This blog is moving!!

I am moving this blog to wordpress. I really like the way the set everything up better. So come to http://schacalieu.wordpress.com/ to read more adventures with us!

Beertastic!

What goes best with the onset of Fall (Winter?)…beer! Saturday we geared up for an IPA tasting. Jeremy and his fellow lab-mate, Jeff, organized a night of tasting and rating IPA’s.

The great thing about doing a blind tasting is that it leaves all your preconceived notions at the door. You can’t judge the beer by the label or what you normally think you like. For example, Jeremy loves Sierra Nevada, but when he blindly tasted it he commented that “it smells better than it tastes, and it tastes like poo.”

Some other great comments were "Ugh, and I thought number 6 was bad!" and "The budweiser of IPA's".

There was a good group of us there, about 14 people and it was fun hearing what everyone thought. Everyone’s results were tabulated at the end and then the beers were ranked from lowest to highest score.

Here is a picture of the lineup and what we thought was the best and worst. They are lined up from worst to best (left to right)

The winner was...Great Divide's Titan IPA
The loser was...Berkshire IPA
After tasting we headed to Mezcal. After our dinner there on Saturday night I have changed my opinion of Mezcal and it’s not because I had been drinking. I have been there after St. Patrick’s Day a couple years ago when I was way more inebriated. Mezcal is actually pretty decent Mexican food…dare I say it is even good! I had the biggest quesadilla I had ever seen. It was ridiculous and I might add—very tasty.

After dining we made the drive back to Fairfield and fell asleep listening to the Angels/Yankees game. I was very upset when I was awoken by the announcer screaming that the Yankees won. Damn Yankees!! At least it took them 13 innings.

New Blog is Up

Ok, it's up...

My new blog venture...http://2bahealthyfit.com/ ( I got my own domain name!)

It's going to be about health & fitness, something you all know I am nutty about. Hope you enjoy!

Holy Winter Batman!

What the heck is going on around here? The last couple of days have been freezing cold. Literally.

Last night, October 15th, what started out as rain, turned into sleet and then...snow!!! It is way too early for snow! The snow didn't really stick, it was pretty wet, but still...It has been so cold that last night Jeremy aka The Scrooge of Heaters agreed that we should probably turn on the heater. That means it is cold. Like I've told you, last year I wasn't allowed to turn on the heater until my mom visited for Christmas.

What happened to Fall? Why did I feel the need to buy a new puffy coat today that goes down to my ankles??? Blame it on the weather...

Leaf Peeping

The Schacalieu's finally got the heck out of dodge and had a mini vacay! This was our third attempt to do so; so I guess the third time is a charm!

We took a 2 hour drive last Friday to the Berkshires where we stayed at the glorious Yankee Inn. I was excited because our room had a fireplace! It was really like a HoJo or Motel 6 type place, but the name sounded better. Those B & B's are so expensive! When we checked in they had hot cider and granola bars, so the Schacalieu's were definitely stoked! Free food and beverages...who could complain?

After nabbing some cider we headed out to explore the town of Lenox and Stockbridge. We explored multiple little shops in Stockbridge. My favorite was a chocolate shop (surprise) and this old time corner store. We bought some maple syrup and corn on the cob that you put into a pan and pop into popcorn. Very cool! After shopping a bit, we went to the historical Red Lion Inn. It is a very old and very cool hotel. Jeremy was excited to sit in a rocking chair and now wants one for our house. (Mom- hope you still have the one you said you would give me)

We grabbed dinner at a place called Firefly. It was just ok. I had thought I read it was a tapas place, but it wasn't. Jeremy wasn't impressed with the food, but he recently ate at a Michelin rated restaurant so now he is pretty much destroyed when it comes to eating out.

As soon as we got back from exploring our surroundings a bit and eating dinner we turned on the fireplace. It was kind of romantic, but it heated up the room very quickly. Shortly after turning it on our room was sweltering and then the air conditioner was on all night. The air conditioner not only brought the room down to a normal temperature, but came in to handy around 2am. In the wee hours of the morn I heard some moaning from the next room, so I just turned that bad boy back on to drown out the noise and went back to sleep like nothing was happening.

The next day we got breakfast at a yummy bakery & cafe (I had the yummiest oatmeal with grilled pear) and then went for a hike on some trails that were near our hotel. It was quite brisk outside and it was nice to get some fresh air. The leaves were pretty. More color than you would ever see in California, but there wasn't a lot of reds and oranges.

After hiking we set out to explore the town of Lee and to try and find a fabulous restaurant for dinner. Lee was another cute little town and we found a french place that looked promising for dinner. After Lee, we went to explore Lenox a bit more in depth and then hit up Chocolate Springs (yep..another chocolate shop). It was amazing!! We split two truffles and bought some chocolate for later. I would go back to the Berkshires just for that shop!!

We tried to get dinner reservations at the french place, but they were all booked up. Actually, almost everywhere was booked. Everyplace I called either was totally book or only had 5pm or 9pm open. 5pm is just too early for dinner unless you are a senior citizen or close to death and if I had to eat at 9pm I would probably eat my left arm off. I finally found a restaurant, Bistro Zinc that had open reservations at 5, 6, or 9pm, so we took the 6pm reservation and then headed off to a wine bar before dinner. Dinner ended up being one of the most fabulous meals I have ever eaten! Basically, this entire trip was wining and dining with a splash of hiking thrown in. Perfect!

Sunday we slept in and watched tv in bed. We explored the town of Great Barrington and then headed home. It was a nice, relaxing get-away. I'm glad we got to explore some new East Coast areas.

View from our room

The hike

The Gym Rat Shuffle

If you know me, then you know that I get up and work out at the butt crack of dawn every morning to work out. Recently, the gym I currently go to (Fitness Edge) is really ticking me off. I use to get up at 5:15 - 5:30 am and would call in to the gym to reserve a bike for the next morning’s spin class. After making the call, I get ready and go to the gym. Actually, when I first started going there I would wake up at 5:15am drive down there and sign up in person, but after not getting in a couple of times I started calling once I woke up.

