Breakfast and a bike ride

It’s been awhile since I busted out my bike… in fact, when I hopped on it this morning, I thought the brakes were sticking because of a horrible noise coming from the front tire. Turns out it was so flat, that was the excess rubber dragging on the ground. So I rolled up my sleeves and pumped some air into those suckers before heading out on a pretty leisurely ride.

You see, there was a really good motive behind my ride this morning.

FREE STUFF!

That’s what’s up.

If you haven’t heard yet, Starbucks is giving away a free iTunes 10 song summer mix to anyone who purchases a frappuccino this month (supplies are limited, however). I guess this deal began yesterday because sometime in the afternoon I received an email telling me so. What makes the deal even sweeter are the birthday gift cards I’m still using two months later! Free drink and music?! I think I’m in love.

Also, I tried something amazing. I’ve had hot green tea lattes before and enjoy them. I saw on their website that the green tea frappuccinos were also included in the deal. So I went with an unsweetened nonfat green tea frappuccino with coconut syrup. It’s a mouthful, but it’ll change your life. I promise, I can’t get over how good that was!!! I mean, I’ve had the coconut mocha before and wasn’t a huge fan. I think this is a much better use of Starbuck’s coconut syrup!! Please, try it ASAP if you enjoy tea. Now that I’ve discovered this combination, the possibilities are endless, raspberry syrup? Peppermint? Vanilla? This chick is about to go nuts… (And if you’ve got a registered account with Starbucks soy milk and extra syrups are F-R-E-E, theme of the day here).

Speaking of free, Starbucks, you can thank me for the free marketing/publicity. If you’d like, you can send me coupons for more free drinks!!! :)

Now about that bike ride…

There’s the little guy. Don’t let it fool you, it’s basically a cruiser with seven speeds. I can’t wait to have a full-time job and buy a nice bike and bike shorts and a helmet (I’m embarrassed to say I don’t own one. I know, that’s HORRIBLE and I’m considering going to Target just to get a cheap one for now. I kind of like having my life, you know…)

I went about six miles round trip and probably worked off all the calories in my drink ;) It was nice! On the way there I even listened to a random assortment of music on my iPhone.

Once there, I ordered my drink, found a nice shady table and downloaded my free songs. Then I enjoyed a Larabar, my green tea frapp and read a few chapters of my newest read, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. To be honest, I’m basically reading this book because it’s going to be made into an English movie over Christmas.

I literally knew nothing about this book, other than everyone has read it and loved it. If you can’t wait for the English movie to come out in six months, I hear the original Swedish version is streaming on Netflix – you can be assured I’ll watch that as soon as I’m done reading the book.

Now back to my ride. On the way home, I decided to ditch my over played tunes and went for my favorite French newscasts! And get this, I can stream French news live for FREE (there’s that word again). I have about six apps and links I love, so if you’re curious and are a Francophile, look for those in a future French Friday post!

But if you can’t wait…

Si vous parlez français, il faut cliquer sur liens suivants pour écouter/voir en direct des infos et des émissions sur les sites français: FRANCE24 | BFMTV | iTele | TF1

Ce sont mes sites préférés!

Oh yeah, I’ve also been breaking in my NEW shoes (sadly, they were not free. But my sister did score me a 50% off discount at the Nike employee store in Portland)!!! The best part? I now have the capability to run Nike+… I just don’t have the censor yet to put into my shoes. In time… :)

Aren’t they pretty?!?! :)

Rise and Shine!

I'm learning how to cope with being unemployed. (Haven't been able to cope with not getting a call-back for eight interviews quite yet. I think when that day comes I've given up completely...)

While I'm still not waking up at the crack of dawn, I've made attempts at keeping busy. First thing in the morning I attempt to either workout (ride the bike or some OnDemand videos) or make breakfast. After my breakfast I try to watch the journal télévisé (French national news from the channel TF1, plays at 13h00 and 20h00 each day - 1 p.m. and 8 p.m.) in hopes of continuing my French skills. My ear for French has gotten a bit rusty, so this helps me hear it at a fast pace and possibly improve my grammar? Anyways, if you click the link it'll take you right to today's most recent broadcast!

While I'm already at my computer, after I watch the news, I scour job sites and apply. And then cross my fingers that something will work out. Then I shower, get dressed, and if I care enough, do my hair.

Once that's finished, I'll read either a French book or something for our book club. The current selection is Brave New World -- can you believe I've never read it before?

Then in the afternoon I have some "free" time to do whatever. Most days, I'm not gonna lie, it's watching t.v. Other days, reading blogs. And then others, if the mood strikes me, I clean. Today I have egg whites sitting on the counter so I'm hoping to make macarons with minimal success. Mine never turn out, so hopefully today's the day.

