I love food. I mean, I *really* love food.

I think it’s a Hawai’i thing because growing up, we had foods from so many different cultures and I’ve learned to appreciate the flavors and textures of most all kinds of foods (still can’t do Indian and Thai cuisines – it’s the curry thing). And although I am not the best cook in the world, I recently tried 2 new recipes:

Tex-Mex Beef Tacos from Health.com
I really didn’t make any modification to the recipe, except I used minced garlic seasoning instead of actually mincing garlic (I’m lazy that way). I also omitted the corn because it upsets my stomach.

The adobe chilis add a strong kick, but I liked it!

Slow Cooker New England Post Roast
I didn’t make any modifications to this recipe at all (other than the minced garlic). This was the first time I ate parsnip (confession: I didn’t know even know what it looked like and had to ask for help at the grocery store) but I really liked it too!

I have made several recipes from Can You Stay For Dinner and have loved them all – it’s a great blog to follow!

While I have been adventurous and making more of an attempt to cook, last night I did venture out to dinner at La Bodeguita del Medio in Palo Alto for Cuban-inspired cuisine!

I’d only been here once before, but absolutely fell in love with it!

As much as I wanted to try a new dish, I could pass up the chance to get the Tierra Y Mar – skirt steak with coconut-crusted shrimp, sweet mashed potatoes, grilled asparagus, topped with a pesto sauce. I only ate half of it so I could have leftovers for dinner tonight…

…which I thoroughly enjoyed!

After 5 days at home, I found myself on the road again, this time for a weekend trip to LA.

I had a rare opportunity to spend a few days with some of my dearest friends. We’ve all been friends since our freshman year of college and have managed to keep in touch over the years. One of my friends lives in the area, and the one lives on the East Coast, but was in town visiting family for the holidays. Since I’m just an hour’s flight away, they invited me down so we could spend a couple of days together. It’d been a really, really long time since we had the chance to all hang out together.

{photo taken on my iPhone by a 4-year old}

We’re all from Hawai’i and *love* to eat, so it wasn’t surprising that the entire weekend was scheduled around food:

Back Home In Lahaina

In my opinion, this place has the best Hawaiian food in California. Heck, I’ll even go as far as to say the West Coast!

{lau lau, ahi poke, fried rice, somen salad, chicken katsu, kalbi, rice}

{saimin}

{bread pudding}

…mot to mention haupia (coconut) cheesecake — quite possibly my favorite dessert of all time.

{haupia cheesecake}

Their only locations are in Southern California — Torrance and Manhattan Beach — both of which I’ve dined at multiple times. Every time I’m there I ask them to open a Northern California location. Maybe some day it will happen.

Cafe Rio

My friends and I spent our college years in Utah, where this place called “Cafe Rio” originated. It’s like Chipotle; (Mexican food), but they have this amazing sweet pork barbacoa that is served in a huge tortilla salad.

Before arriving, I had no idea that Cafe Rio had opened in Manhattan Beach so this was definitely a nice surprise!

And like Back Home In Lahaina, I also wish that they had locations in Northern California. The closest thing we have is Costa Vida in Sacramento (which I fully admit to making road trips just to dine there).

Korean Tofu Soup

I was first introduced to Korean Tofu Soup a few years ago when I worked in Cupertino. There was a great place near my office where my colleagues and I lunched at quite often.

It’s different types of piping hot soups. You can choose from mushroom, beef, vegetable dumplings, etc. It’s served in a clay bowl with tofu and a raw egg that cooks as soon as you add it to the soup. (Confession: I choose not to add the egg.) You’re also provided with a bowl of hot rice. In addition, you are served a bunch of little dishes of a variety of kim chee. It’s an ideal meal during the winter.

I don’t know what the name of the restaurant that we went to, but it was in Torrance and it was delicious!

I can always count on my friends to take me to the best restaurants!

Other Highlights of the short trip include visits to The Strand and the Manhattan Beach Pier:

{kelly & donna’s 90210 beach house}

{scootin’ down the pier}

I am so blessed to have such special friends. It’s been 19 years since we all first met and I’m so glad that we are still good friends. They don’t use social media sites, so we really do have to make the effort to keep in touch and I’m so glad that we do.

