Weekend Recap

This weekend was very productive- at home. I have a huge "to do" list that we somehow never get around to! I'm on a mission to re-decorate every single room in our home and de-clutter as much as possible. The kitchen and our master bedroom are the only ones that have begun to be affected by my constant need for change...I am in love with my closet and half of our bedroom! And a wall in my kitchen! Haha! Saturday, the living room experienced some changes as well! Finally!

Friday night included wine and my favorite dive bar!

Saturday included canceled plans that left me home alone with too much to do but no desire to do any of them. Geoff was busy and gone since 7am. He returned around 8pm and around 9pm, I decided to start ripping up our carpet from downstairs, haha. I don't know why we work better at night but we succeeded in getting all the carpet and padding off. We woke up Sunday and got more supplies we needed and started removing the glue and paint that was leftover from when our house was constructed.

We had Sunday dinner with our family so took a break for the rest of the night, enjoying food and the company of our awesome and brand new nephew, Karston :)! He is so precious and such a good baby! He only wakes up twice a night for a quick feeding and goes right back to bed. Our brother says he feels more rested now than before the baby! Lucky!! We hope it remains that way for them!

We stopped by Target because my Linda Cochina had told me they had chevron gold pillows- it took us two trips and calling Target to locate them! We asked about them and they told us they were sold out. We left and Geoff decided to call to confirm- when he did they told him they had just brought in 4 more- so off we went again! We bought two of them for our bedroom but I might return one- I don't think we really need two since it's just for decor. But, while there, we stopped in the kids section to see if we could find something for our new nephew and lemme-tell-you...! Kids clothes nowadays is the cutest ever!! I am obsessed with the Harajuku kids line by Gwen Stefani. THE cutest things ever! Everyone around our daily lives has kids so of course I immediately started picking things out for all of our little homies! Then Geoff reminded me that I am not rich...yet! So I put everything back! Damn adult responsibilities!!

On Monday, we woke up early, spent a couple of hours at Lowe's and Home Depot and went straight to work on our floor. Our goal is to get the concrete as spotless as possible so we can acid stain it. Our friend has had his for years and Geoff has always wanted to do it. When we first bought our house he wanted to but I told him no (we had brand new high quality carpet for the first time in my life, lol)! A few months ago, he started mentioning it again so I began to research it and fell in love. But holy!! It is soooo much work- at least the prep. It's seriously ridiculous and I'm already questioning what we got ourselves into. I do know that I'll never want carpet again in my life (in the living room). There was SO much dust/sand underneath- I couldn't believe it. Arizona is SOOO dusty! Every time I clean, I like to have our windows open. Well, we have three huge windows in our living room and i swear that as soon as i'm done, it's duaty again! No wonder Geoff's dust allergies are so bad! Anyway, cleaning concrete is a B!!! I hope we are done by the end of this week!

concrete; sad/super gross thumbelina; Uncle Jefe and Baby Karston; pink!

I was also able to fiiiinally find all the shirts that I had been searching for our Diva Dash this upcoming weekend! We are doing a Rosie the Riveter-inspired outfit for our 5K obstacle run! So excited to see my girls and have soo much fun (as always) with them!

Today is a long day at work! After lunch, I have four more classes to teach- normally i only have three but Tuesday's schedule is different. Boo! Gotta pump myself up to repeat the same thing over and over again! Lol!

I cannot wait 'til my hair grows back to its long length. For the looongest time I had the longest hair haha! Then I chopped it all off to donate it (then found out I couldn't because it had been heavily processed). No regrets because I had so much fun with my short hair but now I'm so ready for my length. I've been letting it do whatever it wants lately and it has been doing this messy wave thing- i'm digging it!

Our Diva Dash outfit; MK rose gold stylee; messy hair waves <3

Christmas Spirit

I feel like I'm going through the motions of Christmas without feeling much of anything. I have no idea why but I seem to have misplaced my Christmas spirit. Sad...I think it may have to do with this being my first year not going home to L.A. for the holidays. G and I always figure out a way to split our Christmas between both families, despite the fact that they are a state away. Christmas for me, is one the 24th, whereas for him, it's on the 25th. I can't imagine cooking, dancing, having so much fun without my small family. Midnight won't be the same... :/ If we had children it'd be easier to make our own little traditions BUT as we always do, we'll try and make the best of everything.

