Week 15: Try a juice bar (NOT Jamba)

Every week in 2011, for 52-straight weeks, I hope to try something new and blog about it here. This is the 15th post in the series, when I tried my first veggie juice from a juice bar. Here you will find a list of all my weekly adventures thus far.

First thing's first here: I have never been to a juice bar before. I'm not talking Jamba Juice with its smoothies, etc. I mean a real, honest to God juice-making establishment.

This morning, before buying all the ingredients needed for dinner, I drove out to 24 Carrots in Chandler, Arizona. Admittedly this entire desire to frequent a juice bar spawned from Jennifer's post about a cute little spot she hit up in Portland, Maine. Seriously, when I made up my list of new things I wanted to do in 2011, I knew a juice bar had to make the cut!!

When you first walk in, you see nothing but the two juice menu blackboards (smoothies on one tablet, fruit and veggie juices on the next) on the wall.

The juice bar is a locally-owned health-conscious vegan/vegetarian shop. After speaking with the owner for a while -- she's originally from India but opened this place up after going to Arizona State -- I discovered that they first offered only five smoothies and drinks when it began. As clientele grew, so did the menu which now features vegan granola, raw Indian dishes, hummus and other appetizers and vegetarian bowls and sandwiches. Amazingly, she said they do EVERYTHING out of a freaking microwave and toaster oven, since the place merely started out as a juice bar. That's crazy and impressive! But, now explains the reasoning behind all the "raw" menu items.

I knew I didn't want to try a smoothie, because let's be honest, I can make those at home. I certainly don't have a juicer, and I don't think I've ever really had a vegetable juice. Nor am I even a fan of V8. While I knew I wanted to try a veggie juice, it was kind of hard to choose. Mainly because it still had a large amount of fruit, I chose the Voodoo Child juice. Its contents included: apple, carrot, grape, cucumber, celery, beet, lime and Dragon Sauce. Honestly, I had no idea what Dragon Sauce was, but ordered the juice anyways. 2011 is all about being adventurous and trying new things, right?!

Well, Dragon Sauce is actually a very spicy hot sauce ha. At least the cashier let me know about it before they put it in my drink. She told me they like to ask clients if they want the sauce or not. I definitely nixed it from my drink. And the juice still came out to be a beautiful red color (thank the beets, folks)!

Initially I wasn't sure what to think. It was warm and I'm used to cold juices, so that took a few sips to get into the groove. However, the more I drank, the more I enjoyed my fruit and veggie juice! It was refreshing and light and tart all at the same time. Something I will definitely come back for!

You'll also notice in the picture I pulled out a book and started reading. 24 Carrots totally gave off a non-conformist, Starbucks-y type of vibe. Couches all over the place, books, local artists' displays, newspapers for "borrow" and chalkboard paint with motivational sentences and phrases all over the walls.

It was cozy and a perfect place to read a chapter of my book... one that I've oddly been reading for months now. Chalk it up to my crazy schedule.

But I'm glad I finally got around to going here! While a little on the expensive side, I felt good about splurging on something healthy while also supporting a local eco-friendly business. And I will come back; there are so many juices I am curious to try!

Week 14: Read a book in a day!

Every week in 2011, for 52-straight weeks, I hope to try something new and blog about it here. This is the 14th post in the series, when I read a book in a single day. Here you will find a list of all my weekly adventures thus far.

I wrote out a list of at least 60 goals I wanted to accomplish by the end of the year when I started my "resolution" this year. One of the more recent additions has been to read a book in a week. Technically, that's not something new to me. I used to read all the time in high school and college. My friends from home joke about how I used to make up excuses about my parents grounding me or making me do chores so that I could stay in at night and read my newest book.

(Yeah, I was am a huge nerd.) But ever since I graduated and have been working in sports, I haven't been able to find much time to read for fun. That all changed this past week...

I have become the go-to substitute teacher for P.E., French, journalism/yearbook in the school district I work for. All those teachers have my cell phone number and call me in advance to schedule me for assignments. Well on Tuesday (the day before my birthday!), I showed up to fill in for a P.E. teacher I subbed for in the past. I was ready to go, in my athletic attire, before realizing it was Day 1 of state testing.

Crap, that meant I had to sit in the cafeteria and monitor students who took their standardized tests for three-and-a-half hours! Silly me, thinking I was going to teach a P.E. class and play basketball. Usually I bring a book with me to sub, but the last time I taught P.E. it wasn't necessary... I was stranded for three hours with nothing to do!!