PS I would be remiss if I didn’t give a special shout out to Mikilani – our 4th who couldn’t join us but was there in spirit!

PPS I attempted a short run while at The Strand. It didn’t go so well. If you’re keeping track, I am now going on 16 days and counting since being able to run. More on this tomorrow.

Here are some favorites from last week’s annual birthday/Christmas shopping trip to New York:

Bakeries

I have been eating a bland diet since September and fully planned to indulge after CIM. I may not have been able to finish the race, but I was determined to reward myself for months and months of training.

My number one goal was to visit as many bakeries as possible. I can’t remember all the names of the bakeries I dropped in to, but the ones that stand out are:

Minamoto Kitchoan
A Japanese bakery with the best wafer cookies and jelly candies. It was so good that I visited two days in a row. I am eating my last vanilla wafer as I write this. Thank goodness they have a San Francisco location!

Two Little Red Hens
My cousin had been raving about this place ever since she got her birthday cake from here in June. The Apple Pie is the freshest apple pie that I’ve ever had – and it had lots of crust (my favorite).

Since pies are my favorite kinds of dessert, I also had the Dark Chocolate Pecan Pie, which was pretty darn good too. I also tried their biscuits which weren’t as good as Clinton Street Baking Company’s, but still delish!

Laduree

I first tasted the infamous Laduree macaroons in Paris back in September 2007. Since then I have visited their web site many times and contemplated having some FedEx’d to me. They are *that good*.

When I heard they finally opened their first (and only) US location I was determined to visit.

The 4+ years was worth the wait and I was thrilled to be reunited with it. I got a box of 8 and would have to say that the Coconut and Coffee macaroons are my favorites.

Restaurants

I fully admit to eating my way through the town. I think I ate at just as many restaurants as I did bakeries. The ones worthy of mentioning are:

Dos Toros
When I was here this past Spring, we went all over the City searching for a decent place to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and found nothing. In fact, we ended up having sushi instead – on Cinco de Mayo!

A friend of mine told me about Dos Toros – a taqueria started by two Bay Area brothers. I had a chicken burrito, which was not greasy or messy at all. And the guac was among the freshest I’ve ever tasted. Definitely “California-worthy.”

Locana Verde
We ate here after visiting the 9/11 Memorial. It’s an Italian restaurant that is owned by Robert de Niro. The food was amazing, but we had heard that their hot chocolate was among the top rated in the City.

We perused the dessert menu and was disappointed not see it listed. Turns out that you just had to ask for it! It was served with 2 huge marshmallows and did not disappoint.

Ippudo
It’s no secret that I love ramen. My Bay Area runner friends and I have had many a post-run meal at Genki Ramen in San Francisco’s Richmond District. I had a hard time believing that any place would be better than Genki, but I was proven wrong.

Ippudo > Genki.

{those are ramen noodles under the bar glass}

Like at Genki, I had a veggie-based ramen. In addition to the usuals, it also had pieces of the type of nori that is wrapped around cone sushi (sorry, I think only my Hawai’i friends will understand this). It was a nice add of a different kind of flavor.

You could also order an extra plate of ramen noodles, which I did (of course). You know you’re at a good Asian restaurant when the place is filled with Asians and this Asian gives it 5-stars.

{i don’t eat pork buns but i heard they are good}

Good ambience too.

Woodbury Common Outlets

On my birthday, we went to the Woodbury Common Outlets located outside of the City. My favorite stores were:

Lululemon Outlet
You can’t be surprised about this. I first visited this Lulu Outlet last year. For an outlet, I was so impressed with the wide selection of items in all sizes. The prices were significantly cheaper than current retail value and I was able to stock up on pants, and jackets, which are typically the higher priced items.

This year, the selection wasn’t as good. There were only dance and yoga products, no running gear. Also, there was a limited selection of smaller sized items. I just picked up a few yoga items and that was it. Still exciting to visit though!

AG Jeans
I first visited the AG Jeans Outlet during my first Woodbury trip back in 2005. On that trip, I got some Sam & Bailey AG Jeans for $30. Yes, $30. Retail price on AG Jeans are about 5 times that amount.

