Jake, Jake, Jake...

Hey Buddy-- I fully respect you for sending home the girls that you know aren't wife material (and not just keeping them around so that you can eventually make out in a hot tub with them), but really? Really? Vienna? I'm not going to go all bizarrely-vindictive-Ali on you regarding Vienna, but I think we both know you are not seriously considering her as your future life partner. Maybe you're keeping her around because you already kinda know who you're going to pledge your undying love to and she'll just make the final decision all that much easier (a la Andrew Firestone in season 3 with Jen and Kirsten-- and, yes, I am embarrassingly well versed in Bachelor history). Or maybe you're contractually obligated to keep a little crazy in the mix up until the end (um, remember that princess chick who wore all the tiaras a few seasons back? I think it was The Bachelor: London Calling)... Only time will tell. But, please, do yourself a favor and don't let her bring you home to meet the fam, 'kay?

Thanks.

The only title I can think of...

...is Blechgggghhg. I don't even know what that sounds like, but I do know that I literally did not see daylight today. I was at my office working before it was light out and left after it got dark again. Delightful. Work is pretty much kicking my butt this week, and I don't think it's going to slow down for weeks to come. My brain is fried, and I'm trying to psych myself up to go to the gym tomorrow morning before another long day. I hate the idea of getting up at 5:30am (again), but I also know I'll feel a lot better if I squeeze in a workout before the weekend. But, in the spirit of good attitudes and positivity, there are a few things I can be happy about:

• It's in the mid-70s every day this week. Two weeks ago it was in the 20s. Now it's in the 70s. I am not complaining. Bring it on, springtime! I have sandals that need a good dusting off.
• Frozen meals -- not the Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones variety, but delicious, home-cooked meals that I made before the holidays, froze, and have been thoroughly enjoying this week. There is nothing like simply heating up a batch of homemade chili after a 12-hour workday when merely operating the remote control sounds exhausting.
• J got an interview with a very-large-technology-company-in-the-Bay-Area-that-shall- remain-nameless for his summer internship-- hopefully the first of many, but it's a start!
• In less than 48 hours I will be popping a bottle of vino rosso and toasting two (hopefully) work free days.

Aaaaaaaaand, I'm spent.

Monday Night... whew!

For some reason, I really like Monday nights. Monday night always seems more relaxing than I'd expect... most of my weeknight plans tend to be mid-week, and I'm not yet totally worn out or exhausted by the work week. So I usually have the time and motivation to cook a nice a dinner, and then I have the time to just veg out and relax or watch TV. Plus, there's just kind of this sigh of relief that the day you spent all Sunday dreading is over and the week is moving forward.

Tonight I made a quick chicken saltimbocca-- basically boneless, skinless chicken breasts wrapped in proscuitto and sage, and then pan fried on the stove. Typically it's made with veal, which I'm not a fan of, but this recipe from Everyday Food (one of my best quick and easy cookbooks) called for chicken and looked relatively painless. Usually I'm a little leery of pan frying or sauteeing boneless, skinless chicken breasts, because mine always turn out tough and flavorless. But this recipe worked like a charm. I chalk it up to the delicious proscuitto giving it all that extra flavor and the quick white wine sauce that went with it. Mmmmm. Only 15 minutes to prepare and it's super tasty? This will definitely be going into my regular weeknight recipe rotation.

Now I'm settled in front of The Bachelor. This is totally my guilty pleasure-- so ridiculous, yet so entertaining. Best moment of the night so far: Michelle asking him to kick her off, and then her being surprised when he actually did. I'm also glad he got rid of Elizabeth. She definitely was playing games with him, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that his BS radar is as finely tuned as it is. Usually, the bachelor will put up with all kinds of crazy before he finally sees the light and kicks off the chicks that are so obviously not suitable for him. Jake is definitely impressing me more than I expected... what about you? Any Bachelor fanatics out there? Who's in your top 4? My money right now is on Tenley, Ali, Corrie, and Ella.

