Duh, Monique!!

Oh wow, I just had a brain fart moment today. J.D. and I have been saving our cans and bottles to recycle and make some extra money while down here.

Except, the state of Arizona doesn't reimburse for bottles and cans!! In California, we paid a little extra per can in 12 packs, for example, in addition to the ticket price. The hope is that you'll pay the extra 3 cents per bottle (CRV), or whatever, then get it back when you take it to a recycling center. But I think California is the only state that actually makes you pay CRV!!! After today's lunch (see below) I was going to save my tea bottle and then noticed on the label it said CA CRV. DUH!!! So I went to go check the receipt from a grocery run this weekend and noticed that we did not, in fact, pay CRV. Just the $2.99 for a 12 pack of soda. So we can dump our bottles and cans in the regular ol' recycling bin and not have to worry about scrounging around and hoarding all our leftovers for a little extra cash. Which begs the question, are we not going to see homeless people carting around bags of cans here like we did in CA???

Lunch was leftovers from Friday night's dinner: pesto pizza with chicken, artichoke hearts and green olives. Quite a green dinner! J.D. took me on our first "dinner date" in Arizona and we went to Grimaldi's Pizza, a New York style thin-crust pizza eatery. It was really good, family style food. I also enjoyed a glass of red blend wine from my favorite winery, Coppola.

After my big realization, I went to the kitchen and tossed allll the bottles/cans we'd washed out and had ready to take to a recycling center. And again, just tossed them into the recycling garbage can. It felt liberating. Almost as spending all the money I have this weekend on restocking our pantry/fridge/freezer/cleaning supplies without having any source of income to replenish that spending. Oh well, our little house is starting to come together :) I feel like a housewife housegirlfriend, because while J.D.'s at work, I'm tending to the baby (Woodstock), painting walls, hanging pictures and watching trash TV. I've recently discovered Cake Boss, which I think I like the concept of more than Ace of Cakes, except it's just a little too Jersey Shore for me. I will NEVER, EVER in my life watch that show (Jersey Shore, in case I've lost you). Another interesting show I came across that kind of upset me a little is something called Whose Wedding is it, Anyway? The idea is that the boyfriend proposes to his girlfriend and -- after having planned their wedding over the past week -- marries her the very next day!!! How crazy is that?!?! The girl on it was super controlling and said she'd envisioned her wedding day down to the very last detail since she was a little girl. After he proposed, she said if anything wasn't perfect, she'd break up with him!!! I'm sure this is semi-staged. Seriously. Also, what if she says no??? Then you're stuck having paid for an entire wedding with no bride. Weird show.

Speaking of hanging up wall art, take a look at some of what I've done (with the approval of Mr. Fox) to the living room/dinging/kitchen area:

It's not much, but it's a start! Maybe when I start getting a steady flow of income I'll treat us to more wall art haha. :)

And now let's back up a few steps. Breakfast yesterday was an ordeal at best, but still pretty good. I took my first swing at our hand-me-down waffle maker, which actually is a panini press/grill that has an extra attachment for waffles. Oh man, the batter stuck to the attachments soooo bad despite buttering and spraying the crap out of the plates with oil.

See??

Although it didn't turn out so pretty, it still tasted wonderful!

Especially with a side of fresh cut mango :)

Someone sat at J.D.'s feet, eying his plate hoping for scraps the entire time (none were given, sorry boy)!

After breakfast and lunch (another slice of the massive "personal pizza" from Grimaldi's) we went out to see Dinner for Schmucks at the early bird price of $5/person! I really enjoyed the film. It was awkward and made me feel so uncomfortable the entire time. Well, not as uncomfortable as the family of four (with children under 10) who left during the dominatrix scene..... haha, awkward for all involved. Ever since hearing about this movie in the previews, I've been wanting to see the original, French version of the film! As a connoisseur of French cinema, I wondered if the American version would be as bizarre as most French humor tends to be. French films take huge leaps, with no apparent reason or indication. They're sooo strange! And the addition of Zach Galifianakis's character kind of helped add to that. Especially the weird, abrupt ending. Very français, if you ask me! Lucky for me, I'm used to that kind of film, so the moving ending up sitting well with me. J.D. loved it as well. Next up, I'm hoping to catch Eat, Pray, Love! I read the book and the travel bug bit me in a big way again. And who doesn't love Julia Roberts?!?!

