Around Here

Hello there! It was a relaxing, fun week in this fair city. It really feels like summer around these parts, and it's delightful. My brother and nephew came for a visit last weekend, so we hit up some good eats, and Flavio took the first part of last week off to hang with me. Staycation bliss. This past weekend treated us well - dinner with Jan and Gary, a little shopping, and lots of time outside in this gorgeous weather. I am back to work today, but figured I'd pop in with some lunchtime procrastination.

Lately I've been:

Researching a possible anniversary camping trip for July. Beach or mountains?

Waiting for a good movie to come out, and excited to see this one in September.

Reading Operating Instructions and cracking up. Thank god I'm not the only one who catastrophizes everything.

Taking less pictures. Sometimes I just want to be in the moment.

Feeling nervous about the next 7 weeks. Summer school is always good, but so.much.work.

Feeling excited that might parents might be moving closer to us. At least temporarily.

Listening to bits of Passenger's new album. A lot. Buying it tomorrow.

Hoping I can come up with some actual blog posts that might be useful or informative to others. I'm in a blogging slump. It's just so sunny out, I don't want to be on my computer. We shall see.

Waiting to go home at 4PM to play with my little lady. See her sweet new summer 'do below.

Happy week. xo

Before and after.

We've been into playing cards and board games in the evenings. Feels like summer camp.

I interviewed my mother in law about her dad, professional soccer player Rodolfo Torres. Facinating. Blurry photo, but isn't Flavio his clone?

We celebrated National Doughnut Day last week with an early early morning date.

Weekending

We spent Saturday in Temecula at a friend's wedding, which was lovely. The groom is Flavio's childhood friend, so it was like a high school reunion for the guys. It was a love-filled night, with great food and lots of celebratory booze and in the midst of the party, a couple things occurred to me. (A) We are getting older - lots of people there, our age, have children who talk and play and entertain themselves. People kept asking whether we have kids and I just showed multiple photos of Guiri. :) I know I've said it before but it was a reminder: It's time start making some decisions about children, but this book is scaring me off.  Also, it shocked us all to realize it's been 18 years (!) since Flavio graduated from high school. Whoa. Yep, getting older. (B) Flavio gave a beautiful and heartfelt toast to the newlyweds and I couldn't have been more proud. There were multiple points in the night where I'd look over at him telling a story or a joke, and I'd be struck by how handsome he looked, and how funny everyone thought he was. Sometimes, in a crowd, you get to see your partner through other people's eyes, and realize how lucky you are.

Nothing too terribly exciting on this Sunday, actually, but it was nice. Flavio went to play paintball with his friends in the morning while I slept in and lazily nursed my hangover with eggs and a marathon of DC Cupcakes (so embarrassed to admit I love that terrible show). This afternoon, we went to the dog park, cooked this delicious chicken, and slowly got ready for the work week ahead.

Valentine's is a comin'! I'm excited. I think I might do a week of heart-filled goodness on the blog. I realize some people are skeptical, or hate the holiday, but maybe just play along. I promise I'll try not to trigger your gag reflex.

{tulips, Trader Joe's}

{wedding, end of the night}

{toast!}

Soak

My love of bubble baths has been documented on my blog (here), and it's finally gotten chilly enough to indulge these last couple of nights. How gorgeous are these bath time photos? It's a rainy lunch hour here and I'm dreaming of my nightly bubble bath with lavender epsom salts. Bring it.

You know how when you're swamped you gets tons done, but when you have more free time, you slack? That's been me lately. Not as busy as last semester, but with stuff to do, to grade, to prepare, to clean, but instead I've spent the week soaking up this (amazing!) read, watching this (stupid) show, and trying out a couple new recipes including Scallops with Apple Pan Sauce (so good) and Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs (easy and delicious).

I'm hoping the rain sticks around for the weekend. xo

{Photos via}

Guiri Sleeps Upside Down

It's been a great week. The first few days of classes are always so exciting, I enjoyed a teacher-friends' happy hour at Polite Provisions (my fave), and we had a fun dinner last night with our lively friend visiting from Norway. And it's Friday. Woot!

What are you up to this weekend? We're taking a cue from Guiri and chilling out. We'll be hanging with our Norwegian visitor this evening and hitting up a party at our gym tomorrow night, but other than that I'm hoping to relax with some baking, snuggles under a blanket with this book, and time outside in the sun.