Fitness Edge has now switched to an online registration system. Apparently their front desk people are over worked…must be all the smoothies they are making. (Special Note: I have never once seen anyone waiting for a smoothie.) I don’t mind the system going online, what I do mind is that I now must wake up before 5am so that I can get to their website and press “reserve” on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings so that I can get a bike for the next day’s class. On Wednesday morning the Thursday class was totally reserved (27 bikes) in two minutes. This is crazy!!! I sat in bed with my laptop and just laughed at the absurdity of how fast the class filled up.

I have belonged to many a gym before and have never encountered spin classes being totally packed at all hours. This is becoming so insane! It’s almost like Russian Roulette or something. The other crazy thing to me is that everyone at the spin class the next day is talking about how fast the class fills up. It is gymsanity.

I really think the solution is to move the class from 5:45am to 5:30am so that they could have a 6:30am class afterwards or build a bigger bike studio. The bike studio is pretty small and the bikes are very worn down. Maybe they need to start charging more that $19.99 a month and stop having so many promo’s for people to join the gym. I should write them a letter…

I know-- a good solution to my problem would be to actually ride my road bike outside. Brilliant! Right?...Wrong. I am so scared to ride out here. The road’s are poor there is little to no bike lane, drivers are crazy, and I have no one to ride with. I have looked into tri-clubs, but the one closest to be is uber competitive and the other one is a bit far away to make it for rides by 6am on a Sunday. For these reasons, I will remain a slave to my computer at 4:55 in the morning. It’s actually not that bad, it’s just that I cannot believe how many people are vying for spots for a 5:45am spin class. I guess they are all just as crazy as me about getting a good workout in before starting the day.

Here’s to working out and waking up before the sun comes up!

It may be Fall

As quickly as the summer heat and humidity came...it seems as though they may have to bid farewell in a hasty manner as well. It seems as though overnight the summer has turned to fall and I couldn't be happier! I really love the Fall weather. Sunny, blue skies, sometimes a small breeze---oooh it makes me giddy.

With the birth of Fall it means that I don't have to sweat for no reason! That is good news since I started using natural deodorant (I know earth mother here I come). Jeremy always gives me crap about using antiperspirant and how the chemicals are horrible for you, it may lead to Alzheimer's, blah, blah, blah. Well, this summer I decided I would try out being a true hippie and just use all natural deodorant. We were at Whole (Paycheck) Foods and we went by the natural cosmetics isle. I decided to stop and peruse the deodorant section. Sure enough, some smelled pretty granola--I'm talking patchouli oil scents here people! I couldn't hang with that and went for some kind of lavender smell. Of course, two days after I purchased my way to hippiedom, the humidity spiked up and I was really rethinking my choices.

I do not like to sweat unless I am running/spinning/hiking/shopping. I'm talking real sweat starting activities. Seriously though, if I'm a sweaty mess and haven't just come back from a 4mile run, I am not a happy camper. Just ask Jeremy. I proceed to have serious are-you-kidding-me meltdowns. You really don't want to get to know that side of me. It's not pretty.

I have to say this summer only produced about 2 weeks of unbearable sweating as far as I'm concerned. I cursed Jeremy's name more than once since he is against us getting a air conditioning unit. His motto is basically no air in the summer, no heat in the winter. Last winter I wasn't allowed to put the heater on until my mom came for Christmas. He would just tell me to put another sweater and a beanie on. Hello--pipes can freeze out here Scrooge! Don't get me started on the no cable rule. Anyhoo, the compromise to the no air conditioner fight was getting an input/output fan that you put in your window. I swear it made our room at least 10 degrees cooler.

It was a good summer. I will miss laying out on the beach and listening to the high schoolers talk about boys and the college kids talk about being a drunken mess the night before and who's sleeping with who. I will miss the long hours in the day and riding our bikes in the evening. We also saw a few good shows this summer in New York--Pete Seger's outdoor festival & Old Crow Medicine Show. I saw Britney (for free), but that doesn't really count as a "good show".

I will miss summer, but I am more excited for Fall. I love sweaters and boots. Yes, pretty much everything that is important to me is wrapped in my love for commercialism. I love being able to run outside and not have the humidity stifle my breathing. I'm looking forward to our 2 night trip to Lenox, Mass to be "leaf peepers". I also see some apple picking in the future and pumpkin muffins!

I really hope that the weather gods are not tricking me. They better not be luring me into Fall and then plan on bitch-slapping me with an Indian Summer. Not cool weather gods, not cool. I guess time will tell.

S.O.S (Summer of Schacalieu)

Chapter 3: Are you ready for some compost?

One of the things Jeremy misses most about Morro Bay would have to be his compost pile. Yes, if you didn’t know it already Jeremy is a hippie disguised as a distinguished Yale student. Well, a couple weekends ago Jeremy put his brain power and old man strength together to build The Schacalieu’s a compost bin. Yes, Jeremy has the strength of an old man, which means you don’t expect him to be that strong (by the looks of his lanky body) and are surprised at the jar caps he can twist open or the fact that he can pick you up.

Old Man Jeremy borrowed a table saw from a Yalie friend. He was going totally ‘green’ in his building plans (code for he is cheap and didn’t want to buy wood at Home Depot) and found an old wood palate down in our basement. The palate had some holes in it from where spiders used it as a home to birth their babies, so it was definitely perfect for our compost bin. Actually, it did turn out to be perfect and Jeremy was able to use all of the wood from it, transform the palate into a compost bin, and only throw away two wood scraps.

Jeremy was not injured in the building of the compost bin, no animals were harmed either. My finger got jabbed with a screwdriver, but that was the only casualty. Not bad for a Saturday afternoon. Jeremy was so proud of himself he kept checking on the bin and asking me if it looked good. We commented on the rustic look of the bin and he said that ‘rustic’ was the exact look he was going for.

