blog's birthday

Happy Birthday, my dear Blog.

It's been three years since your inception and I was pretty good the first year, the second year was okay, but it wasn't with out a little bit of struggling and as for this year- I don't know what happened.

I'm sorry. 

And I'm sorry to anyone out there if you are still out there.

Life happens.

I'm running and I'm catching up.

See you soon!

the JT movement

Once upon a time, in my early twenties, a cool boy band came out and caused the biggest stir amongst teens and young adults. I found myself singing along to all their songs and *trying* to learn the dance moves. If they were still a band now, I'd love them just as much. Yup, I'm talking about the talented and high energy *NSYNC. Each album that they released over time, seemed to only get better and better. They definitely ran circles around the other bands/singers (98 Degrees, Backstreet Boys, etc), and in my opinion, it was mostly due to Justin Timberlake's talent and appeal. Okay, so I'm totally biased because clearly he was the fan fav. Not long after their success, JT broke off from the group and came out with two successful albums of his own, and recently came out with a third which has him in the spot light once again.

One of my favorite moments from back in the day was being at Jimmy Love's one night with the Fab Four and getting so excited when the DJ played "I Want You Back". At the time, everyone in that dance club was twice our age, so I can imagine what they were thinking hearing that song AND seeing eager young gals so excited over this newly released pop song. Again, keep in mind... people twice our age in this place were more accustomed to grooving out to "Brickhouse" or "September" or "Let's Get it On." 

JT's solo freshman and sophomore albums were a proven success- Justified & Future Sex Love Songs- and I loved them both! A very fond moment from the Future Sex love Songs era was when I had the chance to see him perform at the House of Blues in San Diego. I don't know how we got news of him performing there, but I'm so glad that we jumped at the chance to buy tickets. I'd like to say that Angie, Emy, Hazel & I were very, very fortunate to witness this show. Now that he is blown up and he has "arrived", seeing him at a small intimate venue like HOB is unheard of. No show will ever compare to that one.We were up close and personal with Mr. Timberlake. The singer, the dancer, the actor, the golfer, the philanthropist, the comedian, the NBA basketball team owner, the clothing designer and most recently, the husband. Waaaahhhhh!

With the release of his latest album, I immediately caught on to a few songs that's been tagged as my favs. He's been promoting the release of his new CD (and pretty much himself): Target commercials, his performance at the Grammy's (wow, that was amazing!), appearances and performances on all the talk shows from LA to NYC. I was glued to the TV for weeks when he hosted SNL and then spending the week hosting with Jimmy Fallon. All of it was DVR'd and just about took up all the memory, kicking off other shows that  were recorded. Every song he performed on Fallon, made me fall for him- this boy can move and groove.  This modern day JT has my heart skipping a beat, I feel so silly being attached to him like I was 5 years or even 10 years ago, but how can I not be so fascinated by this walking legend. 

Despite the horrendous traffic and parking issues we will face at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, I'm so excited to see him perform live. This will not compare to the HOB show in SD, but I'm sure it will be up there, especially since Jay Z will be on stage as well. I will check in later next week to report how it goes.

Eeeks, SEXY is SO is back...

ouch!

Training for a summer half marathon is a son of a biatch. It's hot and the heat just makes me want to laze around. As much as I try to get up early on the weekends to run, it is so hard. So the majority of my runs end up being in the evening 3 or 4 times a week. I try to find every excuse to keep from putting on my sneaks and pounding the pavement for a solid hour, but thank God for hubs who pushes me to get it done. Love him!

On a run short run the other day, I took a awkward step and knew at that second something was wrong. Almost like I hyper extended the back of my knee. Not a severe injury, but as any leg injury, it needed to be rested, elevated and iced. I took three days off and decided to try my hand at Insanity. Yeh, total blast from the past, huh? It was so weird how I found those 40 minutes to be an easy, but great work out.

Easy, because I'm so used to hour long barre classes and hour long runs. I haven't had a date with Shaun T. in over a year and he was quite pleasant.