Then we came home after a successful Costco trip (the first account not on my parents'.... I'm growing up!) and tried out another experiment. In the mood for some stir fry, I tested out our new sauce purchased back in California.

It ended up being a bit too spicy for my taste, but hey, maybe that was the pepper flakes I added in for a tiiiny bit of kick. Then I tossed the sauce in with stir fry veggies and shredded chicken.

And topped it all on a bed of white rice. An excellent meal and the first decent culinary experiment of the day!

I hope you all enjoy the final hours that remain in your weekends! I guess mine will go until Monday... because on Tuesday I have a SECOND job interview with the same company I interviewed with last week. Maybe it's getting serious?! We'll see :)

(P.S. DON'T FORGET: You have one more day to enter my Gracie's Gear running top giveaway!!)

Happy Friday the 13th :-\

It's been one of those days. I would say one that makes me look forward to the weekend, but I don't have a job right now so every day is like the weekend for me! I have all the free time in the world, but can't run because of a bum knee. How perfect.

Anyways, I woke up to an e-mail that absolutely blew my mind. A few months back I applied for what I thought was the PERFECT JOB for me. I worked at the Visitor Center as an undergrad at UC Santa Barbara as a tour guide and vice president of the association. I got to work closely with admissions counselors and many of my co-workers are still there.

Imagine my surprise when several positions opened up for admissions counselors!!! I knew the people hiring, I worked with them and I have experience working with prospective students at UC Santa Barbara! Fingers crossed, I waited. And waited, and waited until the July 17th closing date. After the 17th came and went, I assumed I wasn't being considered for an interview and chalked it up to yet another unsuccessful application. But this morning, I found an e-mail telling me I had been selected to move on and I had an interview to schedule IN Santa Barbara ON Tuesday. WHAT?!?!?!?! The WEEK I move is the week I move on to the next step?!?! With a heavy heart I e-mailed back my former co-worker and person responsible for hiring and told her they contacted me about a month too late, and that I had already moved out of the state.

Total bummer. It put a damper on my entire day. That was my ideal job -- within realistic reach that is -- and I passed on it. The next job that comes my way better make me feel at peace with that decision! Next on my plate, another e-mail saying I couldn't renew my contact order online because my prescription had expired!!! Seriously?!?! I don't have vision coverage so I have to pay out of pocket for an eye exam and get to pay a lot more for new contacts/glasses. Luckily I did a bit of reading online and found that the Costco here has an eye doctor. They're lower priced anyways, so they don't take insurance. But it's still a pretty high cost necessity for someone without a job. Maybe I'll go ahead and get Lasik soon......

All that before breakfast. So I felt like something low-maintenance and easy. Cereal is basically comfort food for me, so I indulged in some Quaker oat squares, Craisins and mango that I sucked at cutting.

And then I noticed creepy bug bites all over my right leg. Apparently something devoured me over night! For a second I freaked out because last night I FOUND AND KILLED A SCORPION INSIDE MY HOUSE. And shrieked and flipped for about 10 minutes. J.D. let me handle it alone and I still am creeped out by it. But, I guess killing it doesn't cause it to secrete out poisonous liquid and leave spider-like bites on your body several hours later. Or, so I'm hoping.

I believe I captured a baby one of these in my living room:

(Source)

*Shudders* Ugh. Anyways, I made myself keep busy in order to ignore the itching sensation of the bug bites. So I watered all the plants in the backyard. I did something as menial as cutting stray strings off my hand towels (hello OCD), filled in nail holes left by the previous tenants, painted the scuff marks previous tenants had left on our white walls and did a few loads of laundry. So far it's working out alright. I haven't felt the need to scratch.

Woodstock and I watched tv for a bit and then I had a strong desire to research some design elements to decorate our kitchen/living room area. I really want to go this route, wine and French vintage posters. We'll see what J.D. thinks about it :) I guess we should hit up Home Goods and Bed, Bath and Beyond first to see what's out there.

