snatch it up for me!

Look at that salt!

After munching on bread, my brunch arrived: a 3 egg omelet with avocado, bacon and cheese, served with a green salad. I have to say, every breakfast should include a salad. The omelet was too big after the bread, but was tasty and had fresh ingredients.

After lunch we got back in the car continuing slowly to Paso Robles. It felt like we pulled over every 15 minutes to look at the scenery, but with views like this it was hard not to stop!

Next up for the road trip re-cap, wine tasting!

Wedding Recap

2010-08-30T06:44:00.028-07:00

The very reason for our road trip was that our friends Jenn and Todd were getting married in Carmel-By-The-Sea, California.

We arrived in Monteray (just a hop skip and a jump north of Carmel) on Thursday and enjoyed an afternoon together on the beach, the boardwalk and tasting wine!

Monteray waters.

Come Friday morning I was happily booked for two full days of wedding stuff. (This is when my missing camera really becomes a tragedy- I had so many good pics from these two days...boo) We started off the weekend with breakfast at Pebble Beach and got our nails did at the spa too.

Pebble Beach, photo courtesy of Jenn L-R: Groom's mom, Jenn the bride, Sara MOH, me, Erika sister of bride and BM

Friday flew by quickly with the rehearsal and reherasal dinner. By the time I got to bed at 11:30- I was pooped!

I woke up at 6:45am on the wedding day and was filled with butterflies and excitement for my friends! Unlike my own wedding day, I was able to go back to sleep for another hour or so...but I was psyched! I met the bride and her sister for breakfast at 9:00am then the hair and make-up prepeartion started! You can see it was a lot of hard work.

We did a lot of laughing! photo courtesy of Erika.

For the first few hours all I did was laugh, eat and sip champagne- but then I worked my tail off for a few hours organizing reception details, counting chairs, running around and making sure details like the 1000 paper cranes (below) that Jenn had folded herself were in order.

Before I knew it- it was ceremony time and I got to see my dear friend walk down the aisle with her dad.

And marry the man she loves.

Then reception time.

Asian Jenn and White Jenn- Tucson besties!

I woke up Sunday morning a little groggy, a little rough around the edges- but so happy for our friends...and feeling relived and excited we still had a whole other week of vacation in front of us!

unless credited, all photos by D$.

Beach Vacation eats

2010-08-27T06:12:00.002-07:00

This year, like last year, D$ and I went to the Florida panhandle to enjoy a beach vacation with my parents and one of my brothers and his family. We didn't think we'd be able to go this year, already having vacationed for two weeks, but we eeked out a few more days vacation and took a long weekend. Being on the Gulf Shores we were worried about what the BP oil spill had done to our favorite beaches. Luckily, Perdido Key has seen little in the way of tar balls or oil slicks. That said, one day I counted about 50 tar balls that had washed ashore, all to be cleaned up in the night by BP contracted clean up workers. (they clean at night using UV lights that make the tar balls glow. not only is it cooler and without tourist, but it makes the oil easier to see.) Ironically, this year was the cleanest, clearest water we've ever seen. One day I was in the water up to my chin and could see to my toes.

BP and FDA officials have said all along that Gulf seafood is safe to eat, and although not plentiful in the regular seafood stores we shop at, it was still tasty. We ate plenty of Gulf shrimp and it tasted the same to me. One surprise this year? We caught our own blue crabs!

We were playing in the water and along the sand when we started noticing an abundance of blue crabs...one morning I counted 37 in a 30-40 minute walk! My brother, always the adventurer, pulled out his buckets and nets and caught us all a crab for lunch. He actually caught about 15-20 crabs, but many were pregnant, so we threw them back in the water. We used a simple herding method, whereas my niece, my dad and I would drive the crabs toward my brother who was waiting with his nets and buckets to snatch them up.

We brought down a cooler to transport our catch up to the condo to be steamed. Trust me when I say these suckers were huge!

One more, missing a claw, straight from the bucket! This guy was particularly aggressive. He almost climbed out of his bucket 3 or 4 times. I bet if he had two claws we never would have stood a chance against him!

Into the pot they go!

Nicely seasoned with some Old Bay!

We enjoyed a crab a piece for lunch on Sunday afternoon. I joked that we were incorporating the first Net-to-table movement in the Gulf Shores area! My mom had forgotten to pack the crab crackers and tools, so we used a pair of pliers, a bottle opener and a leather-man tool to crack and break open our crabs. It was worth the work!

Vietnamese food search in Tucson

2010-08-13T07:50:00.004-07:00

Let's start with a little back story, mkay. My parents live in Kansas and whenever I go back to visit I must eat at two restaurants: Saigon (Vietnamese) and N&J (Lebanese). You didn't expect such great ethnic delicacies in Kansas did you? And I am not alone in my beliefs, my friend Amy has lived in NYC for the last 8 years and has made it her mission to find schawarma and falafel in NYC as good or better than N&J's (FAIL) and spring rolls as good or better than Saigon's (FAIL). For reals ya'll. I've duplicated Amy's search in the Big Apple here in the Old Pueblo. First up, the search for a Saigon substitute.

Saigon Restaurant, Wichita Kansas

Saigon doesn't have the best Pho, but that's fine, I'm not a huge Pho fan- for me, I love crispy spring rolls, rice vermicelli noodles, roasted peanuts, cilantro...and #49 is the menu choice for me. (note: my dad goes there so often, and for so long now when he walks in the door they just ask him how hot he wants his meal and they whip up something different for him, based on what he likes, and usually not from the menu).

Let's fast forward a little. I've lived in Tucson for 9 years and have been tasting my way through the Vietnamese offerings the Old Pueblo has to offer. About 7 years ago, I tried Miss Saigon, didn't have a great meal and never went back, till June of the year. In fact Tucson left me completely at a loss for Vietnamese food, I stopped looking a few years ago. My only relief was trips to Kansas and San Francisco's Slanted Door.

In June a friend invited me to go try Miss Saigon again. I've been back 4 or 5 times since.

#42 from Miss Saigon, Tucson, AZ

Since I was last in 7 years ago, the restaurant has been renovated nicely. The staff is prepared for a lunch rush and food comes out quickly. Service is prompt and polite and the staff seems to recognize regulars quickly. The proximity to the University of Arizona (just a quick walk away) has me worried about how quick and prompt service and seating will be available now that school is back in session, but summer time proves easy to get a table.

The spring rolls have a generous portion of pork in them and when fried (as seen above) they are even tastier and not too heavy with oil. Every time I've been in I order the #42 ($7.99) which the menu describes as "Miss Saigon egg rolls served over vermicelli and greens" and is a common variation of Bún thịt nướng (rice noodle, pork, greens) The rice vermicelli noodles have been perfectly cooked all 5 times I've had this dish in the last month. The key to this dish, what pushes #42 into near perfection for me is the Nước chấm- basically Vietnamese dipping sauce. Miss Saigon's version is perfectly flavored for me and they always serve a generous portion.

A nice touch to the restaurant is every table is stocked with chopsticks, soup spoons, forks and knives. Great for someone like me who starts with chopsticks, moves to the spoon and ends with a fork.

One downside to the menu for vegetarian diners, all soups have either a chicken or fish base. Although they have tofu options and veggie spring rolls, the Pho is chicken broth based, so pickings are slim.

Miss Saigon also has a selection of bubble tea or Pearl Milk tea, and on my last visit I tried one for the first time. Eh. Luckily they have a fine soda selection to choose from.

Parking is always spotty, but again the summer seemed easy enough and hopefully the University traffic won't effect availability.

Overall, I'll be back to Miss Saigon many many times. I'm happy my search for good Vietnamese food in Tucson is over!

Spaghetti with meat sauce

2010-08-12T09:43:00.002-07:00

D$ was feeling a bit under the weather yesterday and ended up staying home from work. So when I called mid-day to ask what he wanted for dinner, I should have known he was looking for comfort food. For D$ there is no greater comfort than Spaghetti and meat sauce.

I make a from scratch, simple sauce. I often start with a diced onion and add my spices to get them fragrant and softened, then add cans of tomato sauce. But there was a failure of communication last night and I had no onion, but I plodded on.

I gathered my ingredients. We were also out of our tomato paste we get that comes in a tube. It is much more convenient than having to buy a can and waste most of it every time you need it. But since we were out, I used a can of paste.

Spices- the good old generic 'italian" spice from McCormicks, oregano and our secret ingredient- dried red pepper flakes. We were able to get some through our CSA not too long ago, and it is so much more flavorful and fresh than the red pepper flakes you get form your grocery store. I highly recommend it, if you can find it! I combined all ingredients together (no real recipe, just keep adjusting for taste), brought to a boil, then took the heat down to let it simmer and thicken for about 40 minutes or so.

