Low-Key Thursday

You'll notice this week's posts, with the exception of Tuesday's post about Monday's workout, have lacked mention of any real exercise. As much as I advocate no excuses, I also recommend listening to your body, and this week, my body is telling me to sloooooooow down.

Between our hectic weekend of traveling, a funky schedule at school, and feeling sick, I knew I needed to take this afternoon and evening to mellow the heck out. But don't worry, I still brought my no excuses attitude on my mission to relax.


I finished up all my school work and tomorrow's lesson prep before I left campus so that I could put work aside for the evening. After receiving my "sorry but we won't be needing your services next year" letter for the third year in a row yesterday (like so many other teachers out there), I was all too glad to avoid thinking about work.


Traffic tried to stand in my way, and it took me over an hour to get home. But I found joy in eating the World's Most Perfectly Ripe Pear and speaking with my dad on the phone (hands-free, of course!), so I wasn't too worked up by the time I got to the apartment.

When I came home and remembered all the laundry and other chores I had hoped to do, I ignored it all, curled up on the couch, and took a nap. You have no idea how much willpower it took, but I was seriously proud of myself for just saying no to housework for once.

When Terry came home, I slept another 30 minutes, and he sweetly offered to take me out to dinner or help cook. I wasn't up for going out (and take off my sweatpants?! hell no!), so we decided on some whole wheat waffles with eggs and strawberries.

The rest of tonight involved baking another test batch of muffins (seriously, recipe coming soon), cuddling Scout, and looking through more Maui photos. In case you missed the Hawaii recaps, here they are:

• First Two Days in Maui
• More Maui
• Maui Part III (Whale Watching)

Here are a few more highlights of our trip:

Rainy but still gorgeous

Post-breakfast picture with Mom - and yes that's my dad with the binoculars 

It says, "Whale Alert: 3 bells - 'Thar she blows!' 4 bells - 'Whale ho!'"

Maui Farmers' Market

Sun!

So many amazing things about this picture, especially my brother's TWO pairs of binoculars

We know how to do tourism in style

Sail & Snorkel

Molokini, where we snorkeled

Isn't she gorgeous?

Scuba Terry!

POG-mosas (Passion-orange-guava juice with champagne)

Our snorkel vessel, the Ali'i Nui (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

Super artistic (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

Ocean floor (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

Chris & Ashley snorkeling (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff) 

Terry underwater! (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

(photo by Ali'i Nui Staff) 

Dad and me snorkeling (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

This one's for Jenn - sea life! (photo by Ali'i Nui Staff)

Yes

Exactly

And tomorrow's Friday! We have big plans for laundry, cooking (perhaps some corned beef and cabbage), baking (macaroons), watching about 50 TV shows on our DVR, sleeping in, working out, and reading. It's supposed to rain here, and I'm especially excited for a great excuse to hang out at home!

What are your plans for the weekend? What workouts and meals are on your horizon?

Maui Part III

Have you ever been whale watching? I hadn’t until a few days ago, though my parents have gone to Hawaii and Alaska to see humpback whales in their natural habitats. I wasn’t so sure I could see the big deal; I had seen pictures. I’d been to Sea World. So I got the idea: They spout water out of their blowholes and sometimes jump out of the ocean to make a big splash. Cool.

In fact, this trip turned out to be a rather stressful one for Terry and me. I had trouble getting the time off, we had to rush to the airport after work Thursday, we had to take a red eye home only to drive immediately to work that day. And the trip was barely four days in Hawaii. Would it be worth it?

Oh, yes. Yes it was.

Whale watching is now one of the top ten travel experiences of my life, ranking right up there with pastries in Paris and honeymooning in London. We didn’t do our official whale watching trip until our last day on the island, but we were able to spot whales from the shore, during drives, and even from my parents’ hotel room. Among the six of us, we had four sets of binoculars and one telephoto lens, but we could see the whales without any special equipment. And they were everywhere! We were nearly guaranteed to spot one anytime we looked at the ocean longer than 30 seconds. My parents said they call it “whale soup” when so many are active in one area.

So cute

Did I mention it was a windy day?

