I Like Expensive Things

Hi Guys!  I hope you are having a great Thursday!  I'm traveling from beautiful California to Indianapolis today, and as of now, I've been on my journey for 13 hours.  I'm hanging out in O'Hare airport and have already had a few adventures so I thought I would pop in like the uninvited guest that I can be. 

When I have to eat lunch by myself, I often make poor choices.  Like ridiculously poor choices.  Not in a bad nutritional way, but I just can't order on the spot and always get something unsatisfying.  Today I got a whole grain veggie bagel sandwich that tastes so plain it resembled eating Wonderbread with onion.  I've never actually had that combo, but that's my best guess of what it was.  Yummy, huh?  So I decided to treat myself to some chocolate from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

Innocently enough, I decided to try the Iced Cappuccino and Mocha Valencia truffles.  They were delicious.

They were also $22 a pound, making this a very expensive treat.  I didn't get a whole pound because that would be greedy, but these two guys set me back $6.  NUTS!  I could have bought caviar or the truffles that pigs in France have to sniff out to find.  But for now, chocolate will have to do- and it was fabulous!

Question for you:  Do you have expensive taste? 

Unfortunately, I do for big purchases like jewelery (sorry, husband).  Otherwise, send me to Target and I'm happy!

Getting Creative With Exercise

I hope you are having a great week and enjoying the first few days of summer.  Thank you for all of your support while I was writing my paper and accidentally ignoring you.  I finally got some sleep this weekend and I am close to being human again!

As I whined earlier, I'm on a bit of a medical-induced exercise hiatus because of my toe.  I can do anything that doesn't involve shoes, putting weight on my right foot or swimming because of the germy chemical situation (personal trainers- how about me for a client!?).  I have to admit I was bummed and still a little mopey (and fine- perhaps I say mean things when I see people frolicking outside or running), but I have decided to try my BEST.  I know it's only temporary and people have had much bigger problems.  I have been doing some fun new exercises and wanted to share them with you.

1. Pilates- I use a Shape Magazine DVD and it's a great 30 minute workout
2. I am joining a yoga studio!  yogaworks is a fancy shmancy studio in my city and I tried them out on Monday.  I have been missing some yoga in my life so I'm going for it.
P.S. That link takes you to a promotion if ya wanna try them.
3. We went cherry picking on Sunday.  It was so much fun!

I mostly supervised, but I picked a few as well.
4. Lots of planks with my new personal trainer who is hard core.  Move over Jillian.

5. Bicep curls and scaring your loved ones

I have no food updates for you- just enjoying all the fresh fruit and trying to keep my hands out of the cookie jar while overloading on fiber.  Story of my life :)


Coming Soon...
I am going to be traveling to Indianapolis, Indiana for business at the end of the week and will try to check in then.  Lots of hotel excitement!
My favorite guest blogger will be back to talk about one of his favorite hobbies.  Here is a hint:

I hope you are enjoying your week and I'll talk to you soon!

Question for you: What makes you happy? 
For me, it has to be family, friends, good weather, good food, and sparkly things.

Brain Food

Hi Friends!  Can I still call you that, or is it too forward?  I have been spending all of my waking (and sometimes sleeping) hours studying.  Not to knock Undergrad, but I'm pretty sure my marbles worked much better just four years ago as I find myself scooping my brains up off the ground after each study session.  As of 1:00 AM last night, I completed my 51 page thesis.  I could  barely read all 51 pages- I am not even sure the instructor will but we shall see what happens!  I still have another final and one shorter assignment (anything is shorter than 51 pages)!

I credit my brain food for helping me bust out the paper.  What else can it be but frozen yogurt from our new favorite spot, Yogofina:

Mine is the one with the obnoxious sprinkles.  That red yogurt on the bottom right is red velvet.  Yep.  I died too.  Well I'm leaving you with one last shot and I'm out for the day!  I hope you are out enjoying the sunshine for me and getting some body pumping exercise in too since that's not my bag these days!  See you this weekend for some real blogging! XOXO

A Refreshing Drink

This weekend there was a wine festival that took place in the giant park right across the street from our place.  People came and parked their cars up and down our street and then went to the park to booze it up and look at overpriced art.  Maybe it was that fact that I wasn't a great walker over the last few days, but I was not impressed.  We walked around and came upon a lemonade stand that was selling the drink for either $4 or $5 each- there wasn't even booze in it.  I don't remember because I demanded that we come home and make our own!  I am good with overpriced goods at Disneyland or something, but this was another story.
We walked the 30 feet back to our home and made our Cucumber Limeade:

• 1 English Cucumber
• 3 limes
• 2 apples
• Cilantro
• Lots of ice
• Juice in your juicer of choice and enjoy!  Optional: Serve in a wine glass to spite those who are drinking their fancy wine as you drink juice

My husband had the boy's version in a big glass:

I loved the taste of cucumber and the tart lime and was really excited to start using the juicer again!  Summer time, here I come...as long as it decides to warm up a bit!
I'm off to hobble upstairs- I'm all surgery'ed up and should be on the road to recovery in 10 days.  I asked if it was business days and they just laughed at me.  Looks like I'll be loving my flip flops and pilates :)

Have a great Friday Eve!

