The Lady Nomad

I Could Never Go Raw

2012-01-23T21:29:00.000-05:00

So, I've been doing a lot of reading. About what? Well, since you asked... about the benefits of a raw food diet mainly, and a bit about juicing (more on that in another post). I keep thinking to myself, "sure I could totally go raw, it doesn't seem too bad." And then I get home from work and make myself a decidedly unraw meal - today's is an eggs over easy and avocado open face sandwich on sprouted grain toast. I have a feeling the raw food police would bust me. Oh well, hopefully when they do I'll be eating something even better.

Like a steak.

27 Degrees and a Wet Butt

2012-01-22T14:33:00.000-05:00

Yes you read that right, a wet butt. Today began with the best of intentions - Bestie and I were going to run 8 miles - but then those plans began to unravel. First of all when I woke up and the weather channel said it was 16 degrees and all I could think was "Hell no, I'm not running in anything less than 20!" The weather warmed up (slightly) and was a toasty (yeah right) 27 degrees when we finally hit the street. The first mile went great for me - a bit fast, but great - but Bestie was having problems with her water bottle situation (you see, we have these running belt things that hold the water bottle snugly behind your back so you have your hands free, if they're not situated just right it can drive you bonkers!). We walked about 1/4 or 1/2 of mile 2. We finished off mile 2 and went straight through mile 3. Walk break. That's when I discovered my water bottle had been slowly leaking. Yup, I had a wet butt. And back. And in 27 degrees that is not a situation you want to find yourself in. We made it through mile 4 and my rear end was beginning to freeze and go numb despite the extra layers I had on since I know my bum usually gets cold when running in this type of weather. We ended the run early. 4 miles plus a bit. I was cold, I was wet, and it wasn't until we stopped that I realized my feet were getting wet too, thanks to the snow on the ground.

The whole experience was a bit disheartening since I had such a great workout Saturday afternoon! 3.5 miles on the treadmill doing a hill workout - it felt great! Even better than the last time I did a hill workout. Oh well, since they're calling for rain tomorrow Bestie and I will be hitting up the gym for an hour run after work to make up for the lost mileage today. So much for a day off!

An Amazing Thing

2012-01-07T19:18:00.000-05:00

What's so amazing you ask?

Could it be that I've taken down my Christmas decorations? Yeah right (maybe tomorrow)... Or maybe it's that I ran 3 miles today even though I haven't run that much in almost two months? That actually did happen, but it's not the most amazing thing!

Nope! The most amazing thing is that when I went to Giant Eagle (for those of you not familiar, GE is a grocery store in my neck of the woods) after the gym and instead of heading straight to the Hostess section to pick up my usual pack of orange cupcakes... wait for it... I got an orange instead!!! It's no wonder I never lost any weight when running before, since I would negate all the calories I just burned by eating something ridiculously calorie laden - like Hostess Orange Cupcakes, or a Chicken McNugget meal. Today was a huge breakthrough!!! I didn't even think about it. I walked into the store and thought to myself: "self," I thought, "self, you need to get some fruit, you have none in the house."

Who is this person?!?!? It's shocking really!

I'm really trying to watch my health this time around, especially since I dropped my health insurance (don't ask, it's a long story involving a $5000 deductible). Also, I figure if I lose some of this excess weight then I'll be able to run faster since I won't be lugging all that flub. Today also marks the 7th day I've gone without a Diet Coke, and you wanna know a secret? Promise not to tell? Okay, here goes... I'm not really missing it. I did have horrible headaches for the first few days going though caffeine withdrawal, but I'm fine with it now. I've been mostly sticking with water, but on two occasions I went with some juice. One thing I did find though was the fruit punch I had last night I found to be almost syrupy so I watered it down. I haven't even been mixing the water with Propel mix like I did when I was training before. Nope! I'm just sticking with plain old wonderful water.

Really. Who is this person who has invaded my body? It's like I'm adopting (I almost hate to say it...) HEALTHY HABITS. Wow. My tummy is not always happy with the amount whole grains and lack of processed crap I've been eating, but it'll adjust. I also took my lunch to work everyday last week! I made three recipes from my vegan cookbook (broccoli with figs and pine nuts, cannellini beans with garlic and sage, and a yummy cabbage soup filled with lots of other veggies too) and have been having those for lunches. Last night I made a really delish whole wheat BBQ chicken pizza (with pineapple of course, and minimal cheese).

This is not to say that last week was at all perfect. No, but it was close. Tuesday night, after I drove through horrible traffic to get to class only to have it cancelled, I stopped at McDonald's and got a Chicken McNugget Happy Meal (with water!). And Wednesday night I had 4 slices of super buttery garlic bread (and felt horrible after). And Friday after being strong and walking past goodies on people's ledges all week and boxes of cookies brought to the copy center, and after having walked 45 minutes at lunch only to have to walk another 30 minutes to do a hand delivery, I stopped at Prantl's Bakery and got a Toasted Almond Cup (the smallest version of their Burnt Almond Torte that they make). BUT, in my defense, I waited until I was back at work and then I shared it with a coworker, so I had two bites of yumminess to help curb my cravings. I think it worked, I didn't go and eat tons of chocolate after that.

All in all, I'd say I'm sticking to my resolutions fairly well. AND, aside from missing one short run due to snow and temperatures in the teens, I've been sticking with my training schedule. Yay!!! Here's hoping next week will be as successful!

