give me just one night.

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new month. new obsessions.

1. John Legend

2. Fleetwood Mac

3. Clementines by the handful.

4. It Ain’t All About the Cookin’, Y’all by Paula Deen

5. My new view at the office: mountains.

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this weekend. Costco. haircuts. Date night, maybe home made pasta, certainly homemade pizza. six miles of running. yoga. maybe twice. farmer’s market. listening to tunes. updating my cooking blog. updating this blog. snuggle time. soccer. little, little hands and feet. s t r e t c h i n g. dreams (to remember.)

******

songs of the week:

* Go You’re Own Way
* Sydney (I’ll Come Running)
* Loser Like Me

*****

It’s almost summer. I can feel it. Off for a threemile run…

Un’amica Stretta

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Like, for instance, we just learned the other day that un’amica stretta means “a close friend.” But stretta literally means tight, as in clothing, like a tight skirt. So a close friend, in Italian, is one you that can wear tightly, snug against your skin, and that is what my little Swedish friend Sofie is becoming to me.

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I am finally back from my road trip with Corelyn. We left last Saturday, April 23, and were on the road until Sunday, May 1. It was, as any road trip, a life-changing experience. We had a lot of adventures on the road, from the Grand Canyon to the Alamo, and I wouldn’t change a second of it.

On Monday, Corelyn put me back on a plane to LA. Neither of us cried, we just said goodbye, and I headed off. “I’m not going to watch you go through security,” Cor said, as we sat waiting as each moment ticked by. “So you don’t want to watch me inch forward and waive at me every one second?” I questioned. We laughed, but knew secretly we’d stay together every moment we could.

On the plane home, I started reading Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. The above paragraph is from that novel, in her “Italy” section. As I sat on the plane, headed home, I let a few tears go reading that section. Corelyn is un’amica stretta. She is my close friend, and I will wear her tightly, cliché or not.

I will miss her as she starts a new chapter of her life back east, but I know we will always be sorelle. In New Orleans, we stopped at a house that had been left dilapidated by Hurricane Katrina. An artist has repainted one of its walls and left a section for you to answer the statement, “Before I die…” I wrote “Open a restaurant.” Corelyn wrote, “With JP.”

I believe someday, I will open a restaurant with Corelyn. It will probably be on Apple Tush Farms, the farm I plan to have with K, SS, and M. And, my friends, we will all live happily. ever. after. For now? Filling the chapters in between with my California adventures that will restart this weekend after being away for so long. Wish me luck, loves.

 

Through the cradle of the civil war…

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Well friends, tomorrow is the day we head off for the other side of the country. I’m sorry I’ve been out — plague struck the HAP house, and I’ve been sick. And preparing for a move at work. And preparing for the road trip.

I’ll be posting travel updates on the cooking blog, so check out my progress there. Tomorrow’s goal is Flagstaff, AZ. I’ve never been to Arizona, and I am excited for the trip and all the states I’ll be able to add to my travel log.

When I get back I’ll also be in a new office, which is exciting, albeit a lot of change to happen at once, but I’m excited to be moving – Spring has sprung, change is in the air, and it’s all necessary and great.

I’ll leave you with 5gts:

1. Road trips with Paul Simon and best friends.

2. Training, although delayed, will be resumed next week when my cough is subsided, and I’ll be stronger than ever (I know it.)

3. New sneakers for my race.

4. New Brett Dennen.

5. Blue nail polish. Everyone should have blue nail polish at some point. Yesterday, Eddie, the check out man at TJ’s, sad, “Let me see your nails?” And proceeded to tell me that his daughter likes to paint her nails “crazy colors” too.

See you soon, chickadees. Love you each and every one.

Relative Danger: a story of sorelle

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Chicks, it’s Friday. I am trying to keep my spirit up, despite the fact that apparently I am allergic to the entire state of California.

Last night was a hectic night, as are most nights at the HAP house. We’re shooting a photo shoot this weekend for Garlic, My Soul, and we had some prep cooking to do. We made doughnuts, pancakes, and muffins last night, and Corelyn spent today decorating our baked goods. Becca will be on hand for makeup and quiche-making, and Jeff will be around for man-power. Literally.

Anyways, this week has been long – and it’s been the week of 2.25 mile runs. I can’t believe I am already past 2 miles, and its killing me. I think it’s because I haven’t been to yoga in a while — too busy!! — but my shins have been KILLING ME. My sorella told me I could take a break, so this morning I dragged myself to the gym to do the elliptical machine. At 6:50, I was already late and turns out, it takes you longer to travel the same distance on an elliptical, unless you pump your legs so hard you have to hold on to the machine so you don’t fall off.

I kept an eye on the clock, and had to jump off at 7:20 to make sure I got to work on time. 1.75 miles is all I got before my time was up. It took 22 minutes in all (which actually was about the amount of time it took me to run it, so I guess I wasn’t that far behind.) I somehow had forgotten my lock (who knows where it is? I am hoping on the floor at home) so I had to go out to my car to get it then hustle back inside to get ready for work.

Needless to say, it was another crazy morning. Where’s the yoga when I need it? But when I got to work, Nikki and I signed up for the race. That’s right, folks; on the day I broke and needed a running break, I signed up to run a 5k that I’m not even sure I can do. We signed up with the team name “Relative Danger” just the right amount of truth and cheese. So cheer me on, send me shin stretches, and good vibes…I’m going to need them.

 

Rules, regulations.

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I’ve had a reader request to post more about the Scavenger Hunt, which I kind of side-swiped you with, huh? So this was the run down. It was a 12-hour scavenger hunt, 1:00 pm to 1:00 am. In that time, you had to complete as many tasks as possible on the list. It was photo-based, so the list included things like “your entire team in a shopping cart” and “crying over split milk.”

Every team had four or five teammates, and everyone had to be in the pictures, minus one person taking the photo. So if the task was, “On monkey bars” one person could BE on the monkey bars, and everyone else had to be in the frame (to prove you were together and not cheating by splitting up and trying to get more done.)

Besides being back on time (minus 10 points for every 5 minutes you were late) and having everyone one in the photo, there were no rules. The list has over 600 tasks on it, so for the sake of sparing you, I’ve listed a few more below that we did, and will definitely be adding more pictures in the days to come.

sleeping with the fishes
toasting with sparkling beverages
wearing hawaiin shirts
with a parrot
playing Ms. Pacman arcade game
in a fountain
with a stranger with more than 3 facial piercings
conga line in a public place (must involve at least 1 stranger)
Teammate receiving a swirley
running with scissors
Photo of team in a photo booth
holding a monkey
buried in the sand (more than 1/2 of your team)
Drinking out of one milkshake
On the set of a TV show or film

Here are a bunch we didn’t do but wanted to:

With a Pink Caddillac
At a museum
All Members sitting with a random family at a restaurant
With a military serviceman/servicewoman
In a comic book store
Find a grammatical error in a store sign
Sleeping on a bed in a mattress store
At a lighthouse
With a biker gang
All members dressed in camouflage clothing from head to feet
Take a shower at a car wash (bathing suit)
Helping an elderly person cross the street
With a car with no engine

It was a fun day, complete with shirts and lots of laughs. If you want to set up one with your friends, chat with me and I can give you tips!