After my sauce was thicker and still simmering nicely, I browned our ground beef, added some chopped garlic, salt, pepper and titch more tomato paste. I would usually have some more onions sauteing with the beef, but alas our home was onion free. Since I used 90% lean, grass fed beef (which is leaner anyways), I didn't need to drain off any fat, I just added the whole pan into the sauce.

In the meantime, D$ mixed together softened butter and garlic paste- from a tube! The garlic tends to have more of a kick coming form the tube, but it is perfect for garlic breads and in sauces.

Add to the butter and garlic a bit of oregano and salt and just spread on bread.

It goes under the broiler till just toasted and is the perfect accompaniment to our sgetti and meat sauce!

Topped with some freshly shaved Parmesan cheese! I totally thought it lacked a bit something (have I told you how we didn't have a single onion in the house yesterday- the horror), but it was tasty! Plus we have plenty of sauce left over for lunches. What did you have for dinner last night?

10 tidbits on the 10th

2010-08-10T11:11:00.000-07:00

Things I am loving right now:

1. Walk -About Capris from Lucy. My friend Jenn was wearing them and I fell in love with them. She and I have decidedly different body types. She is slim, slender without a trace of hips. I am not slim nor slender and I have big hips. So when I went to try them on, I held out little hope- but the fit was right for my body and look great on me too!

2. OroWeat Sandwich Thins. Made with No High Fructose Corn Syrup! I put burgers on them, egg sandwiches, tuna, turkey, etc etc. I love them toasted especially and the multi grain and the whole wheat are my favorites.

3. Personalized Stationary! One of my favorite to read blogs is elefantitisalegres and every month the author highlights some sponsors. This post one of the featured sponsors was Minted stationary. I love personalized note cards and have plenty that have just my name on them, but I wanted to add D$ to the mix too. With the $20 off Minted was offering in July, I couldn't pass it up (psst, I just looked and they are offering 15% any kid's stationary now!), so above you'll see our new personalized stationary! I love that we share the same last initial, even though we have different last names, so monograms, etc are still easy. I was pleasantly surprised at D$'s reaction to the delivery, he loves the note cards and is making up reasons to write people!

4. Sleeping in on Saturday mornings. I'm currently not coaching a running group- although we have a meeting this week, so I'll be starting again soon. But as I am not coaching anything, D$ and I have enjoyed sleeping in together on Saturday mornings. And Sunday mornings. It'll all come to an end soon, but for now....

5. Only having 6 more work days till I can squeeze in one last summer vacation! D$ and I are heading back to Florida to see my folks and my brother, sister-in-law and my niece. It'll be a quick trip, but relaxing, overwhelming, exhausting and fun too!

Things I am not loving right now:

1. Back to school commercials. I am not a mom, a student or a teacher, but my busy season at work runs like a school year. From September till May I run ragged at work, plus I also run ragged coaching running. So the constant barrage of back to school commercials leaves the same sinking feeling in my stomach as it did when I was in school.

2. The state of my state. Not to get too political up in here, but Arizona is not a positive place to be right now. Political and racial turmoil, the constant border issues, plus it being primary season, I feel like the tv and newspaper bombard me with negativity.

3. breakups. We've had a rash of good friends (okay like 3 couples, but still a rash) who have broken off their long term relationships. It stinks. And D$ and I struggle to remain neutral and helpful and loving to all involved. But breakups are bad news.

4. Uncertainty. "Now this is a story all about how my life got flipped turned upside down". Well not really. But we've been coasting along for a while and now- BAM- we are flipped turned upside down. We have some decisions to make, some choices to decide on and some paths to walk. Not that life is ever certain, but I feel like even 3 weeks ago we were more certain than we are today.

5. The new OS for the iPhone. I did not upgrade to the new model, but I did download the OS upgrade and it stinks. (go ahead and gloat Tuffy!) It is slow and doesn't do anything exciting. Now I just wait and see when the newest iPhone release will be.

Meatless Mondays?

2010-08-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

I wasn't planning this post. I wasn't planning on Meatless any-day of the week. But let's start at the beginning.

Did I ever tell you that I was at one time in my life a vegetarian? Yes, it is true. For an entire year I ate no meat, no poultry, no fish. (I did eat eggs and dairy). For an entire year after that I added fish, chicken and turkey back in- but I went TWO whole years with no red meat. Yes me, the foodie that spends $62 on 4 oz of beef. (It was sooo worth it). Yes me, the cook who spend lots of weekends roasting, braising, smoking and eating beef. It'll be no surprise to anyone that it was a hot dog that pushed me off the vegetarian wagon and back on to the meat lane.

In all my years not eating meat, I never felt the better for it. In fact, I'll be honest, my vegetarianism was born out of being a poor graduate student. I couldn't afford meat, so I stopped buying it and for a while I didn't miss it. Then I went back to work, made some money and started back eating some meat. But being exclusively vegetarian never really jived with me. I like meat. I feel better with meat based protein in my diet. And apparently it makes you smarter.

But like a lot of you, D$ and I have been revisiting how much meat and what kind of meat we eat. We've stopped eating any beef that isn't grass fed. It adds a bit more to our food budget, but once you go grass, you can't go back. And we do try to eat one or two meatless meals, once a, well, sometimes. However, this morning I heard this piece on NPR.

It is a campaign to get American households to go Meatless on Mondays. Three meatless meals on Monday. I haven't consulted with D$ and frankly we have left over tacos for dinner tonight- so we won't be starting today...but I want to do this. What an easy way to remember to have meatless meals during the week. And Mondays will be way easier than Sundays, because I always have a meatless breakfast during the week.

The rules for our household (barring any disagreement with D$) will be as follows:
no meat
no fish
dairy, specifically, cheese, milk and yogurt are permitted
no eggs
limit pasta based meatless meals to every other week (to be revisited as our meatless recipes grow in number)

At our house, the only meatless meals I know to make (off the top of my head) are all pasta dishes. If you have any meatless recipes to share- please add them to the comments! If you are a carnivore, would you consider a meatless day of the week? Any good vegetarian food blogs I should know about?

click on over

2010-08-06T14:46:00.000-07:00

If you've just been reading in reader- or on google buzz- click on over!

I changed up the background and settings a bit and just today received this wonderful photo of myself taking a picture of food. As a suggestion from the photographer I've added it to the homepage of my blog and here it is below. Notice the look of satisfaction on my face?!

What do you think of the new digs? The picture?

50 best? Maybe 49.

2010-08-06T11:54:00.000-07:00

I love food lists. Bon Appetit often has lists on their website: top 100 this, best 10 that. When I grow up, I will make a living writing food lists, mark my words!

Today I saw an article on foodnetwork.com that had a list touting that the Food Network Magazine had "hit the road to find one burger you absolutely have to try in every state". (You can see the map and listing here). Um yes please.

I happily rolled over each state and saw that I had tried a few of the burgers (Twisted Cork Burger, Omaha, NE; Heart Attack on a Plate, Baltimore, MD) and was pleased with their assessment.

However, the burger choice that stuck in my craw was the choice for California: "double double" from In-n-Out.

Don't get me wrong- I love the double double from In-n-Out...in fact that is what I order when I go to In-n-Out just down the street. You know in ARIZONA. How can the burger choice as the BEST BURGER in the WHOLE state- be available elsewhere?

And really, Food Network, have you been to California? Are you familiar of the Farm to Table movement that California is doing extremely well? (no, here is another food list of best Farm to Table restaurants in the US- two are from California and trust me, I bet the could have picked all 10 from the Golden State alone). And don't even get me started on the grass fed beef movement in this nation that was practically birthed in California alone.

So even if we put aside my complaint that In-N-Out isn't geographically limited to California- you can now get a double double in 4 states, is that really the best burger they could come up with?

The thing with being a food list maker- you will always be wrong, someone will always have a better choice. But to not even try, well that's just pathetic.

I'm disappointed this list didn't come out a few weeks ago, so I could have made it my mission to find the best burger during my California road trip. But, I will be back California...and when I am- I will find the best burger.

What's for dinner?

2010-08-05T09:33:00.003-07:00

The second edition of my new weekly feature, you can see last week's dinner here.

Last night we had one of our favorite summer dinners. Grilled burgers with tons of veggie sides. We use grass-fed beef and for our burgers we like 90% lean. I used to insist on 96% lean- but the burgers easily dry out. Since we've been cutting down on our beef, I figured I could compromise. While D$ made and seasoned the patties with salt and pepper I got together our sides.

I made some Hollandaise sauce for our steamed artichoke. Recipe appears at the end of post!

I pulled out Monday's bean salad from the fridge and gave it a toss.

Sliced the tomato, chopped some Bermuda onion, got out the ketchup and mustard and cleaned the corn!

My burger is done- with one slice of sharp cheddar cheese added. D$ even toasted our buns on the grill (that's what she said).

The artichoke has been steamed and was the best artichoke I've had in a while. Note: I accidentally smudged the lens on my iPhone- so it makes this picture and the next look like I've edited them into a soft light. nope- just smudged!

