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?
I haven’t read all of the comments so someone else may have offered this up as well but…I can’t use “regular” deodorants because it does funky things to my underarms and I searched and tried every natural kind out there. I ended up making my own and it works like a charm.
Just mix a couple tablespoons baking soda + couple tablespoons arrowroot powder (or cornstarch) and then mix in about six or eight tablespoons of melted coconut oil. Pour the mixture into an old deodorant bottle and then stick it in the fridge. Once it is firm, you use it just like regular though I wouldn’t leave in out somewhere very hot.
I love love love driving stick!! I’ve driven one since I was 16, but I just recently got a new car and was completely bummed to find out it’s almost impossible to find a used stick :(
I drive an automatic – but thinking of you leaning to drive a stick reminds me of The Notebook when Noah teaches Allie! Remember that scene?? So cute.
I really need to learn to drive a stick too. My husband’s car is a stick, so I can never drive it. He offers to teach me, but I flash back to the stalling and screaming years ago when I first tried to learn.
Angela,
Do you have a recipe for the pumpkin biscuits? They sound amazing!
that’s pretty funny – i started learning how to drive standard again yesterday too! i started learning a few years ago, but after i graduated out of the parking lot, i freaked out when i stalled the car in traffic and didn’t want to do it anymore.
yesterday i picked up where we left off and drove around my neighbourhood streets, with much more ease. then last night i actually drove us home from the subway station after a big party. didn’t stall once! i prefer automatic because there is less to think about while driving, but i have to admit, standard is kind of fun.
I can drive both, I am from Brazil and learned on stick. I only got to drive an automatic car after I moved to the US, 10 years ago. And I most certainly prefer automatic, soooo much easier!!
Love your quinoa cereal, I have to try myself! You just cook the quinoa in water right? Any special methods? I really want to make that one!
Ana
I drive stick, and I tried to teach my boyfriend…He did not take the learning process as well as you. He’s gotten the hang of it now though!
My dad brought home my first car and it was a standard. I had no say and I had to learn. I think everyone should learn a standard first. You never know when you’ll have to drive one. We got a moving truck once that was a standard and my husband made me drive it! I still drive a standard and I think I’ll stick with ’em forever.
I totally agree! If you can drive standard, you can handle almost anything.
Hahaha! What a great Saturday! I drive stick shift and I love it! I remember my dad taking me to a parking lot when I still had my permit. He pretty much made me drive home from there on the main roads. I remember being SO nervous! But I made it without any gliches!
Happy Sunday!
I’ve always wanted to learn to drive stick as well! My boyf is hopefully going to teach me this summer =D
xo
K
Haha, that sounds SO fun!!! Congrats on learning stick! I have had one automatic car, all my other cars (4 others) have been stick. The problem with driving stick is that people tell you “let out the clutch” (and then you let it out all the way) and then they say “give it some gas” (after the clutch is let out all the way and you’re already stalling.
I learned to drive stick in high school when I was studying Algebra. After giving every member of my family whiplash, I finally figured out that driving stick is like solving Algebraic equations — what you take away on one side you have to add the other side, and you have to do it at the same time.
So when you’re in gear and you have the clutch pressed all the way to the floor, you let the clutch out 3 inches, you must simultaneously press down on the gas pedal by those 3 inches. This method has taught 2 of my college roommates (no whiplash) to drive stick so I hope it helps.
ive been wanting to try coconut oil but dont really know what to use it for so last time i was at wf, i picked it up and thne put it back down.
i used to drive a stick but now drive a standard. i think a sticks fun to drive. well, after you learn how to do it and not on hills.
My car is automatic but i’d love to learn how to drive a stick shift.. would be interesting. Your experience sounds fun!!!
And pumpkin biscuits? Recipe??
My dad made us master the stick shift before we could get our license. His thinking was “there will never be a reason you can’t get home”. It was funny though because I was one of the only people (including boys) in my high school that could drive stick shift. Your story reminds me of teaching my sister in the Kmart parking lot years ago. Thanks for the laugh!
let us know how the natural deodorant works. I’ve wanted to try it as well, but I’m skeptical.
Too funny! I was planning to blog about driving stick this week. I moved to Switzerland in 2004, and quickly had to learn. It was tough at first, there are a lot of mountains, but soon I learned to love it. I even drove a 15 seater van that was standard. When I moved home, I bought a standard car and have since replaced it with a saturn ion coupe, standard. I love the control and the feel of the car. When I drive my hubby’s car, I don’t feel the same. In our relationship, I’m the one who has to teach him to drive standard!
Once you go standard, you never go back!!
I actually love driving standard and choose it over automatic.When ever we look into getting a new vehicle I always request a standard.It really becomes like second nature,you dont even notice your doing it.Good-luck!!It’s fun to be able to say you can drive standard.
p.s. If you don’t like that toothpaste, let me know. We’ve tried many brands and have finally found one we love. We order it over the net but it ships from canada and arrives in 3 days.
Yes! Way to go switching to natural deodorant! I’ve been using Kiss My Face Lavender for the past year or so, and I love it. I will warn you though, my body went through a bit of an adjustment period with it. For the first week or two, I felt like it wasn’t really working, and I felt like I was sweating WAY more than normal (which I’m sure I was…. I had been using an antiperspirant before, and this was just a deodorant) but after those initial weeks my body adjusted, and I was definitely sweating less! So don’t give up, give it some time :)