Kelocity.com

A runner with an appetite for adventure!

Walking and Eating…. June 9, 2011

Filed under: Cooking,Family,Food,Workout — Kelocity @ 5:11 pm
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As my mother who lives 3,000 miles would say, “Where have you been?” (Said in a ‘I’ve been looking for you’ tone!)

Oh, I’m here, it’s been a busy week! Here’s what I’ve been up to!

1.) Walking! I’m in a pedometer challenge, and I’m determined to win! Or at least place in the top three! It’s not easy when you’re also competing against New Yorkers! Those guys walk EVERYWHERE! I’ve been walking in the morning and at night. And hiking three miles almost everyday at lunch time! (I aerobically walked 9 MILES yesterday! What?!) It’s all about squeezing it in when you can!

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2.) And that includes walking to the grocery store too! I bought myself some pretty flowers this week!
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3.) Irving’s mom was in town this week! We had fun hanging out! And she brought goodies!! Thanks!!
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4.) Irving whipped up his mom’s famous meatballs (with fresh beef from Harris Ranch!)
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We had quite a nice dinner together! Hi Julie!
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And to top it off, a sweet moscato served on the side!
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5.) I cooked! I actually found a recipe, shopped for ingredients and COOKED. Alert the press!
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I cooked up Jenna’s Greek Stoup! <— Click over there for the recipe! Instead of Alphabet pasta, I opted for Orzo to stick with the Greek Theme.
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Served with some Feta, it was yummy!
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6.) I got The Reader on Netflix and me and Julie watched it last night. Probably not the best movie to watch with your mother-in-law, but hey, if I can see Zumanity with my sister-in-law, we can do anything, right? I really loved The Reader. It was just a good story with an interesting plot. I actually can’t believe we’ll be going to Auschwitz later this year.

7.) And now, our guests have left, and I came home today to find that Irving went to Costco. And he bought me the BEST thing you can possibly by at Costco:
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I LOVE PICKLES!!!!!! I actually finished a jar today! Good timing, babe!

8.) More walking…. I’m walking to Erika’s place soon so I can see the baby again! I am so excited to have a new baby to play with!!! She’s the CUTEST thing, and only four days old today! So excited!

 

Feliz Navidad May 29, 2011

Filed under: Computer,Family,Galaxy — Kelocity @ 2:30 pm
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We’ve had a busy summer so far (and only getting busier), so we were happy to be able to spend the Memorial Day weekend at home, just getting some things done. Irving is working on sorting and editing all of our Egypt & Dubai pictures, and it is a painstakingly frustrating task. We’ve both spent hours pouring over the pictures, and I’m glad he’s taking the reins on finally getting that project over with. I’ll have to do a post on computer organization sometime, it’s quite interesting.
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While he was doing that, I deleted my whole computer (after everything was –hopefully—backed up, of course) and restored it to it’s factory settings. Sometimes it’s just good to start fresh and get rid of any bugs you might have. So far so good! Seems to be running faster already!

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When we were about ready to claw our eyes out, we left the house to do a few errands. First stop was Aaron Brothers to get a painting framed. That was one of my valentine’s gifts to Irving! And then we headed to Best Buy to make a very important purchase…..

Our First XBOX! Actually our first gaming system… ever! We’ve never had a PlayStation or a Wii. The last system I had was old school Nintendo. And before that was Atari. Yea, it was about time we bought one. We felt like little kids in the store asking about controllers and games. We ended up with the XBox Kinect! We were very excited and practically danced out of the store. lol
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The best part was that Best Buy was having a sale… buy an XBox and get a $50 giftcard to use on games or whatever later. I definitely giggled at the giftcard. Feliz Navidad!
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We have yet to actually set the thing up, we have a feeling once we do, we’ll never want to stop. What games do you recommend? We definitely want a workout one, and probably LA Noire too.

Last night, We had a double date with my sister, Mikaela and her boyfriend, Chris!
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We all watched the LA Galaxy vs. NE Revolution soccer game “together”!
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Irving and Chris even had a beer “together” while they watched. It was fun to see them and pretend like we didn’t live 3,000 miles apart!

I’m very happy that I’ve installed and updated Windows and all my favorite programs (Windows Live Writer was top of the list!) But I think I still have more to download, catch you soon!

 

Red Rock Canyon May 25, 2011

Filed under: Family,Food,Hiking,Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 2:00 pm
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We slept really well, as we usually do in Vegas (those room darkening blinds will get you every time!)

Poor Irving was dealing with a gnarly cold while we were there. But we came prepared.
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He was a trooper though. I told him that I had a solution to all of his problems:
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I mean, there isn’t much in life that munchins can’t fix, right?
I asked for ONE munchkin and she gave me FOUR!
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Ohhh, how I miss Dunkins! Then we got in the car and headed back over to the Wynn.
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Vegas is full of strange things. Here’s the Palace Station Casino (where OJ simpson got arrested!)
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And the Sahara Hotel is closed! So sad! Another one bites the (desert) dust.
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We didn’t have any real plans for the day, but they suggested a hike in Red Rock Canyon! I’d never been either, so we seized the opportunity!
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Just a half hour drive from the strip, and we were there!
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I just don’t understand why they call it Red Rock Canyon!
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We’re so lucky to have such gorgeous landscapes in our country. I’m really glad we got to see this!
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We started at the visitor’s center and learned a little bit about the area.
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And have a little fun…
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Check out this stitch that I made! This was five photos I stitched into one! (Click to enlarge!)

