Tuesday, July 31, 2012

things to remember

While I hate Kale (unless in a winter soup) and will never eat sardines - ever - the other 18 of these are good to know and think about while food shopping :)
20 Superfoods for Weight Loss

PS: I'm loving my SELF magazine lately.


Monday, July 16, 2012

things that make me smile... the summer edition


Things I love about Summer... in no particular order (except for #1... my fave food ever :)
  1. Strawberries
  2. My rose garden in bloom
  3. Lazy Sunday mornings on my back patio with a chai and the LA Times
  4. Flip flops
  5. Summer Movie Blockbuster Club 
  6. Bike rides 
  7. John Williams at The Hollywood Bowl
  8. The Stanley Cup Finals (especially this year ;)
  9. Daylight till ~8pm
  10. Peaches
  11. 4th of July
  12. BBQ's
  13. Gardening
  14. All-day hikes 
  15. True Blood
  16. Grilled asparagus
  17. Vacation
  18. Margaritas 
  19. The Olympics
  20. Big Brother
  21. The farmer's market
  22. Concerts at the Greek Theatre
  23. Movies in the Cemetary
  24. Mojitos
  25. Dining al fresco on warm nights


Saturday, July 7, 2012

summer fundays

Hi all.... long time, no blog. I had to recover from all the hockey insanity. (Sorry about that. I know I got a little Cup Crazy... but can you blame me? ;) Anyhoo, since the amazing event of June 11, 2012 that I still don't quite believe happened, I've been spending time catching up on life... work drama and travels, house and garden stuff, and hanging with friends.

Two weekends ago, I spent the whole weekend pretty much doing nothing but having fun enjoying the wonderment that is Southern California. Living here, I often forget how lucky I am to have a beautiful blue ocean and its beaches and breezes a mere 30-60 minutes on the evil 405 away from me. 

On Saturday, my friend Linda chartered a sailing boat out of Long Beach for her birthday and did we ever have an adventure! The captain almost fell overboard before we left the harbor and lost quite a bit of blood from a gash in her head when she slipped. But let's not focus on the negative :p She survived and we had a gorgeous day out on the ocean, watching sea lions snooze, dodging a sailboat race, and marveling at kite surfers. 


The Queen Mary
Sea lions lounging and a seagull looking for something to claim as "Mine. Mine. Mine."

Sailboats racing away from us amateurs
Wide shot of the sailboat race

Kite surfers... I was totally amazed that none of their kites got tangled up with each other. There were so many of them and they were so colorful!


Then on Sunday, I joined my biking buddy Mike for a trek with his pals down the bike path from Marina del Rey to Manhattan Beach and back -- a good 16+ miles. Super fun and relaxing on what was an absolutely gorgeous day. At one point I just sighed and Mike commented that I must have found my happy, relaxed place :) I did. Sunday Funday bike rides are going to become more of a regular occurrence I do believe... especially on days that look like this:

Looking out at Manhattan Beach Pier and the Pacific Ocean. Ahhh.