Friend Swantje (Svanteeya) has a house near the Backbay. While she is away, she has asked that I tend her little garden in the back of the house and pick her pole beans. I cycled there this morning and spent some time on her garden swing. She is one of my favorite people of all time. When her garden is producing, she disappears into her garden and comes back with a handful of this or that and throws it all together. She has a knack for food. My favorite are her pickled beets.
The marine layer was low and cool as I headed toward the Newport Backbay and then up to Huntington Beach boardwalk. Even though my cycling jersey and bike are all red, pedestrians seem to get confused and not see me. So many times today, I had to shout out to people as they stepped in front of me--facing my direction. Vacation brain=nothing bad can happen to me because I am on vacation! The worst was a skateboarder who was looking straight through me and seemed to be hypnotized by my clanging bike bell. It wasn't until I was within 10 feet of him, shouting 'Heads Up!' that he jumped off his board, flipping it up to catch it. He missed the catch and bailed it in the middle of my path. Me, screeching my breaks, swearing my best good-girl swear--'Sheeesh!' His friend totally mocked me for that one. Can't say I blame him...
Lots of observations and people watching. Huntington Beach is great for that. There are some strange people in our world! Summer brings it all to the beach. I forget how crowded the boardwalk can be in summer and holidays.
Tonight, dinner: Chicken sausages, but I also found beretta in the market and bought some tomatoes and crusty bread. Just add basil from my "garden" and good olive oil. Caprese is one of my favorite things in the entire world. I also picked up some beautiful peaches and made a peach pie--JE's favorite. I have to admit, it was an experimental crust--100% whole wheat pastry flour. It was OK, not quite marketable, but tasty.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Day 268: Rest day
Just got off the phone with my mom and dad. Mom has been in the hospital all week, crud in her lungs and she isn't a really well person. Dad isn't doing well either. I know it sounds callous, but my mom has spent a good portion of her life in hospital. It is motivation for me to keep on top of my own health. There is a lot of bad stuff that can happen by not making good choices daily. I need to keep those fun feast days at a minimum!
My dad was commenting that he really needed to get up on a bicycle and do something, but he just gets so winded. He has forgotten that our bodies build up the ability to go longer distances over time and with work. Plus he is old; quite possibly the oldest mas of his age I have ever known. Poor guy. But he still has a remarkably positive outlook.
We are going up to see them by the end of summer.
Plan for the week to move this body. This is my last week of plateauing. And I got my bike back with some sweet new gear! I know I lost my 80 miles in June running challenge, but my knee is still hurting--hate that!
Plan for the week:
Monday: AM: Yoga
PM: Go for a long spin!
dinner: Chicken sausage and Swiss chard which I grew myself!
Tuesday: AM: Run--long 6.5 miles
PM: Swim Long 2500 yds
Dinner: Potato Gratin and spinach salad
Wednesday: AM: Yoga
PM: Bike--recovery--easy does it
Dinner: pizza--akin to Mozza. Yummy!
Thursday: Run--recovery 5 miles
PM: Swim--speed--48 laps, every 4 intervals
Dinner: Teriyaki tofu with green beans and rice
Friday AM: Yoga
PM: Swim--recovery 48
Dinner: Pasta with pesto. Oh snap! I love summer basil!
Saturday: AM Run--speed work 5 miles
Dinner: Apricot chicken and rice
My dad was commenting that he really needed to get up on a bicycle and do something, but he just gets so winded. He has forgotten that our bodies build up the ability to go longer distances over time and with work. Plus he is old; quite possibly the oldest mas of his age I have ever known. Poor guy. But he still has a remarkably positive outlook.
We are going up to see them by the end of summer.
Plan for the week to move this body. This is my last week of plateauing. And I got my bike back with some sweet new gear! I know I lost my 80 miles in June running challenge, but my knee is still hurting--hate that!
Plan for the week:
Monday: AM: Yoga
PM: Go for a long spin!
dinner: Chicken sausage and Swiss chard which I grew myself!
Tuesday: AM: Run--long 6.5 miles
PM: Swim Long 2500 yds
Dinner: Potato Gratin and spinach salad
Wednesday: AM: Yoga
PM: Bike--recovery--easy does it
Dinner: pizza--akin to Mozza. Yummy!
Thursday: Run--recovery 5 miles
PM: Swim--speed--48 laps, every 4 intervals
Dinner: Teriyaki tofu with green beans and rice
Friday AM: Yoga
PM: Swim--recovery 48
Dinner: Pasta with pesto. Oh snap! I love summer basil!