Good Morning 2012

2012-01-01T09:40:00.000-05:00

Did you have a nice New Year's Eve? I hope so. Mine was spent rereading books about running and snuggling with my puppy, and when midnight came I was already fast asleep. Oh yeah, and dinner consisted of Hostess Orange Cupcakes and a Diet Coke (you'll see why later).

Are you a drunken resolution maker? Or a hungover resolution maker? Or, like me, a carefully thought out for weeks prior to New Years resolution maker? No matter which type you are, there is no denying that almost everyone makes some form of resolutions for the new year. If you don't, great! You're the 1 percent. Personally, I am more like Occupy Wall Street, I am the 99 percent.

Here are my resolutions for 2012, please feel free to judge me openly when I break one within the first week of the new year:

2012 Resolutions

Eat breakfast. (1 day down, only 365 to go!)
Give up Diet Coke while training. (which means there will be 3 weeks in May and most of September when I can drink it)
Stick to my training schedule. (unless ill or injured, or if the conditions outside are that of a hurricane, tornado or blizzard)
Blog more. (11 entries in 4 months is highly unacceptable)
Give up Hostess Orange Cupcakes while training. (same conditions apply as with the Diet Coke clause)
Eat less processed foods. (obviously)
Do my homework before the day of class. (I'm only taking one class at a time, it shouldn't be as hard as I make it out to be)
Cook at least one meal a week out of my vegan cookbook. (Don't worry, I'm not turning vegan, I love meat too much, but after reviewing the recipes in the book a lot of them look tasty! And economical)
Take my lunch to work at least 4 days a week. (I would have said 5, but come on, let's be realistic here)
Put more money into savings. (and less into things like new clothes and fast food and parking downtown)
Makeover my bedroom. (remove unwanted furniture, acquire furniture I actually like, make it more me)
Be the best person that I can be!!! (kind of an all encompassing cop-out I know)

So there you have it; my 12 resolutions for 2012... Wish me luck!!!

2011-12-30T19:48:00.000-05:00

Have you begun to think of your New Year's resolutions? I have, but I'm not saying anything until Sunday! Okay, it's a long list but I'll give you a hint - it involves: running (duh), orange Hostess cupcakes, a vegan cookbook, and Diet Coke. Think you know what I'm planning?

It's Official - I'm Crazy

2011-12-29T20:16:00.000-05:00

Not half crazy, not even three quarters crazy - nope I'm one hundred percent, certifiably crazy. Why? Well, although I swore up and down, frontwards and backwards that I would never run a marathon, I went ahead and registered for a marathon. Yup. A full marathon. 26.2 miles. I have a feeling that the whole experience will suck greatly.
And given my track record (haha, bad pun) at races, that's pretty much a guarantee. I hate running. I hate sweating. I'm too A.D.D. Almost as soon as I start running I think of a million things that I could be doing instead of running. Things like: ... umm, ummm ... ok, so I can't think of anything right now - but that's just because I'm not running. But believe you me, once I start running, I'll be able to think of all those things.

On May 6th of 2012, at 6:30 am, I will take to the streets of Cincinnati and run in the 14th Flying Pig Marathon. That is, if the training doesn't kill me first. SO... the training starts January 3rd (it would have started the 2nd, but Mondays are going to be rest days), it will be 18 weeks long, and if I make it past week 9, I'll actually start to believe that I might be able to run the actual marathon (because right now, to tell you the truth I am a little worried...). Here's the rundown on the training: 35 days of ab work, 34 days of cross training, 184 miles of distance running, 30 hours and 15 minutes of timed running, and 20 rest days.

Pray for me.

I'm gonna need it.

Merry (Day After) Christmas!

2011-12-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

Did you all have a nice holiday? I know I did. I got what I wanted, but even better than that, I gave to several people in need this holiday season. My favorite gift I received this year was an email from a stranger who I had sent some Christmas cheer to. Through Soldier's Angels I had adopted a military family. Well, it was actually a single active-duty mom and her 6 month old daughter. I have been actively working with SA since I had first adopted Zach (of Flat Zach fame) through them. For their Christmas gift I sent a pink teddy bear, hot pink sleepers, some Sesame Street board books, a shape learning toy, a couple pack of diapers, and a $50 gift card to be used towards their Christmas dinner. The mom sent me the sweetest, most heartfelt email once the FedEx had arrived. She said she was looking forward to seeing her daughter attempt to chew through the wrappings. It made my heart sing.

Kitchen Pics!!!

2011-12-11T22:07:00.000-05:00

Bad Blogger!

2011-12-11T11:38:00.000-05:00

Yes, it is true... I m a very bad blogger. I had hoped to blog daily about all the renovations happening at home, but I would get home from work and be so angry about something that they had broken or screwed up that I wouldn't be in the mood at all to blog. Well that and for about 3 weeks I was without an internet connection at home - not cool. Luckily though, the internet is back, the renovations are done and those guys never have to come back to my house again. Thank goodness!!!