Wishing you a weekend so relaxing it's upside down. x

Weekending, Hibernation

I have had a looong winter break and I am itching to get back to work, which is a good thing, right? I feel like I've been in hibernation since the New Year and I am realizing something about myself: I need hibernation, a complete disconnect every now and again. I think we all work differently, and I find that I like to operate at 110% capacity for about 85% of the time, surrounded by people, and then spend the remainder doing absolutely nothing by myself. Flavio seems to operate at a slightly lower intensity all of the time, and thus doesn't need to completely shut down every now and again. I think we get about the same amount of stuff done, so it all evens out.

I've spent most of the last week in hibernation mode. Some people might call it lazy but I'm rebranding it as hibernation. After a crazy semester and busy holiday season and generally being super-efficient for the last four months, I realized I was barely pushing through at the end - there was no more powering through - I was exhausted. And basically, I don't want to be just barely pushing through my life.

So, I am going to pay attention and give myself more permission to take breaks, including on the blog. When I started this blog last year, I had a self-imposed posting schedule and would try to get on here 5 days a week (which let's face it, barely ever happened).  I love writing here, but sometimes I am so tired that I cannot be asked to make decisions, about anything, including blog posts, so I need to allow myself to take sporadic breaks from blogging and from everything. I might lay in bed and read books and watch 3 rom-coms in a row and take a one hour hot bath if that's what's needed. And I refuse to feel guilty about it (see this post on the importance of calm and this one on the busy trap.) And always, after some time in hibernation, I suddenly find myself wanting to blog, cook, hang out with friends, and generally rejoin the living world, ramping back up to my 110% self. That's where I am right now - ramping up and recharged.

Does this seem crazy? I know this might sound like a dysfunctional cycle, but I'm realizing this is how I've always worked, I'm forever on a semester system, so I'm embracing it. Now that I'm all recharged, I'm ready to share my weekend with you, but alas, hibernation does not make for great posting. Here are the bits that I do have...

We've been mostly Paleo eating since the New Year but took a break Friday night to gorge on El Comal's heavenly Mexican food.

Saturday we did chores, went out to lunch, hit up the dog park, and came home for wine and cheese paired with the movie The Guilt Trip. People, Barbara Streisand in that movie IS my mother in law. It was so hilarious to us, only because we can relate so closely. Haha!

{Saturday night movie}

Sunday morning we cooked up a storm, went for a long family walk, and then Flavio went to a bar with his friend to watch the Charger's game, while Guiri and I snuggled on the couch to read books. I've been a gluttonous reader over this holiday break. In case you're looking for a few good reads, I loved The Dinner, The Tender Bar and A Spot of Bother. All three about families, but all three very different from the others and each very good.

It's a sunny Monday morning, I made us a paleo pancake breakfast, and now I'm off to walk Guiri in this unseasonably warm weather. No polar vortex for The Whale's Vagina. I hope you have a great day. xo

{sunny Monday morning}

Weekending, Christmas!

As expected, Christmas was quiet but lovely this year. I am usually in charge of something - desserts, appetizers, cocktails, playlists - but I was a complete Christmas Eve guest, responsibility-free, which was sort of nice. The relaxation spilled over to my blog and as much as I missed being here, it was a good little break.

Flavio and I try to be minimalists about Christmas. There are no oceans of wrapping paper, no endless rounds of opening, no piles of presents. Just some small stocking stuffers and a couple of meaningful things each - a nice scarf here, a good book there - and then we always choose something we can do together - an experience. So this Christmas we planned and booked a trip to Playa del Carmen for April.  Yay! Our formula for Christmas fun: food, music, movies, and simplicity. For us, it's the way to go.

{Christmas morning light}

Christmas Eve we had posole dinner with Flavio's mom.  We watched hours of A Christmas Story, ate a ton, and the three of us toasted at midnight. There were the usual family quirks, but it was a cozy night and we were happy to be there. I was missing my family but then something huge occurred to me... Flavio and Guiri are my family! This realization gave me a bunch of warm fuzzies and I went forward enjoying the holiday, feeling happy for my parents that they were in Hawaii, adding my own Clinton energy to my newish little clan.

