Haleakala

Hibiscus

Boats at sunset

Aloha

Still slightly jet-lagged, am back from Hawaiian vacation with My Heart's Desire.

My BFF is now Maui'd and I was there to see it. She couldn't stop smiling the whole time. I can't believe she's hitched...

A Gate at the Stairs

A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore. I listened to this meandering book in my car because I didn’t have time to go to the library and get anything else. To steal a quote, this book “drinks its own bathwater.” Nothing interesting happens for the first 80% of the book, except for tangents that are not resolved, then the end rushes up and blitzes the reader. Unsatisfying at best, overwritten at worst. 23/100

Overtime

My Heart's Desire is putting in some serious hours at the office these days. After a week of late nights, he's spending weekends at work too. So I brought over some dinner and we ate Mexican food together. Then he played a movie (New York, I Love You) and projected it onto the wall.

Grateful

Today I am grateful for getting a good night's sleep, flannel pajamas on this cold morning, fantastic eyebrow wax, Georgetown Cupcake's deliciousness (their coconut cupcakes are out of this world), seeing other people grow and thrive, new tea travel mug, keeping an open mind, and the library near my house.

Serendipity

Serendipity by Louise Shaffer. I bought this book for six quarters at the library used book sale. That's right, I'm a high roller. And this book was worth even more quarters. It reminded me in a way of Adriana Trigiani's good books (her early work) with the intriguing story, pace, and dynamic characters. Plus I'm a fool for mother-daughter stories and this book was a granddaughter-mother-grandmother tale with the charm of Old New York. I stayed up late to finish it. 22/100

Feet, don’t fail me now!

I signed up for the Earth Day 5K next month!

Late last year I started running with the Galloway method (run/walk) and this will be the first race I’ll participate in where I run, jog, and walk instead of just walk. In January I bought new running shoes and I’m ready to train!

The first 5K I ever participated in was a challenge for me and I walked the entire thing. It actually was measured wrong, 5 miles instead of 5K (3.1 miles), so I was exhausted afterwards but proud. And I came in second… to last. So any 5K that I participate in now I am bound to do better.

I made another Green Monster this morning, with a little more spinach than yesterday's. You can see I wasn't kidding about the green!

And look what I found last night at Bed, Bath & Beyond, an insulated cold cup with a locking lid (very important for me, lest I spill one morning while in tremendous hurry). Plus it's dishwasher safe (uses less water than pesky hand washing) and reusable, perfect!

Green Monster

This morning I made my first Green Monster. This definitely counts toward my goal of trying new things as I had no idea how it was going to turn out.

While I was getting the ingredients out of the fridge, all I could think was: Wow, I really want to be healthy!

I’ve read about Green Monsters on healthy living and food blogs and decided to try one to try and get more veggies in my diet. Here’s how it went:

Blended:
1 c plain light Silk
1 c raw spinach
1 frozen banana
½ cup fresh pineapple

Looked at the blender skeptically.

That spinach sure is leafy.

Can this possibly be good?

Wow, that’s green.

Tentative sip.

Wow, that’s good!

Wait, really?

Sips again.

Yes.

It’s true — you can’t even taste the spinach!

I drank the entire thing on my way to work and want to make another one tomorrow!