Settling into Summer

Well, we're about one month out from the end of the school year, and here's what I've learned about myself:

• While I imagine I would feel quite differently as a mother, I don't think I'll ever be a housewife. I am already driving myself crazy with these long, leisurely days. And it's only been a month!
• I always knew I was an excellent procrastinator, but I didn't realize how good. I'm taking it to a new level, guys. I have a daily face-off with the dishes and usually finally give in to them around the time Terry calls to say he's on his way home.
• I need to push myself in order to maintain productivity. It's easy to get sucked into the Internet--Pinterest and Facebook and blogs, oh my! My friend Amanda suggested aiming for one "big" errand per day. As long as I get that one thing done, I can feel good. How pathetic I feel compared to my crazy go-go-go self during the school year.

Today's "big" errand was getting the car washed. Taxing, right? I really miss having a driveway and a bucket to wash my own car, but someday I'll get back there. I made it to the wash after lunch, got gas, and also tackled four loads of laundry today.

The baking bug bit me around mid-afternoon, so I whipped up a batch of pecan-chocolate chunk cookies. Instead of my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, I decided to try a recipe from The Newlyweds' Cookbook. I liked the ingredient list (only 2/3 cup of sugar for two dozen cookies) and thought they were incredibly simple to make. And delicious!

So that's a sense of how summer has progressed for me so far. I'm trying to watch a movie per day (I throw it on in the background as I clean or blog or avoid the dishes), and the rest of this week I'll be visiting with several friends. I'm getting quite a lot done, but I can't help counting down the hours until Terry gets home. At this rate, I'll be begging to get back to work soon!

One fun part of being off for the summer is more time--for everything! I can actually read my favorite blogs, I can create more deliberate workouts, I can play with Scout anytime. We can go to the farmer's market and then I can take pretty pictures of everything we buy.

So here are some of my summer goals:

• Work more toward building my blog and expanding my audience
• Find new blogs to follow, especially outside of healthy living blogs for the sake of variety
• Finish chores, errands, and blogging before Terry gets home so we have more time to relax and enjoy each other's company
• Cross those nagging to-dos off my list, like that dermatology appointment looming over my head
• Reconnect and/or put more time into connecting with my friends

One way I've decided to start in on these goals is by creating a 30 by 30 page on the blog. Awhile ago, I posted a list of 30 things I want to do before I'm 30. This page will track my goals and keep me accountable. And this summer seems the perfect time to get started--so here I go!

Would you ever be a stay-at-home mom/wife/husband/father? Why or why not? (If you already are, please share!)

Weekend Highlights

Our hike this morning:

LA folks, this hike is fantastic, especially if you take your dog hiking. We don't have a dog, but we still had fun. Dogs are allowed off-leash! Or at least most of the dogs were off-leash, so I assume it's allowed. But anyway, we loved the hike.

Next stop: Farmer's market

We ventured out to a movie early in the afternoon (This is the End--funny at times but far too vulgar for me), then chilled at home and booked our Europe trip!!!

I mentioned it previously, but Terry and I are planning a trip to Europe this fall. Our stops include:

• Luzern, Switzerland
• Salzburg, Austria
• Munich, Germany (during Oktoberfest---my beer-loving husband and I will be in heaven!)
• Prague, Czech Republic

We have our flights and hotels booked! Any suggestions for restaurants, must-see sights, and other tips would be greatly appreciated!

What was the highlight of your weekend?

Signs of a Fantastic Weekend

1. I found this photo on my phone today, and it makes me so happy.

2. I finished grocery shopping at 8:30 am yesterday. No hassle in the parking lot, no crowd, no line at check out, no traffic coming home. Hallelujah.

3. Yoga at home helped me prevent a repeat of yesterday's horrible experience at the gym. And it felt sooooo good!

4. Yesterday was street cleaning, so I dreaded finding a place to park, but I spotted a place right across from our apartment! Street cleaning - 0; Julie - 1.

5. Reading my usual favorite blogs today I stumbled upon a shout out from PB Fingers!!! She linked to my In the Park Workout, perfect for a good-weather weekend. Julie from PB Fingers also had a fantastic-looking workout yesterday, so check it out while you're there. :-)

6. Wedding season officially began for us today! We actually don't have many weddings--two this year and one next year so far. Compared to our friends who attend up to seven or eight weddings a year, we're feeling quite unpopular. But today we had a great time celebrating the happy couple!