But going on the whale watching trip itself was far and away the best way to observe the whales’ behavior and learn more about their activity. Our original charter through Captain Steve’s was canceled due to crazy winds, but a little further around the island we were able to catch the PacificWhale Foundation’s Ocean Explorer. First we browsed through their gift shops and a gorgeous photo gallery, then we hopped aboard the intimate vessel. We only had around 40 people on board, and we were able to walk around to get a better view of the ocean as we wished.

Do you see the whale? The black spot directly in the center of the picture.

Sorry about the lack of a telephoto lens here... 

Immediately out of the harbor, we saw the highlight: a full breach! You’ve seen it in movies, commercials, photos – I couldn’t believe we got lucky enough to spot it. The whale jumped completely out of the water. Our on-board naturalist said that scientists aren’t actually sure why whales breach, but their best guesses include communication and ridding their bodies of lice from their migration. It’s actually fascinating to learn what marine biologists don’t know about humpbacks; they’ve never seen a live birth and can’t understand a lot of their communicative behaviors. Still, we learned a lot as we found several whales near the surface:

• Humpbacks migrate to Hawaii in the winter to mate and/or give birth because there are no predators.
• They migrate back to Alaska every summer because Hawaii has no food for them (much like penguins, the whales go several months without food, and moms lose about one-third of their bodyweight).
• The gestation period for a humpback whale is 12 months, and a newborn calf weighs about 3,000 pounds.
• An adult humpback weighs about 80,000 pounds and can reach 45 feet in length.
• The “arm” (flipper) can be about 15 feet in length.
• Humpbacks can swim at up to 30-35 mph in short spurts, and it takes them about four weeks to travel from Alaska to Hawaii.
• If you want to whale watch in Hawaii, the best time to go is mid-December through mid-May (February and March are peak times).

 All of it was fascinating, and I would certainly go again to try for a less windy day. Luckily, we had sun, so it wasn’t freezing, but the wind made for a bit of a rough ride. Along the way, we spotted a mama and her calf, along with several males vying for her attention. 

A mama whale on her back slapping her flippers back and forth.

Our charter also dropped a microphone into the ocean, and we were able to hear the whales communicating. I couldn’t believe how loud they were! Apparently, only males sing, and they have specific songs that last about 20 minutes and then loop. The males all sing the same songs and pick them up from each other, changing their song each year. How cool would it be if your job was to study whale songs?

Listening to the whales

After our awesome trip, we ventured to Aloha Mixed Plate, a local food joint that serves Hawaiian and Pacific Islander favorites. I think Terry’s order of the Kalua pork was my favorite item, but my Kalbi ribs came mighty close.

So much meat

Seriously. Adorable.

Then we were off and running and showering before racing to the airport for our flight. We stopped over in Honolulu and grabbed a quick bite to eat (shockingly, I had a salad because I felt very guilty about not getting all my vegetables in for the day). Then we suffered through uncomfortable sleep on our red eye and were off to work! Yes, we are crazy. Yes, we would have loved to go home and sleep. Yes, I had my first soda of the year to get me through the day. But it was one of those days where I’m thrilled to be a teacher because my students give me energy and helped me stay awake.

And it was all worth it. :-)

What are some of your top ten travel experiences? Any must-see or must-do lists?

Happy Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day, everyone! March 14th is Pi Day, celebrating 3.14. I'm not really into it, but I know Terry is, as is my good friend Amanda, and I'm not one to turn down a celebration.

Speaking of celebrating, I’m thrilled that the blog world came up with What I Ate Wednesday instead of Tuesday, because yesterday’s meals were pretty sad. When we landed, Terry and I grabbed a quick breakfast at Noah’s Bagels, and, since I needed lunch, too, I bought a second bagel for later. Between those “meals” and a few cookies, I was craving some healthy foods by the time I got home and squeezed in all five servings of fruits and vegetables by the time we finished dinner. After an orange, I sautéed an onion, two yellow squash, three small zucchini squash, spinach, and a red bell pepper with some marinara and a splash of red wine. Topped with mozzarella, of course.

Terry's beautiful table setting

Veggie pasta - quickly becoming a staple in this house

Speaking of which, one of our best friends, Winnie, was in town over the weekend and stopped by last night for dinner. I’m grateful she likes vegetables, because I went to town on that veggie pasta. I also whipped up some whole wheat biscuits, and Winnie surprised us with some Diddy Riese cookies. (If you’re in LA, Diddy is a must-do, and I’m sure Winnie had a slight ulterior motive in revisiting one of Westwood’s most famous landmarks to provide us with dessert.)

