Beware of Rattlesnakes

WTF.

Rattlesnakes?

Really?

That’s about what we thought when we pulled up to the petrified forest on Day 2 of my Napa extravaganza.

We hadn’t really thought about the fact that this was a forest we were about to walk in to…much less that it was considered a hike.

We didn’t really dress the part..

Please note my romper and Coach bag and Jill’s Longchamp bag and Louis Vuitton wrap.

Good job girls.

Either way, the forest was actually a lot of fun and it turned out our attire didn’t matter all that much.

For those of you who are interested, you can read all about the Petrified Forest here. We were expecting it to be a little more Harry Potterish (think old and creepy. We shoulda gone at night).  It was also a little too cool for us Floridians. Note to self: next time, bring more jeans.

 
They weren’t kidding when they said these things were huge…

 
Oh look…a cave. That’s not creepy.

Jill: “I was going to make you go first.”
Thanks.

 
Basically they are digging a tunnel to the end of the tree trying to get it all out from underground. It.Was.HUGE.

 
Apparently all you really need to know.

From far away this thing was creepy as shit.

At this point we planned on heading back to the downtown Napa area for lunch/shopping.

But then we passed this:

 

I mean…how many of you would pass a castle and NOT stop.
I’d like to see a show of hands.
Yeah, that’s what I thought.

The craziest thing about this place?
It had 3…not 1, but 3 wines that I didn’t hate!

Jill: “Oh my god you didn’t make a face!”

Before that, it had been:
Jill: “I think I could watch you try wine all day. Your face is priceless!”

I’m not exactly good at hiding my disgust apparently.

 

The next day I got my happy ass on a plane and came back to the heat and humidity. I was VERY jealous of Jill getting to stay and extra week.

Or maybe not.

Turns out, her sister gave birth to the first grandchild and Jill ended up cutting her trip short to come home on Tuesday morning.

So maybe I’m not so jealous :-).

Except for the fact that instead of working she’s holding an adorable baby boy…there’s the jealousy….

Still not a wineo

Depressing, I know.

I’m pretty sure all the wineries wanted to have me convicted.

But before we get into the difficulties of the day, lets take a look at the shack that we have to stay in.

Such a crap hole, right?? I mean, IDK how we are going to deal with another 48 hours of this 😉

ANYWAY, back to the day.

Wine just is not going to happen for me. I striked out everywhere.
But I was ok with that because it just meant that Jilly got to enjoy it all with a DD!

We started the day at Ox Bow Market.

 

After looking at WAY too much good looking food, we decided to have a little bite to eat before all the alcohol. At this point we’d been up for a little over 3 hours and something told us that the fruit we had at 6something wasn’t going to absorb it all.

  
Two arepas to share.

The Pabellon: beef, sweet plantains, black beans and queso fresco.
I was pretty disappointed in this. It sounded amazing but I’ve just had too much GOOD Paellon. The arepa was too hard and the plantain tasted like it was cooked yesterday and just microwaved. Two thumbs down.

 
The Pernil: Pulled pork with tomato, quac and aioli on the side. AMAZING. I had  very low expectations for this one but it blew my mind. The quac was so fresh and the aioli…omg. GREAT way to start the day!

 
I thought Californians were supposed to have good style…

 

And then, on to the vineyards.

There’s not much I can say about these places. I didn’t like the wine and the beauty pretty much speaks for itself. So for once I’m going to shut my mouth and let you enjoy the view.

     

RIGHT???

Ugg!!

And of course, per usual with me, plenty of food was involved.

 

The bakery had a line OUT THE DOOR. It was insane. Apparently it’s owned by a decently famous dude…Thomas Keller. Maybe you’ve heard of him? We’re going to his restuarnt tonight….at 9:15. That’s 12:15 for you FL people.

So CLEARLY it’s been a pretty rough day.

And now if you’ll excuse me, I’m headed to a spa appointment.

I know, the torture just never ends.

🙂

Staycation

*Part 4 in the “Hatch is Back” series

Yes, the series is still alive and well. A lot of shit happened in my time away and a few posts back, I realized I never got around to telling you about my staycation.

For those of you who know me or my blog, you already know about G.

But for  those of you who don’t, I’ll give you the watered down version that so many of you have heard a million times.