This weekend has been exceptionally busy for me... Ellie is home so she's wanted loads of attention - I think she misses having Kori around to interact with. She also keeps looking at me as if to say "Where's the fire?" (mom and dad have a gas fireplace that mom would turn on for the dogs to lay in front of) and "Where's the tv?" I won't lie, I dislike tv immensely. I hate the way it sucks you in and how people can spend hours in front of it and not know where the time went. The only show I try to watch is New Girl, which is available on Hulu so I can watch it online. Granted this isn't to say I don't own a television set. I do, it's just buried in a spare room and I really only ever use it to watch movies.

Well, I will get off my soapbox now... Bestie and her CH came over yesterday to help me move some furniture and put up some Christmas decorations, and I'm still working on washing all of the dishes and putting things back where they go and cleaning up plaster dust which has settled on everything...

Check back later tonight for pictures of the finished product!

Sciatica

2011-11-14T20:01:00.000-05:00

noun Pathology.

1.pain and tenderness at some points of the sciatic nerve, usually caused by a prolapsed intervertebral disk; sciatic neuralgia.

2.any painful disorder extending from the hip down the back of the thigh and surrounding area.

I have sciatica. I currently am having a sciatica flair up. It sucks.

Worst Race Ever!!!

2011-11-13T19:16:00.000-05:00

Today RB and I ran a race. It was supposed to be fun. It was not. It was supposed to be 22.5K. It was not. Our first trail run ended up being uphill both ways, and was 26.24K - for those of you metrically challenged that's 16.4 miles. It sucked.

It was fun for about the first 5 miles - after that it got pretty miserable. Between the two of us we tripped at least 2 dozen times, and I fell. My ankle hurts and the back of my right knee makes it nearly impossible for me to walk up and down stairs and down hill is pretty killer. Ouch. Needless to say, I won't be running that race again. Blech.

Renovations!!!

2011-10-31T09:30:00.000-04:00

After talking about it since probably day one, the renovations are about to start at my house! I'll try to post daily update pictures... Today they are going to start on the dining room - ripping off the faux tudor and trying to grind all the crap (sorry, texture) off the bottom half of the walls and once the walls are done they'll put down new floor. Other rooms getting updates are: the kitchen (everything), the living room (ceiling and fixing the fireplace wall), the bathroom (bath surround, ceiling, bath wall, toilet, and some lighting), and my bedroom (2 walls, part of another wall, and install a ceiling light). Gotta go finish packing up the dining room and taking "before" pictures before they get here!

Fall

2011-10-12T19:47:00.000-04:00

With the arrival of my farm box today from the CSA, I truly felt fall was here. I made use of several items in the box to make my dinner, which took me about an hour and a half to cook and about 15 minutes to eat. But it was worth the wait.

I made candied butternut squash, which I then topped with mustard greens cooked with apple cider and sauteed shallots and garlic. To cap off the whole thing I fried up 2 very fresh eggs from a local farm. I love their eggs with the orange yolks. Yummmm....

Maybe tomorrow I'll get some chicken or a ham steak and have that with my leftovers...

Procrastination

2011-10-02T20:57:00.000-04:00

Well, today has actually been a pretty productive day! (aside from the fact that I didn't work on my 15 page paper which is due in a week)

What did I do instead? Let's see...
1) I snuggled with my puppy
2) I worked on my cross stitch which I really want to have done in time for Christmas, since it is Christmas themed
3) I snuggled with my puppy
4) I broke down and turned on my heater even though the furnace guy hasn't been out for its check-up yet - but when your house is 52 degrees inside it's time for desperate measures
5) I got out my puppy's sweater so she'd be nice and toasty
6) I caught up on the tv shows I've been wanting to see - New Girl (pilot episode, the 2nd one won't be on Hulu until Wednesday), How I Met Your Mother (the first 3 episodes), and last night's Saturday Night Live
7) I took pictures of my puppy in her sweater
8) I made chocolate chip cookies

Pretty much the day involved me and Ellie just hanging out... since it was cold and rainy outside it was nice to spend time with my puppy...

Perhaps I'll work on that paper now....

Back from the Abyss

2011-09-27T07:36:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry I've been gone so long! Apparently the little worm who offered me tea sent me in the wrong direction... (name the movie reference!) Well that, and I was afraid I'd spill the beans and jinx my big news.

I got a promotion!!! Yay!!! The office manager quit, and they moved Matt up from records lead/ court clerk to take that job and they moved me up to take Matt's job! It was looking a little dicey there for a while, so I figured it best to lay low and see how everything played out.

In running news: the Great Race was on Sunday - it was too hot and too sunny and I ran 10 minutes slower than last year - boo... But coming up in November I have a race called the "Mangler" - a 14 mile trail run. I'm excited about it, but Bestie is weary - oh well, I think it'll be fun!

In other news: I made scrambled eggs using the recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking for breakfast this morning and all I can say is - YUM. I was thinking that I should take a picture, but then I ate them too fast.

Don't worry, I'll be back more frequently from now on I promise!

Sadness

2011-08-29T13:48:00.000-04:00

Early this morning my friends lost their baby. She was three weeks from her due date.

Pics From Around Town

2011-08-27T18:20:00.000-04:00

Friday found me at work with my camera, so I decided to spend my lunch hour taking a few photos around town:

I'm a sucker for brick building with painted signs on their sides.

Don't let the grody exterior fool you - they have the best fried chicken I've ever had!

