Hello :)
Remember last Saturday, when I had high hopes for my day off and the day ended up being kind of a dud? Well, today surely made up for it!
The stars must have aligned perfectly in the sky, because my day was Perfect with a capitol P.
After my amazing breakfast, I hit the treadmill for my planned ‘long’ Saturday run.
- Mile 1 = 6 mph, incline 3%
- Mile 2 = 6.1 mph, incline 3%
- Mile 3 = 6.2 mph, incline 3%
I took a quick water break in between each mile. Immediately after the run I did the Booty Camp Fitness Booty Booster, which is 14 minutes of just GLUTE exercises. It is intense! I used to hate working out my butt, but I want to do it all the time now.
After the Booty was a burnin’, I did 13 poses for runners. Felt good to stretch the tight limbs out.
I updated my Spring Training Plan, including some notes of how I felt after my first week.
Then I had a wonderful Epsom salt soak, a purifying face mask, and I even painted my toes (bright pink with light pink polka-dots). It was a ‘spa on a budget’ as I call it. :mrgreen:
By this time, I was starving for lunch! Eric asked me to make the Ezekiel vegan pizzas for lunch.
I made Eric the same one I made for myself the other day and then I decided to change mine up a bit. I made my sauce using salsa and nutritional yeast. It wasn’t good like I hoped, so I spruced up my pizza with my favourite BBQ sauce:
It was perfecto!
I had a huge salad, as filler:
and a NEW (to me) apple:
Ever had a Pinata apple? It was a very crisp apple and looked a lot like a Gala. The taste was a bit off at first bite, but I enjoyed it the more I ate it.
After lunch I did an insane amount of laundry, baked some pumpkin biscuits (and ate an insane amount!), and then Eric and I left for my favourite place in the world…
I got some exciting things:
- Coconut oil
- Dr. Mist deodorant (I was told it’s the best-selling natural deodorant at Whole Foods)
- Desert Essence Tea Tree Oil Toothpaste
I have been wanting to try all natural toothpaste and deodorant for a long time now. I think the toothpaste will be fine, but I am worried about the deodorant not being as effective. I am going to try it during my next workout and see how it goes. The lady at Whole Foods also told me that you can put it on and it lasts for 3 days (!?!?!) what the heck? I am very skeptical…
Project Natural Glow Product reviews coming shortly!
- Organic Sucanat
- Doctor Kracker flatbreads (‘treat of the week’)
- Bananas
- Cabbage
- Kale (purple and green)
- Vitality sprouts
We couldn’t decide what to do next. Then on the spur of the moment, Eric offered to teach me how to drive standard (stick!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I have been wanting to learn forever now and was totally up for it, although very nervous!!!
He took us to an empty parking lot…
and we switched seats and the rest is history!
It was HILARIOUS. We could not stop laughing because I was stalling, the car was jolting forward, and I was screaming. Quite the sight. Once I accidently shifted into 5th gear instead of third and the car was not happy…I had a momentary freak out because I didn’t know what was going wrong, and then Eric noticed it was in 5th! Don’t worry his car is old and worn out, so we weren’t too worried about doing much harm to it…
Despite the initial kinks, I was driving pretty smooth and changing into 2nd and 3rd gear after just 15 minutes or so. After about an hour of driving, we headed home, both quite proud of the first lesson.
I can’t wait for the next lesson. I can totally see why people say driving standard is more fun! I am quite scared of learning hills though…and you know, being around other cars (eek). Baby steps…
Do you drive and if so, what do you drive: automatic or standard- or both? What do you prefer?
{ 95 comments… read them below or add one }
Aw, I love Whole Foods. I spent a summer in DC a couple summers ago and it was just a big tease being able to go shopping there all the time because where I live now we don’t have one. At all. :(
But yay for learning standard! I’ve tried, but not very successfully haha
automatic.
I’ve wanted to learn how to drive stick shift forEVER!! Whole Foods restock looks scrumptious. Doctor Kracker is so addicting. I won a giveaway and I had to hide the last box after crunching through the other boxes!
That’s so cute! I tried to learn standard a few years ago and pretty much failed…I think it’s time to try again!
I’m excited to see your review on the Tea Tree Oil Toothpaste! I’ve always been curious to try it.
I drive standard. Always have, and likely always will.
I was driving my husbands automatic the other day and almost killed us when I accidently “clutched” the brake. Ooops! :)
I also bought coconut oil at WF today. Great for my wintry skin! I never learned to drive a standard and my husband grew up in Ireland so that’s all he ever drove!
