Monday, December 28, 2015

Revisiting Stitch Fix

I tried Stitch Fix for the first and only time last November.  Stitch Fix is a stylist service where you send them some vague idea of what you like/want and they send you a box of 5-6 items they think you'll like.  Keep what you want, send the rest back.  Sounds perfect, right?  Only if you aren't super picky about what you wear.  I didn't keep anything they sent and I didn't really like anything they sent.


Now that I'm preggo and in my second trimester, my pants no longer fit.  I need some maternity clothes rather soon.  While googling maternity clothes, I saw that Stitch Fix now does maternity clothes.  Hmmm, is it worth jumping back into the Stitch Fix pool?


Of course, I started googling review on other people's maternity boxes.  The problem is that I couldn't find any blog reviews with someone like me (yet).  Someone like me i.e. my size (pre- and during pregnancy in my current state) with similar tastes in clothes.  Pretty much I found a lot more of what I didn't like than I did like, but I am chalking that up to how these particular woman set up their profile of likes and dislikes.


There wasn't a lot of repetition in the clothes that I saw being sent out, so that's good news.  I'm still on the fence.  I'm not even showing that much, just my pants don't fit, but I'm not big enough for "maternity" wear per se.


Maybe I just want new clothes since I can't bring myself to buy "normal" clothes knowing they can't wear them after a few weeks...

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Things I Find Weird

Couples who share an email account.


I could never share one with the hubster.  My inbox is at 0 unread emails, the hubster is at 10286 unread emails.  Non-compatible!

Friday, December 11, 2015

Baby likes green tea

I'm usually a coffee person, but I've been trying to limit my caffeine and sugar intake.  I'm been doing pretty good at sticking to one cup of coffee in the morning, but sometimes I want a Starbucks fix and I know lattes have more caffeine than my morning k-cup brew.


I've also been experiencing an unsettled stomach during most of the waking hours.  My mom suggested I start drinking green tea during the day.  Yes, green tea has caffeine in it, but only 45 mg which is below the 200 mg limit for preggos.  I stick to one tea bag which lasts me most of the day in my Zokirushi thermos.  That sucker stays hot ALL day.


I'm really liking it.  The taste is mild and it keeps my stomach in check.  I like the idea of sipping on this instead of coffee with milk and sugar throughout the day.


So first food/diet change due to baby.

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

Pregnancy Review: First Trimester

I'm coming out of my first trimester and what can I say:  It sucks.

So imagine what it's like to have a parasite living in your body, not just living, but thriving and growing.  Yeah, it's exactly like that.  That's what pregnancy has been like.

I've got morning sickness.  I can't say how severe because it's my first time, but I think it's the worst.  I'm nauseated all the time.  My stomach is never settled and nothing makes it feel better.  Eating sometimes helps, but then it feel like crap from eating.  I can never win.

I have absolutely no energy.  I have run three time in the past three months and it kills me.  I'm so tired, I've got my distance down to two miles and I am sloooooooow.  I almost cried after my run today because I ran at a normal pace.  They say it gets better after the first trimester.  I hope it does. I can't do this for six more months.

My clothes are starting not to fit which from what I've read is too soon for first time preggos.  Great!  Then that extra weight is me not being able to control myself.  Wonderful.  I'm an emotional mess and just can't handle anything.

The hubster had been super awesome this whole time though I think he's fed up with me not wanting to do anything.  I want to eat, sleep, and work.  I don't really want to work, but if I want to keep my health insurance and other important adult things, I have to keep working.

But every time I go to the doctor's office and see my baby, it makes it all worth it.  *cue sappy mom music*


Friday, December 4, 2015

Quantico

So I've been watching Quantico on Hulu and while it was mildly entertaining, I just don't think I can watch it anymore.

Spoiler alert!

It was on the edge of plausibility that FBI agents in training were such tight work out clothes and uniforms.  And that it was more like college than training.  What really pushed it over the edge was this last episode, "Guilty".

So we've been following the plight of FBI agent Alex Parish who has been framed for a terrorist attack on Grand Central Station in NYC.  She's trying so hard to clear her name and her fellow agents are helping her.

She turns herself in to allow her ex-boyfriend (?) a chance to go to the hospital to get surgery for being shot!  Believable.