Went to Vegas. Met a guy in Vegas. Now dating a guy I met in Vegas.
Side note: he lives in Montana. That’s probably important.

So back in early April (yeah yeah more than 3 months ago…shut it) I took a week off of work to show G around my little town of Orlando.

Thanks to my awesome friend that works at the Amway center, I was able to score some super cheap ticket to a Magic game. Pretty sure this was his favorite part of the trip.

 
Shout out to my peeps Shannon and Armand for spending 1/2 time with us! My “that was fun, we should do it again” is probably waaay overdue.

And of course, you can’t go to a Magic game without checking out the Sky bar.

*barf* get a room people

Afterwards we had dinner at a local bar and then walked ourselves down to Corona. Possibly my favorite bar in Orlando.

That’s when Stevie entered. Everyone say Hiiii Stevie!!

       

 

Day 2 was the best day of the week. HARRY POTTER WORLD!! It’s depressing how many photos I DONT have.

  
*dum dum, dum dum dum, dum dum, dum*

My daddy has one of those. Don’t judge.

   
*sigh*

So.many.people. We actually had to get a number to get a number to get in and come back later. Kind of annoying but probably worked in our favor.

I may or may not have (but definitely did) buy a crap ton of candy here.

The Leaky Cauldron. I had 2 cups of butter beer. It’s like a liquid butterscotch

The 10 year old in me screamed like the little girl that I am.

The only decent photo I could get from inside.

I had been there before but I remember being just as excited the 2nd time. The main attraction is a simulator ride in Hogwarts. It’s insane, intense and amazing! I won’t give too much away but if you live in Orlando and haven’t made it over, you 100% should. Completely worth the $ and time spent in line (2 hours. *womp womp*).

The next day was a little rough.

I may have had a little too much fun during a game of Never have I ever and ended up falling asleep very early. After kicking my 2 girlfriends out of our hotel room and threatening to call my X. I’m such a lovely person, aren’t I? So after an afternoon of sitting around NOT going to the beach as originally planned, we drug ourselves down to Winter Park for a few leisure apps and alch’s and had ourselves a chill evening at home.

 

The next day we FINALLY made it to the beach. It was a beautiful day and felt nice to do nothing more than lay around, read a mag and chat.

That night we headed out to meet my friends at Celt.

  
I know what you’re thinking…but they really don’t just let ANYONE back there. I was kicked out around the time I said “Open bar:”

Yes, I do have a lot of Asian friends.

 
Gross….

Eventually I kind of ran out of things for us to do. Originally G was only going to be in town from Monday – Friday but ended up deciding to extend his trip through the following Monday morning. It was a welcome surprise BUT left me unplanned and unprepared. Not my favorite feeling in the world.

But we made do.

Oh hello ladies…
  
Typical…

And as if we didn’t do enough…socializing….while he was here, I introduced him to the beauty that is Sunday Funday on his last day.
Why yes that is a Baileys and diet thank you. No judgment from the peanut gallery. 

Please take note at who has the frilly drink in front of them. Just sayin…

One week in Orlando and look WTF happens

So what will I do differently the next time he visits (in just over a month)?

More of MY Orlando and less of tourist Orlando.

I LOVED Harry Potter World but I don’t go there for the hell of it. And I can’t remember the last time I went to Cocoa Beach. And we have so many amazing restaurants that we could have visited….Dessert Lady, hellooo?!?!

I don’t want to give too much away as to what I have planned for the Labor Day weekend but sufficient to say, I have in fact already written out our weekend.

What can I say? I’m a planner.

 

MEANWHILE, I wrote much of this while on a plane to Atlanta.

Most.Stressful.Morning.EVER.

As you may remember, I was headed to Cali yesterday (holler from Napa!!) to celebrate (IDK) my bff Jill and her FINALLY being done with law school!

I set my alarm for 2:30am. I woke up at 4:45. I had a 6:10 flight.

When I say I flipped out… I screamed, I paced, I cried, I sped, I ran tolls and I lied my way in to the “expert flier” line. BTW, WTF do I have to do to get in to the expert flier line legitimately? No one said anything to me and it was SO much faster. I may just ride that pony a few more times and see how long it takes before someone explains why I’m not an expert.