It just so happened that I was wearing one of the Sam & Bailey jeans during this visit, which the salesperson noticed as soon as I walked in. I knew I was in good hands. Any girl will tell you that shopping for jeans can be a long, tiring and possibly stressful process.

I explained to the salesperson exactly what I looking for. She set me up in a dressing room and brought me pair after pair of jeans to try on. I didn’t have to search for anything myself! There were two pairs that I was happy with and was out of there within 30 minutes! It was the most painless jeans shopping experience ever.

Kate Spade
The Kate Spade Outlet had a 90% off sale. Repeat – 90% off. At first we went crazy and compelled to buy something just because it was discounted so much. But then we decided that we shouldn’t force ourselves to buy something just because it was “such a great deal.” We ended up not buying a single thing from this store, which was a big deal for me – I feel like I’ve evolved as a shopper.

Other Highlights:

The 9/11 Memorial

The Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular
I fully admit to falling asleep during the show. The Rockettes were fun to see, but the Nutcracker storyline bores me every time and automatically makes me zzzzz.

{treated myself to a rockettes cupcake from magnolia bakery}

Shops at Bryant Park
They reminded me of the Christmas markets in Europe and it was fun to watch the ice skaters at the free ice rink.

The Tree
I guess I have to mention the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center. It’s a must-see but to be honest, it’s kinda ugly up close during the daytime…

…and is way too crowded to be at in the evening.

It’s Labor Day weekend – the great American tradition that signals the end of summer. Except for us in San Francisco, summer is only just beginning. It’s the time of the year that the weather gets funky – cooler, darker mornings, blazing hot afternoons and then cooled down temps at night.

I didn’t really make any Labor Day plans; mostly because I’ve been so busy at work that I kept forgetting it was a long weekend.

Saturday
I met a friend in the City and we went for a walk at Crissy Field. We had lunch at the Warming Hut, which is right at the base of the Golden Gate Bridge – you can’t get much closer. There we saw this guy stand-up paddle boarding in the crazy current under the bridge.

{that’s Alcatraz in the background}

Having taken my first SUP lesson a few weeks ago, I was mesmerized. How cool is this, SUP under the GGB, with Alcatraz and the City as your backdrop?!? Instant add to my bucket list!

We also made a stop on Union Street so I could get a treat from Pacific Puff’s. Two brothers who sell a variety of cream puffs using their mom’s recipe own this place. It is one of my favorite treats so whenever I am in the area, I always try to stop and get one. The cocoa puffs are my favorite so I got 2 – one to eat on the spot and one to safe for my post-run treat!

Sunday
Sunday Runday returned to the foggy confines of Golden Gate Park. This week’s run was organized by Layla and themed “Cheesy Run.” Now that we’ve had a “Donut Run” and multiple “Ramen Runs” have you figured out that Sunday Runday is almost always about food? It’s our justification/reward for all the miles we run and a time when we can spend socializing and breaking down our workouts, planning our races, etc.

There were 9 of us this week: Layla, Audrey, Alyssa, Katie, Courtney, Marjorie and 2 new friends: Sarah and Renee!

We all set out on our own distances and paces. I had 10 on my schedule and decided to run most of it solo. I needed a long run to zone out and get deep in though so I headed down JFK Drive and ran all the way to Ocean Beach. I ran along Ocean Beach for a block, then turned and headed up MLK Drive (runs parallel to JFK Drive). MLK Drive is one long climb and about a half mile up I took a walk break. Marjorie, Sarah and Rene caught up with me and I ran with them for about a mile. I was so glad to run with them because it was a tough climb.

Once my Garmin beeped 5 miles, I turned around to retrace my route back and they continued on. Running downhill on MLK Drive felt so good, but I kept an even pace because I didn’t want sore quads again. I felt pretty good until about Mile 7.5, half way up JFK Drive. I took another walk break and then continued on. I ran into Layla, Katie and high-fived Alyssa on the last mile, which gave me a nice push through the last mile.

I finished right at the Conservatory of Flowers, our meeting spot, where Marjorie, Sarah and Rene had just finished their run as well. Shortly there after, Audrey came rolling in, wrapping up her 20-miler. Yep, TWENTY Miles! Running a 20 is no joke so huge props to her! Katie, Layla and Alyssa finished up their 50-miler (I exaggerate, but they run the most miles of all of us) and then we headed to Q Restaurant for some grub.

