Happy Holidays

Tags

christmas, ho ho ho, oliver

Oliver and I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend, we’ll be sleeping in late and making buñuelos with the family. Ho ho ho!

Eye of the Tiger

I survived my first day of running… mostly. My hip flexors seems to be bearing the brunt of the pain, but otherwise I feel pretty good. Two lessons learned for next time: shave my legs (or at least those six inches visible between the hem of my pants and the top of my sock) and leave the dog at home (for now) (sorry, Oliver).

I created a running playlist on Spotify, which was a big help keeping me motivated and blocking out other distractions. Friends of mine have heard about my trouble concentrating, especially during my many failed attempts at yoga. Long story short, I couldn’t stop thinking about a strawberry milkshake from In N Out for the entire hour. It was so  bad, I couldn’t focus on anything else and kept falling out of positions. It was like the scene in a cartoon, where the character is so hungry everyone starts looking like roasted turkeys. The worst thing is that I didn’t even go get the stupid milkshake after the workout!

So now that the dreaded first day is over, I’m actually looking forward to my next run on Friday. CRAZY TALK!

Glitz ‘n Shin Splints

Tags

fitness, lazy, procrastination, running, what was I thinking

A few months ago I purchased the Run 5K app my friend Marie told me about, and since then it’s sat on my phone… unused and hidden in my “procrastination” folder. I kept making excuses, the last of which was, “running shoes are so ugly! I’ll run only if I can find a pair of…. purple shoes I like.”

I thought I was safe, at least for another couple of months! But last week internet smacked me in the face and said, “don’t ever challenge me, now get off your lazy ass and RUN.”

After weeks months of dragging my feet, they will finally get in gear, encased in garish purple and pink. I wouldn’t have it any other way, naturally. Now all I need to do is create my ultimate running playlist and stop cringing. Monday is the kickoff day, should I survive my first workout, you’ll be the first to know.

Once Bitten

Tags

boston terrier, dogs, insect bites, mischief, oliver, pet emergency, pets

Oliver has had a tough week! He and his canine pal Max got into a little scuffle over a toy, Oliver put up a thuggish front but walked away with both his cheek and pride slightly injured. Then on Monday afternoon he was bitten by some unknown insect assailant (how rude!).

We suspected the reddish spot near his nose is the bite site… we also suspected Oliver chased whatever it was that bit him and smooshed his face right into harm’s way. Naturally, I noticed my poor little guy’s face starting to swell about an hour after his vet’s office had closed for the day.

He slowly started to resemble a Shar-Pei… which, although adorable, was troubling. We gave him some Benadryl and waited to see if got any better, but it didn’t. The swelling got worse, and I decided it couldn’t wait until his vet opened the next day. Off to the pet ER! They couldn’t say for sure what caused the swelling, but they were able to give him a couple of shots to help. Slowly but surely, Oliver’s face started deflating back to its regular size and my panic subsided to its regular state.

As of today, everything is back to normal, and Oliver went back to his usual level of annoyance with me sharing too many of his personal details online.

 

 

Umami and Me (and Curtis)

Tags

burger, curtis rx, desserts, umami, xmas shopping

I’ll be honest, Curtis and I were so hungry we forgot to take photos of our burgers before we devoured them. But it had been a looooong day of shopping and non-stop talking about food, so can you blame us? We fought our way through traffic and finally, at long last, made it to Umami.

In lieu of a photo of a juicy burger, I give you a shot of Curtis’ manly arms as he contemplates how awesome I am… or, you know, thought about the dessert we’d just ordered.

I had the SoCal Burger, Curtis had the Manly Burger (would we imagine it any other way?) – I love the Truffle Burger, but wanted to try something new this time. We also ordered two sides, Cheesy Tots and Smushed Potatoes.

We do this every time, order two sides when one is more than enough. We’ll never learn! But honestly, I could never decide between these two sides, so I gladly let Curtis talk me into ordering both.

We were stuffed, couldn’t eat another bite! Well… okay, maybe just one more.

When we heard, “Salted Caramel Ice Cream Sandwich” our eyes lit up and we suddenly had just enough room left to split one. It’s a snickerdoodle cookie with salted caramel ice cream (so rich and creamy, your mind would be blown), and it’s incredible.