Happy Halloween!!

Not doing much today except working, waiting for D to come home after his overnight shift, hoping some trick-or-treaters will come by, and trying out a new fall recipe (Baked Pasta with Butternut Squash and Ricotta).  Yesterday, I went to the kick off meeting with Team in Training (TNT), which was a lot like a rally to get everyone excited about training for our endurance events, raising money for a good cause, and meeting our fellow teammates and honorees.  I had a lot of fun and am pumped to get started on training.  Afterward, I grabbed lunch at lovely little sandwich shop called the Manhattan Bread & Bagel. I have a soft spot for bakeries and like to poke my nose in one whenever I get a chance.  When I first met D, he thought this habit of mine was pretty odd, but he's now gotten used to it.  He even starts to slow down when we approach a bakery to give me a chance to oogle at all of the goodies.  I enjoyed a scrumptious Turkey and Smoked Gouda sandwich and would highly recommend going back.  Wish me luck on my new recipe!

New Family Member

Say hello to the newest member of our family!  Yes, a 1987 Acura Legend, which I will now refer to as the "Legend."  A friend of a friend helped us get connected with this beauty.  It's our second car, or realistically D's new commuter car.  Our other car, a blue Honda Civic (also known as Little Blue), will be used by me and when I need to drive around for work or the occasional grocery store or Starbucks run.  Despite how old it is, the Legend was in really good shape when we got it.  Our first experience buying a used car, so here it goes!  Wish us luck!

 

PS - Did I mention it has a sun roof too?!  Oh the little things in life . . .

Aloha Friday = Cocktail Firday

As I mentioned in my previous post, Aloha Friday is my equivalent to TGIF.  Although it's not quite the same outside the islands of Hawaii, I still like the overall happy vibe it ensues for me.  One of my favorite things about the weekend is enjoying a glass of wine, a cold beer, or maybe even a lovely little cocktail.  I did get my bartending certification from ABC Bartending School when I was 21 (and yes it is a real establishment, I have proof!) and have always enjoyed mixing up tasty concoctions.  One my recent favorites, is the John Daly cocktail.  It's a cocktail named after the infamous professional golfer/partier John Daly and is spin off of an Arnold Palmer.  Here's the version of the cocktail that I use below:

John Daly Cocktail

• 1 1/2  to 2 oz. of Sweet Tea Vodka
• 1 part lemonade
• 1 part iced tea
• 1 lemon wedge as a garnish

Take the previous ingredients and pour over ice and sit back and enjoy.  This was a big favorite of D and I this summer, but I believe that this may be enjoyed all year long! Note: lemonade and iced tea can be replaced with pre-mixed iced tea lemonade.  Can also substitute Sweet Tea vodka with Ginger vodka and also very tasty.

Surf City Half Marathon

This weekend I signed up to join Team in Training (TNT) to fund raise for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society and also train for the Surf City Half Marathon in February.  The course is along the beach and the completion medals are little surf boards!  How cute!  They also have a "Longboard Legacy Club" for those who run the event at least three times in a row and get a rad T-shirt, which I think is an achievable goal for me.  I did run with TNT in Febraury 2009 for the Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon in San Francisco and really enjoyed the experience.  I'm hoping to get more involved with TNT this time around and hopefully meet more folks from the local area too.  Bonus for social life AND getting in shape again!  Yay!  I got a little burnt out last time from running, so I'm hoping to stick with the habit a little bit better this time around.  Here's a picture of me from a race I did in Big Sur:

Wish me luck!!

LWOW ≠ LL Cool J

My good friend KT gave me the nick name "Lwow" to poke fun at my slight obsession with the MTV show “Jersey Shore,” which is similar to one of the characters’ names in the show. This weekend D and I spent the weekend with our friend, who had recently purchased the Wii game called Def Jam RapStar.This game is basically a hip hop karaoke videogame and I was surprised how hooked we got, especially since D tends to shy away from any kind of karaoke situation. He mastered the Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre songs very well, while I was a different story. When it was my turn, everyone encouraged me to do LL Cool J’s “Mama said Knock You Out”. It’s a very angry song and I was getting into the song, swaying in place, waving my arms, and “spittin” the rhymes as best as I could. After the song was done, I triumphantly looked back and D and our friends were rolling on the floor with laughter. Apparently Lwow can’t rap as convincingly as LL Cool J. I think I’ll have to work on my gansta lean before we can try that game again. 

Van Morrison

To celebrate D’s birthday, we went to see Van Morrison at the Greek Theater last week.  One of our goals after moving to SoCal has been to go to at least one live music event every month and so far we’re right on par!  We had a lot of fun at the concert and the venue was amazing!  Stuck in the side of hill and surrounded by trees, the acoustics were wonderful.  We were some of the youngest people in attendance and quite enjoyed the antics of some of the “groovy” audience members.  Although I wasn’t as familiar with Van Morrison’s music as D was, I was really impressed with the whole concert.  I had read a review that he didn’t perfom his classics anymore and was a little worried before the show, but was relieved as soon as I heard the opening chords of “Into the Mystic.”  It was the final song at D and my wedding reception and was a fun way to end the concert and also remember the day we got married.  Overall, great evening!

"Marvelous night for a Moon Dance"

 

Night out

 

One of D's oldest friends came down to visit us on this past Friday and snapped this pic of us while we were out and about.  We were having drinks at the Terranea Resort and had a fabulous time!

Coug Game and "Flip Pong"

I survived my first WSU football game in SoCal this past weekend and report that I had an excellent time! I was a little nervous about going by myself without my “wing man,” but was able to track down some of my long lost college friends to tailgate with before the game. While I was there, I was asked if I wanted to play "Beer Pong" and did surprisingly well for someone in their, gulp, LATE twenties. We then tried a game, which I had never heard of before, called "Flip Pong" or "Beer Pong Flip Cup." This game combines both Beer Pong and Flip Cup, two staple drinking games in college. I was able to keep up for a while but the intensity of the competition and also the several beers that I therein consumed made me opt out from continuing far into the game. Soon after we went on to the football game, which was subsequently lost to UCLA, and is not a huge surprise to loyal WSU fans. As my Dad always said about WSU sports, "Those Cougs love to break your heart." Despite the loss, I’ll remain true to my school and say “GOOOOO COUGS!”

Rear Window

Aloha Friday!!! We've had a real heat spell the last couple of days and since our apartment doesn't have air conditioning we've been in the habit of keeping all of our windows open. It’s given us a nice cross breeze, but it’s also come along with an unexpected side affect. We are situated with a golf course to the west of us and a courtyard area to the east. If I'm in rooms that have windows opening to the golf course, I can actually hear conversations of golfers. If I'm working in my home office, I hear all the going-ons of the apartments facing into the courtyard area. It makes me feel like Jimmy Stewart from "Rear Window." Although, I haven't seen or heard of anything suspicious, illegal, or inappropriate, I still feel weird being able to listen in to other people's lives. I'll tell you one thing though, it has certainly made me aware of all the kids in the neighborhood! In case you've never seen "Rear Window," here's the movie trailer. I highly recommend it!