A Delicious New Tequila

I am a sucker for anything that has to do with a celebrity.  When I saw Aaron Paul promoting his new tequila on Instagram, I have been on the hunt to locate it.  The downside to living in Idaho is we are the last place to get cool stuff.  I had plans to purchase some in Texas but right before we left for vacation, I spotted Dos Hombres at my local liquor store.  WHAT?!?

Of course the internal debate started of do I wait until vacation, and if I love it what if I can’t find it in Idaho again?  Should I buy one now?  My husband suggested that if I purchase one now and try it, then I’ll know if it is worth getting on in Texas to share with our traveling companions.  Genius!  Thus, the bottle came home with me.

It is delicious!  The mezcal tequila is what gives margaritas a smokey taste, which is what is used in that delicious smokey peach margarita we enjoyed on our Alaksa Cruise.  I still think about that drink.

I look forward to enjoying this at home.

A Fun Find At The Home Show

We attended the Spring home show at Expo Idaho last weekend.  I love going each year and it was at the Fall home show where I was on the hunt for the permanent lighting for the house.  This time I was on the hunt for the retractable patio screen company as I am still interesting in possibly converting our covered patio into a screened in/three season patio.  I am prepared for a big price tag which always makes me not follow through.  It would be nice to have a comfortable space year round that also would have some shade and privacy.  I mean, I did also look at the hot tubs too!  But, maybe patio screens first.

One really neat item we stumped upon is a collapsible chair that will perfect for travel.

This small round disk weighs 2.5 pounds and comes with a strap or easy comfort.  The chair high is adjustable, up to 18 inches tall, and holds 400 pounds.  It can be used for step stool.  I also can use it when I need pull weeds on our landscape rock.

When we traveled to Oshkosh, Wisconsin for the EAA Air Show, we really wished he had chairs for those times we wanted to sit and watch the air demonstrations and/or take a much needed rest from all the walking.  We have since purchased some very expensive chairs that we would be able to pack in our carry-on bags and be able to carry them around an event such as that.  This is even lighter and even easier to pack so I knew we needed to purchase two.  I can’t wait to have an opportunity to use them.

Weekly WI: A Drop In The Scale - Thankfully

 Hello and Happy Tuesday!

Last week’s check-in with the scale was a doozy.  I have no idea why I had such a big spike (other than hormonal) which made me very happy to see the scale come back down.

Like I said, what a month!  

I am ending the month a little up, which is okay.  I am also down from March so that is the silver lining.  As usual, vacations and social situation always make weight loss difficult and also contributes to the ups and down.  

Speaking of vacations, I have one work shift left standing between me, sunshine, friends, food, and fun.  I am stoked!  I got a pedicure and changed out my nail wraps so I am ready to go.  Packing will commence shortly as well.  I am also trying really hard to not fall into vacation mode too early.  I am craving pizza big time!  The drop in the scale is worth staying focused and in check.  I have a corned beef cooking in the Insta Pot for dinner and leftovers for lunch tomorrow.  I love me some corned beef.

And with that, have a great day.

Sorry For The Delay

Good Morning!  I can’t believe it has been so long since I checked in.  Tuesday came with some work stress and it just seemed to roll into my busy weekend.  I had two social events on the calendar this week and am happy to have managed them well and also the stress!

I had a large gain on Tuesday, which was unexpected.  I am hoping to see the scale come back down come this Tuesday as I have to do my employee weigh-in that day.  I was surprised and feel maybe hormonal so I am working hard to stay on track and not let it rattle me.  We leave for vacation on Thursday so this week needs to be planned, prepared, and on-track.

Wednesday was another Wine, Women, and Wealth event at Potter Wines.  I invited my friend Wanda and Phoenix invited her sister Nicole.  We had a great time and met some new ladies.  I was actually early to the event not realizing it started at 6:30pm and was really working to stay within my points since Thursday would be a very high point day.  I stopped at Fred Meyer and got some chicken from the deli with a little BBQ sauce so I would not go into wine drinking hungry.  Success!

Thursday was a triple booked St. Patty’s Day that turned into a fourth event with Boise State men’s basketball making it to the NCAA.  Kenyon asked if I’d go to breakfast with him and LePeep had homemade corned beef hash.  Oh Yum!  This was my only opportunity to eat corned beef although Mom dropped me off all the fixings I plan to prepare next week.

