Three Things Thursday

1) I work in development (fundraising, outreach & events) at a non-profit, and today is the close of our fiscal year. Also, we're planning a big conference that will take place in mid-August. To say the last couple weeks have been busy and stressful have been an understatement. The couple of weeks won't be much better, as the close of the fiscal year means the start of audit prep and doing data analysis for the Annual Report. Luckily I love data analysis! Here is what my desk looks like right now:

What can I say? I like to be hydrated.

2) I was finally going to stick around Lake Taco for an infamous holiday weekend, but I decided that I'm going to drive down to Santa Barbara instead. I'm super excited to listen to the audio version of World War Z on the drive! Does anyone else have any recommendations for good audio books?

3) As you might recall, I drunkenly signed up for a triathlon earlier this month. I had forgotten that, in the memo field, I had written something like "I'm drunk and signing up for a triathlon! Woo!" Or, had forgotten until I got something in the mail from Iron Girl. I got a race belt and a lovely hand written note:

Training for the upcoming Iron Girl triathlon is going pretty well. Katie is out of town this week, so it was difficult (ie impossible) to get out bed yesterday at 6 am for the swim. So, instead, I went after work. When I arrived at about 5:15, the desk attendant informed me that there was swim team practice until 6:30. My original plan had been to swim right after work, and then head to the gym to spin. But I asked myself, "Self, what are you more likely to do this weekend in Santa Barbara? Go for a run, or go for a bike ride?" Answer: definitely, bike ride. So I drove into Nevada, where I'd seen people trail running while out on my bike. I did a quick car change (good thing I almost always wear a sports bra to work!) and headed out on the trail. I got in a good 30 minute run, and then made it to the pool for a thirty minute swim. While I was swimming, a pine cone from one of the overhead trees fell into my lane and nearly hit me in the head. That certainly never happened in Santa Barbara!

Awesome day! And a recipe.

I love that the sun is just starting to set when I get off work now! It makes me so happy. The sun setting behind the mountains has been so gorgeous the last couple of days. It makes me sad that I lost my camera charger and have been unable to take any pictures. Imagine something like this.

Then when I came home, there was a mysterious package on my porch! The box had a perishable sticker and a return address label of a toffee company, so I was pretty excited to open it. I tore into it as quickly as I could manage, and I was stoked to see that Dan's parents had sent me some of Brandini Toffee. We'd eaten a ton of it when I was in Palm Springs over Thanksgiving, and it's super good. The best part is the business was started by two best friends in high school to raise money for a trip to Italy, and now their younger sisters run the business while they're in college. They also use alternative energy to run their company!

It was an all-round good food day in my life. We had a welcome potluck for our new intern, and there was so much delicious, delicious food. There was curry soup, homemade potato salad, lasagna, spinach salad, hummus, cookies, brownies, cupcakes...the list goes on and on.

I had originally considered making polenta, but, since I have never made it before, I decided to go with something I make all the time: brussel sprouts. I was a little worried about how they'd go over, because some people seem to really hate brussel sprouts. But I thought if that happens, more for me! However, everyone seemed to like them. In fact, someone told me that I should always bring them to all potlucks, forever, no matter what the potluck theme is . Success!

I thought I'd share the recipe, if anyone was interested.

Ingredients:

Brussel sprouts

Olive Oil

Sea Salt

Fresh Cracked Pepper

For the potluck, I used a whole bag of brussel sprouts, but if I'm cooking for myself, I use 6 - 10 depending on size/how hungry I am.

1. Heat 1 - 2 tbsp olive oil in pot or pan with lid over medium low.

2. Cut off the end of the brussel sprouts and cut them in half.

3. Add brussel sprouts to pan, drizzle a little olive oil, and stir with a fork so they're lightly coated.

4. Add a pinch of salt and cracked pepper to taste.

4. Put on lid and let brussel sprouts cook until you can stick a fork through the big ones easily, stirring every couple minutes, so they all get time on the bottom. This will take usually take 8+ minutes, depending on temp and number of brussel sprouts.

5. For the last 30 seconds or so, turn the heat up to medium and stir so they sear a little bit.

6. Enjoy! They're best directly out of the pan, but they're also good refrigerated and served cold. I've never tried reheating them, so I'm not sure how well they reheat.

Weekend Update

I'm in the "F's" and my arm is already sore. Maybe I'll teach myself to write left handed.

I rearranged my workout schedule this week, and moved my rest day to Thursday. It was my roommate's last night working at The Divided Sky, an awesome restaurant/bar in Meyers, which is a small town a little outside of South Lake Tahoe. If you are ever in the area, check it out! They have really delicious, mostly organic food and a ton of really good vegetarian options. I think that I'm going to go back there tonight for a bluegrass concert.

Since I "rested" on Thursday, I went to spin this morning, and this is the first time I've been on a Saturday. I thought the class started at 8:30, so I got to the gym at about 8:10, thinking that I would have plenty of time to claim a good bike and warm up. Class actually started at 8:15, so I barely made it! I got stuck with one of the last bikes left, and I could not get my shoes to clip in at all. I must have tried for 5 minutes with no luck. I finally just gave up and put my running shoes back on and used the toe clips. I'd gotten so used to wearing my clipless shoes that it was quite the adjustment and so much harder! Especially on the hills.

I managed to get in a (sorta) brick and ran for about 15 minutes after spin class. I don't think I'd been to my gym on a Saturday morning. Waaaaaaay different crowd than the post-work weeknights group that I usually see. Several incidents of nearly Heidi Montag-level plastic surgery, fewer meatheads. Strange.

Now I am going to enjoy some more unrealistic ABC Family Melodramas about teen pregnancy, address more envelopes, and cook some lentils.

I heart Netflix!

I have to hand address 600+ envelopes for work this weekend. I am going to watch hours of my guilty pleasure shows (Secret Life is the definition of guilty pleasure. I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I watch it in a public forum) and eat delicious things.

I just keep telling myself, "At least I get comp time. At least I get comp time."

Hopefully, I'll be able to fit a run (outside?!), spin class and pilates (first time ever!) in there somewhere.

The reason that I have 600+ envelopes to address is that we have our first big mailing of the year going out on Monday. And, apparently, potential donors are more likely to open a letter if the address is hand written. I also got to print out all 600+ letters today so our executive director could take them home to sign over the weekend, and, of course, our brand new fancy printer/copier/scanner decided to stop working. And the mail merge didn't work the first 6 times I did it. And the printer didn't have our letter head done until the afternoon. And my boss was gone, so there was no one to answer any of my questions.

It was a very stressful day, but I succeeded, all 600+ letters got printed and we're ready to go to the Executive Director by 4! So I let myself go early (benefit of the boss being gone) and made it to the gym in time to get a parking spot before the post work rush that always makes parking a fiasco.

Nothing too exciting at the gym, I just ran for 23 minutes (hill workout) and lifted focusing on my legs and back. I'm definitely getting stronger which is always exciting.

Tonight, 30 Rock on Hulu, tea in my mug, and brussel sprouts on my plate. Perfect Friday night?

Fun in the office

My office mate, Thorin, used to work at the ReStore, and every so often he brings back something for our office. Recently, he replaced my lame, non-rolly desk chair with an awesome rolly desk chair. Wheeee!!!! I have spent today rolling all around. Roll! From my desk to the printer! Roll! From my desk to his desk! Roll! From my desk to the paper cutter! I have really noticed that the more boring the job, the greater joy I get from small pleasures.

Side note: I see that fellow office worker Lindsay has blogged about popping bubble wrap. Oh, office jobs.