Random Thursday

With the departure of one of my colleagues last week, I've taken on not one, but two new accounts. AAAaaayyyy-eeeee-ieieieie! That's me yelling, doing a crazy dance, and pulling out my hair. But let's look on the bright side, shall we? Say it with me people, "JOB SECURITY." Job security, job security, job security. A very good thing in a one-income household. I just keep reminding myself of that. I'm a little crazed, so in lieu of a real post, I give you a string of random, completely unrelated thoughts:

- I've been fighting off a cold since Sunday. I have managed to not "officially" get sick, but I haven't managed to kick the headache, sore throat, and fatigue that has been hanging around. I'm not sure if it's better to avoid a full-on cold, but kind of feel crappy all week despite it, or to actually get sick for a few days and then get better. The jury is still out.

- I only buy lunch once a week (for both budget and health reasons), and I always look forward to the day that I don't have to make my lunch: a.) because it's annoying; and b.) because I get to get out of the office and have a quick change of scenery. However, on the day that I actually do get to go out and buy my lunch (ahem, today), I can never figure out what I want! Do I go with soup and a half sandwich from Whole Foods? Or maybe a burrito bowl from Chipotle? Or a fancy deli sandwich from the cute bakery down the street? I have no idea. And it's lunch time right now.

- I haven't done anything after work this entire week except eat dinner and watch TV. And I'm totally, 100% fine with it. Ditching the to-do list once in a while is kinda nice.

- I didn't move to Texas for 29 degree temps. Thankfully, the weather is cooperating once again. It's not sunny, but I'll take 60 degrees any day.

- Um, going to a school /rooting for a school that is uber dominant in sports is fun. The UT men's basketball team is now ranked #1 in the country. J and I are going to the UT vs. Texas A&M game on Saturday night. I've always enjoyed March Madness, but my new found interest in sports may now also encompass regular season college basketball games. Who knew?

- MBA internship recruiting season is picking up steam... J had an interview yesterday for a position in Dallas, and was in San Francisco last week meeting with a bunch of companies there. Business school is kinda like law school, where you get a paid internship in the summer and, if you're lucky, that translates into a job offer at the end of the summer. Obviously, you can get an internship and then get a totally different job afterward, but the whole internship recruiting process will give us the first glimpse of a.) what the economy is really like right now for newly minted MBAs; and b.) where the heck we might wind up after this whole crazy adventure. The whole "where are we going to be moving in a year and a half" question gets me all worked up and more than a little panicky any time I start really thinking about it (because I have some definite preferences), but I just keep reminding myself of my New Year's resolution to take it one day at a time. So here I am, practicing some calming yoga breathing, and telling myself I won't worry about it... just yet, anyway...

And there you have it folks. Hope your week is trucking along smoothly! TGI... almost Friday!

True Story

OK, so we all know how the BSC Bowl turned out... sad stuff. I do have to say, however, that Colt McCoy has got to be one of the classiest college athletes out there. His post-game speech was incredibly gracious despite the fact that his heart was obviously broken after having been injured 2 minutes into the game. What a guy. And Gilbert, a true freshman with like 4 minutes of actual college football playing time under his belt (let alone replacing one of college football's best quarterbacks ever in the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS), rose to the occasion despite a very obvious case of nerves, and managed to bring the team back to within 3 points of Alabama towards the end of the 4th quarter. They made us all proud.

But I had to share a funny story that happened as a group of us (me, 2 other girls, and 2 guys) were all walking out of work on Thursday evening before the game. Actual conversation:

Guy 1: "Um, so what does it mean to be a Tier 12 school?"

Several of us girls: "Tier 12?..." "Uh, not sure..." "Um, do you mean Big 12?"

Guy 1: "Oh, yeah, Big 12. What is that?"

Me: "That's the athletic conference that UT plays in."

Guy 1: "Oh, so that means were in, like, the top 12 schools?"

Girl 2: "Noooo... it's just a group of schools in the region that play against each other in college sports."

