Cat naps

For many years, I professed to not be a napper. I hated naps, and I claimed I always did and would. Then I married a man who has to nap like a champ just to function at his job. And I entered my late twenties. And somehow I discovered that they're not so bad afterall! In fact, I try to sneak one in at least once a week on a weekend day now. Sometimes it still doesn't sound appealing, but other times I can imagine nothing better than laying on the couch with a blanket and either the sun shining in the window on me or listening to the rain outside. Yesterday, while Nolan was working a brutal 24 hours at the hospital, I was shopping, eating slowly, spending time on the elliptical while catching a few episodes of a show, and napping. I feel like such a sloth! But Milo appreciated it:

 I took that show when my alarm went off, and thought I'd catch a sweet picture of him asleep all stretched out on my lap, but he decided to wake up and yawn as the shutter closed. Oh well.


I also made a startling discovery on Friday night. We had a little date night, so I thought I'd try something different. Something I've always wanted to like but just couldn't: FISH! And so I found some delicious fresh fish at the store, found a marinade that claimed to convert a non-fish eater to a fish-lover, and got to work. I have to admit, after smelling the marinade I'm pretty sure it would make me enjoy even the foulest dish...but that aside, I think I've seen the light! We had a tasty big filet of salmon, marinaded for a couple hours, then covered with thyme, minced garlic, and a tiny bit of flaked almond. It was heavenly. I kept stealing pieces off of Nolan's chunk of fish. Behold the miracle:

This week? I'm trying a new kind of fish (whatever is fresh!), and a new way of preparing just to see if that magical marinade was the cause of such food-love.

So what, now I like fish, eggs, naps...what other lifelong habits are going to change?

Also: tried a tapas place with the girls last night in Menlo Park. Verdict? Delicious, but I've officially confirmed by comparison that "serving size" means a totally different thing here than it does in Atlanta.

Atlanta tapas bar: "Here is your overflowing plate of squid that you literally can't fit in your belly!"

Menlo Park tapas bar: "Here is your tiny piece of beef the size of your thumbnail!"

Thankful Thursday

This week has been a little tough. Our "houseguest" is not only causing chaos around the house, but keeps me up all night (Nolan wears earplugs) by digging at the doors and throwing herself against walls. It's terrible. And guess who isn't happy when she doesn't sleep well? Me.

I also am detoxing from desserts this week. Although surprisingly, it's been pretty dang easy. Huh. Could be because I overdosed the last couple weeks. Or because I'm letting myself down slowly. For example, Tuesday I had a piece of warm almond-meal zucchini loaf with my bowl of chili, and that satisfied me.

I don't think there is anything wrong with having dessert every night, as long as they are healthy desserts (so...not those ridiculous things you see on pinterest) for the most part, and as long as it's to satisfy caloric needs and not send you way over what your body needs. But I'm trying to back off, because it's becoming something I feel like I "need" every night. A habit. And that's no good.

So, aside from the things I need to deal with personally this week :)...

1. I'm thankful for perspective. This morning I was doing yoga and sipping a hot cup of coffee, and I realized that no matter how frustrated I may get with this little cat who is staying with us, she is one of God's creatures too, and I should treat her lovingly. That thought set the tone for the rest of my day.
2. I'm thankful for time with Nolan. I've been lucky enough to have dinner dates with him several times this week!
3. I'm thankful for friends. Whether it's a yoga or workout buddy, or game-lovers at our game nights, we have a great group and a lot of fun and support.
4. I'm thankful for little moments of bliss. Right now, it's my european cafe music pandora station while I choose my workout for tomorrow morning.
5. I'm thankful for change! Speaking of workouts, I've changed mine up and I'm loving it! I was doing Insanity or P90X Doubles for over a year and seriously I am pretty tired of being on a schedule instead of doing what I feel like! So now, this is what I'm doing:
MWFSat: 20+ minutes of HIIT each morning (and come up with my HIIT workout the night before! fun!), followed by 30 minutes light cardio. On my lunch break I head to the gym and do 40-60 minutes of weights and strength training.
Tuesday: Rowing machine and another type of cardio (sometimes spinning, sometimes treadmill, sometimes elliptical, sometimes stairclimber...) for an hour at lunch.
Thursday: YOGA! 
Sunday: supposed to be a day off, but I've found that I really can't do that. So I go on a really long walk. I tried taking a complete day off once and I almost killed somebody. I literally have too much energy to be able to function properly if I don't burn some off.
So far I'm LOVING the flexibility of choosing what I do each day. I'm trying to fit in foam rolling too, but it's hard to find the time! And I love trying new things and being constantly amazed at what my body is capable of!