She gets exonerated with evidence found by her fellow agents which she slowly recruited to help her.  Believable.

She discusses with her former trainer that she should play along with the terrorist plans of her getting caught to buy them time to find the second bomb. Believable.

She then pleads guilty to the terrorist attack and all related crimes.  Un-fucking-believable!  Since the real terrorist's framed her, then she would fucking know she didn't do it.  Then why in the fuck would she plead guilty to trick the terrorists into thinking that this was following the plan.  LIKE WHAT THE FUCK?  It would have been more believable that she plead not guilty and tried to prove her innocence knowing she was fucking framed.

I'm done-zo!

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

I've lost my mojo

My shopping mojo!

Nothing puts a damper on shopping faster than pregnancy.

What's the point in buying clothes during your first trimester when you know you're not going to fit over the next 6 months?

Friday, October 23, 2015

Baby Tips from Mama Lui

"No high heels or reaching for things on tip-toes." - Mama Lui

Baby Tips from Mama Lui

"You need to get a shorter haircut because your hair will steal the baby's nutrients" - Mama Lui

Friday, October 16, 2015

Putting on my game face

The hubster finally has a work event to take me to.  We are off to Pechunga Casino and Resort tonight for dinner and fun for his work.  If you know me, I don't get along with a lot of people.  I just don't click with most people.  The hubster is the exact opposite.  Everyone loves him and he's always buddy buddy with everyone.

This is a problem for me.  I was complaining that I would have to meet all of his coworkers because I know they want to meet me.  Ugh.  That means small talk.  Double Ugh.  He told me that I would have to put my game face on and I said "You mean my RBF?"  (That's Resting Bitch Face, for those not in the know).  He laughed and said "No, I meant the ANF".  I had to ask what that meant - Actually Nice Face.  I have no such face.

So wish me luck tonight as I try not to be a bitch to all of his coworkers.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

2015 Del Mar Mud Run

A few months ago, my friend sent out and email about doing a mud run. Her company was putting together a team. I've never done one and it was two weeks after the Disney race, so I said hey why not?!

Well, let's just say we can cross it off the bucket list. Packet pick up was uneventful at Road Runner sports. This is new to me, but they had timing chips that were reusable that you had to give back at the end of the race. You used twist ties to attach them to your shoes.

This race was set up a little differently than a normal race. Instead of one start time, they had 8-9 starting waves. Each wave started on the hour and they let 75 people onto the course very 5 minutes. I think this was pretty well managed and you didn't get long back ups at each obstacle. I think the longest wait was to climb up "Mud Rainier" and the slowest was the serpentine mud pit.

I wasn't "racing" and was running with a friend. From a more relaxed participant perspective, I was not a fan of the race.

Firs the good:

The race was well laid out with lots of obstacles spaced over the 5k.
There were plenty of water stations throughout. Probably too many for a 5k.
Bag drop off and pick were a breeze
Waiting for our wave to start was entertaining

The bad:

The biggest surprise was how grainy and sandy the mud was in the obstacles. I scrapped up my elbows and knees pretty badly. Just thinking about all the open wounds mingling in the muddy water gives me the heeby jeebies.

The other thing I did not particularly enjoy was the "motivational" cheering done by the volunteers. Did I mistakenly sign up for the camp Pendleton race? Yeah, no, I didn't do you can stop asking why I'm walking.

No medical assistance throughout the race. I don't mean full on EMT, but it's a fucking mud race. Mud will get in your eye and if it's grainy, it's going to fucking hurt. I saw several people who got mud splashed in their faces by race volunteers and how the volunteers were using their own personal water sources to help flush racers eyes. You come crawling out of a mud pit, your entire body is covered in mud. What exactly do you wipe your eye/face with?!?!?

This happened to me at the finish line. I was stumbling around in front of some race personnel. Do you know what helping got? A voice saying there is water at the white tent. What fucking white tent am I supposed to be able to see without opening my fucking eyes!!?!

So that was my last impression of the race. I won't be doing another unless it's free entry. Like I said before, it's checked off the bucket list.

