An Apple a Day

I once read a knitting pattern that said, "buy your yarn on Friday and have this great pair of fingerless mittens my Monday!" That is just a mean thing to say to someone starting their first cable pattern!!
Being a novice knitter, I know that I am usually only able to knit for 15 minutes before I make a mistake, put a marker in it and take it to the knitting store the next day to get help fixing it. At that rate it takes me about 3 months to finish anything! Ok that may be a slight exaggeration.
Luckily this apple hat was a completely new experience for me. This basic and cute hat actually could be made in a day (or 3).
I want to share a couple of small personal accomplishments I've had with this project.
1. I completed the hat in 4 days (3 days of knitting, which totaled about 3 weeks in real time since I didn't have much time to knit around the holidays. This was also not 3 full days of knitting, just 3 "sittings" so to speak) It is a very quick pattern and easy to do. This is a pattern you actually could complete on a weekend!
2. I overcame my fear of having a couple small mistakes. On the first baby hat I made, I obsessed over it being perfect. It turned out great, but took me 5 times longer to make. This time, I just rolled with it. If something looked off, I kept knitting. If I had extra stitches, I figured it out, and when the pattern told me to "sew" the leaves on the top, I decided to knit them on instead, since I can NOT sew! Yes there are a couple of visible mistakes, that if you were really looking you could tell, but overall it looked great. I am proud that I was able to give this hat to my friends, even though it wasn't perfect. Let's just say it looked "homemade!" The fact that I could overcome being perfect, and embrace my mistakes was huge! Of course when my friends thanked me for the hat, I couldn't take the compliment too well. "Don't look too close," I laughed. 3. I improved. Yep, you got it! Improv and knitting aren't two words that are even found in the same sentence. Most lifelong knitters would balk at not following a pattern, or keeping a mistake in their project, but that's because they know how to fix it! When I was downsizing the crown, I realized my number of stitches was off (because I was overconfident and started watching a movie while I was knitting and counting in my head- bad idea). Instead of getting mad, ripping the whole row out, and spending yet another lunch break at Yarn, I simply improved. Guess what... it worked! Ok, you could tell a little bit, but I still ended up with a cute baby hat!
Anyway here is the hat.... my 3rd hat ever made. It cost about $25 with two types of yard and the new needles I had to buy. Good news, I can make at least one more without spending a dime. Better news, another friend is having a boy in May!
PS. Thanks to Yarn for all of the help and inspriation. They have given me great advice, a shoulder to cry on, new ideas, and delicious tea. Without Yarn, I probably wouldn't ever knit again!

Spellbound

I am somewhat of a spelling and grammar snob. I wasn't an English major, nor did I love literature, I just think that their is a right way too communicate and it bother's me when people make alot of mistakes :) (See, it's annoying!)

Anyway here is a great comic on words that definitely need to be spelled correctly.

I think they should add the word "tomorrow," so my jackass boss will stop writing "tomarrow" in emails to our prospective clients. It's not a difficult word... tom, or, row. I shouldn't even get started on the emails my boss writes to clients. It's like showing up to a black tie dinner in sweatpants!

Also related to spelling, are two great movies that I highly recommend (btw, that is a difficult word to spell!). Spellbound is a documentary about kids who compete in spelling bees and Akeelah and the Bee is a fictional story of a girl who competes in spelling bees.

PS. Now that I have posted this, all of you 3 readers have my permission to make fun of me if I use improper grammar or misspell something!

Coffee- the good, bad and ugly

Here are some of the myths and truths about drinking coffee. Below is a chart based on how many cups are consumed per day, seriously who is drinking 6 CUPS per day?!

• Diabetes: Many studies find that coffee—decaf or regular—lowers the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, but caffeine raises blood sugar in people who already have it.
• Cancer: Earlier studies implicating coffee in causing cancer have been disproven; may instead lower the risk of colon, mouth, throat and other cancers.
• Heart disease: Long-term coffee drinking does not appear to raise the risk and may provide some protection.
• Hypertension: Caffeine raises blood pressure, so sufferers should be wary.
• Cholesterol: Some coffee—especially decaf—raises LDL, the bad kind of cholesterol.
• Alzheimer's: Moderate coffee drinking appears to be protective.
• Osteoporosis: Caffeine lowers bone density, but adding milk can balance out the risk.
• Pregnancy: Caffeine intake may increase the risk of miscarriage and low birth-weight babies.
• Sleep: Effects are highly variable, but avoiding coffee after 3 p.m. can avert insomnia.
• Mood: Moderate caffeine boosts energy and cuts depression, but excess amounts can cause anxiety.

Source: WSJ research

On a more fun note, here is The Oatmeal's take on coffee.

Tea-licious!

This. Is. Cool.

Making a good cup of loose leaf tea just got easier with the IngenuiTEA from adagio teas. Open the top and drop in your loose leaf tea. Pour in your hot water and let steep. When you're ready to drink, simply place the IngenuiTEA on top of your cup and a valve at the bottom will release the hot liquid through a mesh filter. Watch it in action here. Dishwasher and microwave safe to make your life even easier.

http://www.adagio.com/teaware/ingenuiTEA_teapot.html

I would use this with Wynstone's Cafe Latte tea. It's delicious!

Stitch n' Bitch

This is what T says I do when I knit. I stitch, or drop a stitch rather, and then I bitch! The swear words come FLYING out as I figure out how to make things right again.

You see, I am a very novice knitter, I never really learned how, I just watched a friend do it and started doing it. Bored with the idea of a simple scarf I dove right into a baby hat project with tiny little needles and thing gauge yarn. It was kind of a nightmare to make but I thought the hat turned out really cute! I only had to stop into our local knitting store about 5 times for advice to get the hat finished!!

