What's Up for August + WIAW

Yeah. It's August. No, I'm not kidding! Crazy, right? (<--These are the conversations I have with myself.)


Remember last month when I posted my summer bucket list? Let's review...


Summer Bucket List

• Take at least one cooking class and one baking class
• Go on one more little getaway with Terry--Seattle? San Diego? Portland? Solvang?
• Use my YogaWorks Groupon deal (expired...I suck)
• Use our CrossFit Groupon deal  (expired...I suck)
• Run our half marathon (technically it's Labor Day, after school has started, but I'll count it here)
• Become certified as Emergency First Response instructors 
• Read one book per week (not exactly one per week, but I've gotten through a few)
• See Magic Mike with Jenn
• Participate in Tina's Best Body Boot Camp in progress

You'll notice I've got quite a bit checked off there! We have one more getaway planned--San Francisco is the destination of choice--and we're obviously (if you've been reading along) on track to run our half marathon one month from tomorrow. Yikes.

Another big one? The cooking class! I bit the bullet and signed up for a cooking class through Sur la table (lots of locations if you're interested!). I chose Favorite Fish Dishes, which was a great way to step out of my comfort zone. I generally like fish, but it's certainly not my favorite; my husband, on the other hand, would eat fish for every meal if he could. So I may have scored some major wife points by learning a lot more about fish, but I also got some new sauce recipes that can work just as well on pasta or chicken.

Here's what we made:

• Grilled Tuna Provencal with Orange Aioli

• Crispy-Skin Salmon with Edamame Pesto

• Oven-Roasted Cod with Tomato Jam, Feta, and Olives

• Tapenade-Crusted Sea Bass

Overall, I liked the class. At first, I got the sense that the chef wasn't super excited to be there, but by the end she was having a ball. The class was large--13 students--but we all had our own chopping stations and were separated into groups of three so that we could all get as much hands-on experience as possible. We helped prep some parts of the dishes (we cooked four different kinds of fish) and even got to grill the salmon on our own. 

Mostly, I was proud of myself for trying something new and completely on my own. I can be very shy in situations like this one, even though I feel very confident in a kitchen. The class boosted my confidence that much more, and I'm already eager to sign up for my baking class.

With the chefs and assistants!

Since it's only August 1, I think I need to add a bit more to that summer bucket list, don't ya think? Here's what else is up for August (and please note, these are non-work-related items--that stuff goes on a different to-do list!):

• Complete at least 3 more things from our LA Bucket List from Terry's birthday.
• While in San Francisco, visit some good friends who just had their third baby (hooray!).
• Meet Terry for a midday lunch again.
• Get a pedicure. 
• Find a dress for Chris and Ashley's wedding.

Here's what I ate on this first day of August:

Check out the other WIAWs!

6:30 am - Breakfast - Peanut Butter and "Jelly" French Toast (with banana slices!)

Here's the recipe for the French toast.

10:00 am - Snack - Farmers' market peach

12:30 pm - Lunch - 1/2 sweet potato (baked) with peanut butter and cinnamon

12:30 pm - Lunch - 1/2 sandwich (avocado, tomato, cream cheese) with Maui Sweet Onion chips

6:00 pm - Dinner - two Korean BBQ beef tacos with kimchi, Greek pasta salad, mixed greens salad, two brownies, and two beers. 

For dinner, we went to my new department chair's house and spent time with him, his wife (she's the librarian at my new school -- how cute is that?!), and two other English teachers. I'm excited to find that everyone is extremely friendly, fun, and willing to help out a newbie! I didn't take photos because I don't want to them to think I'm weird...yet.

Are you watching the Olympics? What are your thoughts so far? 

Again, I don't want to give away results (though I'm at least one night behind, so I'm sure you know more than I do), but here are my thoughts:

• The men's diving teams need larger Speedos. 
• I could watch McKayla Maroney's vault about 100 more times.
• Michael Phelps is most certainly not "off his game." 
• If I won a gold medal, I think I would wear it under my clothes all the time. And then I could just be hanging out and think, "Yeah, that's awesome!" But then it might be really heavy, so that could be uncomfortable.