Whole wheat biscuits

Winnie works in PR and really has a fascinating job. She’s actually in town for work, and she gets to field lots of questions from the press while putting out fires when her company gets negative press. Definitely not a boring job! Winnie lives in San Jose, very close to my hometown, so it was great to catch up in person and hear about her recent work, travel, and marriage adventures (Winnie and her husband, Brian, started dating the same summer that Terry and I did, and we all worked together at UCLA). Short but sweet, and probably good that Winnie had to leave before 9, because Terry and I were exhausted.

After eight hours of sleep, I woke up feeling a bit under the weather this morning, probably from all the stress and traveling lately. Some DayQuil and Halls kept me going through the day, and I’m grateful for once that today was a standardized testing day, which meant that students tested while I graded and organized my lesson plans, and we only had three classes in the afternoon instead of our usual six. Our cheer girls are getting ready for a rally, so we had after-school practice, but then I was able to come straight home and cozy up with the kitten.

Here’s my What I Ate Wednesday for 3/14/12 (Pi Day!):

6:30 a.m. – Breakfast, courtesy of my awesome husband

Leftover whole-wheat biscuit (whole, though I realize only half is in the picture) with peanut butter and ¾ cup strawberries 

Tea :-)

10:30 a.m. – Morning snack

Orange

12:30 p.m. – Lunch

Leftover veggie pasta

 

3:30 p.m. – Afternoon snack

Banana

6:30 p.m. – Dinner

Veggie scramble

Red bell pepper, spinach, and feta with 1 1/2 biscuits

 9:00 p.m. – Dessert 

Tea with Scout

  Plus 1/2 of a new muffin I baked - recipe coming soon!

Time for bed!

Hope you had a great pi day! Did you celebrate? I wish I had done something cute, like baking a pie, but I didn't think of it until just now, when I saw Alice's post. But you should try her awesome-looking no-bake pie!

More Maui

When we last left off, I described our dinner in at my parents’ hotel room. Mom made macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi and steamed green beans; Dad barbecued steak and asparagus; and we also munched on the fried rice from yesterday’s outing at The Gazebo. 

Yummy dinner in

Everything tasted delicious, and we also devoured the dessert: a hula pie! From what I gathered, it had an Oreo cookie crust, loads of ice cream, and a chocolate shell on top, plus whipped cream.

The next day...

Yeah, there was a bit of a flat tire incident...

Terry woke up super early for a dive trip through Lahaina Divers. He said the trip to the Cathedrals was particularly impressive and a great experience. He got to swim through holes in rocks and practiced his buoyancy (keeping himself in control of where he is in the water). He’s looking forward to returning to Hawaii to explore more, of course.

Gorgeous day for diving!

While Terry dived, I treated myself to a great workout with my mom and Ashley. We got our butts kicked doing Tina’s boot camp workout. As you know, I’m participating in an 8-week boot camp through Tina, along with a few hundred others around the Internet. The first week was focused on stability, and the workout I did with Mom and Ashley wrapped up with a new move that I immediately loved: the Turkish Getup. (Side note: My brother said it sounds like a dance, to which I replied, “No, that’s the Turkish Get Down.” This, my friends, is how my family does comedy.) The move is certainly one I’ll be incorporating into my own circuits, and I highly recommend it to you! Try 5 on each side with a light weight, and then watch this guy do the move whileholding a human. (I like how, when he stands up, he looks at the camera and gestures as if to say, "What? That was easy.") Then go do 5 more on each side.

After our sweaty workout, I showered up and ate a quick breakfast before one of the highlights of my trip: a massage! I LOVE massages! I’m not normally very good at relaxing, but apparently paying an obscene amount of money to lie down on a table while a little old lady (she was super cute) works out all the knots in my neck does the trick. It was 55 minutes of bliss. I mentioned ahead of time that I’ve been running lately, so Sharon, my masseuse, told me she would work on my IT band (which, I learned, is the “band” that runs from your knee to your hip, on the outside of your quad). I should have known by the twinkle in her eye that it wasn’t going to be fun, but damn! What on earth have I been doing to myself? Apparently I’ve been wrenching my IT band into a super tight knot. I almost couldn’t take it, because sweet, little, elderly Sharon was really quite ruthless with my poor legs.