I learned to drive at the age of 15 (learners permit) on a stick. For me it was scary enough just being on the road in control of a vehicle let alone one with a clutch! I spent many hours in a parking lot with my mom…killing it, jerking and screaming, too! lol But, it’s like riding a bike, once you know what to do, you can drive any car! :) Hills are much easier once you know what the engine should sound like during your initial take-off. For a long time I drove without the radio on so I could hear the RPMs and know when to give more gas, let out the clutch a little more and also when to shift. You’ll get it…and how fun to have your hubby teaching you…I’m sure he doesn’t mind being in the car with a squealing 16-year-old school girl again ;) haha!
I have a standard, always have :)
oh, whole foods. how i love thee. I’m scheduled to be visiting vancouver next weekend and I may have already booked time in my weekend to stop in and peruse the aisles.
I cannot wait to move to a city with a whole foods. Sad, I know.
Coconut oil is my favorite! It makes for a killer veggie stir-fry, or oatmeal topping :)
I’ve tried driving stick a couple times…it’s definitely a challenge
Did the vehicle shudder violently? That was my experience driving a stick…in my boyfriend’s brand-new truck, too. oy Good thing he is patient. :) I’ll stick to an automatic, thanks.
I *love* the 13 Poses for Runners, btw–came across the link a few poses ago, and I always feel loose afterward.
My resolution for 2008 was to learn to drive standard. At the time I had an automatic and the husband had standard. Tried learning once and did the screaming, lurching forward, stalling and more screaming. From there I gave up.
5 months after making that resolution, my car died. I was FORCED to learn stick. Now it’s all I drive (not by choice)… but it’s a good skill to have.
It definitely gets easier each time after.
I so wish I had a Whole Foods near me! Or maybe I dont (lol) as they are so expensive! I wonder if Booty camp will ever offer their DVDs for sale here in the US?
I technically “know” how to drive a standard but I’m not too good at it. Thank God my van is an automatic. I haven’t driven one since college.
I love Whole foods! I love your items, I think it’s an accomplishment not to walk out of there with a whole lotta bags. It’s like walking out of costco with one item.
I drive an automatic, so much easier! I can eat/dink with one hand.
AAAHHH LOL my mom MADE all 4 of us learn stick when we got our licenses…but I’ve since “forgotten” and I always fail miserably at my “re-learning” attempts…my mom has 2 stick shift cars and my brother has 2 stick shift cars because they LIKE to drive that way…but I’ve stalled on hills at lights TOO many times. It’s the worst feeling when you keep stalling and rolling backwards and you think you’re going to hit the car behind you and then everyone starts honking LOL :-p
Anyway, I can sort-of do it and I like to think I could do it in an emergency…but i HATE IT and I don’t feel safe!!! :-p
I have driven standard since I was 16 and I will never own an automatic! I hate them so much and now every time I drive an automatic I hit the break thinking it’s the clutch! Hills aren’t too bad however I don’t have many here in AZ. I was deathly afraid of them when I first started though!
I learned to drive in a standard and did all ove my driving tests with a standard. I love, love, LOVE driving standard!!
I no longer have a car since I live in Toronto and use public transit, at times though I drive my FFIL’s car which is automatic and occasionally drive my parents vehicles when I visit, which are standards!!
Oh man, do you watch Dragons Den? That Dr. Mist deodorant was featured on it a few weeks ago, and it seemed like a huge scam to me – basically it’s just water? And the guy had a really fishy back story, too? At least it seemed super weird to me. Anyways, I hope it works for you, let us know!
I now have the biggest craving for sprouts ever, yours look super good. Haha, I’m so weird, but they soso tasty! :)
I drive an automatic, but I have tried a standard before and stalled it many times!
Hi Angela,
I’ve been following your blog for a long time…but never left a comment. You come across as a very genuine, caring person and your write ups always inspire and motivate.
I would like to know what you use on your face…your facial routine..your face glows. Pls pls tell :)
Keep up your good work…love reading your blog.
-Geetha
LOL at you driving the stick! I drive automatic but I definitely prefer stick. I had a similar learning experience in high school – the first day, I swear I stalled more than anything else! My younger brother was in the car (truck) with me and we almost passed out, we were laughing so hard at how BAD I was.
Once I learned, I was hooked. I dream of a sports car where I can ‘vroom vroom’ all over the place.
I drive both and right now I drive a SMG (sequential manual gearbox) so it is the best of both worlds–no foot clutch but it has a stick to shift!
OMG the driving lesson – too funny. My husband got his license at 35 (long story), and we decided there was nothing less sexy than me being his driving instructor so he took professional lessons. A stick would be way beyond him at this point. Good for you for even trying!
