Genius marketing!

Today I was in Mission Valley running errands when I found THE GREATEST car EVER.



Yes, a plaid Volvo station wagon, complete with Jock McDuff license plate.


Who be J.McDuff? Turns out it's a celtic online store based in La Jolla with many a-plaided items. Make sure to stop by - it's cute, I swear!

Hooray!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MY ROOMMATE!!!


Everyone please go wish Miss Nic of Cupcakes with Nic a very happy 29th (err..26th? Is that better, Nic?) birthday today!



Nic has been my bestest (along with E, above) since we were roommates at Vanderbilt oh so many years ago. How we survived living together in tiny-tiny rooms, I do not know. Our junior year our room was so tiny that we *had* to bunk the beds and our desks were so close that if she stretched her arms, I'd get bonked in the head.


Despite all that, we have remained amazing, amazing friends. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without her. We don't talk as much as we used to (damn you, Pacific Timezone!) but when we do, I feel like we're right back on track. Aside from my hubby, the two people I love hanging out with the most in life are E and Nic.


**shooting beams of love across the country to my ladies**



I believe some cheers are in order, no? So Nic, here's to you. May you have many years of wonderful cupcakes, friends, and family. We love and miss you SO much!! Cheers!!

Hmm....smells fruity...with a side of...

Eh, who cares? Let's just drink - Chin chin!

Drinking, drinking, drinking...

Hmm...that was lovely

What do you think, E?

OMG, Nic's still going!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, you big LUSH!!

Important life lesson....

Durr.

So you may have noticed that I haven't posted about running in a while. That would be because I'm nursing my right achilles tendon back from, wait for it, achilles tendonitis!

I tried to do some hill training and my tendon went "OMG! WHAT are you DOING?! You think you can just push me up a hill, Elliott? You crazy, girlfriend. I will now punish you for a week with a limp to rival Quasimodo. Want to wear any heels higher than 1/4" high? HA! I laugh at you!"

To still get my workout on, I've been hitting the elliptical and the bike. Woo boy, I forgot I had some of those leg muscles!

I've also been taking the 100 pushup challenge and the 200 situp challenge.


The two programs follow the same formula; an initial fit test and then a six week program to get you pushin' and sittin' up. The workouts are 3 days a week so it's easy to take 10 minutes and crank them both out while I'm waiting for my computer to boot up.

I'm at the 4 week mark and let me tell you, I can see serious improvement. I'm cranking out 50+ pushups with only one break. And while you can't see my abs (they're there, under mah belly), I can feel them when I'm working out. Very cool.

Anyone else doing either program? There's another one for squats that I'm thinking of starting.

I have a confession...

...I am a library ADDICT.

I grew up in a "reading" home, with floor to ceiling bookshelves in most rooms. And my father never met a bookstore that he didn't like. Muhmoo and Deedoo may have limited our toys but we were given as many books as we could read. (Not that we didn't have toys, we certainly did. We just had massive amounts of books too.)

As a result of my reading childhood, I still enjoy a good book or ten. I am an extremely fast reader thanks to my job which requires that I read massive amounts of reports and news every day, so I get through books at home every other day or so.

You can see where this is going.

Unless I'm sure I'm going to LOVE a book, I don't buy it. Instead, I head to the library. I mean, if I had to buy a book every 2-3 days, I'd go broke!

This is our front door area. Yes, I'm reading (concurrently) all of those books.


So what's on me bookshelf this week?

• Jpod - Douglas Coupland. Have you ever worked for a bone-headed company? Read away.
  
• Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy. Creepy classic. See, I DO read literature. :)
• Sleep, Pale Sister - Joanne Harris. Saving this for my flight to Denver this weekend. Looks creepy.
  
• Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination - Helen Fielding. HF is one of my favorite authors. I read Bridgit Jones aloud to my roommate in college and have loved it ever since.
• How I Learned to Cook. A collection of stories from world-famous chefs about their cooking beginnings.
  
• In Defense of Food - Michael Pollan. I finished the Omnivore's Dilemma last week and knew I needed this book ASAP. "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." What a motto!
• The Sign - Raymond Khoury. Khoury writes great pseudo-historical thrillers.
  
• Housetraining for Dummies - Susam McCullough. We're thinking about adopting a puppy. I'm doing my homework.
• ASPCA Complete Dog Care Manual - Bruce Fogle. Ditto above.
• Lofts, Living in Space - Orianna Banks. I'm dabbling in interior design. I need some decorating ideas, STAT!
• The Art of Interior Design - Suzanne Woloszynska. Ditto.
  

Phew! And tomorrow I have to pick up my book club selection! It's a good thing I have two flights this week, I always get a ton of reading done on planes. :)

Do you have a suggestion for a book to read? I'm open to anything, fiction or non!

Shower and 4th of July

Eeps...it has been too long since I posted! No excuses - I've been lazy.

Last weekend I went to Philly for a surprise bridal shower for my friend C. C and I knew each other in Ireland and I literally spent EVERY Thursday night at her flat, drinking tequila before we would head out to da clubz.

I'm so excited about her wedding. I've heard about her fiance, E, since he was "that cute guy I work with." Hee! The two of them are perfect for each other and I was SO happy and excited to see them over the weekend.

Think she was surprised?

I ended staying at the shower until midnight at which point my friend L (who just found out about my blog - Hi L!) drove me to BWI. My plan was thus: hang out in the RCC until 4am and then go standby for the 5am flight.

Heh.

Turns out that security closes at lot earlier than my arrival at 1:30am.

I was camped out on a bench, desperately trying to connect to the wifi (also a no-go on that side of security) when a cabbie let me in on a little secret. The international terminal in BWI has really comfy couches on the side before security. SCORE! So I trek on over and find out that lots of cabbies and night cleaning ladies like to nap on the couches around 3am each night. Hee. I watched a movie and headed through security to Starbucks at 4am. Nice.

So if you ever find yourself at an airport late at night, don't be afraid to move around - you may find a surprise or two in the next terminal!

In other news, I hope everyone had a happy 4th of July, or as it's known in our household "a Happy Insurgency Day."

We headed to DH's co-worker's house up in Del Mar for an AMAZING cookout. We took our traditional Insurgency Day Anglo-American Relations cake.

Vanilla bean pound cake with raspberry buttercream and fresh berries. Mmm....


We went out at 9 to watch the fireworks and I was dive-bombed by about 8000 mosquitoes. I'm one of those super reactive people so I was covered in red welts in about five minutes, including one right between my eyes. Verrrry attractive, let me tell ya. I think the part that amused DH the most was that NO ONE ELSE was bitten once! I guess I'm really sweet. *batting eyelashes*

Anywho, that's all for now. Hope your holiday was fantastic!

Madsen

Madsen, besides being the name of one of best friends, is also the name of a kick-arse cargo bike company. Until July 15th they are giving away two of their bikes to anyone with an online presence (read: blog, twitter, etc). Click here to enter.

I am totally in love with the powder blue bike above. How amazing would it be to peddle over to the Little Italy mercato or the Hillcrest farmer's market on the weekend?