Look What I Found

So when your husband leaves town, and leaves you in charge of the home and all things home-related, here is what happens.

I was calmly walking to the laundry room (by which I mean junk-filled garage, naturally) to be responsible and do the laundry (typically the husband's responsibility, duh) and found this horrifying creature. DEAD. Bugs crawling out of its eyes.

Naturally, I had to take a picture and then avoid its general vicinity for several hours until I got over it and just ignored the thing while I finished what I started - the white load. The creepiest part of this whole situation wasn't just that I found it, but that the next day, it was gone. Kind of makes me sick to my stomach, actually. Gross. Sorry.

Arizona Makes You Fat

Arizona's been getting a lot of flack lately, and I'm jumping right on that bandwagon and telling them they are the reason for my jiggly middle. Consider this my very own public service announcement and warning against Arizona.

I'm a fairly health conscious California girl. I eat vegetables. I run. I partake in the group torture called CrossFit. Then my husband up and moved to Arizona.

Ok I guess I'm being a little dramatic. He didn't exactly up and move to Arizona. He has been working really hard so that I can continue pursuing my dreams which, believe it or not, probably won't wind up making me any money... I digress. Anyway, he was offered a great *temporary* opportunity in Arizona and I was completely supportive but like pretending to throw him under the bus because, well, that's what I do. All this to say, Arizona is going to be getting a lot of the Murdock dollars because this wife enjoys actually spending time with her husband.

As I was saying, here in California I am pretty healthy. I enjoy being active and treat myself to frozen yogurt instead of brownie sundaes on most weekends. In Arizona, even in May, it's too flipping hot to do anything but find the closest Anthropologie, watch TV on the couch in an air conditioned apartment, and go out to dinner after dark. Just walking through the Costco parking lot I broke a sweat! I tried to be healthy last weekend when I visited the hubs and his new digs, but look what happened. I consider myself a victim here, and refuse any personal responsibilities you may think I have.

Friday night: I fly in. I get picked up in a gas-guzzling Dodge that kind of looks like a superhero car and has awesome air conditioning. We get lost. For 2 hours. [This explains the next day's Costco trip to get a GPS.] We are so hungry we could eat anything. But you know when you're THAT hungry, everything and nothing sound good? We drive around for at least 30 minutes looking at place after place, strip mall after strip mall. We settle on Texas Roadhouse. ?!?!?!?. I order a beer. ??!?!?!?!?!. We consume at least 3 times more calories than normal Californians should consume.

Saturday: I put on my running clothes, figuring I will at least get a power walk in. I drop G off at work. I attempt to find the Costco that was down the street. It takes 25 minutes. I break a sweat walking into Costco. "Did you know wine is less expensive in Arizona? I love Arizona!" I find the GPS, a bottle of Conundrum, a Pinot Grigio, string cheese, a massive pink towel for the pool, and granola. I break a sweat walking out of Costco. I still haven't eaten breakfast.

Insert another story here -- Glenn offered to get me breakfast near his work, but I decided I needed to be healthy after Friday's Texas sweet roll and rib attack. I stopped by a Starbucks to get a low-fat breakfast sandwich with egg whites only and they were out. Convinced I would find another healthy option between where I was and home, I kept driving. There were NO options that were not fast food. My choices at this point are to starve and then be in a food mood, or to choose between Burger King, Wendy's and Chick-fil-A. Back to the timeline.

I choose Chick-fil-A. I order a biscuit with egg and cheese. I plan to only eat half of the biscuit and get my protein fix in a non-fried form to at least be *moderately* nutritious. I take my order back to the apartment to eat in the air conditioning. They gave me a CHICKEN biscuit with egg and cheese! I ate almost all of it. Sabotage. Arizona hates me.

5 Half Marathons in 1 Year!

I have been trying to get into the Nike Women's Marathon for the last 4 years. A weekend in San Francisco. A chocolate mile. Pedicure and manicure stations. Firefighters in tuxedos handing you a Tiffany necklace as you cross the finish line. Could running long distance get any sweeter? So many people want to run this race that they have a 'random drawing' to determine who gets in. I have never been picked, and have been disappointed every year, but have stayed hopeful for the next year.

THIS IS MY YEAR!

Seven friends and I put together a group, registered for the race together, and found out this morning that our group was selected!! I have been freaking out all day because I'm so excited that this 'bucket list' (I hate that phrase - is there a better one that means the same thing??) race is actually going to happen for me before 2010 is over.

Interestingly enough, 2010 is also the year I decided I would run the Triple Crown - three Half Marathons in San Diego County ran within the same calendar year. If all goes as planned, I will run FIVE half marathons this year. I can't think of a better 'last race' for this season than the Nike Women's Half Marathon.