What I realized about knitting is that once I have spent $30 on some organic, free-range alpaca yarn :), an unqunatifiable amount on needles, markers, and stoppers, plus 60 precious hours of my time, this silly hat is worth like $500! Also there is a 100% chance that if I made the item for myself, I won't ever wear it.

So why knit???
I don't know if its the snowy weather, or the fact that my friends just had a baby or if I am simply channeling my 70 year old self, but these patterns have me itching to start stitching!

Hat for new baby N:

http://acechick.typepad.com/knitchicks_patterns/2006/01/strawberry_bean.html

http://www.p2designs.com/pdfs/ptn-froggyHat.pdf

http://www.spudandchloe.com/blog/2009/10/apple-hat-free-pattern/


Fingerless glove for me:

http://knitting.about.com/od/mittenpatterns/p/fingerless.htm

http://www.straw.com/cpy/patterns/mikado-gloves.html

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum!

I got my Christmas tree last weekend and I think this is going to be the start to an annual tradition...

For $8 you can go to a local hardware store and get a permit to cut down your tree on forest service land. So I bundled up, bought my permit, and hopped in the truck with my friends (T was out of town dealing with a rental house we are trying to sell). My friends even made me my own mug of hot chocolate and Rumpleminz (aka peppermint schnapps). We listened to Christmas music on the 20 minute drive west of town. Once we got there we all dispersed, even Carlos, the 20 lb Chiuaua (he's a little chorizo!). After about 45 minutes of hiking and examining trees, I found mine! It was already cut down, actually laying on the side of a forest service road. Once we propped the tree up, we determined that the top half of the tree would make a great "little" tree for our 950 sq ft house. So we trimmed it up and set it aside. I was feeling pretty good about saving a dieing tree rather than cutting a cute fresh little baby tree :)

Now to find J and T's tree. We hiked for another 30 minutes or so, and saw some amazingly large mountain lion tracks in the dried mud. The claws left deep indentations in the dirt... pretty cool and scary at the same time. Luckily there were 3 of us and one was armed with an axe, so at least we have some recourse if one of us were to get nabbed. We kept looking but all the trees seemed to be too big, or they were Ponderosas, which you can't chop down. So we headed back in the direction of the truck, grabbing my little bushy tree along the way.

We got to the truck and were looking near the truck, waiting for our other friends M and K to arrive when I found the Perfect Christmas Tree, about 9' tall, nice and narrow, even branches. It was really perfect, not for our small house but for T and J. So T, J and I all took turns chopping with the axe until it came down. They were so excited!

Meanwhile M and K found their tree and were sawing away. We loaded up our 3 trees, celebrated with a chilly PBR and headed home!

It was a really fun experience that I think I will continue for years to come. It was inexpensive (although once we bought the skirt, and stand it wasn't that cheap anymore! but you only need to buy that stuff once!) Also, it's a great way to get bundled up and enjoy the chilly outdoors in December. I also think it makes you appreciate your tree more. You had to select it out of all the other trees and chop it down yourself. I will definitely do this next year. You could even do it with little kids, not that we are planning on that any time soon, but it would be a great family adventure!

How to Live to be 100

This article has no earth shattering evidence in it, which is what I like about it. The secret to health and wellness is actually no secret. We already know how to do it, because the real way to stay young and healthy is not in a fad diet, gimicky workout or face cream. It is basic and simple, it's common sense... Take care of yourself! Exercise, eat in moderation and balance and enjoy your life!

http://www.shape.com/print/page/id/776

It's decided

Earliest Halloween costume decision ever...

Next year I will be Lady Gaga. (Wow I am seriously sounding like her crazy biggest fan or something.) It's not because I love her or want to be like her, or think I look at all like her. I just think given her popularity it would be an easily recognizable costume and tons of fun. She wears the craziest stuff.

My costume will include:

• Big obnoxious glasses


• Platinum bob wig, chopped at some crazy angle


• Leotard


• Tights


• Disco Stick

Yeah!!

Hopefully I remember this blog post as I start thinking of Halloween costumes ideas next fall.

Giving Thanks

I've believe that expressing gratitude is one of the best ways to improve how you feel about your life, or at least that is what I have heard. Every once in a while, when I see extreme poverty or someone with a serious disability or life struggle it becomes very clear just how fortunate I am. My goal is to feel this fortunate every day, without the prompt of seeing someone who has it way worse.

I can quickly come up with a list of things I am thankful for, you know, the obvious things. Health, family, my dog, my husband. While I am deeply thankful for those things, I want to try and express genuine thanks for these and other things in my life rather than blurting out a standard list out of habit. This goes beyond just knowing that I am lucky to have these things, but to imagine if I didn't....I could lose all of my family in a tragic accident, lose my own health, weigh 300 lbs, or need to be on welfare. Thinking of life in those terms makes me feel sheepish when I complain about a idiotic driver, trip to the post office or my love handles.