The following day we drove all the way to New Haven to go to Ikea for a glass container. I assured Jeremy that this type of container could be bought somewhere else, but his Yalie friend said they got their’s from Ikea…so we were off. Jeremy had ants in his pants and we arrived to Ikea before it was officially open. Have you ever been to Ikea before it is open? It’s hilarious. I would say about 75 people were there eating breakfast and then lining up. It was like the start of a 5K race. They have all the entrances roped off. To be funny, Jeremy started stretching. If I wrote for a sit-com I would do an Ikea episode where they get to Ikea early and the people just start charging the entrance.

We got two containers, one for us and one for our neighbor. We plan on hippie-fying Connecticut one neighbor at a time! 

The compost bin in all of it's glory, complete with hinging door

S.O.S (Summer of Schacalieu

Chapter 2: Cruisin' on a Sunday Afternoon

As many of you know from previous posts, Jeremy and I got ourselves some pretty sweet cruisers. The weather has finally warmed up (now too much) and we’ve been crusin’ all over the fine town of Fairfield.

It took a while for summer to actually warm up, but once it did we had a few weekends of pure beauty. Sunshine, no humidity-- it was loveliness! Those days are now gone and we are forced to endure sticky, warm, disgusting days. UGH, I’d rather it be snowing!! Seriously, I would rather be wrapped up in a sleeping bag jacket in our house because Jeremy won’t let us turn the heat on instead of sweating my ass off when trying to sleep, waking up because I’m so thirsty, oh and did I mention sweating my ass off because the love of my life won’t let us put a window air-conditioning unit in our room. I did force him to let me by another fan, so at least I got that!

Back to the few lovely weekends we had before they were interrupted by agony in the form of humidity. Yes, we have been cruising all over Fairfield and Jeremy has finally admitted to loving where we live. We’ve been going on bike rides every weekend and during the week after dinner on nights that it is nice out. Fairfield has free concerts on the green on Wednesday’s and Sunday’s so we’ve been checking those out as well. The last one we went to was an Irish band…it was hilarious…they were straight out of the movie, ‘A Mighty Wind.’ Needless to say we ate our dinner and then made a run (or should I say ride) for it.

We started a garden on the side of our apartment building with our neighbor, her veggies are soaring while ours are looking a little sad. We started from seeds and she started with starters…next year we’ll have a better plan. We planted lettuce, tomatoes, beans, basil, so far we’ve only been able to use the basil.

We’ve also been hanging out on the beach on the weekends. I say beach, but it is still like a really big lake to me. We ventured down there with some friends to play bocce ball and there were all kinds of horseshoe crabs. They are crazy looking and I think they were mating. Fun times!

In other summery news, we bought a little mini bbq at Target for $14 (hey big spenders!) and that thing is getting more action than Tom Cruise when he was in ‘Top Gun’. Jeremy is becoming a grilling pro and it’s nice to be eating outside on our little deck. Jeremy gets excited when he gets to marinade and then everytime tells me the secret is to keep brushing it on. Thanks for the news flash Jer, yeah…I know this trick already. Since I decided to stop being vegan, it’s more fun for Jeremy since he gets to cook chicken instead of tofu…he feels more manly and isn’t hungry all the time. We are now only buying organic meats that have no chemicals pumped into them. I may be crazy, but I think you can really see and taste a difference.

Ian, Alisha and the kids made an east-coast trip and stayed with us for a few days. It was great having them around. Bella and Peyton are growing up so fast. The really are good kids and fun to be around. We hung out in Fairfield with them, took them to the beach to hunt for sea shells and see some sand sculptures that were being built. Jeremy took them out for pizza multiple times and also to the Yale Museum. The only “bad” event was seeing Transformers 2. The kids were so excited to see the movie and it had just come out, so we all went. Let me just say, from the first 5 minutes, I knew it was going to be the longest 2.5 hours of my life. I will never get that time back. Yeah, it was horrible. Other than that, we had a great time and it was awesome to catch up with Ian and Alisha. We were suppose to meet them in NYC for 4th of July for fun and fireworks, but I had to ruin that weekend and get sick. It was a big bummer! What are you going to do? It was better I get sick then since I had a huge program coming up for work. Jeremy did force me to ride bikes down to the beach for fireworks and I’m glad he did. I love fireworks!!

S.O.S (Summer of Schacalieu)

So, July is almost over and I really haven’t posted much about our summer. So here’s the update…in Chapter's (beacuse our life is like a storybook story).

Chapter 1: Vegas
Summer started off in celebration. We went to Vegas to celebrate my dad’s 60th birthday. We weren’t sure what to expect (you know how family trips can be), but it turned out to be a really awesome and fun trip! My Aunt Shonda and Uncle Phil made the trip out, as did my brother and his girl friend (just a girl that is a friend, not a girlfriend?) Caroline, and so did our friend’s Myles and Laurie. It was great to see everyone and hanging out with Myles and Laurie was like old times. Laurie actually almost killed herself at a lunch outing. Now, there was some drinking involved, but not enough for what happened.

We had been lounging by the pool, enjoying a few light adult beverages..when we discovered that it was 2pm and none of us had eaten lunch yet. We went in to The Luxor and ate at whatever Mexican restaurant was there…I forget the name. So we order margaritas and food, while we’re waiting Laurie scooches up in her chair (we were sitting on high barstools) and the chair shoots back like a rocket. Somehow Laurie manages to claw into Myles’ arm and escape splitting her head open on the table (Seriously-we had not drank enough for this to occur…well maybe Laurie did…I don’t know). The flying barstool almost hit the lady at the next table behind us. It was crazy and loud! The whole restaurant just stopped. It was hilarious!

Before the fall?

