Week in review & gearing up for Blend

Happy Wednesday Friday! I had this post all ready to go on Wednesday, but the day got away from me. Looks like I only have time to post on Fridays now.

Attempted to go shopping for clothes on Sunday and no luck. I did get hungry and ate The Caveman from Meat Headz Sandwich Shop, my new go-to.

 

Because it was Mother's Day, I got some cards, champagne, and nail polish for my aunts.

Mom in jewel tones

Mom and I finally made and drank sangria using $1.99 Charles Shaw wine from Trader Joe's, some frozen tropical fruit, and oranges from the backyard.

Yoga in the afternoon after sleeping in

Back to work on Monday and an early meeting.

Tuesday 6 AM WOD that included all skill work: pistol squats, handstand push ups, and Turkish get-ups. I can only get pistol squats if I hold my leg like the ladies on the bottom left.

Also on Tuesday: 2 meetings. I'm almost done with them!

Wednesday 6 AM WOD, work, and night class. Plus, more Caveman with roast beef. Yum.

Thursday standardized testing went well I provided my kiddos with gourmet bagels and got some reading done for class. Then I headed to my other work where they're holding an Anatolian Festival this weekend. It's a little cheesy for my taste.

Sadly, I'll be missing the homebrewer competition this weekend though.

And now it's Friday and the Blend Retreat! I had to change my flight to a later time so won't get there till later. I'm super nervous about being late. I am also just half packed and have to leave right after work... Somewhere someone wrote a list of what to pack and I need to find it ASAP.

I'm not bringing my laptop with me on this trip, but will have tons of pictures when I get back (I hope!).

What's keeping you busy this weekend?
Have you ever gone to a blogger conference/retreat? This is my first one ever!

High Five Friday: First week & life is getting better and better

My lack of posts this week? The busiest schedule I've had and the best in a long time.

I started my long-term sub position. I led two meetings, did tons of paperwork, and you know, actually teach.

The teacher set me up with lesson plans for the first week and we had way too much downtime.

We had Vietnam War veterans come to speak to the class, which was fantastic. The students loved it.

I also went to my other job, went to CrossFit a couple of times during the week + one yoga class, took 2 rest days, took one nap, went to a 4.5 hour class, and went out with my CrossFit girlfriends... on a weeknight! We all left by 11:30 because we had WODs and jobs to get to.

Every morning, I eat at work. Usually, it's sunflower seed butter with organic jam, both from Trader Joe's, on Julian Bakery's paleo bread.

Food prep went away once the week started and I was super busy. I ate [healthy] without really thinking about it. Now that's intuitive eating!

Banana "ice cream" with cardamon, nutmeg, and ginger

Chili over sweet potatoes

Teacher appreciation day at Chipotle - Paleo carnitas bowl and this almost-Paleo chicken bowl (corn is not Paleo)

I replaced my obsession with healthy eating with my obsession for working with students. I love my kids and I've e-mailed, called, and talked to so many students/parents/teachers/administrators this week. I love it so much that it's Friday night and I can't sleep because I always want to do more more more!

I'm rewarded with awesome students who tell other teachers how awesome I am, parents who thank me, and the opportunity to prove myself. So far so good even though classes haven't been perfect - I may have been called a bitch, but that comes with the territory.

Now I must get some rest because I have homework to do for my new class :( and boot camp to go to in the morning.

Life is getting good...

High Five Friday: A Week of Firsts

HIGH FIVE for lamb meat. This was leftover from making those awesome paleo dolmas and was delicious. Now that summer is here, I could eat outside too.

HIGH FIVE for my first full wheel pose ever! I've been doing yoga for awhile, on and off, and got a Groupon for CorePower yoga. Level 2 suits me well and the heat helped me get into full wheel. Oh yeah, I'm almost there with splits too!

(source)

Open-faced breakfast sandwich and all ready to take my "final exam" for my online class. I had the whole set-up: textbook and notes ready. The exam was 10 multiple choice questions that I took in less than 10 minutes, only because I had to double check. HIGH FIVE for an 100% on my "final exam."

One last assignment before the end of this class - it's a tough one. Fortunately, I've had the chance to work on it at work (the school) and get all of tomorrow to work on it. 

HIGH FIVE for handstand push ups. I went after work and P.S., I love this group of people too, especially since they're more awake in the afternoon. With lots of help and encouragement, I got upside down and did them. The hardest part was to commit - I needed to kick up with more force.