Still, I enjoyed the massage and met up with my parents for a bit of pool time before Terry picked me up after scuba. We met my brother and Ashley and walked over to Maui Brewing Company for lunch. The food was above par for a brewery, and we all found at least one beer we liked (they have samplers as well as beers on tap). Who knew Hawaii had a beer scene?

Taster

Maui brew

 After a few hours relaxing, we all met up again to head over to my mom’s birthday dinner at Mama’s Fish House. We’d gotten a lot of recommendations for this place, and wow, wow, wow – I can’t speak highly enough of it. First of all, while it is quite out of the way (around an hour to drive there), the location is breathtaking. Once you park, you walk down a path that virtually erases the highway noise and leaves you in the midst of pure paradise. We arrived for our reservation at 7:30 but learned that it may actually be best to enjoy dinner at sunset or twilight to take advantage of the views. The restaurant lies right on the beach, with plenty of beachside palm trees and little benches for a casual stroll before or after dinner. (What a lovely place to honeymoon or get engaged…!) The restaurant is completely open-air, so you can hear and see the waves while you eat the fish caught that day.

My lehi

Yep, it’s a daily menu, based on what is fresh and available from local fishermen.

Lobster guacamole

We loved the food and drinks: mai tais, scorpions, lobster guacamole, wasabi-crusted calamari, freshly baked honey whole-wheat bread with poppy seeds (seriously yummy), asparagus soup, crab- and lobster-stuffed mahi mahi, fresh lehi in white wine sauce, and fresh ice cream to finish. It was well worth the price and a place we’ll certainly make a point to visit again!

Dad and the belated birthday girl

Freshly baked bread

Crab-and-lobster-stuffed mahi mahi

I don't remember what this dish was, but doesn't it look delicious?

After a good night’s sleep, Terry and I woke up for a quick workout, again part of Tina’s boot camp. This week’s challenge is the tempo of the exercises; for example, stationary lunges with dumbbells where you lower for four counts, hold for two counts, and return to starting in one count. Plus, on the last rep you pulse 15 times. Hello, quads! (And that IT band? Yeah, it was screaming!) We built up quite a sweat, then grabbed a quick breakfast (complete with Maui Farmers' Market fruit and homemade banana nut bread) and then packed up before heading to our whale watching adventure.

Since this post is already quite lengthy, I'll leave you there and pick up with the incredible whales on the next one! Enjoy!

First Two Days in Maui

After a stressful day trying to get out of work on time on Thursday, I picked up Terry from work and raced to the airport. We made it through security without incident before picking up a few snacks for the long flight. Upon spotting a Brioche Doree, a sandwich shop, our mouths watered remembering the same chain in Paris. Unfortunately, the sandwiches failed to impress; this site added some sort of strange apple-vinegar reduction that really didn’t do it for either of us. I grabbed a few bags of trail mix, pretzels, and peanut butter crackers in an attempt to hold us over to Maui, but we both struggled with all the salt and very little water. Through all our travels this year, we’ve certainly learned the importance of hydration. I eat very little salt on a normal basis (processed foods = lots of salt!), so traveling inevitably leads to lots of bloating and crazy thirst.

Thankfully, after grabbing our rental minivan (oh yes, get excited, we have a minivan), braving the wind and rain, and driving the 45 minutes to our condo, my generous parents met us with lifesaving sandwiches, cookies, and fruit. We essentially ignored them and scarfed down the homemade turkey-bacon sandwiches, agreeing to meet up in the morning for our horseback ride. (My parents are staying at another resort, about 5 minutes from our condo, and the "kids" are staying at a condo that they scored through their time share.)

After a quick, deep sleep, we woke up to flash flood warnings and severe thunderstorms around Hawaii. We decided to skip horseback riding and opted for a nice breakfast instead. My parents have been trying to go to The Gazebo at Napili for several years, but the lines were always too long. Since we woke up at 6:45 for the failed horse adventure, we got in line by 7:50 and only have to wait about 25 minutes.

Happy to be in paradise!

