March Photo a Day: Before / After

So I know that I owe you March 11-19, but let's just say the iPad ate my blogpost. No, really, it did. I'm still angry about it. I had this great post of photos to share and it posted fine. But then I saw a typo and couldn't help myself. I logged into blogger and whammo --- all content from the post was gone.

That being said, I'm so excited about this photo. Confession: this was taken on Saturday, but I made the collage today (on my iPad :))

The top two "before" photos were taken from our drive our here in September. That's me around 138ish pounds. Ugh. That sucked to type out. My weight went down a bit and then went up in December. I think it was around the 138 mark, but I honestly stopped weighing myself.

Since the last week in December, I've been working out pretty consistently. Leading up to the bar exam, it was 6 days a week. Mostly the stair machine and sometimes a P57 DVD. The last 2 weeks, however, I've started going to The Bar Method, which is very very similar to P57 (sorry no links -- haven't figured that part out in the app yet).

I'm happy to report that yesterday, I put on pants that were starting to get tight (despite being a size up from my normal size) and I needed a belt to hold them up! Seriously, they were about TWO INCHES too big! And today, I weighted myself -- I've lost 12 lbs. since my last official weigh-in. I'm somewhat regretting not having a better before picture, but I'm really good a avoiding cameras and/or "wearing it well". I think you can tell the difference in my face the most.

So, sorry this is a braggy post but I'm just so gosh darn excited! It's great to finally see some real results. I'm well on my way toward accomplishing #6 on my 30 Before 30.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

I know I've been a bit delinquent in posts so I've purchased an app (Blogsy) to blog from my iPad (that arrived on Friday afternoon!!!). I think this will help because I will be able to blog from more places now.

At any rate, this is a test to see if it works how it's supposed (and if I figured it out).

 

Since it's St. Patrick's Day, I thought I would share a bit of my luck with all of you today (it being St. Patrick's Day and all). Funny enough, this is not the only four leaf clover I've found. The first was in Northern Ireland in 1996. Talk about lucky. And, yes, I still have it! I found this one in Central Park last August while exploring the northern part. I filed it under the "finders" cases in my 1L property casebook because I'm cool like that.

 

 

Butternut Squash & Quinoa Stew

I bring my lunch to work every day. Don't worry,
that spoon is biodegradable because my firm is aware like that.

Last weekend, during our marathon cooking session, we got to this recipe. Well, let me back track. The weekend I'm taking about was the weekend after the bar exam. Erik grocery shopped for us on Saturday and we put off cooking until after our hike in the redwoods on Sunday (bad idea). We also forgot some of the ingredients so Erik had to go back to the store. For dinner Sunday, we just decided to buy a rotisserie chicken and have the breasts with a salad to make it easy. We don't normally buy pre-made items but I used the leftover meat on the bones for the butternut squash & quinoa stew and attempted to make chicken broth with the bones (yeah, attempt #1 failed (mostly because I got lazy), but I'm sure there will be others).

Anyway, because we were so exhausted I just couldn't imagine following this person's recipe.  She lost me at "Steam the butternut squash until barely tender, about 10 minutes. Remove half of the squash pieces and set aside. Steam the remaining squash until very tender, an additional 4 to 6 minutes. Mash this squash with the back of a fork. Set aside." Umm.. what? There was a lot of cooking and setting aside in her recipe. No, thank you. So, I give you my adaptation.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 lb. butternut squash, peeled, seeded & chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced into 1/2 inch cubes (we had leftover sweet potatoes from another recipe because we over bought.) 
• 3 1/2 cups chicken broth (or whatever chicken broth you have left + water; if adding water, it might be helpful to add a little bit more salt)
• 1 1/2 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used leftover pieces from the rotisserie chicken carcass)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 can (14 oz) petite diced tomatoes
• 2/3 cup uncooked quinoa
• 3/4 cup pitted and quartered kalamata olives (I just put them in whole -- just warn your spouse so he/she doesn't break a tooth on the olive)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley (fresh parsley really makes this dish; I minced an entire bunch from the grocery store instead of just the 1/4 cup)

I was a little wary about the dried oregano because I wasn't sure about the flavor profile and normally I cook with many more spices. But it all worked out just fine and was super tasty.