Here is what I am thankful for:

• The flexibility of my job and the pay. I think it is important for me to put this first right now, because it is easy to take things for granted, especially in today's job market.
• The friends I've made over the last two years. T and I have a handful of really great couples that we just LOVE hanging out with! We have gone out of our way to make new friends in this small town over the past couple years.
• The amazing mountain biking right outside our front door, and the progress I have made in my first year on my mountain bike.
• The consciousness that emanates from nearly everyone who lives here; to be healthy, get outdoors and most of all, enjoy life!
• That my parents are fun to be around. While all families have their quirks, I am very thankful that an evening with them is not worse than pulling teeth. I have come to realize this is not the case with many people and their parents.
• The time I had on this earth with my brother. A beautiful soul who I can thank for teaching me many valuable lessons. Just thinking of his laugh makes my heart expand.
• Our beautiful September wedding in Telluride. It was nicer than I ever dreamed of! And our wedding photography is top notch. I am so thankful we had great documentation of our day.
• My pretty face and body, which I am always reluctant to be thankful for, but I need to give myself a little more credit. I get frustrated about 5 pesky lbs, I am thankful it's not 50, and quite frankly it's completely in my control, so if I really needed to lose 5 lbs, I could.
• The opportunities I have had to travel. Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Luxembourg, Prague, Budapest, Sweden, Mexico, Canada, Hawaii, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Costa Rica... this list isn't even complete and I know this is only be the beginning of it :)
• My hilarious Boston Terrier Izzy. With so much personality, her cute smooshed face, and an insane amount of intelligence, I swear she was made for us!
• My physical abilities. While I'm no Olympic athlete and my vision is crappy, even with contacts, I am able to practice yoga, snowboard, ride my bike, watch movies, smell fresh flowers and talk to friends. Spending 23 years watching someone get cheated from having physical abilities made me realize what a gift they are.
• My college education, and the fact that I am still paying for it, which I truly believe has given me more character.
• The amount of responsibility, whether it's familial or financial, that has humbled me and taught be to be self sufficient.
• The amount of self awareness and personal growth I have experienced in the last year. This connection with myself will only continue to grow because of what I know now.
• My beautiful tattoo. That I am very excited to be adding onto in a couple of weeks!!

That's all for now, but I hope there are many more of these lists to come.

I Heart the Gaga

Not going to lie, pretty excited for Lady G's new album, Fame Monster.
This hard working lady is putting out yet another album in the midst of her busy year.
Here is her new single that I am already liking called Bad Romance:
http://cache.umusic.com/web_assets/ladygaga/site/badromance/default2.html

My workouts just got better!
Thanks Lady G!

Nothing to Wear

I want my closet to look like this!


I am in serious need of clothing re-hab! I need to go through my clothes and get rid of anything and everything that I don't wear or doesn't fit. Then I need to strategically purchase the items I need to make my wardrobe complete.
I am usually good at getting rid of anything that is not flattering or that is old, but have a hard time getting rid of stuff that doesn't fit. I have a lot of clothes that are a little big for me, and I keep thinking, what if I gain some weight? If I gain weight, I don't want to have to go out and buy new clothes because of this! The clothes that are a little big are usually nice items that I feel guilty getting rid of, since I spent so much money on them. I am also guilty of purchasing things a little big in the first place. So I hang on to these items and they just make my closet look full, but I realize I can't wear half of it. Doesn't that psychology seem weird? You would think that I should have the opposite opinion. Get rid of all my bigger clothes, so if I gain a couple of pounds, I will feel motivated to work it off rather than go buy new clothes to fit my fuller figure!?!
I got a really good tip from a fashion blogger Style on a String. She said to organize your clothes by type and color. So when you put all of your black shirts together, you can get rid of any that are faded and don't fit and know that you still have 2 left. This way you can also recognize holes in your wardrobe. If you realize that you have a cute item that fits but you never wear it, you probably need something to wear it with! Then you can make a list of the items you really need.
This weekend I want to take inventory of my clothes and make a list of what I need.
Unfortunately, the amazing custom closet will have to wait :)

High Low

Per the suggestion of my bestie and her Twinner, I am following the High/Low trend. T and I played yesterday in the car, on a 45 minute drive to a nearby town to go deal with some crappy tenants who haven't paid and are being evicted.

I thought it would be a good idea to "stack the deck" and list 2 highs and 1 low, given our circumstance:
T's Highs:
His delicious lunch
A really good coffee he had that morning (he really
likes coffee!)

T's Low:
"Doing this! Driving 45 minutes to deal with this shit while listening to the wind whistle through my bike rack"

My Highs:
Having a particularly detail oriented client thank me for my hard work
A mini date-night at Outback steakhouse (I had never been and was kind of excited!) and to go to Target (because we don't have one where we live)

My Lows:
Feeling kind of crumby that day because I had some jitters/light headedness and I felt like I was going to pass out on my run

Which brought me to another High of the day, taking a mid-day run with my dog and a friend!

Today I haven't asked T, but I can assume his High has something to do with the delicious lunch I made at home that we enjoyed together. It included a sip of wine (shhh don't tell!) and ended with an espresso and bit of chocolate! It is always nice when we can spend our lunch hour at home together!

Thanksgiving

This is the first time in a while that we have absolutely no Thanksgiving plans. My dad is in Africa for work, mom is headed to my aunt's house for her annual family Thanksgiving feast and my sister and her family are off to AZ.

I am pretty excited to have no plans, but now I am starting to wonder what we should do!

Do I cook at home, all the fixings, and invite a couple friends over? For some reason I am not feeling motivated about doing it all. I have cooked a full Thanksgiving dinner twice now, all by myself and it is tons of fun and always turns out great. But for some reason I am not feeling it this year... It sounds like a lot of $$ on groceries, lots of cooking, and cleaning.

I am sort of hoping we get adopted by friends. I have never really crashed anyone else's Thanksgiving. That could be fun to see how other people do it. Also I would love to spend a lot of time cooking 2 really good dishes or so. Then I can research recipes and get super creative. I make a mean sweet potato pie with ginger snap crust, and also love making different stuffings!

Decisions, decisions!
Either way, it will be nice to have no real holiday obligations, except hang out with my husband and relax!
What is your idea of a perfect Thanksgiving?

The Oatmeal

This website is hilarious!

Thought this FB quiz was fitting, but there is a lot more funny stuff on there.

