In Training: Cinco de Mayo!

So my calendar reminded me it's time for another "In Training" status report, and unlike last time, we have good news. The pesky pounds that crept back on are now gone again, and health-wise life is starting to return to normal. I even managed to get back out on the tennis court with Nadine for the first time since last October, and discovered I still have a little game in me. I have to admit, it felt really great to run around chasing some new yellow fuzzy balls!

I still have a way to go to meet my goal, but I'm feeling more energized about it than I have in months. Motivation is a wonderful thing!

Since there isn't much interesting to report on the exercise front, I figured I'd use the fact that my co-workers and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo with a fun dinner as a great excuse to talk about food! It also gave me an excuse to engage in a fun habit I share with my co-worker Cindy Hyon -- photographing food! Because when it looks this good, why wouldn't you take a picture?



My healthy restaurant choice this evening was seared Ahi tuna and asparagus with Chinese black bean sauce. So why is tuna healthy? According to Elements4Health, "Tuna is an excellent source of protein, and while some vitamin and mineral losses occur during canned tuna processing, the protein nutritive values are not dramatically changed. Tuna is an excellent source of the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, protein, potassium, selenium, and vitamin B12. It's a very good source of niacin and phosphorus."

All these things mean a diet including tuna can help reduce your risk of stroke, high blood pressure and coronary heart disease. Big win, AND extremely tasty when barely seared on each side and served rare like my dish.

Of course, my celebratory cocktails offset the health benefits of the tuna just a bit, but a girl has to live, right?



Happy Cinco de Mayo! Be festive, my friends!

Changes In Latitude

There is a certain magic about an afternoon drive heading south, away from the City of Angels...

The I-5 traffic stays steady, then starts to open up when you reach the Orange County Line. Then you hit Ortega Highway, right around San Juan Capistrano when the roadway starts a subtle bend closer to the coastline, and you feel the air cool a few degrees.

You feel it getting closer.

And you keep driving, and the road keeps shifting. Then you hit the bend at San Onofre, and you see it, so you pull over because it pulls you it, begging you to watch, listen...commune.

Your first clear view of the vast blue of the Pacific Ocean, just over the dashboard lights.



In the afternoon sun, the sky blends effortlessly with the calm waves, blurring the horizon line so beautifully you hardly care that you can't tell where one starts and the other begins.



The sea birds know there is no better place to be at peace, sunning themselves on the rocks and enjoying the view of their limitless sky.



For a moment, you glance down and consider your options. New places, faces and adventures awaiting you....



Then you spot a furry friend, and you both calmly stop and consider each other, wondering what the other is thinking.



And then a circling helicopter from Camp Pendleton reminds you this is the real world, not a fantasy of peaceful blue. The birds take flight, as if to chase the intruder away and restore peace to the skies.



And you stop once more, close your eyes and determine your course.



And under the watchful gaze of a knowing bird, you spot the path back to the road, back to your life.



And you pull back on the freeway...and keep heading south.

Hockey Widsom

The things hockey will teach you about life....

Steal of the Week: Ann Taylor Loft Signature Tees 30% Off!

Even though the wind around Southern CA has been making it feel like I live in Chicago lately, the weather is starting to warm up (a little), and most importantly, the sun is out. And that sun has been making me crave spring clothes, so I spent my lunch hour at my local Ann Taylor Loft store in Pasadena looking for some inspiration. The sale sign by the front door gave me some added incentive, since my budget is still trying to recover from my investment in hockey play-off tickets.

I SCORED and found these three lovely selections. They're very representative my style - a little classic, mixed with a little glam and some definite rock and roll edge!



And the best part was the price - only $73 for all 3. All on sale, might I add! The one in the middle alone was originally $40, and I got it for $15 after two mark-downs. At the original price for each, I would have paid $125!! OK, I wouldn't have paid that much. I would have picked only one shirt because I refused to spend that much money on t-shirts.

Any guesses which I'd pick if I only had to choose one?