What are you thankful for?

turkish delight

I won't recap our Valentine's Day and tell you that it was amazing, because everyone is sick of hearing about V-day by now, and let's be honest, I'm not the best storyteller. But it was amazing! And we did remember to take a picture of our adventure on Valentine's Day. Just 1. Better than 0, right?

Turkish food! So tasty!

This weekend, my little brother came to stay and play with us! There was much working out, coffee, being generally lazy, and eating. Yes, there was a lot of eating. We visited Nolan at the hospital Saturday evening and brought him dinner, and then decided to opt for my decadent dessert option on Saturday night with a movie. So we had a tiny dinner and then a beast of a dessert. It was rough. I had to toss the last bit of it. But it was also delicious and fantastic.

Okay, so this picture is way darker than I thought. I'll post it anyway. It's a picture of my brother with his giant piece of dessert, which I've also included a close-up of below:

Behold: sex in a pan.

No, really. That's what it's called. And it is incredible and probably should never be eaten in the quantities I had it in last week. I had 1/4 recipe to myself Monday night with a friend, bites here and there throughout the week with Nolan, then another 1/4 recipe on Saturday with Nate. Terrible! Even if the ingredients are healthy, one can only handle so much richness. Phew! We made the bottom two layers for a game night on Sunday, but replaced the SUPER rich mousse with a light strawberry topping. Still healthy, but still difficult to handle in large quantities (trust me, I tried!).

Monday, not only did the cat we're babysitting keep me up all night, but I had volunteered to drive Nolan to work early. So I  was up at 4am making coffee and laying on the couch trying to get the dumb  cats to settle down. They settled down at 4:45. Nolan got up at 4:50. Sigh.

Nate had to head back up the hill later that morning (sniff), so I spent the rest of the day making a big batch of turkey chili and almond-meal zucchini bread, doing a nice long yoga session with a friend, and relaxing until Nolan was ready to be picked up from work for dinner and a relaxing evening together.

I love holiday weekends!

Thankful Thursday

Is it really Thursday? My days are all jumbled this week and I could have sworn it was Thursday the last 3 days.

Whatever day of the week it is, it's also Valentine's day, which is usually one of my least favourite days of the year. And I feel like I can say that justly, because I'm speaking as a happily married woman and not a vengeful and bitter rejected girl who is secretly pining for a valentine. Anyway. I just get tired of all the hoopla and super-hiked prices and seriously: all the emotions! Because on facebook alone, I see a long list of people writing angry/sad posts about Valentine's day or their lack of romance, or I see a bunch of people who are desperately trying to show the world how much they are loved. It's tiring and although I love the celebration of love, I don't like artificial shows of it. Blech.

Speaking of which, Facebook kindly reminded me today that I should purchase candy for my Valentine, because that is what one does on Valentine's day, right?

Sea salt caramels, anyone?

On that note, we're keeping up our tradition of finding a random weird little place to eat tonight, with the goal being that we're the only ones there. This is why we ate in a trailer 2 years ago and why we chased down a food truck (and failed!) last year. This year we're finding an almost-abandoned turkish kitchen and sampling some of their wares. Excellent!

But since it is Thursday, afterall...

1. I'm thankful for Nolan. Not because it's valentine's day but because I'm just so glad he's home from his trip and that I have him in my life and we get to hang out tonight. He just makes me so, so blissfully happy. *Stopping now before I fall into v-day cliches*
2. I'm thankful for the little things. Like receiving an email from our travel and expense team and finding that someone thought it would be funny to change the name to travel and entertainment in the very serious email signature. Maybe you'd have to know the situation to think it was funny.
3. I'm thankful for uncertainty. I hate it, but it's so good for me to have to be open to change and expand my field of vision at work.
4. I'm thankful for our parents! We got valentine's cards from both, and just that little thing made both of us smile and feel very loved. I can't actually remember a Valentine's day when my mom didn't give me a card or valentine...but this is the woman who used to make us treasure hunts when we got home from school on Columbus Day - incredible! Parenting like a boss.
5. I'm thankful for renewed energy both at home and especially at work - I needed a little kick in the pants to get out of a rut and am feeling much better after my trip last week.

What are you thankful for?

a pensive shot

Saturday was our time to catch up and enjoy our time together before Nolan headed out to his conference in Nevada this week. So we had protein pancakes with fruit and almond butter, coffee, and then we sat in the patch of sun on our carpet and played Scrabble while Milo preened and threw himself all over us.

Nolan finally got the money shot close-up of Milo he's been trying to get for years. Usually it ends up being an action shot or an angry-looking blurry face, but Milo was so calm and affectionate (!), we got a nice one. Tell me he isn't becoming a cat person after all.

Love this little face!