Created by Oatmeal

Morning Madness

I SUCK in the mornings! What is wrong with me?
While I hit snooze, T gets up and makes us fresh juice from our juicer, I stay in bed. I finally get in the shower, dry my hair, do my makeup and get out of the house without enough time to make breakfast. I leave the house right at 8 or a little after, getting to work at 8:10. I'm at work with no coffee and no breakfast.
This is stupid! We are talking about a 15 minute difference in planning!

What I should do is pick out clothes and set up the coffee/breakfast the night before.
And, here's a genius idea...
Get up when the alarm goes off!

This is going to sound weird, but I think that T's level of responsibility makes me less responsible. Here's my theory... I have always been the more organized, well planned, driven person in my relationships. Then I met T. He is a total busy-body. He is on time, organized, planned out and efficient. He gets stuff done and is very productive. These are traits I always thought were strong in myself, but his level of "togetherness" makes me seem like a slacker! In our relationship, I am the spontaneous, free-spirit procrastinator! At first I was insecure about this, but now I just realize that we are different people. Just because he is very very organized and productive does not mean that I am not. It is also nice to have a partner who is not lazy. He cooks, cleans, and gets stuff done, and it feels really good to share these tasks with someone. I could get into a long talk about this, but I am going to stick with how this relates to getting up on time.
Because T is so on top of things, he would never sleep past his alarm and never be late to work, so in my subconscious, I rely on him to make sure I am not late! So now, instead of setting my alarm and telling myself that if I don't get out of bed I am going to be late, I just wait for his alarm, and for him to get up, and for him to say "Babe, it's time to get up" before I do anything. This is SO silly! I feel like I am depending on him to be on-time to work. When I was a teacher I had to be there at 7:30 or 7:45 every day. Students were in my room and the bell rang, so I could not be late. During this time, I woke up every morning at my alarm (before T). I had breakfast and coffee before I left, because not eating is not an option as a teacher! I need to get back in this habit!!!

Today was the epitome of my morning disasters! T got out of bed and I stayed in, just petting our dog and laying there. I knew how late it was getting, but didn't seem to care. Then he said "We will never be able to car pool together if you don't wake up on time." He's 120% right! We work at the same place, so in theory, we should be able to carpool, right?! But I do my hair and makeup so it takes me a little longer in the morning, meaning that if we are going to ride together, I need to get up BEFORE him! So I get up and get in the shower. Take 20 minutes in the shower (which is SO long!) I am not a long shower person! Meanwhile he makes us some veggie-fruit juice and drops it off on the bathroom counter. I get out of the shower and there is no hot water left for T! Now I am really feeling bad!
He leaves for work. I finish getting ready, grab a Luna bar and leave the house at 7:58.
This needs to stop!

Maybe for a week I should sleep in a separate room and pretend my husband won't be there to save me! That would be a wake up call!
:)

Hair

I've decided to switch hair stylists, at least for the time being...
This is a big deal!

I think its funny how attached and committed we feel to our HAIR stylist! In all seriousness though, it is extremely difficult to find a stylist that is an ideal match. Here are the qualities I would like my stylist to have:

• Obviously great talent at cutting and coloring hair
• Enthusiasm for what they do and lots of creativity. I rely heavily on my stylist to choose what is best for me. I rarely come in with a specific idea or "look" in mind. I like them to work their magic!
• Decently priced. Too low and you don't think you are getting a good enough job, too high and you feel resentment when you look in the mirror and don't feel like a supermodel.
• They need to be someone you can comfortably chat with. Someone that doesn't exhaust you with gossip and stories, someone that doesn't drain you with a million questions when you know they don't even care about you, and someone who doesn't leave long patches of awkward silence. You don't want to come out of a 1-2 hour appointment feeling drained from the conversation, you want to feel relaxed. Like you chatted with a sibling or old friend.

Recently, I feel like the woman who I have been going to off and on since I was 14, and exclusively during the last 2-3 years, is not quite cutting it. (pun was not intended! but I like it!) She has great skill and creativity, but sitting in her chair lately has gotten more and more draining.

I honestly feel a little judgement from her. I feel like she resents that I am younger than her and married (this sounds weird, I know!) but she has been single for a while and she is in her mid-thirties. Not that there is ANYTHING wrong with that at all. It's just tough because I often get trapped in conversation with her. She complains about being single and says she will never get married and she just wants to give up. I am positive, and tell her she will find someone because she is cute and funny and hardworking. (this is true!) Then she says she wants to be single, and I tell her some honest benefits to being single.... We get to a point talking where she corners me, like I am stuck because I have no clue what I could possibly say to her. Now I enter every conversation with caution. I am hesitant to agree with something she says in fear she will turn it around on me later. This is so weird!

Without going into every incident, I do want to share one more thing... I color my hair dark and have very fair skin. Sometimes the dye gets on the side of my face (normal) and they wipe it off with a towel. The past few times she has been a little sloppy about it and gotten some on my face. She doesn't notice it until it has dried on and then she scrubs it HARD with this chemical and a towel. It literally rubs my skin off, and I have this small red dry patch on my face for a month afterward. On my last visit I asked her to be careful and explained what happens to my face, and she got super defensive, and basically made me feel like I was overreacting and being high maintenance!

During the past few visits I have been uncomfortable. On top of that, when I go to pay, she is just choosing a number out of thin air. I feel like she doesn't respect that I work hard for my money and choosing to go to a $100+ hair cut is a big decision for me. I have to plan the appointments, usually around payday, to make sure I have the money to do it! Once she charged $75 for a cut and color because she was worried the color would fade, she normally charges somewhere between $90 and $110 for the full cut and color, and on a recent visit it was $90 for a sloppy color retouch and a trim!

