Where's the Beach?

Celebration Recap As I mentioned yesterday , my sister came up to stay with me to celebrate her birthday. We started of the afternoon with a late lunch at Canon Grill. We were supposed to meet friends at a wine bar about a block away at 5. Funny, our friends walked into the restaurant while we were finishing our meal. They had wanted to grab a snack and watch a game on the tv there and then just meet us at the wine bar - Diversion . I missed the text so had no idea they were going to Canon Grill and they had no idea we were there. But, it worked out nicely. The girls went to the wine bar at 5, and the boys went to another bar with tvs to finish the game (not a clue what game to be honest). The vibe was really laid back, hip. But it was almost a bit too dark. I mean, I would like to read the menu list ;-) I tried to not be too shocked at the prices....but wow. Proud of the wine. But we were there to celebrate and have fun, so I just went with it. We all ended up getting the same ...

Mexican Birthday Dinner Well, last night Jason was wanting some sort of Mexican meal for his birthday dinner. Originally, I was going to make quesadillas. But then I decided I did not want to stand over the stove browning them up and all that. We had some leftover Spicy Black Bean Hummus , so I thought about burritos perhaps. My friend Alicia's hubby had requested enchiladas (you must check out her recipe ), so I piggy-backed off of her dinner plans. I thought about calling the dish "The Whole Enchilada" but then figured I'd never remember what was in it. So we'll go with Chipotle Black Bean, Chikn' & Veggies Enchiladas . Chipotle Black Bean, Chikn' & Veggies Enchiladas Ingredients: Filling 1/2 recipe for Spicy Black Bean Hummus (or 1 can black beans spiced as you like) 1/4 red onion 1/2 green bell pepper, small dice 1/4 red bell pepper, small dice 1/2 squash, small dice 1/2 zucchini, small dice 1-2 tbsp minced garlic Chikn' seita...

Friday Follow Up Thanks for sharing your stories on how you met your significant other. I really enjoyed them. It's so fun for me to learn more about you all. Jason and I had a pretty relaxing Pizza & Pool Friday. While the dough was in the bread machine we played some pool, ate, then played more pool. I really enjoy simple evenings like that. We just listen to music and catch up. Working Hard on Saturday This morning I was hoping to sleep in but was wide awake at 7:33. I briefly thought about a run, but the heat index was already 88 and the air was sopping wet. Ick. So I just piddled around, cleaning the kitchen and messing around with my blog layout. I finally got around to my workouts around 9:30. It was kind of nice not jumping feet first into the day. I did chest and back today as supersets of 3x8 unless otherwise noted: SS#1 Chest flye Chest press (dumbbells) SS#2 Incline chest flye Incline chest press (dumbbells) SS#3 Pullovers Single-arm row (3x10) ...

Ballgame Recap with Midget Wrestling Last night's game was much better than Thursday's game. It was still hot, but there was a stronger breeze blowing through that helped tremendously. Even better, we won. That certainly can't hurt. The game started later than the normal 7:10 start time because of Midget Wrestling. Yep, you read that correctly. This is Jason's day to go to the ballpark. We hadn't planned it this way, we just got "lucky." I think it's totally obnoxious, but he gets a big kick out of it. Here are a few pictures of the wrestling then of me and two of my friends and then me and Jason. I goofed and didn't get a picture of the guys. Very intense moment. No words to describe. I have no idea why I am leaning in so far. Thank you dear for putting the beer down for the picture. Chest, Back, Abs Oh My I kicked my day off with a good chest and back workout. I did drop sets of 4 sets of 8 decreasing the weight in between each...

Saturday Night with Friends Thank you all for your kind comments from yesterday's post. Lake days with the family truly are special days for us. The only way to end such a great day was a great dinner with fantastic friends. We headed over to Diane and Antonio's around 6:30 and didn't get home until 12:30 am!!!! Holy smokes right? I can't remember the last time we were out that late. We had a great visit though, so no complaints. When we got there, Diane had set out a platter of some different cheeses, crackers, olives, and Spanish almonds (hello yum). We chatted and snacked while Antonio worked on dinner. For the meat-eaters, he was making pork meatballs to go with a tomato sauce over pasta. For me, I was having the tomato sauce (he pulled some out for me before putting the meatballs in it) with pasta. We also had a super simple, but delicious romaine salad with a Dijon vinaigrette. The tomato sauce was also simple, but good: diced tomatoes, lots of garlic and onion...