Either way, I made it. I was in my PJs with wet hair and no makeup but that was fixed in ATL.

And yes…I did feel super ghetto with my makeup and hair straightener out…but hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Diet Coke and 2 “Gourmet” biscotti  were my breakfast and somehow, I was cool till Napa. I think my stress turned off my hunger button.

And now I’m waiting for Jill to get ready so we can head off! For those of you who don’t know, I’m not really a wine person but apparently today is the day that changes. Personally, I’m just looking forward to the cheese.

Lastly, for those of you who are interested, I went to Crossfit class 3 Wed night.

Mother. F’er.

I’ve never seen so much sweat in my life. Much less on me.

3 rounds for time:
     30 wall balls
     30 squat snatches

Took 17:49. But she said we could cut the rounds in 1/2. I started with 30 on the first one and quickly discovered that shit wasn’t happening so the last 2 I did 15. Painful.

Yet, strangely addicting…

Alright friends, it’s time for me to head out! If you don’t hear from me again till Monday, you’ll know why.

Napa awaits!

Crossfit Day 2

Do you see a patern? I promise not to title every day that I go to Crossfit as a Day 1, Day 2, Day 1 Million post.

Boring!!

But that is the BIG thing I did today. I was a little nervous showing up for my first “real” class. What if it was 10 thousand times harder than the intro class?? What if I was expected to do 3 of those 7 min intervals? Kill me.

Luckily (if thats the word you want to use), it was really right in line with what we did on Saturday. I came in and did the warm up which looks like this:

10 over head stretch (lunge form and then stretch your arms up over your head)
10 squats
10 back extensions
10 push ups (I did the chica version – on your knees)
10 sit ups
10 pull ups  (I did the ring pull ups)

3 rounds took about 10 minutes.

I did this right along with my good friend Heather! (Hi Heather!!) Imagine my surprise when I walked in to class and saw her standing there. I had no idea! In fact, I saw a few girls that I knew in the class before me as well. How did I not know about this fad before now??

Anyway, I digress.

Afterwards, we went to the bar to find our max press. Mine was a measly 43. I was actually kind of surprised/upset with that one. I really thought that after the past year and 1/2 of weight training, I’d be a little stronger. Oh well, that’s why I’m doing this right?

Then came the workout. After the coach explained and showed us how to do everything, we went at it.

7 rounds of:
3 thrusts with a 25lb bar (basically a squat with a weight bar that you thrust over your head on the way up)
6 pull ups (yes, I did the jump up)
9 box jumps on a 15inch box(literally jumping up on a box)

I did it all in 8:26. It was the longest 8:26 of my life.

This better be worth it.

Afterwards I made sure I wasn’t going to pass out and then drove myself home for some Kale chips and chicken.

If you read any cooking or health blog that worth it’s Live Writer, you’re probably completely aware of the amazingness that’s Kale chips. But please let me be the next to tell you just how fabulous these things are.

Not to mention easy. Kale, olive oil, salt, 10-15 min at 350 degrees. Done.

I could eat these things all day.

And just so this post doesn’t JUST have a green veggie pic, please enjoy the below.

“Iz drnk”

What can I say? Like mother like dog.

G’night!!

Crossfit Day 1

I’ve recently been on the hunt for a new workout. One that won’t let me get bored. One that will give me results. One that will give me a challenge.

I looked in to a few different gyms and trainers but nothing really stuck out to me.

Then I ran into a friend who had recently (and by recently I mean probably 6 months ago) started Crossfit.

He.looked.AMAZING.

He’s never been a FAT guy. Maybe a little pudgy. Beer gut. We do live within walking distance to bars people.

But now? RIPPED. Forget 6 pack. The man has an 8 pack.

He did warn me that it’s not your typical workout. He said it would be hard but scalable.

That’s incredibly accurate.

Actually, he should have said “hard but scalable but still hard.”

Hello Crossfit Orlando.

Source

The trainer had an interesting metaphor. She said to picture myself walking on the edge of a cliff. During the work out, I should be teetering on the edge. Falling off would be throwing up.

Awesome.

I actually like the feeling of “holy crap I have to puke” after a workout. Makes me feel like I got shit done.

Apparently the way Crossfit works is they give you a workout to accomplish and you get it done as fast as you can.