While I really like her, and think she does a really nice job, I decided to take a break for a while and try someone else. At first I had feelings of guilt...

I have had numerous conversations with my friends about switching... They say:

• "once I saw my old stylist at the grocery store and I ran the other direction"
• "I just stopped going, never called or anything. One day she saw me with a different haircut and we haven't talked since"
• "I've been going to Marie for 10 years, I don't trust anyone else to cut my hair"

My belief is that hair stylists are not miracle workers, and they are the only person on earth who can do my hair. I feel that many people are skilled at cutting hair. Also I don't get very attached to the outcome of my hair. I am not worried if it is not my favorite look. Hair grows, we color, we cut, we get older, styles change. I like to mix it up. I am not scared of letting someone else cut my hair. I hope I don't get caught with the same look for 10 years!

So I decided not to feel guilty. I can switch if I want and if she is offended it is her problem. I knew it was important to be up front with her about switching stylists, but I still didn't have the guts to call her on the phone. Mostly because she never answers and I didn't want to leave a weird voicemail about it. Also due to the awkwardness of our recent conversations, I chickened out a little bit and wrote her on Facebook instead!

Here was what I wrote:

Hi lovely lady!

I just wanted to let you know that I went to another person this time for my
hair. It doesn't mean anything personal about you, I still LOVE what you do for
my hair and love seeing you! I just decided to mix it up this time. This stylist
is also a friend and they offered me a good deal so I said yes. I just wanted to
be up front about it because I think it's weird when people go to someone else
and don't say anything about it to their stylist.

I am sure I will be calling you for an appointment soon! How did your movie
turn out? I bet it was awesome!

Hope all is well!

I was honest in my email, but aired on the nice side because I know she will take it personally. But you know what... I went to someone else last night, felt liberated and free to make my own decision, and I don't feel guilty because at least I told her. So what are your thoughts?? Be "monogamous" with your stylist or play the field a bit?

Is there this unspoken loyalty that you worry about? Do you feel bad about switching?

Oh the joys of being a woman!! You bring these issues up to a man and they laugh, out loud, in your face. T's response "WHO CARES if she sees you with a new haircut?!"

October Goals Recap

Since its early November, I should probably check out my October goals and see how well I did. I did update the status of them in the actual post, but here is my synopsis.

• We met with our finance coach and started developing our joint budget. I did get added to T's account, which will be functioning as our main checking account. We have not yet started our cash envelope system, and I still need to close my bank account and switch all my auto pay items to our joint account.
• I did use my yoga punches, and think I figured out how I can avoid feeling like I got hit by a train afterward! LOTS of water and electrolytes! I don't think I will buy another pass anytime soon, I need to figure out what I am going to do for workouts this month. I need to establish an acceptable amount to spend on working out each month, because if I had my druthers, I would buy a yoga pass, rec center pass and dance class card. I did cave and buy a 20 punch card to the rec center ($75, super cheap) which I think will last me for a while. Now I just need to decide which class card to get. I am leaning toward dance, $75 for 10 classes. I will miss yoga though, an hour and a half in silence works wonders for my mind.
• FINALLY finished wedding thank you cards last night!! Still need to print return labels and take it all to the post office, hopefully today. I am also pretty proud that I made little packages for some people who couldn't come to the wedding. I included our wedding favor and a little card that has info for viewing our pictures!
• Have not synced my Blackberry, still need to go through my Outlook and update addresses before I sync.
• Still need to decide about health insurance. I REALLY hate dealing with health insurance because I just get mad about how much I spend and how little I get for it. Anyway I think I am close to a decision.
• I have been writing in my blog more! Though I feel like the content is pretty lame and self serving, but who cares! I AM doing it!!

I would say I am very proud of how much I got done. I feel as though I have had little free time because every night after work I am busy doing "administrative life stuff."

Maybe my November goals will contain something fun... I think that's a good idea :)

Halloween Bostons

Boston Terriers are by far the cutest dogs on the planet, which is why we have one!

Here are some Bostons that got into the spirit of Halloween!

More Boston Costumes

Breakfast

I really struggle with breakfast. First of all, I never, repeat never, have extra time in the morning. I am always jealous of the people who wake up early on a work day to sip coffee and read the paper. How do they have the motivation to jump out of bed on a workday with such enthusiasm?
Let me clarify, it's not that I am not a morning person. While I love my sleep, I often wake up at 5am to workout before work, but I am always scrambling to leave the house before 8.
I think I eat pretty healthfully, which adds to my dilemma because I won't just grab a scone or toaster strudel.. I am a cereal snob (most of it is junk), I try not to eat empty carbs in the morning, and I don't like to eat anything sweet in the morning because I never feel good. My ideal breakfast is an egg on sprouted toast, or in the summer I make a smoothie with protein powder (the only sugar is in the fruit). I just cant seem to find something that I continually like to eat, and most importantly get in the habit of making... I need help!
Here are some items I found to be a success for me (if I can plan ahead, or get my butt out of bed):

• Smoothie with banana, plain nonfat yogurt, frozen berries, protein powder, nuts, supplements. Not okay on snowy days like today!
• Kamut or Spelt flakes with almond milk, raisins and dried coconut. A quick option, like cereal, but gets old after a couple days of eating it.
• Egg on sprouted toast
• Egg scramble with veggies. I never have time for this, but sometimes get lucky an T makes it.
• Egg "taco" on a corn tortilla with vegetarian refried beans, a fried egg and spinach on top. Very tasty!
• Once I made these "quiche cups" but I made such a huge batch that by the end I was really grossed out and haven't made them since. Also I don't use egg substitute, it is a weird concept to me :)

What it sounds like is that I have plenty of breakfast options, I just need to plan ahead (for 5 minutes the night before) or wake up earlier. Seriously, why is this so difficult?