I swear the color-coordinating was completely unintentional.

7. Simple recipes make life good. Especially when you get to take them to Friday night fun time with friends! We spent last night at a happy hour with Jenn and some friends, and I needed to figure out a way to use up the fig jam that we bought earlier this week. Since it doesn't contain preservatives, it'll only last about another week or two. Enter the Internet. Apparently fig and pork (fig and pig!) go well together, so I decided to make these little crostinis.

Fig and Pig Crostini Appetizers
Ridiculously simple, this appetizer can be made in advance and is perfect for happy hour, wine time, dinner parties, or brunch!

(Terrible photos, sorry. We're getting new phones soon, and my first priority is a better camera!)

• One French baguette 
• One package (about 5 oz) prosciutto, thinly sliced
• Sliced Manchego cheese (we went heavy on the cheese--about 1/2 pound--but you could tone it down depending on your love of cheese)
• 1/2 cup fig jam
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Thinly slice the baguette at an angle (about 1/2 inch slices). Brush each slice with olive oil and arrange oil-side-up on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely.

(At this point, once the crostini are cool, you can bag them up for later. Yesterday I brought all the ingredients over in separate containers and arranged the plate once I arrived.)

To serve, you have two options: 

1) Make them all ahead of time. Spread the fig jam first, then top with a slice of Manchego and a little prosciutto. Why would you do this? Well, perhaps you're passing hors d'oeuvres and don't want people to have to fuss with making their own. Okay. Otherwise, though, go with option 2. 

2) Arrange a plate of toasts, sliced Manchego, and prosciutto with a small bowl of fig jam. Be sure to include a spreader for the jam. Some folks may skip the bread and stick with ham, cheese, and jam--do not judge these people. More bread for you.

Super simple, right? But the flavors are fantastic together! And I'm pretty certain you can throw some different ingredients in there to make equally delicious combinations:

• Brie & prosciutto
• Goat cheese & pancetta
• Blue cheese & bacon

Is your mouth watering? No? Just me?

What's awesome about your weekend so far?

Basic Gym Etiquette (and a rant)

Fair warning: This post is mostly a rant. But there's a workout at the end, so it's not all negative. Alright, it's mostly negative. And super sarcastic. But I think it's important that you see this side of me.

My workouts are usually a time for me to zone out, relax (oddly), and destress. So when someone's behavior completely ruins that experience, I get frustrated. And so today after my workout I wrote Terry this e-mail (it's in red because I was angry). (Also note I changed quite a few of the--um--harsher words to make them blog-appropriate. Those are italicized and bolded, and you can use your imagination to determine which words I had there originally.)

Just a warning: This e-mail is purely to vent.

So I'm in the middle of my strength workout when some woman bursts into the room and hops on the elliptical WITH HER COFFEE and proceeds to pedal at like 2 mph. Whatever, no big deal. But then she gets off the elliptical, leans over, and turns off the TV that I was watching on the treadmill next to her. Okay, I can forgive that, she probably thought someone (I) had left it on. THEN she gets off the elliptical and TURNS OFF THE LIGHT. WHAT THE HECK!? I looked at her like, "WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING? DO YOU NOT SEE ME WORKING OUT???" And she goes, "Is that ok?" NO woman. That's NOT okay.

So I finish my strength and get on the treadmill, and she's still pedaling SO SLOWLY and then she's clearing her throat (probably because she's DRINKING COFFEE WHILE WORKING OUT) and laughing out loud at whatever's on her TV and singing or humming or something--I don't know because at this point I cranked up my iPod--and potentially talking to herself or to me. I don't care. But I was doing a HIIT, so I sped up and slowed down. But every time I sped up, she would start pedaling with really dramatic arm movements, like throwing her elbows in the air, and I thought to myself, "IS THIS WOMAN MOCKING ME?" Seriously, she was that obnoxious that I really think she might have been mocking me. I was SO annoyed.