The rest of Saturday was equally glorious. I had gotten in my workout + shower before Nolan even woke up, so I could be pretty lazy the rest of the day! After Scrabble we got dressed, and headed over to our fave Vietnamese place for some tasty lunch, then stopped at the store for a few supplies for our "project", and spent the next couple hours...cake balling! I had planned to attend a cake ball palooza on Friday night with a bunch of girlfriends, but by the time I picked up Nolan from work and got home, I was already half an hour late, and it was a 45 minute drive there. So the cakeballs I'd already made sat in the freezer, waiting for a destiny that didn't involve me eating them all (Spoiler: they were peanut-butter flavoured; what do you think happened?). So we hit "play" on an episode of Elementary (possible new favourite show?), and melted down some chocolate and got to dipping. I dipped, he decorated. And we had some beauties (of course I forgot to take pictures, what do you expect?)! Also some creepy ones with loppy smiley faces made of runny icing. We figured, if we wrapped up 2 for each of his colleagues and sent them to Vegas on the plane, that would be a good use of them. Lo and behold, we had about 7 too many, and Nolan wouldn't let me send anymore with him. Do you know what happened then? Because I do. And it was terrible.

I ate them.

Okay, I didn't eat all of them. Just 5. JUST 5. Ohmygosh. Do you know what went into those cake balls? I think 5 was my daily allowance of sugar, fat, and calories with no good nutritional value. And I know cake balls are pretty tiny and all, but I tell you what - I haven't felt that sick since the gingerbread incident of December 2012.

I envied Nolan and his measly 2 cakeballs in his belly. But you know there is no man that can standeth between me and peanut butter.

Annual binge? CHECK.

Do you know what we did then? We went into our room, and we napped like nobody's business. Because nothing says "I live a healthy lifestyle" like popping cakeballs and licking chocolate off of your fingers while watching tv, and then crawling into bed and taking a nap. We're going to be awesome parents someday.

By some miracle, I was actually a tiny bit hungry when dinner rolled around, and so we had tasty steak salads and waltzed around the living room to Frank Sinatra.

Best day ever.

Thankful Thursday

What am I thankful for this week? That I get to go home to my own bed tonight, with my warm husband next to me. This is how I slept the last few nights, and it was terrible. I woke up around 3 or 4am EASTERN (12 or 1 my normal time) each night. Blah.

Needless to say, I've been taking full advantage of the delicious and fully-stocked complimentary coffee bar at the conference. Mmm, caffeine.

Speaking of which, I thought I should take at least one picture as proof I was there. So this was from the opening yesterday. Points for the Hyatt for cool lighting. Negative points for HCI for taking away our workshop tables and making us sit in rows for the rest of the conference.

Last night I went coupon-hunting for dinner again (points for me, saving the company $$ in an expensive city), and found an AMAZING tapas spot! It was kind of a far walk (ok, way longer than I thought), but totally worth it. I got there around 5:45 and it was pretty empty, but when I left there was live music and it was packed! So this trip I've eaten Brazilian, Turkish, and Spanish, respectively. Not bad!

Eclipse di Luna

They told me the plates were really tiny, and recommended a few from each side (veggie and meat). So this is what I got:

I *may* have cheated a little in my healthy eating with the calimari over pico de gallo, but only because it's their most requested dish! And they were right - it was fantastic. The other things were chicken over squash and chickpeas, spinach, and carrots with a balsamic reduction. So tasty! The only thing I could finish was the spinach, and then I knew I had to save room for their famous dessert. Which, of course, was:

FLAN!

So I've had some version of a flan each night I've been here. Hah! The best? The spanish flan, of course! So creamy and rich!

On the walk home, I had to stop and take a picture of a waffle house, so Nolan knows what to get used to seeing when he comes here in a few months. They were EVERYWHERE. As a frame of reference, I saw only 1 starbucks while there, and at least 25 different waffle houses. Crazy.

So with that...

1. I'm thankful to be going home tonight! Travelling is fun, but only when you're with the ones you love :) All I could think about each night at dinner was how fun it would be to have Nolan there. And then I finished my meal alone, checking email. Boo.
2. I'm thankful for planning. I have a lot of things to do/places to get at certain times in a strange city tonight to make sure I catch my flight home. Thank goodness for the internet and for forums on travelling in different cities.
3. I'm thankful for all the tasty food and fun things I got to see while in Atlanta! I may never be back here, but it was fun to experience a big Southern city.
4. I'm thankful for wifi everywhere. It's nice to be able to keep connected to work even in the conference and at restaurants, etc. Phew.
5. I'm thankful for the option to work from home tomorrow. Getting up super early and getting myself into the office would be brutal if these last few days of sleeplessness are any measure. It'll be nice to take it a bit slower and not have to go anywhere.

What are you thankful for?

Food and other piddly things.

Warning: this is going to be mostly about food. Are you surprised? No? You must read this blog often.

