Summer dreaming..

The hot weather this week (80-90 degrees!!) made me a little nostalgic for summer.

Here is an old bike adventure that I never ever got around to posting.

My purple bike and I had so much fun this summer. Riding along the beach with friends really makes exercise, well, not seem like exercise.

The hardest part was all the little hills we encountered getting to the strand (beach). Murder on my thighs and calves!!

The riding on the strand was physically easy.  But it felt like I was driving! Although it was strictly a "bike path" and explicitly said "no pedestrians," everyone was strolling down the path. Gotta keep alert or else a collision is bound to happen!

This summer all the lifeguard stations were colorfully painted.  It really made them stand out on the beach! I liked it!! My family and I love visiting “statues on parade” things (like summer of snoopy or salmon parade.)

We ended up doing about 40 miles! It took us a long time and there were a ton of cyclists that passed us up. But, slow and steady was a-ok for me :)

Sigh, I do miss summer. It seems like the upcoming daylight savings (Sunday!), makes the end of summer seem so final. Oh, and the holiday Starbucks cups.. definitely means winter is here :)

I do hope that So Cal weather will finally make up its mind..scarves or shorts??

Which weather fashion do you prefer? Scarves, coats, and pants OR shorts, dresses, and tank tops?
I can't decide!! I love love love scarves, so I'm leaning towards winter/autumn. But, who am I to really "know" what winter really is. I'm a California girl through and through. I think 60 degrees is cold!

An Early Morning

For some reason I woke up really early this morning. Now I’m not typically a “morning” person, so I had no idea what to do!
While reading the newspaper I found some really good sales! Yay for Columbus Day sales! Off I went to the mall. But since I normally slumber until 10, it was a surprise that stores don’t open until 9 or 10ish :P
After a little bit of loitering around, the store finally opened. I made a great discovery today! Early shopping= empty store = happy Lisa bean

And I found this amazing yoga mat! I think early mornings and I might be becoming friends:) A little bit of coffee is all the encouragement I need to wake up earlier.
Gasp! Maybe that means I’m growing up! Am I finally becoming an adult and leaving behind college ways? Now that I think of it, midnight actually seems “late.” Do I see an earlier bedtime in my future too?
Today I even whipped up a filling lunch. I couldn’t believe that a salmon burger, watermelon, and some mixed nuts would keep me full for so long! I’ll admit I’m a little obsessed with salmon burgers now. A big flavor party in my mouth. Yum!
I wish I could say the rest of the day was productive. And I really really wish I spent more time with this book:
But the cliché “lazy Sunday” seemed to reign over my day!
Good night!!

Note to Self

Dear Self,

Please do not forget to go to work today. Today is Monday, not the weekend.  Even though lots of other people have the day off and it may feel like a Sunday, its not. Animals still need to be taken care of!

I know you want to stay home and try to cram as much information into your brain for tomorrow's test, but you can't.

Besides, who are you kidding? You love your job, and you already miss this trouble maker.

Love,
Yourself

PS-  Tuesday is your day off. Don't go to work on Tuesday!

Six on Saturday

1) Farmer's Market
Now that I am back in my hometown, I go to the same farmer's market my mom took us to as kids. I still remember loading up our canvas bags with peaches, plums, and apricots.
I woke up early to enjoy tables and tables of fresh fruit and veggies (seriously, they were piled high.) It was so crowded! Guess the organic/all natural/support local growers trend has really caught on.
There's also food from local restaurants and bakeries. That's how I found out about this wonderful bakery that makes gluten-free things!

I'm looking forward to noshing on these goodies in the upcoming week. It's a race trying to eat it all up before the fruit spoils . Usually I win ;)

2) Library
Free books? And free dvd rentals? Yes please! Am I the only one who checks out an obscene amount of books? I don't know why I get so greedy, but I do know that there is no way I can read all these books before they are due.


3) Animal shelter
Today also consisted of a spontaneous stop at the shelter (the same one I got my dog from!) I missed the turn for the gas station and my sister convinced me to continue driving to the shelter. There are so many wonderful animals there!


4) Running
Besides going to the animal shelter, my sister also convinced me to go running with her. I avoided it and hoped she would forget, but it didn't deter my ex-cross country running sister. I felt really good after wards, so thank goodness I have a sister!


5) Sleeping/napping
Weekends+ warm doggie... pretty self-explanatory.


6) Movie night!
I am not a scary movie fan, but am some how I did want to watch the original version on "The Ring." The ironic thing is that I stopped liking scary movies because of "The Ring." I was seriously freaked out after watching it in high school. I watched most of the movie hidden between my fingers, and still screamed (I think I heard everyone else in the theater screaming.)

I'm going to call this my "spontaneous sister Saturday," how's that for alliteration!

Hope everyone's weekend is sunny and fun!

Camera consequences

This was Wednesday, parking my car at work.

The water was soo blue and beautiful that I had to snap a picture. Unfortunately, it was with my cell phone camera. Small, no zoom, and pixel-y.

The moral of the story is: from now on, I'm going to have to carry my regular camera where ever I go. I wouldn't want to miss another great shot of everyday life!

Happy May!

It's already May?! I am both excited and astonished that almost half of 2010 is gone. How does time go by so quickly? I remember in elementary school spring break seemed like an eternity!

May is bringing me an opportunity to start new endeavors in my life. Some of things on my list are trying the "couch to 5k" program, blogging more consistently, and making lists so I can use my time more wisely (hello 101 in 1001 days!!).

So, here's to May! What's in store for you??

Friday, hooray!

I am so glad that its the weekend! Normally Fridays make me want to pull my hair out, but today work was actually manageable and enjoyable.

Typically, I go into work at 9am and immediately jump into the rush of Friday appointments: being friendly to clients and dealing with difficult patients. We have a running joke at work, that anything and everything will go wrong on a Friday. No one comes on time, co-workers call in sick, every animal is a "caution." But today was nice and slow, I got to socialize with co-workers, and learn how to do new things.

Sometimes I think its odd I spend most of my time at work, but yet don't truly know my co-workers. Most discussions revolve around drama at work or food. Is that what all office conversation are limited to?

From now on I challenge my slightly socially awkward/horrible small-talker self to be more inquisitive and a good conversationalist. It can't be hard... right???