Q Restaurant
I’d been to Q once before shortly after it was featured on Diners and Drive-ins. If you’ve never seen it, here’s the clip from the show:

I had only been for dinner so I was excited to try the brunch menu. Being that it was “The Cheesy Run”, most of us ordered the Mac and Cheese with Tots. I added bacon to mine for style points.

The cheese they used was asiago, fontina and some other fancy-schmancy one. I rarely eat these kinds of comfort foods, only allowing myself to do so after double-digit runs, so I savored every bite. It was so scrumptious!

{happily fed runners}

But of course, I couldn’t be in the neighborhood and not get Genki Ramen. It’s only a block away from Q so I stopped by (I conveniently parked across the street from Genki) and ordered a few dishes to go.

Post-Run
I got home 4 hours after I finished running and wondered if an ice bath would even be worth it. I decided it wouldn’t hurt so I filled my tub up with cold water and dumped a bucket of ice in it. The thing is though, remember how I mentioned that our afternoons are blazing hot? Well it was and my cold water was lukewarm at best. So it was a cool bath versus an ice bath. But I devoured my last Pacific coco puff while sitting in it.

Later that evening I went to my second Bikram class! Yep, 2 in as many days. I situated myself in the farthest back corner. I found this to be the least warm area of the room. This class was geared mostly for beginners so it was a much slower pace than Saturday’s class, and the instructor took the time to pay more personal attention to the students, correcting form, explaining the poses/benefits, etc.

I found it much easier (and the heat more tolerable) the second time around and before I knew it, the class was over. Even though it’s only been 2 classes, I think the yoga is helping. I don’t feel as sore as I would have expected from a double-digit run. This week I really look forward to trying some of the other non-Bikram classes.

As for the rest of this holiday weekend, I’ll be spending it doing a few more workouts, eating Genki Ramen and doing chores around the house – after all, it is Labor Day Enjoy the last holiday before Thanksgiving! (wait…that thought just made me sad…)

Last week, an uncle, my Dad’s brother, unexpectedly passed away. On Monday I found out the services were going to be on Wednesday morning so I had to book a last minute trip to Southern California. I left on Tuesday evening and just got back this afternoon. I felt so many emotions over the past 2 days – sadness, grief, joy, happiness, confusion, shock, wonder, etc. It was an odd yet fascinating trip, but I’ll leave those thoughts for another post while I still process all of my feelings about it.

Instead, this post will be about my random thoughts while traveling:

Airline Seating
I always, ALWAYS sit an aisle seat. But since I booked my flight one day in advanced, the seats were slim pickings. I refuse to sit in the middle seat (I’m claustrophobic that way) so I coughed up $15 for an “Even More” seat. Best $15 I’ve spent in a while. Although the flight was just an hour, and I have pretty short legs, it was so nice to have space! I could fully stretch my legs and lean over to get something out of my bag without hitting my forehead on the seat in front of me. I also sat in the window seat. Not only did I have control over when to pull the shade up/down, I also got to look out and see the terrain for a change. And when I had to use the restroom, I didn’t have to climb over the other 2 passengers in my aisle. There was ROOM to walk by them without bothering them.

Long Beach Airport
I thought the Long Beach Airport was interesting. It’s really small and you walk on the tarmac to deplane/board the aircraft. The terminal has 4 gates and is situated in a building that looks like a portable classroom. You walk outside to get to security, baggage claim, etc. Roadbunner pointed out that it is ironic that I found it so interesting because on Molokai, the island I grew up on, the airport is essentially an airplane hangar. I suppose it’s because I never expected the “mainland” to have such a small airport. It was super convenient though and I loved how the outside of it looked. It reminded me of how Southern California must’ve been like in the 50′s and 60′s.