{giant pot o' posole}

{Christmas Eve}

{posole, lime}

Christmas day we woke up late, opened presents, made a big breakfast, and went to our annual Christmas day movie to see The Wolf of Wall Street - which reminded me of Goodfellas, but funnier. I loved it and thought Leo did an amazing job keeping us entertained for three hours. We finished off the day with a sunset trip to the dog park, Guiri looking festive in her Christmas scarf.

{Guiri's present}

{new toy}

{She loves sleeping, playing and hiding behind the tree..?? Haha!}

{dog park, Christmas day}

Each Christmas, we try to get a new ornament and it's one of my favorite traditions. Here's 2013's bauble - a porcelain santa bell. Isn't he sweet?

The week between Christmas and New Year's always feels like limbo, waiting for more holiday fun. Friends were out of town and Flavio had to work, so I entertained myself with a lot of at-home movies, cooking, long walks with Guiri, and some obsessive de-cluttering and organizing. Sometimes, nesting alone in our sunny house feels blissfully meditative.

{lounging}

Highlights of the weekend included a mystery date to The Haven for pizza, sightseeing downtown to visit the new Central Library (gorgeous!), library book reading, lunch with friends from out of town, dinner with Jan and Gary (our San Diego parents), and hours of our new TV obsession, Homeland. It's totally addictive and is partially filling the Breaking Bad-sized hole in my heart.

{top floor, Central Library}

{Coronado bridge, Central Library}

{The greatest gift is a passion for reading. Central Library}

{book, blanket}

{just in case there weren't enough Guiri pics in this post}

{Sunday night, Homeland, wine}

I get to see my best friend of 22 years tomorrow. Anchorman II, tooling around, and a lot of laughter all on the itinerary.

Weekending, quickly

I am awash in work this week but wanted to pop by and make some quick notes about my weekend before the details get drowned out by Soc. Theory paper-grading (eek!).

Friday night we watched We're the Millers at home - funny! We were supposed to go to a holiday party but at the last minute decided we couldn't rally the energy, ordered Burger Lounge to-go, slapped on our jammies and lounged on the couch. We've been going non-stop and needed a night in to be together and laugh.  I always feel so guilty when we skip parties but this was the right choice.

Saturday morning I baked, went for brunch and Christmas shopping with my ladies (can you believe Christmas is in a week?!), and then Flavio and I went out to dinner for his birthday. Flavio is birthday shy - he doesn't like the attention - and almost never wants to do anything because December is such a hectic time of year, anyway. But if anyone deserves a celebration it's Flavio, so I surprised him with a mellow evening: dinner at The Smoking Goat (excellent food, shaky service), followed by a night cap, presents, and his favorite chocolate cupcakes. I think it was just right.

Sunday we dog parked and Flav watched football while I finished Afterwards (if you like mystery/thrillers with awesome plot twists, you will love this book!). Later we had friends over for what I hope will become an annual event: Reindeer Games Night. Holiday punch bowl, Christmas tunes, appetizers, pizza, and treats, accompanied by the hilariously horrible Cards Against Humanity. I won! Super fun evening with wonderful/disturbed friends.

I took zero photos this weekend, so I am stealing this one from my friend Michael:

{Reindeer Games Night 2013}

Glad I took a little break to write this rambly post. Soc. theory is dark and heavy. My blog is where I keep it light. More soon. xo

TGIF

{Buddy the Elf, what's your favorite color?}

The week after Thanksgiving always feels subtly sad for me. The leftovers are eaten, the family has gone, and work is at its most demanding point in the semester. I am pretty much running out of steam at this point. Thankfully, my non-work life has been filled with mellow fun to keep me in holiday spirit, including an evening in with my two faves last night, next to a crackling fire, watching Elf.  We're hitting the first round of the holiday party circuit this weekend and I'm excited to get dressed up. I'm also hoping to squeeze in some reading (currently loving this page-turner), spend time in the kitchen with the inaugural batch of holiday baking, and do a bit of general lounging. I hope you have a fun weekend. xo

