Magical Santa Anas

In the movie The Holiday (which, incidentally, is one of my favorite Christmas movies), Kate Winslet's character, on vacation in LA, mentions the Santa Ana winds about 17 times. She and Jack Black's character talk about the Santa Anas as though they hold some kind of magic. At one point, someone says, "Anything can happen!" in reference to the winds. 

Well, I've lived in LA for eight years now, and I can tell you that I've never heard of any Santa Ana lore or legend that suggests magic comes about when the winds blow. I can tell you that the destruction caused by this alleged "magic" has created quite a stir on our local news stations, and it shut down the school where I teach for the second day in a row. (You can hear about my adventure during the first day shut down here. Highlights include two hours of traffic and a car accident.)

So I had the day off today! I think long weekends are among my top 10 favorite things. Also included: Christmas music, which I got a great dose of this morning as I drove down to Anaheim to meet my parents. As I mentioned on Wednesday, my parents are in Southern California to go to Disneyland! (How adorable is that?) Unfortunately, my dad's camera broke, and he really wanted to take pictures of all the Disney decorations. So I headed out this morning to drop off our camera to them, thinking that the magical Santa Anas must have blown all the cars off the road, because there was zero traffic! (Don't worry, I hit plenty when I got back up to West LA, so the world was right again.)

Handing over the camera to my parents reminded me of another similar exchange in 2003. My parents had just dropped me off at college, one of the top 10 saddest days of my life, and then my dad called to say he had forgotten his camera in my dorm room. Ugh. I had to say goodbye again? Thankfully I had two wonderful roommates who came with me to tearfully hand over the camera and cheer me up afterward. And luckily, today's exchange wasn't nearly as depressing! I get to see my parents tomorrow when I head up north for a little family bonding.

Workout

Before my Anaheim adventure, I enjoyed a great workout in our complex's tiny gym. I wasn't really in the mood for anything intense, but I skipped my workout yesterday and felt like I needed a good cardio session. 

Elliptical

20 minutes, levels 6-11, while reading my current book, The Hunger Games. 

Treadmill Incline Walking Workout

Stay at 4.5 mph the entire time

• 0:00-3:59 Incline 6
• 4:00-7:59 Incline 8
• 8:00-11:59 Incline 4
• 12:00-15:59 Incline 10
• 16:00-19:59 Incline 2
• 20:00-24:00 Incline 12

It wasn't crazy, but it got the job done. Inclines 10 and 12 definitely got me super sweaty and really raised my heart rate. This workout is a great one to try if you are feeling like you need a low-impact workout or just feel like mixing things up. (Also, if you have a personal treadmill at home and watch TV while you work out, you could watch almost exactly one episode of your favorite sitcom during this workout!)

I hope you have a great Friday! I'm excited because Terry has promised to get off work early today to go out to dinner. What are your weekend plans?