Fast forward to 24 hours later, my calves are killing me!!! Yet, we desperately wanted to get a run in and went to the lake the next day despite being sore. Another 24 hours later, OUCH! It's amazing how a few days of rest and a change in workouts make the biggest difference. 

Despite my ouchies I am determined to keep up with my training schedule...4 more weeks! And check this out...I searched high and low for these suckers and found them for the race. Woo-hoo!

birthday girl

As mentioned in a few posts ago, the little girl turned 4 years old this month and we celebrated very quietly this year, with just immediate family. But it's not really a quiet celebration with my family- we are talking over 25 people. However, a beautiful, warm afternoon in the middle of July, food, a pool, sunscreen, a pinata, a delicious cake and the company of family was all we needed to celebrate this 4 year old. 

And she was just fine with it, it was the perfect pool party!

 

JULY catch up

It's July, which basically means we are half way through the year! Can you believe it?

This means my little girl turns 4 real soon, my hubby is turning another year older, summer is in full swing, lots of upcoming beach, pool and outdoor time and it's going to get hot up in here. Hello Summer!

It's been a few months since I've been here and not a lot of changes, but a lot going on. With pre-school ending at the beginning of June, that brought on the end of the first swim session and dance classes on Saturdays. 

It was the first time CJ has ever been in swim lessons, but because of her love for swimming pools and water, it was no problem for her adjusting to learning and actual instructions. Today she starts swim lessons again for 2 weeks straight, and we hope the consistency helps the learning curve. 

The dance recital took place last weekend and I had no idea how hectic of a day that would be. But at the end of the day it was all worth it! Seeing my little girl on stage pulling off dance moves that she has practiced over the last few weeks couldn't make me more proud. Her class was assigned "Circle of Life" from the Lion King movie, so their outfits were to die for. Nude, long sleeve leotard, nude tights, brown tutu, lion ears made on a headband and a tail to attach to the tutu. The proud mom in me yelled her name while on stage and she stopped in her tracks to look for me and waved at us. A typical 4 year old ballerina moment... and that was my typical (Lion) Mom Pride moment, I just had to. :)

We have been hustling and bustling at work, which is a good thing. Balance between life at home and life at work is not an easy task, but I'm managing. Six months from now will be the good life. I put a hold on my barre classes since I'm training for a half marathon this August, and although I miss it training is more important than pulsing and plies right now. Most running days are great once I get past that 1st mile, but this heat will not be helpful. I just need to suck it up and get it done. In line with my training schedule, my long runs are approaching fast- pray for me!

Lots of party/get together planning over the next two months, but who am I kidding? This will be never-ending! I am looking forward to a fun summer filled with lots of relaxing, BBQ's, beach, pool & sun time, running highs (and lows) and quality time with family and friends. 

Thanks for visiting, I promise I will be back soon and more often!

summer music

There are some real good bands touring this summer and I can't get enough of them. Hubby and bro-in-law got me into island mode by introducing me to Island 98.5- a hawaiian based radio station that I listen to through I Heart Radio. Every time we visit Hawaii, Hubs first thing to do when we pick up the rental car is to set the radio stations. We like to explore the islands, find beaches and drive up and down the beautiful coast while listening to local radio stations. It's surreal...too bad we don't have a Hawaii trip planned. 

For now, I've been daydreaming about a Hawaiian vacation while listening and seeing the following artists:

Katchafire started off this whirlwind "summer concert tour" for us. I haven't heard too many of their songs to be a huge fan, but the few I have heard are pretty catchy. Before heading to the show, we had a few drinks and apps at Burlap to meet up with everyone for lil brother's birthday. We ended up seeing a ton of people we knew at The Belly Up when we got there, so between both places, it was a night full of drinking and mingling. 

A few weeks later, we headed to Solana Beach's Fiesta Del Sol to meet up with friends, family and their kids. And even better- they were holding free concerts! This worked out perfect because yet another island music artist was performing- Anuhea. She is a female artist born in Maui and her music is so soothing and it is such pleasant island music to listen to. It was very nice seeing her live and the kids had a great time playing and dancing around.