Jeremy and I aren’t big gamblers, so I was hoping for some warm weather so I could try and jumpstart my tan. This didn’t really pan out, although I tried my hardest, so we did what anyone does in Vegas…drink and gamble. The good news is that I won $200 on a Wheel of Fortune game! I was stoked, but this only fueled my gambling fire. I was having so much fun, I believe I gambled away almost all the money. Seriously, I sat down to play Monopoly and it was making all these noises, and the colored lights, and I kept winning more pennies…until…I stopped winning and kept losing and the damn Monopoly machine ate my $50. Ah, the allure of Vegas!
On Sunday, Jeremy, my dad, and I started gambling together. We would take turns pressing the button and we would give ourselves a limit…if we won so much we would stop and move to the next machine, if we lost so much we would stop and move to the next machine. We did this for most of Sunday until it was time to see Love. I also got my first “free” drink in all my Vegas visits. Whoo hoo! Now we were talking!

Winners!

If you haven’t seen Love, the Beatles show in Vegas, I highly recommend it. It was one of the most amazing shows I had ever seen. I had never seen any kind of Cirque show before and this one just blew my socks off.

Being silly walking to Love

Waiting in line for Love

Posing at Revolution Bar

We also went to dinner at The Palazzo to celebrate my dad’s bday on Saturday. The food in Vegas is wicked expensive and this was one place that looked nice and the prices weren’t astronomical. It was really hard to pick a place from online menu’s and pictures that would be good for a larger group. The food was good and I think my dad enjoyed himself. We got a good picture outside the restaurant of my dad on the silver bull that was outside the restaurant doors. After dinner we headed to New York, New York (the casino, not the state) for some piano bar action. This was definitely one of the most memorable times ever! Joseph and Caroline gave the piano guys some money to sing Happy Birthday to my dad and it worked (after a couple tries). They started playing Happy Birthday and called my dad up. Once my dad was up there they started playing, “Right Said Fred- I’m Too Sexy”. This was hilarious!! My dad was dancing around and they had him take off his jacket and then ladies started putting money down his shirt. Joseph captured all of this on video, but he hasn’t sent it yet. Once he does, I will post it.

Bday Cake

Bull Riders

All in all, this was a great time and an awesome way to kick off the summer. Since it still wasn’t sunny or warm in CT, it was nice to see the sun when we emerged from the dark, air conditioned casino’s. It was in the high 70s when we were there…actually kinda cold for Vegas in June, but oh well…begger’s can’t be chooser’s right?

More of S.O.S to come in later posts!

If only Cheney knew how to deal with terrorists this way...

                                                  

If you've ever wondered what the Schacalieu's are up to on a Friday night...well guess no more! Enjoy the video! (make sure you have the sound turned up on your computer)

This video was made in response to Mr. Potato Head being kidnapped from our house during Pie Palooza. Check out our post from November titled "Pie Palooza" for more background info.

Make new friends? Definitely keep the old!

This past weekend our friends Mark & Dina were in NYC for one day only. Jer and I drove up to JFK to pick them up and then we went over to Phin & Carla's for a day of jam-packed fun. They had a one day layover (more like 18 hours) from coming home from a trip to Italy.

When we picked them up, they had 4 HUGE suitcases. We were a bit worried about getting them into the car, but were able to wedge two in the trunk, two in the back, and our queen size blow-up mattress was on my lap. We had to bungee the trunk closed and hoped that no big potholes would send their luggage flying. The luggage also weighed quite a bit due to the huge wheels of asiago and other Italian cheeses they were bringing back. Mmmm, that cheese was yummy!

We haven't seen Mark & Dina in almost a year. The last time was at our wedding, so it was great to see them. Phin had a great day planned of showing them some of the bigger NYC sites, so we went to Grand Central, Central Park, and (our all-time fav) the beer garden. 

The beer garden is this amazing bar that actually has a huge beer garden outside with picnic benches and a stage where bands play. All you can get to eat there is sausages and kraut. Luckily they also have veggie burgers there, so I was able to eat!

It's so great with friends that you don't see or talk to for a while and the minute you see each other again, it's like a day never passed. Those are the real deal! Those are the kind of friends we are really missing out here in CT. You don't really know what you have until it's gone.

Jeremy and I were talking on the way home and realized that we laughed more and harder then we have in a long time. Dina and I almost peed our pants when Jeremy screamed like a girl as a subway train passed loudly.

I just think of my college Broad Street house days when most of these friendships were made and really realize how great we had it. One...it's hard to make friends, two it's really hard to make good friends. I'm not trying to get all depressing...we've made friends, people we go out with and can have a good time with but only one or two may be around in the long run. It's kind of sad. We think we've made a friend and then something happens and true colors are shown. 

It was hard to make friends in SD at first, but eventually it all started fitting together. Although, this was just about the time I had to move to CT. In the end...I would rather have 5-8 amazing friends then people who make me feel awkward or bad about myself. 

This atmosphere is tough for both Jeremy and I because Yale is just a different place. We really feel like fish out of water with most of the people here. Boo hoo, we are such sad sacks. 

Our next awesome friend reunion will be with Laurie and Myles in Vegas. We are going there for my dad's 60th and I'm sure it will be a good time. Viva las Vegas!!

The thing is...you never know who you will meet in your life...sometimes your life will be filled with great people, other times may be a bit lonelier. All Jeremy & I know is that we are glad to have each other right now and can't wait to get back to all of our family and friends on the West Coast. 

Here are some pics from the weekend...

The Beer Garden

Strawberry Fields

Mark & Dina

The twins have arrived!

Here are pictures of Rene's beautiful babies!!!

Say hello to Jackson

and Corinne!

Congratulations to Rene & Doug!! There hand are going to be quite full for quite a while!

Here are their stats from their birday, May 7th:

Jackson- 4lbs, 11oz & 18" long

Corinne- 5lbs, 0.5oz & 18.5" long

Circle of Life

This past weekend Jeremy and I were in California. We got a call Wednesday night from his mom that his grandpa wasn’t doing good and that we needed to come home. His grandpa has been battling cancer and it seems like it is winning the battle over his body.