Saturday: AM Run--speed work 5 miles
Dinner: Apricot chicken and rice
Day 267: Feasts
My posts seem to be getting hung up in my email. I sent this last night. Sorry!
Los Angeles again today. We are traveling home currently, and have
utterly exhausted ourselves. Je and I walked all over the area between
the convention center, the historic center and the fashion district.
So many of the buildings in the historic center are really beautiful.
Los Angeles again today. We are traveling home currently, and have
utterly exhausted ourselves. Je and I walked all over the area between
the convention center, the historic center and the fashion district.
So many of the buildings in the historic center are really beautiful.
We took our guests to Griffith observatory and took twenty million
photos then headed down Hillcrest to Little Doms. Apparently Dom's is
a star-studded hotspot. While we were waiting for our food, Ryan
Reynolds pulled up in a Nissan Leaf with Olivia Wild in the passengers
seat. While we were eating, Larry David walked out and waited for his
car from valet. The parappadel with fennel sausage and peas was really
good and it wasn't as pricy a venue as I would think considering the
clientele.
After dinner we chased down the Kogi truck for second dinner. Our
guests are leaving tomorrow and had a weeks worth of eating to do in
one night. After Kogi? Pinks of course! 'Frankly' I think pinks dogs
aren't worth the rave. Dogs, when steamed in a natural casing, get
really chewy--kind of yucky. Better to grill the suckers.
Training? I feel like a gustatory athlete which I equate with feeling
nauseously overfed on far too rich foods. Maybe I'll try out a
watermelon diet for a few days just to settle things down...
My body aches from apathy and walking around so much. I'm guessing I
walked about nine miles today.
From a tiny little handheld piece of technology with more power than
O'Hera would have known what to do with
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Day 266: Foodie's LA
Savuer Magazine dedicated an entire magazine about food-crazed Los Angeles. This issue has been read thoroughly by both JE and myself, and left in the car as a reminder of all those amazing little places to go visit whenever we get up there. There is a problem with this issue, however. There are SO MANY MORE amazing places to find really interesting and good food, I can't imagine having to edit for that issue. What got cut?
Today, we, with our house guests, made our way to LA-- to places I hadn't been before. That beloved magazine became part of our tour guide. The cover shows a pizza covered with baked squash blossoms and burrata. Yes, that was delish, but the chicken livers with capers and bacon? Holy Cow!!! A-maze-ing! I got the speck and olive tempanade pizza with buffalo mozza. So good. During our caprese course, I may have shed a tear--I don't think I have ever had anything so good in my entire life. They roast sweet little tomatoes, still on the vine and add a little pool of pesto and excellent olive oil to the oh-so-fresh-mozzie. Part of what made this place so amazing, was our server/bar tender. He was so kind, helpful, and generous with his time--and they were super busy!
After our meal, we headed up to the Chinese theater. What a beautiful building! We wandered around the Hollywood wax museum, and took a few fun photos. I'll post later on this entry, but right now it is really late.
We wandered Hollywood Boulevard, people watching and taking in the walk of fame and all of its craziness. I counted three Michael Jacksons sharing the same block of cement!
Around 7, we loaded onto one of those topless vans for tourists and went cruising around Beverly Hills, Belle Air, and Hollywood. There was a weirdie on a bicycle who had decided to take issue with someone sitting in the back of the van. He chased us down 3 times, before we finally headed up a long slow hill, that proved to be too much for him. But he had been giving us the finger, riding by screaming obscenities, and calling out berating names. The rest of the tour was fun, not great, but fun. Ya get what ya pay for, and we had a hugely discounted fare.
On the way home, we stopped at another place from the magazine. This one in Korea town called Kyochon. The idea is Korean fried chicken. We ordered fairly simply, but it took about half an hour or more to get out food. Something was amiss, the whole place reads like a fast food joint. The chicken was good, though the best Korean fried chicken I have ever eaten was in Korea. JE and I wandered into this little hole in the wall restaurant because in the front window was a vast display of hot fresh fried chicken. We got the full chicken deal and as we sat waiting for our chicken, we started seeing a familiar mustachioed, bespectacled man in a clean white suit and little black bow-tie. We got our chicken to go, and went to the park and devoured it. It was crisp and hot and running with juice. The chicken itself was very small and tender, unlike any KFC stateside!
