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]
California
Thursday Travel Throwback: Across the U.S.A.
Happy Thursday, and welcome to my third Thursday Travel Throwback series post! Today I'm sharing with you the highlights of my adventures driving from the East to West coast. At the end of 2009, my Marine and I drove from our temporary residence in the Pensacola, Florida area where he was training, back to our home state of New Jersey for the holidays. Right after spending Christmas with our families, Adam and I packed up a Uhaul, sold his car, and trailered mine on the back, and we were off to move to San Diego! Weather-wise, it was a little risky driving cross-country in the middle of the winter. We did hit some snow, but we were lucky enough to not get stuck in a big storm or anything. One of my favorite parts of the trip was spending a few days in Missouri. We explored ... [Read More]
One Awesome Girls Weekend
On Saturday my old college roomies flew into San Francisco to visit me for a long weekend, and I've had so much fun with them the past couple of days! Neither Meaghan or Marla had been to the Bay Area before, so when their flight arrived a few hours late in the afternoon, we made sure to fit fun touristy activities in. First on our list was visiting the Painted Ladies aka the house from the TV show Full House - which we all were obsessed with growing up! After checking that out, we drove down Lombard Street, then stopped to see the Golden Gate Bridge. Afterwards we walked around Fisherman's Wharf, checked out some seals... ...and enjoyed a celebratory girls weekend drink. After that, we met up with a few people in Meg's family who live in/were visiting the area. We went out to ... [Read More]
The Countdown Begins
Good morning from sunny California! I type as I sit here eating my late breakfast of a big ole bowl of fruit. Yum. Thus far, my weekend has been a lot of fun. On Friday night my hubby and I went to Clos LaChance winery for a wine member party. We picked up our latest wine shipment, enjoyed a glass of wine on the house, and listened to some live music. Yesterday my day was spent in San Francisco. A friend I grew up with, Ashley, was in town with her boyfriend on vacation. She and I have been friends since we began cheerleading together as young kids. We even shared a parking spot and drove to school together our senior year of high school. She lives in Jersey and I don't get to see her often, so it was great to have a double date lunch together and catch up a bit! After we ... [Read More]
Sailboating in Monterey
Hi there! It's Sunday night and I'm sitting here watching the first football of the season. Between having the NFL package with my satellite TV where I can watch any game I want every weekend (I can finally watch every Giants game!), and being in my co-worker's Fantasy League again, I'm pretty excited for the NFL season to begin. YAY for football! Last night my hubby and I had a date night to celebrate his birthday. We headed to Monterey in the early evening to first grab a drink and a bite to eat on Fisherman's Wharf. I tried a pear cocktail that was yummy. It had pear flavored vodka, lemon juice and lemon lime soda. I'd like to recreate it at home - perhaps subbing the soda for a heathy lemonade mix or something? Hmmmm. For my appetizer, I couldn't resist getting crispy ... [Read More]
Memorial Day Weekend Napa Valley Wine Tasting {Crane Family Vineyards, Stag’s Leap, St. Clement Vineyards & Rutherford Hills Winery}
Today I'm recapping my glorious Memorial Day Sunday -- which we spent wine tasting all day in Napa Valley. My hubby and I started off the day at Crane Family Vineyards, a small winery we recently discovered at Trader Joe's and simply had to visit first and foremost because our last name is Crane. To taste there, you have to call and schedule an appointment beforehand, so I made it our first stop so that we'd be sure to make it on time. The winery is in an unassuming residential area, and as soon as we pulled up and saw the gorgeous view and quaint winery, I knew that I'd like it. When we arrived, the owner Tom greeted us and we quickly found out that he and his parents lived in New Jersey before moving to California. Jersey people unite! Our experience at Crane Family Vineyards ... [Read More]