Food
While I was very well-fed on this trip, it’s always hard to be thrown off my routine. Not eating when I usually eat, or what I usually eat definitely affected me. Eating out for almost every meal did too. I tried to make healthy choices. My parents and I went to “Back Home in Lahaina”, one of my favorite Hawaiian restaurants. Where I could have ordered island favorites like kalua pork, loco moco’s (white rice + hamburger patty w/gravy covered in fried eggs and spam musubi, instead I stuck with…

…Ahi poke (not the chips):

…Seared ahi tuna:

(this was actually my Mom’s dish, but it was good too!)

…Wonton saimin:

However, I could not pass up my favorite ever dessert. This restaurant is the only place I know that makes haupia (coconut) cheesecake, so I had to have a slice:

I was enjoying every delectable bite of it until PunkRockRunner texted me and told me I’d have to run 9-miles to burn off the one slice. After that text I put the fork down and didn’t even have a bite of my Mom’s Hawaiian Bread Pudding. Ha!

Workouts
I knew I would be pressed for time, so I didn’t even bother to pack workout clothes. This was a first for me. But I felt that if I packed it and never worked out then I would feel guilty. Since I never took a rest day last week, I decided that I would take 2 rest days in a row this week.

While I know that it was good for me, I honestly don’t know how people don’t workout. After just 2 days off I feel like such a slug. I can’t wait to get back to the sweat tomorrow.

Jet Lag
My cousin Troy has a theory that jet lag isn’t only caused by crossing time zones. He believes that the altitude changes cause just as much jet lag. I always scoffed at that theory before, but now I’m starting to become a believer. After just an hour’s flight, I feel so drained and exhausted. Is it age, or does his theory have truth to it?

Zico Chocolate Coconut Water
About a month ago, I started drinking Zico’s chocolate coconut water. It was so good that I put it on Amazon Auto Subscribe, so I have a case of it sent to me every month. I recently introduced it to my cousin Jeff. He describes it as, “like drinking Cocoa Pebbles, but it’s good for you.” He searched everywhere for it and could only find it at Mollie Stones for $3.19 – so I ordered him a case too.

So how ironic is it, that of all places, I find a Zico chocolate coconut water at Long Beach airport. They may not have had any healthy food in the gated area, (all I found were chips, candy, cookies and trail mix), but they did manage to have this:

As much as I love to travel, I’m such a homebody and nothing makes me happier than to be home.

Last Sunday’s race left me so tired that I took 2 full rest days this past week, but got back into the swing of things shortly thereafter.

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Since I took the day off of work to go to the SF Giants game I got to sleep in and went to a 9 am Spin class. Surprisingly, it was way more crowded than the 6 am Spin classes. Who knew?!?

Thursday

2500 meter Swim. This was my first 6 am workout of the week. I didn’t feel like doing it at all until I finally got in the pool. My swim cap ripped halfway through this workout, but thankfully, it still stayed on my head.

Friday

There isn’t any Friday morning Spin class, so I did a solo Spin workout and had the whole Spin studio to myself!

Saturday

Technically Saturday was a rest day, but I went to a 3-hour Stand-Up Paddle-boarding class with Layla. It was SO MUCH FUN! I’ll have to write a blog post solely dedicated to this. Incidentally, I did burn a lot of calories doing this so I’m counting it as a workout.

Sunday

I’ve decided to name Sunday’s, “Sunday Rundays” because meeting with friends for a run followed by lunch has become a regular thing.

Today I met up with Audrey for the last 5 miles of her long run. We met in Golden Gate Park where it was cold and very, very foggy. I was wearing a tank top, but had grabbed a long-sleeved shirt at the last minute as I ran out of my house. I was so glad that I did because I ended up changing and wearing the long-sleeved shirt instead.

For today’s run we decided to change things up a bit. We met on the south end of the park at 19th Avenue and MLK Drive and ran clockwise. Still not completely flat route, but I think the hills are more gradual running in this direction versus running counter clockwise (at least in my opinion).

Along the way we passed Sandra, who is running an ultra marathon in Nevada next weekend!

After we were all done running, we went to Saiwaii, a new ramen place in the Sunset District. The menu wasn’t as diverse as Genki Ramen (our usual place), but I did enjoy the Spicy Miso Ramen and the spicy tuna rolls.

I’m so glad I had a light week, but as you can see, still no yoga and no strength training whatsoever. My goal for this coming is to make sure I get at least one yoga session in and 3 strength-training sessions.

