it's about time, i guess!

Hey, Gang! I keep driving around thinking "oo! i should blog that! ... hm ... but what blog does it go on? and when should i write about it? or maybe i should just facebook it... i'm hungry."

(seriously. I'm hungry a lot.)

Verdict? I'm not really ass in the air anymore! I have a wonderful husband, an amazing career, a decorated apartment, fun new training shoes and a lot of really good goals.

So I'm moving my fitness self and my life self BOTH over to www.myzenpulse.com/blog

MyZenPulse won't be my work-only blog anymore (that's over at chromefit.com!) - I'll chart some kick ass goals, report on my stupidly awesome training shoes, put up a few recipes and workouts when I come across something pretty shweaty, and keep you guys updated on shenanigans.

See you there!

Living Social Napa Wine Tour!

Last Sunday, Lori and I piled on to buses with 50-60 other Bay Area Bargain Hunters and headed up to Napa Valley on a Living Social Adventure!

We started with a soy latte from Blue Bottle Coffee Company (you've seen this before) ...


heaven in a compostable cup.

Then piled on to a bus and headed up to Andretti Winery.


(yes. THAT Andretti...)

It was beautiful. A little piece of Italy just an hour from my apartment :)

After a quick tour, we tasted some fabulous wines


and sat down for lunch over looking the vineyards.

Then we were off to Stag's Leap Wine Cellars.


The wines were so-so ... but the view was amazing!


(so was the view in the cellars. who are THOSE cute girls!?)

Headed back in to the city (read: napped on the bus for an hour) and we just couldn't leave the city without some yummy vegan food!

Enter : The Plant Cafe.


Holy Mother of Kale.

Kombucha and a Plant Burger and open windows with a Bay Breeze blowing in....

I can't wait to make another trip up to wine country and have more than a few hours to sit in the sun and sip on some killer wines. So glad I moved to California...

Berry Enlightened.

I spent all day yesterday at Big Basin State Park with the hubby and a group of girlfriends, hiking the Berry Falls Trail!

Stats

Time: 5-ish hours?
Distance: 13.5 miles of HILLS
Attitude: Smashingly good.

It was such a great hike and left me feeling like ... well... I'll say it. A superhero!

The hills didn't kill me. The distance wasn't miserable. And I'm not sore today! (Although, I skipped my scheduled "easy 3-mile run" in favor of a quick, tough KB press/pull up workout to give my knees a break.)

We hiked in about 2 hours to Golden Falls, where we stopped to eat lunch...



Then hiked about 10 minute further to Silver Falls, where we clung desperately to the guide wire to maneuver down a steeply descending trail of wet, slippery rocks...


And finally found Berry Falls, which looked like something out of a movie.



Then hiked the 3 hours out... which - frankly - was a bit brutal for the last 2 miles uphill to get ourselves back to the car. But we made it back with just a few blisters and big smiles!

The hike was definitely NOT for beginners. It's long. It's steep. It's long. But it was absolutely beautiful and the falls were well worth the hills and the distance.

(please don't take that to mean I didn't whine at least 3 times on the way out. My feet friggin' hurt!)

Being down in the ravines, staring up from the bottom of Redwood Trees that were thousands of years old was a really cool reminder of my own impermanence.

I am listening to a book on Zen meditation and change during my commute (review to follow) and my favorite quote thus far has been from the Buddha himself.

"What I do matters. But I am not in charge."

And those huge ass trees and falls eased out by time and falling water were a beautiful example of how passing the human condition (confusion and suffering and trying to find peace despite those) really is.

In the area and want to check it out? Hike info at FindingYourZenPulse !

Bay to Breakers 2011!

When a frient (friend-client) asked me to run the 100th Bay to Breakers 10K with her back in March, I thought...

A normal race to kick off my spring/summer training? Brilliant!

A chance to run from the Bay to the Ocean in Beautiful San Francisco? Amazing!

I did not expect to wear a cape...



I did not expect to leap and dart through crowds bigger than the 4th of July on the Capitol Mall.
(yes. seriously.)


I did *NOT* expect this...

(sorry. I had to.)

And I did not know I would have most fun I'd had in a while :D

We spent the night in San Francisco to avoid traffic in the morning, and spent the evening watching No Strings Attached and chowing delicious Thai food in Superman's adorable urban apartment.

Girls' Night Extraordinaire.

The next morning, suitably attired, we struck out to fight crime and fight to the finish!



