Fun in the Snow

Last weekend I spent 48 hours in Reno/Lake Tahoe area. My cousin from Mexico was in town with family and they wanted to go snowmobiling. We had done this trip before and it was a lot of fun. We drove up Saturday morning up to Reno and we had a few stops along the way. I drove up my own car since I was coming back on Monday morning. They wanted to shop so we did a bit of shopping in Sacramento & Reno. Saturday morning we got up early and drove down to south Lake Tahoe to go to Zephyr Cove to go snowmobiling.

We ended up getting 7 snowmobiles and had a two hour tour. It wasn't snowing but there was plenty of snow on the mountains and it was freaking cold. But the view from 8,700 feet on the mountain of the lake was amazing. This is something that everyone should do.

I left Monday morning at 5am from Reno to make it to work by 9am. Let me tell you, that was not a fun drive at all but I had a lot of fun in Reno with the family. Good thing I had my new under eye concealer. That magical product helped me look like I had gotten a good 8 hours of sleep when in reality I got about 4.

Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

So excited! Today my friends and I bought tickets to see Chelsea Handler in March. She will be a the Nob Hill Masonic in San Francisco.

Anyone seen her stand up before? I've seen her on interviews & on her show Chelsea Lately and she makes me laugh.

Tequila & I Are Still Friends

One of the highlights of my trip to Mexico (and there were many) was the trip we took to the town of Tequila, Jalisco. I have family that lives in Guadalajara so the weekend between Christmas & New Year's, my mom, three cousins and I drove to Guadalajara to visit my family there and to visit a tequila distillery. I have always wondered if it would be like a winery and they are very similar. Here are some pictures from that day.

Almost there!

This was taken on our way back and it came out better since the sun was out.

hhhmmm...I wonder what distillery we are at?

My mom & I enjoying a margarita before the tour of the distillery.

The streets of Tequila

Part of the tour was to take out out into the fields and see how they got the agave. It was probably a 20 minute ride from the town.

This is el Jimador - he among with others cut up 4,000 agave plants daily.

After he removes the leaves and peels the agave, this is what is left. We got a chance to taste is and to me, it was very similar to a very dry jicama. Not as crunchy....

This is an volcano and it was the backdrop to the tour

Once we got back to the distillery, they showed us the grounds before showing us the process of making tequila. They rent out the grounds for lavish weddings and events.

Some of the rooms were decorated to celebrate the Mexican culture

After the agave plant is transported to the distillery, they are put in these ovens which extract all the juice from the plant.

Inside the distillery...

I ran out of battery after these pictures so I was not able to take pictures of us actually tasting the tequila. We got to taste part of their reserve and for me, it was too strong of a taste. But after two weeks of being in Mexico and mostly drinking tequila, I am happy to report that I am still in good graces with it. I did wake up a bit hazy on a couple of occasions but vodka has been rougher on me ;-)

2010 Resolution Suggestions

I got this in an email & thought it was worth passing on. Rather than resolutions, I think that's how life should be lived.

Health:
1. Drink plenty of water.
2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy.
5. Make time to pray.
6. Play more games.
7. Read more books than you did in 2009.
8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9. Sleep for 7 hours.
10. Take a 10-30 minutes walk daily. And while you walk,smile.

Personality:
11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
12. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13. Don't over do. Keep your limits.
14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.
16. Dream more while you are awake
17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.
20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.
21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23. Smile and laugh more.
24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:
25. Call your family often.
26. Each day give something good to others.
27. Forgive everyone for everything.
28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.
29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30. What other people think of you is none of your business.
31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:
32. Do the right thing!
33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
34. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
35. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
36. The best is yet to come.
37. Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

1...2...3...

This whole business of counting points & servings sizes is tedious work. But I have to get used to it. Today I also realized that my cupboards are filled with non-friendly WW food. Nutella is the biggest offender which is something that I need to throw away :(

This weekend I plan on clearing out all of my cupboards and shopping for WW friendly food. For lunch, I think the easiest & most convenient thing will be to get Lean Cuisines. Or maybe some pre-made salads from Trader Joe's.

Sunday will be a test of my willpower as I am going out to lunch to celebrate my mom's birthday. We are going to one of my fave places (Cha Cha Cha) and we eat tapas style. Yummy Cuban food... and sangria.



- Posted from my iPhone

Hello Lean Cuisines

I decided to go back on Weight Watchers. It's really the only sensible method that I have tried that has been successful for me when I have worked at it. I tried atkins a while back & while I did lose the weight, I didn't like all the food restrictions & also the weight came right back on.

I have my weigh in meeting tonight after work and I am dreading it. All the yummy food & booze I had in Mexico is gonna come back and bite me. And I am not talking about Montezuma's revenge. But if I an serious about taking care of myself, this seems to be the right approach to it.


- Posted from my iPhone

Time to take control

I came back from my trip to Mexico yesterday morning and after a nap and a couple of hours of sleep last night, I feel like I have recouped from my trip. Now I just need to detox from the booze and yummy mexican food. I have tons of pictures and stories to share but need to get them organized.

I keep thinking of whether or not to set resolutions for 2010. I set some for last year and I think I completed about half of them which isn't bad. But it's time to get serious. I have been thinking about these resolutions and really, they aren't resolutions or goals but rather changing the way I live. They are all linked to one another in one way and these are changes that I need to make in my life to make 2010 my year.

First, I will not buy any beauty products in 2010. Am I crazy or what? I looked at my stash and I have enough make up for a lifetime. Someone like me who uses make up for fun doesn't need this much. So for 2010, I will not buy any unnecessary beauty product unless I have run out of the item which would be something like foundation, mascara, moisturizer, shampoo, etc. The only way that I will buy any beauty product is if I have a gift card. It doesn't sound doable to me but this ties with my second goal which is getting better with my finances.

For someone who works in the financial industry, my finances are crap. I am not in huge debt or live off of my credit cards (thankfully) but I don't have a handle as to where my money goes all the time. Last year I purchased FB's Budgeting tool & filled it out but did nothing with it. I signed up for Mint & I look at my notifications but haven't really done anything with the account. My savings account is a joke. I basically spend money like it will always be there and that isn't the case. In the next week or so I plan on sitting down and reviewing my finances and utilizing the tools available to me to start to really see where my money goes and how to manage it in a more efficient way rather than spending it on any shiny thing that crosses my path. Time to take control of my money and not give into my every whim and desire. Speaking of taking control, I also need to take control of my health.

While in Mexico, for the first time, I spoke to two of my cousins on different occasions about weight loss. This isn't something I like to speak about so for me to do so was a big deal for me. One of my cousin's talked to me about one of the family members on her mother's side of the family and how she lost the weight with weight loss surgery. I have considered it in the past but this is something that I am terrified of. While living in Modesto, I even went to the seminars and while it's a great way to lose the weight, I am scared to do it that way. Weight loss surgery is something that hasn't been around for that long and the long time effects of it are unknown. Also the fact that it is surgery is scary enough. I know that it has been successful for most but I have seen others who have not been successful with it either. I enjoy eating different types of food and the social aspect that it has. I don't want to go without eating certain types of foods because a diet says so. I need to learn moderation and that is something that I will work on this year. I also need to deal with the psychological aspect of it. Speaking to these two people made me realize that people do care about me and my well being. It isn't like I didn't know it, but it was a great reminder that I am lucky to have so many people in my life who care about me.

Changing the way I live as it relates to these goals will be difficult and at times a struggle, but the way I feel about it right now is that this is something that I need to do. One of these has a end point and the other two are something that I will be working on for the rest of my life so it's time to get serious & make it work! (I ♥ Tim Gunn)