It’s the last night of my mini-vacation and I find myself staying in a little town north of Seattle. My cousin Riley’s Little League team made it to the State tournament and is being held in this little town I’ve never heard of before.

The rest of the family headed north yesterday but Jenna and I waited until today to make the 3 1/2 hour drive.

On the way, we stopped at South Center in Tukwila (aka as the start of the Seattle Rock n Roll Marathon) to have lunch at Ivar’s. No trip to Seattle is ever complete without a stop at Ivars.

After lunch, we continued north, through downtown Seattle until we got to the Seattle Premium Outlets. It’s near our hotel so we spent the afternoon shopping there. I finally got a few pieces of non-workout clothing. Tops from Gap and J Crew for $5! Can’t beat that!

We stopped at the ballpark and watched a few innings of a game, then continued further north to mecca…

…also known at the Lululemon Outlet!

After a successful visit to the Woodbury Commons Outlet in New York, I had high hopes for this store. Sadly, most of the inventory was for sizes 2, 4, 10 and 12, neither of which I am. All I got was a running visor for $5 and the travel pack! I never thought I would say that I am so excited to wear a fanny pack, but I am! LOL

Tomorrow I *really* hope I can pull off a 10-mile run around this little town. I have a route mapped out – hopefully it will work out for me. Then I drive back to Portland solo (I’ll even miss Riley’s ballgame) to catch my flight home.

It’s been such a fun trip!

I worked from home today because I had not one, but TWO doctors appointments. Both appointments were new experiences for me, so I share them with you in case you ever find yourself in similar situations.

Appointment #1 – Getting Custom Orthotics

After all the feet problems that I’ve been having, my podiatrist strongly recommended that I get custom orthotics. I was apprehensive to get them because custom orthotics is really expensive. But I did some research and learned that my health insurance covers 90% of the cost so I decided to go for it.

Today was my casting appointment, i.e., to get fitted for the orthotics.

When I arrived at the doctor’s office, the nurse had me sit in the patients’ chair, which is very similar to the chairs you find at dental offices. I had no idea what to expect so I watched her intently as she prepped for the procedure.

She filled a tub with water, laid out a bunch of gauze paper and then handed me a towel and bib that she said was for my face. I had absolutely no idea what she meant by this.

When the doctor arrived, he examined my feet again, looked at the current inserts I’m using; looked at the shoes I’m currently running in (which he whole-heartedly approved of) and then had me walk up and down the hallway to watch my gait.

Next he had me sit back in the chair, then he reclined it so he could measure my hips to my feet. The left side was 1/8th longer than the right, but he said that was normal.

Once he had all the data he needed, he had me lie face down (so that’s what the nurse meant by using the bib for my face!) with my feet hanging off of the end of the chair. Then he proceeded to wrap my feet in the gauze paper with the water. It created a plastered mold that is going to be used to create my custom orthotics.

It was *that* quick and harmless!

The orthotics should be ready in 2 weeks. I’m told that it’ll take a couple of weeks to break them in and I should only walk in them during the first week.

Fraiche

I had an hour to kill in-between appointments so I headed to Fraiche frozen yogurt.

It’s my favorite kind of treat, but being that I am been trying to reduce my processed sugar intake I have not any this summer – at all! (And quite proudly I might add!) Being that it is still so warm in the Bay Area, nothing sounded better than fro-yo.

But I make an exception for Fraiche. It’s different than other frozen yogurts. It’s homemade, organic and made with probiotic cultures. It’s creamy and doesn’t taste as sugary as regular fro-yo places. They even post the nutritional information on their Web site:

{I got the chocolate 4 oz’er with toasted almond toppings}

It hit the spot on this warm summer day and didn’t do too much damage to my diet.

Appointment #2 – ART on my Shoulder

My second appointment of the day was my monthly visit to see Dr. Eva, my chiropractor!

She adjusted my neck, back and hips (all three areas really needed it!) then asked me where I needed ART this time. Being that I ran just 25 miles in June (so sad) I really wasn’t hurting anywhere other than my shoulders.