Directions:

• Heat the oil over medium heat, add the onions and garlic and sauté until fragrant.
• Add the oregano and sauté for 3-5 more minutes.
• Add onion mixture to the slowcooker with all the other ingredients (except for the parsley). No really, toss them in (save yourself time and dishes).
• Cook on low for 7-8 hours (or high 4-5).
• Save the parsley in a separate container to add on the top of the dish later. I found that having the fresh element on the top was a nice contrast to the heartiness of the dish.

All in all, I found our adaptation of the original recipe very delicious and much less time consuming. Because I added the sweet potatoes, the stew was a little hardier than what's pictured on her website.  I think we also got about 8 servings out of it (and they were big portions!). I would say the most time consuming part was dealing with the squash and sweet potatoes (for obvious reasons).  All in all, this was probably about 30-40 minutes of prep for me, but please keep in mind that I tend to be very slow.

Santa Cruz Wine & Crab Taste Off 2012

Back in January, Erik and I decided to venture out to the ocean and check out Santa Cruz. It was a rather rainy cold day, but we still had fun.  I think that we attract rain every time we go wine tasting. Back in April we went to Illinois wine country and it rained, in November we went to Healdsburg and it rained, and now in Santa Cruz, it rained. But we did not let that dampen (hehe) our mood.

We first went to brunch at a local place, Zachary's.  It definitely lived up to its Yelp reviews and fortified our tummies for the wine tasting awesome that was happening that afternoon (I think 30+ wineries were represented).

Next, the Boardwalk. I have a feeling that this may be a better adventure when it is NOT raining outside, but we got the general feel for the place.  I was sad that none of the stuff was open.  I was looking forward to riding rides built in the 1920s.  At any rate, according to my guidebook, it was built in 1907 and is the only boardwalk left on the West Coast. (sad face) It also is the oldest amusement park in California, which reminds me that we need to go to Great America before it closes to build the new 49ers stadium (right behind our neighborhood).

Two things. 1) My husband is awesome and 2) They have fried Twinkies in California. You'd think with all the regulations forcing people into healthy living that these would be banned, but no, it is a boardwalk afterall.

From the pier. If only it were a sunny day...

One of the largest 4 remaining classic merry-go-rounds in California. These horses are hand carved and have real horse hair tails.  Apparently, the 342-pipe organ in the center is a rare 1894 Ruth Und Sohn band organ.

Entertaining kiddos since 1911
Built in New Jersey

Four generations of Marini's have made the salt water taffy here since 1915.

After braving it in the "cold" we headed a little further south to Aptos where the wine and crab festival began. Here's a link to 2013's event. We had a great time as always.  This event was particularly fun because the restaurants were competing to get the best dish.  With our tickets, we each got 2 appetizers at both restaurants we selected to visit. We met some fun people, drank some excellent wine (and won a wine tour at a local vineyard!), and tasted some delicious food.

We wore dark clothing because it was a wine tasting after all (and people throw elbows to get their pours -- I'm not joking). The view at Sanderlings at Seascape Beach Resort was amazing. This place may end up being a nice little weekend get away for us this summer.

Workin' it.

Could he get any cuter?! I think not.

365 Project: My Week in Photos

March 4:  Bedside

My nightly routine: Earplugs, carmex, water bottle (no glasses of water for us -- cats tend to knock them over, which makes for an unpleasant wake up), and 3 books to choose from (not that I've read any books besides bar books recently).

March 5:  A Smile

I feel creepy taking photos of people besides E and me, and I'm self conscience of my smile so... photo of a wedding photo on my desk it is. Btw, my first day back at work was awesome minus the fact that I got a TON of work and ended up working late and not working out all week. Hence no blogposts since last Wednesday!

March 6:  5PM

The cherry trees outside my window are blooming and look amazing. Such a pleasant thing to greet me on my first week back at work.  One of my partners mentioned on Tuesday about getting me moved to the wing with my group (I'm in a different wing), but I don't want to leave my cute little office (and have everyone know my comings and goings). I always get my work done; people don't need to know what time I leave.

March 7:  Something You Wore

I decided to get a little crazy and wear both this giraffe necklace AND a leopard belt and flats.  It was a safari-theme kind of day. Also, the giraffe is taken in front of a CCH binder containing federal securities laws. That's just how he rolls.