We agreed that Terry had the best breakfast, but that’s only because he got to eat all our leftovers and therefore tasted just about all the restaurant’s specialty. Mom and I split the macadamia nut pancakes, Dad had the Lahaina omelet, and Terry ordered the Big Kahuna omelet but ate one of our pancakes as well. He also sampled some of the fried rice we bought for the next night’s dinner. 

Oceanfront breakfast

Macadamia nut pancakes with fresh whipped cream

Terry's omelete

We stopped at a Maui farmers' market (they let us sample everything and I learned how to pick out a papaya!); then we headed over to pick up my brother and his fiancee to really get the trip started!

Farmers' markets in Maui mean lots of tropical fruit!

Not a bad place to lounge

Yesterday's activities were eating lunch, relaxing near the beach, and enjoying a surprise dinner at Warren & Annabelle's. Warren & Annabelle's is a magic/comedy show venue; after dinner, we got to see two comedian-magicians. The first focused on slight of hand and the second emphasized the comedy, but both were fantastic. We've been to the Magic Castle, Hollywood's famous magic venue, and this show was certainly comparable. The venue is very small, too (about 80 people), so the illusions are close up and the performers interact with the audience a lot. If you're planning a trip to Maui, make Warren & Annabelle's part of your itinerary! (Sadly, pictures weren't allowed.) 

 Today, Terry and I got an early start at 5 am with our big run for the week. We stepped outside into some substantial rain, wind, and darkness, so we hopped on the treadmill/bike for the first mile and a half before finishing up outside. We were scheduled to do eight miles but only made it through six, still a decent number for vacation. :-) Then we were off on our sail and snorkel adventure! It was five hours of eating, sailing, whale watching, snorkeling, diving (for Terry), talking with the crew and other passengers, drinking, eating again, and watching sea turtles. It was a blast!

It was a bit cold at first...

A peaceful ride out to the dive site

Terry jumping in the water for his dive

With Dad

Post-dive relaxation

Sea turtles! 

Tonight we're dining at my parents' condo, which has a fantastic view of the water and Lanai. We have been able to spot whales from their living room! 

Checking out the view

Postcard sunset

Seeing whales in the wild for the first time has truly made this whole trip an incredible experience. We're going on an official whale watching trip on Monday, and I can't wait to see even more whales! 

Dinner tonight was delicious, but I'll post more about it tomorrow. I just had to share my dad's amazing job slicing up cheese for the appetizer plate. :-) (He was very proud!)

Dad's cheese plate

Tomorrow's plans: Boot camp workout, a massage (my special treat for the week), and pool time before a special dinner with the family to celebrate my mom's and my brother's recent birthdays. Aloha! 

Somewhere Over the Pacific

Greetings from somewhere over the Pacific! By the time you read this post, I should be well on my way to Maui and well into my new book. Vacations with long flights rock for getting in some reading.

But before we left this morning, we had one big to-do left on our list:

That's right; since we knew an afternoon workout was out of the question, morning it was. And boy, did 4:30 come early! But it was absolutely worth it to know that we get tomorrow off and can enjoy our first full day of vacation without breaking a sweat!

This trip was a gift to my brother, myself, and our significant others from my parents. Mom and Dad try to go to Maui every year around February/March to enjoy the whale-watching, and apparently it's spectacular. It's generally less crowded than summer or holidays, too. Here are our plans so far for the trip:

• Horseback riding (at my request! My dad and I went horseback riding in Maui several years ago, and it was incredible)
• Sail and snorkel trip (sailing, snorkeling, and beverages)
• Whale watching
• Scuba (Terry only)
• Fun in the sun*
• Pool/beach time and lots of reading
• Catching up with the family and enjoying the fact that we're all in one room
• Lots of fresh local fruits
• Plenty of indulgent dinners

*Fun in the sun to be determined by amount of sun and fun available.

Since we'll only be gone for four days, we have to cram a lot in to a short time, but that's how Terry and I roll. Meanwhile, you better believe I'll be getting my workouts in and still consuming my 5 fruits and vegetables every day! We have an 8-mile run planned for Saturday, so don't get too jealous of our trip. Okay, you can get jealous. I don't want to be that girl who asks for pity over something awesome. You know those kids in your high school class who complained because they got accepted to all of their top choices for college? That will not be me!

I do hope you have a spectacular weekend. I'll be writing from Maui!