Oh yeah, the pictures:




Before



After

Thursday, September 10, 2015

I Dumbo Double Dare You

I spent this past weekend at Disneyland participating in the Half Marathon Weekend.  I was crazy enough to sign up for the Dumbo Double Dare Challenge which gives you a special third medal if you complete both the 10K and the half marathon in the allotted time.

So where to start?  From the beginning duh!

Signing up for the event is an event in itself.  Disney races are notorious for selling out quickly.  I had signed up for email notifications and even set a calendar notice for signing up.  Basically registration opens and you wait for the site to load because it's slammed.  Once you get on, you click another link to register through another site.  This site puts you in a queue for when you get enter the site and register.  The whole time, you're refreshing the Disney page to see if it's sold out yet!  I finally got in and signed up for the Double Dare and pre-purchase commemorative pins galore.  Grand total was $$$$.

So yay!  Now you're signed up, what now?

Forget about it for the next 5 months.  Ha!

Then start thinking about training.  I have run two half marathons previously with different results.  The first time I over trained and injured myself during the race and ended up having to walk half of it.  The second time, the race was scheduled at the end of lacrosse season, so I did not train as much as I wanted to (pretty much none at all, the longest run I went on was 7 miles prior to the race).  So with those two experiences, I wanted to land somewhere in the middle and tack on some hip exercises that I picked up from PT from my IT band injury as a result of the first race.

I laid out my training schedule which I just made up on the fly and stuck to it.  I surprised myself that I only skipped one "long" run.  I basically backed out from the day of the race and finished my taper two weeks before.  I would do two 3 mile runs during the week and one "long" run on the weekend and increasing mileage every other week.  Mid training, I decided that I should experience some of my shorter long runs on tired legs and through in a 3-4 mile run the day before the long run was scheduled.  I think this really helped in my training.  The ramping up of miles for the long runs went like this: started at 6 miles, 5 miles, 7 miles, 6 miles, 8 miles, 10 miles, 5 miles, and 7 miles.

Every day that I ran, I did an assortment of exercises I had picked up from PT for strengthening my hips.  I threw in some yoga at the very end for when the longer runs were taking their toll.

A Disneyland race also calls for preparation other than training.  Of course, I mean costumes!  I started thinking about this pretty much the moment after I got my confirmation email that I was registered.  I ended up going with Russell from Up and Eeyore.  Russell was an easy choice because the hubster was Russell for Halloween last year and I had most of the costume already made.  I only had to buy a yellow running top and a brown sparkle skirt.  I had the flag, badges, backpack (camelback), hat and neckerchief already.  Russell was the 10K costume because I could not imagine myself running 13.1 miles with all that extra crap.

Eeyore was the half marathon costume and was pretty simple which is what I was aiming for.  Something that wouldn't bother me for 13.1 miles.  I bought the headband and tail from Amazon and then kept an eye out for color coordinated running gear.  I originally tried to match the exact shade of blue-ish gray, but that turned out to be impossible.  So I settled for something complimentary.  The shorts were the first thing I found and then the tank top.  I actually love the shorts and prefer them to the Nike Tempos that I have a billion pairs of.

Registration, costumes, training, and hotels, all taken care of.  On to the actual race!

I did not submit a pace verification.  I did not want to pay for a 10K just to get an earlier corral.  Would I change this for the next Disney race I do?  I'm still undecided.

Packet pick up was a breeze.  I got up to Anaheim around 2 pm, dropped my car off at the hotel (did not stay on property even though I wanted to, just too expensive), and walked to the Disneyland hotel to the health and fitness expo.  There was no line and I got my bib and commemorative items right away.  Because I was doing the challenge, they took my picture.  This did not match previous year (blog experiences) that I had read about.  They used to give you a wrist bracelet thing after the 10K which you would need to show to receive the third medal after the half marathon.  I guess with technology now, you don't need to.  After I got my picture taken, I went upstairs to visit the merchandise and pick up my race shirts.

