Because I obviously don't have enough to do...

Earlier this year I decided to join the local alumnae group for the sorority I was part of in college. Sometime after the first meeting I was contacted by the president and asked if I would be their delegate to the local alumnae panhellenic council. Sure, sounds like fun -- get to meet other women, stay involved in the greek organization, etc, etc. Wednesday night was the first meeting and it went well. I'm quite happy with my position.

However, at the beginning of the meeting, they went over recruitment numbers for each chapter at each of the local colleges. I looked at the numbers for my old collegiate chapter and was shocked --- they weren't good. I was never the crazed sorority girl that ate, lived and breathed greek life, but the sorority was something I really enjoyed being apart of and was where I met my 2 best friends. Hard to put a price-tag on something like that. After speaking with several panhellenic reps from the school, I realized that the house could really use some help. Yesterday I fired off an email to the alumnae president asking how I can get involved.

After several emails back and forth, I'm now in contact with the main alumnae advisor for my old collegiate chapter and am on my way to becoming a chapter advisor in some capacity or other. Sure, I have a lot of other things going on in my life, but the idea being able to help the house and work with the current collegiate members one-on-one is pretty exciting to me. I know I could have sat back and just said "eh, not my problem", but if everyone did that, well, nothing would get done. And I would hate to see the chapter I loved so much in college eventually have to shut down because no one bothered to step in and help when it was needed. I'm nervous, but also excited to see how the next few weeks progress with this and can't wait to start lending my assistance.

Annoyed

I swung by the grocery store this morning to pick up something semi-healthy for lunch and as I was standing in line to pay, I saw this:


Really? REALLY?

All we have heard for the past several months is how Angelina has been grieving the loss of her mother and this had led to severe weight loss. Now, I firmly believe that this really isn't any of our business in the first place, but it is what it is I guess. And now all of the sudden b/c she has gained some weight and appears to look a little healthier, she must be pregnant? Are you kidding me? How about maybe she is finally dealing with her grief, is getting her life back in order and oh, I don't know, felt like a cheeseburger... or three!

I am so over all the magazines following celebrities and their weight with almost hourly updates.

"Oh, there she is, eating frozen yogurt. She must be gearing up for a binge!"

"Look, she threw away her ice-blended before she finished it. Is she starving herself again?!?"

Enough already! I get that celebrities put themselves out there in the limelight, but this obsession with their weight and appearance has got to stop. And we wonder why our young women are so body-obsessed and that the rate of eating disorders just keeps climbing.

Ugh. Something has got to give.

home sick

Started having that icky feeling in the back of my throat Sunday night and by yesterday morning I felt seriously yucky. Thankfully Monday was a holiday for me so I just laid around on the couch and dozed/watched tv/caught up on my blog reading. Sadly, I'm not feeling much better today, so I'm having a repeat performance --- though it's definitely not a holiday today, it's a full-fledged sick day. Booo!

Our Hawaii Vacation: Kauai (Part 1 of 3)

Okay, so I don't yet have the new pink laptop, but my old computer was refurbished and while it looks like it's going to die a final death here soon, I think it should hold out until the new beauty arrives. So, that means it's picture and story time! :)

I'm splitting the vacation up into 3 parts, which is how the trip was structured. We spent our first 3 nights at The Princeville Resort in Kauai, the next 3 nights at the Grand Wailea Hotel in Wailea and the last 5 nights at the Sheraton Maui on Ka'anapali Beach. Sorry in advance b/c it's going to be long and picture filled.

We flew into Lihue, Kauai at around noon on September 1st. After picking up the rental car we started on the approximate 45 minute drive up the coast to the Princeveille Resort. I made the mistake of not eating something before we left the airport and wound up getting very car sick on the drive. So, no pictures of the beautiful drive. I seem to recall the foliage was amazing, but I was too sick to capture any of it on film. Oops.

After getting to the resort, we checked with the valet staff and after greeting us with leis we made our way into the lobby. Um, wow. The picture doesn't do the place justice.