I love the reflection of the Highmark Building in the mirrored exterior of PPG Place

This former bank is now luxury condos

Not entirely related... Friday was Firm Appreciation Day and I won a whopping white elephant of a prize... More pictures of that later, but for now Ellie was willing to model with it all wrapped up to show off the enormity of it!

An Office Birthday

2011-08-25T18:46:00.000-04:00

Today was the 23rd birthday of one of the other girls in the office (I feel so old!), and to celebrate I made her a cake. Her request was strawberry shortcake, and although I wasn't quite sure what kind she liked - was she more of a spongecake type or like my family more of a Bisquick shortcake type of person? I settled on Biscuit au Beurre (Butter Spongecake) from Mastering the Art of French Cooking (my go-to book whenever I'm not sure what to do - I know for other people it's Joy of Cooking or Betty Crocker - leave it to me for my go-to book to be a complex French cookbook) with a sweetened whipped cream frosting with roughly chopped strawberries mixed into the frosting for the filling. Yummy! Or at least I think yummy... Too many people came and we ran out of cake! Oh well, better for my waistline that I didn't get any I suppose....

2 weeks at 30

2011-08-24T21:48:00.000-04:00

I have now been 30 for just shy of 2 weeks. I don't feel 30 though. I still feel 25. Where did those years go?!? Oh yeah that's right, I toured for a while and I've been stuck in a dead end job for the rest. Sigh... Oh well.

So remember when I mentioned a project I was working on that was sapping all my time and energy? Well, it was a baby shower. The main records guy at work's (did I tell you I'm a records assistant? Well, if I didn't, I am now!) wife is expecting their first child in just a couple weeks so I threw them a little shower. That is if your definition of little is 50 people with a food, gift, and decor budget of over $1000. This thing was taking over my life!

Thankfully it's over now, the party was a success, and people are still talking about it nearly 2 weeks later. At the end when records guy was thanking everyone for coming, he singled me out as organizing it and everyone applauded. I turned red. (I blush easily...)

Since it was a guy's shower I didn't want to go all pastel with frou frou food... Instead I went with bright colors and catering from Moe's Southwest Grill (taco bar!). From previous experience I know that lawyers like to donate towards things at the last minute, so I had an adorable white piggy bank with green and hot pink polka dots and a big green bow on it's head where all day off donations were put, next to which was a box of chocolate cigars wrapped in hot pink foils. As people started arriving I was dishing up The Pioneer Woman's Watermelon Granitas - super popular! Dessert was a chocolate cake with chocolate mousse filling from a local bakery - it was delicious, but we discovered that a 3/4 sheet cake can barely fit in my truck! That was a bit of a nerve wracking drive... Pennant banners, brown paper to doodle on, pinwheel centerpieces, and pinwheel adorned goody bags finished up the look.

(and yes, the baby's initials are OMG)

30 Countries

2011-08-05T08:51:00.000-04:00

30 Countries I Want to See (3 of which I've already been to...)

30)Antarctica
29)Australia
28)New Zealand
27)China
26)Japan
25)Nepal
24)Cambodia
23)India
22)Indonesia
21)Russia
20)Poland
19)Czech Republic
18)Turkey
17)Croatia
16)Greece
15)Italy
14)Monaco
13)France
12)Belgium
11)Netherlands
10)Norway
9)England
8)Scotland
7)Moroco
6)Egypt
5)Kenya
4)South Africa
3)Brazil
2)Chile
1)Argentina

People... or Not

2011-08-04T22:09:00.000-04:00

I had written up a list of 30 Pretty Interesting People, but I seem to have misplaced it... I will get it to you just as soon as I find it!

Books

2011-08-04T22:07:00.000-04:00

30 Books on my Bookshelf

30) ShopGirl
29) Tales by Beatrix Potter
28) 1000 Places to See Before You Die
27) Love of the Last Tycoon
26) The Great Gatsby
25) Pride and Prejudice
24) Swim, Little Wombat, Swim
23) Wind in the Willows
22) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows
21) My Life in France
20) Swell, a Girl's Guide to the Good Life
19) too many Lonely Planet Guidebooks to list them all by name
18) the Atlas from the encyclopedia set I grew up with (the world circa 1979 - Germany was still split and the USSR was still intact)
17) A Walk in the Woods
16) The Painted Veil
15) Bridget Jones' Diary
14) Don Quixote
13) Band of Brothers
12) Brave Men
11) A Moveable Feast
10) Mastering the Art of French Cooking
9) D-Day
8) The Art of Dress
7) Historical Fashion in Detail
6) Christmas Carol
5) The Beautiful and Damned
4) In a Sunburned Country
3) Travels with Charley
2) The Last Campaign
1) The United States of Arugula

Soooo...

2011-08-04T09:29:00.000-04:00

Last night I opted for pizza, a good book, and sleep over typing up Yesterday's Top 30 list, so check back later tonight for 2 (count 'em, 2!) Top 30 lists!!!

The Buccos

2011-08-03T07:39:00.000-04:00

My sister and her hubby were in town last night... actually they're still here sleeping in my living room... any who, we went to a Pirates game last night, and in true Buccos fashion, they lost brilliantly.