Todays intro work out looked like this:

500m row
40 squats
30 sit ups
20 push ups
10 pull ups

I did it in 7:40.

No. I didn’t do 20 real push ups or 10 real pull ups.

Here’s where the scaling comes in.

For the push ups I did the bitch push ups on my knees. Still hurt. Like.a.bitch.

And for the pull ups they had us do jump pull ups which weren’t bad. Crossfit actually promotes a swing push up that looks something like the first few seconds of  this video:  

It was definitely intense but definitely something that I plan on doing again. I can’t wait to see how it works out.

Food today was basically centered around “what do I have in the fridge?”

I’m a little broke right now and next weekend is San Fran so I wasn’t interested in paying $$ for food.

After Crossfit I wasn’t starving but given my moment of “omg I’m going to pass out”, I knew I needed something. I finished up my carrots with some organic PB and a side of grapes. I was actually surprised that I enjoyed the carrots and PB. The idea freaked me out at first but the sweet and salty combo was actually pretty tasty.

Lunch came around 2pm when I took a break from moving. By that time, I was STARVING.
I know this doesn’t look like much. And maybe my stomach was still full from Dessert Lady last night  but either way, my ham and lettuce wraps with pickles completely hit the spot.

Dinner was tiny. And sweet.
A banana with fig preserves, raisins and chai seeds. And more grapes.

I promise I’m not starving myself. I’m actually eating some Greek yogurt with peanut butter, raisins, chai seeds and granola.

This is just the crap I have in the fridge.

Clearly tomorrow is a Publix day.

What kind of a blogger am I?

When I started this blog, it was to be all about my new found love of eating well and working out.

I still like working out and I’m still eating well but I’m no Meals & Miles.

Then I thought maybe I’d try to branch into a foodie blog. I do like to cook. Problem is I’ve been known to cause some food poisoning here and there. And I don’t have the creativity or food knowledge to be able to come up with my own things like My Life as a Mrs.

Fashion could be fun. But put me in Ross or TJ Maxx for more than 5 seconds and I get hives. I can’t handle all the clutter. I feel the same way about Forever 21 and H&M.
Too.Many.Choices.
You’d basically see J.Crew, Banana and Express listed daily. How does PB Fingers do it??

Truth of the matter is that I feel like I have a lot of interests but nothing that I’m so good at that it warrants me dedicating an entire venue to it. And honestly this is more my place to be able to write and document things I want to remember.

But I do feel I should have some sort of a theme.

I do enjoy talking about my ever changing hair styles…

(And that’s only in the last 8 years….busy girl I’ve been)

 

Or my dating escapades…

 

Or my puppy…

He is a super cute topic of discussion 🙂

 

Or my random escapades…

 

But do all of these things equate into interesting reading?

And if so, what’s the theme? Lifestyle?

Maybe I could turn it into a “How to”

“How to go from a blonde to a brunette with the help of a box”

“How to date every available man in your city”

“How to meet a decent man in Sin City”

“How to never effectively potty train your adorable puppy”

Something tells me no one would take my advice.

I guess for now I’ll just label my blog as personal and keep on trucking. Maybe over the weeks/months/years, the theme will take care of itself.

If not, I’ll just consider it eclectic.

I want another…

I know, I know. Having more than one puppy is hard. And expensive. And time consuming.

But come on…

Cash & Harlow 

TOO CUTE!!

After living with Levi and Cash for almost a week now, I must admit, I’m hooked. They are just as happy to see me come home everyday as Harlow is and when their mommy isn’t around, they like to spend time with their new roomies.

Mainly on my bed…

I would, however, need a better leash system. I get tied up in the 3 pretty easily. And it’s not pretty.

 

I’ve always said that if I lived alone I’d get another pup. I think little Harlow would appreciate the buddy. I’m convinced of that more than ever now as he tends to sit by the door and whine when they go out and he’s left behind.

The only question has been “what kind” of puppy do I want?

I’ve had a few thoughts…

Pom-Chi

Moxie

Chi-Weenie

Cockapoo

Shortie

Source

And some others. But can you tell I like the hybrids? Funny that my pup is as doxie as they come.

The moral of this story is that I never considered the King Charles.

But after living with these guys…

Levi on the chair, Cash in the front

…..I may have a new breed to consider :-).

