Friday night Drew took me to Ragin' Cajun in Hermosa Beach. It is one of my favorite places to eat and has been since they first opened many years ago. I ordered a huge plate of Jambalaya and a bowl of Gumbo, which I believe is the best anywhere! Drew had the crawfish combo. It was so great to go without the kids and just relax. After dinner we drove out to Brea for chocolate crepes before heading home. We had a sitter so we were making the most of our evening. It was such a great night.

Today I didn't have any classes because the dojo was doing belt testing. I did get in a big workout at home though. While I worked out and the kids watched Star Wars for the 100th time, Drew went to pick up my new Powerline training bag. We found one on CraigsList for $50!! It's like new too! I love it and already spent a little time pounding the hell out of it. The kids think it's super cool.

The rest of the day was spent sorting and reorganizing all of the toys and books in our house. Drew moved some furniture around and we decided to spend the rest of the evening cleaning our carpet. It really needed it! Can't wait to finish and soak in a hot bath and plan out tomorrows projects.

What are you up to this weekend?

Drew's birthday is coming up on May 10th, so I thought it would be fun to take him to the roller derby! It turns out the OC Roller Girls have a HUGE event going on that weekend to benefit various breast cancer organizations. I'm sure we'll have a great time!

Hmmm.... maybe I'll take up roller derby in 2009! ; )

Labels: OC Roller Girls, Roller Derby

I just spent an entire night dreaming about which training bag I want to buy. It was crazy! I kept talking myself out of the big XXL because it costs so much, but I knew I wouldn't be fully happy with the slightly smaller Powerline... or would I? Then the whole problem of where to put it once I made a choice. Do we really want a punching bag in the bedroom? Will it get too dirty in the garage? Maybe I shouldn't buy one at all. Cheese & Rice!! What kind of freak an I to waste an entire night of dreams on this? Back to the real world... I told Drew that a training bag would be the perfect Mother's Day gift. He thought that was pretty funny. He's really excited about having a wife who's an ass kicker. Ha! My real strategy is to make him decide which one to buy so I can quit worrying about it.

It's funny to me that just a year ago my passion was scrapbooking and all things glitter and glue. Now I am all about how hard I can punch or kick something while trying to maintain perfect balance and position. Every year I make it my mission to learn something new and for 2008 it's Krav Maga. While waiting for our class to start last night a classmate asked me if I was planning on testing for a belt. I told her that I might just because it gave me a goal and she actually said, "you should because you are really good". I was floored! It was so nice to get a compliment like that from a classmate, especially after just a couple weeks of training. It totally pumped me up for the rest of the night. I was partnered with a guy for the evening and he was even impressed by the power of my strikes last night. I was so psyched! I can't wait to hit fight club tonight. Getting strong and healthy is an amazing high. I wish I would have tapped into this source of joy a long time ago! Now, if I can just start eating less junk food. One step at a time.

Labels: Krav Maga

Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. It seems like just yesterday that we were running off to Lake Tahoe to get married in the snow. It was 20 degrees outside and the officiant and his wife were kind enough to hike down to the shore with us. His wife took the photo above and acted as our witness. I knew I making the best decision of my life by marrying Drew. He has proved to be a loving, loyal, supportive, trustworthy and all-around great partner. He makes me laugh every day and never leaves the house without kissing me. After eight years of marriage , he still calls during the day because he's missing me. I love that! Ok, I see I am getting geared up to ramble on for days about how happy Drew makes me, so I'll just wrap it up. I am looking forward to every minute we will share together for the rest of our lives.

Melting Pot...
Last night, Drew took me to the Melting Pot for a romantic dinner. I loved the tiny private booth in the corner. It was perfect for snuggling up together. Drew even had balloons and a rose waiting for me at our table. He's such a sweetheart. We had the Big Night Out feast and it was great. We LOVED the Wisconsin Trio cheese fondue. It was delicious and we cleaned the bowl. The salads were fresh and delicious, especially with their amazing garlic-wine seasoning sprinkled on top. I'm already kicking myself for forgetting to buy some on the way out. The meat course didn't impress us very much. We chose the mojo cooking style (Caribbean-seasoned bouillon with fresh garlic, orange and lime), as recommended by our server. There are different seasonings on everything (zesty shrimp, vanilla rum chicken, jerk seasoned sirloin, filet mignon, marinated pork tenderloin) and then when that is all cooked in one pot of seasoned broth it gets a bit overwhelming. Plus, they gave us six different dipping sauces. It was just too many flavors at once for us. We finished it all off with the pure dark chocolate fondue. Do I really need to tell you how fabulous that was? We left there groaning because we were so stuffed. I can not wait to go back!