I loooove vintage French and travel posters. I decorated my dorm/room in college with these mini postcards. I think we need to stick with reds and yellows to match the tablecloth and kitchen accessories we already have.

Then lunchtime rolled around and I scrounged up some items from the fridge to make a mega veggie sandwich. I loaded veggies on a toasted whole wheat English muffin with spinach artichoke hummus spread in between the slices. It was awesome! I've never had carrots, olives and celery inside a sandwich before, but if they all go well with hummus, why not?!

And on the side I tapped into my inner child with a twist on apples and peanut butter. I sliced up my apple and swirled together dark chocolate almond spread and almond butter. YUMMY :) And washed it all down with a large glass of homemade chocolate skim milk. I mean, if I'm eating like a kid anyways....

Apparently my sweet tooth was still raging, so I downed a few of these:

After lunch, I got a call from our property manager that something else was wrong. We apparently live in such a stuck-up area that we aren't allowed to park on the street!!! I was also told, upon signing the lease, that if any oil spills/leaks are found in the garage/driveway, we will be charge for it upon move-out. My car is notorious for dripping oil and fluids so I thought I was on the safe side by parking it on the street with the garage still full of items to move. Guess not. TGIF I guess.

It didn't end there, surprise. My knee and ankle began to bother me, so I did some stretches and exercises with my resistance band for a while.

How do you like my rockin' kinesiotape?!? (hah, get it, Rock Tape??) And check out the toys around the floor. Someone doesn't know how to pick up after himself! Another struggle I've been dealing with today is trying to keep the puppy off our brand new couches! Eventually, I gave in for a little bit, so he wouldn't hurt himself jumping down. It's a good thing I let him, otherwise I never would have seen this little episode.

Enjoy the weekend, everyone! Hope Friday the 13th treated you better than it did me :) At least we're going to see Dinner for Schmucks tomorrow! Can't wait. I should have seen the original French version first, but in my extensive experience watching French films, I know they can be a bit weird. We'll see if that gets lost in translation or not...

Holy Update

So the problem with intense moving and sight-seeing over the past two weeks sans Internet is that I've got a motherload of photos and stories to update. I'm going to tackle it by city and hope this covers the void from the end of July to the beginning of August.

GOODBYE, STOCKTON

In attempt to empty out our pantry before moving, I tested out my first ever oats in a jar. It was alright, but I think I had too much peanut butter left in the jar. I guess I rushed it, you know, moving out and wanting to toss it and all. It was also WAY too hot to hold on to. I might try it again... in several months, since that's how long it'll take me to finish up a jar!

I ended up going with that chai oatmeal I've had a while, plus some of TJ's super berry mix of dried berries and crunched up some walnuts. Good, but too much PB for my taste.

In addition to cleaning out the cabinets there were several going away meals. I'm not going to say who, but a furry member of my household snuck some of my sushi. How rude!!! He gobbled up an entire pinwheel of caterpillar roll in one bite! We also went out with J.D.'s best friend from high school. He's Greek so naturally we dined at the nicest Greek restaurant in Stockton :)

The meal started out with endless baskets of pita bread. I went nuts on that and tzatziki and wound up with limited stomach space for the actual meal. I selected a crisp Sauvignon blanc to go with my meal.

Followed by a fresh Greek salad with a block of feta on top. Oh yeah and I also got all the boys' kalamata olives, which are kind of my favorite. I looove olives.

Next up came the main course, which ended up being two dinners and a lunch over the next two days. Score! I ordered the Mediterranean chicken with pesto, fresh veggies and pasta.

And then, just like that, after several days of intense packing/cleaning, I quit my job with no promise of future employment and left the condo while J.D. drove down to Arizona to begin his first week at his new job. I, on the other hand, enjoyed a week of unemployment at my parents' house in the Bay Area before he flew back up and we checked out of the condo and packed up a truck to move all our crap 12 hours south.

HOME, SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA

Since then I've been having mild panic attacks about finding work/insurance. Luckily, I've since been approved for insurance after comparing plans and applying at my parents' house.

During my week of "vacation" at home, I got to do a little sightseeing. Chic Runner posted about the most AMAZING cupcake shop after running the San Francisco Marathon. From seeing her tweets and post, I knew I HAD to visit before leaving the state of California -- the only state I've ever had permanent residence in -- for good! Enter SF's own American Cupcake. Heaven in your mouth. They sell individual cupcakes and also cupcake/wine pairing flights!!!