No one reads my blog (well my best friend, M, but that's it!), but if I had a bunch of followers, I would ask:
What is your "breakfast of champions" and how and when do you prepare it?!

Goals are Good

Here are some more goals I am working on:

• Preparing breakfast items, or at least having something I can grab so I eat a healthy breakfast every day.


• Make coffee at home or at work. Get an individual drip filter cone like this:

• Make concious decisions about the next item I need in my wardrobe. This way I am working toward making a complete wardrobe, buying exactly the items I need. I succeeded at my last purchase of Paige Skinny Jeans! Wearing them today with boots and a sweater. I hardly wore these boots before because they only look good with skinny jeans or tights tucked in.

• Start getting to work by 8am, not 8:10. I am really bad about this, because truth be told, I don't really care. It's not like my boss sees me come in late every day... But I need to have a little more respect in what I do and show up on time!

Race Across the Sky

I had the good fortune of attending the world premier of this movie Race Across the Sky which is about the Leadville 100 mountain bike race.

Before the movie began, we got to hear the from a panel of racers. The panel consisted of:

• The Leadville 100 Race Director- cool, older guy who has been doing this race for years
• Lance Armstong- 1st place
• Dave Wiens- 6 time first place winner who got 2nd to Lance this year
• Travis Brown- local rider- 7th place
• Matt Shriver- 3rd place, T and I's good friend and the FLC cycling coach

It was such a treat to hear the racers talk about the event before seeing the action unfold on the big screen. The movie did a great job of capturing the emotion of the gruelling race, along with the strategy that unfolded among the top riders.

• Here are my take-aways from that inspiring evening:
• Lance Armstrong is tiny! (I joked with T, who is very skinny, that Lance even makes him look fat!)
• I am really proud of our friend, Matt, who worked hard to help Lance win, and had a great race himself, finishing in 3rd place. His help to Lance is the only reason why Lance came back to our tiny town to help raise money for the FLC cycling team, and repay the favor to Matt.
• What race or physical challenge should I sign up for next?! I think everyone in the room was thinking that. The emotion involved in accomplishing a tough race is what most of us live for. Its a good challenge that typically makes us appreciate what our body can do rather than bag on ourselves about what we can't do. I was especially touched by the woman who almost died when a car hit her on her bike one day. While laying in her hospital bed, all she wanted was the ability to ride a bike again. It was pretty awesome to watch her cross the finish line of the Leadville 100!
• Lance is a pretty bad ass mountain biker, especially since he spends all his time on the road. I just LOVE that pro mtb guys think they can beat him on the mountain bike! (This is coming from someone who is not the World's #1 Lance fan either. I like the guy well enough, but I certainly don't idolize him)
• A quote from the race director himself "you can do more than you think we can."

All in all, fun night out, and motivating movie!

What am I doing with my life?!?!

Tightening the Proverbial Belt

These next few months may be the biggest test on T and I's relationship as we not only create a joint budget (we are pretty diligent with our personal budgets, and manage our joint account well) but also begin to squeeze every penny out of that budget to pay off all, yes all, of our consumer debt. I am not just talking about credit cards here, that would be waaay too easy! I am talking about credit cards, cars, student loans... everything except our mortgage. On top of that we are creating a 3-6 month emergency fund, where we could survive for 3-6 months without income. Right now we would be unable to survive 6 weeks without income, so you can see how far we need to go!
To me it is interesting how the American Dream consists of being a steward to thousands and thousands of dollars of debt. Think about it, most people think they are not in debt when they don't have a credit card, but what about that depreciating vehicle, or student loans, or home equity lines of credit? We live off of this idea that we can buy stuff we don't have the money for. Then we spend the next coming years being a servant to this stuff that we bought. Check out this video, that is ridiculous and true about how we spend money.

Think about it, if you had no debt, how much money would you really need to make to survive?
And if you had no debt, and made what you currently make, how much could you put away into an investment for your retirement or kid's college or medical emergency fund?

T and I don't want to be servants to our debt forever, so we are starting now... tightening the belt so we can be one step closer to our dreams. But what are our dreams...? Good question! We will spend the next week talking about things we want to do with our life so we understand why we are giving up that latte, dinner at a restaurant or new jacket now? So we can travel the world for 12 months and not work, so we can have kids someday and I can stay home while they are young, or so we can be financially independent by 50 and enjoy life while we are still physically able!

We will see how it goes as we discuss whether it is worth it to buy those new mountain bikes, get my hair done ($120 every 6 weeks), or eat out when we could cook at home. It's gonna get ugly, but it is time to start owning up to what we really spend and what it is costing us.

I need to get on it!

I am not sure why I am so hung up about blogging. I have all these ideas of things I want to put on here and then just get lazy about it, or think it's not worth blogging about. I seriously need to get over that!!
I absolutely love this one blog Stacking Pennies who writes a lot about personal finance but adds other things in there about her life. Everything from her wedding plans, goals to run more, and ideas about clothes she wants to buy. She usually does monthly goals, its like reading someone's to-do list. It is inspiring!
I started this blog to have a place to keep track of my life, my goals and ideas and inspirations.
So here is my first attempt at blogging more with a monthly goals list like my friend Stacking Pennies, who I feel like I know even though I have no idea what she looks like, what her name is or where she lives!
End of October Goals:

• Gather up personal finance info for meeting with our finance coach
• Get started developing T and I's joint budget
• Use the rest of my yoga punches that expire on Oct 31st!
• Write our wedding thank yous!!!!
• Mail some goodies to friends/family that I have sitting in piles around the house
• Schedule carpet steam cleaning
• Get my new drivers license with my married name!
• Sync my new blackberry (Thanks T for the b-day gift) with Outlook and update b-days and contact info.
• Make dentist appt
• Deal with my health insurance rate change. Lame!
• Write in my blog. Obvi doing that now, but I mean, more than once this month!