Did I mention I was excited????!!!!!

Stuff I Like - round two, I think.

With spring rolling in (April showers! Bring us more!) and the scent of fresh lilac and stinky mulch wafting through the air every morning as I walk from the parking structure to my office, I am reminded of just how lucky I am to live in this beautiful city. This morning started out like any regular morning - I worked out, I rushed home and managed to actually leave on time, I got on the freeway and realized there was no traffic, so I decided to make a pit stop at Coffee Bean for some iced tea. Iced tea lovers, I am telling you, once you ditch Starbucks for Coffee Bean, you'll never be satisfied by those green tea lemonades again. Coffee Bean offers different flavors of iced tea EVERY DAY! Back to my morning... being the sweet little assistant that I am, I called my boss to see if she wanted me to pick her up a Tuesday morning treat, too. She did, so I did. Large iced tea and iced mocha in hand, I drove to work, walked past aforementioned flowers and stinky mulch into my building, and gently rested the top of the drinks on my chest so I could unlock the door without spilling everything. That's when it happened. A massive drop of iced mocha planted itself on the top of my crisp white top. No amount of dabbing could get it out, so I promptly buttoned my cardigan and am pretending I was supposed to wear it this way.

In honor of my ruined top, here is today's Stuff I Like, which I think I'm going to make a regular part of my blog just because it's fun.

1. The Coffee Bean. Seriously people, how did I live without it? I told Glenn that if the Starbucks on Linda Vista and Napa were a Coffee Bean, I would use all of my spending money ($20 a week!) there every week and would not regret it one bit. It's relatively inexpensive, has amazing iced teas, small little crushed-ice cube things, and purple straws!!!!

2. Cardigans that fit, even when buttoned. Today's fiasco is proof of the importance of this, but honestly - when you have a cardigan that looks good both buttoned and unbuttoned, you should never let it go. That is why I wear mine almost daily. Thank you, Gap.

3. Easter baskets! Glenn put together the cutest Easter basket for me - it included a book I am so excited to read, a mini muffin tin, and some 'lounge shorts' as he calls them. So sweet, and useful!

4. Bronson Pate. He's one of the nicest guys around, has crazy hair, and has helped me in unfathomable ways over the past year as I've slowly been creating a new blog and brand that I can't wait to unveil! Plus, he's a great photographer and I refer all of my friends to him because, come on, he's pretty much the best.

Menu Planning

Tonight our dear friends Chris and Kelly Reynolds are coming over for dinner. We have had many lovely dinners with the Reynolds fam, like when we experimented with Thomas Keller, or when we had an 8 course Valentine's Day.

Tonight's meal is a little different. Nothing super experimental, although there are a few new items that will be first attempts. Tonight, you see, we say farewell to these dear friends. I wish we were just saying "Bon Voyage" and could welcome them back in a few weeks, but no, that is not the case. Tonight we say goodbye to living within 15 minutes of each other, to watching embarrassing TV shows together every week, to singing (screaming) along to old-school mix tapes while stuck in traffic... to a great couple that was willing to try all sorts of new things with us -- from stinky cheese and mussels to Kelly letting me run alongside her for her first half marathon.

To Chris and Kelly: We will miss you dearly, but boy are we gonna have fun tonight! And with that, I present this evening's menu. Double click to make it big enough to actually read.

Finally Becoming a 'Regular'

*image courtesy of www.sdurbankitchen.net*

I, like most of us, have always wanted to be a 'regular' at a restaurant I love. When Glenn, Matt and I would go to C-Level for what we dubbed "Month-End Dinner" -- I thought that would be our place. Didn't happen. I think it's too big, so even though some of the servers recognize us, there are far too many sections to be seated in and far too many servers to get to know one or two of them well.

Enter my new favorite 'casual but still delicious' eating establishment in San Diego -- Cucina Urbana. I had kind of been sick of the San Diego food scene, with the exception of Market, and frustrated that the one place I loved would cost me $300 every time I ate there. THEN I read something about Cucina Urbana, saw that reservations were hard to come by (always a good sign), checked out the menu online (everything is under $20! what! i must go!) and turned 28. The turning 28 piece is relevant because Matt and Jessica took me out to dinner for my birthday, and let me pick anywhere I wanted to go... naturally, I had to pick this hot new place I was dying to try.

It was a week before we wanted to go, and the only reservation they had available for the date was 9:45pm. I made it. For some reason I decided to check OpenTable the day of our reservation, and someone must have had a last minute cancellation because a 5:45 slot had opened up! I promptly switched times, and boy am I glad I did, because Cucina Urbana is a place you want to be able to spend hours.

