I’ve been checking things off my list. Saturday, I went to the Palo Alto Farmer’s Market and picked up spices from Spice Hound. I was missing some basic stuff like oregano, black peppercorns, red pepper flakes, taco seasoning, paprika, and crushed garlic. While there, I also picked up some great goat and sheep’s milk cheeses from Garden Variety Cheese.
It was raining, but I was on a mission. I headed to the Palo Alto Apple Store in search of an iPad mini to send to Sonny for my Karma Point Mission. Why didn’t anyone tell me that minis are sold out? Maybe someone did and I wasn’t paying attention. I guess the media is right, no one wants them. At least I saw the new store. The noise situation wasn’t as bad as the media had said either. It was loud, but not difficult to hear the conversation I was having.
Having failed at finding an iPad Mini, I retreated to my car which was sitting unlocked three blocks away. I couldn’t lock it because it was raining. Earlier that morning, my car alarm was going off for no apparent reason. Turns out, my third brake light assembly is loose and according to the interwebs, there are reports that when that light isn’t sealed properly, water leaks in and sets off the alarm. Well, it was raining and the assembly was loose and the alarm was going off, so I just didn’t lock my car until it dried out.
I checked my list of things to do, and the second item was to pick up my wine shipments. I couldn’t go through vacation without getting some good wine! So I called up Keanu and we headed up into the Santa Cruz hills.
First stop was Regale. The last time Sparkles was out visiting, we met up with his German exchange student friend to go wine tasting. I dropped my membership at Burrell School after tasting their chardonnay that smells like burnt rubber. Next door is the newly built Regale. Expensive, but a lovely garden and good wine, so I started a membership, but I haven’t been back since. I had two shipments to pick up. Luckily, it happened to be shipment day.
Second stop was my other favorite winery, Loma Prieta. I was only behind on one shipment there since they don’t produce as much and have fewer shipments. When we walked in the door, there was Cupcake (aka Golf Buddy K) and her crew. They’d gone wine tasting without me! Or I went without them. Whatever. Let’s let bygones be bygones.
Turns out, Saturday was a Passport Day. And Cupcake et al had passports and were going to use them with or without us. Keanu and I didn’t have passports, but decided to tag along. Our next stop was Burrell School. The chardonnay had mellowed out a little since last time, but still smelled horrendous to me. A couple other people thought it smelled like sesame. Whatever, I was driving, so I was dumping.
Our last stop happened to have three wineries all pouring. They had run out of passports, so we paid $15 for all the tastings. Pretty good deal. The wines weren’t anything to write home about, so probably best I had to pay for the tastings.
I got home in time to walk the dog, inject the cat and make dinner. A good evening in. I seem to have a lot of those lately.
On Sunday, Perl wanted something out of this staycation, so we went to Fort Funston. As always, I was worried about the weather, but it turned out to be a gorgeous day.
Monday, I went to the mall to pick up an iPad mini. Failing that, I bought an iPod touch instead. Then I stopped by White House | Black Market. I know better, but I just couldn’t help myself. I also picked up a few things from Bare Escentuals that I was low on. I hate going to the mall, so I was hoping that going on Monday morning before kids are out on vacation would be acceptable. I hated going there anyways.
After the mall, I needed to mail the iPad mini and iPod touch, so Perl and I went for a walk to the post office. We stopped at the Palace Cafe and I had a late lunch. Perl got more attention while we sat there than she has ever gotten sitting on Murphy Street.
Monday also kicked off my attempts at shedding a few pounds. Strangely, it is easier for me to diet during vacation because I have time to think about what I am eating, log it, and get more exercise. And I don’t go out to eat as much because I have more time to cook.
Tuesday, I finally checked playing golf off my list. Cupcake and I stopped by Sunken Gardens for nine holes before she had to go off to work. I thought about playing another round in the afternoon, but it was pretty windy. Instead, Keanu and I grabbed lunch and then picked up our Turkey Trot race packets for the Thanksgiving Day run.
In the afternoon, Perl and I walked to Target and I picked up a FitBit One to help me track my progress on My Fitness Pal. Hopefully I stick with it this time. If so, I should be at my target weight by July. This morning, Perl and I have already walked 2.15 miles to the grocery store and back. I bought some yogurt so I can stop eating pancakes for breakfast. Although I did finally find a pancake recipe that works for me—Whole Wheat Apple Pancakes. I was too lazy to separate the eggs, and I added in some blueberries and banana too. According to My Fitness Pal, the recipe makes pancakes for four and each serving is 297 calories with 53 g of carbs, 4 g of Fat, 11 g of Protein and 464 mg of Sodium
Today’s plan is to get some stuff done around the house. The weather isn’t great today, although the sun is finally coming out, but I want to do some cooking for tomorrow’s dinner and get some of the stuff done on my computer that I’ve been avoiding. Maybe I can knock off a few more items on my list!
√ Buy an iPad mini tomorrow that isn’t for me. Maybe one for me too.
√ Pick up my wine shipments in the Santa Cruz mountains
- Run the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
- Bike the trails in Monterrey
√ Play golf
√ Take my dog to Fort Funston
- Make an Aperture book of my Italy trip
- Plan a trip around the world
√ Buy new spices from SpiceHound.com
√ Setup doctors appointments
- Minimize my junk email
- Make cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving day
- Spend Thanksgiving day with my holidays family and call the rest of my family
- Have a play date for Perl with Princess K
- Investigate colors to paint my condo this summer
- Finish my Italy travelogue before I finish my staycation