Girl 3: "You know, like we play against Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, etc. There are 12 schools."

Me: "Yeah, it's an athletic conference. Like the PAC 10, SEC, ACC, Big 10... there are a bunch of conferences throughout the country by region."

Guy 1: "Oh, huh." [seems confused]

Guy 2: "So what is the significance of tonight's game?"

Girl 2: "It's the championship."

Guy 2: "The championship of what?"

Me: "College football. Texas and Alabama are playing to see who will be the champion of all college football." [And, yes, I realize this is semi-arbitrary given the flawed BCS system.]

Guy 2: "Oh." [Finally getting it.]

Really? Really??? Now, granted, these two guys are developers and definitely more techy/artsy than sporty. But we live in TEXAS, people! I thought college football obsession was a birthright here. I mean, if 6 months of living in Texas can turn someone like me, with less than no interest in televised sports, into someone who knows things like the names of all the Heisman candidates, or the records and coaches names for teams that are not only the teams I root for (UT and Oregon) or other teams in the two conferences I follow (Big 12 and PAC 10), but also for teams in other conferences (namely, SEC), how on earth did this conversation transpire?? But it did. Only in Austin.

And with that, I conclude Berry & Bramble's 2009-2010 edition of college football commentary.

A triple shot kind of a morning...

Yep, I went for the well deserved triple grande nonfat latte this morning after one of those workouts where you are so tired going in that you're just grateful to get through it and don't even care that you have to stop every five minutes to take a breather while the 8 months pregnant lady next to you powers through yet another set of lunges. Ugh. But I can feel good that my tiredness is the result of really pushing myself at the gym this week-- I've gotten up at 5:40am three times this week so far for morning workouts. I'm thinking tomorrow will be a rest day, and then I'd like to finish strong with two good cardio workouts this weekend. Now let's hope the caffeine boost will get me through the rest of today.

Yesterday morning, I had a resting metabolic rate test. This is a test that tells you how many calories your body burns when just resting and doing absolutely nothing. Turns out those 2 glasses of wine and/or dessert most nights of the week are going to become a thing of the past as I was dismayed to learn that my metabolism is on the low side of normal. And this despite the fact that I'm already pretty diligent about weight training twice a week for an hour. So it looks like vigorous cardio is going to have to become my new hobby if I want to avoid massive poundage as I age. Fun, fun.

In other ramblings... how 'bout those Longhorns??!?! The Rose Bowl was a total disappointment with Oregon playing terribly and losing to OSU, but I'll be tuning in tonight to watch the 'Horns hopefully destroy Alabama and clinch the national title. I love rooting for an underdog, and it seems like the media expects Texas to get "rolled," but we shall see...

Hook 'em!

Holiday Highlights

We had an amazing trip home for the holidays: 12 days, 3 cities, and too many memories to count. So I'll just list the highlights:

• First and foremost, seeing my family after nearly 6 long months! Lots of conversation, laughs, good food, and late nights. There's nothing better.
  
• Helping my sister find THE dress. It was the only one I pulled off the rack for her at the bridal salon while the sales ladies filled her dressing room with other gowns. She tried it on towards the end and I could tell immediately from her expression that we had just found a serious contender. I remember when I found mine and it was like stepping into my favorite jeans in the form of a gorgeous white silk bridal gown-- it just felt like me. The really cool thing is that she is also the one who pulled my gown off the rack for me when we went wedding dress shopping together two years ago. So it was kind of a sweet moment. And, ultimately, she ended up buying the dress I had picked out for her.
  
• Seeing almost all of my girlfriends in Seattle over lunch or drinks on two different days (except for you, DK... can't wait for your trip to Austin!) Spending time with so much of our family was wonderful, but managing to catch up with my best gal pals too was just icing on the cake.