Dinner in progress- corn, burger, bean salad- yum!

Recipes:

My mom's Hollandaise: quick and easy, just as delish! She's always made it this way, and she has no idea where she got the recipe.

2 egg yolks
juice from half a lemon, to taste
pinch or two of salt
pinch of cayenne (optional)
half a stick of butter*, melted

In blender add your egg yolks, salt and cayenne (if using). Melt the butter in a microwave safe dish, until melted and just started to bubble. Blend yolks and using the center cap of the lid, pour butter and lemon juice into the mixture. Taste and adjust as needed.
* I always use salted butter, plus I've recently switched to the European style for sauces- it is creamier and easier to clarify- if you clarify your butter.

Bean Salad: I have no idea where I got this recipe and a web search didn't pull anything up. I do remember the original recipe calls for fresh green beans too- I have since cut them form the recipe.

1 can of cannellini (white) beans, strained
1-2 medium zucchini, diced
handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
1/2 cup (or more to taste) shaved Parmesan cheese
juice from one lemon, plus a bit of zest
1/4 cup olive oil (or more or less to taste)
salt and pepper

In a bowl, add all ingredients mix well and adjust for taste. I don't measure anything out anymore, I just mix and taste, mix and taste. Sometimes I use two cans of beans and less zucchini, but I always use lots of lemon and lots of cheese! It is one of my favorite summer salads!

5 foods I'm ashamed to admit I love!

2010-08-04T15:58:00.001-07:00

I read this post today by James Oseland, who has been the editor-in-chief of 'Saveur' magazine since 2006. Saveur is filled with food porn for foodies and has a pretty snobbish reputation- so when James admitted to loving the Fillet of Fish sammy at McDonald's- I was a bit taken a back. Which of course got me thinking about 5 foods that I'd be ashamed to let my foodie friends or blog readers know I loved. So without further delay:

5. Peeps. I love them. I love them roasted over an open fire (try it, it is like creme brulee on a stick), I love them a little bit stale, I love them fresh. I love love love them. I do only love them yellow and in chick form. Those purple ones are for the birds.

4. Totino's Pizza Rolls. Soooo bad for you. So much sodium and fake crap in there. But so good. I could eat a box in one siting.

3. Ro-tel and Velveeta. There is not one real, unprocessed ingredient in Velveeta. Ro-tel barely passes for veggies- but something magical happens when you mix them together. Top with some browned beef and serve with tortilla chips.....

2. Wise brand Salt and Vinegar Chips. You can see on the bag it says "no preservatives". hmmm- how come my mouth is preserved in a permanent pucker after eating a handful of these?

1. Pork Rinds. Now they are all the rage for being healthy- but lets face it- they are pig skin that is fried. It is pretty disgusting. But oh lordy, they are salty, crunchy goodness. But- no carbs!

I try very hard to eat unprocessed foods- so it can't be any surprise to you (or to me) that all my top 5 ashamed to admit I love are all processed. And not a little- super processed. Do you have any shameful food loves?

5 A Day

2010-07-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

I have been making more of a conscious effort to get my five servings of fruits and vegetables in everyday. Add to that my dedication to local foods and sometimes it is easier said than done. Bananas aren't an option because they aren't locally grown.

The summer is always the easiest time for me: berries, stone fruits, tomatoes, melons, summer squashes. However, this week I looked up guidelines for what is a serving of fruit and veggies. A plum is only half of a serving. You have to eat four slices of onion for it to count as a serving. I eat a plum a day as soon as they are in season and four slices of onion? that's a stinky proposition.

I load up weekly at my farmer's market in in my locally grown section at my grocery store. Bell peppers, avocado, cherries, cucumber, artichokes, plums, peaches, blueberries, corn, onion, limes. Then I figure out a way to work them in my diet every day. I usually add berries or cherries to my breakfast. Lunch is either a salad or sandwich and if I eat a sandwich I make sure it has tomato slices, avocado, sprouts, apples or some other serving on it. My afternoon snack is a piece of fruit or hummus and carrots. Dinner is always the hardest for me and it shouldn't be. I try to serve a salad or a side veggie with dinner but often I forget to make it or serve it before we sit down to eat.

Do you work on getting in your five servings of fruits and vegetables? How do you incorporate them into meals?

Weeknight: What's for dinner!

2010-07-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

I'm still working out the details, but I thought of a new feature each week that would be easy to keep up with and would focus a bit more on food. My idea: "Weeknight What's for dinner" or "what's for dinner Wednesdays". Since today is Thursday, wil lgo with the first title for now. Here is what we made for dinner last night.

First, I picked some basil from our garden. Does buying two big basil plants from Trader Joe's at $1.99/each and throwing them into pots count as a garden? Yes. Then as I was saying, I picked some basil from our garden.

D$ cooked chicken breasts with olive oil, salt and pepper.

I put together the pesto ingredients: roasted pine nuts, Olive oil, Parmesan cheese and roasted garlic (not shown).

We boiled the whole-grain linguine. We love whole grain pasta, unless we are making our own. it is such an easy way to get extra grains into your diet!

Some pasta, some pesto, some chicken and viola! Dinner!

This is one of our favorite weeknight meals since it is so easy to make. Sometimes we substitute tortellini for pasta and usually we grill the chicken, but we were too lazy to turn on the grill last night.

Here is our recipe for Basil Pesto. Unfortunately, we go by taste, not measurements:

Generous handful (or two) of fresh basil. Rinsed.
about a half a cup of pine nuts, pan roasted
2-3 cloves of garlic, pan roasted
olive oil, as needed
Parmesan cheese to taste
Salt and pepper

Roast your pine nuts and garlic, set aside to let cool slightly. In a blender or food processor add all ingredients, adding the olive oil last. Blend, adding oil as needed to keep it liquid. Adjust for taste and enjoy!

Story: the one when D$ lost me in the tent

2010-07-28T04:37:00.001-07:00

The first night of camping in Sequoia it was COLD. We were at about 6300 feet, near a river and it was raining. cold cold cold. We have sub-zero sleeping bags, so we hunkered in and I prayed I would have to pee at all during the night.

Do you and your family, spouse, partner have a signal for each other when you are in a crowd or separated in the grocery store? We do. Its a two tone whistle (kind of like calling a dog) that when we need to locate each other- we just let it out, the other one whistles back and viola! reunited!

During this cold cold night, I woke up to see D$ leaning out of the tent and very faintly whistling our whistle.
"baby, who you looking for?" said me.
D$ turns to look at me, says "you" and turns back to look outside.

Mind you- it was like 4:00 am.

All of a sudden the light must have turned on in his brain and he whips back around and says "there you are!".

I hadn't actually gone anywhere. I was just so cold that I kept creeping down further and further into my sleeping bag, till eventually my head was next to his waist. So when he woke up and looked for me, he assumed my head would be next to his and when it wasn't, he whistled outside for me.

We've been laughing about that ever since!

Road Trip: Part 1

2010-07-27T07:56:00.002-07:00

Our 2 week trip sits in my mind's eye more like 3 vacations:

Camping
Wedding
Wining

That's how I'll break up the recaps too, first up: Camping!

We camped our first two nights in Sequoia National Park's Lodgepole campsite. It was possibly the best organized campsite we've ever stayed at. (only thing better is back packing in and making your own site) Our site was surrounded by sugar pines and deer, and about a hundred yards away was the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River- so we heard the rushing river all the time.

It was a calming presence. Lodgepole Campsite is home to about 150 individual sites. But it is so well set up, we could only see 4 other sites from our campground. I could walk to the bathroom and to the utility sink to wash our dishes, but we were still isolated that at night we felt alone.

Sequoia is obviously named for the abundance of Sequoia trees in the area. We did a few minor hikes and walked around (and in) the trees. The area is gorgeous and filled with trees and meadows. Sequoia is a National Park success story too. A few years ago, they realized the over abundance of buildings in some areas were affecting the growth of trees- so they tore down the building. The park service realized that after years of suppressing fire- they weren't allowing for any new growth...so if you happened to be a visitor at Sequoia 15, 20, 30 years ago- you'll be visiting a different park these days.

After 2 days and 2 nights in Sequoia and a drive through Kings Canyon National Park (although technically a different park, Kings Canyon and Sequoia are operated together) we headed North to Yosemite. We entered the Park through Tunnel View. I'll let the pic speak for itself.

The reason to visit Yosemite was twofold. 1. We'd never been, and 2. to climb Half Dome. And climb it we did! Here is me at the top!*

We didn't take any photos during the hike- we needed to concentrate on all that walking we were doing! However, you may have heard on the news about the waterfalls in Yosemite this summer.** This summer has proven to be the best summer for waterfalls in Yosemite in some 30 years! And the Half Dome hike took us up not one, but two waterfalls! They soaked us, cooled us and made for a slippery passage. We were really lucky that we were able to see the waterfalls in such glory!