I don’t know about you, but sitting at a desk, and hunched over a computer all day does a lot of damage to my right shoulder, specifically my scapula and rhomboid. I get weekly chair massages at work, but it usually only provides temporary relief. I had only had ART performed on my shoulder blade once before and it felt so good so I asked her to work on it today.

After examining the area she determined that my rhomboid needed the most work. Oh-em-gee — I didn’t think that ART on my shoulder would hurt as much as it does on my lower body, but it did. As she applied pressure on the rhomboid, she had my arm positioned in a “U” then had me extend it. It was very painful and I had very little range of motion.

But true to form, as soon as it was over, the shoulder felt much looser…better.

To try and correct my shoulder pain, I’ve been conscientiously trying to improve my posture while sitting at my desk by pulling my shoulders back. It is not an easy thing to do. After a few minutes I find myself hunched over again. Do you find yourself having this same problem?

Friday Night

Went to the movies and saw this:

Instead of theatre food, we snuck sushi into the theatre. I’m sure the people around me loved smelling my spicy tuna rolls, but way better than the gross nachos they serve there, right? However, my cousin did get some popcorn and I ate a few using chopsticks – a first for me, but you know what? It worked – my hands didn’t get dirty at all!

The movie itself was okay. I think we all know it isn’t going to win any Academy Awards, but it was entertaining – for the most part. I was just so happy to be in air conditioning.

Saturday

Had dinner at the Yard house, a favorite restaurant that I frequent when I’m in Arizona. They just opened one at Santana Row in San Jose. I had a Shrimp Caesar salad (sans dressing), then indulged in this:

{kona coffee ice cream sundae – my absolute favorite ice cream flavor!}

Which quickly turned into this:

Don’t worry, I shared it with my cousin and we scraped off the whipped cream. This was my one indulgence for the weekend.

After dinner we went to the HP Pavilion where I revisited my 8th grade self and saw these guys:

We had bought our tickets for this show 7 months ago, but I had forgotten all about it and wasn’t even sure of the exact date until about a week ago. I felt so lackadaisical going into the evening, but once NKOTB came on stage, it was like 1989 all over again!

Back in 1999, I wasn’t as crazy about BSB as I had been about NKOTB, but I still knew all of their tunes, which made it one of those great shows where I could sing just about every song!

My photos and videos turned out terrible, but here’s some vids that I found online…

…And yes, their songs have been added to my running play list!

Sunday

It wouldn’t be a proper weekend without a run, now would it?

For the second weekend in a row, I got to meet up with my favorite Bay Area runners/bloggers/tweeters.

{in front of the Conservatory of Flowers}

This time we met in the City for an almost 7-mile run around Golden Gate Park. This area of the City is usually foggy, but on this day we were punished with “stupid heat.” It was waaay too warm, but somehow we made the ascent up to the infamous Strawberry Hill, a steep, half-mile corkscrew climb. It was more of a hike than a run up this hill for me, but we made it to the top!

{atop Strawberry Hill}

After our run we all headed to Genki Ramen for lunch!

Half of us are obsessed with ramen. It’s my typical dinner on nights before a long run, but some of the other girls swear it’s the perfect post-run meal. Either way works! And in case you haven’t heard of ramen before, here’s what it looks like:

{noodles with vegetables or pork or chicken or seafood in broth}

I’m told that it’s kinda like pho (except I’ve never had pho) but with more flavor. Sooooo good!

Later that evening I went to a potluck family dinner. It’s impossible to eat healthy at these things because of spreads like this:

I couldn’t resist – I had a bit of everything but just in little portion sizes. Can I call that a win? Please?

Monday

After a crazy weekend, I needed some downtime and never left my house until we reconvened for a “leftovers” family dinner.

Fireworks weren’t coming on till way past my bedtime and I had to be up at 6 am for a 6-miler this morning so I called it a day and was in bed before the fireworks even started. I’m such a party animal, aren’t I?

Here’s to a short workweek – may it go by quickly!

I’ve known all along that weekends will be the downfall of my attempt to eat a better quality diet. So let’s see how this first weekend went:

Friday Night

My friend Wendy invited me to a SF Giants game in the Virgin America Suite! If you’re unfamiliar with the Virgin America suite, it’s one of the newest suites in AT&T Park that was just built a couple of seasons ago. It’s unique because it sits just above RF. You feel like you’re practically on the field!