Now that you know my play-by-play, here's what woke me up this morning:

Oats with coconut milk!!!

We discovered a Sprouts market last week (more intimate and convenient than Whole Foods) and I had to pick up some coconut milk!! I still have a bunch left and don't really know what to do with it! I was thinking maybe a coconut mango smoothie? I have to be careful with how I use it, because J.D.'s allergic to coconut and I can't make anything he'll be eating.

Anyways here's the contents of my coconut milk oats:

• 1/2 c quick cook oats
• 2/3 c water
• 1/3 c coconut milk
• 1 T chia seeds
• 1 medium banana
• handful of chopped walnuts
• 1/4 c Craisins

First I boiled the water, then dumped in the coconut milk and let that simmer a bit before adding the oats and the chia seeds. The rest of the toppings I put on at the end in the bowl. That and a little splash of skim milk to cool it down a bit.

I think I might have made a little bit too much. I'm still pretty full. I think it would be really good with some pineapple or maybe a little maple syrup!

And now let's talk about my workout yesterday.

I did the above workout twice! I struggle every morning because I want to go for a long bike ride, but if I don't wake up around 6-7 a.m., it gets way too hot to do so. Luckily, we have some weird weather rolling through the desert with some thunderstorms last night. That cooled us down a bit to the 80s with a nice breeze.

Yesterday afternoon -- after I already showered -- I decided I either wanted to go for a long walk or run some errands at Target. I finally thought, "what the heck?" and opted to ride my bike to Target. This would do two things for me: save money on gas and limit what I could buy to a small backpack.

It was hot. But towards the middle of my ride, it went back into the 90s, possibly 100s. I was sweaty and gnarly in Target, so for the sake of the other customers, I toweled off and threw some cold water on my face in the bathroom. After the 2.86 mile ride there, I snacked on a Clif raspberry organic fruit bar and downed an entire bottle of water.

Like the last time, I still felt like I was going to hurl, but luckily I had a wallet with me this time and enough water to get over it. I swear, it's too hot in the afternoon to do more than a 2-3 mile bike ride. Eventually, I bought some shampoo/conditioner, face wash and deodorant for J.D., grabbed a few more Clif bars for another ride and went on my way back home.

The 2.86 mile ride home felt much easier than on the way to Target. I think I'm starting to get a hang of this bike thing. I really want to invest in some bike gloves, a solid pump and other things to get me into biking. Maybe when I have extra money to spend...

Either way, here's my attempt at working out over the past week:

It's a start!

Have a good day, everyone!

What is your schedule like? Do you even have a daily schedule? Do you need one? I sure do.

Take 2

After realizing that my knee's still not ready for running, I resorted to alternate workouts this week. My bike's been having some problems with tire inflation and gears, so I gave it a little check-up, tweaked some things and explored Gilbert's canal system yesterday.

Except, I had a little problem. I think every time I take my bike out I have a mishap. Remember when I took my bike for a run back in July??

I don't even think I've gone on an actual bike ride since July 2008, right before my sister's college graduation. I rode 15 miles from my parents' house in Alamo to my best friend's parents' house in Pleasanton. Except, I had an accident and wound up with some major road rash on my hand.

Yesterday I attempted a 7.0 mile ride in the middle of the day. However,, 3/4 of the way in, I was totally dehudrated and overheated. I felt like I was going to vomit. Before going any farther, I knew I had to call J.D., who luckily bailed me out (what a great boyfriend). He met me at a nearby gas station, bought me some Gatorade and turned up the AC in the car so I could cool down a bit. Then I pretty much walked my bike the final 2.5 miles home and passed out.

Maybe biking's not for me??

Or maybe it is....

After rolling out of bed at 6:30 this morning, I set out for a 1.5 hour bike ride that spanned 12 miles. I was ready for a COOL ride and packed a bag with water, Gatorade a Clif bar and some honey stinger chews. All of which I utilized during the 12 mile ride. Clearly, I am not even in biking shape. My legs killed me, I felt winded and I’m pretty sure my bike isn’t suitable for riding that far. It basically runs like a cruiser with 10 speeds. Maybe I’ll get more serious about this and save for a new bike when I have a job!

Until then, I can take my time having leisurely rides and snapping photos of horses, cows, ducks, turtles, carp, mountains and rodeos.

Post ride, I rocked a breakfast of home made raspberry scones with lemon curd and plain Greek yogurt with fruit, honey and walnuts. Oh yeah, and a soy mocha latte.

I haven’t only been exploring the desert canals. I’ve also been experiencing new restaurants and tapping back into my French roots! With all the hype surrounding the food world about food trucks, I did a search on Phoenix food trucks and found Torched Goodness, a crème brûlée truck!

