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A Baby Shower

This weekend I got to visit one of my best blog friends – Coco – for her baby shower. We got her this (apparently very popular with new moms) California Baby Gift Basket (the “Newborn Tote Bag”).

This baby gift basket contains calendula cream, which I recognize from my mom’s use on me and my siblings when we were young. Calendula is a plant (like a marigold flower); the cream is a natural moisturizer free of synthetic fragrances, sulfates, and other potentially harmful chemicals. It’s a great option if you are trying to be more green and natural. My mom would use it for our dry skin and I know you can also use it for diaper rash and minor cuts and scrapes. I’m tempted to try it for myself! Sounds like it would be useful for everyone, not just babies.

I always like visiting Coco. The party was very international (I think bobby and I were the only native English speakers / American-born people there). But I guess that is pretty typical of DC. While I love New York, DC is a much more international city. New York is a melange of cultures, but it’s a melange that has been in the making for hundreds of years. DC has many more people that were born outside the states and work for international organizations. DC’s vibe has more of an impermanence than NY’s (in my opinion).

The food was great. We had delicious homemade empanadas (I’m hoping for a recipe soon), bread and cheese and meat, desserts, probably other things I am forgetting… a great spread in all. Here is a picture of me and beautiful the mom-to-be:

This morning we woke up fairly early (for a Sunday) and ate a simple breakfast (of shower leftovers – yum) with Coco and her husband. He is so caring and attentive. Such a nice family.

Have you been to a baby shower? Have you visited Washington, DC?

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Five Things Friday & Fantabulous Friday Five – 09.23.2011

Five Things Friday:

  1. It’s Fall. Officially. My favorite season. I even got up early this morning to do a post 🙂
  2. My yoga teacher training starts tonight. So excited.
  3. Hopefully going out to dinner with my husband tonight.
  4. Can’t wait to spend time with friends this weekend (after my training).
  5. I’m loving on kabocha this week. Got a few perfectly ripe ones. Also introduced a friend to it and she loves it too 🙂

Fantabulous Friday Five comes in 3 parts…

Five things I want to buy

  1. … I’m gonna say nothing. I really don’t want anything right now! Hate clutter. Instead I will do…

Five things I want to get rid of

  1. Old clothes and shoes I never wear
  2. Too many books
  3. Canned / boxed foods in my kitchen that I will never eat
  4. Kitchen appliances I never use (juicer, I’m looking at you)
  5. Old cords that don’t seem to match up to anything

Five places I’ve visited

  1. Hawaii (honeymoon; my favorite vacation)
  2. France (this past summer; also when I was 7 in November of 1993)
  3. Italy (January 2008 – graduation gift to self)
  4. Miami (where my in-laws live)
  5. LA (Guster/John Mayer cruise)

dec 30 2009 006

(Key Largo, south of Miami)

Five jobs I’ve held

  1. Video store clerk (high school)
  2. Call center rep at ETS (one summer in college)
  3. Sales associate at Gap (I think I spent all my earnings at my place of work)
  4. Research Assistant at the Federal Reserve in SF
  5. Software Engineer! (current)

What are yours?

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Viva La Yoga & Fun NJ Weekend

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! I did have a very nice day. I was surprised mid-afternoon Thursday by an ice cream cake:

Apparently my coworkers asked Bobby what kind of cake to get, and he said, “if it’s chocolate, dark chocolate; she doesn’t like normal cake, ice cream is better; something with whipped cream.” It is almost scary how well my husband knows me 😉 And my coworkers are the best.

***

I’m not going to keep being cryptic so here is my big news – I’m starting yoga teacher training this coming weekend and it’s going to go for the next 12 weeks (I have 2 weekends off). I’m not quitting my day job or anything, but I have been wanting to do this for a while and I’m so glad I’m getting the chance to now. (Back in California I did 2 weekend sessions of teacher training but did not complete the 200 hour training.) I can’t wait to share my yoga journey here for the next three months.

***

Since I’m going to be incredibly busy for the rest of the year, Bobby and I came down to NJ this weekend to spend time with my family and high school friends. We had an awesome time. Bobby and I helped out at the Quaker flea market yesterday (Saturday) by cooking hot dogs and hamburgers and taking down a bridge. I got a few goodies as well – some $.50 cent pillow shams, a dish, some fudge, handmade soap, an adorable laundry basket (whites and darks! but I will use it as his and hers because I don’t separate my colors – do you?), a lazy susan, some cool trays for food, and a bath set (lotions,etc…) … all for under $20 I believe.

***

I actually have a bunch of weekend link love links for you but I’ll post them tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to share three songs I am loving. For the first – I don’t usually like Diddy all the much, but I really like this song (mainly because of Skylar Grey’s voice – she’s not either of the girls in the video though).

Here is a Skylar Grey song:

And here is an Adele song that Bobby got me hooked on a few days ago. This girl is majorly talented, and her voice is like pure honey.

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Manhattan Mornings & Walking Routines

Sometimes I walk along Central Park in the morning before work, and this is what I see.

The view up the east side of Central Park

The view down a side street (72nd or something) from the park

I think I prefer walking to all other exercise. BodyRock was a good experiment, but I only stuck with it about 2 weeks. I just like walking better, and too much intensity is not fun for me. BodyRock is a great workout if you are into that kind of thing though.

***

What did you do this weekend?

On Friday night I had a dinner party and had people over, yesterday I got a facial and then spent the day with various friends, and today I will probably be spending the day with friends and running some errands. Friends are the best part of living in New York.

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Ate Fried Chicken, Ditched the Scale, Quit the Gym

Last night we went out to eat with our friends. We were heading up towards K-town (Korea-town = lots of Korean restaurants all along west 32nd street) when someone said, “Hey, let’s go to Live Bait.” Bobby kind of pulled me aside and said, “Hon, I don’t think you will want anything there.” And I said, “I really do eat anything now, you know!” So we went.

I got fried chicken.

Source.

I got fried chicken with 2 veggie sides – collard greens and green beans.

The green beans picture is my own from a while ago… here’s that recipe (it’s an Indian dish but it looks like the beans I had last night). The collards picture is mine too – my recipe for collard greens here.

I cannot remember the last time I had fried chicken. Probably 5 years ago?

Source.

There is another personal update that I wanted to share:

I am ditching my scale until January 1st.

The scale has not been going up (or down – and I don’t want it to do either of those actions) lately aside from the 2-3 pound range that comes from eating too much salt or being bloated, but I have decided that I cannot base my day’s happiness on a stupid little number anymore. Maybe I won’t ever weigh myself again, but for now I’m giving myself a timeline of two months. When January 1st comes around I will decide if I even need or want it anymore.

I also quit the gym.

Just not for me. I should have known better. I just need daily walks and occasional (gentle) yoga. Oddly enough, when I am *not* working out I find it much easier to maintain my weight.

***

How was your weekend? Anything exciting or life-change happening for you?

P.S. Congrats to Heather, CD, and Summer (aka the HEABlet)! A beautiful family 🙂