PS: 18 things you probably didn't know about the movie Elf

This Imperfect Life

I have been tired and stressed and really hard on myself this week. I was crying to Flavio last night about feeling overwhelmed and spread thin, drowning in prep and grading, making mistakes, even missing a meeting, because I'm tired and overcommitted. I was feeling sad that I don't really have the time to do the non-work activities that make me happy and when I do fun things, I feel anxious because I know I have a mountain of work waiting for me. So Flavio, as he always does, talked me off a ledge, and encouraged me to schedule in at least a little bit of time for fun and relaxation, because work will always be there, and I'll be less burned out if I take a little time to do the things that bring me joy. Plus, he reminded me, this feeling of being overwhelmed is temporary, which is true, and really helpful to keep in mind. (Dear god, I will never take on 7 classes again. What was I thinking?!) Anyway, one of my favorite relaxation activities is reading before bed so I decided to pop on Amazon and see what looks good. I think knowing I'll have a fun book to read at the end of my long days will be one little way to keep my spirits up. To my delight, Amazon recommended a new anthology dedicated to one of my favorites, Nora Ephron, expected to come out next week. In it, Ephron was quoted as saying:

"When you slip on a banana peel, people laugh at you;

but when you tell people you slipped on a banana peel,

it's your laugh."

How true are these words? I'm in love with all things Nora Ephron because her legacy reminds us to lighten up, to laugh at ourselves, to embrace our insecurities, frustrations, and mistakes, and to find humor in the difficult. Not in a self-loathing way, but in a way that helps us see we're all in this same crazy boat, we all face the absurdities of life, so we might as well laugh at them, and tell about them. Maybe it's these imperfections that make for a life worth sharing with others.  I wondered if I should write about my gloominess in my blog, but decided to go for it because your banana peels are my banana peels - we all go through difficult times, so I'm going to embrace my hardships, and tell about them here when I'm feeling them, because that's what's going on with me right now, and writing about it helps me see it's not the end of the world anyway. After all, Ephron credits her success to "a sense of the absurd that makes it difficult to take many things terribly seriously."

Speaking of absurd, here are our pumpkins from last year. One by our friend, one by Flav, and one by me. Any guesses on which one of these is my handiwork? Clue: it's the frilly one. :)

{Pumpkina}

Wishing you a silly weekend.

Paleo Challenge Wrap-Up / Recipes

I did a terrible job of updating my blog with progress reports as we worked through our 30-day Healthy Life Challenge with CrossFit Elysium, but we wrapped it all up yesterday and here's a re-cap.

Neither of us had a single cheat. We ate all paleo, for all 30 days. Plus, we tried to get 8 hours of sleep each night, did deep breathing to combat stress, and we kept up with our daily food journals and regular exercise routines. It was hard work and sometimes stressful, but worth it, we feel great, and I think these healthy habits will stick.

Weight loss: I lost about 5 pounds in 30 days with no real change in my workouts. Flavio, who has absolutely no weight to lose, lost about 5 pounds, too.

Decreased bloating: This was major for me. I felt noticeably less bloated while eating clean, my clothes fit more comfortably, and I saw a bit more definition in my arms and legs.

Stable blood sugar levels: Also an amazing change. Without the carbs and sugar, we both noticed pretty much immediately that we weren't experiencing any spikes and dips throughout the day and were no longer sluggish after meals. Overall, much more energy.

Decreased cravings for sugar, carbs and alcohol: I really think the challenge redefined our taste buds and helped eliminate unhealthy cravings. Example: We were eating baked sweet potato fries last night and I swear they tasted like pumpkin pie. Vegetables are so flavorful, fruit tastes really sweet and juicy, and salads with healthy fats and proteins are uber satisfying. I've missed wine with dinner and I really missed the ritual of baking, but I do not feel like I'm dying for non-paleo treats. In fact, we ate strictly paleo again today and I'm a little nervous to reintroduce carby/sugary foods into my diet.

What I learned about myself: The challenge helped me see that I am a better abstainer than moderator. The author of the book The Happiness Project (which I recommend) describes humans as "abstainers" or "moderators" with regards to their habits. Abstainers do best when temptations are eliminated completely (me). Moderators are most successful when they are able to indulge every now and again in an 80/20 model (Flavio). While I get panicky thinking I can never bake or eat pizza again (as a moderator would), I also now realize it's better for me to go cold turkey, re-set things mentally like we did during this challenge, and then set strict guidelines for myself post-challenge.