 

On another note, 6 weeks exactly till G comes to visit again (I should really get on that first Orlando trip recap) and as of tomorrow, a week till San Fran!!

These times, they are a changing!

For the past three years, I lived in the same apartment in downtown Orlando.
I’ve had some good times there…

My first trip to the new Publix downstairs. About a year later they put locks on the carts. I wonder why…

I was supposed to be Indiana Jones that year but about 30 min before we were to go out, my non-refundable costume broke right down the middle. Stevie said he was a dragon but I think he was the awkward turtle.

Game Night! I was trying to go for a whole month without drinking. Quite a feat in downtown Orlando.

The first annual Elf & EggNog in that apartment. 5th annual overall.

But all good things must come to an end.

Today I moved out of my apartment and in with a friend in one of the residential area downtown. While I’ve loved living in Post, I’m SUPER excited to be here. Harlow will now have two new friends …and I have cheaper pre furnished room to live in.

The only downside?

MOVING.

I hate moving. But I’ve done it enough over the years to have some pretty good tips. So for those of you who are getting ready to move, here are a few things that made today 10x easier!

1. START EARLY! Sure, I had boxes piled up in my living room for a few weeks but it made last night stressless and easy. I just packed up my essentials and was in bed by 11, ready to attack the day.

2. USE GARBAGE BAGS. They are easy for the movers to throw around and make unpacking clothes simple as one, two, three

(on another note, please take a good look at all the space in there. It was a beautiful thing. *tear*).

3. GET MOVERS. Yep, you’re going to spend at least $300 and maybe more with tip but I was out of my old place and in to the new one in 2 1/2 hours. That included them helping us swap TV’s and take apart some furniture.

4. BRIBE MOVERS. Breakfast, water  and snacks go a long way. A happy mover is a fast mover!

5. START EARLY. As I sat cat napping before the movers got there (I’d gotten up early to pull sheets off the bed and get the snacks), I secretly hoped they’d get there closer to the 9am side of the arrival hour. But when I was half way done unpacking my new room at noon, I was thankful that we’d started as early as possible.

6. BE PREPARED FOR A LOT OF ORGANIZING. It’s easier to just let the movers drop and go. Know that you’re going to spend at least a whole day getting things in their place.

7. GET CREATIVE. If you’re like me and going from a large space to a small one, try to think of new places to put your old things.

No, it’s not ideal to have your shoe rack our in the open but put some pictures and other knick knacks on top and you can make it work. Not sure how I’m going to get creative with this stuff yet…

8. BE PATIENT. Lastly, know that it’s going to take awhile to get your feng shui on. You won’t feel like your house is a home all in one day. Great decoration and style takes time.

Luckily for me, I moved in with a girl who has amazing style!

So here’s to a new a new life in a new place. I think it’s going to be a beautiful one 🙂

Hannah Montana

Ok no, not really. This post has nothing to do about Miley Cyrus.

It does, however, have a LOT to do with Montana.

I recognize that I have again been slacking on my blogging duties but please allow me to explain myself.

A week after my last post, I vacationed in Montana.

That of course meant that the week before Montana was a bad time to blog because I was cleaning and packing and working late and…yeah.

The week I was IN Montana I wasn’t going to blog. I was living life people! Plus, if you remember the story (or stories) of Vegas and Orlando (oh wait, I didn’t tell you about that one yet), then you know that G (that’s what we’ll call him from now on) and I don’t exactly spend much time together so I like to make the most of it.

So, quick recap of the crazy ass situation that has become my dating life.

Went to Vegas, met a guy in Vegas, brought that shit home.

Except that he lives in Montana and I live in Orlando.

Cool.

SO, I got to Montana around midnight July 1st which basically meant I went to bed the second I got to his place. Ok, after I did the nice roomie intro.

The next day, someone got me up at the ass crack of dawn to go camping.

FYI: I don’t camp.

You’d think he’d want to butter me up first with something shiny.

Brave soul.

In the end though, I really enjoyed myself. We went to West Glacier and stayed for two nights.

 
I’ve never been so close to Canada! Don’t ask why but I found this really funny…

By the end of this trip I was a tent CHAMP. Day one he pretty much had to handle it himself. The next morning while I slept, he pulled out cereal, milk and a bowl & spoon for me (apparently he likes to drink his cereal…weird) and brought me “breakfast in bed.” It may have been adorable.