We were supposed to have one more day and night in Yosemite, but honestly, we were so beat up from 15 hours on the trail the day before, we packed our gear and headed to San Francisco! All in all we had 2 nights and 1.5 days in Yosemite. It wasn't my favorite park...mainly because of the amount of people we saw in the park. In comparison, both campsites - Sequoia's Lodgepole and Yosemite's Lower Pines- had 150 spots. In Lodgepole we could only see 4 other sites, in Lower Pines we could see all 150 spots. But we will be back to Yosemite, without a doubt.

Below is my favorite photo D$ took of me on the trip. I woke up the morning after hiking Half Dome- refreshed and sore. Made myself some coffee and hobbled over to the stream to sit and enjoy nature. Unbeknownst to me, he snapped this picture.

Next up: Wedding!

*We hiked 14 miles of the 14 mile trail. (plus another 2 miles to the trail head) We did not climb the cables the last 400 feet. After months of stressing over it and worrying about disappointing D$, I charged onto the cables, only to have D$ call me down after 20 feet. He was scared, and I- relived that he didn't want to climb to the top. There was also a 1 hour delay on the cables. I do not consider our hike a failure because we refrained form the last 400 foot climb...I climbed my ass off- so I conquered Half Dome!

** This report was aired the day we did Half Dome!

I'm back, and plugged in!

2010-07-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

I'm back after our two week road trip! 2579 miles, 5 National Parks, 16 wineries, 1 wedding and tons of fun!

Two weeks ago, right before I left I blogged about unplugging. How did I do? Eh. The first few days I did great- mainly because I had no coverage in the national parks. But I have to admit, as soon as we got to San Fransisco and then spent the rest of the trip heading slowly south to LA...I was on Facebook and emailing a little bit. I posted like a photo a day, and updated my status, I emailed my mom and texted my brother.

I would have liked to done better, in fact D$ asked me a few times to put down the iPhone, but I do feel rejuvenated and refreshed haveing spent 16 days away from the computer, work and reality!

Sad news, I lost my camera- so a lot of my pics I was going to use to update you...have been lost. I've offered a reward (some big bucks too) to get my camera back- but I really just want the pictures....But luckily D$ bought a new camera right before we left, so I have his 500 photos to choose from! In the week ahead I will have a few recap posts to share with you! Also starting this week- I have a new weekly feature to share!

Now back to work...okay okay, back to reading your blog posts I missed while away!

Unplugging

2010-07-08T10:36:00.000-07:00

Lots of bloggers have been writing lately about unplugging- being unplugged. Now it is my turn.

Tomorrow I leave for a 16 day, massive, 2,000 mile California road trip. I will have absolutely no choice but to unplug and I couldn't be happier.

For the first 5 days we'll be in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park, then Yosemite National Park camping. And I mean camping: sleeping in a tent, pooping outside, brushing my teeth in the middle of the woods, using a bear locker, no electrical outlets, camping.

For the three days after that, after we are thoroughly scrubbed and smelling fresh, we will be in Monetary and Carmel celebrating the wedding between two of our favorite people. I am (gladly) booked from 10:30 Friday morning till after the ceremony Saturday night. Meaning that even if I wanted to plug back in....I won't have the time. (well, I WILL call my mom)

From there, we have an entire week of wine tasting and traveling, beach side vineyards and hot springs, another National Park to visit (Channel Islands) and wine to drink and buy. I won't want to be on Facebook when I have a glass in one hand and a view of beautiful California countryside in front of me, will I? Good lord, I hope I can refrain that long.

I am planning for things for us to do- since we will be unplugged. I pulled out cards, Uno, Skip-bo and the poker chips, I found a few other travel games for us to play after the sun goes down while we are camping. We've packed some books and our travel journals. The last time we had a vacation this long was our honeymoon (which was 3 weeks) and that was also the last time we were so unplugged (neither of us had iPhones then).

I was a late convert to the cell phone (got my first one in 2007) smart phone (2009) and Facebook (2008)- but now I can hardly go an hour without texting, checking my email or FB. How did this happen to me? I hope I am up for the challenge of putting down my phone for two full weeks.

(note- I will allow myself to check my email once a day leading up to the wedding- as friend and confidant to the bride- my services may be needed. We will also be using the GPS feature from time to time).

wish me luck and I'll see you in 16 days!

follow up

2010-07-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

I received an email from a reader asking how eating dinner at the table is going. I have to say- it is going really really well.
Since we've set out to tackle this, our step towards adulthood, we have eaten dinner at the table for every meal we've eaten at home.

Some (unexpected) side benefits:
- table is clean and clear of mail clutter!
- kitchen is cleaner, since the dining room is adjacent it is easier to work together to clear the table and load the dishwasher- every night!
- with exception of Saturday and Sunday morning (Wimbledon), the TV hasn't been on in 2 weeks. It is lovely!
-more conscious of our servings and meal portions.

However the change hasn't been all wonderful and roses. There has been some adjustment. D$ is the silent type and I am.... not. I love the power of silence, but at meals I want to chat a little bit. This has proven to be the hardest adjustment. Me shutting up, him opening up. But we'll get there together.

Every meal growing up, my family ate together at the table. Same with D$. I'm not sure how we fell into the TV room pattern, but it is nice and fresh to be away from the TV.

I think our big test will be in a few weeks when we return from vacation and even more so when the fall TV season starts. Hopefully we will have developed such a regular pattern by late Septemeber that the TV season will start without us noticing a change in our dining habits!

Holiday weekend, what I loved

2010-07-06T09:34:00.000-07:00

I hope you had a fabulous 4th of July weekend!

I used to love love love the 4th of July. Then I moved to the desert. It is too hot for picnics, it is too dry most years for fireworks- and for a few of my 4ths in Arizona we've had forest fires visible to act as nature's fireworks show.

Most years I sulk around, stuck indoors and resign myself to watching the PBS fireworks show. well this year we had plenty of rain and the Old Pueblo made up for years past. Since we live just North of the city and at a higher elevation than most of Tucson- we were able to see 4 fireworks shows from our porch! It was lovely!

Beyond my excitement of the fireworks I had walked into this weekend realizing I need to start embracing Tucson 4th of July traditions (or lack of traditions) as this was my 8th year celebrating in the Old Pueblo. Following are a few things I loved this weekend:

I know I am probably the last person on earth to read this- but I gobbled it up. I started it Friday and finished it Sunday. It takes a minute to get into, but once you do- watch out! I thought Stieg Larsson's writing was the perfect mix of Thomas Harris, Dan Brown and John Grisham (good John grisham, like Pelican Brief, JG) and I mean all of those comparissons to be compliments!

Fried Chicken. D$ found a great fried chicken recipe and he has made it twice in 10 days for me. We had it on 4th of July before heading outside to watch the fireworks. He even made extra to take on our hike yesterday!

We may be in the desert, but we live in the midst of the Sky Islands. Sky Islands is a term that refers to high mountainous regions that are surrounded by low elevation valleys. So unlike the Rockies, where the 14,000 peaks are in surrounded by 9,000 foot "valleys", our local mountain, Mt Lemmon peaks at 9200 feet above a valley floor of 2500 feet. Like a lot of Old Pueblo residents we escaped the heat on the valley floor and drove 1 hour to temperatures 20 degrees cooler. We had a great hike through the pines- and had left over chicken to boot!

Edward, Jacob, Jacob, Edward- how is a girl to decide? Officially Team Jacob here, especially as Rob Pat did not take my breath away at all in this movie. In the previous films- Edward had an entrance and I loved that...here, not so much. But I agree it si def the best of the three , even if stupid Bryce Dallas Howard was in it.

Plums! I love this time of summer when the berries are still ripe and now all the stone fruits: plums, peaches, apricots are rippening and are so delicious!

Of course the best part of every long weekend is naps. I enjoyed several! I hope you got a nap in too, what was your favorite part of the holiday weekend!

Ramen- an undertaking

2010-07-02T06:50:00.055-07:00

This marks the return of Foodie Fridays! Enjoy! Warning: picture overload!

This tale starts in December of 2009 when driving home I heard a story on NPR featuring David Chang, NYC chef and restaurateur speaking about his 8 hour ramen broth. WHAT!?!? Ramen takes 2 minutes and is delicious, why would you need to make ramen broth for 8 hours?

Needless to say- I was intrigued. I asked for and received his cookbook/biography/free association food journal "Momofuku" for Christmas. I was immediately overwhelmed and unimpressed. The pictures were pretty- but making broth for 8 hours was the least complicated of all menus. But, D$ and I did have this NYC trip coming up, so we made sure to put at least one of David Chang's Momofuku restaurants on the list of "must eats" for our trip.

Those visits are the stuff for another blog post, but we ate at the Momofuku Noddle Bar and Momfuku Ko. The Noodle Bar held one draw: Ramen. We ate it, we loved it and upon our return to Arizona we planned to conquer it!