Life After Hockey Season

So now the Kings season is over, and my weeks and weekends are no longer carefully scheduled around home games at Staples Center, pre- and post-game rituals and TV schedules for away games.

In truth, a TRUE hockey fan never really takes time off from the game, because the "off-season" has plenty to offer, especially this year.

• The amateur draft is being held here in Los Angeles at the end of June.
  
• The NHL Awards (where we find out if Drew wins his first Norris Trophy) are June 23rd in Las Vegas.
• Free agency begins July 1st, and the "Fro, or No Fro" question will finally get answered for the Kings.
• Prospect Development Camp is normally in July, and presents a great opportunity to see some future Kings while they're still growing up.
  

Still, having a little break from obsessing over hockey is a healthy thing. And given that I "lost" most of last summer moving into a new place, I've got a long list of overdue projects and other things I hope to tackle this summer. So here's a list of some of the non-hockey related things I hope to accomplish during the "off-season."

• Loose the last 20 pounds and meet my "In Training" goal.
  
• Work through a pile of magazines and books I haven't had time to read.

• Finish 7 in-progress scrapbook projects.
• Finally start scrapbooks for my trips to Ireland (2006) and my Mediterranean Cruise (2008).
• Turn this entire mess into greeting cards.

• Try out a pile of recipes I've collected over the past 10 years and never had time to cook.
  
• Get back to playing tennis with Nadine.
  
• See my nephew play Little League baseball for the first time since he was T-ball age.
• Work on having a better tan than I got last summer.

And somewhere in between all of that....RELAX.

Yeah, that last one....not gonna happen.....I've got too much to do!

Kings Stanley Cup Play-off Season: Round 1, Game 4 - "Splitsville"

On this day in 2006, Dean Lombardi was named the eighth General Manager in Kings history. Dean was the brains behind the decision to draft a certain Drew Doughty in 2008, and put the wheels in motion for an 18 year old kid (incidentally born December 8th) wearing the number 8 to start the Kings down a road to redemption, including their first play-off win in 8 years. Got chills yet?


(If the Number 8 coincidences don't get you
excited, 20,000 rally towels should...)

Well, don't get too excited, because tonight proved that magic and coincidences around numbers is great, but putting together a play-off run takes hard work, and even some luck. The Kings put in plenty of work tonight, but didn't seem to have the right luck, losing a heart-breaker to Vancouver 6-4.



The "Luongo" chants started early on, and the Kings owned the first with Drew scoring his second play-off goal in high style and taking it to the locker room with a 1-0 lead.


(They call me Dewey. I score goals...BIG TIME goals...)

But the Canucks battled back during an up and down second period. Their first goal was 3:36 in, which Captain Dustin Brown answered at 5:56 with his first play-off goal.


(That's why he's the Captain!)

Ex-King Pavol Demitra made it 2-2, then Anze Kopitar scored his second play-off goal to make it 3-2 Kings by the end of the 2nd.

The Canucks really picked it up in the 3rd, and there were more goals scored by each side in a back and forth battle until it was knotted at 4-4. Then we got gypped on a missed tripping call, which led to the Canucks go-ahead goal and made it 5-4 with 2: 52 left. All of the Canucks fans that have been complaining on the Internet this week about all the calls that didn't go THEIR way in this series should finally be happy. Quickie got pulled for the extra attacker, we lost control of the puck, and Drew dove after it with all he had but couldn't stop it -- so the Canucks ended our night with an empty netter for a final score of 6-4.

So we split the series in Vancouver, and Vancouver split right back here in our house, and the series is currently tied 2-2. We knew this was going to be a battle before it started, and so far the series has been exactly what everyone expected. My "I Believe" sign even got a little banged up tonight, but my faith remains unshaken.



And on the plus side, this gives the Kings a chance to win the series at home Sunday if they can take the next two games. It's gonna be a nail-biter for sure, so stay tuned!