Not much in the way of training today. I had some orders that went out this morning before we left, including a carrot shaped carrot cake to honor Mo the dog, who was voted as runner up a best bike shop dog competition. Carrots are Mo's favorite food.
Today, we, with our house guests, made our way to LA-- to places I hadn't been before. That beloved magazine became part of our tour guide. The cover shows a pizza covered with baked squash blossoms and burrata. Yes, that was delish, but the chicken livers with capers and bacon? Holy Cow!!! A-maze-ing! I got the speck and olive tempanade pizza with buffalo mozza. So good. During our caprese course, I may have shed a tear--I don't think I have ever had anything so good in my entire life. They roast sweet little tomatoes, still on the vine and add a little pool of pesto and excellent olive oil to the oh-so-fresh-mozzie. Part of what made this place so amazing, was our server/bar tender. He was so kind, helpful, and generous with his time--and they were super busy!
After our meal, we headed up to the Chinese theater. What a beautiful building! We wandered around the Hollywood wax museum, and took a few fun photos. I'll post later on this entry, but right now it is really late.
We wandered Hollywood Boulevard, people watching and taking in the walk of fame and all of its craziness. I counted three Michael Jacksons sharing the same block of cement!
Around 7, we loaded onto one of those topless vans for tourists and went cruising around Beverly Hills, Belle Air, and Hollywood. There was a weirdie on a bicycle who had decided to take issue with someone sitting in the back of the van. He chased us down 3 times, before we finally headed up a long slow hill, that proved to be too much for him. But he had been giving us the finger, riding by screaming obscenities, and calling out berating names. The rest of the tour was fun, not great, but fun. Ya get what ya pay for, and we had a hugely discounted fare.
On the way home, we stopped at another place from the magazine. This one in Korea town called Kyochon. The idea is Korean fried chicken. We ordered fairly simply, but it took about half an hour or more to get out food. Something was amiss, the whole place reads like a fast food joint. The chicken was good, though the best Korean fried chicken I have ever eaten was in Korea. JE and I wandered into this little hole in the wall restaurant because in the front window was a vast display of hot fresh fried chicken. We got the full chicken deal and as we sat waiting for our chicken, we started seeing a familiar mustachioed, bespectacled man in a clean white suit and little black bow-tie. We got our chicken to go, and went to the park and devoured it. It was crisp and hot and running with juice. The chicken itself was very small and tender, unlike any KFC stateside!
Not much in the way of training today. I had some orders that went out this morning before we left, including a carrot shaped carrot cake to honor Mo the dog, who was voted as runner up a best bike shop dog competition. Carrots are Mo's favorite food.
Friday, June 24, 2011
Day 265: Noodles!
It was one of those days that reminds you of how good life can be. Meri, Neesha and I spent some time at Crystal Cove staring out at the sea. Eventually, I did go for my run an ran the entire length of trail across the park. I put on a bit more distance by running down and back each of the scenic overlook trails. I figure I ran nearly six miles.
We lunched in pre-boxed salads from Trader Joes. Their salad with the big couscous and currents is delish!
Dinner was ramen an Sticki Picky, with a Yogurtland chaser. I haven't seen JE laugh so hard in a long time!
Far too tired now
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Day 264: Cleaning day
After a day of playing 'The Mighty Huntress' by chasing down dust bunnies of mega proportions all over my house, I baked a batch of brownies to take to a friend's graduation dinner party. Caitlin H. is one of my favorite people and her mom is one of my best friends. Since I have known the H. family, Caitlin has been writing a book. Her goal was to finish it before she graduated high school. About a month ago, she showed me her completed manuscript. Additionally, Caitlin is a very accomplished artist and one of her works of art was chosen by a local community to be exhibited during an art show. Caitlin can do anything, and I am so glad to know her!
At the party, I talked with Linda C, who is Caitlin's grandmother and who also owns a catering company. She encouraged me to get my website up and to just do the few things I do really well--well. It was inspiring to talk to her. I talked to the baker yesterday about not coming in this week while I have company, but I will be back there next week. Linda made some important observations and recommendations about some of the goings on in the shop--such as not to let the baker get overly reliant on me; which is what is happening. He asked me to come in on my own one day this week. He has court. I have company. No can do, Mister Mustafa!
