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Strength Training Works

I’ve been spending my Mondays with Adam doing glutes, guns and guts for a few months now.  I am still the wimpiest gal in class, but I have a workout buddy who I partner up with every week and she helps keep me motivated.  The workout still makes me sweat my brains out and feel like I’m going to die but I’ve learned to keep a towel tucked into the back of my pants like a little tail so that I always have it handy as we move through the circuit.

Here’s the thing that I want to tell you: strength training works.

Ok, so that isn’t a shocking revelation.  I’m just saying that with the rest of my weekly activity staying pretty much the same, I’ve lost three inches from my waist and hips since I added this into my week. 

Every week is a mash-up of a bunch of various exercises using dumbbells, barbells, TRX, steps, Bosu, and any other random stuff Adam finds laying around the gym. When I started out, I would always pick the lightest weight so that I could do more reps and not take breaks (who knew that one minute could be so long?).  I remember Adam telling me that he would rather see me doing less reps with a heavier weight and thinking he was crazy. 

As the weeks went along, I would pick at least one exercise on the circuit to try a heavier-than-I-wanted weight.  Sometimes I would surprise myself with being able to manage it.  Sometimes I would notice that the exercise felt more effective because other muscles were being recruited to provide stability.  I’ve learned that using heavier dumbbells (20lbs) for exercised like walking lunges forces you to engage your core and helps you keep your balance more than a lighter weight will. Sometimes I would just have to stop after a couple of reps and find a lighter weight.  C’est la vie!  

My favorite development over the past few months is the improvement in my posture and my shoulder strength.  I really took for granted having a strong upper back from all those years of ballet training.  Sitting at a desk, staring at a computer all day has that sneaky way of building that permanent hunched forward posture that is neither attractive or comfortable.  Eventually, I hope to get everything evened out; it’s nice to see and feel the progress so far.  It made me really happy when I could see the line of my shoulders more closely matching the line of the barbell when we were doing back squats last week. I am not a fan of the over-developed trapezius look.

So even though I suck at it and it hurts, I keep showing up and trying my best.  I’m never going to be the ripped girl in the belly shirt, but I am optimistic that if I keep it up, eventually I will be able to do a proper push-up (and maybe even crush some 10lb dumbbells for bicep curls).

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Kitsch Signature

Kitsch: (noun) art, objects, or design that appeal to popular rather than high art tastes.  Such objects are sometimes appreciated in a knowingly ironic or humorous way.

Wikipedia

Do you have a kitsch signature?  That one, ubiquitous thing that people see and think of you?

I recently sent a friend a cute cactus something-or-other.  It was the second cactus trinket I had given her in a short timeframe.  She said that cactus was becoming her pink flamingo and that gave me the idea for this post.

My kitsch signature is pink flamingos.  I don’t know why I am so enamored of pink flamingos, but I have been since at least high school.  I did go through a ruthless purge of my accumulation of flamingo objects about 20 years ago.  Of course, in 20 years the collection has regrown and then some.  I’m not complaining, it’s fun. I have so many wonderful pink flamingo treasures that were gifts from thoughtful and generous friends, it is a lovely device to remember people.

My other kitsch collection is even more obvious: I also have a deep abiding love of cat trinkets.  So many of these lovely treasures were also gifts from thoughtful friends.  It is always so nice to look at these things and remember where they came from and think about the person who gave it to me.  Of course, I am always on the lookout for a gorgeous cat figurines on my own, especially ones that look like my cats, but who wouldn’t be?

One of my most treasured flamingo objects is a Hallmark ornament from 1994.  I love this guy hanging out in his beach chair, he speaks to my soul.

Some of the categories that my flamingo collection inhabits include:

  • Dishtowels
  • Trinket boxes
  • Mugs and plates and wine glasses and measuring cups and even a butter dish
  • An unusual number of drink stirrers (metal, glass, and plastic)
  • Beach gear – towels, cooler bag, and even clips to hold your towel on your chair
  • Some of the most treasured flamingos are Christmas ornaments or have been repurposed into Christmas ornaments for the flamingo tree
  • So many dishtowels
  • Bottle Opener
  • Cookie Cutter
  • Isn’t this plate GORGEOUS?
  • Blanca and Blanquita (pobrecitas didn’t eat enough shrimp)

I’m part of the problem but my sister has been the biggest enabler historically speaking.  We finally came to an agreement: when she (or my nephews) are out shopping and find something flamingo, instead of buying it, she will take a picture and text it to me. It has been a highly satisfying arrangement.  She lets me know that she (or my nephews) are thinking of me and I don’t have the guilt of trying to find somewhere to put something that she has spent her hard-earned money on.