30 Things to Know About My Bestie

2011-08-02T14:02:00.000-04:00

30)she is also known as my Running Buddy (RB)
29)she has brown hair and blue eyes (like me!) except she gets blonde highlights and I get red
28)she had 2 brothers, 1 sister, 1 BiL, and 2 nephews
27)she is married to the CH (chubby hubby)
26)her dream car is a new yellow bug
25)she is a cat person, through and through
24)she is obsessed with anything Disney & Hallmark ornaments
23)once upon a time she wanted to be an animator, but she gave that up
22)she wants to be a pastry chef when she grows up (like me she turns 30 this year)
21)she dislikes her job (but really, who doesn't?)
20)we both failed AP chemistry only to transfer to geoscience and wreck the curve
19)classic high school quote: "you guys sisters or something?"
18)she is an avid scrapbooker/ crafter
17)she drinks Miller Lite by choice
16)but she loves Grey Goose dirty martinis
15)and can't handle her tequila, especially when I'm mixing the margaritas
14)she tries to speak/ learn Spanish after she has had a few drinks
13)she is a better artist than me
12)I'm better at math
11)she is a better violinist than me
10)she can be a spaz, but you get used to it
9)she has never been west of the Mississippi
8)she is terrified of flying, yet she says she's ok, even though I think all of her flying stories involve tears
7)she is a francophile like me
6)her idea of travel is the polar opposite of mine
5)she likes to shoot down my plans for grand adventures
4)she came to visit me in NYC and left with a pierced belly button, she got it at the same place I got my tattoo
3)she is still my friend even though I have a tendency to run away for years at a time
2)she has been my friend for the longest time - 19 years
1)she once let me dress her up in a costume from HMS Pinafore (it was a peach dress with matching hat and parasol) and curl her hair in rag rollers (I'd show you the photos but I think she might kill me!)

The Latest Royal Wedding

2011-08-02T06:39:00.001-04:00

Did anyone else, upon seeing the picture of Mike Tindall on the day he married Zara Phillips, get the song "Get Me to the Church On Time" stuck in their heads? You know the My Fair Lady song: "I'm gettin' married in the morning... Ding, dong the bells are going to chime..." Or was it just me!

Photo is from People.com

For those of you not as royal obsessed as I am, Mike Tindall is the bald one in front on the right.

And I don't mean that in a bad way, I think it's adorable!

Flat Zach in Paris

2011-08-01T21:34:00.000-04:00

With my friend's passport being stolen, I suddenly found myself traveling to Paris alone. Well, not quite alone, Flat Zach came with me for those 3 days in the City of Light, and although I did get several odd stares it was fun to take FZ around to see the sights.

The hotel was just a few blocks from the Moulin Rouge:

Stopping by the cafe where Amelie worked in the movie of the same name:

What trip to Paris is complete with out seeing the Eiffel Tower?

Or the Notre Dame?

And of course since this was my trip, a lot of time was spent seeing the impressionists:

Isn't Flat Zach so cultured?

We'll Start With an Easy One

2011-08-01T11:14:00.000-04:00

30 of my favorite places in the world (both domestic and international):

30) Singapore
29) Puebla, Mexico (corrupt cops wanting bribes aside...)
28) Pittsburgh, PA
27) Vigan, North Luzon, the Philippines
26) Cuernavaca, Mexico
25) Butte, MT
24) Koln, Germany
23) Bogota, Colombia
22) Oviedo, Spain
21) Corpus Christi, TX
20) Washington DC
19) Porto, Portugal
18) Burlington, VT
17) Steamboat Springs, CO
16) San Juan, Puerto Rico
15) San Francisco, CA
14) Coastal Maine
13) Corona del Mar, CA
12) Fort Worth, TX
11) Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia
10) Stirling, Scotland
9) Red Rock Country - NM & AZ
8) Savannah, GA
7) New York, NY
6) San Angel, Mexico City, Mexico
5) North Shore, Oahu, HI
4) Fairbanks, AK
3) Paris, France
2) Edinburgh, Scotland
1) Isle of Skye, Scotland

(if you couldn't tell, I love Scotland!)

Quick Recap

2011-07-31T20:21:00.000-04:00

This July marked the month with the most hits on my blog. Thanks to everyone who has stopped by!

Next month I'm going to try something a little different - for the next 10 days leading up to my (gulp!) 30th birthday, in addition to my blogging randomness, I will also do my top 30 lists, I still haven't quite figured out exactly what these lists are going to be comprised of, but I'm sure I'll figure it out. Wow, that last sentence had a lot of commas! Perhaps a goal for myself should be to work on my punctuation.... I never said it was my strong point...

Today was a great way to end July, and a great second to last Sunday as someone in their 20's. Bestie and I went for a 40 minute bike ride on the South Side. The weather was gorgeous, a bit warm, but not too humid at all! We've gotten a system down when it comes to loading up the bikes as well (once I actually have the money for a rack, this will all be obsolete...) - my bike goes in first, lying on it's side, then hers goes in next on top, she's in charge of bungee-ing the wheels on her side, and I bungee the wheels on my side (oh - FYI - I drive a pick-up). I stand on the tailgate and she lifts the bikes up to me. It took a couple tries, but I think now we've got it down, which is good because our goal for the rest of the summer is to ride every Sunday.

Also today (as those of you who read my facebook status know) I got my hair done! It's been so long since it's been done and I love it!!! I got about 2 to 3 inches cut off the ends Wednesday and then today I got the color done...

I'm a red head again!!! Yay!!!