Since we were early and our room wasn't ready yet, we went to the poolside cafe for lunch and then a quick walk on the beach.

After lunch, we were able to check into our room. [Side note: I had signed up for a "free limited-time upgrade to Gold level" for my Starwood Preferred Guest membership at the beginning of the year that was only supposed to be good through the end of March '07. Well, somehow this was never removed from my account so when we checked in, I was listed as a Gold Level guest and we were automatically upgraded to an Ocean View room. Suhweet!]

The "magic window" in the bathroom that goes from opaque to clear with flip of a switch! Conceivably you could take a shower while having a view of the ocean. Interesting concept, but not something we really took advantage of.

And the view from the bed. Amazing.

We got settled and then hurriedly got into our swimsuits and spent the next few hours at the pool enjoying the sun and the swim-up bar. Like a little piece of heaven. That night, we had a casual dinner at the hotel lounge where we accidently wound up sitting next to 2 very drunk men who didn't quite understand the concept of inside voices. Thankfully, they didn't stay long. The sushi was decent albeit expensive. I think we were passed out by about 7:30ish.

Monday morning, after a quick breakfast at the hotel, we were off to Ke'e Beach for some snorkeling and laying around on the sand. We were there for a few hours and were planning on beach-hopping the rest of the day, but the fact that it was Labor Day made finding parking more of a hassle than we cared for. So, back to the hotel we went. But not before a quick stop at the Hanalei Lookout to see the taro fields. Pretty cool.

That afternoon it was lunch at the poolside cafe again and more pool time. Rough, I know. ;)That night I was starting to feel sort of "off" again, so dinner was a bit of a solemn affair. Jim and I only remember the food being ho-hum although I don't know if I was the best judge that night.

Tuesday morning we woke up to a downpour, but it was actually really relaxing eating outside under a covered patio while watching the rain come down. While most of the rain had let up by the time we were done eating, the skies were still dreary on our drive up the coast to Tunnels Beach.

Our first hour or so at Tunnels was filled with grey skies and drizzle, but by the time the sky cleared up, we realized what an absolutely gorgeous beach it was! Granted, the snorkeling was just meh, but the weather was perfect, the sand warm and it was large enough to not feel crowded even though there were a lot of people there. Not a bad morning.

That afternoon we had lunch at Bubba's Burgers, which was suprisingly yummy and downright cheap compared to the food prices at the hotel! And what trip to Hawaii is complete without a stop for shave ice? I was super bummed that the most popular place on the North Shore (Wishing Well Shave Ice) was closed, but we tried the 2nd favorite place instead. In my haste to eat the thing before it melted, I forgot to take pictures. Oops! But, let me tell you, macadamia nut ice cream on the bottom is so.freaking.good.

After we woke up from our lunch induced food-coma, we decided to have one last adventure before going back to the hotel. Just about a half mile from the hotel is the entrance to Queen's Bath -- a natural pool located on a lava bench that is constantly refreshed with ocean water. I'm not the most adventerous person out there, but Jim really wanted to go and it was so close to our hotel, I gave in. After a hike through some jungle and then another short walk across lava rock, you stumble upon this beautiful natural swimming pool right there on the side of the cliffs. Ah-mazing. Took me a few minutes to work up the courage to go in, but it was so refreshing and gorgeous once I took a dip. Again, pictures don't really do it justice.

On the way back up to the car, my brilliant hubby thought it would be a good idea to stop at the freshwater waterfall to clean off (did I mention that our hotel was literally a 2 minute drive from this place?). Let's just say the mosquitos had a little feast. Boooo!

That night we had dinner at La Cascata -- the hotel's Italian inspired restaurant. Since we still hadn't adjusted to the time difference, making silly early reservations allowed us a window seat and a perfect view of the sunset. So nice.

We both ordered the Shrimp with gazpacho for an appetizer and the seafood linguine for dinner. The appetizer was so good-- perfectly cooked prawns sitting in a little glass of slighly spicy yellow gazpacho. However, the linguine fell a bit short for both of us. The sauce was not that flavorful and the seafood (shrimp, lobster, scallops and sea bass) were all slightly over-cooked. One of us should have obviously ordered something else, but oh well.