Sometimes though, it is worth every penny to enable a friend’s kitsch signature (whether or not they want another darling trinket).  And it can be so easy!  You know that you’ve been out shopping and seen something that someone you know just has to have.

Here’s an abbreviated list of things that I have to try really hard to keep myself from buying for someone every time I see one (you know who you are):

  • Cactus
  • Monkeys
  • Turtles
  • Llamas
  • Flowers
  • Octopus
  • Palm trees
  • Pineapples (the international symbol of hospitality)
  • Dragonflies

Do you have a kitsch signature?  When did it begin? Do you remember your first piece and/or the piece that flipped the switch?

Fair warning: your answers may be used against you.

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Tiki Speakeasy

I am not much of a tiki drink connoisseur, but I have the good fortune of having a neighbor who is. Through his interest in tiki drinks and tiki bars, I have enjoyed many delicious rum drinks and learned a little bit about the whole tiki bar culture (for example, there is such a thing as a tiki drink with gin).  One new-ish interesting development (to me at least) is a trend of the tiki speakeasy.

It seems that it is no longer chic to have an out-in-the-open tiki bar, all the cool kids are at the tiki speakeasy.  I’ve had the good fortune to go to a couple and it was a fun time.

The first tiki speakeasy I visited was with my neighbors in Long Beach.  We took a car downtown to this craft brew/burger place (Beer Belly), then went to the back of the restaurant and found the secret entrance to Bar Tiki Tiki (no door, just push on the wall).  It was a good thing that we got there when we did because the whole place has maybe eight seats.

Even though the bartender was not that interested in us when we arrived, after a while he realized that he was in the company of fellow tiki drink aficionados.  He told us about his fancy frozen drink machine and even poured us shots of a very rare and special rum.

Delicious frozen froufrou drink at Bar Tiki Tiki

Then, when I went to Arizona to visit my dear friend K recently, she had a very hard-to-get RESERVATION at a tiki speakeasy for us.  Yes, a reservation.  And they barely let us in any way!

There is a coffee shop/bar in a converted auto garage in Phoenix called Sip Coffee and Beer Garage.  You go inside, then you go down this teeny staircase to Undertow.  The bar is in what had been the pit, where the mechanics would stand under the cars they were working on.

entering Undertow

This place had some serious ambiance going on. You are imaginarily inside of a 19th century clipper ship called the Undertow. The porthole “windows” give you a view of the tropical paradise just outside. Every so often, there is a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder.  Then you look out the “window” to see the storm squalling.  It is kind-of too fun.

This place has a menu that tells the legend of Captain Mallory in his quest to rescue the crew of the Undertow from a curse.  It made it difficult to decide what to order because I was so busy trying to read the whole story before committing to a course of action.

We had a couple of rounds of gorgeous cocktails before we were informed that our reservation was expiring.  Apparently, when you have a 34-seat establishment, turnover is important.

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Kitten Road Trip

I had a brilliant plan: take the kittens on a kitten road trip to my mom’s house for Christmas.  I would get to have them with me and get to show them off to the family and they are so easy going that I didn’t think that they would be too bothered (of course they would be a bit bothered, they’re cats).  Also, since I’m home a lot these days, they are not used to being left alone for long periods of time.  They make a big deal when I come home after a couple of hours, I couldn’t bear the thought of how upsetting they would find it to only have a cat sitter just stopping by a couple of times a day.

I had some great ideas about how to prep the kittens for going on a road trip and how to handle them in the car.  It’s not unheard of.  I found articles on Chewy.com and one on Medium which led me to the official Adventure Cat website!  I’m not the only crazy cat lady out there.

I got them both harnesses which we practice wearing around the house.  They would be slightly bothered with the harnesses when I put them on, then quickly forget about it and go back to their usual kitten hijinks.  Now, it’s not even a big deal at all. Mr. Man is so much more bothered about the harnesses than the kittens ever were. Anabel will pull hers out and bring it to me to put it on her; I know that is because she likes the way that the pink accentuates her pink nose.  After a few days of harness practice, I even got Sally to walk on a lead (for treats).

Part two of my brilliant plan was to take them on short car trips around the neighborhood.  The last time they had been in the car was when they went to get fixed, I knew that it would be smart to let them know that every car ride does not lead to surgery.  Well, I pretty much blew off this part of our prep completely.  When I finally did take them on a car ride, they were mildly bothered, but I could tell that it was something that they would be ok with if I had taken the time to get them used to it.