Boy was there a lot of merchandise!  They have special edition Disney shoes, running gear, medal holders, plaques, cups, everything you can think of.  I just grabbed my shirts and perused the aisles.  I thought about getting some tall socks for my outfit, but everything was compression and I didn't want to drastically change my outfit without a test run.  I eventually made it to the official race merchandise and purchased a new lanyard to hold the new pins.  As I was paying, I heard that Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee, Rudy, Goonies!) was going to be speaking.  My ears perked at that and I made my way back into the expo hall.  I sat down and semi-listened while making some motivational posters for the hubster to hold during the race.  I snapped a few pictures and decided I needed to get back to the hotel to figure out dinner and keep the walking to a minimum.  Every step will matter!

Sean Astin aka Rudy

Motivational lies

Disney themed


All that swag!

I ordered some delivery and had dinner while watching Netflix.  The hubster finally made it to the hotel around 9:30 pm and I went to bed around 10:30 pm. I really expected not to get any sleep at all, but surprisingly, I think I slept most of the night and woke up at 4:00 am.  I ate a breakfast of coffee, banana, and Kind granola bar.  I had some Greek yogurt with granola too but ended not eating it.  My reasoning was that I don't usually eat that much normally and didn't want to change things too much.  I'm glad I didn't.  I grabbed an clementine and walked out the door to meet my friend who was also running the 10K.

The finish line

We met up at the corrals around 5:15 am and lined up.  We were in corral E and we did not start until 30 minutes after the first corral!  Like most races, I spent a lot of energy and time dodging around walkers.  There were a lot of walkers to get around for this race.  I think I dodged the entire race.  There were a lot of great costumes out there.  The first two miles were outside of the parks and went around the convention center.  We looped back around and through the back lot into California Adventure.  We exited California Adventure into Disneyland.  We ran right down Main Street through Tomorrow land and then more back lot.  It got a little confusing where we were in the park.

The start

There were character photo opportunities, but they were mostly villains as that was the theme of this years race.  I didn't really stop because I don't like villains.  I did take a few selfies, but I just kept on running.  Once we left the Disneyland, we went through Downtown Disney to the finish.  The race really just flew by.  It went by so fast that I threw my plan right out the door.  The original plan was to run 3-4 miles and walk the rest to save up for the half marathon.  Nope, I ran the whole thing!

Cars Land

Paradise Pier

A fellow Russell with Kevin

wilderness explorer is a friend to all, be a plant or fish or tiny mole!


Backlot pumpkin

Cinderella's Castle


The medal

We did it!

The hubster and I had talked about his spectator game plan and we planned very poorly. I had read a lot of blog posts about the half marathon, but not the 10K.  So I told him that he didn't need to get up early with me and could walk to the race an hour after the race started thinking that's when I would start. Wrong!  As I wrote before, my start was only 30 minutes delayed. Add that to me running the whole way and not walking any of it AND the fact that his path to the finish was blocked by the course, the hubster missed the entire race.  It wasn't his fault.  He tried his hardest to get to me.  When he did finally arrive, he had my smart water and my chocolate milk in hand!

Downtown Disney was at a complete standstill, so we took the tram to the park entrance and walked back to the hotel where I rolled out and took a shower.  I don't sleep with wet hair, so I watched more Netflix, then took a tiny nap once my hair had dried a bit.  Once, we both had gotten up from out nap, we went out to grab lunch and pick up some items that the hubster forgot in San Diego.  We didn't make it to California Adventure until dinner time for our reservation at Ariel's Grotto.  I really was watching my steps especially since I didn't stick to my plan!

We went on Ariel's ride, had dinner, and then watched World of Color.  I was in bed by 10:30 pm.



Rinse and Repeat for the half marathon.

Some differences was that the hubster walked me to the corral and he went to find a spot to watch the race.  I was in corral G and started a good hour after the first corral.  There wasn't as much dodging of people in the beginning as the 10K, but still a lot of dodging over the course of the entire race.  I did a much better job of not starting out too fast knowing that my legs were very tired from the 10K and that I had 13.1 miles ahead of me.



The course started out right away in the parks.  It followed a similar path as the 10K.  A lot of the same characters were out and I didn't stop for many photo ops.  There was definitely more bottlenecking inside the park because there were a lot more runners than the 10K.  Once we left the park, there was a noticeable thinning out of runners.  Disney did a good job of recruiting local high schools for entertainment in the form of cheerleaders and marching bands.  These were sprinkled throughout the course and did a good job of giving me bursts of speed because I would sprint by them giving high fives.  Of course!