A few weeks later after scouting out Asian markets and off-the beaten path markets all around town, we had identified almost all of our ingredients or found appropriate substitutions- we blocked out an entire weekend, invited friends (in fact the friend that first made Ramen for me- adding an egg!) and got cooking. Below is a photo essay of our 2 day cooking extravaganza.

The complete ramen recipe fills up 17 pages of the cookbook. To make the momofuku ramen recipe required us to make the following recipes: ramen broth, tare, pork belly, pork shoulder for ramen, slow-poached eggs. The recipe also called for us to make alkaline noodles, but suggested just purchasing them- we purchased them. Additional recipes from the book we did make were: bamboo shoots and seasonal vegetables aka collard greens.

This is the inspired dish- taken with my iPhone at Momofuku Noodle Bar.

The very first step, removing konobu from the water after steeping it for 20 minutes. One step down- a billion to go!

I cut out about, oh, 40 pictures between the last photo and this one...but the pot on the left contains the Tare (used to season the broth) and the broth is on the right.

This is the broth, after about 6 hours. We've already added and removed: konobu, mushrooms, carrots, onion and now pork bones are in and seasoning nicely!

This photo was taken at about 10:30pm. After the broth had been cooking for 8 hours and was cooling to go into the fridge.

I woke up at 7:00am on Sunday to put the pork belly in the oven. The belly had been seasoned with sugar and salt and rested in the fridge overnight.

The pork belly after it roasted in the oven for 2 hours. Sliced about 1/2 inch thick- it is the most tasty, juiciest piece of meat you'll ever had. I describe it as pork tenderloin with bacon right on top. mmm.

Next- the pork shoulder goes in the oven. The shoulder was also seasoned in sugar and salt and rested overnight in the fridge.

While the pork cooked, I got working on the creme de la creme- slow poached eggs. Keeping the water between 140 and 145 degrees, you poach the eggs for 45-50 minutes. You'll notice the steamer basket on the bottom- that is to keep the eggs from laying on the direct heat.

After being plunged into cold water- the eggs can be refrigerated than just heated under hot running water when you are ready to eat. Once they are warmed, you just crack the shell and out comes this luscious, perfectly cooked egg.

Shoulder cooked and rested, now ready to be shredded! (you can spy that D$ is wearing my Winnie the Pooh apron!)

Some of the extras: pork shoulder shredded, scallions, collard greens (cooked in bacon!), nori- all ready to go in the broth! (not pictured: fish cake, bamboo shoots, pork belly, noodles)

Getting close! broth, pork belly, egg, shoulder, noodles, nori.....

A blurry photo- but it shows the whole dish. From the top, clockwise: fish cake, pork shoulder, pork belly, noodles, egg, nori, collard greens, and bamboo shoots

Close up, on my iPhone- after I cracked the egg and before I devoured the ramen.

It was a great two days of cooking- and could easily be crammed into one, especially now that we know what we are doing. After completing these recipes that make up the ramen dish, I am no longer intimidated by David Chang's cookbook, nor am I intimidated by Asian Markets! D$ and I cook very well together- him taking on big picture items (the broth) and me tackling the details (eggs, greens, bamboo shoots). Once fall and cooler weather rolls in, we'll be making this again!

A step towards adulthood

2010-07-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

D$ and I are making a little step towards adulthood (as defined by me). We are eating dinner -every night- at the table instead of in front of the tv where until now the majority of our meals are consumed.

I love love love table linens and setting a table. We have four complete set of dishes (although clearly I love my Blue Willow knock-offs the best). I love setting a table for a dinner party (even if it is only 4 people)...mixing and matching my linens and dishes, utilizing some great antique serving dishes I have, with our thoroughly modern cookware.

I have an antique table I love to show off. In the above photo we made Bouef Bourgiognon. Served straight from our Mario Batali Dutch Oven, eaten off my Blue Willow plates, using my grandmothers silver, and drinking wine from our Riedel Cab glasses. okay, okay- its not the best table scape- but after cooking for ever- it was the best I could do!

Our most recent dinner "party". We served Momufuku Ramen (write up coming tomorrow!), I decorated the table with my favorite William Sonoma Provence Table cloth and napkins and served the ramen out of two borrowed bowls (shown in picture) that were conveniently blue and two Blue Willow serving bowls. I received the ramen spoons as a hostess gift- and look how perfectly the "match" with the table!

Every night I won't be setting a table like that (although if a tablecloth is still on- we'll use it), but we've made a decision to move our dinner from in front of the tv to the table. No distractions- just us, eating and talking. I feel like this is a good step towards adulthood- what we've done is set our priorities. The priority is enjoying a meal together- not The Bachelorette. We put a lot of love and care into most meals- yet then we would slump over the coffee table and eat off our laps in silence as we watched the latest Ken Burns documentary on PBS (we don't have cable, yo- we make do).

It is decision, a move we've made together- and I'm sure we will slip, but it wil force us to share a bit more and chat and it'll force me to keep the mail from piling up on the table!

Where do you eat your meals? What's the new "adult" thing you are doing?

Story Time- summer vacation Fail. and not so fail.

2010-06-28T09:59:00.001-07:00

When I was 13 we moved to Kansas. Every summer vacation until that point consisted of us driving to the beach for a week or more. And really every vacation since has been the same. But that year of the move, since we living "out west" we scrapped the beach vacation and went on a western road trip.

We went to Colorado, New Mexico, we got to the 4 corners, we spit off the Royal Gorge Bridge and climbed Anaszai Cliff Dwellings. It was a really great two week road trip through parts of the United States none of us had ever seen.

The summer was 1990 and according to wikipedia, the Internet was just being launched. I asked my dad just the other day how he planned this vacation. D$ and I are currently planning a 2 week road trip through California and if it weren't for the Internet, we would have no where to stay, no where to eat, no campsite reserved, etc etc. My dad said he called up chamber of commerces, visitor bureaus and sent away for books and brochures. The went to the library and checked out books, planned they routes on maps and called -he CALLED- hotels to book our stays. I honestly can't even fathom this process even though it was a common practice in my lifetime....

Back to the Fail.

We hit the road and are on our way into Colorado when my dad asks my mom to pull out the notebook filled with our hotel reservations.
Rut row.

No notebook. We left it on the kitchen table.

We have two weeks of traveling ahead of us and have no idea where we are staying.

We pulled into the first hotel/motel we saw and if they didn't have a reservation for us, my dad ended up asking for a phone book, used the hotel house phone (no cell phones, yo) and called and called and called till we found our hotel. Sometimes it was way easy, sometimes not. But only once during our trip did we not find the hotel we were supposed to stay at.

That night we just got the only room in town and the hotel didn't have a pool (a family requirement after a days drive in the car). But the hotel next door had a pool. And this was the moment I learned the best life lesson ever.

As we were sneaking into the hotel with pool, my dad grabbed towels from the cart, handed them to me and said "act like you belong". I did and we didn't get kicked out.

Act like you belong has been such an important phrase in my life. I work in an area where most people don't reach my position til they are 10, 15, 20 years my senior. I often have to act like I belong as not to get the "how old ARE you?" speech. It doesn't help that at 33, I still get carded for R rated movies- no joke. Also, in my foodie pursuits...we end up at restaurants where the average age of the wait staff is older than us, let alone the other clientele. We usually get some looks like "how did they get in here?". Acting like we belong does wonders for this (and some food knowledge and my remedial French helps too!). From job interviews, to crashing hotel conferences for the buffet lines (it's happened)- act like you belong has made a big impact on my life.

And to think, it all stemmed from the could have been disastrous vacation. What's your most memorable summer vacation? Any life lessons you parent(s) imparted on you?

Last Meal

2010-06-23T11:28:00.000-07:00

I am vehemently anti-death penalty and this post is in no way intended to make light of the death penalty process or justify that process in any way. This post merely reflects what has been on my mind lately.

With last weeks awful execution of Utah inmate Ronnie Lee Gardner, we learned of his last meal request which included steak, lobster, 7-Up, apple pie, vanilla ice cream This prompted MSN.com to have a search special of famous last meals; who and what they ate including Jesus and Homer Simpson.

I too have been considering what my last meal would be if I had the opportunity to plan and eat a last meal.

Let's start with beverages shall we?
I'd like a bottle of the Charles Heidseick 1981 vintage Champagne. It retails for about $600 a bottle. I once had a glass of it for $80. I know, I know- one glass for $80?! It was soooo worth it. I can still taste the bubbles on my tongue.

I considered adding a few more beverages- but, really if I had this champagne- then I don't think I would need much else.

First Course.

Hands down- a dozen oysters. Give me a lemon, some salt and let me get to work.

Second Course.