We made a girls' day of it with my sister's only day off work during the week, to include my mom and her friend! The place had an awesome ambiance on a cute little street with abundant shopping. It was a pain to get to though, taking BART instead of driving. We ended up walking about 2.5 miles or so both ways. It made for a long trek with typical blistery SF summer weather. Worlds away from the 100 degree heat in the Arizona desert. Either way, all WORTH IT for these cupcakes!!!

My sis and I were both curious about the Beer and Chocolate flight, so I decided to order it and split the Tunnel of Love wine flight with her. Mine came with a chocolate mint cupcake, chocolate peanut butter and chocolate coconut. And let me tell you something, these people really know how to pair their drinks!!! With the mint came a Japanese beer that went down smooth, the coconut was accompanied by my fav beer on the planet, hef, and the chocolate PB partnered with something I'd NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS see myself enjoying. Chocolate stout. OM#*@@%#G it was good! I really enjoyed how it complimented the heavy taste of both chocolate and PB but also the creamier notes. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think I could ever drink it as a drink. But it had nice tasting notes. I also let my sister have more than half of that one :)

Finishing up our halves, we swapped and I got to sample the wine flight. Aimee's came with a red hot cupcake, red velvet and simple chocolate. They went with a cab, bubbly and the epitome of summer (in my mind) rosé. I looooove chocolate and wine. All perfect pairings I had the indescribable pleasure of sampling :)

Our mom said "I'd like to try the Walk of Shame" (giggles) and from what I could tell, was pretty yummy! It came with a lemon cupcake I never got to taste because she woofed down all of hers very fast :) butterscotch and coconut cupcakes. They went with various wines and the butterscotch/merlot combo was pretty awesome!

My favorite after all was said and done?

Had to be the wines! :) Like father, like daughter. Which reminds me of a post for another day... my dad makes wine in his garage and has won medals for it!

HELLO, ARIZONA!

Eventually it had to end and I said goodbye to my family, packed up and met J.D. at the Sacramento Airport before driving back to Stockton to load the truck. We made the 12-hour trek out here to Arizona and little Woodstock was such a good boy and slept for most of it! Like his mama, he too suffered a minor injury. Sidenote: I'm seeing a sports therapist for my knee and will be sidelined from running for quite some time :( MAJOR BOO!!!! I have degenerative tissue below the kneecap and some sort of tendinitis below it. So massages, adjustments, stretches and kinesiotape will have to do for now. Woodstock also pushed his limits and jumped out of someone's arms while he was at home with me and thankfully didn't end up breaking anything!! He just suffered from a minor limp and took some pain meds, but no worries, the pooch loves running, digging and rolling around in his new grassy backyard.

Other than that, I've been spending an ungodly amount of time unpacking and getting lost in exploring my new city. We made it out to J.D.'s favorite restaurant of all time, another Guy Fieri feature on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives, Chino Bandito. Mexican, Chinese and Jamaican fare. But here's the kicker, you order your main meat selection (Chinese or Mexican) in a burrito, rice bowl or quesadilla! Then you get to pick beans and rice (fried, regular or Jamaican jerk). I went with a steak quesadilla seasoned with Chinese flavors, alongside jade chicken, white rice and black refried beans. Again, I sound like a broken record but holy yum!!!!!! It was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed J.D.'s orange chicken quesadilla :)

His

And hers.

Last but not least, the endless job search. I feel like I've been sending out a thousand applications, resumes and cover letters! If all else fails, I've secured several side jobs which should amount to something. I'm dressing the part for success and I do have an interview tomorrow! Something to look forward to :)

I hope someone hires me!!!!

To be continued.....

Also, don't forget you have until MONDAY, AUG. 16 to both enter my Gracie's Gear giveaway and also receive free shipping in my OpenSky shop with the code FREESHIPPING.

Have a good night.... I'm up way too late for a morning interview :)

We've arrived (+ a giveaway)!