March 8:  Window

On Thursday, I took the train into San Francisco to see my cousin, Kim, who was visiting from NYC. We went to an awesome restaurant/ wine bar (Marlowe). What I particularly loved about it was that it was across the street from the train station, which meant that I didn't have to brave rush hour traffic to get to dinner in the city AND I didn't have to try to find a cab in Soma (SoMa?), which looked like a rather sketchy area. At any rate, I love this picture because it has a lot going on—both the sights you can see through the window (notice how it looks like I have a bus phone cover) and the reflection of the inside of the train (my hands with a highlighter because I did work on the train and the coats in the side bin).
Side note: It is an absolute travesty that this train in SILICON VALLEY does not have free wifi. Just sayin'.

March 9:  Red

Tomatoes are red... This one is a stretch, but my lunch looked so pretty! Expect a blog post on Wednesday about this recipe. It's definitely being added to our menu rotation.

March 10:  Loud

Again with the earplugs.  To be honest, there were several things I could have taken a photo of this Saturday.  However, they would have been creepy.  Runners up: Zumba class at my gym (seriously, they need to shut the door to the class—it echoes everywhere). Costco in general, or our dishwasher.  Seriously, we have the loudest dishwasher ever.  We end up having to double the tv volume if we are watching tv in the living room and/or shout at the other person if they are in the kitchen while it's running. We have a small place. So this is shocking.  At any rate, I picked ear plugs for this day because I do wear earplugs every night, which I have been doing since 2005. (Don't worry. I've asked my doctor and this is fine).  Erik snores sometimes, we have cats, and I'm VERY sensitive to sounds. In fact, I don't think I ever got a good night's sleep in NYC.  I kept waiting to acclimate and it never happened. Fortunately, since we live in the 'burbs now, most nights are quiet and the planes from SJC don't start running until 6am (same for the commuter trains) so I sleep much better in California.  Probably also has to do with the fact I upgraded to better earplugs.  Seriously, these things are the best ear plugs I've tried (and believe me, over 6.5 years, I've tried a ton).

Quick announcement: I've had some computer problems over the weekend (and late last week) in addition to being slammed at work (too soon!). So, I'm a bit behind on posts.  I'm hoping to remedy that tomorrow, but I didn't want you to think that I was slacking off! Expect me to be back on track with my weekly schedule if not this week then next.

Hall Closet

There was a one week span last month where I had to organize EVERYTHING. (see here and here and here for examples). However, this time instead of Pinterest pressuring me into it, it was my husband.  Of course, my initial response was that if it was bothering him so much, he could fix it. About a month later and several complaints later, I decided that I would just do it myself because that would be easiest.

Before:

So this doesn't look soo bad, but it really is. The coats are just crammed in there and we had to access the bag at the top every week for grocery shopping. Erik would complain that he couldn't fit his coat in and that he hated getting the bags from the top. Not to mention the fact that if we ever had guests, there would be no room for their coats!

Here's the really bad part. Because Erik hated getting the bags from the top, we would end up just throwing them in at the bottom. The cats would get into the closet and it would be a disaster trying to get them out. We also had snowboard boots in there. It was no a functional space AT ALL.

After:

I removed all the heavy winter coats and put them in underbed storage bins in our guest bedroom. Who was I kidding? I am not going to need "thinsulate" here in San Jose. So problem 1 solved. Second, I removed all non-essential items from the closet (snowboard boots).  I kept the rain boots because, well, there isn't another place for them.  What I like most is we can put the vacuum in the hall closet where it belongs and I don't have to hear E complain that he can't fit his coat.

I kept the basket and put totes and other things we rarely use in it. Because the closet is so narrow, it is not easy to get the bin in and out (again, I hate bi-fold doors with a passion). I moved all our shopping bags to a clear bin that I had (it used to store clean cat litter --- don't worry, I cleaned it!). This way, we can just pull the bin out (it has a convenient handle), get our bags, and go. We've also been really good about putting the bags back in the bin when we are done so it still looks this nice. I think that's a sign of a functionally organized space.

In summary,
Cost: Free
Time: 20 minutes
Verdict: No more complaining husband.

NorCal Adventures: Pier 39 in SF

Me, Carlos, & Erik
Doesn't it look like Carlos is my boyfriend and E photo-bombed? LOL
Yes, that's Alcatraz behind us.