The other thing that I really appreciated was all the people that came out and lined the streets with their classic cars.  This was a great distraction because I think it was strategically placed in the most boring part of the course.  There must have been a mile or two of cars on the course that led up to the Honda Center.  These great people were cheering, waving, and some were giving out oranges, candy, and paper towels.

After leaving the Honda Center, we ended up on a dirt trail that led us to Angels Stadium.  On a side note, in the days leading up to the race, the hubster suggested I add some new songs to my playlist to update it.  He said the songs on the list dated me.  Hello, Spice Girls!  WHATEVER!  So I thought it was funny that during the portion of the run on the trail which was the quietest part of the race, Spice Girls starting playing.  I don't wear headphones and just let the music play through the speaker.  The volume is not set very high because I could not hear any of my music during the entire 10K and didn't start hearing it until we left the parks during the half marathon.

Going into Angels Stadium was great.  It was filled with people who had probably been there for a while and they were still cheering!  I, of course, gave out a lot of high fives and had the foresight to video most of it!  I did stop to take a selfie inside the stadium and get a shot of the logo in the infield.  This is the second time that I've run inside a stadium of a professional sports team and it's always so interesting to see the size of the venue from the field vantage point.



Leaving Angels stadium, I knew I had about 4 more miles before the finish.  This is where the cheering crowds got a little thin and I stopped feeling my legs!  Those miles were kind of a blur until we got closer to Disneyland.  Once we could see the hotels and the rides, I picked up my pace.  I finished the race with a leaping race photo a 100 meters from the finish and a high five to Donald Duck across the finish line.


My official time was 2 hours, 21 minutes, and 17 seconds.  I haven't decided whether I am happy with time or not.  I think the original goal for this weekend was to finish and get the Dumbo medal.  But I'm not sure that was a high enough goal.  19.3 miles is the most I have run in two days.  My time for the half was a good 12 minutes slower than my PR.  I also did not stick to my plan for the half marathon.  During dinner the night before, I was talking to the hubster about how tired my legs were and how my knee was hurting and how I was worried about the half marathon.  I came up with a plan to run 6 miles, walk 1, run 2, walk 1 and finish the last one running.  Well of course that didn't happen.  I ran the whole thing!  Was I hoping to have a PR?  I think it was a small hope that I would, but my brain says well you ran a 10K the day before and that it was in Disney and there was a lot of bottlenecking and dodging and I stopped for photo opportunities.  Would I have run faster if I hadn't done the 10K? I  like to think I could.  I think if I had finished at 2 hours 15 minutes, I would have been happier.

My 10K time was 1 hour, 7 minutes, and 10 seconds.  That's definitely slower that my training pace.  I was being very cautious and started out both races slower due to the number of miles I would be running and never actually running all those miles during a training run.

Overall, I'm happy that I didn't follow either plan for either race and ran the whole thing.  I think it was the smart thing to have a back up plan, but if I'm honest with myself, I don't think I would have followed it short of injury.


After the race, I received both my medals, got some ice, and met up with the hubster who knows me so well and had a breakfast sandwich and COFFEE waiting for me.  I promptly sat down on the ground for about 20 minutes before getting up and getting on the tram to head back to the hotel.

After a shower and a nap for the hubster, we went to lunch were I had a celebratory bellini at The Cheesecake Factory.  The hubster also bought me a celebration gift of Sanuk flip flops.  So comfy and so welcome after the race.  I ended up wearing these to dinner that night.  We went back to the hotel and I took a nap.  We hung out there until it was time for our dinner reservation at the Blue Bayou.  We left for the park and rode a couple rides before dinner.  Dinner at the Blue Bayous was pretty amazing.  The food was delicious especially the gumbo.  The hubster's filet was very tender and my lamb was pretty tasty a well.  We also got a free dessert of chocolate mouse, sorry, mousse, because we told them we were celebrating our anniversary.  It was soooo good.

Peach Bellini!

Jungle Cruise, up front!

