I thought of titling this post, "Hiking, massages, and wine tastings, these are a few of my favorite things!" but then thought better of such a lengthy title. But, my weekend had a lot of awesomeness in it, so I thought I'd share some of it with you all. My weekend started off with a hike with Gina and Harley at Mount Madonna Park. The weather was nice and mild, Harley acted like a maniac as usual, and with Gina and I just chatting away, our workout just flew by. I think that these hiking dates need to happen more often! Some of my at-home meals included this delicious breakfast creation.... [Whole wheat flaxseed PB & J waffles topped with strawberry sauce] Does that not just look and sound like a whole lot of yumminess? [A slightly burnt but still good ... [Read More]
San Jose
Stile Ranch Trail in Santa Teresa County Park, San Jose
With the sun shining, a nice breeze drifting through the air, and temperatures hanging in the mid-70's today, I knew it was a perfect day for a weekend afternoon hike. I felt like doing a hike I'd never done before, so my little family and I headed to a park in San Jose called Santa Teresa County Park for the first time. We chose Stile Ranch Trail, which was described by other hikers on the Web as a moderate 1-3 hour hike. The park is located in pretty countryside. One thing I really like about hiking in the South Bay area is that it is never really crowded anywhere that I've been thus far. In San Diego, if you go for a hike on the weekend, sometimes you're practically being herded up the mountain with a crowd full of people. Here, that's not the case. We saw just a few mountain ... [Read More]
Weekend Awesomeness
Yup, another weekend has sped on by. Besides doing a couple of hours of freelance writing work, my weekend was obligation-free and fabulous. Here are some snapshots of the bits of awesomeness that made up my Friday night, Saturday and Sunday. Caramel apples make my dog very attentive: On Saturday evening, my hubby and I had a mountain biking date at our favorite spot around here. The views are gorgeous, there are lots of animals around, and because it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, the park is never in the least bit crowded. Adam took a few shots of me riding... which I wasn't even aware of because he's always like a mile ahead of me. Damn his strong legs! As you can kind of tell, there's a steep drop if you steer off the path, and the path is not all that wide. I'm ... [Read More]
New Scenery for My Practice: Be the Change Yoga & Wellness
In honor of National Yoga Month in September, The Yoga Health Foundation has been offering coupons for one free week of yoga at 2,000 participating studios nationwide. Even though I often practice yoga either on my own, through following DVD/YouTube videos, or with the recent addition of Fitness OnRequest at my gym, by choosing one of those classes, I had yet to go to a studio since moving to the Bay Area. After looking around at the options in my area, I decided to try out a place in San Jose called Be The Change Yoga & Wellness. After convincing my hubby that yoga may help improve his constant lower back pain, he has been joining me a bit for my at-home yoga sessions lately. He was interested in coming with me to try a class as well, so earlier this week, we had a mid-week date ... [Read More]
Banana Pumpkin Pie Bowl
Hi friends! Hope that your weekend has been great. Here are the highlights of my past couple of days: My Friday morning began with a quick hour hike with Harley at our favorite nearby park. The hike became a bit adventurous when we found ourselves in a standoff with a fox - and I must say, my dog looks a lot like a fox! We all stared at each other for awhile, and then the fox ran into the fields and crouched down. I wasn't sure if it was planning on attacking us or if it was just scared himself, but I didn't want to take any chances, so we turned around. I snapped a grainy pic of him with my phone: The park is crawling with ground squirrels that Harley has always been interested in, but ever since she caught one a few weeks ago and it squeaked for its life, she's OBSESSED. It's annoying ... [Read More]
Tigelleria Organic Italian Restaurant in Campbell, San Jose
When I move to a new area, it takes me awhile to find favorite places and spaces around. So when my family visited me in my new Bay Area home last week, I had a mix of new places for us to try that I'd only heard of, with a couple of new things I'd already experienced and loved thrown in there. One of the restaurants I had lined up for us to dine at one night was Tigelleria Organic Restaurant, a small Italian eatery in the Campbell area. I first ate there with my friend Tiffany a few months ago. We both enjoyed our dinner experience there, so I went back with my family last Friday night. (source) The restaurant has 15 tables, so reservations are necessary (especially with a group of 6 as we had). I think I tend to gravitate towards smaller, more intimate places like this - especially ... [Read More]