Weekend!

This was my Saturday morning! I met up with a friend of mine and one of his friends at Richard Walker's Pancake House in downtown San Diego. I don't recommend it for anyone that doesn't eat gluten! What you can see in the bottom part of the picture is a sliver of some preeeeetty terrible gluten free pancakes. Oh, excuse me, according to their menu they are 'gluton'-free. I guess I should have had low expectations!

 

Photo credit to James Gregg of the Union Tribune

After breakfast, we walked down to the USS Midway Museum. Right next to it, they were having the unveiling ceremony for The Kiss statue. It depicts the iconic picture of a sailor kissing a nurse when they found out that the second World War was over. Once the mayor was finished with his speech, they remarried 9 couples who had been married during or after WW2, they had all been married for close to 70 years! Then The Swingin' Blue Stars, a group of women who perform songs in the same fashion as the Andrew's sisters, performed. Jeff and I danced during their whole set - so much fun! There was a photographer (James Gregg) from the Union Tribune who got our names, but I'm sure you can imagine my shock and delight when I found out that the picture of us that you see above was on the second page of the Sunday paper! It was also on the slideshow on the front page of their website. Since it won't stay there forever, a nice friend of mine sent me the link to the story itself.

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Today, I hiked Corte Madera with some friends of mine. It was gorgeous!! Almost 7 miles round-trip so almost all of us had camelbaks to stay hydrated.

I wore my favorite workout shirt! Buy one here!

It was a beautiful hike and I definitely see myself going again. Although - I'll be sure to reapply sunscreen more frequently!! Someone got herself a gnarly shoulder sunburn. I say it was worth it.

Regret

Regret can be a powerful tool. Some people aim to never have regrets. I, on the other hand, have many. I strive not to dwell on regrets in life, but to experience them as joyfully as possible, and learn from them.

The particular regret that brought you this post is related to my ex boyfriend. Oh, who am I kidding – he IS the regret! Haha okay, not entirely but that I stayed with him for so much longer than I should have. I knew that our relationship wasn’t going anywhere for much longer than I’d like to admit, but I let my fear of being alone (and the fact that I didn’t want to hurt him) get in my way.

So, the regret is in reference to someone that I worked with. I didn’t know him at all; we just worked on the same floor. All I knew was that we were attracted to each other, and I had never felt attraction to someone when I was in a relationship with someone else. It scared me, and I have always been faithful so I shut it down. I didn’t talk to him, and kept my eyes glued to my phone if we were passing each other in a hallway. That was... gosh, 3 years ago?

I guess when that happened, I really should have taken a closer look at myself, and why all of a sudden I was feeling attraction to someone other than my boyfriend when that had never happened before. A closer look would have told me it was past time to let my ex go, so that we would be free to find the right people for us. About six months ago, I reached out to this co-worker that I hadn’t ever talked to, and was summarily ignored. Totally sucks!

But, the moral of this story, the knowledge taken from this regret is that I need to do what is right for myself, even if it is terrifying. Especially if it is terrifying.

Paleo Potluck in Barrio Logan

So late last week, I stumbled across a new Paleo San Diego Facebook page. I squealed in excitement, liked it as quickly as humanly possible and started perusing the page. Since it is relatively new, it took me all of a minute to realize that they were planning a Paleo Potluck the next Tuesday and anyone was welcome to join. I knew right away that I wanted to go, so I clicked the button, invited the roomie and texted her to let her know we had plans for that Tuesday!

I was SO nervous; I baked blueberry mango muffins (no pictures because they were gobbled up! And Aly and I ate all of the ones we made this weekend!) belatedly realizing that according to the Facebook page, almost everyone that had posted something said they were bringing sweets!

Well – too late by the time I noticed! I snacked on some leftovers before I left just in case. Aly came home and helped me get the muffins out of the tins and in the to-go case, and off we went!

I was really relieved that they had been awesome enough to post a picture of the entryway on the invite – so thoughtful! I was so pleasantly shocked at the amazing space that the potluck was held in! I guess being a white girl that grew up not too far from Barrio Logan meant that my expectations were pretty low, but WOW! I have to remember to tell my parents – they would have loved it! 

 

(Photo found here!)

Anyhow, it was a really cool gallery/workshop space. You could see that there were several workshops where people work (although no one was working just then!) and then a main gallery space, which was where we ate and mingled.