So then the cherry on top: Finally (after 20 minutes--which felt like an eternity to me) the woman leaves. AND LEAVES HER COFFEE CUP. (She's done this before--I know because I've seen her exact cup in the elliptical before.) So I'm irritated at her for lack of common decency, but it shouldn't have been surprising based on her other behaviors. But then after she leaves I open the door to let some air in because A) I was dying and B) I'm a DECENT HUMAN BEING who waits until others leave before changing the workout environment. But then the woman comes back (obviously hadn't finished her coffee) and on the way out SHE CLOSED THE DARN DOOR. WHO DOES THAT?! 

My only possible justifications for her behavior:

1) She has never been to a gym where other people also work out.

2) She has never interacted with humans before.

3) She has interacted with humans, but they were cavemen and she time traveled here.
4) She's a lunatic.

5) She works for a candid camera show and is testing methods that will drive people nuts.

6) She's trying to cut out caffeine and therefore drinking decaf and it's not cutting it, so she's taking it out on unsuspecting gym goers.

7) She saw [Terry and me] together, fell madly in love with [him], and is trying to get me to attack her so I'll get evicted and [he]'ll divorce me.

8) She is a fembot trying to ruin workouts everywhere so that the human race becomes weak and can be more easily destroyed.

These are the basic rules of etiquette as I see them:

1. If you want to change something about the workout environment--music, TV channel, temperature, door open or closed, lights on or off (WTF?!)--and you do not actually work at the gym, you should ask the other people first.
2. Leave everything cleaner than you found it. Re-rack your weights, move equipment back where you found it, throw away your garbage. I feel like this is common sense. Apparently it is not.
3. Avoid singing out loud. Even Celine Dion (especially Celine Dion?) shouldn't sing out loud at the gym. This also goes for talking on the cell phone, yelling across the gym to your friend, loud, repetitive grunting, slamming dumbbells... I'm in the zone here; don't make me stop and glare at you.
4. Really, we can sum it all up in one rule: Remember that there are other people around you. Be polite and courteous. We're (probably) all (mostly) rational. If you want to work in between my sets, just ask. If you want me to move over so you can do your exercises next to me (why wouldn't you? I'm really fun to be next to, and I won't sing out loud), give me a "hey do you mind?" smile. Don't spend an hour on the treadmill if people are waiting. Don't take all the dumbbells off the rack to create your circuits station that will take 45 minutes--and then leave them there. Just consider others and we'll be good.

Now go practice that etiquette with this workout:

Some notes:

Superset 1

• Bicep curl to shoulder press
• Tricep dips (make these harder with straight legs or one leg off the ground)

Superset 2

• Hammer curl + lateral raise
• Cable tricep pulldown

Superset 3

• Cable chest press (make these easier by sitting on a bench)
• Cable wide row (make these easier by sitting on a bench)

Superset 4

• Stability ball crunches
• Stability ball back extension

Superset 5

• Dumbbell squat
• Romanian deadlift (I use dumbbells--keep your knees slightly bent and use your glutes/hamstrings--not your back!--to stand up)

Superset 6

• Dumbbell plie squat (push your knees back and keep your chest up)
• Stability ball hamstring roll ins (the closer the ball to your knees when your legs are straight, the easier it is)

So, any good gym etiquette stories to share? 

Two Year Wedding Anniversary

Yesterday, Terry and I celebrated our two year anniversary!

(Any excuse to post wedding pictures, right?)

Terry had to spend Monday night in San Diego for work, so we were bummed not to get to see each other until the evening, but that gave me plenty of time to set up for Terry's gift. My family has a tradition of sending each other on scavenger hunts to find gifts at Christmas, so I took that idea and gave Terry part of his gift at each location.

Honestly, setting up for his scavenger hunt was super challenging--have I mentioned how small our apartment is? 650 square feet is not a lot of space within which to send someone looking for clues, especially since I was trying to avoid letting him find the gifts before he'd gotten that clue. So I found some--er--unconventional hiding places: the bathtub (I closed the shower curtain and prayed he wouldn't want to shower after he got home), our car, the back patio (closed the blinds just enough so he wouldn't see outside), the bedroom (hid that gift on my side of the bed so he wouldn't notice until it was time), and the couch (I kept that one hidden until the end and then sneaked it out when he was looking for the bedroom clue).