Flat Zach in Spain

2011-07-31T15:28:00.000-04:00

Sadly this is where the pictures of Flat Zach get sparse... Thinking I was being smart I saved all my pictures to my hard drive only to have my computer crash and me lose more than 1/2 of my Europe pictures... Missing are Flat Zach in: Germany, the Canary Islands, Scotland, North Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, and most of Belgium. Luckily though, Flat Zach in Paris was saved due to my saving it to Snapfish - those will be posted tomorrow. I suppose also luckily, I will be heading back to Ireland (and hopefully Scotland) next summer, so although it will be a few years late, I can recapture Flat Zach's adventures around the Emerald Isle.

At a Museo del Jamon in Madrid (a chain of purveyors of ham):

At Atocha Station in Madrid (where 3 bombs went off in the 2004 terrorist attack on the capital) (that is a Christmas tree in the mid-ground, if you were wondering, it lit up in green lights at night):

At a bar in Leon, where we celebrated Christmas dinner:

Paris up next!

This Morning...

2011-07-31T08:47:00.000-04:00

Bestie and I are off for a bike ride this morning, hopefully it will go better than last time!

Flat Zach in Portugal

2011-07-31T08:42:00.000-04:00

Lisbon:

(on a date with Flat Julie, Angelina's companion for Europe)

Santa Maria de Fiera:

(waiting for the bus to Porto with Kevin)

Porto:

Figueira de Foz:

(Naval versus Sporting... Sporting won)

Later today... Spain.

Zach

2011-07-30T21:33:00.002-04:00

Did I ever tell you about Zach? Zach is a (former) soldier that I was paired up with through a wonderful organization called Soldiers Angels, I spent about a year writing to him and sending him packages filled with necessities and fun little tidbits. It was such a fun experience because the period of time I was writing to him was my last year on tour - needless to say, he got gifts from all over!

Prior to going to Europe in the winter of 2008/ 2009, I created Flat Zach.

Using the premise behind Flat Stanley, Flat Zach travelled around Europe with me seeing all the sights and sharing in my adventures, while real Zach was stuck in Iraq. I posted the photos on his facebook page so he and his family could see where his flat self was traveling.

Flat Zach traveled in style, hitching a ride in my pack...

He spent much of the flight looking out the window and waiting for meal service...

We had a layover in Dublin, so he hit up the bar with us to get a Guinness at 5 a.m....

Elmo had a private Meet & Greet just for him...

Thousands of children would be jealous if they knew the VIP treatment given to Flat Zach at Sesame Street Live.

Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures of Flat Zach in Portugal!!!

Mi Papa

2011-07-29T21:14:00.000-04:00

Like I mentioned earlier, today is my dad's birthday.
Here are a few reasons he is cool in my book:

He grew up in southern California in the '60s - he lived near the beach and surfed and went to school with kids of well known families.
He joined the navy at the end of Vietnam, working on submarines and becoming a "mustang" (an enlisted who works their way up to be an officer - some of the most respected guys in the fleet).
He's a leo (like me!).
He knows exactly what my dream car is without me having to give him a hint (it's an old school red bug convertible with a white top and white wall tires).
We have the same taste in books so gift shopping for him is infinitely easier than it is my mom, I just pick out a book that I'd want to read and get that for him.
If I have a military history question, he usually has an answer (I like military history - weird for a girl, I know)
He has a basset hound who walks all over him - literally.
He's been all over the world, and it took me some time but I have now surpassed him in number of countries visited.
and lastly, he's cool 'cause he's my dad!

Happy Birthday Dad!

For My RB

2011-07-29T07:38:00.000-04:00

Since a certain person has been saying I should post more about running, here is a video depicting just how I exercised this morning ...

Today

2011-07-29T07:30:00.001-04:00

Today is my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!), but more about him later today...

In other news, Ellie is home! After an eventful drive up to get her (more on that later as well), we got home last night at around 10:30, and although this is an old photo, it pretty accurately depicts what I woke up to this morning:

The house was empty without her, but she had a nice vacation at my parent's house where she got to watch tv (I don't have cable), and sun herself on the deck (I don't have a deck), and eat Kori's food (I only let her have her prescription food). I think she's glad to be home though, I hope she is anyways.

Concert Photos!

2011-07-28T07:59:00.000-04:00

Please note... I was sitting about as far away as possible and these were taken with my iPhone, so yes obviously you can't see much... And no, the photos are not in chronological order... And yes, I was having fun with Instagram on my phone...

In the last photo, it's hard to see, but the person on the big screen is The Edge (swoon...)

U2

2011-07-27T21:21:00.000-04:00

Have you ever seen U2 in concert? Truth be told, up until yesterday I might have only been able to tell you 3 songs (tops) that they sang. But after the concert I realized I knew a lot more than that! It was amazing!!! A 19 song set, followed by 2 encores - the first was 2 songs, the 2nd was 4 songs! I didn't get home until after 1 am, but it was completely worth it...

Also on note, I always thought The Edge was cool, but after last night, I am head over heels in love! Sigh... too bad he's 20 years older than me and married... Them's the breaks I guess...