Mr. Man was not on board with my genius idea from the beginning.  You would think that he has learned by now that I’m always right and that he should support me.  But he was even less ok with this plan than he was with getting these kittens in the first place. And even though he got over that in two seconds, it was clear that he was not going to be swayed so easily this time.

So, Mr. Man stayed home to take care of the kittens and I went by myself to visit my family.  Of course, I did spend the entire drive working out what I would do if I had the kittens in the car with me. I think that a kitten road trip is in our future.  I just need to be more thorough in my preparations and I’ll have adventure cats in no time!  Well, maybe not AdventureCats.org style that go hiking and camp but at least kittens who are emotionally equipped to take a road trip occasionally.

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2019 Suggestions

New Year, New Suggestions

Here we are again.  Facing a new year that is so full of potential and opportunities.  We are going to jump up and be everything that we have wanted to be, right?  Ok, probably not. But we are going to make an effort to do something new, aren’t we?

After I told you about my 2018 Suggestions list, I felt a lot of pressure to come up with a good list for my 2019 Suggestions.  There were probably 20 things at least.  I didn’t write them down.  I’ve decided to take a different tack this year.  I’m going to start the year with six suggestions for myself that fall into one of four categories:

  • Keep doing
  • Do more
  • Do better
  • Do less/Don’t do

I give myself permission to revisit my list at any point during this year and revise as I see fit.  Maybe I’ll nail it on all these suggestions and will add some other things.  Maybe I am going to need to reframe something to try to get a better handle on it.  We’ll see how it goes.

The four categories idea came out of something I was reading on the internet somewhere.  The gist was, “rather than resolving to do more things, resolve not to do some things…” something like that.  I thought that was a good point.  Why try to pile on a bunch of new stuff without looking at what you’re already dragging around with you and thinking about what you can let go?

my 2019 suggestions
improve handwriting didn’t make the list

Here are my 2019 Suggestions for myself:

  • One thing that I want to keep doing is getting to the gym 5+ times a week.
  • Another keep doing is working on my writing (tada!).
  • Something that I want to do more is getting my steps in.  Santa very kindly brought me a Fitbit Versa so now I have my activity tracker strapped to my wrist and I can’t use the excuse of, “well, I didn’t have my phone with me, I don’t know what I did,” to justify not achieving my activity goals.
  • Another thing that I want to do more is call people.  Like actually picking up the phone (quaint, I know!) not sending a text. A friend of mine called the other day out of the blue and it was such a treat to just chat for a few minutes. I felt so appreciated that I immediately resolved to add it to my suggestions.
  • One thing that I want to do better is use my time more effectively. This is going to be a big one.   I have some ideas about tactics that I want to try. Ultimately, I would like to feel that I’m getting the most out of each day.  The trick is going to be being realistic about how much time that I need to devote to any one thing because everything seems to take longer than I want it to.
  • My do less/don’t do is waiting to find a buddy to do things with. It is always fun to get to share an experience with someone, but sometimes a girl just has to go for it.

What are you thinking about suggesting for yourself for 2019?  Anything to keep doing, do more, do better, or stop doing?

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Holiday Decorating

I’m a big fan of holiday decorating.  I love to spend the day after thanksgiving just holiday-ifying my whole house. There are garlands and vases full of ornaments.  The stockings are hung by the chimney with care.  There is a small collection of nutcrackers and a tree just for cat ornaments. There is a wire wreath just waiting for everyone’s Christmas cards.

And there is the flamingo tree, the best Christmas tree of all.  Oh, the flamingo tree is so beautiful, a white tinsel tree with only pink flamingo ornaments.  Last year I sewed a flamingo Christmas tree skirt for her, it’s reversible.  All the rest of my holiday décor is red and green, but the flamingo tree stands alone, a beautiful pink and white treasure.

A few years ago, my mom sent me a ladder for my birthday.  It is one of those great convertible ladders that goes from step-ladder mode to big-tall mode.  She was sick of listening to me complain about how hard it was to put up my Halloween and Christmas decorations and decided to provide me with the tool to solve my decorating woes.  And it worked!  Ever since I got that ladder, Mr. Man has put up the Christmas lights on our little bungalow every year.

  • Colorful lights to the left
  • It’s like a Jimmy Buffet song
  • Colorful lights to the right

Our neighbors next door on both sides and across the street go with the old-school, large, multi-colored bulbs.  We go with warm white icicle lights.  It’s a nice contrast.