We met Mom and Dad at Buffalo Wild Wings for the BSU game, which sadly we lost.  They have $3 tall beers all day every day and it was 2 for 1 boneless wings.  Since we had just eaten, I participated in $3 beers.

Afterwards we met Wanda and Michael at Yard House for their St. Patty’s Day.  I enjoyed a half and half Guinness and their honey blond house beer.  We also shared an appetizer.  Wanda turns 60 today.

Our last meet-up of the day was with my friend Jen and her boyfriend Mike.  She chose a Mexican restaurant called Andrade’s for a belated birthday dinner.  I tried a spicy pineapple margarita.  It was really good.  

At that point, we had also planned to go to a St. Patty’s Day event at Lounge at the End of the Universe with a live band and local beers on top.  We were all tired and ready to go home.  When you start drinking at noon, it makes for a long day.  A fun one… but a long one.

I will now hunker down and get through 5 more shifts at work before vacation!!

Friday Check-In

Good Morning!  It is back to the grind for me as I head back to work.

I also substituted for the Friday Morning WW Coach and enjoyed the group this morning.  Let’s get this day rolling…

I have been on track post vacation and feeling good about my choices.  A few days have been tough but I have managed to power through.  I had a pre-planned high point day yesterday that included a brewery and a food truck of wings and fries.

I was really underwhelmed after we left Good Apple Taphouse and not wanting to continue plow through my points, I asked The Hubs if we could go to Mongolian.  It feel indulgent to the tastebuds but not to my WW program.  It hit the stop and I felt really satisfied afterwards.

I am also working on a daily exercise routine as I strive to close all three Apple Watch circles for 23 days this month.

I plan to meet with my WW group for a walk on Saturday as temps should be in the 60s plus sunshine.  We have decent temps today, no sun, but also NO WIND!  I was optimistic and went for a bike ride on my electric bike.  Oh boy was it cold.

Not much else new with me but wanted to check in.  Have a great Friday.

Las Vegas Vacation Consolation Prize

Out trip to Vegas was a nice consolation prize for cancelled travel.  We enjoyed a few new experiences and a few old experiences and overall had a lot of fun.  The only downside was losing our gambling money.

We arrived very early in the morning, which is not typical as you can’t check into the hotel that early.  We camped out in the buffet at Luxor while we waited for the notification our early check-in was ready.  With so much time available, we boarded the bus and headed to the South Outlet Mall and then stopped at a new restaurant off-strip called Sickie’s Garage Burger & Brews.  We split an appetizer and a burger sandwiched between two grilled cheese sandwiches.  OMG it was a lot, but delicious.

On Friday night, I convinced Kenyon to check out Coyote Ugly Bar.  It made me want to watch the movie which was in Hulu last night.  

While looking through the Vegas magazine in our hotel room, I spotted a local brewery on-strip called Trustworthy Brewing Company.  Since it was really easy to get to, I knew I needed to swing in to try a flight.  We also shared a pretzel with really good sour cream and chive dip.  

After trying out the cocktail flights at Flights Restaurant on our last Vegas vacation, I wanted to try two more flights during this trip.  The margarita flight was too sweet and the old fashioned flight was too strong.  I don't think this will be a regular Vegas stop in the future. 

No visit to Vegas is complete without a stop at the Bellagio Conservatory to see the beautiful flowers.   This theme was Chinese New Year.

Thursday night was a home game for the Vegas Golden Knights.  I packed my jersey and we went to Beer Haus to watch the game.  Although the Knights lost, it was really neat being so close to the arena during game day.  I also missed Beer Haus where I enjoyed a delicious Chicago dog along with 2 for 1 beer as the waitress said they poured a second one and she gave it me for free. 

Many miles were walked.

A lot of money was lost and we ate at several buffets. We enjoyed the sunshine while w had it as temps were in the 80s followed by in the 50s with 22 mph winds!  I’m looking forward to travel again in a couple weeks.

Cancelled Travel Consolation Prize

We were supposed to be on a cruise ship sailing from Australia to New Zealand.

Thank You COVID for ruining my travel plans.