Enter the wonderful girls P.E. teacher who saved me! She had a book a friend told her to read in her purse and spared me. I've heard a lot about the Stephanie Plum series but never got around to reading it before.

(Source)

It was RIVETING! I literally couldn't put it down. Granted, I'm a sucker for mystery-type books ever since taking a Detective Fiction class my sophomore year at UCSB. Well, I got through about 75 percent of the book at school and needed to know how it ended! I couldn't wait, so when the final bell rang I went to Borders, bought a latte and finished the book in less than 45 minutes. Holy cow, I haven't read like that since college. I need to get back at it. Long story short, it's a good thing I finally got around to this book because it's going to be a movie starring Katherine Heigl, set to release in January 2012. Maybe this means I'll add the other 16 books in the series to my to-read list!

One of my goals for the year -- and I feel that this is a very conservative figure -- is to finish 15 books by the end of the year. To get my feet wet and dive back into reading. Another weekly goal I set for myself this year is to read two books in a week. Let's see if I can be that ambitious given my crazy schedule this year.

Read as much as I do? Or do you want to read a lot? Then be my friend on Goodreads and let's compare books! :)

Last, but not least, I've decided not to self-host my blog any longer. It's an expense I don't need in my budget at the moment. Eventually this blog will cease to exist because I am not paying the fee to renew my site in 2011. While I've liked Wordpress, I can't stand the photo limit imposed by the site. So back to Blogger I go! Here is my new site for the future (it's still a work in progress).

Week 13: Hiked Camelback with a friend from high school

Every week in 2011, for 52-straight weeks, I hope to try something new and blog about it here. This is the 13th post in the series, when I climbed Camelback Mountain in Scottsdale/Phoenix with my best friend from high school. Here you will find a list of all my weekly adventures thus far.

The month of March was CRAZY (fun) at my house. We had five groups of friends/family visit Arizona which meant something to do and entertaining to be had every single week. This was literally 0-to-60 for me, as I barely know anyone in the entire state of Arizona and being jobless for so long meant hardly ever going out.

Looks like April will be more of the same old story ;) But it was nice to have visitors, see old friends, family and be active and adventurous out here. Most recently, my best friend from high school, Laura, flew out as our final visitor in March. We hadn't seen each other since her wedding in 2009.

Her visit began with this week's new thing on Wednesday at noon. I have never hiked Camelback Mountain in Phoenix before! It's hailed as one of the top urban hiking trails in the country, as a grueling climb just minutes from the sixth-largest metropolitan area in the United States.

(Source)

I'm not lying when I say it's a grueling hike. At some points we were completely vertical, without a trail, jumping from rock-to-rock, using only a handrail or a fence for support. My knee is still a mess from my running injury last summer, so I was smart enough to have to foresight to wear my knee brace. Without it, I don't think I could have made it.

Funny story though, we didn't actually make it... This week has been one of the hottest on record in Phoenix. It actually hit 100° yesterday. I'm sure you can imagine, then, how warm it was at 12 p.m. hiking a 3 mile round trip mountainous trail. In fact, the combination of our lungs, limbs and only two water bottles between us did us in. We made it about a third of the way up the mountain before heading back. It took around 45 minutes to do the mile trek, with a slight glimpse of the summit. I wouldn't change a thing! Catching up with an old friend while laughing at the older men and children (some with dogs) who sprinted past us really made for a fun start to her trip. Clearly I'm not acclimated to the desert yet, and I've only lived here eight months. I do plan to go back to Camelback sometime in the very near future to finish what I started....As long as I'm out by 6 a.m. and NOT the late morning/early afternoon. I think I'll also need to invest in a Camelbak (ha, no pun intended, but that was awesome) for serious hydration with temperatures in the 80s/90s here to stay and get hotter.

(Source)

Laura also took me on another first trip: thrift shopping! I fell in love (as you can imagine on my limited budget) and will definitely do that in favor of mall/department store shopping from here on out. Details to come in a future post :)

In the meantime, I present to you: MONIQUE & LAURA'S AWESOME CAMELBACK ADVENTURE

View from the first tier just to get up to the mountain trail

Smiling because I had no idea what more lay ahead...

Plane to mountain in under 20 minutes, go Laura!

Last part of the hike we were able to do

Uncharted territory. I WILL return to tackle you, Camelback.