Drew is taking me to see The Phantom of the Opera tonight at Segerstrom Hall. I am so excited! I saw it in Los Angeles when it first opened with Michael Crawford and Sarah Brighton as the stars. It was truly magical and I have high hopes for tonight's performance even though the cast is different. YAY!!!

Sorry, our internet has been down for a few days. I had promised to post photos from Easter, which was also Noah's 7th birthday, so here they are.

I was very sick, so it was a pretty low-key day. Cole was thrilled by all the goodies the Easter bunny brought him and had fun hunting for eggs. Noah had a great birthday. I wrapped his gifts in pink paper since pink is his current favorite color. I thought he would laugh, but he actually was just really pleased. He freaked out when the magic candles on his Pirates of the Caribbean ice cream cake lit back up. Both of the boys were confused by that. too funny!

Labels: birthday

I'm hangin' out at home this morning recovering from Tuesday night's Fight Club and yesterdays Krav Maga class. My body is sore in so many places. My knuckles are super tender. It's safe to say EVERYTHING hurts, but at the same time I feel fantastic. I slept so deeply last night and feel refreshed today. That is rare. I am a terribly light sleeper and I usually have to drink RedBull to wake up. It's is amazing what exercise can do for you.

In a little while I am headed out to pick up a cupcake order from Once Upon A Cupcake! We ordered a dozen for one of Drew's clients and just four for our little family. I considered ordering us a dozen too, but I think one each is really enough. I would end up eating six if they were sitting here. They are the best cupcakes ever! I wish I could just order a bucket of her vanilla buttercream to eat with a spoon! Yes, I have been known to open a container of frosting just to eat a big spoonful.

On the subject of food, tonight I am making the best chicken piccata and lemon pasta. Thanks to Barefoot Contessa. Love her recipes. I am in need of a few new recipes, so let me know if you have a great one (or two) to share.

I have some photos to upload later today. I just realized yesterday that I still had a camera full of pics from Noah's birthday on Easter. I can't believe that boy is seven already! Geez, I feel like I just held him in my arms for the first time yesterday. As much as I want to hold him cradled on my lap forever, I am endlessly grateful to have a healthy child that I get to watch grow and bloom.

Out for now...

Labels: Krav Maga

What a fantastic Krav Maga class that was! (http://www.maichampions.com/) I just got home and had to share how much I enjoyed my evening. It was a serious workout and the push-ups nearly killed me, but I loved it anyway. I was actually really surprised by how much fun I had. The instructor and her assistant were very cool and put me at ease right away. At one point, we split the room up into two teams and team "A" stood around with their eyes closed while Team "B" tried to choke us at random. It was really odd to have so many strangers grabbing you, but I think it helped me overcome my embarrassment of showing my aggression. I admit I laughed too much when we played the shark game, but c'mon... it was kind of funny. As you may have guessed, my adrenaline is through the freakin' roof right now. Lucky for Drew, he is at a Laker game so he doesn't have to listen to me spaz out. Ok, I need a shower, so I'll wrap this up by saying, "I feel awesome!!!!"

Labels: Krav Maga

I admit it... I am nervous about my Krav Maga class tonight. I am finally feeling better, but getting sick really put a kink in my exercise goals. I just don't feel powerful right now. I hope I can keep up with the class and don't get killed. I'll probably have to dig out some old buried anger issues to fuel my fire.

For those of you who don't know, Krav Maga is a pretty hardcore Israeli military hand-to-hand combat system. There aren't any set rules, except to go from defending yourself to attacking quickly and then to neutralize the threat by causing as much pain and damage as possible. It's kind of a jump in, go nuts and get out thing.

On to a more sedate subject... I recently found a cool word puzzle website that I have been having a lot of fun with. It's www.playbabble.com and even my boys like to try and help find the words. It's great for their spelling and problem-solving skills. If you like word games, check it out.

Labels: Krav Maga