On TARGET!

I never get sick of Target. It really is a "one stop" shop.

So, the apartment decorating is coming along, slowly, but surely. And, Ryan's Momma suggested that instead of putting another painting up in our room, we get a vase and stick a bundle of those "stick thingies" in it.

I was thinking I'd be making a trip over to Pier 1, but thought I'd try Target first...just in case.

To my surprise and delight, I found EXACTLY what I was looking for!!! I found this vase and this bundle, and it looks AWESOME!! So, if you're ever in the market for a vase and "stick bundle" thingie...check out Target ;)

You say Po-tay-to, I say Po-tawt-o

Yeah, so remember when I was all inspired and working out every morning for the triathlon? Well, after all of that hard work, a bit of a break...a "hiatus" if you will....was definitely in order. I was figuring a few weeks or so...then, I'd be getting my butt back to the gym.

Umm....2 months later...HAVE NOT been to the gym yet. The couch is just too comfortable! What can I say? My bed is too comfortable in the morning, and the couch is calling my name after work. I really have no choice in the matter if you think about it, right? RIGHT?!?!?!

Oh geez, I really do need to get back to a work-out schedule....next TRI is in April!!! Let's get'er done.

P.S. I SO wish I had that green fancy couch like the one pictured above!!

You did WHAT in your pants?

One of THE best SNL video shorts of all time.

Loves it!!

Yum Yum, you Chez?

So when we went up north for the holidays, Ryan was all about us going to the famous Chez Panisse for dinner in Berkeley. What makes this dining experience unique from your typical "fine dining" eatery is that the food there is local produce that is organically grown and harvested in ecologically sound ways (I totally got that from the website by the way).

I was a bit skeptical walking into it...thinking it would be one of those "shi shi foo foo" restaurants that gives you portions the size of a post-it note and is way over hyped. And, I must report that the restaurant delivered! Way beyond my expectations!

Let me start off by saying that even though Ryan had an "in" (one of his friends is a waiter there)....we couldn't get a reservation until 9:45 pm on a Monday night! And....the place was PACKED when we got there. A good sign I guess, right?

Very earthy, rustic, homey ambiance....waiters were extremely attentive. We split the following dishes...
-Oysters on ice (decent...nothing special)
-Handmade pasta with fancy mushrooms, peas and sauce (excellent!!! so delish)
-Oven baked caramelized squid (it sounds gross but was sooo freaking good)
And....three desserts...
-Apple tart (of course I loved it....it's pie!!)
-Lemon sorbet (super refreshing)
-Chocolate ice cream with hazelnut (chocolate heaven)

Granted, the descriptions they had were waaaay fancier than what I described above...that's just my "layman's term way" of describing everything.

So, if you're ever in the Bay area...I encourage you to check out Chez Panisse....and might be a good idea to make a reservation a month in advance! The next "shi shi foo foo" place we want to try is French Laundry in Napa. Or...I could just have a special certain chef just cook me an AWESOME meal so we don't even NEED to go to Napa!!!! (wink wink)

Let's Bookity

Happy New Year Everyone!! Wow 2008 was freaking great! And 2009 is going to be just as great...if not the GREATEST-EST!! Cheers to that :)

Okay, so I have sooooo NOT been keeping up with my Book Club posts. So....a year in review.....we read....

1) Eat, Pray, Love (excellent...highly recommend it)
2) What is the What (too long...didn't finish it....it's alright)
3) Skinny Bitch (interesting read...influenced me to stop eating poultry/meat)
4) Three Cups of Tea (couldn't really get into it...really inspiring story but dragged a little)
5) Tortilla Curtain (decent...I'd recommend others over this one)
6) Devil in the White City (LOVED IT......it's a historical thriller and one of the best books I've read in a long time)
7) Snowflower and the Secret Fan (I was a total slacker and didn't read the book for that month...it's on my list though!!)
8) The Other Boleyn Girl (fascinating and SUPER long...highly recommend it though...I hear it's much better than the movie).

So, onto 2009, our next book is "The Last Lecture"....and, thankfully, it's only about 200 page (vs. Boleyn girl which was like 600+ pages). I just finished it the other day and it was just beautiful. It's a book filled with short stories from a computer science professor by the name of Randy Pausch who taught at Carnegie Mellon and it contains ways to "live out your childhood dreams." Very poignant and insightful.

And touching and sad at times because Randy was actually diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at age 47 (with 3 small children) and was told he'd have about 6 months to live, thus the "Last Lecture." He passed away in July 2008, and left such an amazing legacy for his wife, kids, friends and students. Truly inspirational.

It's a beautiful book. I absolutely recommend it. Quick read, great nuggets of wisdom in there. You can check out video for the actual lecture here.

Ahoy, Matey?

Ok, I thought modern day pirates only existed in the form of Johnny Depp and at Disneyland. Apparently, I was mistaken.

I read this article today that a cruise ship was almost OVERTAKEN BY FREAKING PIRATES!!! I couldn't believe it. That is insane. And I'm wondering....are these pirates real "authentic" pirates, or, are they modernized pirates that have a GPS tracking system and iPhones on board. I'm curious. Not curious enough to take a cruise and hope we're overtaken by pirates to find out curious of course.

I wonder if they dress like Johnny Depp too??

Triathlon Enthusiast!

Ok, the triathlon was freaking awesome! Even riding a beat up mountain bike and borrowing a friend's wet suit, I enjoyed every minute of it. One of the biggest stretches of my entire life. Loved it!

And now I'm pumped for the upcoming triathlon in Newport in April. Anyone wanna train?!?! It'll be soooooo fun :)