drammatical

Our trip to San Diego was so relaxing and fun. Lot's of food, booze and snooze. We hung out at the spa on Friday and Saturday and Sunday headed to Sea World (so depressing). Also, we never realized how upbeat the Gaslamp District is. We totally felt like old people among all the college students and loud music.

We stayed at the Hyatt Manchester thanks to my trusty Hyatt points! Besides the added bonus that it was a free stay we wanted to stay close if not in the Gaslamp Quarter. The hotel is in a perfect location and has really great views. We were facing north west and had a view of the USS Midway and Seaport Village. The rooms were a bit small for the Hyatt but nonetheless nice and comfy. Typical business-traveler oriented rooms. Oh, we also had a view of the pool. This was the best as we were able to spy on all the kids around and in the area and didn't even bother going there. Instead we headed straight to the spa and hung out at their private pool along with induldging in the other amenties provided. Man I wish I was back there right now. Another plus was its close proximity to the Gaslamp Quarter and Ralphs. We walked everywhere except to dinner on Saturday night and Sea World. All in all we would definetly stay there again.

Dinner on Friday was had at Ra Sushi which has the best yellow tail sushi. They made us spicy YT hand rolls that were awesome, fresh YT slices that we dipped into some spicy sauce, and a special YT roll. Dang I wish I was there right now. Total trendy place though. Plus, we didn't realize it was a chain until we were halfway done with our meal. Anyway, I'm secretly happy this is the case as I really loved the spicy YT handrolls (already planning my next trip to the local shop).

Saturday night we had dinner reservations at Mr. A's. We had been walking everywhere during our trip thus far but Mr. A's required heels so we opted for a cab. Our reservations were at 8 and we left the hotel at 7:58. I have told you that N is late to everything right? We arrived and were sat right away. We had an awesome view. The food was good, not great. I rated it an 8 N rated it a 7-7.5. The view is what you're really paying for. I had a raspberry martini that was actually shaken with real raspberries. Was one of the best martininis I've had. N had his usual, beer. We started with Lobster Bisque for N, which he said was the best he's ever had, and fresh baked oysters. The brisk was a bit to lobster-like for me (I don't like lobster - the shame!). The oysters were phenomenal! They melted in my mouth they were baked so good. For our main course N ordered the Kobe Flat Iron Steak and I got the Ahi. Both meals were good but not what we expected for this swanky self-proclaimed place.

After dinner we wanted to hang out at a lounge, somewhere we could hear ourselves talk. The night before, someone had recommended the hard rock hotel. Um yeah, we got there and the line was about a mile long. No way we were going to stand and wait. We walked around and since the cab driver that dropped us off told us there was a bar lounge up at the Hyatt we decided to just go there. Besides, we were staying there. The bar up there was surprisingly nice and the view was spectacular. Drinks were typical, I had White Russians and N kept up with beer. I was totally indulging in my drinking as I've cut back and hell I don't drink cocktails here at home so I figured why not.

This weekend was just what we needed. We both had a ton of fun and some well deserved rest. As I was writing this out I was reflecting on our conversations. Funny how our topics have dramatically changed over the past year...

I wish it were. Two weeks ago I was ranting and raving about how refreshed and happy I was to be back at work. Yeah, that lasted all two days. Can't wait for our trip to Oaxaca come Fall.

We'll be flying into Oaxaca City and staying for about four nights then off to Huatulco for five nights. Can't wait for the sun and surf and FOOD!


In the meantime we're planning a little getaway to SanD. Both N and I desperately need this, except I must admit that he needs it more than I. Poor guy has been working like a dog. Pobre. Hopefully we'll be able to sort out some dates and leave ASAP. Our trip will include a mandatory visit to Shamu and maybe a stop at the zoo. N wants us to also do this. Can't forget about all the dining and drinking too. Need to find the illustrious tequila bar I once saw featured on a best of San Diego show. At least I can refer to this Best of List for now.

Made burgers yesterday…

So last night when N got home he asked what type of meat the burgers were made from. Uhhhh, what? Beef of course! He said they were sortta dry… Phew!