Funny how we literally were twins and didn't even plan it! She packed that outfit for the plane and I rolled out of bed and threw on some dry fit clothing :)

We joked about snapping a photo at our most gassed point in the hike, in full sunlight, out of water and peanut butter sandwiches and sweating out of control. Clearly, I've spared you all of such a photo (it doesn't even exist, btw). After, we treated ourselves to some window shopping in Downtown Scottsdale and an old fashioned soda shop treat (the orange raft J.D. and I shared when we first moved here). It was sooooooo awesome to hang out with one of my best childhood friends this week! I'm a little sad to return to an empty house again. But happy for the wonderful month we've had in March. Sooooo, if you're thinking about heading to Arizona, come visit! I love entertaining friends and family!

Also, I just discovered this cover recently and can't wait to share it. It's no secret how much I love Katy Perry. And she looks so cute in this video :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend, xx!

Katy Perry: Hackensack
- Watch more Entertainment Videos at Vodpod.

Week 12: Exploring the Phoenix Zoo

You're all so encouraging! Since my last post, I've decided to go ahead and accept my grad school/TA offer! Beginning in August, I'll be back in school again, while still working in baseball :) With that, we'll head into last week's "new thing."

Previously, I had never been to the Phoenix Zoo. Nor had my parents (who were also in town over the weekend). After catching a few Spring Training baseball games, I noticed the backs of the A's tickets offered a discount for zoo admission. With nothing on the agenda for Sunday, we ventured out and explored Phoenix. After my morning shift at work, my dad wanted to try a bar/restaurant that was noted in a local magazine as one of the area's top 50 bars to visit.

This place was a total throwback to decades past. Not only did it feature a boxing ring, military surplus shopping, soda fountain and a vintage Airstream trailer that doubled as a kitchen, but there was also a full menu for brunch, lunch, dinner and an array of "vintage cocktails and beer."

While we waited for our lunch to come hot out of the Airstream, we could choose from a pile of vintage (notice a theme here?) board games to pass away the time. My dad grabbed Scrabble, we chose a shaded table in the sunlight and enjoyed the afternoon.

(I won, in case you were curious)

Scrabble is serious business.

I don't know how many times I need to tell you people how much I adore vintage culture and the 1950s, but this really hit it out of the park. The Duce was probably one of the best finds in Phoenix thus far! And we've been to some really cool places in the past eight months. I bet it's crazy fun in the evenings and for happy hour as well. The best part is this is blocks away from my work ;) Needless to say, I will be back. If you're ever in Phoenix you HAVE to go there!

Pleasantly surprised with our afternoon at The Duce, we set off to use those Zoo discount tickets and spend the three hours until closing looking at all the animals.

I loveeeee animals and enjoy going to zoos and water parks, etc. The Phoenix Zoo is supposedly one of the top five zoos in the country and I would completely agree. I've been to zoos in about half the States and even in Europe. The best part about this one was the monkey exhibit.

You literally are in the monkey habitat and they ran past our feet and jumped from tree-to-tree overhead. It was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time.

Other things I thought were neat:

• I finally got to see Black Swan

• We were face-to-painted face with some baboons (who, apparently, have rainbow-colored hineys, I missed the opportunity to snap a photo of that one)

• Witnessed a domestic dispute between two rhinos. That was intense.

• Speaking of domestic issues, we got to hear a male and female lion roaring at one another. It's crazy how loud that is! The lioness even rumbled and shook a little every time she yelped.

• I watched a really big kitty bathe itself

• I crossed paths with some peacocks. They were everywhere, I even had to wait in line behind one of them at a soda vending machine.

Is it weird I had the following song stuck in my head the entire time?! (Disclaimer, while I LOVE Katy Perry, I do think this is the weakest song on her Teenage Dream album)

• Met a rude lizard (dragon, whatever)

• And beat a golden eagle in a staring contest. It was like taking candy from a baby.

In all seriousness though, it was a really fun way to end the weekend! I had such a blast. I'm glad I'm challenging myself to try something new each week, or else I might have missed out on a great day! Now I'm off to brainstorm what to do this week...

Decision Time :)

I have a pretty big decision to make in the next two weeks....

But let me back up for a sec. I was in grad school for sports management two years ago. I only completed a year and haven't finished my degree yet. I was also getting paid to obtain my degree, as a graduate assistant working in the athletics department.