Before I turn in for the night, I have to give a special shout out to my Facebook friend and fellow Kings fan Adee Feiner, who I got to meet tonight for the first time. We even got her some Jumbotron exposure! Face time, Adee!


(That's Adee on the far left. Rachel is hogging the
face time in the middle...just kidding Rach!)

And thanks as always to my girls Rachel, Bri, and Jen for bringing the fun and creativity to warm-up watching.





Next, the Kings travel back to Vancouver for Game 5 on Friday. GO KINGS GO!

Kings Stanley Cup Play-off Season: Round 1, Game 3 - "Our Great 8"

After a long season of anticipation that started with the Kings being booed off the ice after losing the home opener, it was an incredible feeling walking to Staples for the Kings first Stanley Cup Play-off home appearance in 8 YEARS!



I miraculously survived the work day, in spite of a knot in my stomach caused by a strange mixture of excitement, nervousness, joy and maybe even a little fear. Eight years is a long time. This team is still so young. We're playing Vancouver, a team including a gold medal winning goalie and a pair of red-haired alien twins, one of which earned bragging rights this year as the NHL's leading scorer.



It just doesn't get bigger than this.

And on top of all the hockey implications, I realized something else. I'd never been to a professional sports play-off ANYTHING in my entire life. My nephews have been to World Series games, for crying out loud. How do you act at a play-off game? Can you still yell at mean people in your section? Will they get mad if I hold up my sign? Will the Drew-cam get the respect it deserves? Did I bring the right ticket (none of them have dates....arrrgh!)? So much to fret over...

I shouldn't have been worried, because start to finish it was an absolute blast!

I found Jen and Bri on the walk over, and since we were early we checked out some of the fun happening in Chick Hearn Plaza, including some street hockey! Jen and Bri played, and I did what I do best...took pictures!



We even caught King Hall-of-Famers and VP of Hockey Operations, Luc Robitaille, having a ball doing an interview with a local rock station. He's quite the Metallica Fan -- apparently The Black Album is his favorite pre-game music.



When we got inside, the first thing I did was find Nadine. We had a special package to open pre-game that came all the way from Canada! I can't reveal what was in the package, but let's just say we both have some extra special hockey luck with us at all times now.



Then I headed back to find Jen and Bri at our customary warm-up watching spot. And they got out the signs they made to inspire the boys. This one was my favorite.



They also gave everyone rally towels and these neon necklace things, which we promptly turned into head bands. Jen had a little fight with hers first....





Drew had on his game face, and whether or not he's "officially" growing a play-off beard, his face hasn't met a razor in a few days. LOVE IT!



Then I headed back to my seat, scarfed down a pizza faster than I've ever eaten anything in my life, and watched in awe as the lights went down and the noise level went through the roof! What an electric moment!



The game was more exciting than anything I imagined. It was so hard fought, that at points it looked like an all-out war was about to break out. And then it happened....Drew scored HIS FIRST EVER PLAY-OFF GOAL!!!!!!!! I've never screamed so loud in my life! Unfortunately, he also left the game with 47 seconds left in the first period after a knee contact with another player, and my heart dropped! Then I madly started texting anyone I knew who wasn't at the game to see what they were saying on TV. I just couldn't believe he would make it through the whole season, score his first play-off goal and then get hurt!

Luckily he came back out in the second and looked OK. He must have been, because he went on to get 3 assists and help lead the Kings to a 5-3 victory over the Canucks! And Drew was the #2 Star of the Game! WE WON! IT FINALLY HAPPENED! AFTER 8 YEARS, A GUY WEARING THE NUMBER 8 BROUGHT IT HOME.

Talk about goosebumps! The karma around the number 8 and the Kings is going to be legendary. And I mean FOREVER! Destiny HAS to have a hand in this....I can just feel it.

If you're not a Kings fan yet, you will be. Because we're not done. We now lead this series 2-1, and have a chance to open the lead Wednesday with our second game at home. Something tells me it will be another one for the record books....

GO KINGS GO!