Jeremy’s brother and his brother’s wife (Corey & Caroline) made the trip out from Boston. When Jeremy’s sister picked us up from the airport it was nice to see each other, but of course we all wished it was under different circumstances.

I’ve never really had to say goodbye to someone I loved before. My grandma died of Alzheimer’s and my memory of her is filled with visits to the home and looking into her eyes which seemed to be begging for help, but her voice was unable to express any of her thoughts. I was close to my grandma as a child, but I was really young when she got sick so my memories of her are mostly of when she was sick.

Jeremy and everyone was holding up as well as possible. I think there is comfort in family and knowing that you are not alone with your feelings. I think that having all of us there perked up his grandfather at times. He made a few jokes and was pretty coherent. He was sleeping most of the time and not eating much. It was tough to see him laying on a bed in the living room, but he did seem as comfortable as possible.

As all of this was going on I was receiving updates on the birth of my best friend’s twin babies. Corrine and Jackson were born on May 7th at 1:42 and 1:43pm. The same night we got the call about Jeremy’s grandpa, I got a call from Rene saying that they were going to be born. It just goes to show you that life and death really is a circle. Mom and babies are happy and healthy, hoping to go home sometime this week.

Even though death is such a hard reality to face it makes you realize how precious life is and that you really have to make the most of your time. Life is too short to stress and worry about all the little things that go wrong or not the way you expect.


Leaving Sacramento and actually saying goodbye was extremely hard, knowing that it may be the last time we get to say goodbye. We are thankful for the time we got to spend with Norman (dubbed by Caroline as “Bullet”) this past weekend. Now, we will just wait for updates from his Mom and hope that he is comfortable.

Here are a couple of quotes that I thought really express my thoughts over the past weekend.

“It's the circle of life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, 'till we find our place, on the path unwinding” -Elton John


“And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years”.—Abraham Lincoln

Hooray!

My birthday bike is here!!! And Jeremy put it together last night!!! Now, I just need no rain so we can actually go for a ride.

All About Me: The Blog

For those of you who know me (and if you’re reading this you must…I don’t think my blog has taken the world by storm yet), then you know that I like to work out. You probably think I’m a workoutaholic… which I don’t think I am…I think I am completely normal (if not a bit lazy at times).

I have started to shake up my routine and have bought Jillian Michaels Making the Cut. I have decided it is time for me to dust off the one-pack and try to make it a 6-pack…well, a nice 2-4 pack will suffice. Plus, who doesn’t want to lose 5 pounds or look in the tiniest bit like Jillian.

In addition to Jillian kicking my butt, I have signed up for a kettle bell class that lasts six weeks. Kettle bell is this new workout that consists of thrusting a heavy ball with a handle in every which direction. So far I am on day 5 of the 30 day Jillian (kick my ass) workout and have done two kettle bell classes. In addition to workouts a la Jillian, on this 30 day plan there is no drinking. Now, I am no alcoholic, but I do enjoy my vino…ok, maybe sometimes a wee bit too much. I’m not perfect! I know...your worlds have been crushed by this shocking statement.

So far my legs hate me!! Oh, I forgot to mention that I have a biathlon coming up on May 3rd, so I still need to run & bike for that too. It’s not a long race though, so I will be just fine. I could not train for it at all and be fine, but I am always competitive with myself, so I want to do good. Back to my legs…I have never done so many squats and lunges in my life. I’m only on day 5, so by day 30 I expect to be able to bounce a quarter off my ass…literally!

I am also really watching my nutrition. I have been tracking everything on sparkpeople.com and when I first started I realized that with my moderately vegan diet I was eating like 80% carbs!!! No wonder I had been feeling a bit fluffy. After reading countless nutrition books in the last 5 years, I decided that I am back on the sauce! The meat sauce that is. I just think that fat and protein are important nutrients and if I wasn’t including them in my diet, then something is wrong. There are still days when I am eating vegan, but for the most part dairy is back in and fish and chicken are making their debuts into my tummy again. I really missed fish when I was doing the moderate vegan thing, so I’m glad that I am allowing myself to have it more than once a month again.

Another thing sparkpeople showed me is how out of control my sodium intake was. Jillian only wants you eating 1000mg of the salty stuff a day. Even now that I’m watching it, 1000mg adds up SUPER quickly…and I LOVE salt. I usually oversalt everything. Yes, I admit…I was a saltaholic. The first step is admittance. That was another part of the problem with the vegan thing..all the fake meats and tofu and soy products have a ton of sodium.

Hopefully, I will have my 6-pack in 25 days…not sure about that, but hopefully I will be a leaner. I bought a scale that measures body fat % and water %...now I just need to step on it before my legs collapse on me!

So there you have it...I'm back on the carnage, off the sauce, and walking like an old lady. Happy weekend!

Wonderful Weekend

Oh my, this past weekend was just gorgeous!!! Saturday the temps were in the mid-70s and it was sunny and glorious. We definitely took advantage of the weather...hanging outside with my work peeps for a bit and then I got a ride in on my road bike.

It has been so long since I have been on my road bike. First off, the drivers are crazy here and there aren't any lovely paths like in San Diego. Secondly, the weather has been uber poopy and I am a wuss that gets cold way too easily. Thirdly, I have no one to go with me which makes riding on the roads of CT a bit nerve-wracking. Well on Saturday I had no more excuses so I dusted off the bike, filled up the flat tires, strapped on my helmet...and road. Yes! I was back in the saddle!!


I was nervous about riding since it seems like ions since I've been on my bike. I wasn't sure if I would remember how to change gears or get out of my clips. Have no fear, it all came back to me...just like riding a bike (ha ha! the saying is true).