But since I've moved to Arizona, that's not the case anymore. About two weeks ago, I was accepted at Arizona State to transfer my master's units over there, but I would have to start from scratch with a totally new major (French Comparative Literature). I originally applied for a TAship, but was told funding would be cut in the next academic year, so I'd have to pay out-of-state tuition in full, by myself.

No thanks.

But yesterday... (you see where this is going) I received a TAship offer letter! School and insurance paid in full by the university, along with a monthly stipend, provided I teach two French undergrad courses and hold office hours.

I've taught English in France, majored in French and English as an undergrad, worked in professional sports, worked in collegiate athletics and was a journalist for a sports page. Oh yeah, and while I'm working for the Diamondbacks here, I've also been tutoring and subbing for high school classes.

So, do I want to go to grad school and push my interests more towards academic? Or do I want to continue pursuing my athletics profession (which is rooted in about five years of experience now)? OR, can I do both at the same time?! I mean, I kind of already am.

Anyways, I have two weeks to accept or deny my admission and I'm super excited, but also quite nervous! I haven't written or spoken academic French in several years. And oh yeah, have I mentioned that there is a graduate study/TA abroad semester option in your second year....?

I'm excited to see what my future has in store for me :)

Suggestions/comments on my upcoming decision are welcomed and appreciated!!! :)

Vegetarian Challenge Completed (and still going)

My Week 11 challenge was to go vegetarian and I passed it with flying colors!! And guess what, seven full days are behind me and I'm still eating vegetarian today. Who would have guessed?! Even with some friends in town visiting during Spring Break, I still was able to go out and eat according to a vegetarian diet.

Things like this didn't make it too difficult, either:

That, my friends, would be home made Eggplant Parmesan!

Ingredients:
1 eggplant, sliced lengthwise
1 egg, beaten
1 T olive oil
3 c bread crumbs
4 c tomato sauce
1 c mozzarella
1/2 c grated Parmesan
fresh basil

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350º. Dip eggplant slices in mixed egg and olive oil, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side. In a baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

We had ours with seasoned grilled polenta and garlic asparagus.

And although the meal was already on my agenda, it was prepared specially with a new purchase in mind.

...That would be garlic-infused extra virgin olive oil! I sampled olive oils and vinegars in a boutique shop in Scottsdale and literally wanted to buy everything in the building! From blood orange EVOO to dark chocolate balsamic vinegar, I loved it. Although I wanted to buy at least three bottles of the stuff, I could only think of enough practical uses for the garlic oil. But seriously, if you ever stumble across blood orange or lemon oil, try it. You can thank me later.

So how about some thoughts on being a week-long (plus) vegetarian. I didn't mind it at all. Sure, in the back of my head I really wanted some meat, but I really didn't miss it once I started exploring with recipes. Groceries for the week cost me a whopping $71 (mostly covering canned products and grains, which I still have in my pantry), and keep in mind that's the amount eaten by TWO people in this house.

The one thing that got to me was dining out. With friends in town, we went to a few restaurants for lunch and dinner in between baseball outings. I really felt trapped in a menu that only offered at most two vegetarian options. Luckily, grilled vegetable fajitas were some of the best things I've ever tried. The cucumber margarita wasn't too bad either ;) And while we went to a Greek restaurant that had a lot of vegetarian/vegan options (Pita Jungle if you're curious and in the area), I reallllllly wanted to order one of their beautiful fish dishes.

But like I said, it was a breeze. Being the animal person I am, it made me happy to know that I wasn't detracting from the animal population... for a week. So in summary from this week: going vegetarian has been very wallet-friendly. And it's been delicious. I am going to try to cook as many vegetarian dishes as I can at home, but when it comes to dining out, I'm not going to limit my options. I mean, I like my burgers, pulled pork and sushi :)

And speaking of hanging out with friends on Spring Break, my week looked a lot like this:

Don't be too jealous ;) I had to do a little bit of work in there, too haha. It was the first "Spring Break" I got to semi celebrate in about four years.

Oh yeah, my friend Michelle and I also got to experience a special kind of ice cream (and you all know how much I love me some ice cream/frozen yogurt)! There is a place in the A's stadium called Sub-Zero in which you get to pick your own flavor of ice cream with two "toppings" mixed in. The catch is, however, your ice cream begins as a liquid then undergoes a quick freeze right before your eyes.

We opted for mint ice cream with double chocolate chips inside. It tasted deliciously creamy and light and melted a little bit slower than regular ice cream!

