Allison

My family was in town recently, for what turned out to be a really wonderful weekend. We headed down to Anaheim and did the whole Disney thing. It was my second time in each of the Disney parks, and it was a really fun and busy time. And even though the family has long since returned home, I can’t stop thinking about my four-year-old niece, Allison.

First, a picture of Allison, along with me, my sister Sarah, and Ariel from “The Little Mermaid.” I’m still wet from Grizzly River Run, the Disney California Adventure water ride we were on immediately preceding our meet and greet with Ariel:

Being Healthy During a 60-Hour Work Week

Man, how my life has changed. Three months ago I was unemployed, blogging like a madman, working out 6 times a week, and watching a helluva lot of TV. Now things are completely different. And that’s a good thing. But it’s difficult. Here’s why:

Athlete?

There’s a big question I’ve been pondering lately, but before I get to it, I have a little housekeeping to do.

1) Weight Loss Chart. It’s September! It’s the end of summer… and back-to-school time… the start of the new television season… and time to update my chart with the results of my most recent weigh-in!

I stepped on the scale Saturday morning, and I’ll let my chart show you the number I saw:

Black Velvet Apricots

I stumbled across a variety of fruit the other day at the store. The sign said they were Black Velvet Apricots, and my ears perked up. Apricots are one of my favorite stone fruits – they’re the perfect size for a snack, and I can literally tear them in half with my fingers and remove the pit without my hands getting covered in juice. And you know me, I’m a sucker for never-before-seen produce items! So I bagged up 5 of these Black Velvet Apricots and brought ‘em home.

Hami Melon & Recipe

My most recent produce haul post featured a quick mention of my purchase of a hami melon, a variety of melon that I hadn’t heard of before. It’s a good lookin’ melon, don’t you think?

Hami melons are named after the Chinese region where they were cultivated, in the northwest part of the country, near the Mongolia border.

Angelcots

Remember the angelcots I recently picked up during my impromptu visit to the Armenian grocery store? Well, they’re all gone. But, being the good blogger that I am, I took a few more pictures.

You may recall from my other angelcot post that angelcots are a yellow (and even slightly green), rare, specialty hybrid variety of apricot.

They only place they’re grown is on a few acres in northern California, so ‘specialty’ might be an understatement!

Back to Work!

Today’s my first day at my exciting new job! I was never a boy scout, but I am prepared. It’s been a while since I’ve worked, and I wanted to set some habits back into place right from the get-go. So I packed a gym bag and woke up early to exercise before work (that’s the plan, at least… I confess that I’m writing this Sunday evening).

I also packed a healthy lunch. In fact, I spent hours yesterday prepping food for the work week. And I’m not joking around. I literally spent hours. You must be wearing your lucky pants… because I took pictures!

It all started at Sprouts, which is quickly becoming my favorite supermarket, thanks to its prices and its proximity to my gym (two blocks away).

There’s no gentle way to put this:

Impromptu Produce Mini-Haul

Look what I found! Do you know what these are?

It’s a type of fruit that I had never seen or heard of before yesterday. Naturally, I had to buy some. They’re called…

Oops, I Did It Again

I don’t quote Britney Spears often, but the title of her hit song from 12 years ago (it hit #1 in 11 countries!) seemed fitting given what I just did to myself. I’ll let the photos tell the story:

BEFORE:

What I Found At The Farmers’ Market…

…and what I did with it!

It was a beautiful day to visit the farmers’ market, and I ended up finding (and buying) all sorts of interesting things! Starting with…

STRAWBERRIES WITH STEMS! I’ve seen strawberries with stems at fancy restaurants and events – they’re often dipped in chocolate – but I’d never seen them someplace where I could actually purchase them. So I purchased them. When it comes down to it, I don’t think I’ll do anything different with these than I’d do with any other strawberries, but I’m a sucker for a gimmick, and in this case, stem = gimmick.

Wanna see what else I found?