For now, I am searching for my spirit. One of the ways I like doing this is by giving back. Volunteering is one of the best things I can do. This weekend was the Help Portrait event, in which families get to get their hair and make up done and get a free portrait by a professional photographer. Seeing all these families come into the Boys and Girls Club to take (for a lot of them), their very first family portrait was beyond incredible. I, personally, had our first family portrait taken at our wedding early this year! When we were raising our teenage sister, we always made sure to take her to serve food during the holidays. The first time she was annoyed that we had to wake up so early and stand in the cold to help, but by the end of the day, she was asking for our next event. When I was growong up, we often didn't have money for gifts so we would be on the opposite side of charity events. I want to spend my life giving back as much as possible. I wish I could just invite all my family, friends and their kids to volunteer to give back. How amazing would that be?!

I haven't done any Christmas shopping this year, probably part of my missing spirit...  I always go all out at Christmas and absolutely loooove giving gifts! I get so much satisfaction from finding or making the perfect gift from me to a loved one! Geoff always tells me I go overboard and never likes when I keep giving when it's not reciprocated. But seriously, who cares?! If you give to receive, are you really giving with generous and true intentions? Not in my opinion...anyway! I'm digressing! Lol!

Speaking of gifts, I want to make some awesome crafts from Pinterest! I have a Secret Santa at work and can't wait to make her gifts! But I have to get started on it tonight and I didn't find anything at the store earlier so now I'm left to creativity at home!

This is our first year together with a real xmas tree! Of course, it's all gold, rose gold, and copper lol! We topped it sith Geoff's gold maneki neko instead of a star this year. Maybe once our lights are on outside and I get some gifts under the tree it'll feel more like Xmas? Or maybe, and better yet, once I experience the true meaning of this season...:)

Top of our Christmas tree with G's Maneki Neko atop; G's parents gave us a new ornament for our first Xmas as a married couple! <3

My ivory/cream booties! Wish the tops weren't so wide!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza

Sometimes we are extremely organized with our meals and those weeks are amazing! Other times, like this week, organized isn't even in our vocabulary. Our house becomes a mess, our schedules hardly enable any time for each other, and our work interferes with any personal or social time! Weeks like these resort to quick stops on our way home to grab fast food or whatever is more convenient. This week is one of those weeks but since I went grocery shopping during the weekend, I've been attempting to cook as much as possible. So on Monday while still at work, I started rummaging our fridge (in my mind); I remembered we had whole wheat pizza crust from Trader Joe's that Marlyna had brought us from L.A. If we didn't use it, it'd go to waste. So pizza it is! I ran to the grocery store and grabbed a rotisserie chicken and came home. My intentions were to make homemade chicken alfredo pizza! Yum! But once I got home I had to improvise because I didn't have all the ingredients for the sauce. So I rummaged through the fridge and found an unopened jar of Red Hot's BBQ sauce and voila! We ended up with one of the most delicious pizzas ever made in our kitchen!






Recipe
Ingredients:
-whole wheat pizza dough or any homemade or prepackaged dough
-1 cup chicken breast, shredded
-1 1/4 cups (or so) of Red Hot's BBQ sauce (we loved the spiciness of this one but you can use any you like).
-1/2 cup cilantro (or as much as you like)
-1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
-1-1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (mozarella or colby jack
-1 handful of feta cheese
-1/2 cup of greek (kalamata) olives, sliced or diced

Directions:
1. Let your pizza dough rise for about 30 minutes. (I put a bottle of wine in the freezer and worked out to keep me preoccupied). Unless you have dough that doesn't need this step. Preheat oven to 450•F.
2. Stretch your dough into shape you want it (I pretty much am amateur at this, I need a lot more practice in kneading and stretching with my fists!) place your dough on a pizza stone or baking dish and cook the dough for about 6 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, mix your shredded chicken, BBQ sauce, and cilantro.
4. Once you take out your precooked dough, spread garlic onto the crust circumference. Then add your chicken/cilantro/BBQ spread. Add olives.
5. Add cheese over the top. Feta cheese on top.
6. Bake for 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly is slightly browned. Cut and serve!