A poached egg salad. If you know my eating preferences- you knew an egg was going to show up soon! Give me some rustic greens, a piece of great, toasted bread, a poached egg, maybe a beet or two- or even some steamed asparagus. Add bacon and a light vinaigrette.

Main Course.

Today, since it is summer, my preference leans towards a lightly seared piece of ahi tuna served with a creamy polenta, fresh green beans and topped with a bit of lobster butter. Lobster butter is just that, butter with pieces of lobster meat in it! Yum!

Dessert.

A cheese course for me, served with fresh berries and spiced nuts.

I just realized as I wrote this out, that in a month or even a week- my last meal would consist of different options. And of course winter and fall foods would be more prominent in my dishes during those seasons.

What would your last meal look like? Would it change depending on the season and freshness of food?

Story time- zoo

2010-06-22T10:00:00.001-07:00

I've told this story a thousand times, at least, and I told it yesterday to some co-workers and one laughed so hard she peed her pants- so I figured I share it with you!

When I was 13 we moved to Kansas. I had never lived in a big city per se, but moving to Kansas was like moving to a new world.

We moved the summer before my freshman year. That was the worst- I had a whole summer with no friends and nothing to do. So my mom got to work setting me up volunteering, going to day camps, etc.

One of my volunteer jobs that summer was as a Shadow at the zoo! I followed a zookeeper 3 days a week and helped out. I love animals and never had that drive to be a veterinarian, but I loved this job! Also we'd never lived in a city with a zoo- so just to be able to go there 3 times a week was fun enough.

Because I was pretty green- I didn't even ride a horse till last year, and don't think I'd ever been close to one until that summer- I was assigned to the American and Asian Barns. My first day I saw a cow's placenta being removed by a shop vac. I learned and saw things I never had before.

My typical shift was 8-1 and I cleaned up the goat and sheep poop from the petting zoo. I cleaned up camel poop, horse poop, cow poop. You get the picture. I mucked out stalls, carried water and hay, etc etc. Each week I had a fun task I looked forward to immensely! Every Wednesday I got a big 10 gallon bucket and headed over to the chick incubator. I would pick out 10-12 chicks, petting them, nuzzling them the entire time. From there I got to drive the golf cart with the bucket next to me, across the zoo to the Rain Forest building. I knocked on the back door and exchanged my chick filled bucket with an empty one from whomever opened the door. It was a quick trip, I hoped back into my golf cart and back to the poop.

My last week of volunteering, after 8 weeks of the same routine, I gathered up my chicks, hopped in my cart, waited at the back door....it was MY LAST DAY. And for some reason, curiosity got the best of me and I asked the zookeeper who opened the back door:
"what do you do with all those chicks?"
him: "Would you like to see?"
me- innocently and young: "Sure!"

I followed him in the back of the building and over to the back of some displays. He handed me a pair of leather gloves, just like the ones he wore, and said "just in case you get in the way".

Some of you already know where this is going. I did not. I honestly had no clue what was happening next. I do remember vividly then bile rising in my throat, I realized whatever was going to happen next was not good.

He reached in the bucket for a chick and motioned for me to do the same. He opened up the back of the display and there was the biggest snake I've ever seen in my life. He dropped the chick into the display and I watched in horror as the mighty snack attacked and swallowed the chick in an instant. I immediately began balling and hyper ventilating trying to find my way out of the building. When my zookeeper (the zookeeper I had shadowed all summer) found me a few minutes later I was still crying and spouting off that I was the Hitler of the Zoo. They called my mom and I left my shift early and never volunteered for the zoo again.

I was upset for days. I truly believed I had caused those chicks to die. I now recognize the humor and silliness of it all, as well as the circle of life lesson there. I was the perfect picture of Pollyanna- some young girl, new to Kansas who had never been to a farm and whose exotic zoo experience was fulfilled by cleaning up sheep poop. Of course I would be traumatized by what I had done.

My parents still live in that community and whenever we go to the zoo, I always apologize to the chicks in the incubator and my father still laughs at me.

Birthday Party Fun!

2010-06-18T13:27:00.000-07:00

Otherwise known as the last post regarding my birthday!

It has been years since I've had a birthday party. I don't have that many friends and frankly, I always feel like inviting the ones I do to a party is a huge inconvenience to people. And I'm always worried about groups meshing- I had one memorable b-day dinner a few years ago with two people dear in my life at the time- and it was a huge fail. I digress, but I just don't do b-day parties. But this year, this was the first birthday I had in a while that made me feel like I had a party.

Me and D$, looking like we like each other, at dinner.

There were only four of us: me (duh), D$, Jenn and Todd. D$ planned the whole evening, without any cajoling or input from me! He kept the plans a secret from me until the morning of my birthday. I was so happy and excited- the birthday fun included dinner and bowling! I love to bowl, I just don't do much of it anymore and am always asking for D$ to go with me, so huge points for him, for picking a fun activity.

Check me out! My approach on one of the many strikes I had. 5 is many, right?

Me picking up a spare.

Enjoying our bowling fun!

The four of us after 3 games of bowling!

Happy Birthday!

2010-06-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been a year for this little blog of mine! This day last year I posted my first post over here after almost 2 years of blogging on that other blog of mine. Last year I found it fitting that the first post of this new blog be the day after my birthday. I kind of like the symmetry that the renewal of this blog also take place around my birthday, around this blogs birthday!

I've got some great posts planned for the up coming months and bear with me as I find the new direction, the purpose of this blog! Happy Birthday!

A letter to myself regarding my upcoming birthday

2010-06-14T10:42:00.004-07:00

Dear Jennifer,

Another birthday is right around the corner. You've already been celebrating, receiving cards and enjoying a birthday brunch yesterday. Tomorrow D$ has a surprise in store along with your own planned activities: a run by yourself in the morning, breakfast with work friends, sushi lunch with a friend, a work happy hour, then a surprise with D$ and maybe a friend or two. The love and friendship in your life is clear and evident. Cards from friends you've lost touch with and haven't seen in months, the calls you'll get tomorrow from your brothers and nieces, parents and in-laws will be welcomed and appreciated.

32 hasn't been so bad. It started off with an air of uncertainty: a ripple in the calm waters of your new marriage, your beliefs, your ideals; but you and D$ overcame that roadblock with amazing grace and fortitude and calmed the waters. This wrinkle, ripple, speed bump- let it be a reminder of your marriage's fortitude and the love you have for D$.

All those things you wanted in your thirty second year? A house, a better body, a personal record in a race, maybe a baby? Those goals can all wait till 33 or maybe till 43. There is no rush. That timeline society offers? 1. go to college, 2. get married, 3. buy a house. 4. have a baby.....that doesn't have to be you. There is no pressure from family or D$ to accomplish those "goals" in order- only the perceived pressure from society you put on yourself. This year, this birthday- focus on judging your success, your happiness by your own yardstick- not by anyone else's.

32 brought you some great vacations: the beach, SF, Washington DC, NYC and Denver- 33 will bring you some more grand adventures. Hiking half-dome, witnessing a dear friend get married, time near some water, time with family.

33 is approaching with a different air of uncertainty. For years you've thought of Tucson as your home. This August will be your 9th year in the Old Pueblo...that's the longest you've lived anywhere. Ever. And it may remain your home forever, but, for now, we explore our options. Weigh the pros and cons and delight over the possibilities that staying or leaving could bring. {Edit- we are not planning on moving, we have no where decided, nothing is set in stone....in fact this has only been batted around for the last 4 days.}

This birthday year focus on gratitude. Gratitude for your friends, family, your health, your husband. Practice mindfulness. Be in the moment. Enjoy the moment you are in...as much as possible.

May this next year be grand. May you be surrounded by love and friendship the whole year through. May you be at peace with yourself.

Happy Birthday,
Jennifer

Where you been?

2010-06-10T11:25:00.000-07:00

I received a comment today from Busted Kate that spurred me in to action! Where have I been? Here and there and not in a blogging mood.

I often think of my intentions for blogging- probably more deeply than I need to. Do I do this for money, or the possibility of making money someday? nope. I won't ever monetize my blog (no judgement on those who do), just not my deal. Do I do this for a release for enjoyment? kind of. But the posts I really enjoy writing never got any comments. So do I write for comments? Hells yeah, who doesn't?

I keep thinking of quitting the blog, revamping my blog, whatever. I recently realized though- it doesn't have to be hard.

So heres the deal. I'm going to write my little blog and hope that maybe some of what I write catches on with some people. Even if by some people for a while that just means me.

Food is what I love to write about- and I'm getting pretty good, having etched out a little free-lance business of my own. I think continuing to write about food on here will help me with my food writing elsewhere.

The other thing I love? Coaching. I have a ten year plan that involves coaching and exercise and bringing that to the masses. So from time to time, I may write about that.

The rest of the time- I'm going to stop worrying about comments, lack of comments, followers, reader counts etc and just enjoy this online journal of sorts for myself.

So thats where I've been and this is where I'm going.