Yes, and because I have company, we left the party and came home to meet JE's sister and her sister in law. We went to Baja Fish Tacos and then down to Laguna Beach. I had been cleaning all day, so my opportunity to run came at the beach. I headed up through Heisler park and then down the PCH to Blue Bird Canyon and back down. It was only a 3.5 mile run, but it sure felt good. It's so interesting that this thing that had been so difficult all my life, now is something I love to do. The more frequently I do it, the more I love it.
At the party, I talked with Linda C, who is Caitlin's grandmother and who also owns a catering company. She encouraged me to get my website up and to just do the few things I do really well--well. It was inspiring to talk to her. I talked to the baker yesterday about not coming in this week while I have company, but I will be back there next week. Linda made some important observations and recommendations about some of the goings on in the shop--such as not to let the baker get overly reliant on me; which is what is happening. He asked me to come in on my own one day this week. He has court. I have company. No can do, Mister Mustafa!
Yes, and because I have company, we left the party and came home to meet JE's sister and her sister in law. We went to Baja Fish Tacos and then down to Laguna Beach. I had been cleaning all day, so my opportunity to run came at the beach. I headed up through Heisler park and then down the PCH to Blue Bird Canyon and back down. It was only a 3.5 mile run, but it sure felt good. It's so interesting that this thing that had been so difficult all my life, now is something I love to do. The more frequently I do it, the more I love it.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Day 263: Time
Ever wonder where a second comes from? That one single measure of time that when added in groups of 60 creates minutes, which then in turn for hours, days, weeks, months. Every single moment can be captured in a tiny measure of time, never to return, never to be relived. It is such a beautiful thing. I love getting older, and that it takes all those tiny seconds and minutes to build experiences Someone said that time is what keeps everything from happening all at once.
OK, truth be known, I watched Benjamin Button the other day. I sort of hated the movie, but like that it instigates thoughts on aging. It was really sad that Cate blanchett's character couldn't come to terms with growing older. With something (like time and aging) that will move forward and will never stand still, the best thing to do is dance with it, embrace it and enjoy it.
JE told me tonight that he read a book on measuring time and that the Chinese measured time in a drop of water. One drop at a time over the course of a day. I'd have hated to be the slug who had to count that.
The light emitted from the sun reaches earth in about 8 minutes. This morning with a clear and beautiful sky, I swam with my chronometer flipping digital hundredths of seconds. I swam 1200 yards in about half an hour.
This evening, under the last vestiges of our summer solstice light, we ran 6.38 miles. It was a very strong run. There were coyotes about 10 feet from us on the other side of a fence, and they drew a crowd as we were finishing up our run. It was a strong run, filled with dreaming of our future, chatting about music and laughing together.
Dinner was a quick bowl of Ramen at Ajisen Ramen on Jamboree and Alton. So good! And we found bing! When we were in Taiwan, our favorite thing to eat was fresh fruit bing--a pile of shaved ice covered in fresh berries, melon, pineapple, then drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and brown rice syrup. Guppy House was selling huge bowls of the stuff! Sometime, when I'm not wet with sweat and freezing half to death, we may have to treat ourselves.
OK, truth be known, I watched Benjamin Button the other day. I sort of hated the movie, but like that it instigates thoughts on aging. It was really sad that Cate blanchett's character couldn't come to terms with growing older. With something (like time and aging) that will move forward and will never stand still, the best thing to do is dance with it, embrace it and enjoy it.
JE told me tonight that he read a book on measuring time and that the Chinese measured time in a drop of water. One drop at a time over the course of a day. I'd have hated to be the slug who had to count that.
The light emitted from the sun reaches earth in about 8 minutes. This morning with a clear and beautiful sky, I swam with my chronometer flipping digital hundredths of seconds. I swam 1200 yards in about half an hour.
This evening, under the last vestiges of our summer solstice light, we ran 6.38 miles. It was a very strong run. There were coyotes about 10 feet from us on the other side of a fence, and they drew a crowd as we were finishing up our run. It was a strong run, filled with dreaming of our future, chatting about music and laughing together.
Dinner was a quick bowl of Ramen at Ajisen Ramen on Jamboree and Alton. So good! And we found bing! When we were in Taiwan, our favorite thing to eat was fresh fruit bing--a pile of shaved ice covered in fresh berries, melon, pineapple, then drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and brown rice syrup. Guppy House was selling huge bowls of the stuff! Sometime, when I'm not wet with sweat and freezing half to death, we may have to treat ourselves.
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