Opposite Ends of the Spectrum

2011-07-25T22:07:00.002-04:00

That's exactly how my day went. It started with 4 1/2 hours at the car dealer with what should have been a simple fix and an inspection - it ended up being I needed a new hub and bearing, a new arm (no clue what this is... I have no clue where a mannequin arm fits under the car... which was totally the image that popped in my mind when they told me I needed a new arm...), new rotors and new brake pads. So that was frustrating - and pricey!

This is what was running through my head the whole time I was there too:

But the end of the day was just what one could hope for. I had my accounting mid-term, and after 2 1/2 hours of frustration I turned in my test. I got an A!!!! I knew the first 3 problems were right, or at least I was 99.9% sure they were because all of my cross checks worked out, but the 4th problem wasn't coming out right at all! I was off by $2000 and couldn't figure out why - I even went through the entire problem 2 more times and still couldn't find it... It was one figure that I had as positive that should have been negative. Oh well, I only lost 2 points for it. As my professor said, "Not bad for someone who's never taken an accounting class before."

Yay!

And tomorrow is the U2 concert with my bestie, her hubby, and my computer guru - so much fun!!!

Really?!?

2011-07-24T18:21:00.000-04:00

So with the cooler temps outside (87 instead of 94!) I decided today would be a great time to get in some more canning along with some baking.

Really?!?

Yeah, I'm that crazy. Too bad canning season is when it sweltering outside, I wouldn't mind the extra heat if it was 20 degrees outside! That said, I've been as busy as a bee today.

Remember all those cucumbers that I mentioned were hogging up space in my fridge? These are them:

See that pitcher on the bottom? It's full of Tang - possibly the most wonderful powdered drink ever.

This is 3 pounds of cukes sliced into spears ready to be made into quick pickles:

And here they are in their current state, 2 quarts of dill pickles:

The rest of the cukes got mixed up with celery, green and red peppers, and onions to make 5 pints of sweet relish:

I discovered though, that my mini prep food processor is a bit too small for a big job like this one was. It took at least a dozen batches run through to get everything chopped up. Not cool.

I also made thumbprint cookies filled with Mango Lime Jam... note to self: run jam through food processor first, it was quite a bit chunky for the cookies.

Later tonight I'm going to make Malaysian Pineapple Tarts with the Pineapple Jam I made last week. The dough is already made and ready to be rolled out, but first I'm waiting for the kitchen to cool down some - it's toasty!

My bestie came over today, we had movie day while working on crafty stuff for a big event I'm planning (more on that another day). A League of Their Own and What's Up Doc? while eating pizza and ice cream (with Brandied Cherries on top - from a previous canning extravaganza). It was great fun, but now I'm totally ready for a nap.

My Bestie...

2011-07-23T20:05:00.001-04:00

Do you have a bestie? (not to be confused with beastie) I hope you do, they're good to keep around.

I've known mine for nearly 19 years, although sometimes we have gone months if not years without seeing each other. This was mostly my fault, I'm a wanderer, I have an exceptionally hard time staying in one place. That said, now that I've been in the 'Burgh for going on 3 years I'm already planning on where I want to end up next. But that's a story for another day...

This past Wednesday my bestie had a bad day. A really bad day. One which involved tears and cursing and a nearly empty gas tank. However, I like to think that I was able to be some comfort to her when she called me 4 times while I was at work and I actually took the calls. I did my best to calm her down, I don't know if it worked at all, but at least it's good to know that someone is there for you. She was there a few months ago for me when I was broken down on the side of the road, waiting for a tow truck for 2 hours in a sketchy part of town. I was able to call her, say I needed her, and she walked away from a beckoning cold beer to come sit with me.

This post was going to be about her drama on Wednesday, it was going to be a no holds barred story of the day, but I decided to spare her the anguish of reliving the experience.

Instead, let's discuss a dish of her mom's. It might have another name, but I'm just going to call it Momma W's Zucchini.

This was me giving it an old college try. Super easy. Super yummy. Deliciousness. Put a big pat of butter in a pan, melt away. Slice a zucchini (I had a big one I got in my CSA box this week), throw it into the pan for a butter bath. Now comes the deliciousness part. Liberally add soy sauce. I put a lid on the pan too so the zukes would steam while absorbing all that yumminess. The zucchini soaks up the butter and the soy sauce, and it just melts in your mouth!

Make it today. End of story.

PS... I ate the whole thing. End of story.

Hot

2011-07-21T20:26:00.000-04:00

The heat wave has definitely reached Pittsburgh. Today the heat index was 104 degrees - that's hot!!! My watermelon plants are loving the heat, but as for my other plants - not so much. At least work is looking out for me (sort of...), when I had deliveries farther than a block or two away, they made sure I took a bottle of water with me.

Now if you excuse me, Ellie and I are going to go crash on my bed and soak up the A/C only available in that room.

Those Wascally Wabbits!

2011-07-19T20:41:00.000-04:00

Something ate my zucchini plant!!! Ok, it ate the top leaves off my zucchini plant, but still!

What the heck?!? Any idea what could have eaten it? I know it's not deer, there's none in my neighborhood and even if there were, there would be no way for them to get in my yard. I've seen a groundhog in my neighbor's yard before, and other than that just some stray cats. It's just strange that it was only the top leaves that got eaten, and that whatever it was didn't eat the melon plants or the cucumbers or the beans or the tomatoes!