The house on the corner

When Mr. Man put up our lights after Thanksgiving, it was a 75+ degree day.  We decided that it was nice that he put up the Christmas lights so that we would know that it was winter, otherwise, we might not have noticed.

Inside is another story. Because we have these two wonderful treasures living here named Anabel and Sally.  And I am very confident that anything that I put out would be interpreted to be new cat toys.  The fireplace is still filled with boxes so that they can’t get in there (they still are trying), I don’t even know what I think will happen if I try to hang the stockings.  I managed to sneak in my meager collection of nutcrackers and the Christmas card wreath but that is pretty much it.  This year my indoor holiday decorations are on a break.

Even though I miss my flamingo tree, I would be so sad to be cleaning up the aftermath of a kitten attack on it.  Fortunately, I have many photos from last year so that we can all enjoy it virtually.

As much as I like to have my holiday decorations up right away after Thanksgiving, I want everything packed up and put away before the new year.  So, the upside to this indoor decorating minimalism is that my New Year’s Eve cleaning binge is going to be much simpler this year.

I will be taking the next few weeks off and will be back on January 7th.  I will look forward to catching up with you in 2019!

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Dumplin’ Movie

Because I follow Dolly Parton on social media (don’t y’all?), I started hearing about a movie called Dumplin’ that was coming out.  Dolly had done the music for the movie.  Ok, done deal, that would be the next movie night for the chick-flick movie bunch.

No, I had no idea what the movie was about.  It didn’t really matter because Dolly was saying to go see it.  Honestly, if there is one public figure who you can trust, it’s Dolly Parton.  I will write more about my deep, abiding love for Dolly another day, but I will tell you now that if you don’t have a great deal of respect and admiration for the woman, it’s only because you don’t know about the many wonderful things that she has done in her life.

Back to Dumplin’. This movie was produced by Jennifer Aniston’s production company and was released on Netflix with only limited theatrical release (so that it would be award-season eligible).  That meant that it was not showing in the greater Long Beach metropolitan area which made organizing a night out for the chick-flick movie bunch a challenge.

Shamelessly, I asked the group if anyone had Netflix and wanted to host us (I don’t have Netflix, I watch too much television already anyway – don’t judge).  La Flaca graciously offered to have us all over to her casita which was an extra treat since we got to enjoy her delightful holiday decorating as well.

It was a really sweet movie about awkward teenagers overcoming awkward teenager issues.  And Dolly hadn’t just provided the music, she also provided an underlying theme.  One of Dolly’s bon mots, “figure out who you are and do it on purpose” sums up the dramatic arc of the film.  I feel like I would like that quote on a t-shirt.

The only dubious element of the movie for me was how normal these teenagers were. I mean, they had after school jobs and drove cars and were responsible for their own participation in the activities that they chose to sign up for.  Sure, we did those things back when we were teenagers, but it doesn’t seem like that’s the way that kids now-a-days go about their business (I think that Mr. Man’s “back in my day” ranting is rubbing off on me).  I liked those parts about being a teenager and it was nice to be reminded of.

I found out later that Dumplin’ was adapted from a book by Julie Murphy.  Usually, if I’m interested in a movie that is based on a book, I will always read the book first.  Often, I tend to stop there.  Books can have a lot of layers that are hard to portray in film.  There are places in this movie that you can tell there is something more to the story.  I think that I will put this book on my reading list so that I can get into all those nooks and crannies.  I’m pretty sure that it will be a fun, quick read.

So, if you have Netflix and you’re in the mood for a sweet movie that will leave you feeling better about life when you’re done, I recommend that you check it out.  Or read the book.  Or both.  Dolly will approve.

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A Tale of Fluffy Tails

a fluffy kitten tail

On today’s episode of Kitten Tuesday, we will be exploring how fabulously fluffy Anabel’s and Sally’s tails have become.  I have to admit that for a while there I was not optimistic that these tails would turn out as spectacular as they have.  This is a tale of fluffy tails.

When the kittens first came home, they had little stubby baby kitten tails.  Anabel used to chase her tail and it was so short that she couldn’t turn around far enough to catch it.  She would spin like a dervish until she tumbled herself over, then she would jump up and go again.  It was pretty entertaining.  No, I’m not sure how much time I spent watching Anabel chase her tail, but every minute of it was time well spent.

As they grew, their tails began to lengthen, soon the tail to body ratio was pretty much equal. They started wrapping their tails around themselves when they slept.  They didn’t have the tail muscles to carry them up yet, Sally’s would make a sort-of half arch when he would try but at least they were proportionate.  By September, their tails were getting thicker but were not what I would call fluffy. It is only recently that they have become fabulous.