I rode for about an hour and let me tell you there were hoards of people out. You would think that everyone had been couped up inside for months. Oh wait...we have been. It was like a parade was happening or something. So many people were out running, riding, walking, sitting at the green, the college kids were partying...seriously, there were SO many people around. It just makes you realize how desolate the town looks during the winter of dreary days. The winters here really do make you really appreciate California. There you forget how nice the sun is...because it's out all the time. You take for granted that you can go ride your bike any day of the week or swim outdoors. I wish I could go back in time and re-do my time in San Diego. Ah, when will time travel be possible? Oh well, I just have to make the most of the nice days here and when we go back to California I will never forget how great the weather really is there.



The week here is suppose to be dark and rainy, but the sun is suppose to come back for the weekend and be in the 70s-80s. whoo hoo! Oh, Schacalieu update...I got Jeremy a beach cruiser so he can ride to school from the train station and he is getting me one for my birthday. We ordered mine last night...hopefully we will be cruising around Fairfield this weekend. Here is the pic of what my new bike will look like. Happy early birthday to me!!!

Summer Race Update:

I am officially signed up for my first biathlon on May 3d. 2.5mi running, 10 mi bike, 2.5 mi running. Piece of cake!

The Schacalieu's (both of them) are signing up for a 5K on June 28th in Fairfield. It starts at the beach right by our house! Yes, Jeremy is actually doing it too! This will be his second 5K...he told me that this is my anniversary present. ha! They have a 1/2 marathon too, which I thought about doing, but my knee has been acting up...so I may just do the 5K. I want to be able to walk when I'm 30, not to mention when I'm 80!

Doin' the Danbury Shuffle

Yesterday was the half marathon in Danbury. I was pumped and felt pretty prepared. This was the first ½ marathon I have done in about 3 years. My last race was a 5K the December we moved to New Haven. After that race I vowed to never run outside in the winter time again. I think my lungs froze during that one.

99.9% of my training was done on the good 'ole gym treadmill. Talk about monotony!! It was just way too cold and too dark to run outside in the morning. Basically, anything less than 50 is not considered running weather in my mind. I don’t like running in the evening (still to cold) because I just want to go home after work and veg (I become a lazy fat ass after 6pm). I got use to logging miles on the mill and it actually wasn’t too horrible. I did get a couple of long runs done outdoors so that was great! Plus I figured if I could run on the treadmill for over an hour, I could run outside for longer.

The race was in Danbury, which is about 40 minutes away from Fairfield. This was the latest start time for a race I ever had…10:25am. I was a bit concerned about eating too early and being hungry right before the race. This didn’t prove to be too much of a problem. It was nice to not have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to run.

It was an awesome day for running. The sun was shining and we were supposed to have temps in the high 50s. This is after it had been cloudy and stormy all day Saturday and it is rainy and dreary today (Monday). We all definitely lucked out with the weather! When we first got to the race it was pretty windy and chilly. I was worried I didn’t have enough layers on, but once 10am hit, the wind died down a bit and it got warmer. I was pretty nervous before the start—although that is usually typical for me.

So the race starts, I was on a good pace at the 1 mile checkpoint. There were some people I had in my sights I wanted to better than. One was a group of four girls in green tanks and black running skirts. I just cannot get behind the running skirts. I also cannot get behind wearing an ipod during races. Sure, we all train with them, but part of the fun of doing these races is letting yourself soak up the atmosphere and possibly even talking to people. I know...this is becoming a foreign concept. So I passed two of the four greenies early on, the final two proved to be more prepared and beat me in the end.

Really, I was feeling great for the first 8 miles. The course was a bit hilly, but I was powering along. At about mile 7 my right knee started to have some sharp pain, but I wasn’t going to let that get me. I gave my knee a good talking too and it got back in the game. Mind over matter! Actually when I am feeling tired, I like to mentally bitch slap myself...something like, hey get your ass in gear!

After mile 8 things got a bit tougher! The hills just kept coming. I was cursing each hill! This is not to say the first 8 miles didn’t have any hills, they definitely did, but my body was starting to feel ill prepared. My mental bitch slaps and/or positive pep talks weren't working anymore. During my ascent up one of the hills, a lady was sitting on her lawn, cheering the runners on. She must have seen the despair in my eyes because she told me it leveled off after the stop sign. Well, it leveled off…for about .1 miles and then the two biggest hills were next.

I started wondering how I ever did not one, but two marathons and I vowed never to do another one in my lifetime. I was also trying to keep pace with a man who must have been 75. One thing doing races has taught me is never judge anyone by how they look or what age they are. I have had to run my heart out to beat a 10 year old in a 5K and a pretty overweight dude in a 10K. This time, it was the battle royale with the old man. The old man won! While he took the hills like a champ, my legs decided to turn into a jello-y mess. I figure I must have looked like a 75 year old woman shuffling up the hills. That is definitely how I felt!

The course wasn’t well marked so mile 9 went on FOR-EV-ER. There were no race markers after mile 9. This turned out being good and bad. Bad because I thought I might die if I saw another hill on mile 9 and great because seemingly out of nowhere a volunteer shouted “One mile to go”. Even better than hearing one more mile was the fact that it was all downhill. The ladies running next to me were ecstatic and we had a short conversation about how hilly the course was.

The last .4 miles of the race were into a headwind, but then there it was the finish line around the corner…and of course Jeremy standing on the corner cheering me on. Next time I expect my big glittery sign like I was promised!

Jeremy met up with me as I was cooling down and gave me a race wrap-up. The Kenyan won (big surprise) and if I cut 15 minutes off my time I would have a chance of placing. Yeah—I’ll work on that! Who knows…maybe next time…

Don't have my official time yet, but it was 1:47 and some seconds. I'm pretty stoked with it since the Carlsbad Half was almost entirely flat and my time for that was around 1:45. All in all, I am happy with my performance. Next race: Greenwich Biathon!!

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Update: Offical time & standing

214 out of 618 participants
16th (out of 71) in my age division F20-29 
1:47:21
averaged 8:12 min miles

A wee bit o'fun

St. Patrick's Day is one of my fave holidays. First off, green is my favorite color--like I need another excuse to wear it, but I love seeing it all around me. Secondly, leprechauns make me laugh. Thirdly, bloody mary's are one of the best drinks around and I rarely drink them (the best ones are at Thrusters in Pacific Beach). Lastly, pinching people is funny as well.