{Side note: Wendy and I met when we were roommates 12 years ago! We lived together for a year then completely lost touch with each other. We recently reconnected through Facebook and discovered that since being roommates we’ve both picked up running! She is running the 2nd half of the San Francisco Marathon next month, which will be her very first race!}

One of my favorite things about luxury suites is the food, and this one did not disappoint.

I started off with some Caesar salad, and then chose 2 pulled pork sliders over hot dogs, hamburgers and tacos. I’m not sure that was a better choice but it sure was tasty! When I went back for more salad I discovered an untouched tray of anti-pasta. I loaded up on olives, Portobello mushrooms, asparagus, and artichokes. I wish I’d seen this try before the sliders.

Later in the evening it got really cold so we got Ghirardelli hot chocolates, a staple at this ballpark. It was a lot cheaper than buying (yet another) $50 blanket, and the hot chocolate definitely warmed me up for the rest of the game.

For the rest of the evening I declined the temptation of nachos, as well as a whole basket full of Haagen-Dazs bars which were both major wins for me. Oh, and the G’s won too!

{I said no to this…}

Saturday

A friend of mine had some personal business to attend to in Sacramento so I tagged along for a mini road trip. Actually, I had selfish intentions – I was dying to have lunch at Costa Vida.

If you’ve ever heard of Cafe Rio, it’s exactly like it. And I have a deep love for Cafe Rio so this Costa Vida is the closest thing I have to it. If you’ve never heard of either, they’re both Mexican Grill restaurants.

The sweet pork is to die for (hmmm, sensing a theme here….) so I had the sweet pork salad.

image source

It’s probably not the healthiest thing I could have had for lunch on Saturday, but hey, I only visit this place once a year and the salad was a better option than a burrito. I also said no to tortilla strips.

After taking care of business we decided to catch a flick and went to see the new X-Men movie. It was the very first X-Men movie I’ve ever seen and I must admit – I liked it more than I expected that I would.

As for theatre food, my friend and I got some Dibs. We figured sharing Dibs would be better than each having a Drumstick (another weakness). However, all I ended up having was 2 pieces of Dibs. I got so wrapped up in the movie I forgot to have more.

On the drive back to the Bay Area we stopped for dinner at Tahoe Joe’s in Vacaville. It’s a typical steak place – like Outback or Black Angus. I ordered a Caesar salad with the dressing on the side and char grilled shrimp with a plain baked potato and steamed veggies (although they were buttered). I said no to the calamari appetizer (another habit that was really to break).

After dinner I was tempted to make an inaugural visit to the famous Fenton’s Creamery, but decided I’d had enough for the day.

Sunday

Aron had arranged a meet-up of Bay Area running bloggers! I’d been to a couple of these in the past and met some wonderful people who have since become good friends, so I wasn’t about to miss this one for the world!

We met in the East Bay and went for a nice run along the Ironhorse Trail in Danville. After the run we took over a patio corner outside Peet’s and chatted about all things running and blogging for a good couple of hours. We were there for so long that I even got a parking ticket! Actually, it was just a “warning” (next time they will tow my car), but it was worth it!

After the run I got really hungry so I bought a cranberry almond scone from Peet’s. Tthere’s weren’t a whole of lot of healthy options to choose from, but I figured the cranberry and almond part was healthy, right? But then just as I started eating it, one of the girls shared some homemade coffee cake that she made. Goodbye scone!

Coffee cake is my most favorite thing ever! My sister and I used to make it every Saturday morning when we were growing up. It was so delish that I had 2 pieces (we were there for so long that I considered the second piece to be my lunch). Plus, homemade is better than store-bought, right?!

I love bloggers, especially running ones!

{Here’s Aron’s post with links to each runner’s blog!)

By the time dinner rolled around I was back on the bandwagon with a good healthy, balanced dinner.

While this weekend definitely wasn’t perfect, I think that for my first attempt at a “healthy weekend” some of the choices I made were better than others. There are some definite areas for improvement, but I also feel that there were some wins that I can build upon for next week.