There were muppets.


and butterflies.


and the most crowded hill I have ever seen.



(darting and leaping was required to keep a jogging pace!)

The event was much tamer than years past, as the usually liberal San Francisco banned all floats and alcohol on the course - but we had a blast!


Only complaints (and you know I always have one or two) :

• The race was SO big, that it was just poorly organized. Bottlenecks at the end made it next to impossible to just grab a mini protein bar and get the heck out.
• And the MUNI shuttle (we had pre-paid for) kept filling up at an earlier station, so we stood at a corner, looking amazing in our capes, for 20 min waiting to have our superasses hauled back downtown.

We made up for it at Chevy's with table-side guac, veggie fajitas and a beer the size of my super hero head.

Yum.

All In All:
A successful day fighting crime and seeing a piece of San Francisco History. 100 Years of Bay-to-Breakers!

Cook Book GiveAway!!

(am committing to being a better blogger... also known as: Giveaway Love!

Last week WhatRunsLori gave away a kick ass cookbook and I totally missed the boat.

From here on out: get on the boat or swim my ass to friend island!)

***

The Lucky Girl herself is sending love in the form of cooking peace of mind!

Go comment at Lucky Girl Sweets 'n' Stuff and enter to win Five Ingredient Solution!

'jus sayin....

Best. Weekend. Ever.

About *cough...* years ago, a Dear Friend of mine attended Country Thunder. We arrived Thursday night... planning to go home Thursday night. We got home Monday morning and declared it the
BEST. WEEKEND. EVER.

This weekend - I did the grown-up version of BEST WEEKEND EVER!

Miss Lori - the amazingly talented blogger that she is - was selected by FoodBuzz to attend the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival! She was given a +1 ... and I was her date!

(If you don't know what this thing is: It's ridiculously swanky. $200 ticket swanky.)

We spent Saturday shopping ($2.50 Tank Tops at Forever XXI ... why YES! I'll be 21 Forever!)

and eating artichokes...

and drinking martinis...

and watching a movie ... um... falling asleep during a movie (see also: drinking)

And Sunday - we awoke, fortified ourselves with a green smoothie and drove to Pebble Beach!

If I haven't mentioned it lately - this part of California is insanely beautiful.

The drive was sunny and warm, the ocean was briny and cold, the avocado stands were advertising 4-for-$1.

After meandering around the Pebble Beach Lodge and Shops (we'd paid our $10 to drive 17 Mile Drive and we were gonna get our money's worth!) ... we took a walk and some photos.

Then : IT Happened. And because I'm a lazy lazy blogger and a very good linker...

Check out the details at What Runs Lori.

Suffice it to say... I was in fish-eating, wine-tasting, beer-drinking, chef-stalking heaven.

If you need more incentive to click over to Lori's recap:

- We have a picture with Chef Morimoto
- A hug from Michael Simon
- Giant Fuzzy Arm Chairs

(no meat was consumed [by me] in the making of this event...)

I cannot say enough about how happy this weekend made me. Came home feeling loved, relaxed and completely at peace.

And SO glad to have amazing friends.

(and luck with a camera. because this is a baller shot I'm about to end with...)

Thanks, Lori!!

How Rude!

Yes. That was a Full House reference.

1. I laughed at this carrot and waved it at Brian for at least 3.2 minutes yesterday... I am a 12 year old little boy. HOW RUDE!


2. I somehow managed to brute for strength this Henkle table knife IN HALF while slicing ... a piece of soft chevre (goat cheese for the layman.) how RUDE!

3. It's Monday. Again. We just got here, Sunday -- Last a little longer!
(that's what she said) HOW rude!

because this made my day...

All Hail April!

So Far: April wins the 2011 month-of-the-year contest!

Last weekend was full of sunny hiking, cozy book-reading and nail-salon patronizing...


This weekend has been just as wonderful!

Spend yesterday morning teaching Gentle Yoga, Power Yoga and Bridal Boot Camp.

hover squats + band rows... killer!

Spent yesterday afternoon wine tasting in Saratoga!

We had a private tasting at Savannah-Chanelle



A not-so-private (or yummy) tasting at Mountain Winery... but we'll definitely be back for the concerts!

Then did a few tasting rooms in Downtown Saratoga - including Cinnabar.

the booty!

Then wandered downtown Saratoga around with Miss Lori...


until we found sushi!