I usually buy 87-90% ground sirloin beef and make them myself but while at TJ’s this weekend I decided to use their 95% beef patties already shaped and stacked for me. Turns out N no likey these. After I reassured N that he was indeed eating moo and not some sort of rat burger he looked relieved. Pobre, I bet he was wondering all day what the hell I was feeding him. Told him not eat the remaining patties as I’d just eat them for lunch the next two days.

So I just got a call from him. He ate the last patty! Told me that being on the Zone M-H wouldn’t kill him so he bit the bullet and ate the last rat burger. Poor guy. Now I just hope he doesn’t lose a ton of weight cause that man can drop three pounds just by saying he will. Grrrr I hate his super strength metabolism.

Lesson of the day – N no like pre-prepared burgers. Especially not super-extra-lean ones.

“rat burgers are the shit!! drunk or not, they send you to another place. they are the east coast equivilant to menudo for a hang over. rat burgers and yohoo!” – jersey, Aug 14, 2007

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Today being my 2.2 day I feel good. Had my bootcamp (BC) session at an ungodly hour and made it to the train on time and ate breakfast at work. Have had B, L and a snack and so far I’ve been a strict Zoner. Although there was this incident in the morning where all of a sudden I needed a mini-zucchini muffin from Starbucks and almost had one if it wasn’t for their insane line. For once in my life I was pleased to see a line a mile out.

I've been arguing with myself for the past few weeks about getting serious about my eating habits. Its not like I eat a bunch of crap but for the workouts I get in there really should be results. So, once again I'm back on the Zone. Hopefully I can try and really stick it through. The plan really isn't hard but just knowing its a diet of sorts really puts me off mentally. Anyway, after a hiatus from watching what I eat I'm back to really thinking about all my choices. Ugh.

That's the thing that has always bothered me about food changes, all the thinking involved. You know, all the preparing and stuff. After the wedding I was pretty burned out from this. Pre-wedding I went on a pretty intense diet and got great results but damn was that hard. So of course post-wedding I went crazy and indulged in all I could get my little hands on. Then I had this crazy idea put into my head about participating in some trail race. huh? So, I went on the Zone last April and once again got some great results for the race in May. With only a month and half- assing it I was quite impressed with this little diet's powers. So here we go again, except this time around I'm taking it a tad more serious and have two months till my race.

Please light a candle to the virgencita for my oh so powerful love of cookies, chocolate, ice cream, wine, bread and pizza. I'll miss you all *tear*. Sniff.


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So yeah, this is actually my second week on the Zone. I must say that I'm pretty proud of myself and even though I wasn't insanely on the Zone at all times I did manage to be on it about 65% of the time. Anyway, since I had weighed and started last week on Tuesday I deem today the commencement of week 2. I lost a total of 1.5 lbs but I'm always weary of these types of results. I need to see an actual pattern for at least four weeks before I can actually accept any weight loss.

Things that I've started to do have been journaling all my meals. Anything come in it all goes in my little trusty book. Even though I only managed to track two days last week I've incorporated some goals for this week:

Goals for Week 2
- Record food for at least 5 days this week (need to be realistic)
- Continue with four day WO, maybe add a Sunday run if legs are up for it
- Omega 3 & B complex everyday this week
- 3 servings of poison everyday
- I can't believe this one, no alcohol except on Sat & Sun
- Min. 5 liters of water a day
- No breads/ grains/ rice after 1PM (except for Fridays)

Ack! It's 4 min to 1, gotta run and eat my bread.

No time no see. Geez, I really did fall off the wagon here. I was actually contemplating on just closing shop. Not really a quitter but it seems that maintaining a blog is much harder than I had originally anticipated.