I’m soooooo excited you got Pinata apples! I got a box from Eastern Washington a long while back (through a friend of a friend) and they were soooo amazing. I made pie with them and didn’t add a single grain of sugar. Delish!
I use Coconut oil as a deodorant and it works extremely well! No B.O. at all, just coconut scent hehe. I will never go back to that chemical stuff. And it’s also amazing for your pits…makes them sooo soft. :)
haha I love it! my husband tries to teach me on occasion, not a pretty sight! I need more frequent practice to be good at it. But I do know how to start his truck up like a pro!
One of my goals is to learn to drive standard. But first I have to learn to drive automatic. Hehe.
so fun to go shopping at whole foods! It’s like my candy store :) haha Chris tried to teach me standard one time and I was horrible, but it would be nice to know how just in case :)
haha! so funny about the natural deodorant, I’m interested to find out how it works because I’ve tried some natural stuff before and I felt like the scent wasn’t strong enough to mask sweat smells, other than that I felt like it was comparable to the unnatural
Automatic for sure…Los Angeles traffic is bad enough that I don’t need to add more stress to my commute. :)
I bought my last car (standard) without knowing how to drive it!
no other way to go balls to the wall and learn how to do it!
I absoultely love it much more than auto though! It didn’t take too long to get used to it and a lof ot it comes natural. Now it’s so much fun! We have quite a few hills where I live so I get a little bit anxious on hills, but overall I’m much happier with the standard!
How funny, I just posted about my perfect Saturday too! I loooove roaming around WF and other health food stores. I feel giddy looking around!
I have only driven automatics so far. Irish has a standard and says he’ll teach me, but it hasn’t happened yet. I’m with you, though.. I want to learn but I’m nervous about it. I’m positive it will involve screaming as I learn too!
bahaha….Can you say whiplash??? :)
I drive an automatic – I almost bought a standard but my mom had to test drive it for me lol.
My boss way back in the day took me out once to learn how to drive standard and I did OK – but I think it was just a really easy car to drive because I dont know that I could do it again with as much success.
Also, I bought a bunch of Pinata apples from Superstore thinking they were gala apples. Theyre delicious!
I had my very first Whole Foods experience today, I was SO excited and definitely wasnt disappointed. I could have spent all day there!!
I drive an automatic now but my mom MADE me learn stick when I first started driving. It was hilarious in the parking lot but no so much later :-P. It’s pretty crazy that after years of driving automatic, I can still drive a standard is necessary. Good skill to have!
Oh my lord! High school flashbacks! My parents had a stick shift (manual) car, and if we did not drive that, we did not get our driver’s license! My brother and I still drive stick/manual to this day because we were FORCED to learn it!!! now I am on my 3rd stick shift car! I would never drive a manual now (I zone out and stop paying attention to the road). Good for you for learning!! I really think it is an important thing that everyone should know! Also, since my family has not owned an automatic car in 10 or more years, it is a great excuse to not let people borrow your car!
Whoops, I meant *I would never drive an AUTOMATIC now
In the UK stick shift is still the standard and for most cars you have to pay extra for an automatic, if its even an option. If you take your driver’s test in an automatic you have to take it again in a manual car before you’re licensed to drive a stick shift, though the opposite does not apply. I drive a manual myself, and find automatics quite scary – I’m terrified I’ll try to step on the clutch to change gear, hit the foot brake instead, and have to car stop sharply while travelling fast on the motorway! My husband drives an automatic though, he wouldn’t go back, and is trying to persuade me to learn so I guess I’ll have to at some point…
I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 17, and haven’t looked back. I love the control I feel. When I drive an automatic car, I feel weird. Though, when I get stuck in traffic, I sometimes wish I were in an automatic car!
Never heard of pinata apples. I’m on the lookout now though.
haha most people in England drive standard and when I got my license here Steve asked me if I wanted him to teach me so that I could get my license to drive a standard car (there are two types of licenses for auto and stick!). I definitely said no thanks and have stuck to my automatic car license!! I didn’t want to have to learn how to drive standard AND on the opposite side of the road!!
I learned on a “regular” car but after I got my license I bought an automatic. I haven’t driven a stick for about 10 years. I could do it if I needed to but anything that requires more skill like hill starts I’d be wary!
Haha, like Leah said, about 95% of cars in the UK are ‘stick’. If you use an automatic for your test, your license only ever covers automatics, so pretty much everyone learns to drive in a manual car. I’ve never even tried an automatic. Gears aren’t hard, but I guess it’s just what you’re used to!
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