Before I attempt to take us to India for our cooking around the world experience, I decided I needed to find a good recipe for chicken tikka masala once and for all. I've made it before and it was more like a weird tomato dish (still good! just not what it was supposed to be) than a spicy, creamy Indian delight. Which was apparently only invented for white people anyway. But I digress: we found a recipe. Or my mom found one on Pinterest, that is, and I stole it. It's a winner! Definitely spicy, but oh so tasty when served over cauliflower "rice" and I bet even tastier with a side of raita and a garlic naan. Proof:



I promise he really liked it...but this is as energetic of a face as we can get after looong hospital shifts.



This week I'm in Atlanta for work, and have been excited to try new things (read: food) while here. So when my coworker suggested we go to Fogo de Chao for dinner Monday night, I heartily agreed. A Brazilian steakhouse where there is neverending meat served on swords? COUNT ME IN. I warned her in advance that I REALLY like meat. This picture is us before we really started to dig in. You flip your cards over to the green side and boy, those meat guys swoop down on your table with 10-12 different kinds of meats on swords, sizzling and spiced and delicious, and all of a sudden you've eaten the equivalent of a whole suckling pig and you feel miserable but also glorious because the food is that.good.

How we were able to opt for dessert afterwards is beyond me. I got the flan, though, and it was awesome.

One thing I'm learning about Atlanta is that you either eat for cheap at a waffle house, or you pay through the nose to eat relatively (that is the key word here) healthy elsewhere. Who knew there could be so many waffle houses in one city?

This was the cheapest healthy-ish (I didn't eat the bread - I took the lamb out from inside the sandwich and ate it on my salad) meal I could find within walking distance, at least so far. There are a TON of restaurants around, but seriously. I'm on the company dime - I have to be smart and not spend oodles of money. Except at a brazilian steakhouse to pay back your coworker for driving you around Atlanta all day.

cheapest meal? $10.75. even San Francisco can do better than that!

Today our conference and workshops started, and they were fascinating! But then I got hungry. So I went on Groupon to try and save a few bucks, and lo and behold one of the places I'd wanted to try was on there! A delicious Turkish restaurant that I'm already debating going back to tomorrow. Istanblue: proof that you can't judge a restaurant by it's website, which is awful . But the food, service, atmosphere, location? INCREDIBLE. I'm a huge Turkish fan after these tasty dishes. 

Soslu Patlican (eggplant and other veggies with sauce)...and the special bread and grape oil in the background. I wish I had no conscience about eating bread and oil!

Iskender (that big white space next to the lamb is their yogurt-so tasty!) It was soo good, but I only ended up eating about a third of this because it was super filling! What a shame.

Kazandibi (like turkish flan with cinnamon and grape sauce...mmm)

 Apparently, though, Groupon isn't the way to go in Atlanta. Instead of $10 off my meal, I could have gotten 50% off if I'd used ScoutMob, which apparently is really big here. After checking it out, I think I may know where I'm headed tomorrow for dinner!

Other interesting sidenotes about Atlanta: at least in the Buckhead area where I'm staying, I walk everywhere as my way of exploring. However, I'm the only one who does this, I guess. Nobody else is on the sidewalks (when there actually are sidewalks), and people stare at me when I walk by their shop outside. Perfect example of the no-walking thing: my hotel does not actually have a way to enter it by walking. Read that again. Like, to get into my hotel, I have to walk down the middle of a busy road because there is no sidewalk (!), and then cross through traffic in the hotel parking garage to access the entrance. It is RIDICULOUS. And I thought Scottsdale was bad.

They also stare at me wearing rainbows instead of dress shoes everywhere (I guess if you only drive, no need to wear comfy shoes!), and I felt like a hobo wearing my NorthFace fleece and carrying a water bottle in my hotel bag around. That was my own fault: I only brought a tiny purse, and forgot that I'd need to carry dress shoes to change into as well as my conference books...so I stuffed everything into the plastic bag from my hotel room that says "laundry" on the side. Embarrassing! I like Atlanta so far, but it's the little things that I've noticed! Also not very much fresh fruit anywhere. I guess we're spoiled in California.

ALSO the time change has been brutal for me, and usually I am not affected by jetlag at all - even abroad! Last night I was working until 10:30pm EST, work up at 4:00am EST (which was 1:00am PST, ugh), and couldn't fall back asleep. So I lay there for awhile, then got up and did my workout, which was PAINful on lack of sleep, wandered down to breakfast and attempted to do more work, then ended up taking a midmorning nap because I couldn't even function. I tell you what, that was a miserable morning. Fingers crossed tonight goes better!

ps - yes, I'm still eating healthy here. Except for the flan. Both nights. Hah! Everything else has been part of my normal eating routine - lots of veggies, lots of protein, etc. It IS possible to eat clean while travelling...as long as you stay away from flan :)