| Page 253

California Friday #2

Posted on September 9, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Friday!

Woo hoo, welcome to the weekend!

I thought I’d pick up where I left off last Friday with the “Flashback to California” series I’ve started here to recap my Santa Cruz vacation to see the one and only Emilia!

California Friday #2: Toasty Tootsies!

After our (literally) blistering 10 mile jaunt through the forests of Nisene Marks, we devoured some lunch and then set out for some pampering for our tired toes!

Enter China Foot Massage!

We went in and arranged for the
“Special”
…a 30 minute back and foot massage…

Now I have to admit, when I first saw the open arrangement of all the “sofas”, I was a little skeptical…

As I sat in the room awaiting instruction, surrounded by people getting pounded on like they were chicken tenders for that night’s dinner, I was a little skeptical…

When, finally, a small Asian man came up to me, rubbed my shoulders and then pulled (I mean, really pulled) both my arms straight above my head, I was a little skeptical…

But then, about halfway through our massage session/dinner prep, as I looked over at Emilia through perfectly relaxed and heavy eyelids, all the skepticism rolled off my shoulders, down the candy cane-esque sofa, and far, far away from my mind!

Emilia and I post rub down!
Don’t we look so nice and relaxed? 😉

Afterwards, we headed down to Capitola beach for some fun in the sun!

Where I dug my nice and relaxed toes into the sand

And then dipped them into the Pacific for the very first time!

And this was my face after that dip!

Yeah, the Pacific Ocean? It’s COLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLD!

Brrr!

After that ~~rude awakening~~ refreshing realization, I decided to settle myself on the beach and just snap a few pics…

By the end of my vacation, my appreciation for seagulls went to the same place that that skepticism went earlier…

Nasty little birds tried to steal my towel! Haha!

As we headed back to the car to end our relaxing day at home, I couldn’t help but snap a few more shots of downtown Capitola. None of which ended up looking like much…

that is, except for this one:

I am in love with this photo!

The angle, the lines, the sunlight coming through the door…almost makes me feel like a real photographer! 😉

Where have your “tootsies” been this summer? Any dips in new waters?

Have you ever had a professional massage? What did you think?
My first massage was horrible. The lady basically spent 60 minutes rubbing her palms over my skin…there was no “massaging” whatsoever! It took me a while to give it another go, but now I love indulging in a good spa day once every few months!

Posted in Photography, Travel | Tagged beach, California, massage | 11 Comments

Let’s Play Ketchup!

Posted on September 8, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

I mean catch up!

Although I DO have further proof that ketchup tastes good on ANYthing

Big bowl of steamed veggies with nooch, topped with a big ol’ glob of cottage cheese and a drizzle of sunflower seed butter and the condiment of the tomato gods! 😉

But seriously, there’s been a few things that have slipped under the blog radar lately, but all definitely worthy of a spot on the blog, so I thought I’d catch you guys up…all the way to some surprises on found on my doorstep when I came home this evening!

First up…I have a bit of sad news…

About 3 weeks ago, I hate to admit it, but Guido and Frankie G were involved in a horrible sun blistering accident. Please…if you could…take a moment to remember all the good times we had together. :-/

Anywho, no sense in crying over ~~spilled milk~~ crispy plants!

I tried my first guava and apple melon (yeah, remember when I picked that up from the farmer’s market a looooooong time ago?)

So how was it?
Wow, guava is really HARD! It makes for a really good jaw workout (too bad I’m not in any need of physical therapy after a TMJ flare up!)…but since I’d rather NOT look like I’ve come down with a case of the mumps, I think I’ll have to pass from now on.

The apple melon was…interesting. The guy at the farmer’s market said the seeds inside were edible, but they tasted really bitter. As for the rest of the melon? It just tasted like a under-ripe honeydew. Bummer.

In happier news, I had an amazing workout the other day with some new weights at the gym!

Ohhh, gotta watch those one-pounders! They pack a (tiny) punch! 😉

Speaking of the gym…on a serious note…look what I spotted in the locker room:

First time ever seeing an Operation Beautiful note in person!