And my last loose end to tie up before I go is another exciting discovery in my life! This past week I found my eReader, which was lost in the scuffle of moving over seven months ago. You have no idea how upset I was about "misplacing it" and then how ecstatic I was to find it. I've already read a Lewis Carroll book and am pretty far into an Émile Zola novel. I even read it at Whole Foods yesterday while enjoying a guava Kombucha and the salad bar.

I felt so trendy. In reality, I was honestly just trying to kill time in between working a baseball game in the morning and a volleyball match several hours later, in the same area.

As you've seen, it's been a pretty eventful week, but it's only going to get crazier. My parents fly in this week for a few more baseball games, I'm tutoring, subbing and working baseball all week long and then when my parents leave, one of my other best friends from high school will be making a visit!

That's my excuse, in advance, for a lack of posting to come :)

St. Patty's and College Hoops!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Mine started off in a manner that would make any Irishman proud, with booze before 10 a.m.

...inside Jessica's double chocolate Irish coffee cookies, that is:

AKA lots and lots of Bailey's inside. Don't worry it cooked off, but I made a major mistake of licking all the spoons while making the dough. Yikes, that was strong haha.

They were a hit with my coworkers, who all seemed skeptical about eating Bailey's-laden cookies in the workplace. It was also my first "holiday" at work, and wasn't sure how wearing green would be perceived on St. Patty's Day in the baseball world. Luckily, everyone else is just as dorky as the rest of the world and I got high fives and praises for wearing my green today. I'll take it.

I guess this post is turning into a bit of a blogger round-up, because I continued my trek through vegetarian eating with Elizabeth's cranberry and apple quinoa salad (via Angela) for lunch yesterday. I made a few tweaks myself, but enjoyed it immensely!

What really made this was cooking the apples in vanilla extract! I could smell it through my entire house. Then added to it, by toasting coconut in the same exact pan. Holy deliciousness. And oh yeah, I switched sweet potatoes (I'm obsessed, I realize) for carrots and threw in some spinach to make it more green and lunch-friendly.

And then finished off the day with a little Mexican. I haven't really eaten much vegetarian Mexican food, but I found this neat recipe for a Mexican casserole and it seemed easy enough. So I ran with it. It was delicious, flavorful and super, super easy! It would also be pretty tasty if you opted to throw some meat in there ;) Margarita NOT optional, well, unless you're underage.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 can corn
• 1/2 can black beans
• 1 c tomato salsa
• 1 can seasoned Rotel tomatoes (and the juice)
• 4 c shredded Mexican cheese blend, divided by 2 cups
• 1/2 diced Bell pepper
• 1 1/2 c cooked rice
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/2 c sliced olives
• Taco sauce for seasoning
• Salt and pepper for seasoning

Directions:

Like I said, this is super easy! Basically preheat the oven to 350° and chop all your veggies while cooking the rice. Then stir everything but two cups of cheese into a big bowl and mix well. Season according to how spicy you want it. Then fill a greased casserole dish with the mixed ingredients and top with the remaining two cups of cheese. Or in my case, omit olives and save for half of the dish, to accommodate to the tastes of those who don't like olives... Finally, cook 30-35 minutes or until bubbly.

I devoured mine with chips and a margarita. And was too full for a second serving, much less than a second cookie.

This afternoon I scooped up some Mexican leftovers for lunch and now I'm preparing to watch my UC Santa Barbara Gauchos take on Florida in the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament!!!!! It kind of broke my heart not to pick them to advance in the tournament for the bracket I filled out at work this morning. We're having a little office rivalry going on, over who has the best picks. Funny, I worked in collegiate athletics in my last job so I wasn't ever able to bet on sports. Now, I just don't see the need to, since I'm so overwhelmed with sports in my professional life :) But I filled out my (first, shockingly) bracket this morning:

Yup, I have Kansas taking Duke in the final by a score of 78-72. You can see how I did with the up-to-the-minute results bracket here. As of 3:00 p.m. PST, I'm 5-for-6, missing only the No. 13 Morehead State/No. 4 Louisville game. Who in their right minds would have picked Morehead State to take that game?!?! I'm sure a lot of brackets are ruined because of that game. But it's good to see a 13-seeded team topple a No. 4 seed. That means there's hope after all for my Gauchos!!! Olé!!!!!!!!!! (I've got the channel on and I'm ready to support my alma mater, win or lose!)

If you filled out a bracket, who do you have winning the tournament?! :)