For dessert, I opted for the gelato (chocolate and coffee, both very tasty) and Jim ordered the tiramisu (one of his favorite desserts, but he said it was just meh). Overall the dinner was just okay, but the view was pretty spectacular.

The next morning we got up early, grabbed a quick breakfast and started back to the airport for our afternoon flight to Maui. Before dropping off the rental car though, we made a detour up into Lihue to see Wailua Falls. One of the easiest waterfalls to get to (you just drive up a long road, park and you're there!) it is taller than Niagra Falls (albeit not nearly as powerful). We were one of only 2 couples there and it was so peaceful and beautiful.

After 20 minutes or so of gawking and taking pictures, it was time to head back down the moutain, turn in the rental car and take the puddle-jumper over to Maui!

A few general thoughts:

• We usually vacation on Maui, so going to Kauai for a few days was a nice change of pace for us. It's much greener than Maui and moves at a slower pace. I think Maui is still our favorite island, but Kauai was a lot of fun for a change.
• The Princeville Resort is huge, the common areas are gorgeous and the location is paradise. The rooms themselves, however, are not worth what the hotel charges for them. Our room was clean and spacious, but not overly "luxurious" and somewhat in need of a face-lift. We specifically stayed at this resort because we got a killer deal through my retirement association (almost 70% off), so we felt like we got the room for a steal. However, if we had paid rack rate for the room we would have been pretty upset. I have read that St. Regis has purchased this hotel and over the next 2 years or so will be making major rennovations and turning it into one of the Starwood Luxury Collection resorts. I would be interested to see what the resort looks like at that time.
• Princeville is very isolated from other major tourist areas on Kauai and for that reason, the food choices are severly limited. For ease, we ate at the hotel for most of our meals, but it is very very expensive to do so. While the food isn't bad, for what you're paying, we expected more. Something to keep in mind for anyone considering staying here.
  

hey motivation, where did you go?

I've been back in the real world now for almost 3 weeks and I'm still having trouble motivating to get back to my schedule of eating right and exercising most days of the week. I figured this might be a problem before we left for vacation, but I felt good when we got back and was ready to jump back into things. Or so I thought. Ever since, I've been stuggling. I've worked out some, I've sort of been eating healthy, but really it's been half-baked attempts at both. I gained a few lbs. on vacation and while I haven't gained anymore, I also have lost those extra souvenirs I brought home with me either. And I'm starting to get bummed about it.

I know that I just need to do it and stop making excuses, but for some reason this is a real challenge right now. I was feeling really good about the strides I was making before we left and now I just feel schlumpy (is that even a word?). Okay, vent over. Hopefully I'll have a more uplifting update next week.

On a brighter note, last night I was working out with my trainer and instead of just doing weights, he added in a set of shuttle runs. Now, I've never played sports so that term sort of went over my head, but a good definition can be found here. I am usually reluctant to want to do cardio stuff with my trainer b/c the idea of paying someone to watch me run just seems silly. At least with the weights we are always doing something new that I haven't seen before and would likely not be doing on my own. However, these shuttle runs were *gasp* actually fun! Those of you who have played sports and had to do these are probably thinking "sure, they're fun for a few sets... try doing them for an entire practice and then talk to me". Which, I'm sure you're right. But, it was nice way to shake-up our session last night.

Memememe ... again.

So, I got tagged by a whole gaggle of gals (alyssa, tater and kenna) to do this meme. Guess it's time to get crackin' on it!

Four Jobs I've Had In My Life

1. Office assistant at a corporate dental office --- my very first job at 14!
2. Salesgirl/Cashier at Nordstroms --- the discount was so much fun.
3. Dance teacher at my old dance studio --- taught tap to little kids.
4. Office manager for a small dermatology office --- worked my way from lowly med. asst to basically running the place.