So what have I been up to? Nothing much, just watching a bunch or movies and reading, and of course eating. There was this trial I was on for THREE months! Can you believe! No one did. But yeah, its true the thing lasted three months. They were tough emotional months for me as it was a murder trial. I won’t divulge any details only that we did reach a verdict on two out of the three charges. I must admit that this experience has affected me a bit. More on that in a day or two…

Since then, only two weeks ago, I’ve come back to work and tried to continue with my regular routine. Same ole stuff like surfing the net (gawd I missed you), composing e-mails, working, cooking and trying to get back into shape. Seems this last task is never ending. Actually, they’re all never ending. Anyway, I watched a ton of movies during my hiatus but only really remember a few. Guess they weren’t all good. The few that I feel compelled to list are:

1. Michael Clayton – this movie really surprised me! Loved it!
2. There Will Be Blood – you just can’t get any better than Danny Day Lewis. I freakin’ <3 him. One of thee best movies of the year for me.
3. No Country For Old Men – great story but it was a tad slow for me. I think this is a total guy movie like Atonement is a total girl movie ya know.
4. Atonement – there’s very few actors I love and Miss Knightley is one of them. True to her acting skills she didn’t disappoint.
5. Trade – this movie had me on edge all the way through!
6. Sweeney Todd – made me rethink of my “hate musical and will never watch them” policy I enacted after Chicago. Was quite entertaining, but then again I <3 Depp.
7. Death at a Funeral – if you haven’t yet seen this film, DO!



So all in all you didn’t miss much in my absence.

It's 10:30 PM on Sunday night and N has gone to work and I'm supposed to be working. Eh! Can't concentrate though. And what is it that I do when I'm trying to avoid work? Yes, correct, surf the web. I can finish up writing those Christmas cards or order the prints we need for our gifts but that just does not seem interesting enough. Plus I may be away from the wonderful work of www since tomorrow I'll be going to court for possible jury selection. Another eh! This would be something I'd really be psyched about if I didn't have a million things on my plate right now. Guess that's the ways of the world though, nothing comes at a convenient time.

What I am psyched about is this blog I stumbled onto. Haven't read it all but a six month trip, six months off, a six month sabbatical! This sounds like my cup of tea, definitely. So, if you had six months off your lives where would you go? For us its pretty easy, all over America. Might sound boring to some but not to us. We both are very interested in visiting all of South and Central America. We want to learn more about our culture, our people, our history. Other than Africa, most of the Americas remain untouched by industrious powers. To go and walk among amazonians, to see machu picchu, marvel at the highly adapted creatures found nowhere else but Galapagos, I can go on and on.

The funny thing is that the Americas are so unappreciated. The land is so full of life and culture and love. Both N and I have talked about our future, once we get to the stage in our lives when our not-yet born children are outta the house and we're up for retirement. We both agree that we plan on moving on from this place and onto Latin America. Why not? We speak the language, know and respect the culture and to boot we too are Latin American. For now though we must work hard in order to make this dream a reality. So alas I better get my behind back to report writing.

I feel so restless. It is so beautiful outside that all I can think of is anything but work. These windows behind me are only fueling my desires to leave already. Hell I may even make a trip to the SB across the street just to get out. Plus now that I'm bored I want to eat. Something with chocolate.

Alright, in order to distract my brain I'll just continue to rant. Since the New Year is looming and I'm sure everyone will be making resolutions I think I'll share my goals for the month. See I don't make resolutions. As a matter of fact a friend pointed out that NY resolutions are an urban legend, I must agree. Anyway, because I have to talk myself into almost everything I do I started, many moons ago, to make little lists of goals. Sometimes I make lists for each day, a week, or even a month. For December I've already drafted a list which of course is subject to revisions (many I'm sure). Here it is:

1. Jog/ workout at least 5 days out of the week - so far I got 2 days in.
2. Must finish reading eat, pray love
3. Must start and finish The Memory Keeper's Daughter
4. Allowed only 5 trips to SB this month
5. Make dinner at least four nights out of the week
6. Get xmas tree before the 9th
7. Mail out xmas cards by the 5th
8. Refrain from getting annoyed at idiot people, learn to relax
9. Seek volunteering opportunity at church
10. Kiss N every night before I go to bed

Yes, its sad that my poor N had to remind me of the fact that I don't kiss him every night before I go to bed. Sometimes I just lay down and that's it, I'm a goner. We also want to get a xmas tree sooner than later so we can enjoy it longer. As for not getting annoyed, that's going to be a tough one. I'm already starting to get a tad annoyed... And books, man do I have a lot that I haven't read just sitting there on our bookshelves. Yes, no more buying until I read em all. What's on your list*?

*Just pretend you have one please.