I've arrived and made it to the new house in Arizona! It's been an exhausting two weeks that included job searching, getting approved for health insurance (yay), final California sight-seeing, resume editing, house hunting and exhaustive packing/unpacking/unloading/12 hours of driving.

Take a deep breath.

So I made it, everything's semi in place and I do have an interview this week! I'll talk more about all the new excitement of moving to a completely different state in my next post, however. For now, I'd like to let you all in on the big secret "something exciting" that's here TODAY!

My OpenSky Shop has arrived and today's the grand opening!!! If you're interested in checking it out, you can either click on that link, or on the OpenSky link I've provided in my sidebar to the right. With my new shop comes new products I personally enjoy! If you see anything you like in my shop, use the coupon code: FREESHIPPING for, big surprise, free shipping! This code is good until Aug. 16.

was privileged enough to obtain a free sample and test drive some products myself and this is where my giveaway comes into play. Gracie's Gear sent me their black and white A-line pocket tank top. It's currently in my shop in a variety of sizes/colors but I have a free one for you to take home at the bottom of this post.

It's a really neat idea that I totally love!!! The concept is a tank top/sports bra combo with a pouch up front for your light-weight phone, iPod, keys, whatever else you want on your body but don't want to have to carry while working out. I imagine using it for running, biking, whatever activity that would take you long distances from home. However, you're getting mine free because it doesn't entirely fit me in the chest region. My brand new tank top is black and white in size medium.

It's a slim fit short bodice so it's supposed to feel snug. Generally I can wear a small or a medium, so this would be for that same build. The sizing said fits the C/D-cup range, but I'd imagine it's closer to the B/C range.

So here's how you can enter to win your very own medium black and white pocket tank top:

1. Leave a comment below telling me about your favorite exercise accessories/apparel by MONDAY, AUGUST 16 at 5 p.m. PST. (one entry per person, please)

If you'd like to enter again, you may do so by any or all of the following:

1. Tweet it and leave a comment with your @Twitter name below! (@mmoyal85 is giving away a medium pocket tank on her blog! Come check it out and enter to win: http://bitURL.net/sgtd)


2. Post about it on your blog and leave a comment below with the link to your post


3. Add me to your blogroll and comment below, or state that I'm already on your blogroll!

That's it. Again, you have until MONDAY, AUGUST 16 at 5 p.m. PST. Good luck and don't forget to check out my OpenSky Shop!!! I'll be selecting a winner at random next Monday and posting the winner the following day.

I also know you can't wait to hear about my move and unemployment. Well stay tuned, kids :) I'm back on regular Internet with all the time in the world on my hands.... until someone hires me.

Seriously?!?!?!

So, not like earth-shattering news or anything, but we got the house. NBD.

Are you kidding me?! That's HUGE NEWS.... WE GOT THE HOUSE!!!! (insert girl hysteria noise here).

Because of that, I've been up all hours cleaning out our former house in Stockton. I say former because today I officially moved out. Moved out as in no longer living there, not as in turned in the keys. J.D. left for Arizona today because his job starts Monday. We packed our little hearts out until nearly 2 a.m. this morning. Then today I stayed behind and packed some more stragglers and cleaned up a bit. He's flying back later next week and we'll finish cleaning then hand over the keys to our landlord and drive down to AZ to move into our new rental!!!!

For the time being Woodstock and I are at my parents' house.

As far as work goes, I'm newly unemployed. That's very frightening, but there are affordable insurance plans I could buy. And I do have some leads on jobs.

As originally planned, I'm still going to go and get fingerprinted so I can be a substitute teacher (hopefully for English or French classes) in Phoenix. Then I'm going to write freelance articles for a few sports/fitness magazines/blogs in the area. I also signed up to tutor English, math, history and French with a private company. And I'm hoping to work some games on Arizona State's event staff. So maybe volleyball, basketball and when the season comes baseball/softball.

Plenty of things to keep me busy until I find a full-time paying job! Provided any of these options pan out, that is.

And knee update. The move up and down stairs is KILLING my knee. It's so swollen and painful. I'm taking some advice and seeing a chiropractor on Monday, because guess what, I'm insurance-free right now :-\ so scary with how much I'm sick/injured.

Hopefully it doesn't last long.....

