Tuesday Tidbits


A few tidbits about my life lately…

Cycling:  I am 3 weeks into a 9-week spinning class in preparation for the Santa Fe Century.  The class is so much fun!  I never thought I could spend two hours straight on a stationary bike without getting bored.  Our instructor is excellent and I love how I feel every week after class.


Rock Climbing:  My friend Katie and I recently signed up for Rock Climbing 101 at the Santa Fe climbing gym.  We have both climbed before, but it’s been a few years and we need a refresher in technique and belaying.  The class is really fun so far and a great way to work the core and develop muscular endurance.  We pretty much kick butt.  This is what we hope to look like in 4 weeks:



Restaurant Week:  The last week of February was Restaurant Week in Santa Fe, one of my favorite times of the year.  Santa Fe has absolutely incredible food, especially for a not-very-big city.  Last year we discovered Restaurant Martin and Coyote Café.  This year we took some visitors to Maria’s New Mexican kitchen and had an elegant night out at Geronimo.  My credit card hasn’t forgiven me yet but the food was delicious!
Books: Between wedding planning, working over time, and exercising, I haven’t found much time to read lately (which is very unlike me!).  I went over 2 months without reading at all, but I just recently started The Art of Hearing Heartbeats.  It’s a very beautiful story about how a blind boy and a physically disabled girl discover their world together.  I can’t wait to find out how it ends and tackle the rest of my stack of books!

Not my actual stack of books to read, but it certainly feels like it sometimes.

Snow:  Spring is such a teaser.  Last Thursday it was 61 degrees and I went running in shorts and a t-shirt.  Saturday we got 15 inches of snow.  However, it was a beautiful day for strapping on the snowshoes.  I love living here!

Kua "Snow Beard McGee" enjoys a late winter hike on the Aspen Vista Trail

Girls Night:  I love my Santa Fe friends!  I’ve said it before, but I feel so much more at home here now that we have a solid group of people to spend time with.  This Friday I’m having a wine and cheese party with my besties while Jaycob is out of town for the Big Ten Tournament.  



That’s all for now!  Stay tuned for more Wedding Wisdom and New Mexican cooking later this month.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Pacific Northwest Bachelorette Party

Image
I just returned home from a memorable weekend in the beautiful Pacific Northwest, celebrating my sister, Katie, who is getting married in just a few short weeks.  Four years ago she, as my Maid of Honor, planned the most unforgettable and fun-filled bachelorette weekend for me:  San Francisco and Sonoma Bachelorette , and now it was my turn to do the same for her!  We gathered together a group of twelve women from Boston, Chicago, New Orleans, Salt Lake City, Manchester, Santa Fe, Denver, and Seattle to celebrate the Bride to Be.  I wanted to have some organized, pre-planned group activities, but also plenty of down time for games, lounging, and drinking wine.  While we wanted most of the weekend to be spent at a cozy cabin overlooking the serene water of Puget Sound, we wanted one exciting night out on the town, and I think we achieved that balance.  Here's the breakdown of our weekend events: 1)  Night Out in Capitol Hill We arrived in Seattle on Thursday and checked into the
Read more

High Altitude Baking: Coffee Cake

Image
Happy January!  I have two weeks left of my maternity leave and I'm trying to make the most of it by spending lots of quality time with Baby Ady before she starts daycare.  It's going by so fast!  While I'm home I've been using my crock pot a lot, working on some yarn projects, taking long walks with Ady and Kua, reading, and doing some baking.  I have struggled with high altitude baking since moving to Santa Fe 5 1/2 years ago.  Cookies turn out okay, but I usually have to make some adjustments with cakes, and my breads are often mushy in the middle and crispy on the ends.  I can get by okay with a few of my favorite recipes that I have practiced multiple times, but it's often hit or miss.  For Christmas, my secret santa got me this amazing cook book, Pie in the Sky: Successful Baking at High Altitudes, that explains the chemistry behind high altitude baking and gives suggestions for adjustments to make at various altitudes.  Ingenious!  The idea for the book ac
Read more

My Bachelorette Party: San Francisco and Sonoma

Image
I have the best Maid of Honor in the world!   Between grad school, work, and preparing to move into a new apartment, she miraculously found time to plan THE BEST bachelorette party ever (and 3 time zones away, I might add).  I had such a fabulous time being surrounded by (and loved and adored by!) all my best friends for four days. The weekend started at 4:30 a.m. Thursday when my Santa Fe friends and I drove to Albuquerque (a 50 mile trip made possible by Panera breakfast) to catch our early flight to the Bay Area.  After a 2 1/2 trip (complete with Bloody Maries, Tequilla Sunrises, Coffees with Baileys, gossip and a few bridal magazines) we landed in Oakland!  One of my dear bridesmaids from Chicago who had arrived a few days earlier picked us up and we headed into San Francisco.  We met up with the other gals, checked in early to our hotel (Parc 55 Wyndahm in Union Square) and set out to explore the city by foot.  Some locals recommended Mama's in North Beach fo
Read more