Blue Bayou




Would I do it again?  Definitely not the Double Dare challenge, not because of the mileage, but because it makes for such a long weekend.  The race registration plus the hotel plus the park food made for  very expensive weekend.  I think I would do the half marathon again.  I actually think I might try the coast to coast challenge, but I might need a year break to 1) have enough time to sign up for the races and 2) save enough money for a trip to Orlando and super annual pass.

I think the only thing I would do differently would be submit proof of pacing for a better starting corral.  Otherwise, I think Disney did a great job with the race especially with all the people that were there.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Big news

I am completely incapable of keeping a secret.  I have to tell someone.  Usually it's the hubster because he's my husband and he's a much better secret keeper than I am.

Something big is coming my way.  It's not official yet, but it's in the works, and even then there will be a transition/learning period.

I'm happy, scared, excited, and nervous all at once.

What?

During my morning perusal of various websites, I stumbled upon this article from yahoo: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/havent-vacationed-in-a-year-neither-have-135-126534692042.html

It's not a breaking news kind of article, but what did catch my eye was their definition of a vacation.

"According to  the Vacation Confidence Index, an annual report from Allianz Travel Insurance, a vacation is a trip that lasts for a week or more that’s at least 100 miles from home."

What?!!?!?

By this definition, aside from my India and Hawaii trip, I haven't been on a vacation in over two years.  I don't count those as vacations though they meet the criteria because they are destinations that I would not have necessarily chosen for myself for those PTO hours.  And by that definition, my next "vacation" won't be until the December of 2016!

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Working on our fitness

I am so proud of the hubster.  He has started in earnest to lose weight.  He's been pretty good at watching his diet and what he's eating, but over the past month, he has started to work out!

There has been noticeable weight loss which I am enjoying.  We've even been doing activities together - biking, hiking, running (me)/biking (him).  He's even gone so far as waking up early on weekends to bike with me while I train for my races.

So proud!  Keep it up!

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Trendsetter

It's official.  I am a trendsetter and in the most unexpected way.

Background: I bring my lunch to work a lot because my mom leaves me food when she walks my dogs (Thanks mom!).  I used to use a lunch bag that my mom had when I was living at home, but once I moved out, I had to figure out what to use.  I started using my old Lululemon bags.  They are the right size and not made out of a plastic bag and if it got too dirty, I could throw it away, but still feel like I'm saving the Earth one bag at a time.  I recently stopped using those bags because my mom bought me a lunch bag from Hawaii.

Anyway, a few weeks back, I walk into the break room to put my lunch away and what do I notice in the fridge?  Two lululemon lunch bags!

It's a good thing I changed my bag because then I'd have to go looking through other people's lunches to identify mine!

Monday, August 10, 2015

Time flies

I have 25ish days until the start of my Disney races! This will be my third half marathon. The first one I got injured during the race and had to walk half of it due to overuse. The second I did not train very much for it. I think pre-race I ran one 7 mile run. I only finished with a fantastic time of 2:09 because my coworker ran with me the entire time. So since this is a Disney race and very expensive, I decided to train for it. I didn't want to repeat the mistakes of the past by overtraining but wanted to make sure I could finish the TWO races I signed up for.

Yep, to make things exciting I signed up for the Dumbo Double Dare for the 10k and the half marathon. So there's that to consider.

So with a little over three weeks, where am I at?

For the last two weeks, I have prefaced my long runs with a short 3 mile run the day before - to simulate the actual race weekend. Yes, I plan to run half the 10k and walk the rest to spare my legs for the half marathon. This past weekend I ran 3 and then 10 miles. 10 miles is the longest distance I'll run for training because my knee started to bother me and I want to give it plenty of rest. I plan to continue with the consecutive weekend day runs to prepare, but 7 miles will be my longest run until race day.

Is that a smart thing to do? I honestly don't know!

I ran the 10 miles with a 10:00 minute per mile pace, so I don't think I'll be in danger of not finishing within the time limit. I also dug into my Nike running records and my time for the disastrous first half marathon was 3 hours so I think I'll be good.

Now I'm preparing on how to deal with being in the last corral and not tiring myself out to get away from the pack.

I am stoked that my costumes for the race are done!





Sunday, August 9, 2015

Whistler!!!