Friday Follow Up I loved reading your 5 (or sometimes 4) facts! Love getting to know you guys and love that you take the time to play along. I really look forward to your comments. Last night we enjoyed our Pizza Friday night then decided to go chill out in the pool. It's so peaceful at night - just floating on the mats, listening to music, not a care in the world. The only thing that would have made it better is if the stars had actually been out. It was a bit cloudy. We definitely need to take advantage of nighttime pool time more often. Do you like swimming at night? I had wanted to run this morning, but I didn't get up early enough and by the time breakfast had settled enough to safely run it was already 83 degrees with heat index of 89 (at 9 am), so that was a no go (it just really didn't sound like a fun way to spend my Saturday). So today is Plan B day. Plan B(ackside) Workout I decided to break up my leg workout into backside and front side (very official so...

Grilling for the 4th Well, last night we ended up taking advantage of the leftover Lentil & Quinoa Sliders . I think it's mandatory that you grill out on the 4th of July, so we did just that. More grilled sweet potato "fries" to go with the sliders. I topped mine with the Sundried Tomato & Basil Veggie Dip , jalapenos, tomato, lettuce, and Soy Kaas Montery Jack "Cheese." I had meant to mention this in the recap post, but if you're looking for a healthier slider bun option, light, whole-wheat hot dog buns cut in half work perfectly. Weights and HIIT Today I had thought I might sleep in, no luck. I was up at 7:20 am. I guess that is sleeping in as I'm normally already at work by that time, but 8 am would be awesome sometime. today was back and chest. Jason had to work, so I didn't have a spotter for chest. That meant I had to go lighter than I would have liked, so the reps aren't consistent as I tried to make up for the lower weights ...

Credit/Debit Card Comments I must say, I am a little shocked at how many of you have experienced credit or debit card fraud too. It's really scary isn't it? You just never know when it might happen. We were very lucky that our bank apparently monitors all transactions with an eagle eye. Since we have almost completely stopped using that particular card, it probably made the crazy expensive purchases stand out more too. Thank you all for your well wishes with the matter. I'm pretty sure it'll all be resolved. WIth any luck at all, the fraud department with pinpoint the super nice person (or persons) who did this. Running & HIIT I slept really soundly last night until about 2 am, then I was up every hour until 4:30 and crashed hard. I didn't even hear Jason leave for swim at 5 am, but I did hear my alarm at 5:26 beckoning me to get up and get my workout done. I knew I wanted to get in 30 minutes this morning, but was totally undecided on what I was going to ac...

Upper + Plyo  Today was another cold, dreary day here. Where has summer gone? I ended up not going into work actually. Since the race, I have been battling sinus issues and trying to keep it out of my chest. My lungs still feel really shredded up too. I've been taking sinus meds, but they don't seem to be doing their job. I did decide to go ahead with my planned workout. It's upper plus plyo. The upper part was 2 sets of 8 reps done as supersets: SS#1 Chest - Incline flyes Back - Pullovers (goofed though and it should have been double arm rows) SS#2  Shoulders - Military press Triceps - Lying dumbbell extensions Plyo: Crossovers with 10# and Wide jump ups on 12" step SS#3  Biceps - Incline curls Biceps - Hammer curls Plyo: Explosive running man on 12" step I also did Shock Cardio HIIT Pyramid to complete the plyo part of this workout. It was quite close to a puke factor workout mostly because my sinuses and asthma issues. Definitely made if ...

Monday Meant Makeup Funny thing I realized this morning as I was putting on my makeup (other than the fact that I really need to clean the toothpaste splatters off the mirror), I had not put on makeup or done my hair all weekend. Love it when that gets to happen. The only time I left the house was to go on the run and picnic on Sunday. No makeup required on that one. Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy dressing up.  Gotta show off my clothing collection somehow right? But every once in a while, it's nice to just stay home donning comfy clothes, and the natural look.  Do you enjoy weekends when you don't have to get dressed up, fixed up, decked out? Monday Workouts Today was Week 2 Day 2 of my 8-week rotation. On tap was upper body only followed by plyo legs. It was the same set up as last week doing 3 sets of 8 reps only supersetting the exercises and increasing the weights from the previous week. SS#1 Shoulders - Upright rows Biceps - Alternating curls SS#2 Chest -...