Ok that's enough for now!

Until next time...

A little help, Universe!

I have found myself daydreaming a lot lately of this perfect life I would have where I absolutely love my job and feel fulfilled with every bit of it. I guess I need to preface this post with a disclaimer that I do in fact enjoy my current job, and feel very thankful for what it brings me. Aside from the obvious paycheck, 401k and health benefits, I do have a pretty good gig... BUT it is not like sales and marketing is my life calling!
So lately I have been considering all options for a career path that would challenge my mind AND evoke some sort of passion. Here are some recent considerations:

• Shamu's trainer (not seriously, but sounds fun! It was quickly halted when I realized I would need to live in San Diego and first obtain a marine biology degree)
• Personal Trainer
• Nutrition Consultant for families who want to eat better
• Personal Chef
• Cooking Class Instructor
• The Next Food Network Star- (Seriously would be awesome but I don't have the balls to even apply)
• Personal Finance Coach
• Stay at home mom (yes, I went THERE! That's when anyone who knows me should be concerned!)
• Getting really good at piano and playing in someone's band! (mind you I have not played since age 9)

Really I think all of these jobs have some common elements but nothing works for me 100%.

I was having dinner with a friend the other day and she was talking me in to starting a cooking school. She was really getting into the details and being a great cheerleader. Although I appreciated her support, I was hesitant because I knew it was not the perfect fit. I can say with 110% confidence that I am not hesitant because I am scared of failing. I am always up for the challenge and love scaring myself. I once quit real estate to teach high school German, with about 3 weeks to plan lessons. I worked for a week before I even knew how much I would be making. I guess I am just looking for the right thing (and believe me when I say I am picky). I want it to hit me upside the head and get me so excited that I can't even think of anything else. Perhaps it's a bit unrealistic of an expectation. Will I ever be that excited about a job? Also I realize that expecting it to just fall in my lap is a little silly too, considering that I don't believe in love at first sight either. I am getting married in a month to the most amazing person, and I did not know on day one that we would get married. It took years of building our relationship. In fact I don't have faith in people's relationships when they say they "just knew from day one." Perhaps I shouldn't with a job either?! Maybe I just need a really cool hobby?

For right now I will believe that it is different with a job. Right now I am hoping that the coolest job ever will just appear, billboard sized on my bedroom wall.

So Universe, there is my request!!

Wedding Drama on Facebook

This about sums up Facebook...
http://www.passiveaggressivenotes.com/2009/07/11/facebook-wedding-drama/

Pa Pa Pa Poker Face

T just surprised me today with some party glasses for my bachelorette party next weekend. I tried to order some $10 Lady Gaga glasses as a joke, but they were back ordered. Instead I get these SWEET Oakley Frogskins and according to T I "can actually look at the sun in them."
Getting excited for pool time, girl friends and I'm sure total debauchery.

When I Grow Up

As the saying goes, "do what you love and the money will follow." I would say that I agree with this statement. If you are passionate about what you do, you will find a way to make ends meet.

So now all I need to do is find out what I would love to do! That, my friends, is the answer to the million dollar question.

That's What She Said

I think my year of teaching high school German makes me appreciate this one!!! I saw this on someone's blog and had to make it my own. I mean we all know this joke and have for years, but the younger generation is bringing it back in full force.
I think the best part is how seriously the teacher took it. What do you think works better for high school kids.... Kid says something inappropriate to get attention and teacher freaks out and gives them the attention, or teacher keeps things rolling and kid realizes it wasn't that funny after all? In my experience, the hardest part is not laughing (because high schoolers are pretty freakin' funny!!)

Ughhh!

Man it's been a rough week and apparently it has shown on my face because people have told me that I look "stressed out" or "upset." Can I tell you how much I love that? It's pretty bold for someone to say that to you, and while hearing it, I am not sure if I should punch them or thank them for giving me a heads up.
The truth is, I haven't been upset, or at least that is not the word I would use. And my stress level isn't one that I think is worthy of showing on my face every day, or is it? I have had a lot of stuff going on. Work is very busy (contrary to popular belief that in a slow real estate market we all just go outside and play until the market comes back around). When your job is sales and marketing, everyone is looking at you asking "Did you get us any work" "Did you sell something?." Not to mention that any sales happening right now literally suck the life out of you. After my closing yesterday afternoon, I felt like I had been physically beaten up, which is not far from reality with that one!!
My job has me running in a million directions, and each time my boss has a new idea or tells me something is an immediate priority I just think sarcastically, "Thanks, I'll add that to my list of immediate priorities." Yes, I am thankful for my job, and yes, I actually enjoy what I do for the most part, so today I had to give myself an attitude adjustment.
I am back in the office, looking at my list, and deciding to just chip away at it and stay focused on one single task at a time. I will do the best I can, and not let my boss's suggestions and urgency messages get to me. As long as I am doing the best I can, he will not be upset with my inability to perform miracles.
In the meantime, I am going to focus on making my personal time more productive. By the way, I am still getting married in 2 and 1/2 months, and I should be spending some time planning the wedding. I don't want to feel like the one time in my life I got to plan my wedding, I was so consumed with work that I couldn't enjoy it. The funny thing is, everyone I see that tells me I look stressed or must be so busy, thinks its because I am planning my wedding! HA! If only I had the luxury of being stressed about planning my wedding. I wish selecting linen colors was my biggest concern. :)
Anyway, here is my outward recognition of my stress level, and the attempt to not take work so seriously (while still doing a good job, of course). AND to remember to tend to my personal life. It is the middle of summer after all, I should be floating the river in an inner tube, trying not to spill my beer!