Of course I HAD to take a pic!

I also had to get a shot of my recent Kroger score!

Erin Baker’s Breakfast Cookies 10 for $10!

Heck yeah! I only wish I had bought them out of stock! 😉

I’m saving these guys for mornings when I don’t have the time to sit down for breakfast (read: spent too much time reading blogs in the morning and attempting to still get to work on time)

Of course, that’s only on mornings when breakfast isn’t already prepped and ready:

A couple of weeks ago, I got a huge craving for some overnight oats…and since then, I’ve probably had them about 3 times a week!

I’ve been experimenting with different add-ins and toppings and a few of my favorite Chobani flavors
(Review coming soon!)

And of course, all of them have been sprinkled with some Crunchy Nuggets! 😉

Last on the ~~ketchup~~ catch up list?

This was me yesterday at the post office…sending my Garmin back to Amazon after not being able to get it to turn on for the last FOUR days 🙁

And THIS is what I came home to today!

It’s mailllllllllltime!

That would be my NEW GARMIN sent to me in less than TWO days!
(fingers crossed that this one’s not a dud)

annnnnnnnnnnnnd

Warrior Crunch from Nuts About Granola!

Doing my part in the fight against cancer never tasted so good! 😉

Hope you are doing well Susan!

Well, that’s it for the recap! I better get to bed…I’ve got a run with my new Garmin in the morning! 🙂

So, what’s something exciting/humorously tragic/interesting that’s happened in your life lately?

Posted in Breakfast, Shopping, Snacks, Workouts | Tagged Erin Baker's, Frankie G, Garmin, granola, overnight oats | 15 Comments

What I Punned Wednesday

Posted on September 6, 2011 by kissmybroccoli

It’s time to parrrrrtay!

And nobody throws a party quite like my girl, Jenn!

C’mon in, kick your shoes off, grab a mug of something warm, and check out the delicious eats I enjoyed yesterday!

Every day ~~party~~ should start out like this, right?

As good as a nice big bowl of Zucchini Protein Oats sounded the night before, when I woke up yesterday morning, I had ONE thing on the brain…

French Toast!

I forgot I was out of milk until I’d already whisked up the eggs, so I just threw in a half a scoop of vanilla protein powder…and now I’m out of THAT as well! 🙁

I threw just about every spice I had into these babies: cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, cloves, nutmeg, and a little maple extract

What can I say, I was looking for a way to “spice” up my breakfast! 😉

And guess what…it worked! Topped with 1/2 of a farmer’s market peach, a little shredded coconut, and a good splash of maple syrup and I was on my way to Mmm-ville!

And it kept me full all the way to lunch!

My salad of randomness

Romaine, leftover quinoa, red bell pepper, zucchini, yellow tomatoes, mustard beef burger (as simple as it sounds: 1/4 lb beef, mustard, spices) topped with feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and freshly ground pepper

Is it just me, or do those tomatoes look like lightbulbs?

Just wanted to “shed some light” on the subject! 😉

The other half of my peach from breakfast made it’s way into a delicious afternoon snack:

French Vanilla Chobani, diced peach, Grape Nuts

Or as Walmart so lovingly refers to them:

Crunchy Nuggets

I’m sorry, but I can’t help but laugh every time I say that!

I had never tried Grape Nuts, or Crunchy Nuggets (tee hee), before I bought this box about a week ago, but since then, I have been adding them to EVERYTHING!

I thought about calling them my new “fiber crack”…but that just makes me laugh even harder!

Get it?……..Fiber?…….Crack?

Oh, I “crack” myself up! 😉

Anywho! Moving on! Time for breakfast…er, I mean dinner!

The temps have dropped pretty drastically here in the south over the last couple of days, so when I got home from the gym today, all I wanted was a big, huge, fluffy bowl of comfort!

Voluminous Oat Bran
Using Carrie’s tried and true micro-method