Four Movies I Can Watch Over And Over

1. Office Space
2. Dirty Dancing
3. Pretty Woman
4. Shawshank Redemption

Four TV Shows I Like To Watch

**I'd like to note that based on my previous post about my love of TV, obviously choosing just 4 is too hard. **

1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Biggest Loser
3. Heroes
4. Lost

Four Places I Have Vacationed

1. London
2. Paris
3. Italy
4. Maui

Four Of My Favorite Dishes (I'll give it the twist of listing stuff that I make at home)

1. Pan-seared filet mignon w/creamy mashed potatoes and roasted asparagus
2. Salmon and Asparagus in Parchment w/white rice
3. Turkey Tacos
4. Turkey Chili

Four Places I'd Rather Be

1. Home in bed
2. On a beach in Hawaii
3. In a cafe in Italy sipping espresso and people watching
4. Shopping in SD with my friend K

Four Websites I Visit Daily

1. Google
2. Gmail
3. Hotmail
4. CNN

I think everyone I know has already been tagged to do this but here goes anyways:
Gimme Skinny -- fellow sparker that is gearing up for a half marathon.
Paved with Good Intentions -- a foodie whose blog is filled with so many yummy pictures of meals she cooks that I drool all over myself while reading her blog.
random thoughts on a daily basis -- my dear friend wan just had a baby so i know she has tons of free time on her hands and would love to fill this out ;)

Shopping and cooking and cleaning, oh my!

Yup, that pretty much sums up my weekend.

Shopping

• After work I hit up Target for a new shower curtain and bathmat (it was time to replace them) and Best Buy for a USB memory card reader and the Grey's Anatomy vol. 3 sountrack. I highly recommend picking it up -- lots of really great tunes including previously unreleased tracks from John Legend (Sun Comes Up) and Matt Kearney (Breathe In Breathe Out) and a song written especially for the season finale from Ingrid Michaelson (Keep Breathing).
• Later that night the hubs and I had "date night" at Costco. When I told my co-workers about this, many of them let me know that they often do this with their significant others too. Nice to know we're in good company. We stocked up on wine, chicken, cereal, chips, a few new books, season 6 of Gilmore Girls (for me), eye drops (for him) and a fresh baked pizza for dinner. Can't beat 9.95 for a pizza the size of a small country.
• Saturday I swung by the new AG Jeans store in Beverly Hills and picked up 2 new pairs of jeans. Woohoo! The salesgirl was really nice and very helpful, even bringing me a bottle of water when I started having a coughing fit in the dressing room. After a stop at Denim Doctors this week to nip in the waist, they will be perfect! Thank you Oprah for bringing my attention to the Club fit --- my backside will be forever grateful.
• That afternoon I went to the grocery store and stocked up for the week. Yay! No lines are so very nice.

Cooking

• Saturday night I made an Applesauce Spice Cake (recipe from Real Simple) which made the whole apartment smell like fall. Although, I guess anything that starts off with a stick of melted butter and a cup of sugar is going to smell pretty darn yummy.
• For dinner, hubs requested my salmon and asparagus in parchment. Again, recipe is from Real Simple (found here) and looks/tastes much fancier than it actually is. Add a side of white rice and some wine and voila! Dinner is served.
• Last night I tried a new chicken recipe for dinner from Cooking Light (my other favorite place for new recipes). Chicken and Asparagus in White Wine Sauce with chive mashed potatoes. Yeah, this one is a keeper! Even though it's from Cooking Light, the amount of butter used probably makes it less than healthly, but eh, still better than getting takeout.

Cleaning

• Went through my closet and loaded up another 2 bags for Goodwill.
• Replaced the bathmat and shower curtain in the bathroom and gave the rest of the room a quick cleaning.
• Dropped off a bag of dry cleaning and did 4 loads of laundry at home. And now we have clean things to wear this week.
• Cleaned and reorganized the kitchen. It looks all pretty and shiny again.
• Reorganized and dusted my half of the office. The hubs side is his responsibility. hehehe

See, not a terribly exciting weekend, but very productive! And now only 4 days til my long weekend -- no work on Friday or next Monday makes me a very happy little worker bee this week :)