Traveling Road

2010-04-27T09:56:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow D$ and I leave on our NYC trip. It is his first anniversary, graduation and b-day present from me. We discussed last night how well we travel together. I tried to count how many trips we've taken together, but too many to count. We took our first big trip together 2 years into the relationship- a 10 day excursion to the British Isles. That was when we really cut our traveling together teeth. Here are a few tips we've learned to travel better together:

Scheduling: I need more of a structured vacation. I like schedules and agendas. D$ is more of a spontaneous traveler. This is fine for trips to San Francisco where we know we will return year after year, but for Mexico City or Europe when the return trip (if ever) is uncertain we are able to meld more into my style of traveling. We actually schedule free time, or "D$ time" into our days- so if we see a cafe we can wonder in and sit for an hour, or if I see a store I need to check out we have time for that. On vacations that are more relaxation based- no schedule needed!

Fights: We allow for one fight a day. Especially on the travel day. We get weary, tired and irritable. Those fights are usually over if we should eat here or there, cab or bus, etc. We've agreed that these fights will happen (and many days they don't) so we just vent, get it out and move on.

Sleep: I sleep on the plane- always. In fact if you put me in a moving car for more than 30 minutes, I'm out. D$ is not a plane sleeper. So the first night somewhere usually results in me wide awake and him sound asleep. And if we are in a one room hotel room, that can get iffy. We compromise here too. D$ wakes me up after an appropriate time on the flight. If I'm wide awake and he isn't, I get TV privileges or I head down to the hotel bar. After the first day we are usually back on track.

Food: I'm the more adventurous eater, D$ is more comfort food oriented. We tend to meld well together and both needs get met easily. It has produced a few solo meals- which after traveling and being together all day everyday, is not a bad thing!

Solo Time: We try to schedule some solo time each day. Just a half an hour- where I go this way, you go that. Shopping excursions and museums offer the best and safest opportunity for this. If we are unable to use cell pones to meet back up, we always have a meeting place set before hand and a specific time to meet up. He's never lost me yet, so it works well.

Photos: My oldest brother gave me this piece of advice before D$ and I when to the British Isles: ask someone to take a picture of you at least once a day. I am the Queen of self-portraits, but it really is great if you have a nice photo of the two of you more than an arms length away. We've gotten some of our favorite shots together this way.

Any travel together tips you have to share?

10 on the 10th, or 10 on the 15th

2010-04-15T10:55:00.000-07:00

I forgot to do my monthly 10 on the 10th series- so here is 10 on the 15th! Happy Tax day, yo!

1. My parents were here for an amazing visit. NCAA tournament watching, Spring Training, hiking, food, food, food. We had a wonderful visit. I miss them already and can't wait to see them soon.

2. NYC trip is just 13 days away! We have lots of meals booked, site seeing planned and now we are just trying to fit in visiting time with everyone we love in the NYC area!

3. I'm trying to figure out what was in the water 10-9 months ago. I know of 11 babies born since February 8th. No joke. I should have taken out stock in Babies-R-Us for all the gifts we've been sending!

4. We just enjoyed a Patty Griffin concert this week. She played our favorite song that was one of the processional songs we played at our wedding. It was great to hear it live.

5. We joined Netflix about a month ago and have been loving the on demand movies and shows. Our laptop is about the same size as our lone TV in the house, so we watch a lot of movies right on Conky Jr. I had a few days off this month and I watched Seasons 1-3 of Weeds on Netflix- good fun!

6. We are gearing up to hike Half Dome this summer. We've been hiking about 2-4 miles during the week and are scheduled to do 7-16 mile hikes on the weekends. I'm tired just thinking about all the mileage we are doing.

7. Remember my dreams of being a tri-athlete? Although running is going well (amazingly well right now- I love it) and I get about an hour in the pool each week- I've never purchased a bike. This weekend we are heading down to the Annual Bike Swap and I'm hoping (fingers crossed) to find a used bike that is just my size!

8. Remember how I just wrote that running is going well? It is although I was just diagnosed with tendonitis in my left leg. Luckily (knock on wood) I was in gut wrenching pain for two days but not one twinge of pain since. But coaching 3 days a week- starting this week has kept me motivated and moving!

9. We had a birthday celebration at work this morning and I just had the tastiest pineapple! Yummy way to start out the day!

10. My right arm has been sore all morning and I couldn't figure out why, until now Last night I grated about a pound of mozzarella and I'm pretty sure that was the culprit of my soreness. I guess I need to hit the weights a little more!

Triple A throw down.

2010-04-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Where to begin. I love my husband and I love his mother- but sometimes, just sometimes, I don't understand.

A little background: D$ and I joined our car insurance policies right after we got married (reason 769 to get married- our insurance rates when down). Until that merger- D$ was still covered on his parents plan. He paid his share, but I guess it was just a big happy family plan. A few years ago at work- I was able to get on the work Costco membership thing. D$ could join too. Until then, you guessed it, he was under his parents' membership. He also is still covered by his parents' AAA membeship.

This is a man who has been financially independent for about half of his life and has received no financial support from his parents in a long time.

I think some of this tag along was because of proximity. My parents live in a city void of a Costco- so we can't share a membership. As soon as I moved 1000 miles away, I needed to be on my own car insurance. D$'s family? They all live within 1.5- 2 hours of each other. So some of it makes good fiscal sense.

But the one that sticks in my craw is the AAA card. Once a year D$ receives his new card, but I don't get one. I don't really know how to explain this without sounding selfish- and maybe I am just being selfish...but I feel it is a slap in my face to cover D$, but not me. I am sure they couldn't add me to their plan, because I didn't change my name, but if D$'s car safety is so important to his parents that they continue to cover him on their AAA membership...perhaps they would get us a family membership, but they don't. They only choose to cover him.

Maybe this is me trying to find my place in his family (it's a moving target, let me tell you). Maybe my feelings are of jealousy that his mom is still taking care of him. Maybe this is a non issue that I should just learn to live with....but when I see that AAA card, it just eats at me. With all the other passive-aggrssive battles his mother and I have had I feel like this is a control issue with his mom.

I have to remind myself to pick my battles. There will be bigger issues (or let us pray this is the biggest!) that I'll need to put my foot down about, so until then I quietly (well not so quietly to some of my friends) stew about D$'s ever present AAA card. I have a vision that for my child's 16 b-day they will receive a AAA membership from my in-laws while I am still uncovered. sigh.

Question

2010-04-12T09:34:00.000-07:00

Yesterday D$ and I celebrated our 18 month wedding anniversary in style: watching the masters, Tecates on the porch in the afternoon and a lovely dinner. Really it was just another Sunday- but we did make a point in recognizing our 18 months as husband and wife.

We started discussing the length of our newlywed status. How long is the honeymoon stage? How much longer (if at all) our we considered Newlyweds? Merriam-Webster defines "newlywed" as a person recently married. Recent is defined as a time not too long past.

What do you think? Are we still newlweds? Still in the honeymoon stage? Or have we made the transition to old married couple?

My 19 seconds of stardom!

2010-04-07T09:56:00.005-07:00

Remember in January when I wasn't sure if I should participate in that tv show?

I ended up going in for filming. 2 hours on Friday and 4 hours on Saturday. I had a lot of fun and enjoyed my interview time, as well as the second day when I had a few friends who joined me.

Last night was the premier (and 3 replays!) of my big moment! My 15 to 20 minute interview was edited down to 19 seconds of basically nodding, but I at least made an appearance on the show!

Here are a few pictures from the three ring circus!

Friends Todd & Beth with host Camille Ford.

Me and John Fina and 2 Super Bowl rings!

The picture that started it all. Me and The El Guerro Canelo cart from my wedding!

Um, me booing my heart out.

Friends Jenn & Todd make an appearance on the TV screen!

Todd so intense!

My favorite screen shot of the night. Butter IS love Daniel!

Photo courtesy of Jenn- the second day of filming!

I wouldn't change a thing- I had a blast- except for my excessive nodding I don't think I made an idiot out of myself and really had fun! Now I just have to sit back and relax and let the hot dog based opportunities roll in!

If I were

2010-03-29T12:07:00.002-07:00

Stolen from Linda at Silly little Mischief:

If I were a month, I’d be March.
If I were a day of the week, I’d be Saturday.
If I were a time of day, I’d be evening.
If I were a planet, I’d be Mars.
If I were a sea animal, I'd be a seal.
If I were a direction, I’d be northeast.
If I were a piece of furniture, I’d be a porch swing.
If I were a liquid, I’d be beer.
If I were a gemstone, I’d be amethyst.
If I were a tree, I’d be a juniper.
If I were a tool, I’d be drill
If I were a flower, I’d be a mum.
If I were a kind of weather, I’d be a summer thunder storm.
If I were a musical instrument, I’d be a horn.
If I were a color, I’d be brown.
If I were an emotion, I’d be anticipation.
If I were a fruit, I’d be a lime.
If I were an element, I’d be oxygen.
If I were a car, I'd be a clunker.
If I were a food, I’d be Sonoran hot dog.
If I were a place, I’d be Pittsburgh, PA.
If I were a material, I’d be cotton.
If I were a scent, I’d be grass.
If I were an animal, I'd be a dog.
If I were a facial expression, I’d be a smile.
If I were a song, I’d be "Eternal Source of Light Divine".