Whistler plans are starting to fall into place.  I've got the condo  and flights booked for the annual snowboarding trip.  I'm so excited.  It's turning into a two-fer.  We are flying into Seattle and driving up to Whistler, but we'll be spending half a day for the hubster to do some sightseeing since he wasn't able to come with me to Seattle the first time when I went with Kristina.

The group is a lot bigger than normal and some people were unable to make it from past years.  I was looking forward to an even bigger group. I think it would have been fun.  The condo is within walking distance to the lift which is something we've never done before, so I'm liking the convenience of it already.  Also has a hot tub and beds for everyone!

I want to go bobsliding at the Olympic sliding center, but I'm not sure if anyone will go with me.  The hubster is adamant that I will get sick since you go pretty fast and there are a lot of turns.  It doesn't last very long so how bad could it be?  It seems like a once in a lifetime experience...

Stay tuned for more details!

Time to start blogging again

Ever since moving back home to California, the blog has suffered.  So sorry poor blog.  I also think that in that time, I have created a twitter and instagram account which has also provided more outlets for what normally would go on to the blog, but without necessarily writing a whole post about it.

My facebook account is heavily curated.  I don't post that many updates or pictures on purpose.  That was the great thing about this blog.  Prior to twitter and instagram, everything that was "good" enough to go on facebook went on the blog, but now it goes on twitter or isntagram.  It's time to fix that.  I'm aiming to post at least 3 times a week!  And go...

Thursday, June 11, 2015

So Frustrated with Southwest

I don't usually fly Southwest.  I have status with Delta which doesn't really get me much, but being able to book exit row seats or even Economy Comfort and go through the first class security lane is enough to choose Delta over others even if it's not the cheapest.

I've flown Southwest three times this year which is a lot.  The first flight was during the winter where I flew into PHL and my flight was cancelled on the return leg due to weather.  Usually it's not a problem... with other airlines.  To Southwest's credit, I did get a notification the day before saying my flight was cancelled due to weather.  The email had very clear instructions on what to do.  I rebooked online and the process was easy.  What sucked was that I couldn't leave until Wednesday... I was supposed to fly out Monday.  So why did I have to stay an extra day and half?  Because Southwest only rebooks you on other Southwest flights whereas other airlines will put you on their competitors which is infinitely better than having to take extra days off work with no compensation for the delay!

The second flight was a short one to San Jose and while uneventful, I still hate Southwest because the boarding process sucks.  They pride themselves on their no assigned seat model, but when they don't enforce their own rules about saving seats, then what's the fucking point?

The third time is occurring as we speak.  I'm flying to SLC via Las Vegas.  Well, I was!  My flight was delayed due to a mechanical issue and I would miss my connection.  None of this is enough to hate Southwest because it happens to every airline.  It's how they handle it is what frustrates me.  Not only do they rebook you at the gate and doesn't give a phone option like Delta does, but you also run into the same problem as the first flight.  My first option was to take the flight to Vegas and arrive in SLC at midnight.  My original flight got in at 1:10 pm.  No thanks.  The second option was to fly THE NEXT DAY.  I'm going for a clinic which starts tonight and ends Saturday afternoon.  I would arrive in SLC at 4 pm.  Kinda defeats the purpose of going.  However, I was "lucky" to get another flight which someone else had cancelled, so I'll get into SLC at 11:15!!!!  with an 8 hour layover in Phoenix.

I don't know.  I feel cheated.  Yes, they are getting me to my destination and yes, I got a voucher for wasting 12 hours of my time, but there has got to be a better system.

I'm just fed up.  I don't think I'll fly Southwest again unless it's to use up my voucher.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Souvenir cups

I'm totally sold that the overpriced souvenir cups are the only souvenirs worth buying at shows.

For example, Newsies souvenir cup:





This $7 cup was by far the best item compared to the $20 mug which just said newsies in newspaper type font or ugly rehired or useless key chains or even more overpriced magnets. I even got a beverage out of it.

Example #2





Britney Spears show in Vegas. Her shit ain't cheap and so I bought this cup which is actually pretty sturdy for $15 and that's without the alcoholic beverage that would come with it at full price. Similar type overpriced ugly merchandise.

These cups may be mass produced and poor quality, but I'd rather pay a few bucks for these than overpay for something I would only use for a few months.