My first alcoholic beverage of the year was a Nor Cal Margarita! It was worth it :) And, I just about DIED when I realized that George Bryant – as in Civilized Caveman! – was there!!! We got to chat for a while, and he was so friendly. I was awkward, per usual! Lord knows I can be awkward like nobodies business! I think I was so awestruck for a minute because his website (amazeballs if you were wondering) was my first introduction to Paleo a little over a year ago, so it was a bit surreal.

He pointed out the fact that it’s a bit silly that Aly and I have culinary backgrounds and yet both work in online finance. Perhaps it is time to branch out into something new… It’s definitely an idea to think about.

Oh, and there was no shortage of food, sweets or otherwise!

And I’ve come to the realization that I need to learn how to take photos, like for realsies, on a big girl camera :/ Anyone feeling generous? Haha. But really?

Whaaaa? I swear I thought I posted this already!

Well, my goals for January were to complete a Whole30, use Paleo Trail to keep myself on track and to push my comfort zone.

I definitely set my sights high this year, and fell with a resounding thwack! right on my face! A few weeks ago, I read something somewhere (maybe on this girl's blog? we both fell off the Whole30 bandwagon the same weekend!) that reminded me that above all, we need to allow ourselves a little grace from time to time. So, I think that's the real goal that I accomplished in January - allowing myself a little grace when I feel like I deserve anything but!

It was definitely a good reminder of how important it is to not get caught up in the fervor of late December's goal-planning, and keep your feet firmly planted on the ground.

I'm excited, and nervous to say that I'll be checking out a crossfit gym sometime this week! I was supposed to go this afternoon, but of course I don't want to get anyone sick! It's expensive, that's for sure, but worth it, I hope.  

Oh! And my spending freeze wasn't successful either :(

Sick day!

Well, by the time I was ready for bed last night, I could tell I had something coming on. I tried my usual tricks – drinking tons of water with lemons squeezed into it, doubled up on my probiotics, and ate cinnamon mixed with raw local honey (I usually just eyeball it, probably around one tablespoon of honey with ½ tablespoon of cinnamon. I prefer it to be a pretty thick paste, so adjust the ratio to suit your preferences!).

Sadly, it didn’t work! It took me about an hour and a half to fall asleep, partially because I was so angry at a certain coworker of mine who repeatedly comes into work incredibly sick because they ‘can’t afford not to work’, which is really just a subtle way of saying I prioritize my financial needs above your health!

So mayyyybe I’m still a little upset about that – but I’m not angry anymore which is saying something! I was terribly upset to miss out on an informational session at work about Toastmasters. I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks – and the one time I get sick just has to be that day! Ah well, luckily my friend Charlie is already a part of it so he said he would fill me in. That’s the other part of it! Charlie and I were going to grab dinner at True Food, catch up and maybe go dancing. I was so looking forward to it, but I don’t want to expose anyone to this so I’m quarantined for the time being!

My doctor apparently doesn’t work on Wednesdays, so I decided to make what the Internets have dubbed as ‘Nature’s Flu Shot.’  

You need the following:

Juice from 6 lemons

1 clove of garlic

2 tsp ginger powder

2 Tbsp honey

3 Cups pineapple juice

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

Blender or food processor

Blend it all together, store in a glass container and drink 1 cup four times a day until you feel better. I wanted to use fresh ginger – even went to the store, but they were all out! I also had a hard time finding pineapple juice, so I got frozen pineapple chunks instead.

It definitely packs a punch, and it’s a bit surprising when you are drinking it! It tastes sweet at first, then the garlic flavor hits and then the heat creeps in at the end! I also added lemon zest from three of the lemons – there is no WAY I was about to waste the zest from 6 lemons! I froze the zest from the remaining three in individual plastic wrap packets.

I realized that I had all of the makings for bone broth, so I tossed some beef, chicken and turkey bones into the crockpot and filled it with filtered water. I also added all of the cloves from a head of garlic, and some shallots. I meant to pick up celery, carrots and onion at the store but my sick brain completely forgot! 

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Well, my sick brain also shut down shortly after writing this! I woke up this morning feeling worse, so I called my doctor (a really awesome doctor who is open to homeopathic remedies!) who unfortunately, wasn’t available! They were able to schedule me in with another doctor in the same practice so I’ll be going in shortly.

I’m thinking this is a cold, or sinus infection. I guess I’ll find out soon enough!! I just put my bone broth into jars, and I gotta say… that stuff doesn’t exactly smell good! I’m hoping without the bones, once it cools down it’ll smell better J