Spent this morning transforming my apartment from war-zone to cozy home/somewhat-less-chaotic-home-office and have book club this evening with some of my favorite ladies.

Happy April!

TGI April!

March 2011 is FIRED.

It probably should have been this kind of month

get my crap together and build a meditation practice for the rough patches


But it was this kind of month

Rental Car Key as a wine opener as wine was not optional after the day I'd had and I somehow forgot my travel wine key...

It was intensely sad saying goodbye to Grandma and - in effect - saying goodbye to Grandpa again. As long as she was around, it was like a piece of him was still here.


But we found layers of joy in the sadness.

Like Greek yogurt and BARE FIT Granola parfaits for breakfast in the hotel with hubby and sis:


And a beautiful trip to the Georgia Aquarium with my Aunt and Cousins:


Lion Fishies.

Sister and Me with our heads poking up into the penguin habitat

Sister finding a new boyfriend.

We ended the trip on a really happy note with the the aquarium and Behinanas... then slept the whole way back to the West Coast on our 7 am flight the next morning.

And came home to this.

Hail.

T.G.I. April!

Vegas, Baby!

This business woman + wife took a very much needed vacation this weekend.
Despite having my smart phone/trusty sidekick attached to me... I managed to relax quite a bit!

Took a quick trip with the husband to Sin City to visit his family and did a little of this

poolside reading

A little of this

living it up!

And a lot of this

sister time

It was such a blessing to step away from life, work and the sadness of losing Grandma and spend time with a bubbling family full of love.

Saturday was spent by the pool!
We just chilled out, grilled out and a few of us found out max face capacity

our precious nephew does his uncle B proud

Saturday night, sister and I hit the Las Vegas strip!
Girls night out = martinis, slots and way too much mockery of the free "show" of weirdos.



Sunday, we hiked off the Martinis at Red Rock Canyon



Played a few "out for blood" rounds of Rook Sunday night (tried it. won. still not sure if I like it) ... then headed to the Yard House with Husband and sister for some silly drinks and vegetarian junk food.

(Vegetarian buffalo wings? Why YES, ahthankyou!)

Monday was a little more pool time... a lot of coordinating departures... dinner with the family... and a 2 hour delay at the airport thanks to San Francisco Fog.

Woo Hoo for free Wi-Fi! This girl got caught up on work! Back to the best job in the world tomorrow and on to another amazing and full week.

Be blessed, all!

Book Report! 3 Cups of Tea

About a month after I moved out here, I finally lit a fire and started meeting some awesome girls and making some amazing friends.

One of those friends (go team Harris!) started a book club and I happily joined!

So far, we have read:

Freedom, by Johnathan Franzen

Whatever you do... don't. read. this. book. A chronicle of the most agonizingly disgusting humans (and not in a fun, morbid curiosity way) in one long whine-fest of approximate 416 pages.

If nothing else - it gave us a lot to talk about.

Three Cups of Tea, Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin

If Freedom was all about the inability of the American people to be grateful for the blessings that they have, Three Cups of Tea was the antidote.

While the book dragged a bit in places, it was an amazing testament to the power of selflessness.

Plot: Greg Mortenson, after a failed attempt to summit K2, develops a burning passion for building schools in the poorest villages in Pakistan. His intent: To keep boys from being shuttled off to the well-structured extremist Islam schools while girls are left without education or to the failing Pakistani education system.

Key Message: Fight terrorism with education. Fight ignorance with love. Fight apathy with passion. If I took nothing else away from this book, I took away the knowledge that not all of Islam is radical and that the most rational way to fight the spread of radical Islam is to educate the next generation BEFORE they become terrorists.

Likes:

• The eye opener of how much money we, as a culture, spend on meaningless objects.
• The amazing descriptions of the Pakistani mountains
• The sense of passion that Greg oozes through every page

Dislikes:

• The book reads in fits and starts. It's really exciting! ... then you want to fall asleep.
• Greg's inability to see around his passion at times, to the detriment of his family and the organization that is funding the school projects.

All in all - a great, easy read! We're on to Under the Banner of Heaven, which has been a really interesting follow up as both of these books speak a huge lesson in the importance of teaching rational thought from a young age.

The biggest similarity between the two books? Indoctrination in place of education yields frightening results.

***

That's it for library hour! I'm planning to blog at Chute Assis once a week or so as my life gets crazier and crazier - but want to keep you all updated and tell you how much I miss my friends and adopted families all over the United States.

Blessings to you all!