Where we go from here: Since Flav is a moderator and I am an abstainer, here's our plan. Eat paleo Monday - Thursday, allow some non-paleo indulgences on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays but overall still eat paleo all throughout the week. We really want to keep the clean eating going full-force because we both feel sooo much better, but we're also not ready to give up good pizza, wine, or baked goods forever. Plus, we like traveling, eating out with friends, etc. and food is very much part of those experiences. But we are absolute believers in the power of paleo and saw results in just 30 days - for us, paleo is the way to go long-term. When I'm tempted by non-paleo treats, I will weigh the consequences (bloating, insulin spikes, inflammation) and if it's not worth it, use this awesome strategy for saying no.

A few tips that made things easier: Overall, this is a really busy time of year for both of us, but the following helped keep us sane and on track - Choose 2 days/week as prep days (we cooked a lot on Sundays and some on Wednesday evenings); keep hard boiled eggs, cut up veggies, and lunch meat on hand for quick snacks; finally, cauliflower rice and sweet potato fries are the best things since sliced bread.

Some favorite recipes:

:: My favorite was this Butter Chicken with cauliflower rice (yum!)

:: Flavio's favorite was this Slow Cooker Kalua Pork (So good!)

:: We made our favorite meatloaf a couple times, but subbed the bread crumbs with almond meal

:: Totally enjoyed this stuffed zucchini

::  Cooked up my favorite chicken soup twice

::  Tonight we made this roast salmon with broccoli and it was fast/delicious, subbing rice vinegar w/ red wine vinegar

The best part is we ate a ton of veggies with most meals.

Final point: Cooking your own food is so important! I don't want to ever forget that, so I'm declaring it here and now.

It was a very meaningful 30 days. Cheers to healthy living and great food, no matter which path you choose!


PS: Day 1 of this Healthy Life Challenge.

A Book Recommendation

We are back from Anniversary-land but still in major vacation mode. Flavio is off work for the next few days which makes it very hard for me to get out of bed in the morning, let alone be productive. I have some ideas for blog posts rolling around in my mind, and am excited to upload a few pics from our anniversary weekend, but those things might not get accomplished until later this week. Especially considering I need to do actual work for my actual job. :/ In the meantime, let me tell you about a great summer book: David Sedaris' Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls. It's a quick read and he is as sick and as hilarious as ever. I was LOL'ing poolside the whole weekend. 

Also, I really enjoyed his most recent interview on Fresh Air, here.

PS: Here is a list of my favorite books.

Have you read any good books lately?

How We Picnic

When we lived in Spain, Flavio and I would pack a picnic of Spanish cheese, baguette, jamon serrano, and boxed wine and head to the Parque del Retiro in Madrid. We'd snuggle under the big shady trees with our books and a blanket, whiling away our summer days listening to the birds sing, chatting, reading, and kissing. Sometimes, Flavio would row me around on the lake. They were such simple, beautiful days and rank as some of my most precious memories.

Yesterday, we cruised up to Del Mar to picnic by the sea. We packed our bag with caprese sandwiches, some (cheeky, illegal) wine, and snacks, and camped out on the grass to enjoy the balmy summer weather and the blue-grey ocean view. The sun never showed up, but we didn't mind. We relaxed and reminisced about life in Spain, and other favorite memories. We read. We frisbeed. Guiri chewed her bone and barked unnecessarily at strangers. We watched dolphins play in the distance. We finished a bottle of Rioja.

This is my favorite part of summer.

Weekending

I love putting together my "Weekending" posts. They've become my Sunday night ritual, and usually happen with a glass of wine. Writing these posts is a positive and relaxing way to head into the work week as they help me reflect on the little things that have made me happy.  But, there are so many moments and feelings that pass that I wish I could capture to share here; like the taste of chocolate-hazelnut coffee accompanied by this fascinating book in bed, snuggled next to warm Guiri on a lazy Saturday morning; some long-overdue girl talk, laughter and shopping with a dear friend on a beautiful Saturday afternoon; or the way our house smells like lemon comfort when I make Sunday Yogurt Cake. This weekend was filled with all those special moments, plus a few I did capture below. It's June! Let's make it a great first week.

{Saturday night fun with great friends. Cantina Mayahuel.}

{Sunday morning}

{Pretty flower spotted in our neighbors' yard}

{For some reason she's decided she loves being in our guest room. We find her in there quietly thinking.}