Attitude adjusted.

PS. I know this post doesn't technically fit my original blog theme... but you know what...It's my blog and I can write whatever I want!! Plus, no one reads it :)

Engulfed in Flames

via amazon.com

GREAT book! Have read almost everything he's published and really liked this one. I'd re-read but already agreed to mail to my friend. S, I hope I didn't talk it up too much!!
Enjoy!

Posted via web from Something to Crave

Good Tri

So I did my first practice triathlon in order to get ready for my Xterra this June. It's called Tri the Rim. Overall I am satisfied with my time considering the last triathlon I did was 16 years ago, yes I was 10 years old. At the time I did not appreciate the fact that my mom organized all of my stuff (swimsuit, cap, goggles, bike...) because it is quite a lot of shit to have in one organized pile!

Things I learned from this race:

- Running in a swimsuit and bike chamois= not as bad as I thought.

- Taking gu, drinking lots of water periodically even when you don't think it's necessary= a must.

- Even if you feel like you are swimming fast you aren't necessarily.

-You can beat someone in all 3 events, but they can beat you overall because of transitions alone.


I felt great post race, but later in the day I bonked! If a hard effort for 1:22 makes me that tired, I better get my butt in gear and do some longer workouts.

I do need to remember to congratulate myself though... I could have spent my Saturday drinking beer on the couch instead. Another bonus is that I also beat everyone I wanted to, even though I said I was not going to be competitive, it feels good to beat someone who arrogantly told me their time from the previous year... I don't know if it is just people in Durango, but when it comes to fitness your co-worker, or bank teller will become your biggest rival... even in spin class!

So now I need to find the motivation to continue training for my Xterra this June. I just came back from an amazing wedding in LA and have realized that I need to get back into wedding planning (t-minus 4 months!). These things are quite the production and they don't just occur on their own. I guess I will have to juggle wedding planning with training until June 6th, at which point I can become a total bridezilla!
In the very likely case I lose motivation during the next month, I will remember this tidbit to keep me going...

My friend (Xterra nat'l champ) told me that even after drinking 200 ounces at her last 2 races, which I hardly believe to be humanly possible, she fainted and had to get an iv afterward! Ok... definitely riding my bike tomorrow!

Coolest Thing Ever

Check out this website I found at mapmyrun.com

This website allows you to map runs in any location and it tells you how far you ran. It even has an "out and back" feature as well as a "loop" feature! You can also save routes to re-visit them!

Posted via web from Something to Crave

Crave This!

via sephora.com

I think the actual cake is garbage but this lipgloss is amazing! Thanks to my best friend M for hooking me up :)

Posted via web from Something to Crave

Gaga for Gaga

I have to say I am a little embarrassed to report that after meeting Lady Gaga in an airport that I have been a little start struck. I’ve never been one to seek out stars in public and ask for their autographs or approach them, but when I saw her at the airport it was just so easy to ask her for a picture. She actually impressed me with how nice and approachable she was and that got me to thinking…
I had only heard of her because there was some celebrity gossip going around that she and Christina Aguilera had a battle about one of them copying the other’s style and I thought it was so silly because I was thinking “who cares?”. Then of course the first time I looked at the radio display to see who was playing this awesome song on the radio I recognized her name because of this spat with Christina! I’ve been loving her two songs that play on the radio, but normally don’t have much respect for musicians who make music like hers that aren’t really musicians, they are a puppet whose only real talent is the way they shake it in their patent boy shorts. It was fun to meet her and makes for a good story, but after I got home that night I started looking her up online to see what type of “artist” she claimed to be. I came away very impressed with how hard she has worked for what she has. She not only writes all her own music lyrics and melodies, she often plays all her synth music herself. She didn’t win some reality t.v. show, or have an older sister pop star who handed her the role, she worked her way up the clubs in NYC until she finally made it big. She has even written songs for other so called “artists” whose job is to look hot and dance around on stage while attempting to sing (Pussycat Dolls). She takes her job seriously and realizes that it’s not just the song, it’s the performance, entertainment and stage character that makes a pop star.
So I have to say… way to go Lady Gaga for bringing lots of great songs to the pop world, while taking your job and artwork seriously. I actually have some respect for this lady!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ngf5Oo_XrjI&feature=channel_page

Tri the Rim

I am thinking about doing this triathlon as a practice run for the Xterra I am doing this June. Still looking to borrow a road bike since I don't have one :)

http://www.fortlewis.edu/community_culture/tri_the_rim/default.aspx

Hmmmm

Chocolove

Here's something to crave... this is the only way I got through my Monday on minimal sleep.

http://www.chocolove.com/10greatbars.htm

YUM!

The First Post

I wanted to start my blog off on the right foot with a strong first entry but I've been putting it off because of the pressure to actually sit down and write something half intelligent. I figured I might as well get the first post over with, as uneventful as it is, so I can actually start this!
So here it is, my first blog post!
I guess I could start by talking about the name Something to Crave. I didn't want the blog to be named after me so I could freely discuss the daily occurrences in my life without judgement from people I know. I also wanted this blog to be a place for me to dream... a place to gather up all the ideas, inspirations and thoughts that will take me to the next step or next exciting thing in my life. The intention of my collection of dreams, ideas and inspirations is to give me something to crave. I also really happen to LOVE food, so the name came as a perfect fit.
Since I am creating this blog selfishly, I don't even intend on having readers, so if you happen to be reading this... I hope you enjoy!