Last weekend we sampled peanut butter crème brûlée, the creamiest dessert I think I’ve ever tasted! I HAVE to find this truck again in the near future.

That inspired a trip to a local market that carried specialty French foods. And guess what, we had a “picnic” French lunch!

The meal entailed a demi-baguette, French butter, brie, figs, Italian white wine sausage and Mediterranean olives.

Finally, there was Pastis, a European restaurant we stumbled upon during the NFL’s opening week. Originally we planned to grab some burgers and beers at a sports bar and grill, but it was sooo packed with football fans, there wasn’t anywhere to park. Continuing down the road, we found Pastis.

We had drinks…

…zucchini and taziki sauce…

…paella…

…and strawberry Nutella CRÊPES!

Oh it was heaven. I think I’m going to like exploring my new desert home. But for now, I’ve taped a few episodes of Glee. I didn’t watch it last year, but I think I might be hooked this year :)

What season premieres are you excited for?! (I can’t wait for Grey’s, Private Practice and How I Met Your Mother)

Such a mess :)

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time -- any of the three I've used since 2007 that is! -- you know how much of a mess I can be! So I'm going to preface this with a little bit of a throwback: Senior Mosts.

Remember in high school yearbooks how there was always that "Senior Mosts" section?? I wish I had a copy of mine to scan and post here for you all. But, I was voted Biggest Klutz/Spazz in high school. And you could have certainly guessed that yesterday.

Feeling extra motivated to get in some cross training since I hadn't ran in quite a while, I made sure to prepare/eat dinner extra early before Woodstock's puppy training class at PetSmart. Which by the way, he only has one more left before his final exam and graduation :) By the time class was over, I knew I'd have close to an hour of sunlight -- plenty of time to get in a good bike ride! I even set a bike date with a friend to ensure I wouldn't skip it.

Except, I haven't used my bike in almost a year now. And my front tire is completely out of air. Within the first five minutes of taking it out, I knew it sounded rubbery and squeaky and the tire was to blame. So instead, I figured I'd wing it and ride to the closest 7-11 to pump it full of air. Self-conscious of the hideous sound it made the entire way. But, when I arrived at 7-11, the AIR PUMP WAS OUT OF ORDER!!! So now here I am two miles from home with a bike that barely moves and not much sun remaining.

So guess what I did?

Yep, I took my bike for a run. I tried to jog my bike back home, holding the handlebars and running to the side. Which trust me, didn't last very long. It was more like interval training really ;) Or, like I'm practicing to make a bobsled team or something. I've gotten really good at the side push, if anyone's looking for a bobsled pusher.

Anyways, I reached my house 20 minutes later and felt completely destroyed. No more sun meant no more working out outside for me. And then it hit me: AT&T's On Demand section has workouts!

Luckily for me, this month they're previewing Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred. I've heard plenty of people brag about how awesome it is online, so I gave it a go. I tried one of her kickboxing-inspired videos On Demand before and loved how I felt after. However, I do find her pretty intense, intimidating and actually kinda creepy.

But the woman knows her stuff!! I was utterly exhausted after only 30 minutes of hardcore workouts. She constantly stresses no let up and by the end, I was grateful for the break.

The 30-Day Shred is definitely something I'm going to be looking into in the future!

I mean, look how sweaty and gross I was after??? I cheated in having a ton of water before this picture :)

After my super sweaty workout, this waited for me :)

Remember those Island Way fruit cup sorbets I talked about before?!?! Well J.D.'s parents were kind enough to pick up some more at Costco for us!!! YAY! I was surprised to find they've changed up some of the flavors. As usual there is a coconut shell filled with coconut sorbet and a mini half pineapple filled with pineapple sorbet. New to the mix this time around was a lemon shell filled with pomegranate sorbet (pictured above) and an orange shell filled with mango passion sorbet. Guys, passion fruit is one of my FAVORITE flavors!! It's sooooooo good and tropical feeling!

And now I'm going to backpedal a bit here. Back to last night's dinner! I set to work making all the fixings for a mini buffet bar thing.

Because I just cooked up a large container of carnitas!

And then put all the separate portions on my plate: spinach, sweet potato chunks, carnitas topped with a bit of cheese, olives and grilled peppers/onions, chips/salsa and brown rice.

But then, I didn't know what to do with this plate! So I mixed it all together and made a tasty fiesta salad :)

And the rest is history.

Oh yeah, I INHALED some more of that banana bread, slathered in cream cheese this morning along with an iced roobios vanilla latte. Home made coffee house meals are the best :)

Were you voted something crazy by your peers in your senior yearbook?? :)

I leave you, now, with something obvious.