2) This is more important. I just received this email in my inbox. I can’t even begin to explain how ridiculous and awesome my life is. WOW.

(FYI… this is the picture of the “friend” that I introduced him to yesterday, with the caption “Domo”… JW has just informed me that the picture of the monster, above, is named “Muffin”. We’re normal.)

Oh… And finally… Just in case anyone was curious…

Jen Y, Grace, me and Jen O. All of their first 5ks, and they did AWESOME!

Okay, so that is a lie. I don’t hate running. In fact, I do it relatively often, and wish that I enjoyed running more. There are so many benefits to it, but I always sort of pump myself up and make myself super nervous about it.

Regardless, yesterday, I ran the Mermaid Run in San Diego with my friends, Jen x2 and Grace. It was the first 5k’s for the girls, and they all did SO well. Seriously, I was really impressed with them– Jen Y even ran faster than I did. My finishing time was 28:05, which I was pleased with, and maybe something I’ll aim to beat in future. We shall see!

Oh… Alison Sweeney was also at the race. She’s the host of The Biggest Loser and I MAY HAVE creeped on her to take this picture. She looked so nice and normal.

Seriously… it made my entire week, and I’ve been having a really really really really amazing week. This came in a package from “Cali Dolce” and when I picked up my package, I had no idea who this person was, or what to expect. On top of that, it was from McKees Rocks, which is near Pittsburgh, but not a place I’ve ever spent time…

When I opened the package, there were all of these numbered boxes and a note. The note read:

“Allison,

Open these boxes in numerical orderWe hope you enjoy.

Happy Valentines Day! From: Cali Dolce”

…

but then it said

…

“From: Andy”

A lightbulb went off! I was texting Andy this past weekend, and he said he was planning to make me smile real big this week, but wouldn’t tell me how/when/what… well, this was how, and it worked.

I am a really lucky girl to live the life that I do, with the friends and family that I have. I’m a happy girl.

xoxo AP

…and now, February’s Challenge:

Yesterday, I decided what I’d “challenge” myself to in February. Inspired by Lululemon’s manifesto, I’m going to “sweat every day”. Bring it on, I’m ready.

This actually shouldn’t be TOO much of a challenge, except for the every day part. I think that I have the energy of three people somedays… it’s just a matter of making the time EVERY DAY.

I’ll check in with updates.

xoxo AP

]]> http://allisonpotter.com/2012/01/31/februarys-challenge-sweat-every-day/feed/ 3 allisonpotter http://allisonpotter.com/2012/01/31/things-i-like-right-now/ http://allisonpotter.com/2012/01/31/things-i-like-right-now/#comments Tue, 31 Jan 2012 22:15:01 +0000 allisonpotter http://allisonpotter.com/?p=306 ]]> Some days, I find myself FULL of things that I like, and full of thoughts. Today is definitely one of those days. So, I felt like sharing my “likes” with you, so that (perhaps) you could like them, too!

Two of my favorite things today... no, I haven't showered, no, I'm not wearing any makeup, and NO, I do not care.

• Venti iced coffees with just a little splash of soy milk. So what if I’ve had TWO today?
• Have any of you tried out pilates before? I’m REALLY digging the teacher I’ve been going to see 3x/week. I’ve also been mixing it up with a 2.5 (the most challenging) class, and a cardio sculpt class, which incorporates jumping with tradition pilates on the reformer. I feel stronger and a bit leaner, if nothing else. Overall, pretty amazing.
• Bright pink (fluorescent, perhaps?) nail polish on my fingers. Even if it’s the end of January.
• Cilantro & Jalapeño hummus: I scooped cucumbers in this and spread it on a few slices of turkey today for lunch. All delicious.
• Strawberry Mango fruit twists from Starbucks. Even if they kind of remind me of the real fruit roll-ups that my mom would let me eat as a snack as a small child, when I really wanted the full sugar, full kid-approved ones.
• KIND bars. I always like these, and figure they need a shout out, even if I haven’t eaten them today. Yum yum.
• A smile on my face even if I’m a few hours sleep-deprived.
• THIS song by Justin Nozuka. It makes me smile. I think it’s pretty.
• Also THIS song by Elan… but I might just appreciate it more because I’m not sun-deprived and feel like it’s a super fabulous sunshine-y song.