Glacier lake. Most likely the most beautiful and serene thing I’ve ever seen. I really wished we’d had a canoe right then.
 

This was about as far in as I’d go to the glacier water. FREEZING. Shocking, I know. Who’d a thought that water from a glacier would be so cold? Curious.

This boy went through a LOT to get me some s’mores. Let me tell you what.

The fire actually ended up being one of my favorite “I rule” stories of the vacation. Poor G thought he’d be able to get us a campsite at a more populated ground where they provide the fire wood. Sadly, all the spots were taken so we headed up to Bowman which was much more secluded. And there was no wood.

Hello hatchet and saw.

After an hour or so scavenging for wood and probably about the same amount of time sawing and cutting it down, we then began our multiple hour feat of trying to get the damn fire to burn.

The wood basically said “screw you city slicker.”

After a while, I suggested we go ask the camp ground host for some lighter fluid.

That ‘we’ quickly turned in to an ‘I’ and off I went.

He had none.

But our neighbors had a fire. So I decided to make a new friend.

They were a Spanish couple from Seattle and even though they had no fluid, they had plenty of wood!

Thus, the fire was born.

In the end, this fire took 2 people over 2 hours, 2 new Spanish friends and 2 Montana red necks (one of which looked like Santa. He even left us more wood in the morning. He was our “wilderness St. Nick") to create.

Worth it.

Some more of our new friends.

The next day we decided to head back down to Avalanche (the original camp ground he had in mind). I made him take some time out for some scenic photos.

 
   

       

Once there and set up, we (and by we, I mean he. Although I was happy about it later) decided to make the 2 mile hike (up hill no less) to the Avalanche lake.

Basically this is where snow and glaciers melt in to waterfalls which then pour out into the lake.

See why I was okay with the hike? 🙂

Hey little buddy. Tee hee.

It was hard to leave.

But leave we did.

The next day we traveled back to his place for the fourth of July and what ended up being a most epic 4th of July party.

        

Everyone was super sweet and we all had a great time!

Until the end of the night of course when people decided to have a little too much fun….but we don’t need to talk about that.

The next day may have been one of my favorites. We slept in since some of us couldn’t pull ourselves out of bed (not me) and then went to Out to Lunch.

Basically it’s an event held on Wednesday’s where local food vendors come down to the park and the locals go and have lunch. We ran in to a few of G’s friends which to me, just highlighted what a popular event it is.

 
Can you tell who had issues getting out of bed that day?

G had a Creole dish while I had  beef noodle dish by Shichuan BBQ. It was amazing! I kind of want some now actually…think they deliver?

The river that runs through the middle of town.

 

 

That pretty puppy is named Shook and is probably the best dog around. He was also as big as a small bear. But I imagine much friendlier.

Afterwards we took a walk for some ice cream and I had the best vanilla shake of my life! I felt a little funny getting plain Vanilla bean when they had flavors like Mexican Hot Chocolate, Maple Walnut and White Mint Oreo but Vanilla Bean just sounded soo refreshing.

And damn was it hot.  I needed the refreshment.

This was also my shopping day. Claps to G for being quite the trouper following me around stores. As you can guess, this could have (and probably did) taken hours. He also led me to another weakness:

 

Any questions as to why this was my favorite day yet? Food, food and more food. *sigh*

For your reference, to your left is a classic red velvet cake with cream cheese icing.

To your right, a white wine cake filled with lemon cheesecake and a lemon butter cream icing with a blueberry on top.

Heaven.

Since G did so much for me, it was my turn to do something for him.

I’d really like to be able to say I liked it…but that would be a lie.

I didn’t HATE it but I only got through 1/4 of it before I let G take over. I just didn’t have it in me.

But hey. I tried.

So far on this trip I learned that I don’t hate camping and I don’t hate beer. Do I want to do either every day of my life?
….No, thank you 🙂

That night we took out G’s roommate for his 21st birthday.

I have no pictures.

It didn’t end well.

Unless you have an ambulance and a locked jaw on your list of “best ways to end my 21st birthday.”

Let’s just leave it at that.