 

(source)

And, HIGH FIVE for my first Rx. I've Rx'ed when Rx was the only level, but this was the first time I legitimately Rx'ed!

Thursday's WOD "Ponce" 

3 Rounds
9 HSP
12 Box Jumps 24/20
400 M Run
21 KB Swings G/Y

In good time too. I could have done Fire Breather with 24" box jumps (doable) and 800 M run (sucks but doable as well)... small steps though.

After the WOD, I was starving and realized I had no protein at home. I stopped by the 99 Cent Only store and bought pouches of salmon. I should pick up more for work.

HIGH FIVE for the weekend, which will include a fundraiser party for Cinco de Mayo and my cousin's dance performance.

HIGH FIVE for next week in which I begin my long-term sub assignment. I cannot put into words how I excited I am! It's not all mine, but it's a big step for me to get a glimpse of the dream. :)

I've become less nervous, more confident, and in need of some supplies, mostly food rations and water for all that time in class. 

What are some firsts for you this week?

What makes you excited?

WIAW: Dolmas & end of Paleo challenge

I'm having trouble sleeping. I'm working, working out, and doing homework - exhausted but unable to sleep till 1:30 A.M. last night. So, in effect, a 5 A.M. alarm didn't happen. A 6:30 one did and I'm craving a Sidecar doughnuts. I rarely eat whole doughnuts.

 This week, I bought fresh grape leaves. It took awhile to even track down canned grape leaves and when I got there, I saw a sign for fresh leaves. I didn't know what to expect.

But my paleo dolmas turned out great. I cut and cleaned cauliflower for the first time too!

There's a lot, but I eat a lot of them too.

I also made super simple protein balls from Gabby's G-Free Instagram.

My new CrossFit friend Anna sent me a recipe for dark chocolate banana ice cream. I froze banana medallions the night before and came up with this delicious treat. I want some more...

We finished the Paleo challenge yesterday, a lot earlier than we expected. We won. I'm happy...

... and I'm experiencing less bloating.

I'll keep trucking along the Paleo path 80-90% of the time. It wasn't a huge adjustment in my life.

MIMM: Venice & Fight Gone Bad

I bought more ground meat and realized most ground meat is the same.

I made pork chili instead of beef chili this week.

Eggplant fries instead of sweet potato fries

Marvelous paleo pumpkin pancakes from Practical Paleo that came out better this time

My Pharrell station on Pandora yielded this amazing song. Most marvelous station ever.

I had to go to my second job and picked up some meat from Trader Joe's. Ready to eat! Not. I was supposed to heat it. Oh well.

Saturday morning boot camp then baking ginger spice muffin tops from Healthful Pursuit.

And a giant batch of marvelous sweet potato pancakes with maple coconut butter. I ate this Saturday and Sunday, and there's enough for tomorrow.

After attempting more homework and falling asleep, I drove out to meet up my friends Andrew and Denton. We headed into Venice.

The boardwalk was crazy, but I dug the vibe in other parts of Venice.

Dinner at Oscar's Cerveteca

I chose the Peruvian sashimi (left, rec from Yelp), but really wish I chose the chorizo burger (right). The sashimi was good but small. I dealt and drank a beer from El Segundo.

Marvelous Coolhaus Ice Cream in Culver City was reminiscent of my San Francisco ice cream experience. I got the dirty mint and ChocoVivo salted chocolate. I didn't realize there was so much so I only had the ChocoVivo - I'm usually not a chocolate ice cream fan! The mint was refreshing with fresh specks of mint and tons of chocolate chips.

Another marvelous Sunday Funday at CrossFit. We did 3 rounds of Fight Gone Bad, named after BJ Penn. I got in 230 reps that included wall balls. I'm better at them now! :)

Some of my semi-Paleo grocery shopping for the week:

• Sweet potatoes
• Tomato
• Apples
• Paleo bread
• Coconut oil
• Boar's Head buffalo chicken
• Turkey bacon
• Carrots
• Dark chocolate
• Pine nuts for dolmas, but I can't find grape leaves!
• Ginger, cardamon, nutmeg

I finished up a big assignment and fell asleep for a couple of hours. So I'm still up, 6 A.M. CrossFit is not a possibility and I'm sleeping in. Not the best way to start the week...

What did you do this past weekend?
What's your favorite station on Pandora?
Where's your next beach trip?