When I happened upon this travesty, I rescued the lone zucchini left on the plant (I had already harvested one), and decided to honor the memory of my once mighty zucchini the only way I knew possible. I did what any health minded individual would do - I sliced it up, coated it in egg and bread crumbs, and deep fried it. Yum. I would show you what it looked like, but I ate it before I thought of that. It was delicious.

Speaking of groundhogs, did I mention I met Punxsutawney Phil? I did. He came to work in the Phil-mobile. The Inner Circle came too. They wore top hats.

Let's see...

I promised you canning pictures, didn't I?

Here you go, the cucumbers are from my first batch of pickles (I still haven't gotten around to the second batch yet) and the jars are Pineapple - Chinese 5-Spice jam:

Later I'll fill you in on the huge project I'm working on for work. Until next time...

Canning Day!

2011-07-17T19:37:00.000-04:00

Leave it to me to pick a gorgeous sunny nearly 90 degree day to do my canning. Unfortunately it couldn't have waited any longer, with the fruit and veggies dictating when I should can as opposed to me picking a day which works better for me.

So what am I canning? Let's see... Pineapple Jam with Chinese Five-Spice, Mango Jam with Lime, and Quickest Kosher Dills. These are all from Canning for a New Generation by Liana Krissoff - I LOVE this book! Prior to this year I had absolutely no canning experience, this book has changed that, it's that good of a book. I also bought the Ball Blue Book Guide to Preserving which provides some good information about canning safety, but Liana's book has really made me a canner - and I mean that in the best way possible!

I started with the first recipe in the book, Strawberry Jam, then I moved on to Quicker Kosher Dills once my garden had produced enough cucumbers for me to make these (I still need to try Long-Fermented Kosher Dill Pickles, but fermentation scares me a bit), and last weekend while I was at my parent's house I took advantage of their air conditioning and in one long night I made Brandied Sweet Cherries with Red Wine (delicious!) and Holiday Cherries (exceptionally sweet... hopefully they mellow out some with storage...).

Is there a more satisfying sound than that of the tops popping as the vacuum seal sets? It gives one a great sense of satisfaction.

Well the mango jam is cooking away on the stove while I wait for the canning water to reboil, the pineapple jam jars all sealed, and now I'm not sure I'll get to the pickles. Oh well, if class doesn't run too late tomorrow maybe I'll make them then. But for now, I eagerly await the end of tonight's canning, my kitchen is hot! I've got 2 pots on the stove, a pizza in the oven for dinner, and once the pizza is done the beets are going in for with lunch tomorrow...

As for the beets, I'm looking forward to those... I'm going to roast them, they're all wrapped up in foil ready to go in the oven as soon as the pizza is done and I raise the temperature. I've got them wrapped up with olive oil, several cloves of garlic, a few sprigs of dill and sea salt, and then I'm going to make a simple dill vinaigrette to dress them with tomorrow - yum!

Tomorrow I'll try to remember to post photos of my canning efforts of today!

Cheesy Chard

2011-07-16T19:46:00.000-04:00

Dear Cheesy Chard,

You are amazing. Yet different. And I probably wouldn't have made you if I didn't have food to use up in my fridge. But that said, you still are delicious.

Love,

Me

As I stood with my refrigerator door wide open debating what to eat for dinner I was faced with bag after bag of leafy greens. Thus is the plight of belonging to a CSA. Not that I'm complaining, I love getting fresh veggies, but sometimes there is only so much leafy greens a person can take. And so there I was faced with numerous options (in addition to a shelf full of cucumbers from my garden - I don't think I'm going to do 3 cucumber plants next year - they are quite overwhelming!) I saw a bit of red peaking out from one of the bags - chard! And green onions! And garlic! And, what the heck kind of cheese is this? Olive oil in the pan, onions and garlic sauteed, chard wilted down, and some chunks of cheese thrown on top for good measure, melted down to create a cheesy garlicy oniony earthy concoction that satisfied my hunger - and tasted good too! Tomorrow - roasted beets - yum....

More Costa Rica!

2011-07-07T18:53:00.000-04:00

If Everyone Else Was Jumping Off a Bridge, Would You?

2011-07-06T18:53:00.000-04:00

I would! And I did! 9 of us went, 2 were definites, and by the end of the morning all 9 of us had jumped. It was one of the most other worldly experiences....

The view from the bridge - 265 feet above the river

Waiting to get suited up

Terrance eying the drop with trepidation

Suited up and ready to be hooked to the bugee

Hooked up, no turning back now!

Erin having second thoughts while on the platform

Terrance modeling the ankle harnesses

No matter how nervous people were, the reactions coming back up were all the same - elation derived from the adreline rush of falling 225 feet

Brad

Kristin

Jamie

Terrance

Erin

From the Archives...

2011-07-06T07:36:00.000-04:00

the archives being a random jump drive...

Fall of 2006

I was touring with Sesame Street Live and we were in San Jose, Costa Rica for two weeks - one week of shows and one week off... During the week off I was part of two planned excursions, the first was bungee jumping in the rainforest and the second was a trip to a coffee plantation, butterfly reserve, and a volcano. I'll post photos from those later today, but first...

One interesting thing that Costa Ricans do is that whenever there is a fatal car crash they paint a heart with a halo over it on the road at the spot of the crash, some hearts have several halos over them and some stretches of road seem to be endlessly covered in these hearts. It was touching and disturbing to drive past these...