If I were a pair of shoes, I’d be flip flops.

When it rains it pours.

2010-03-25T08:50:00.002-07:00

My parents arrive tonight for a long weekend visit (YIPPEEE!). I, as usual, am so excited to see them, watch some KSU b-ball, go to spring training, hike some trails and just be with them.

However, the timing has proven to be a bit troublesome.

A buddy, Scott, from KSU, who I practically lived with for one semester my sophomore year (I was dating his roommate Clint) is in Arizona visiting Clint who lives in Phoenix. Clint and I ended our relationship on really great terms and remained friends for the rest of our time together in school and the three of us had some really really fun times. Well Scott's timing just stinks as he arrived in Phoenix this morning. I won't be able to see them, meet Scott or Clint's wives or get to reminisce about the "good old days".

Another friend- D$'s good friend and his partner- are down from Phoenix this weekend and were hoping to get together for dinner or drinks. I *think* we'll be able to see them for a happy hour (my parents met them at the wedding and LOVED them- really who doesn't love a gay couple?!) but not nearly the time they had hoped to spend with us.

Seriously people- I went since December without a single visitor. And now everyone descends on Arizona and Tucson the same weekend. I'm bummed I wont see Scott or Clint- but I am pretty psyched to see my folks in a few hours!

Braggy braggy

2010-03-24T12:14:00.003-07:00

If you've read this blog for more than like a week- you know that I'm always trying to be more fit,become more active, lose weight, feel better...blah blah.

I try and try again- as a lot of people do. But in recent months I've taken what feels like a new approach for me. It's no miracle, no super diet- it is just NOT dieting. I've eliminated some foods (candy) and actively try to eat more of others (veggies) but that's it. I exercise the same amount, I drink just as much (but not TOO much) as before and we eat a lot of homemade pizza (sidebar: do you ever get into a food rut? We ate pizza 4 nights in a row last week. But I feel since we make the dough and load it with veggies and herbs it's better for us, right? RIGHT?)

Anywho- the braggy part. In one month I have lost 3 inches! A pound here and there- but THREE inches. 1.5 from my chest, .5 from my waist and 1.0 from my hips!

I did recently watch "Food, Inc", but I can honestly say it didn't change how we eat too much since a) I stopped eating fast food almost a year ago after watching "Super Size Me"; b) we joined our CSA in August; c) we eat primarily grass fed beef and organic eggs and organic pork and d) I've consistently watched our/my High Fructose Corn Syrup intake for a year and for reals, what little I take in- I'm unwilling to give up.

I'm just happy to see some movement- hence the braggy braggy- and wish me luck as I continue to get fit, become more active, lose weight, feel better...blah blah.

Spring has sprung!

2010-03-23T09:50:00.003-07:00

Saturday was the Vernal Equinox and for the first time in my 9 years in Tucson- we had a winter! And spring is arriving slowly. We had our first 80 degree day last week (usually it arrives mid-february) and all the snow we had on Mt Lemmon is slowly melting.

Spring and summer means 1 thing in our house. Cocktails on the porch!

Last night was no exception! We had our first batch of Margatinis (part margarita, part martini) and enjoyed them with a little fresh made salsa on the porch.

Margatinis:
1 part fresh squeezed lime juice
2 parts blanco tequila (we use Sauza)
1 part Contrauir
1 part Sprite (I use diet sprite to cut some calories)

Pour over ice into a shaker, shake well
pour up into a salted martini glass
Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

2010-03-18T10:09:00.004-07:00

This is my favorite time of the year. Nope not St. Patrick's Day or the Lenten Season- but rather- NCAA Tournament time!

It is like Christmas and my b-day all rolled into one. 16 games today and tomorrow. Then 16 more games this weekend!

This week also holds special meaning for D$ and I- as it is the week he "proposed" to me. Three years ago- as we sat on the eve of the NCAA tourney making our picks, sharing our excitement, we decided to "throw a party".

I can't believe it has been 3 years. I can't believe how our lives have changed and how little things between us have (as we like to say- now we just wear rings now) after marriage. I love him more today than I did 3 years ago and our friendship is stronger than ever.

Having the anniversary of our engagement fall during this week- is so very us- and gives us another reason to celebrate!

I just agreed to hike what? Where?

2010-03-16T08:57:00.003-07:00

go lightly my friend

2010-03-10T10:14:00.005-07:00

I've been planning this post for a while- all the while hoping I wouldn't have to post it.

It has been one year since my dear blogging buddy GoLightly stopped blogging.

Some of you may know about that she was in a severe car accident late Friday night, March 13, 2009, with her fiance. The worst of timing- just newly engaged, she had recently been laid off in January 2009 and although she was working again, she only had Cobra insurance. She had been denied placement in the care facilities that she most needed to be in. Her family was forced to apply for state medicaid insurance which is was a tedious process and which does not cover much. These grand life moments rarely wait for convenience.

She seems to be receiving the best possible care and was moved from Texas to Phoenix where her mother lives and works as a doctor. Last reports I've heard she continues to make progress with her physical, occupational and speech therapies.

I miss her most when I write a post as she would always comment. We were just starting to develop a "real life" friendship when her accident happened. She was planning her wedding in Phoenix and we had several email conversations about meeting up. Sadly, the accident happened before I met her- or even learned her real name. Luckily her real life friends reached out to me to keep me in the loop of her condition, her progress, etc.

GoLightly- You are always in my prayers and thoughts. I know your progress is slow but steady and I look forward to the day you get your spark, your sass, your YOU back. I miss you and wish you and your family much happiness and future health. Get well- and get back to blogging!

10 on the 10th

2010-03-09T10:06:00.007-07:00

1. D$ and I went and saw Alice in Wonderland on Friday and ....I just didn't love it. I purposefully did not read anything about the movie beforehand and perhaps that was my mistake. I would have known that the movie was inspired mainly by the poem Jabberwocky and not on the books as a whole. I *would* like to see it again so I can watch it without thinking "this is wrong" and "Lewis Carroll never wrote this". Helena Bonham Carter was AMAZING and of course all the special effects, 3D, etc were awesome.

2. We got a new laptop! Conky, our beloved laptop, died. He lived a long life and had such grand adventures as breaking my toes, me dropping tea on him and of course, crashing during wedding planning. Conky Jr arrived on Friday and we love how sleek and quiet he is!

3. Do you know that I coach a running group with Jenn? For about a year and a half we've been the two assistant coaches for the Running 101 class through Fleet Feet. We've volunteered our time and it's been pretty much a blast, meeting new people, getting to see each other and coaching new runners on their way to their first 5k. Well recently I started coaching the 201 group (on our way to a 10K) and Jenn and I were asked to help coach the summer Saturday group. All this has been made even better because we've now been added to the payroll and will get paid to coach! As D$ says- I'm now a sponsored athlete! It's nice to get a little extra income and always a good push to keep running!

4. Speaking of running- I have a 5k this weekend and I'm shooting for a personal record. Think fast for me on Saturday.

5. Hell hath frozen over- my mom joined Facebook.

6. Still planning for the upcoming NYC trip. I think we've made all our dinner reservations and planned our lunches...now to just plan our sightseeing around that! We've also begun planning for our Monteray/National Parks/Napa & Sonoma vaca this summer!

7. March Madness is upon us and I've never been more excited for a tourney to start. ever.

8. This is the last season Tucson will host Spring Training. It is really a travesty on the part of city officials. All the teams that are here are moving north to the Phoenix metro area to bigger better stadiums. All though we have the most adorable historic park I recently learned that the weight room facilities there are actually in a tent in the outfield. awesome. No wonder major league-ers don't want to come back. But I am taking full advantage- I'll be attending at least 5 games, but may try to sneak out a few more times too!

9. D$ and I have just had an off week. Do you get those? We aren't meshing- we are annoyed at each other. One of is grumpy all the time. We spent the Saturday night apart (for previously planned fun, he had a bachelor party in Phoenix and I went out dnacing!) and came back together on Sunday night renewed and happy- then Monday, the off week started. I'm blaming the rain.

10. Rain....Tucson has had a ton this year with regualr snowfall above 4500-5000 feet (City of Tucson is about 2500 ft, my house is at 2900ft). We've had great views of snow all winter on Mt Lemmon and once had snow at our house. We have El Nino to thank for this wet winter and I can't help but to think of that great Chris Farley skit everytime I hear or say "El Nino". Too Funny!

Have a great day everyone!