All that said, New Haven has it's own pretty good St. Patty's Day celebration. It happens the weekend before the official holiday. They have a parade (although this is the second year in a row I have not seen it) and Anna Liffey's has Irish bands and makes for a perfect stomping ground. So Liffey's and not viewing the parade is our new tradition.

I believe I posted about last years St. Patty's Day shenanigans, so I won't go over that whole story again. This year my brother and his friend were visiting so we planned to meet up with the everyone at Wendy & Michael's house. Actually, Jeremy invited all of us over, so we were actually overtaking their apartment. We brought breakfast and morning adult beverages to satisfy everyone's needs. Needless to say, the morning started off with a bang!

We all headed to Liffey's with the intent of actually seeing the parade this year. The weather was mild and the sun was out. After some more drinking of adult beverages we all decided that the entire parade would be coming through Liffey's anyways...so why move. Plus we had mad a new friend, Leroy. We couldn't just leave Leroy...the drunk older man wearing a hat for people to do shots out of. Leroy also shared his sandwich with us...so we were indebted to him.

The Irish band was just as good this year as last year, actually I'm pretty sure it was the same band. The day concluded with the consumption of Modern pizza. Hey- we had to show the boys from Cali how pizza is really done. The East coast does have the pizza thing going for it! We also watched (feel asleep) The Big Labowski, some ate some corned beef and cabbage, and I requested a cake...so Michael made one.

All in all we had a great deal of fun and since we were asleep early, I think everyone felt pretty ok for Monday. I really think next year we should actually make it to the parade route. That is our St. Patty's goal for next year!!!!

I will update with pics soon!!!

FYI- on the actual St. Patty's Day, I wore green, but consumed no alcohol...no green beer was in my presence...well except for a 2am text of a green beer from Jeremy's mom. Thanks Tami!!!

A Little Spring in my Step

I hope with all my heart that spring is truly knocking on our door. We have been fooled before by the nice sunny skies and warmer temps, and then two days later…snow storm. Lately though, there has been a steady rise in temp and the 40’s seem to be sticking around. Now, I know 40 is not really warm at all, but when you are use to the 20’s, this is a giant leap. Actually this past weekend it was in the 60’s. That is just CRAZY!

With the warmer weather comes a more positive attitude. The cold weather, snow, and overcast skies can really make you feel tired and despondent. I don’t mean to sound like I have been so depressed lately, but the weather has really been affecting my mood. It’s not like I feel like I need to slit my wrists or anything, but I have just felt really off. I’ve been snappy, tired, and basically horrible. Before you think it—no, it has not been related to PMS. I can’t really say that anything has triggered me turning into some kind of mess except for the winter months. Well, that and my overall annoyance with the “east coast attitude”.

The winter this year has been harsher than last year and while I have gotten use to the abrasiveness of the East, I have decided I just really don’t like the attitude. Not all people from the East Coast succumb to this attitude. I have actually met some supremely nice individuals! It’s just that all the honking, all the negativity, all the people saying things “just to get your goat”, strangers passing on the street and never smiling--everything is just really taking a toll on me. I just don’t understand why people are so rude and obnoxious. Why ask me what I think and then make fun of me for it? I really miss being able to be myself and not have to worry about how someone will make fun of me or just make me feel like an all out idiot.

I had a dream last night that I was back in Morro Bay and our friends, Laurie and Myles, owned the house we use to live in. I was so excited to be there and a we were going to get a veggie burrito from Taco Temple. The dream seemed so real!!! I was getting money from the ATM at the grocery store across the street from Taco Temple, when my alarm abruptly woke me up for cycling class at 5:15am. No veggie burrito for me!!! Ah, the days of the beach and Taco Temple…I do yearn for them. Just last night Jeremy and I were reminiscing about “The Temple”. I am sure that is why I dreamt about it.

Anyways, enough of my depressing ranting and raving about the East. Things are looking up and Spring may be here to stay!! That is enough for me to turn my frown upside down. I’m sure Jeremy will appreciate my new outlook the most, considering he gets the brunt of my craziness.

Here’s to the sunshine!

Bonspielin' It

So we ventured to Boston two weekends ago for the curling bonspiel. The guys & Christen did great! They were playing against people who had been playing 5 years or less (they have only been curling for about 6 months) and they got 4th place out of 16 teams. Pretty impressive to say the least. There was some curling drama along the way.

We left on Friday afternoon for Boston. After getting to our hotel and settling in a bit we made our way down to The Country Club. Yes, it was called "The Country Club", very snobby and pretentious. At The Country Club they have a curling arena...very impressive next to the one we go to in Bridgeport. When you walk in you are on the ice level and then you can go up the stairs and there is a bar, a fireplace and a glass wall so you can watch what is happening below. Pish, posh! You were not allowed to wear jeans, so everyone is in the Sunday best upstairs, while everyone downstairs on the ice is in sweats and shirts.

The team had dinner to go to and Wendy and I (Wendy goes to school with Jeremy and her husband is on the team) went to dinner on our own...we weren't allowed to hang with the curlers. We had a great dinner, with a fab waiter and were very happy and then we went to The Club to be supportive wives and cheer on our men. All of us didn't really expect our team to go far since this was their first bonspiel...boy were we wrong!

During the gang's first game everyone was super excited because it was a really close game. There were 4 teams total from Bridgeport, so while our team was on the ice everyone was upstairs watching. If you don't know it yet, curling is synonymous with drinking. So everyone was upstairs, watching behind the glass, and enjoying some adult beverages. The curling peeps from Bridgeport were a little loud and rambunctious. They started getting really into the game, there was some yelling, there was some waiving, and then there was one really mad dude down on the ice.