The final few days were spent at the lake with G’s family. Again, everyone was very welcoming and I immediately felt included and comfortable in everything we did.

Even golfing! That’s right, I golfed.
I sucked…..but I hit the ball…..most of the time.
But I digress…

     

That last picture is my favorite. Stackable marshmallows. Who the heck thought up that and can I shake his hand???

On our last day at the lake we all hiked ourselves up to Morrell Creek Waterfall . It was a GORGEOUS waterfall. Granted I’ve never seen a waterfall up close and personal so for all I know it could be small potatoes but they all seemed impressed…

And now just a few moments of “typical Montana”

 

Yep. Those both happened.

And as always, all good things must come to an end.

 
Haha, he  thinks that’s an airport.
Oh wait….

 

The moral of  this story, my friends?
Montana is pretty.
Montana is fun.
Montana is small.
Montana is a place to see. I never thought I’d say this but I highly recommend it for your list of places to visit.

The other moral of this story is that recap posts are too long and take way too much time. Next time I’ll either blog at 3am or just post photos.

Slam dunk the funk

Have you ever felt like you were just in a funk?

Like everything is the same with no hope of changing?

That’s how I’ve been feeling lately.

Tired of my location.

Tired of my gym.

Tired of my workouts.

Tired of my weekly routine.

Tired of my clothes.

Tired of my car.

Tired of my weekend routine.

It all kind of hit me yesterday that I’ve just gotten bored. I don’t think I’ve really felt like this since somewhere around 2007 when I was graduating college.

My solution then was to break up with my boyfriend of 3 years, move downtown, get bangs and basically go all kinds of crazy.

Not a bad solution right out of college but let’s be real. I have a job, a dog and bills now.

I tried revamping my personality a bit over the last month to see how I felt. As I expected, being a bitch didn’t really make me feel any better. I may have scared some people and gotten stuff done but….let’s face it, I’m a “kill ‘em with kindness” kind of person.

I’m really hoping that over the next few weeks things will change up enough to suffice or I’ll really have to start thinking outside the box.

I’m taking 2 awesome vacations in July – to both Montana and San Fran. So hopefully that will de-stress me a bit.

On July 16th I move out of my apartment and in to a house with a new friend and two adorable puppies.

(Insert excited *eeeee* sound here).

After three years of being in the same place (with bad AC), a change of scenery is in order.

I tried to change up my usual week day routine last night by grabbing dinner with my friend Christine. It was fun and I got some new shoes out of it.

Hello Gorgeous. What you can’t see is the super adorable “G” adornment on the clasp. Ohh the little things.

But to be honest, I’d really wanted to try something different as far as food goes. Don’t get me wrong, I love Chilli’s and their queso and new PB lava cake (I still have a small food baby kicking around) but when I left work wanting to go out, I kept picturing fondue or something ethnic. Christine and I just couldn’t decide on what ethnicity.

BUT it was nice to be out of the house for an evening. I’ve gotten so used to going to the gym, going home, walking the dog, eating dinner, feeding the dog, washing my hair…you get the picture. I think I need to start making more time for ladies night again. Hopefully when I’m all moved and settled…

And speaking of the gym, it’s time to revamp that too. My running/elliptical/weight training isn’t doing it for me anymore either. Since I can’t really run right now (side story – please see below), I’m not training for anything and thus, don’t really have the drive to do it. Weight loss/toning is always there but to be honest, I don’t have any huge issues with the way I look and feel so if it’s not broke, why fix it?

Those of you who know me know that typically speaking, I’m just a happy person. I like everyone, love everything I do and rarely have things to complain about. So for me to feel this way, it’s kind of a big deal. How do you get out of a funk? Any ideas for me? Hopefully over the next few weeks I’ll pull myself out of it and have nothing but great things to relay :-).

Until then, TGIF people.

 

*Side Story – a few months ago I noticed this random knot forming on the bottom of my foot right in the curvature. It didn’t hurt and didn’t seem to affect anything so I figured “eh.” Well, over the last few weeks I’ve noticed my foot feeling stiff in the mornings and hurting when I run. So I consulted a dr. He said he thought it was plantar fasciitis or a bone spur. SO until I have MRI results back I’m not allowed to run on it. Awesome. Cool story, I know.