Almost 2 months ago (Jan. 7), E and I went into San Francisco (for the first time since moving here) to see our friend, Carlos, who was visiting with his family. It was so great to see a friend from NYC and it was a great study break/ excuse to see the great city of San Francisco. It was a little embarrassing to admit that we hadn't gotten up that way yet seeing as we are so close (40 minute drive close).

So, here's one little site from that site-seeing trip. Pier 39. According to my handy little "fascinating facts" book (btw, it does not even come close to comparing to Inside the Apple.  I would love to write a similar book about San Francisco. There should be a book that thorough yet approachable about every city. The Inside the Apple may even be a book that has "changed my life" status.), "[s]hortly after the 1989 earthquake, most of San Francisco's seal lion population moved from Seal Rocks just beyond the Cliff House to take up residence at Pier 39 on the bay." (no page citation because the book is neither in a discernible order (alphabetical by location is dumb if you don't know what you are looking at!) nor is it paginated). What's really cool is that we were randomly there during the most populous time for the sea lions.  In January, it gets up to 600 sea lions whereas in June/July, they almost disappear when they head south to breed.

Pier 39 draws about 10 million visitors a year and became really popular starting in 1990.

It was cool to hear the sea lions bark and to watch them fight.  The older (we're guessing they were older because they were bigger) sea lions chilled out while the young ones yelled and wrestled each other into the water.

This is hard to believe, but according the book, Pier 39 is the 3rd most popular destination in the country behind Disney World and Disneyland.  Really?! That just doesn't sound possible.

The merchants on the pier were originally wary of the "polluting" sea lions but from the looks of it, they appear to be over that.

SF from the pier.

March Photo a Day: Your Neighborhood

After thinking about it, I've decided to consolidate my photos of the day on a weekly basis and post every Sunday. So, in addition to my scheduled posts MWF, there will be these Sunday posts summing up my week in photos (from Sunday–Saturday).

So, since I've already posted daily for this past week, this post will only consist of Saturday's (my neighborhood).

After helping some friends with hanging a few chandeliers (us ladies "supervised"), Erik and I ran some errands and then went for a walk around our neighborhood. We went to the park and threw a frisbee around. This was something I hadn't done in almost 10 years (I'm completely serious). Unfortunately, I both pulled a bicep (don't ask) and broke about 4 nails. Fail.

At any rate, we enjoyed walking through the part of our neighborhood with standalone homes rather than town homes and apartments (where we live right now). We "shopped" for the type of home we want and creepily took photos of exemplars. Productive walk overall.

March Photo a Day: Fruit

Fruit

For a snack today, I made one of my favorite side dishes: Sautéed brussels sprouts. I put a little olive oil in a pan (1-2 tsp.) on medium-high heat (like a 6 or 7). While the oil is heating up, I cut the bottom of the brussels sprouts off, cut it in half laterally and then thinly slice it. I sauté it in the oil for maybe 7 minutes until it is tender and gets a little browned. I season with another dash of olive oil, salt, pepper and the juice from 1/4 lemon (and maybe a little more since I have a bit of a sour palette).

The finished product:

Delicious.

365 Project/March Photo a Day: Up

So, as I've mentioned before, I LOVED the February photo a day. It was fun having a little task to do every day and to be able to share my daily life with you guys (especially while being cooped up at home studying).  Side note: I'm open to feedback if you all hate seeing the photo every day (like maybe posting on a weekly basis).

Again I consulted Pinterest and found a March idea board from the same blogger for February.

{Source}

I'm also thinking of starting a "365 Project". Basically, you make it a goal to take a photo a day for an entire year and then put it into its own album. So, let's get started -- March 1:

Up
The "up" elevator button at the hotel E and I stayed at to celebrate (and to not have to drive all the way home from dinner)!

 

Thank You

Everyone, I'd like to take a brief moment to thank all of you for your positive thoughts and comments over the past week! I feel like all the good vibes sent out into the Universe helped me with my test anxiety. I felt focused and ready to rock it out for all 3 days.

I'm also happy to say that I'm DONE and that Erik and I celebrated in style with a 12-course tasting menu with drink pairing last night at Baumé. Poor guy is a little hungover and at work all day. Me? I'm back in sweatpants and catching up on tv shows (and the blog and outside world). Plans for the weekend include going to another wine pick up event at Ridge this afternoon, going for a hike to see wildflowers since it'll be 71+ degrees out this weekend (76 on Sunday!), and possibly hitting up the Mountain View Farmers' Market.