Maybe the ultimate lesson is not to give into any impulse purchases and save my money!

Monday, March 23, 2015

Scary movies are not for me

On the drive home from Disneyland for the hubster's birthday, I decided to play a modified version of Heads Up with him while he drove. I would give clues and do all the flipping while he drove. The category was movies and the clue was Friday the 13th.

As you might know, I cannot watch scary movies or even suspenseful movies. At home, I get up and leave the room or hide around the corner or make up some stupid reason to leave or have a random desire to sort through the mail or load the dishwasher. Anyway, our little game went like this:

Me: Freddy Krueger
Hubster: nightmare on elm street
Me (thinking): hmmm wrong horror movie franchise
Me: Michael Meyers
Hubster: Halloween
Me (thinking): wtf, how many horror franchises are there?!?!
Me: Jason
Hubster: Friday the 13th
Me: yes, finally

And then I burst out laughing for about 10 minutes. How do I know the antagonist for all these horror movies, but can't place them in their correct franchises.

Still no desire to watch any of them



Wednesday, March 18, 2015

He means well

The hubster is getting over a nasty viral infection. He doesn't like to be cold at night which usually isn't a problem except it's been really hot lately. He come home late last night after I went to bed and turned off the overhead fan which is fine. I woke up in the middle of the night with a nightmare which always happens when I overheat and he offers to open up the blinds a bit more to let more air circulate. That would be fine and dandy if the window was actually open!!!!



Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Two burns, one sentence

My hubster is an ass!

I was re-watching some videos of the Britney show on my phone and during one of the clips, the hubster goes "Someone near you can't sing". And I say "It's probably me".

And then he says "it can't be you. You don't know that many words!"

So not only does he think I'm a bad singer. I also don't know lyrics.

I want a divorce!



Monday, February 16, 2015

Sore

Reffing lacrosse only reminds me every year how old I am getting.  I had my first two games this weekend and I am SORE.  I didn't get to prepare as much as I wanted as I got hit with a nasty cold two weeks prior to the start of the season.  I was down and out for a week and with a bunch of other things happening, I just never got the rest I so sorely needed.

So today my legs are tired and sore and I have 4 games coming up this week: Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday =(  Good thing I have the day off.  I'm going to take the deep stretch class at yoga and then pamper myself with a massage and mani/pedi.

I have to do it now because I won't have time between now and the end of April...

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Need a Valentine's Day gift?





A chocolate roll bear! Duh!

No joke, these chocolate rolls are the bomb and the fact that it's in the shape of a bear makes it even more epic!

Hubster, I'll take one. 😁

Annual Snowboarding Trip

This year's snowboard trip was a repeat visit to Salt Lake City, a perennial favorite.  This was in part due to the shortage of PTO all around since my little brother is getting married in June in Hawaii.  The number of attendees almost doubled.  It's usually myself, the little brother, and my friend Kristina.  The hubster decided to join us this year along with my brother's fiancee, my co-worker, and Kristina's friend.  A full house!

I decided to try Airbnb this time around because we decided to try Powder Mountain and Snow Basin vice Park City or one of the other canyon resorts.  We ended up staying in Layton in a private home's finished basement.  Aside from the one bathroom for 7 people, the place was really great.  It had 6 pinball machines, a pool table, a huge movie room with stadium seating, and a hot tub.  It was also missing a full kitchen, but the hot plates and convection oven was sufficient for our breakfast needs.

Without further ado, the pictures!

Day 3 at Snow Basin

Lunch at the lodge at the summit of Snow Basin.  The hubster bought a walk on pass to ride the gondalo with us.  What a great view!

Day 1: Sunset at Powder Mountain

Selfie time!

Day 2: Powder Mountain

Day 2: Lunch at Powder Mountain.  Boy, was it windy!

Day 2: Powder Mountain

Day 2: Powder Mountain - Let's all pretend I went down that black run...

Day 3: Snow Basin at the base lodge

Day 3: Snow Basin - riding the gondola up for lunch and the last run of the day

Day 3: the hubster and I

Day 3: Selfie! Caught in the act.

Blue Steel

Getting ready for the last run of the day

And of course, a jumping picture with the perfect photobomb from Kristina!