HERE is the recipe I worked off of courtesy of allrecipes.com (but tweaked… doubled the crisp part, and did a layer on top and on bottom)

…and here are pictures that I SWEAR are not intended to make you jealous, but likely will make you want to strangle me.

xoxo AP

Today has been nuts. It’s totally fine, and all good… I just have a million tasks to accomplish, and can’t seem to focus on one at a time to just tackle them. Instead, I’m trying to do ALL at once, and checking back on things periodically. One being this conversation, below, with a friend that I’ve known for a very very very long time (seriously, since I was a little kid).

Me: that was the best thing I’ve heard in a long time.

I’ve decided that if I’m going to talk about interactions with the male species, that I should not be completely open about situations, names, etc… it could make people angry, hurt, or think that I have serious issues. I do have issues, let’s just get this out there.

Tonight, I was talking on the phone with my friend, E. A good conversation, overall. He’s really funny, and seems to think that my complete moronity is relatively charming.

During the conversation, I told him that he should take a girl on a date to the Hillcrest farmers market. Why, you ask? “Because they have tons of free fruit there. You could totally fill up on free samples of fresh produce. CHEAP DATE!”

I then continued to tell him an awful rendition of the story with Evi biting a human last summer, and that I couldn’t wait to feel my first REAL earthquake. I mean seriously, WTF kind of messed up human being am I? (In fairness, I only wanted tremors that didn’t break any of my personal belongings, and perhaps some aftershocks that would cause some high waves for a few days so we could get a “weather advisory statement” on my weather app.)

… and people wonder why I am single… (seriously though, men do seem to like this complete and utter weirdoness, and I DO know how to be semi-normal… sometimes). Sigh.

So, in the meantime… in case you haven’t noticed… I’ve just sort of NOT been writing… effective, right?

As an update, all IS well. Life IS good. I’ve been going to pilates 3x/week, have been (sort of) training for a 5k which I’ll run on February 11th, and have gone on a few dates. Gotta get out there, right? No knight in shining armor, yet, but I can’t meet him if I stay in my yoga pants at home. I can, however, seemingly meet men at airports, in Starbucks, and at the beach… all places where I’ve managed to have encounters with cute men.

On the eating front, I continue to eat a ton of great food. With the exception of In-n-Out in October, I haven’t been to any fast food since moving here. I’ve been to almost no chain restaurants either. But I HAVE eaten plenty of delicious food including: tapas, thai, pho, chinese, korean, tawainese (all different), AND MORE. This is why I really need to start blogging about food more, because I’ve eaten SO MUCH new food, and eaten at SO MANY great restaurants. Yum yum yum. I will try. I promise.

A friend suggested that I coin my new topic of blogs “good food, bad dates” and another said that the tagline could be “in the end, it all turns to poop”. I have some good friends. We’ll see, and hope that I continue with the good outcomes on BOTH fronts!

xoxo AP

However… how soon we forget about the resolutions we’re going to work on, and how quickly we are able to stress ourselves out and get back into the normal, day-to-day craze. Today I’m thankful to be reminded of mini detoxes in various areas of life. Anyone have any other suggestions for ways to detox? Share them with me!

Mini detoxes for…

• Your Mind: Turn off your computer, iPhone or Blackberry one hour before bed. You’ll sleep soundly and wake up sunny, not stressed. (I’ve actually been turning off my email notifications so that my phone doesn’t beep every time an email comes in, and I have to manually retrieve them. ALSO helps! I’ve also been trying to keep my phone off before 12noon on Saturday and Sundays. Who needs me before then anyways?)
• Your Relationships: Send your grandma a handwritten note, give your little sis a call, or tell a colleague they’re doing a great job.
• Your Closet: (I could do this every month and still have too much clothing) Take out anything that makes you feel less-than-awesome and donate it to a charity like Dress for Success.
• Your Diet: Cut out processed foods for a few days. Focus on fruits, veggies, whole grains, and plenty of dark chocolate.
• Your Bathroom Cabinet: Check expiration dates and throw out any products past their prime. (This actually scares me. I can imagine that SO many things are expired under my sink…)