The biggest bummer of the cancellation, and there are a lot to be bummed about on this trip, is how much of a deal this cruise fare was.  SIGH.  Hopefully we will be able to re-book this cruise at a later time when the state of the world goes back to normal…er…different…er semi-normal…er…semi-different?  Oh hell, I don’t even know anymore!

I realized I never actually updated the blog world (the small amount of readers, although the numbers have grown) that our Australia and New Zealand Cruise was cancelled many months ago.  Okay, I think I did update you all but I didn’t tag it as cruising so I didn’t locate it as quickly…I digress.  This was no surprise and we spent some time looking at alternative cruises.  An idea circulated to vacation with Phoenix, her kids, her boyfriend Stacey, and her parents so instead of booking something else during my pre-planned advanced approval time off work, we cut this time off short and I will be taking a week off work later this month so we can join them in South Padre Islands, TX.  I am looking forward to that vacation as I have only been to Texas once.  We plan to also hit up a few Texas attractions along the way.

Since I had been saving my vacation time-off in anticipation of needing over 80 hours off work for such a large trip across the big ocean, and that it was an advanced approval, which you only get two a year with no date changes, I had time off to “burn” and nowhere to go.  We didn’t want to go too far or spend too much money hence the second trip coming up in a few weeks.  While I was dying to get on a cruise ship again, the last few months left so much uncertainty on if ships will continue to sail, the constant changing protocols, uncertainty if the entertainment staff will be healthy enough to put on a show, and overall just not feeling like it was a gamble I wanted to get my hopes up for.  

We decided on our favorite travel destination, a quick trip that didn’t cost us a dime to book…VEGAS!

I’m even more stoked the mask mandates rolled back since this will be our first trip to Vegas post-COVID-COVID-COVID where we will finally be able to feel “normal” again.  We are also going over the weekend, which we never do.  So many restaurants, bars, and dance clubs are closed mid-week so this was a nice change.  We booked on travel points and hotel room comps.  What was even more awesome is when we booked, a few of the MGM Resorts were waiving the resort fees, giving $50 free play, and giving $100 resort credit that can be used towards food and drinks.  Um…a free trip?!?  Okay, I guess I will take that as a consolation prize.

To add even more incentive, our temperatures took a sudden drop so heading to the land of warmth and sunshine sounds amazing!  Of course, we will only see a quick blip of warm temps and then they come down a bit.  Hey…that is still better than 30 degrees in Idaho.  Although, we have had some unseasonably warm temps.

If you need me, I’ll be soaking up the sunshine and getting that Vitamin D.

Weekly WI: Hello March

Good Morning.  Can you believe it is March?  Oh my, February just flew by in a flash.  March as so much fun on the agenda I am ready to get this month started.  Of course, it will go just as fast as February.

Last Tuesday was my end of month weigh-in since today is weigh-in and a new month.  After my large loss two weeks ago, I lost another 0.6 last week and this week I found it!  I was up 0.8 pounds at my weekly weigh-in today.  I am hoping this is just a hormonal bump and will come back down naturally with some effort from me too.  I ended the February lower than January so onward we go.

I am so close to reaching my goal weight of 190 I have been having all these happy thoughts of jumping on the scale and seeing that number I’ve been working so hard for over the last five years.  It isn’t quite there yet but I continue to feel like 2022 is going to be the year.  It was 13 years ago in March that I reached goal weight for the first time.  My FB Memories are reminding me of the struggle I felt then with less than five pounds to lose.  It really can feel like the hardest pounds.

None the less, February was a good month and I ended strong.  

While I decided early in the month I would not strive to reach my unrealistic Apple Watch Activity Challenge Goal, I earned many new awards along the way.  I also completed the 2,000th time closing my movement ring.  That is success!  It isn’t only the scale.

My March Activity Challenge is much more doable than February so I will once again work hard to close my rings 23 times this month.  It also gives me flexibility in my activity as I really do need to branch out from just doing the elliptical/bike machine at work and home.  I want to get back into some Obe workouts, some bike rides outdoor, outdoor walks, and also use my Aapiv membership for some strength training.  I really do feel like I need to ramp up my intensity.  

And with that…I have a work training the next two days and then FUN on the agenda.  We were supposed to be in Australia but since our cruise was cancelled, we will still get out of town for a few days with another vacation at the end of March.