Self... Like?

Maybe.  Maybe not so much.

I know full well that I'm supposed to embrace and love and revere this post-baby body of mine.  I know it.  But it doesn't mean I actually feel those things.  In all honesty, I don't like my body at all right now.

Going Back to Cali, Cali

Hotel room view.  That's Torrey Pines Golf Course in the background.  And behind that, the blue-gray is all ocean :)

My excuse for totally disappearing on you last week is that work sent me on a business trip to meet up with a client and hash out issues in person.  A client who happens to be in San Diego...!  I lived in SD for nearly 9 years, but since we moved to Atlanta a year and a half ago, I hadn't got the chance to go back and visit my dear friends and my old stomping grounds.

One of the first things I did while back in town is to go for a run with my bestie, Marnie, at my most favorite trails in all of San Diego County - Torrey Pines Reserve.

You can't beat trail running with 200 degree views of the ocean.  Seriously, it's to die for.

One portion of the trails cuts down to a sandy ledge with this view.

There are no words.  Sigh.

A trail runner's badge of honor:  Dirt lines around my ankles!

 Marnie and I, post-run:

 And then, we move on to a plethora of food photos.  I would apologize, but....no.  There are a handful of foods that you just can't find anywhere but in SoCal.

Coffee Bean is one of them.  Non-dairy, non-soy creamer?!
I've yet to find another coffee place that carries it!
Plus, Coffee Bean is freaking delicious.

Ahhhhh, Rancho's.  My most favorite Mexican food in all of San Diego.  There are only two of these restaurants in town, and they're both tricky to find unless you know your way around.

Rancho's used to have a jungle of plants outside and such a small sign that Bo lived across the street for 6 months before meeting me and learning that there was a (fabulous) Mexican restaurant inside.  But I admit that their facelift does look nice.

Shrimp & Black Bean Tostada and a (Daiya) Cheese Enchilada with Verde Sauce.  Slurpingly delicious!

While I was in town, I got ridiculously lucky to have my hair dresser fit me in for an appointment.  I've been to three highly-rated stylists in Atlanta, and none of them holds a candle to Tamara.  She's amazing, there's no getting around it.

Better photos of my new 'do to come, I promise.

 Quintessential SoCal lunch:

Marnie and I capped off the week with a run through the trail reserve near my old house.  This park has a series of trails (used by runners, walkers, bikers, and horses) that are 6 miles long, from one end to the other.  And it's smack-dab in a completely urban area, and situated between three major freeways.

Pretty beautiful for being so urban, right? 

Five points for finding Marnie in this photo :)

After our trail run on Saturday morning, we stopped at my old local "Cheapy Mexican Place."  If you haven't yet had the privilege of eating breakfast at a complete dive Mexican place, you need to add that to your list if you ever travel to SoCal.

Another 5 points for finding Marnie again :)

The breakfast burritos at these places cannot be beat.  They are enormous and generally cost right around $4 each.  My favorite is one with eggs, cheese, ham, and refried beans.

The red hot sauce is a must.

Hand-held deliciousness.  I need to figure out a viable way to ship these puppies to Atlanta.

It was such a fantastic trip of seeing dear friends, eating amazing foods, and filling my emotional buckets to overflowing.  I definitely need to make it a priority to go back and visit once every year!

Weekend Scrapbook 2

Can you believe I took that picture with my cell phone?  Can you believe I had been carrying my phone in a ziploc, squished into the front of my sports bra, while running and getting completely soaked by sweat and humidity?  Sorry, that's a little gross.  But I strive to be open and honest, and hey, I'm certainly not perfume and roses even half the time.  Anyway, Rory and I ran twice this weekend on the Greenway - a set of forested paths about a mile from our house.

The paths mostly follow a creek and are paved except for the footbridges that cross over marsh and wetlands.  What you're staring at is a forest cloaked in 97% humidity.  Oh, yes.  That air out there was heavy.  My clothes were completely drenched, and it should be noted that running in humidity like that is exhausting.  It just saps all endurance and wears you out in no time flat.  Running a slow three miles in that feels like a fast five miles in cooler and dryer weather.  Which probably explains why we saw almost no one either day.  But I'm not complaining; it's really nice to have forested paths all to ourselves.  One of my favorite sounds is the hushed rhythm of footfalls in nature.



Rory gets tuckered out in the oppressive humidity too, so I stopped to let her take a mid-run swim break.  Actually, I had planned to stop to let her get a quick drink, but she ran and jumped right in and then swam around. 

Flowers?  Lovely.  Wet dog?  Not so much.

Bo has been dutifully tending to our back yard and patio garden, and these Zinnias are just one of the blooms thriving out there.  I haven't lifted a finger with anything regarding our backyard except to get inordinantly excited over picking out seed packets.  Which he then planted and grew for me.  Such a spoiled life I lead.

Of course, I then oblige when he asks me to make cookies. Cookies with more chocolate than usual.  Cookies made with my fancy-dancy Sarandipity melting chocolates.

I may or may not have eaten cookies for dinner last night, and nothing else.  Whoops.

More Meb Love

I know that I've gushed in the past about Meb Keflezighi, and I'm about to start the outpouring all over again.  The San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon (the one I've done three times) and the new Half Marathon were held there on June 5.  Meb ran and absolutely won the Half, with a time of 1:02:37.  That's an average of 4 minutes, 46 seconds per mile over 13.1 miles.  Holy smokes!

He recently got his autobiography published, and - I'm just so excited I can't even spit out the words - Marnie got a copy signed for me!!!!  You can purchase his book here, but I'll definitely be reading and reviewing it soon, in case you want to wait for that.  Meb's story isn't very well known outside the long distance running community; this is his book's summary from Amazon:

When Meb Keflezighi won the New York City Marathon in 2009—the first American to do so in 27 years—some critics questioned whether the Eritrean-born runner was “really” an American despite his citizenship status and representing the USA on two Olympic and several World Championship teams. Yet Meb is the living embodiment of the American dream. His family came to the U.S. to escape from a life of poverty and a violent war with Ethiopia; Meb was 12 at the time, spoke no English, and had never raced a mile. Yet he became an A student and a high school state and national champion. And when he stood on the platform as a silver medalist in the 2004 Olympics, Meb knew his hard work and determination had paid off. How could life be any better?


Then it all came crashing down. Meb, a favorite for the Beijing Olympics, fractured his pelvis during the trials and was left literally crawling. His close friend and fellow marathoner suffered a cardiac arrest at the trials and died that same day. Devastated, Meb was about to learn whether his faith in God, the values his parents had taught him, and his belief that he was born to run were enough to see him through.

Gah, just reading that gives me chills.  I cannot wait to start reading his book!

(Guess who made me another bookmark?!)