In the *heart* of Banker's Hill -- aka right between Little Italy and Balboa Park -- Cucina Urbana is fresh and modern, but also cute and cozy. They have a bar and common tables for those who weren't lucky enough to secure a reservation, as well as tables along the walls and throughout the restaurant. The space is filled with decorative pillows, low-hung chandelier-like lights, and vintage magazine and poster prints. Jessica, who has the most discriminating atmosphere taste of all of us, instantly fell in love.

We took our seats and our waiter, Gabriel, introduced himself to us. He described his favorite dishes in each section of the menu, explained that sharing everything is his favorite way to go (sharing food! my love language!), and recommended a wine in the under $30 range he said would be excellent for what we wanted. ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME?!?!?!?! It was my turn to fall in love. Not with Gabe, as we now know him, although he is our favorite server and we have since requested him and learned more about his life and loves, but with the place as a whole.

In true birthday fashion, we ordered half the menu. I have my food soul mate, Matt Hughes, to thank for this. "Why wouldn't we get 5 appetizers, 4 entrees, a bottle of wine, and dessert?" My sentiments exactly. It's not gluttony, it's enjoying life and the abundance God has blessed us with.

The stars of the evening were the gnudi (not quite as good as Spotted Pig's, but still delicious and better than this attempt), the goat cheese and apricot spread (which, unfortunately, they have removed to make room for new spring flavors), the fried squash blossoms, the pork chop, the black cod, and the ravioli. Yes, we did order more than what I just listed out.

Since this fabulous birthday treat of an evening, I have had the pleasure of returning to Cucina Urbana 3 more times. Every time has been equally exciting, and every time I have tried something new. The burger is out of this world -- in a category of its own as far as I'm concerned. The dessert menu is boring, or so you would think by reading the descriptions, but I tell you it rivals Extraordinary Desserts as most delicious sweets in San Diego. The service is always excellent, especially when you have the pleasure of sitting in Gabe's section. And the ravioli, perfect pillows of pasta that pair excellently with pinot noir. Tried to include more P's in that sentence but I didn't want to push it.

Cucina Urbana

505 Laurel Street

San Diego, CA 92101

www.sdurbankitchen.com

Vocalize Your Dreams

I have been thinking about the future, about my dreams, about what in the world my goals are a lot lately. I know my over-arching goal in life is, and has always been, to have a positive influence on people, helping to mold and develop them into the best leaders they can be, and thus help them grow closer to Christ. As for a goal for what I want to "be" or "do" or what not -- I am 28 and still uncertain.

Earlier this week I was reading Jasmine Star's blog (a photographer in Orange County), and was challenged by her three-step approach to moving forward in this area. Here is what she said, with my commentary beneath each step.

1. Set your goal

This seems simple enough, but the more I think about it, the more confused I get. What in the world is my goal? Is my goal to make a living writing about and experiencing foods around the world? Is my goal to work my way up in College Student Affairs and help students grow? Is my goal to be a stay-at-home whatever? Is my goal to be a leadership consultant to small businesses, churches, and other organizations? Setting a goal is a much more difficult task than simply reaching into the hat and picking one.

2. Vocalize your dreams to your trusted allies.

This completely makes sense, and yet is utterly horrifying at the same time. I like that she says to share your dreams with "trusted allies" and not just "vocalize your dreams." There is such vulnerability in saying your dreams out loud, even to people who are close friends. I know when I started this blog, and as I continue to dream about its growth, nervousness creeps over me when I think about telling people what my hopes and aspirations for it are. I mean, what if it doesn't happen? What if they think my ideas and dreams are lame? What if I fail?

This last question is one that haunts me in almost every area of my life. What if I fail?

Failure. Nobody likes it, nobody wants it, and yet we are trapped in mediocre lifestyles because we are so afraid this thing, failure, will take over. Another thing Jasmine Star said in her post was that it was better to fail at something you love than to succeed at something you hate. Ick. The thought of this gets to me on a deep level and totally challenges the things I am doing and ways I am living every day.

3. Create an action plan to make things happen.

This, step 3, seems like the fun part. And the easy part. Once I figure out my goal and vocalize my dream, what is left to lose? All I can do is win, and creating an action plan almost always ends in some sort of win, even if it's just the fact that I MADE the action plan! Of course, this step doesn't come until you've gone through the harder stuff, and of course there is still the chance your dreams will be crushed and you will fail... but I have have have to trust that, even if I fail, I will be the happiest in the long run if I pursue what I love.

I will keep you posted on the further development of these thoughts, as well as some of my dreams (is the entire world wide web a trusted ally? probably not...) as I slowly narrow them down and give them each their own name. Until then, here is a fun picture from a photo shoot I did several months ago for my *new* blog ... courtesy of the fabulous Bronson Pate!