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There is a 13 mile scenic loop and all along the way, you can pull over and hike. It’s a great set up!
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First stop was the big red rock, duh!
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Everyone climbed up to see the cliffs below…
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But I’m lame and played it safe on firm ground. (When did I become such a wuss?)
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I ain’t going up there! I’m fine riiiiight down here!
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These pictures aren’t doing this place ANY justice. You have to come out and see it in person!

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There were so many trails that looked incredible, and someday, we’ll come back to do them all. But this time, we only did the Ice Box Canyon trail.
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Somewhere in there, there was supposed to be a waterfall!
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It was such a cool hike. Unlike any terrain I’ve ever seen before.
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Sisters!
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We basically hiked on a dried up river bed (oh, spoiler alert, the waterfall was dried up in the desert heat!)
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The whole hike was about 2.5 miles, and in the high noon heat, it ended up being perfect.
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It was fun to scramble over rocks (although I was on the lookout for rattlesnakes!)
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And then we got to the place where the waterfall should have been… The supposed “ice box” part of the trail…
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Hee Hee. I’ll have to come back in the winter to see it filled with water! So cool!
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And then we started the hike back to the car.
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The whole park was gorgeous, if you’re heading out west, definitely make the drive, even if you don’t hike.
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By then it was 4pm and we were starving for lunch! We had bought a groupon for a place called Bambino’s East Coast Pizzeria. It’s owned by Bostonians who opened up a restaurant out here! I was so excited! They even painted their walls the same color as the Green Monster!
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We got some chicken fingers that were DELISH!
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And a pizza that was ginormous!
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Sufficiently stuffed, we hopped back in the car to begin the four hour drive back to LA! This time with a few more passengers!
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Wait, where’s Irving?
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Half way, we were in serious need of some fuel… enter, Starbucks!
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DUDE! Have you tried their new Coconut Mocha Frappacino? It’s amazing. If you like coconut, you will LOVE this!
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What a great weekend! It was fun to experience both sides of vegas. The Pool/Casino/Food side and the Outdoors/Nature side. So much fun!

 

24 Hours in Vegas!

Filed under: Family,Las Vegas — Kelocity @ 8:30 am
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This past weekend, EJ (Irving’s Sister) and Sarah were in Vegas, and since we don’t seem them very often, we jumped at the chance to meet them there! Don’t have to twist my arm!

This time, we stayed at the Platinum Hotel. It’s relatively new, and just a little bit off the strip. We really like non-casino hotels because they are smoke free. It was 1,100 square feet! A whole suite!
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But not much of a view…
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Just as soon as we arrived, we headed straight to the pool! EJ and Sarah were staying at the Encore (jealous!! We stayed there last year and it was aweeeesome!) It was really hot, but they had already staked out a nice spot in the shade. After lounging for a bit, we ordered a pitcher of sangria! I’m usually not a fan, but this one was really sweet and refreshing.
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Their room had amazing views. They had a room on a really high floor.

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Across the street was where the Frontier Hotel used to be. That was the first Vegas hotel I ever stayed in when I visited in 2001 with my family! Sad!
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There was a little of this… brilliant, no?
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And then we headed to New York, New York to watch the LA Galaxy vs. Chivas Soccer game.
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We had some money riding on the Galaxy!
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We watched it from the Sporting House restaurant near the sports book and it was fantastic! The setting was perfect! We had a private booth with our own TV.
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We had a round of drinks, appetizers and entrees and it was all incredible. I’d eat there again for SURE!

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Then we headed to Zumanity. It’s the Cirque show in New York, New York.
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By the time we got out of the show, it was after midnight, and we were exhausted after getting up early, driving four hours, spending the day in the sun, eating, drinking, a soccer game AND a vegas show.

Stay tuned for Day 2!!

 

LA Galaxy with J&J May 9, 2011

Filed under: Celebs,Family,Food,Galaxy,Hollywood Events,Los Angeles — Kelocity @ 11:00 am
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Saturday night, we took Jake and Janie to an LA Galaxy game (sort of a late Christmas gift!) We got to the stadium really early and had fun walking around before the action started.
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Instead of watching the game from our seats, we had reservations at the Stadium Club!
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They had a great buffet and the food was amazing. Everything was fresh and tasted homemade.
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Our seats were pretty good too. A neat perspective on the game.
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Irving loved it. He’s a huge soccer fan, remember?
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Rumor has it that Leonardo DiCaprio was at the game too. They showed him on the big monitor, so I whipped my binoculars out (not kidding) and tried to find him, but I guess he was hiding.
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The game ended at 1-1.
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Hi David Beckham, you looked dapper at the Royal Wedding!
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In other news from the weekend, we saw Jay Leno on Saturday at Menchies! He pulled up in an old Bentley and parked right next to me!
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He said hi, got his ice cream and left. Just a typical Saturday living in LA. We were with Erika and Timmy and Jake and Janie too, it was fun to see a celeb so up close and personal.
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Yesterday, we had brunch at Porto’s in Burbank (so good!) We sat outside and dined al fresco. It was so relaxing and nice.
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Yesterday, we both felt a little blah. Just not motivated, a little sluggish and sad. Clearly, we were lacking endorphins. So we laced up our sneakers, gave ourselves a pep talk, and headed out for a four mile walk. Muuuuuch better. The fresh air and exercise were just what we needed to end a great weekend on a high note.

Happy Monday!