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!

101 updating!

This week I watched the rescue of the Chilean mine workers. Needless to say, it so amazing they all survived. I can't imagine being trapped for almost 70 days underground!! That's a really long time!

I started thinking, what have I done in 70 days?
Since August 5th I have:

Got a netbook (#85) 
Yay! Its so handy to take to school! Especially since I have a 4 hour break between classes and my laptop is a ginormous dinosaur :P

Visited the Aquarium of the Pacific (#1)
I finally used my free tickets! It felt like my friends and I were they only people there without kids! It was fun to stop at all the touch tanks and watch the animal feeding as a visitor, not a volunteer!

Tried a new restaurant (#8)- La Brea Bakery at Downtown Disney.
I had the fresh mozzarella sandwich. Delicious! Along with fresh bread, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and icy water it was a great choice. The price was comparable to some of the restaurants inside the park, but being served, unlimited drink refills, and service made it waayy better!

Read (#6)
I finished 1st to Die, Cradle and All, Her Fearful Symmetry, and Saving Gracie. I’m really enjoying easy reads, and I think each book took an average of 2 days to read ;)

Wrote a personal statement (#23) applied to veterinary school (#24)
Finito!! This is what I was doing on the blog hiatus. Let me tell you, writing a personal statement is tough cookies!

Subscribed to a fitness magazine (#20)
Hello, Runner’s World! I’m still not a “runner!” But there’s some good articles about health, preventing injuries, and food.

Went back to school (#27)
The last of my grad school pre-requisites!! I finally scored a spot in a microbiology class! Phew :)

Wow! While I was struggling with applications and school work, the miners were in constant worry about being rescued. It really puts life into perspective :)

Have a good Sunday!! It’s gloomy weather in So Cal!

What to read??

I have a dilemma: too many books and too little time.

Or maybe just a bad case of indecisiveness.

One thing on my list is to read 50 books and 15 “classics.” And I just can’t choose which one to commit to!

I checked out Great Expectations after a friend told me there were some amazing parallels to Harry Potter (big H Potter fan here!) Currently, I’m on page 5.

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And I’ve had the book for 2 weeks. Hmmm… Slow reader?

What about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?? I’ve just finished the prologue.

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I’ve also heard good things about it too. Well, except that all the character’s names sound similar and it takes about 100 pages to get interesting.

Then another friend told me to read the Twilight series. I’ve been refusing to jump on the Twi-hard bandwagon and thought the movie was ehhhh, okay. But her whole family has read it, including her dad! She’s convinced me that the movie is bad bad bad, and the books are actually an easy and interesting read.

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So, what’s a girl to do? Er, read?

All these books are sitting on my nightstand, just dying to be read. I'm excited to read all of them, but one first? Or do I have the awesome mental capacity to read  multiple books at the same time?

Have you read any of them? 
Do you read book simultaneously or concentrate on just one?

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!!