The Green is an "up & coming" band from Hawaii and I can listen to their music over and over and not get sick of it. I think they are that good! Just like Katachfire, we saw them at the Belly Up and they killed it! My friend was there that night and since she isn't that into them as much as I am, she was talking to me the whole time and I tried my best to listen to them and chat with her simultaneously.

There may be a few more "Island Style" music shows that will be added to our list before summer is over, but what I'm really getting excited for is the JT/JayZ concert coming up at the end of July. Although I know that parking and traffic at the Rose Bowl are going to be hell, I've been looking forward to this show ever since we bought our tickets back in March (when the album came out). I don't want to let that keep me from having fun, because regardless I know it will be a siiiiick show.
I mean JT AND JayZ? Seriously!

our weekends

I love my weekends!

How I wish they were longer so that I can fit in all my errands, my workouts, my chores and spend more time with my family and friends. We do what we can to make the most of it, so I was so happy when Barre added a 7am class on Saturdays. What a great way to make use of dead time! Not only am I getting my work out done, but I come home energized and start making big breakfast- one of the things we can never do on the weekdays as a family. Bacon, eggs, fried rice, toast or croissants, and of course coffee... morning coffee on the weekends are the BEST! For a while, hubs was making trips down the street to grab donut holes and old fashion donuts at the best donut shop ever. Coming home to sweet and sugary deliciousness after a rigorous work out wasn't ideal; I had to put a stop to that dangerous weekend tradition.

Fortunately we haven't been too busy with much, so our weekends have consisted of last minute, short trips to random local places. We checked out another part of Balboa Park and I wasn't in the mood to lug my camera around, so no great shots. Originally I wanted to spend some time in one of the museums, being that it was February and most, if not all, museums were 1/2 off admissions (museum month). But I was dragging myself around the Park as it was, I didn't want to pay admission and have to leave after 15 minutes. Those early morning barre classes have been catching up to me by mid-day.

Balboa Park, by the rose garden

rock climbing

Another weekend was spent in the East Village. This was the 3rd year going to Padres Fan Fest and although it wasn't that great of a turn out, it was a good time. We hung out on the field, something that can rarely be done and I chased the little girl around to try and tire her out. We waited in line to get a cheesy Hello Kitty painted on her face that I probably could've painted better. And we strolled through the park a bit before having dinner at Basic Kitchen- my favorite!

this location would be nice season ticket seats

Our first weekend in March was ruled by Disneyland. We drove out on a Friday afternoon and stayed until 10 and went home. Early the following day, we were the first to arrive at the Disney store which gave Camille the opportunity to turn and unlock the big Disney lock with the big Disney key. Did you know about this little event that they hold? My sis had done this a few times and I didn't realize what big deal this is. After Camille turned the key to unlock the store with a nice applause to follow, it sent a little girl in a tantrum wanting to unlock it. Sorry, sweetie! THEN on Sunday morning, we headed back up to Disneyland to spend the first half of the day there. I'll save that weekend for another post, but we were certainly Disneyed out.

on the tram heading towards Disneyland

the key to unlock the Disney store

Hazel and I ran a 5K race in Solana Beach that was pretty fun. The gunshot start was a little wild & chaotic- overly excited dogs, people stumbling and tripping on leashes, etc... And since it was a race to support the Helen Woodward Animal Center, Cloie got to run with me. Last weekend we ran another 5K and did pretty well. It was a fairly easy course but going forward I now have a new PR to beat. Sweet! That race has given me the run bug and I'm seriously considering a half marathon in a short six weeks. Future blog posts about those two 5Ks coming up.

With birthdays galore coming up I know for certain there will be a lot to talk about in the next few weeks. And there you have it, my weekends. Summarized in a few short paragraphs.
And guess what? It's Friday...the weekend is here!!!