Dan Nailor is a skinny little dude who got very, very angry. Like I said, it was getting pretty loud upstairs and the Bridgeport curlers didn't like the calls that our skip was making. I don't know if you could hear them down on the ice, but Dan looked up and shot us all the death glare and put his finger up to his mouth as to say, "Shut the hell up!" He would have actually probably yelled this if curling wasn't such a gentleman's game. Actually he looked like he was ready to run up the stairs and strangle someone. Needless to say, it was an extremely close game and came down to a single shot...Nailor's shot. Nailor ended up tying in that end and really even without the so-called "coaching" from upstairs, that is really all his team could have done. So it came down to one last end and our team pulled it out and won. Well, Nailor was such a poor sport and wouldn't sit with his team and our team after the match. This is simply rude. In curling, after the match is done, both teams sit at a table and the winners buy the losers first round. It was not a great end to an awesome game. Jeremy and his teammates didn't do anything wrong, but Nailor was just an ass. He tried to get the game overturned, but was unsuccessful. Really, the Bridgeport people were not coaching the team downstairs. They were loud and should have known better, but what can you do?

Anyways, we were pumped that our boys and Christen won their first game Friday night. On Saturday the team went back to the ice to play two more games. Wendy and I tooled around Boston and had a fabulous day. We were excited to learn in the early afternoon that they had won their second game and would be playing again on Sunday...possibly in the finals. The team lost their third game, but played well so they were happy. Fun was had by all in downtown Boston on Saturday evening. Sunday morning we all got up and went to the Country Club. This was a big deal. Our team was in the finals!!! It was very ceremonious. There was a bagpiper that lead all the teams down onto the ice. Everyone proceeded to march around the ice and then it was ended with a shot of Drambuie.

I have to mention that Jeremy was the sickest I had ever seen him on Thursday before we left, but he rallied and would not have missed this bonspiel for anything. Another teammate was sick as well. I don't think the shot did either of them any good. The team looked drained out on the ice. Wendy and I were frustrated just watching. Needless to say, they got creamed in their last game, but still came out overall in fourth place. Not too shabby for their first bonspiel!!! Everyone was happy with the way things turned out and then I got to drive a car of sleeping sick people home in the rain.

Since the bonspiel, life in CT has been pretty quiet. We just hung around last weekend and nothing exciting happened. We thought Spring was on it's way, but we just had another snow storm that came in Sunday night. Hopefully it is the last snow we will see, I really can't take any more!!!

It also needs to start warming a bit because I am sick and tired of running on the treadmill. I am training for a half marathon on April 5th and almost all of my runs have been done at the gym. Running for over an hour on a treadmill is not exciting in the least, but I just can't bear to run outside yet. It is still cold and snow is on the ground. I miss SD and the ability to run outdoors year-round. You really don't appreciate what you have until it's gone. Anyways, it's cold. I know...I need to get over it. Hopefully Spring will decide to start soon!!!

Keepin On

So...Happy New Year!! Wow, it's been a while since I've written. We brought in our New Year with a bang...well, I guess I brought it in with a bang. As in my butt making a large bang noise as I fell down the steps at our friend's apartment. My first fall of 2009! It was a good one. I had a large bruise on my buttocks for about 2 weeks. No, I didn't fall because I was drunk either...well, maybe a little tipsy!

We braved the snow and went to a New Year's party at our friend Erem's house. We celebrated the new year their last year as well. This year the festivities turned into an all out dance party thanks to my ipod mix! It was really fun. I actually only had 2 drinks because I was leaving for Prague the next day, but since I didn't eat dinner...I was good to go. Everyone had a great time and we counted down the ball dropping...such a silly holiday, but it was a fun one!

If you've been watching the news, you would know that the weather here has been super cold. Everyone in the area is saying there hasn't been a winter this cold in quite some time. Last year's winter was a joke in comparison to what we've endured this winter. The good news is...things may be looking up!

We had our first short taste of spring this past Sunday. We had a record breaking temperature of 50. I never in my life would have thought that 50 would be considered “warm” in my book. I was excited for days upon hearing that it was going to be 50 on Sunday, and sure enough…the weather forecasters did not disappoint. It was warm and lovely. I was excited because I could actually run outside. I am prepping to do a half marathon on April 5th, so it was nice to do a longer run outside and not on the treadmill. Today it is in the 40s, so I’m not sure how long this “nice, warm” weather will last. I’m trying to enjoy it as much as possible. It’s nice too because after two quite large heating bills, we have both decided to turn on the heater as little as possible. This means we are cold most of the time and I am now wearing my heavy coat indoors. It’s pretty hilarious!

January was a blur. I was in Prague for the beginning of January and Jeremy went to California almost as soon as I got back. The secret to our relationship is to keep it as long distance as possible. Ha ha! Actually, the past couple of weekends we have been enjoying some quiet time and catching up on Lost and seeing some movies. We are all caught up on Lost (it only took a couple months to watch 4 seasons), so now we can actually talk to people about it in real time! We have seen Slumdog Millionaire and this past weekend saw Milk. Both movies were great, but Milk really deserves an Oscar.

Jeremy is still curling. He’s had a couple weeks off, but on February 20th we are going to Boston. His team is competing in their first away bonspiel. They are excited, and Wendy and I (the supportive curling wives) plan to watch their tournament on Friday and then have some fun in Boston on Saturday while the curling continues. I’m sure there will be good stories coming up.

Recently, we went over to a friend’s house and watch Labyrinth. This was one of my fave movies from when I was a kid. Let me tell you…David Bowie and his tights were amazing! I had really forgotten most of the movie, but as I was re-watching it…it all came back to me. Jeremy had never seen Labyrinth before and I think he liked it. Some people there didn’t get it, but hey--their loss.

Here are some winter pictures along with some Prague pictures…enjoy!

Me with an ice-sicle from our roof

the astronomical clock-close up


approaching the clock

the city from above

old town square at night snowing

xmas lights still up

corridor in Prague

view from start of the Charles Bridge