Represent, Cuba

One thing that my husband and I love about the city we live in is the extensive variety of the food choices.  Going out to dinner is something we don't do very often (usually by choice), but when we do, we love trying as much as possible.  I usually don't share my food, but this was an exception.
For this reason, Havana Restaurant was a perfect choice this weekend.  Havana is obviously a Cuban restaurant and for some reason I have always been fascinated by the Cuban culture, so getting to try the food was right up my alley.
We started with a mojito.  I have had a fascination with mojitos ever since my favorite sister-in-law took me to a Cuban bar in Mexico and I swam in the minty-sugar cane-rum goodness.  Havana is popular for its mojitos and I went with the original variety.  It was perfect and strong too. I needed help finishing it.

Next we ordered some tapas to share.  First up were Plantain Maduros with Manzana Aioli.  Although the plantains were fried, they were perfectly sweet and not too greasy.  The aioli wasn't anything to blog about, but the hubby seemed to like it.

Next came the Grilled Shrimp with Cilantro Lime Sauce.  I remember trying this dish when I last went to the restaurant five years ago and it was just as good.  The shrimp were grilled to perfection and the rice- oh my was it good!  I don't even like rice.

The star of the show had to be our last tapa- Halibut Ceviche with Mango, Black Beans, Onions, Peppers & Cilantro with Plantain Chips. Not only was it beautiful to look at, it was one of the best dishes I have had in a long time.

The music and atmosphere was a little loud and if you go to the restaurant, be prepared to sit almost painfully close to your neighbors, but if you can handle more than one mojito without wanting to go home and instantly take a nap (like someone you may know) then I'm sure you won't mind the crowd.  I am looking forward to coming back to Havana later this summer when I want a mojito and some plantain lovin.  Until I can go to Cuba, this will have to do.

If you are in the 'burbs of San Francisco, check out this restaurant- it's well worth the trip!

Summer is Here!

Thanks guys for the kind welcome and for all the fun suggestions.  I am coming out of my funk and have had some pretty fun workouts including weights and pilates, both of which have been great workouts :)
In other news, Summer decided to finally come to California.  It seems like we skipped from our version of Winter straight into 90 degree weather and it's quite nice!  Nothing says Summer to me like grilling out, and that's just what we did when we decided to have a spontaneous cookout tonight with just the two of us.
Please meet the newest member of our family- Mr W:

I pretty much sat back and let the grill master do his job, except when I nudged him to check stuff and tried my hardest not to micromanage.

We grilled lots of stuff:

• Steak
• Chicken
• Cod
• Salmon burgers
• Asparagus
• Onions
• Mushrooms
• Pineapple

Our final goods:

Everything was perfectly done for me :)
My contributions were Mixed Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic:

• Easy roasting recipe: Red potatoes, purple potatoes, white potatoes, and sweet potatoes roasted with garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary roasted at 350 degrees for 45 minutes

I was pretty in love with all the colors.  I also made a pasta salad:

• Easy Pasta Salad: Whole wheat cooked drained pasta with red onion, red bell pepper, shredded carrots, cucumber, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, splash of soy sauce, lime juice, pepper, and sesame seeds to garnish along with garden fresh cilantro

We also had fresh juice, but more on that in a different post.  Since there were two of us and I tend to cook like there are ten, we have A LOT of leftovers.  I'm going to attack that grilled pineapple for breakfast, I think.
I hope you are enjoying Summer wherever you are and have a WONDERFUL Monday :)

I Don't Wear Shoes Because They Make Me Fall Down

I should have named my last post "I Don't Eat French Fries AND I Don't Blog Either!"  I pulled a little disappearing act on ya'll but I've been reading along and I'm ready to jump, (actually hobble) back into it.  I'll explain the hobbling part later.  First something exciting- our first harvest of the season!
As I mentioned in older blog posts, my husband is quite the gardener.  We have an organic garden growing in our backyard and I was lucky enough to enjoy my dinner the other night atop some lettuce grown right in my own backyard.  It was extra flavorful and the brightest purple color.

I had some farmer's market heirloom tomatoes on top and simple balsamic vinegar.  I also had some mixed seafood as my main dish.

Of course, the fresh produce was the star of the show.  I'm so excited for the rest of the veggies growing in our garden and can't wait to share them with you!

So along with disappearing on you, I've had quite the interesting turn of events.  Earlier this week I couldn't put any pressure on my right big toe.  I didn't think anything of it, but found myself in pain on Wednesday morning and took my geriatric ass to the podiatrist (I was the only person there under 70 on a Wednesday morning).  The news was no bueno.  My right toe is messed up and I'm due to have a fairly minor outpatient surgical procedure on it this upcoming week.  Bleh!
One of the first things I thought was that I couldn't wear any shoes.

 (Source)

(Side note: Am I the only person who saw The Birdcage a million times and loved it?  Does anyone else but me remember Hank Azaria as the butler who had to wear shoes and tripped all over the place?)

So back to the no shoes deal.  It hurts like a mofo to put on my shoes.  I also have a cool gangsta limp, minus the cane and awesome bling and grill.  This also hinders my gym time, if you know what I mean.  Today was my first workout and I have to admit it sucked.  I'm a cardio junkie so this will be hard (TWSS) for me to get through without that endorphin rush that keeps me from going over the edge some days. 
It also means that I can't indulge or eat as much and use exercise as extra insurance.  This part kinda scares the crap out of me.
So what's a girl to do? 
I am going to take these 3-4 weeks to learn to love lifting, yoga, abs, and anything else that doesn't require standing on both feet- a time to get creative.  I'm sure it will be a challenge, but I'm all over it.
So...tell me your favorite non-cardio exercises.  I'll take anything I can get!
I'm also back to commenting and not just reading- hope to catch up with all of you!