I guess I'm going to pick up biking tomorrow as my form of exercise since running is clearly out of the cards for me right now. I'm also really excited about moving to Phoenix because they have tons of Lululemon stores down there which means yoga classes!!!

Just thought you'd all like a quick update on my life :) Now back to insurance and job hunting!

xx ♥

Keep those fingers crossed!

We had some major news on the house renting front yesterday!! After work, I had a loud, excited message from J.D. on my voice mail saying the house was almost ours!

Let me explain. THE HOUSE, our No. 1 pick, brand new house, is in reach! Someone else had snuck in before us with an application, after the place had been sitting unoccupied since May. Apparently they did not pass the credit check!!!!!!!! SO we're next in line! The property management woman met with our Realtor (J.D.'s cousin) this morning to get the ball rolling for us. We sent in the application, references, employment contracts, etc. She seems really optimistic we'll get the place. But we should know at some point tomorrow.

Keep those fingers crossed!!

In the meantime, here are some pictures of the place we absolutely loooove!

Fireplace.... even if it's not actually wood-burning, it's cute!

Ample storage space in the kitchen and APPLIANCES INCLUDED!

Double vanity in the master bath :)

Landscaped backyard with grass and a water fountain -- so rare in AZ! (Well, in our price range)

And really neat light fixtures!

After hearing the good start to good news last night, we buckled down and continued viciously packing. We did some major damage on the kitchen, but there is much more left to do. Eventually, we had to take a break and cook some dinner. More cleaning out the freezer/pantry, yay.

We went with some home-made takeout. Orange chicken, brown rice, grilled veggies and an Asian salad with ginger/citrus dressing.

I also have some very depressing news to share with you. I may have injured my knee in my determination to become a long-distance runner :(. As you can see on the sidebar to the right, I ran a lot in May and June. July has had a few setbacks because I thought I had bronchitis, then had a severe reaction to the antibiotics I took for it. Then it turned out I just had really bad allergies. And now my knee's bumming me out.

In order to continue on my half marathon training plan, I did an "easy" run last night. Two miles at a 9:00 minute/mile pace. I could tell it'd been a while since I ran. My lungs hurt and my knee throbbed the entire time. Even walking afterward was grueling.

This morning I went in to see on of our athletic trainers. Another perk of working for an athletic department (only two more days, however). She looked it over and said I had some visible swelling on the affected, left knee. I could tell plain as day once she pointed it out. Apparently the fatty shock absorbing sack around my knee is either deteriorating or just super inflamed. So I've been instructed to lay off running for a bit. When I get back in a few weeks, I'm supposed to take 15-20 minute walking warm-ups before my run, ice heavily afterward and also take lotsa ibuprofen.

The half I had originally planned on competing in is the Scottsdale/Tempe Women's Half Marathon on Nov. 7, for my first ever half!!! What do you think? Can I train for it if I take 2-3 weeks off and ease into it? To give you some perspective, it's exactly 15 weeks away. I don't know what to do!! I mean, there's always the Phoenix Rock 'n' Roll in January also, but I don't know if I want to take this long to do a half! It's taunting and torturing me!!

So I guess in the meantime, I'll be using packing and moving as my cardio. I won't be wearing heels much more, since they kill my knee. And once I'm in Arizona, I'm considering reserving the third bedroom for my indoor workouts, such as pilates and yoga. Maybe I'll start working on creating a killer home gym :)

Oh, I can't believe I forgot to share this too!!! Woodstock passed a major milestone in his puppyhood! He passed his puppy class, and only missed one point on his test! So proud of my little wiener :)

Pictures of pictures never work, but I really wanted to display this cuteness :) He even sat still like a good boy with the mortar board!

Alright, two days to go. Lots of cleaning and packing ahead. I also need to start working on a playlist for the 12 hour drive down! We will only get solid radio stations in three places along the drive: here, KROQ in Los Angeles and what I hope will become my new fav radio station in Phoenix, 103.9 FM.

I know for sure THIS is going to be on that playlist:

I'm not sure why the video is so creepy, but it's a good song anyways. Also, I LOVE Katy Perry. Maybe it's because I LOVE Zooey Deschanel and they're basically doppelgängers.

See?

(Source)

Who's your favorite musician/actor?! :)