• New York!! Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures in Portland or Seattle, but I got a few good ones in the Big Apple. Our first night there, K & D treated us to the 8 course pasta tasting menu, with wine pairings, at Mario Batali's restaurant, Babbo (as an extremely generous Christmas present.) Yes, I said pasta tasting menu. That may sound like extreme carb overload to some, but it was pure Heaven for me. There is no such thing as too much pasta in my book (and to be fair, 3 of the courses were dessert! ;) We enjoyed delicacies such as black tagliatelle with parsnips and pancetta (delish), ravioli stuffed with beets and marscapone in a poppy seed sauce (I die), an amazing gnocchi with wild mushrooms (scraped up every morsel and I don't even like mushrooms), and papardelle with the most amazing bolognese you've ever tasted, comprised of veal, prosciutto, and pancetta. And this was only one of several fabulous dinners out that we enjoyed, so, needless to say, I've been hitting the gym pretty hard this week. But it was worth every single last calorie. Us, pre-pasta binge. Can you tell we were excited??
  
  


• Then of course, we did lots of walking and sight-seeing in the city. I loved checking out all the Christmas decorations that were still up... the tree at Rockefeller Center, the amazing store window displays up and down 5th Ave (Bergdorf's was particularly cool), and the crazy Christmas ornament overload at a German bar we went into near Gramercy:

• And last, but certainly not least, New Year's Eve. We gorged ourselves on amazing dinners out each of the other 3 nights we were there, but decided to spare ourselves the crowds (and $150+ cover charges) on New Year's Eve by cooking dinner at home and staying in. Battling the crowds to go shopping for groceries at 5pm on NYE at the Fairway on the upper west side was more than enough excitement for us. (And I'm not kidding-- it was like a bumper car derby in there... people jamming their carts into each other, throwing elbows, and the like. My sister-in-law is a far braver woman than I for dealing with that on a regular basis.) Of course, after a delicious 5 course meal, lots of champagne, an episode of Jersey Shore, and the big countdown, we had a little energy to blow off and decided that we should go sledding. On a hill outside their apartment down to the Hudson River. In plastic garbage bags. Pure genius and probably one of the most fun New Year's Eves I've had in a long time.
  
  
  
  
  

Happy New Year!

We arrived home on Saturday from our extended multi-city holiday tour tired, but contented. I've got some fun pictures and a recap to share tomorrow, but wanted to pop in and wish you a happy new year! Since this is the time of year that we're all thinking about how to reboot or reconfigure our schedules, our goals, and our lives, I thought I would share a few of my resolutions.

1.) Live in the moment. I tend to get really anxious and concerned about the future, as well as way too wrapped up in my many to-do lists. This year, I want to focus on being present and living in the moment. That doesn't mean I'm going to abandon my to-do lists all together, but I'm going to make more of an effort to just be present and conscious in all that I do, both at home and at work, and hopefully reduce the amount of time I spend worrying about what may or may not happen down the road.

2.) Make my writing a priority. Writing has always been a hobby of mine, and it's one of my best creative outlets. Up until a few years ago, I made an effort to carve out some time each weekend to dedicate to my writing. I took a few creative writing classes, and even got one non-fiction essay published in the Seattle Times. Then I met J, got wrapped up in a new relationship, changed jobs, got engaged, planned a wedding, moved cross country, blah, blah, blah. I don't know where my writing will take me, but I figure that I owe it to myself to carve out some time to pursue this interest, and so I'll be getting back into my weekend writing routine in 2010.

3.) Take better care of me. This encompasses the obligatory get-consistent-about-my-workouts-and-eat-better resolution, but it also means getting enough rest, taking the time to be more put together because it makes me feel good about myself (this includes purging my closet, donating or tossing all the outdated or worn-out clothes that I cling to just in case they come back in style or just in case I need them for a Halloween costume sometime in the next 7 years), and making spirituality more of a priority in my life. We recently found a church that we enjoy attending, and I'd like to make this a bigger part of our lives in 2010.

So there you have it. I'm looking forward to fantastic new year that doesn't include any major life changes (wedding, big move, etc.), but is full of laughter, love, and health. I hope your new year is off to a great start as well!