It is funny because even though from certain angles Anabel and Sally can be hard to tell apart, their tails are so different in shape and texture.  Anabel’s is wide and linear,and the coloring is consistent the ticking on her body.  She tends to walk with her tail straight off her back which adds to the long line.

Sally’s tail is like a beautiful fluffy plume.  He carries it high over his back, especially when he comes running to meet me at the door. It is his beautiful welcome flag. His tail puffs out in the middle and then tapers at the end.  The color variation is more pronounced on his tail as well. 

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2018 Suggestions

As we approach the new year it seemed like a good opportunity to look back at my 2018.  This has been a fairly significant year for me, there have been so many milestones and changes. My friend who is in to numerology would tell me that it is because I am in a whatever number year (I can never remember the formula to figure out what # year you are in).  Whatever number year this was, a lot has happened.

I was flipping through a notebook that I’ve been using this year for various notes and lists and I found a list that I had made for myself in January.  I’m not a big “new year’s resolutions” girl, but I remember wanting to give myself some things to focus on for the year.  I called it “2018 Suggestions”.

I had forgotten that I had written these things down (the way that most of us forget about our new year’s resolutions) and it made me smile to read it with fresh eyes. Even if my handwriting makes me cringe. 

Nine suggestions for 2018

I recently participated in a webinar about goal setting.  The presenter said that there are three levels of increasing effectiveness. The first is to think it. The second is to write it down and share it. 

A few of the items that I had written down penetrated my subconscious and have gathered some steam over the year, specifically:

  • Wear less black
  • Walk more
  • Less shopping
  • Write some things down (tada!)

Some rattled around in my brain but didn’t really gain much traction:

  • Be pulled together (my cheat for this is wearing lipstick)
  • Send birthday cards (it’s hit-and-miss)
  • I need a better reminder to make more cream puffs!

“Spend some time on abs” didn’t get off the ground although Mondays with Adam has been helping that whole issue. This will be a topic for another day. 

That I was able to get four of my nine suggestions to stick makes me happy.  The good thing about good habits is that they become easier to maintain which frees up some mental energy to add new ones.   I think that I’ll try giving myself some suggestions again for 2019.  I’m going to replay a few, think about what else I might want to add and see what I can get to stick (hopefully cream puffs and birthday cards at least).

The third effectiveness boost for accomplishing goals is to report your status regularly.  It doesn’t matter who you are reporting to.  Just the fact that there is someone who you are going to tell how (or what) you are doing to make progress on your goals makes you more likely to take some action.

So, I was thinking that I will share my 2019 suggestions here with you in January.  And if you have something that you want to suggest for yourself, you can put it in the comments.  Then every so often, we can have a check-in and share what/how we are doing.  What do you think?  Do you want to play?   

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Another Dinner Experiment

I was looking for recipes on Pinterest for something with sweet potatoes and zucchini.  I didn’t find quite what I wanted, but I did find enough to give me an idea of what I was going to attempt.  It was time for another dinner experiment.

Sweet Potato/Zucchini Concoction

  • Slice (thin-ish) sort-of equal amounts of sweet potato and zucchini
  • Layer in baking dish (cute, right?)
  • Drizzle with garlic butter (I used 4 tbsps of butter, 1 clove of garlic, and a dash of herbs de Provence)
  • Bake covered at 350 for 45 minutes (I would probably try 30 minutes at 400 next time)
  • Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, bake for another 10 minutes

I did find a recipe for blackened something and I thought that the blackened spice mix sounded like I might like to try it on the salmon that I was making to go with the sweet potato/zucchini concoction.  Of course, I didn’t have all of the ingredients, so this is what I wound up throwing together (I did measure!).

Blackened seasoning:

  • 1tbsp smoked paprika
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp oregano
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • Dash of cayenne

For the salmon, my goal was to make sure that it came out with crispy skin.  I found a great article on Epicurious about how to get crispy skin.  I had already prepped the filets and they were hanging out in the fridge waiting to meet their fate.

This seemed like another great occasion for my trusty cast iron skillet.  Unfortunately, I did not do a very good job of making sure that the skin was as dry as possible before cooking.  The fish came out delicious, it was a very easy and fast method of cooking, but I did not wind up with the crispy skin that I was dreaming about. I’m looking forward to getting another crack at it, I think that I have learned my lesson and that crispy salmon skin is in my future.

P.S. Today is my 50th post!  Thank you for reading!!!