Running and I are conflicted.
I ran pretty fast for awhile. (Hence the “sprint” in my name.)
Often time with running comes injuries. I had a PCL that was stretched thin and the only way I was going to run more than a mile or two again was to have surgery or build my quads. I chose quads and started doing figure competitions. I mean… go big or go home, right?
Tuesday morning run
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Cool(er) weather makes me want to run.
My body sometimes has other plans.
There is a rumor that San Diego is 70°F (that’s 21°C) all year long. This is a lie. It was as high as 90°F (32°C) just last week! Yesterday it finally cooled to a comfortable 72 and I decided to hit the trails in Balboa Park.
This is my favorite place to run. It looks like something out of a Dr. Seuss book!
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Have you even been somewhere that looks like a postcard?
Cinque Terre is even MORE beautiful than that.
Cinque Terre is comprised of five tiny seaside villages on the north coast of Italy. It literally translates to “The Five Lands.” The five towns are: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. Each one is beautiful in it’s own way, but they all possess an almost magical coastal Italian charm.
Then main streets are lined with family-owned shops, artisan gelato, and the best seafood you’ll ever eat. The clear, glittering water will almost hypnotize you, and you’ll finish each day plotting a way to retire to one of the colorful old buildings. It truly is like something out of a storybook.
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I’m home.
I begged Vegas to stay in Italy.
We’re home… and I’m more than a little sad. But here we are. In this election cycle… oy… I can’t even go there.
We have at least eaten well! Brunch at Royal Stone was amazing our first week back. It’s the one thing we do better here in America.
It made me a teensy bit glad to be back in the States. The only thing Italians don’t know how to do right when it comes to food is brunch!
I had the Vegetable Hash with eggs over easy, carnival cauliflower, rainbow carrots, purple sweet potato, chard, jalapeño vinaigrette, and sourdough toast. Vegas had the Patty Mac with sausage, eggs, and butternut mustard (so good!) on brioche with Japanese sweet potato fries. We also shared a side of mimosas… and by side I mean the whole bottle.
We couldn’t decide who’s order “won”!…
Alba is my favorite European city.
I begged Vegas to stay.
Alba is in Piedmont, the northwest region of Italy. It’s been my favorite since my last trip here 5 years ago. This is the area famous for Barolo (the king’s wine), Barbaresco, hazelnuts, and truffles. We did it all!
I’ve had more white truffles than should be allowed. They don’t look like much from the outside, but these rare (and expensive) mushrooms are a delicacy unique to this region. You can only get them in the fall. Alba even has a festival dedicated to them!
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The baking bug bit.
It may have been better if it’d bit when it was cooler outside…
Either way, I spent the day baking. I made 6 of my Cauliflower Pizza crusts. I froze them all for quickie frozen pizzas. I also realized they’re essentially 3 ingredients. I need to write a new post about this…
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The best part about blogging is the friends you make.
Some of my “real life” best friends are bloggers.
This weekend I got to see two of them – Lucie and Meghan! Lucie was making a pit stop at Meghan’s on her way back to Switzerland, so I decided to hop over to Cleveland to crash that party.
Really I just wanted to meet this munchkin:
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I’m moving slow this week.
Because I was attacked by an octopus.
Ok, so maybe not for real. I’ve been crazy sore and the octopus action helped me with recovery. It’s actually called supping therapy (you may have seen similar spots on Michael Phelps).
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