Each stop had a small part of the gift, a framed photo from our wedding, and the next clue. I already had a bunch of frames, so those were a last minute just-for-fun idea, and I used some stamps to jazz up the clue cards. But overall Terry seemed to love the hunt, and I had so much fun following him around as he found each gift.

The first stop--the bathtub--was chilled champagne and our wedding flutes. Obviously this had to be the first stop so we could pop the cork and sip while Terry hunted!

The hunt itself was fun, but coming up with a gift idea was super difficult, which is why I'm sharing with you. We're trying to keep up with traditional gifts each year--year one is paper, year two is cotton. Cotton?! It sounds so simple, doesn't it? But I struggled for weeks trying to think of something better than a t-shirt (not that I have anything against t-shirts...I'm just convinced that Terry just already owns all the t-shirts. In the whole world. Seriously). If you search "cotton anniversary gifts" online, you'll find quite a limited selection. Like towels.

So instead I came up with the idea to take Terry to the Hollywood Bowl, one of our favorite activities we've ever experienced in LA. And since that has nothing to do with cotton, I added some BBQ-themed gifts that would help us prepare a picnic for the night of (at the Hollywood Bowl, you can bring your own picnic to enjoy before the show). In other words: "Terry, here's your gift, but you have to make dinner for it!" :-)

The gifts included:

• A cotton tablecloth
• A BBQ towel, cedar wood plank, grilling sauce, and instant meat thermometer (recommended by our grilling class teacher)
• A bottle of Argyle sparkling wine (it sounds like a stretch, but Argyle is a popular clothing pattern, so I figured it works for a "cotton" gift)
• Tickets to the Hollywood Bowl

Terry gave me the absolute perfect gift: a bathrobe (which I've been hoping for for quite awhile) and a gift card to Bliss Spa to get a massage! He did a great job, too, because our apartment gets super hot and I become a sweaty beast when I get ready in the morning, so he made sure the robe is lightweight and ends at the knee. What a guy. :-) 

For dinner last night, Terry fired up the grill to BBQ bison tri-tip and did a PERFECT job grilling it. We used it to make sandwiches, also inspired by our grilling class: arugula, blue cheese, brie cheese, fig jam, French bread. So tasty!

And for dessert, Smitten Kitchen's Tiny but Intense Chocolate Cake from her phenomenal cookbook (it's only six inches in diameter, and we ate about a third of it between the two of us). So little but delicious!

We had a blast celebrating, and we're going out to dinner tomorrow night to finish up the fun!

Maui in July Part II

Alright, let's dive into this last Maui recap. These photos come from my phone instead of the dancy camera, but they still capture the awesomeness of Maui. First off, some more food:

Lava Flow (Miami Vice for you East Coasters) from Aloha Mixed Plate

Terry's peanut and chicken pizza from Lahaina Coolers Restaurant and Bar on the Fourth of July

And my burger--not bad at all!

I actually really loved downtown Lahaina on the Fourth of July. I mean, I'm sure I would have loved it any time, but on that evening the streets were packed with locals and tourists shopping, eating, and watching the fireworks. The show really impressed me, and you could feel the excitement throughout the whole night.

One of my favorite adventures on the trip was our hike on the Lahaina/Pali Trail. 

My parents recommended this trail, and I was seriously impressed the entire time that they had completed it previously. I think I started sweating around step four and just didn't stop the entire way. It was steep, hot, and rocky--the perfect storm hike.

But we pushed through about two and a quarter miles up for some gorgeous views!

And yoga fun.

This trail is located near mile marker 11 on Highway 30; you park under a small grove of trees in a dirt parking lot across the street from the ocean side. The trail is clearly marked and a terrific, tough hike!

And that's it, folks! We really love Maui and look forward to checking out different islands in the future!

Previous Maui Posts:

• Maui in July Part I
• WIAW Maui Style
• Maui (March 2012) - First Two Days in Maui
• More Maui (March 2012)
• Maui Part III (March 2012) - Including whale watching!

And lastly, happy two year anniversary today to my amazing husband! I'll be back later with some mushy love stuff. :-)