Soo easy and sooo delicious! Reheated leftovers were even better! So this would make a great make-ahead dish!

Cross Country and Beyond

This weekend has wrapped up quickly. I suppose there's still one full day left of it and I am trying to make a conscious effort to stop viewing Sundays as the end of my weekend. Instead, I want to start feeling as Sunday is my day to re-energize by doing limited activities! This weekend may or may not include that! My house remains a mess...I am SO uncomfortable being home right now. I cannot stand everything being so disorganized. :/ But enough about that, as I do not want to focus on the stuff that does not need to consume the limited space in my mind for worries! :]

This weekend, we had our biggest invitational for CC- in Huntington Beach, CA. There were 85 schools competing and over 4,400 students. AMAZING! It was the longest meet yet and the one with nicest weather, as well. Talk about lucking out in SoCal weather! It was such a gorgeous day! My weekend with my kiddos started Friday at noon and lasted until late tonight. There's something so amazingly awesome about going out of town with such great teenagers- so much bonding, understanding and insights take place that leave one in awe in reflection and retrospect. I love learning new antics, experiences and personality traits that make my kiddos who they are. I love being a coach! It's such a rewarding experience! No matter how they perform, nothing beats teaching and motivating another human being to push themselves, believe in themselves, and find inner strength beyond preset expectations. It is an unworldly experience to see those who trust you, believe in themselves to push their mental and physical strength to the limits and beyond.

Cali-Caliente

I felt especially proud to be competing in Southern California, my first love. Seeing high schools that I competed against when I was in my secondary education phase was nostalgic and exciting. Even more so, was seeing parts of me there. In other words, my CC kiddos were all wearing our new team shirts. The super rad part was that not only were we easily identifiable as a team, but SO many other teams paid us compliments. I couldn't help but feel pride and a sense of accomplishment, as I designed our shirts this year, and my wonderful husband created the designs for us. Another one bites the dust! So rad. I also got tons of compliments on my new Vans- compliments to the same awesome guy- via my own Cinnamon designs. :)

My running partner & Mirror, Bre and I, really enjoyed out trip this weekend! Not only did we get to further bond with our team, but we also got to do some shopping (hello, my faved H&M & UO); rock waterfall braids; get my homecoming dress (I was going for a gold sequin dress I saw on Pinterest, but it was not to any avail- but found a cute black sequined alternative I'm hoping to be able to rock well); & still make it back home for a celebratory night of Cuba Libres and Darts! <3

waterfall braid

 

 

 



A trip to SoCal cannot be complimented better than a trip to Yogurtland- especially when Pumpkin froyo is being offered with breast cancer awareness ribbons!

A special and absolutely HUGE thank you to my Roomie, Mritz, who went above and beyond to find me among 4,400+ people to visit me for literally 10 minutes max, in between a long drive and a wedding! What an amazing, beautiful soul you are!!! <3 Thank you for making me feel so loved and special!!!!

My Is & BBB- I KNOW you were there in spirit and I am 10000000% sure of that!! <3

While I enjoyed working in SoCal, my husband took a road trip to NorCal to an awards ceremony. He was a finalist in a media award competition against major cities and states on this side of the U.S....Absolutely amazing! What a talented guy I married! He deserves all the recognition in the world for his hard work and dedication! <3 But he's not due to be home for another 24 hours and I couldn't be missing him more. Being home when it's a mess and you're lonely, makes one feel like a mess. I don't like it! Bahhumbug!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Changing weather & upside down home.

On Jefe's birthday [over a month ago], it rained so hard! It was the perfect birthday celebration for him; he ADORES the rain!
Playing in the September Rain
I've found a new appreciation for it because prior to moving to the desert, I used to despise it. I'm sure when we move back to California I'll despise it still but the weather in the Desert Southwest is some of the hottest temperatures I have ever experienced in my entire life. Sure, other places have horrid humidity, & that in my opinion, can be worst at times. But, in reality, when I think about my little students (not the big ones, my prior ones) and my future children, I just can't imagine them enjoying their days outdoors. My former second graders would be drenched in sweat and come to the pick-up line early and fight for the little space of shade during recess! I want my future kiddos to run around and enjoy sunshine and all things outdoors. Granted, the winters here are gooorgeous but I don't know if I can settle for half indoors, half outdoors. With the horrid Cancer now in our family, I would want somewhere with a more moderate climate to raise a family. I don't comprehend why it must feel so HOT! haha! However, I must say that one can learn to survive in it. Now that I started coaching Cross Country and actually RUNNING alongside my students, I can say that one can survive 115-120 degree weather at 4pm (the hottest part of the day). Whenever I see people running outside during the day, I no longer think they are crazy; I high-five them [silently, through my car window] and become encouraged to do the same...

However, both yesterday and today have been a drastic change when it comes to climate. Yesterday was very pleasant and I even thought to myself that a light cardigan would have been nice to wear! Today, when I introduced and taught weather to my students, they described it as "Hace frio y viento!" {translation: "it's cold and windy!"} I hadn't been outside since sunrise and luckily by the time 4pm hit and practice started, all was pleasant again. Now, if only my groin would heal so I could run properly...sigh...

Anyway, the reason I wrote about it raining on Jefe's birthday over a month ago, is because we suffered water damage in our house. Apparently, a roof leak caused damage that was evident in our kitchen and both walk-in closets (we each have our own- mine in the master bedroom, and his in the gym...& for the record, his is bigger than mine)!! Well, since certain parts of our house are insured through our HOA, it has taken thiiiiiiis long to get anything to happen. Yesterday was Day 1 of the demolition....& all that happened was that they wrapped each area. I came home to this:
Hi, formerly pretty kitchen.
Ummm...yeah...Our entire living room was also covered, as well as the doors to our closets. I had a rough day because I felt like I was getting sick. All I wanted was to come home, cook some comfort food, and RELAX! hahaha! Was I for this surprise! I had brought all the ingredients to cook our meal and after 30 minutes of trying to decide what to do, I went to work. I cooked on the floor in one of our portable grill pans. It gave us a great excuse to enjoy the nice weather with a glass of Argentinian red wine and a homecooked delicious comfort food meal:
Homemade green curry shrimp over basmati rice, greek salad, & hummus!

Today, I awoke to the workers coming in for Day 2. When I came home, I found actual demolition and a new found pipe leak! Really?! They had to stop demolishing until tomorrow at 6am- when a new inspector can come in and go into our attic to try to figure out what's going on. Meanwhile, both G & I had to pack for our weekends [both leaving for different things], and our home is upside down... All my closet things are divided into three rooms. Clothes is by my bed, jackets, belts and scarves in the gym, and 100+ pairs of shoes (I know, I know) and all my accessories in the office. Ugh. If you know me, you know how organized I like having everything. If things aren't, I feel like a mess. Well, let's just say I am a HUGE mess right now and cannot wait until everything has found it's place again. The main positive out of all of this, is that we have been trying to declutter and this is the perfect way to do it. I'm going to go through ALL my clothes and make piles for eBay/yard sales; keep; throw away; donate; recycle party. Yes, I'm going to have a recycle party and teach my friends how to make new clothes out of old ones. Back in high school I learned how to sew and became accustomed to making my own weird creations. In college, I went crazy with it and started recycling clothes for my friends, too. Once out of college, I started my own little DIY clothing company, "Cinnamon Clothing Co." I'm a huge DIYer with eeeverything I do and enjoy making things instead of buying them. But I think that'll be another post on its own. ;)

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek of what I'm dealing with:

Poopy Times