Must - Eight Legs

I am afraid of spiders.

There I said it. They creep me out because they have eight legs and are not cute. I usually freak out when I see them and in fact I was almost in tears thinking about having to breakdown my shelves in the dining room (for the new buffet/wine cabinet) that are pretty deep and I knew were housing spiders, like it was their own personal condo. The next day though I found my big girl pants, put on some kitchen gloves (that covered me up to my elbows), had two vacuums, multi-purpose cleaner and decided to just get it done. After a few breaks and a frantic chase with the vacuum to get the offender, I prevailed, made it through and had a drink. This however does not mean I am ok with spiders now, it just means that I can do it if I want...and most of the time I don't.

Also, you can keep your lies comments about how harmless they are and how I am bigger, etc., etc.. I know all this and I am perfectly aware of how ridiculous this is. Just roll with it and have a fantastic weekend.

image via Macys.com

Want - I have been lusting after these shoes for two weeks now, but just can't justify the purchase right now. We had our vacation last month and just bought a new couch (and a few accessory pieces) so I am keeping the wallet in check. Oh how lovely these are though. I am really into the orange, purple and khaki mix though, so who knows what will happen if the right sale happens.

Image via Amazon

Read - If you are looking for a new book, Daughter of Empire: Life as a Mountbatten sounds fascinating. I found it through this article on Vanity Fair that is worth a read . This woman has seen a lot.

Image via AquaFarm

Need - One of the downsides of traveling is that I have the hardest time keeping plants (mainly herbs) alive. Leaving for a weeks to a month at a time make it difficult to keep the water flowing and a plant nurse doesn't have enough water for that length of time. This AquaFarm however might be the key to keeping fresh herbs growing with or without me.

Watch - Just do it. It's an actual product (that you kinda wish you had invented) and a brilliant ad. It will give you a laugh.

image via AMC

Learn - The University of California, Irvine is offering a free online course called Society, Science, Survival: Lessons from AMC's The Walking Dead. It's an eight week course that will include topics such as the spread of disease, the science behind decay, math (that is not so awesome) that is used to model population and epidemic dynamics, post apocalyptic nutrition and much more. You can sign up here to get your zHD and by now I am sure you know I have already signed up.

And She's Off

Welcome to my first post done entirely with my phone. It's done this way because after a day full of crazy I am just to lazy to go upstairs and get my laptop. Instead I am watching GCB and refusing to move from the couch. So hopefully the spelling and grammatical errors will only be slightly worse than normal. Tomorrow I head out the door for a super quick trip to the beautiful city of Seattle for some work related items and hopefully a few drinks or meals (or both) with my partners in crime. Unfortunately it is a super quick trip since I am headed back to the Netherlands to have some quality time with kids and BF. Someone really needs to work on creating a time and space continuum thingy so we can all have more time together.

Today I have discovered two things that I am going to keep in my arsenal until the end of time or the zombie menace happens, whichever happens first. One - I have reconfirmed that waxing sucks. Sugaring is truly the only way to go. For real yo. If you haven't checked it out. You need to immediately. Two - I will never be with out my new lashes. They are fabulous. I will follow up with details once I am not so darn lazy, but until then...

28 Minutes Later

OK, so I lasted more than 28 minutes running from zombies via Zombies, Run!, but 60 minutes later doesn't have the same ring. Anyway I am addicted to this stupid app and this morning I was clearly done with my run and cooling down by walking the last block to the house and then it happened. The zombie hoard was heading my direction and I had to run to avoid it (it's part of the app and yes you actually have to run to out run the zombies. Don't judge I am getting healthy). I was exhausted and it damn near killed me, but I out ran them and escaped. Then I made it to the house and dragged myself up the stairs to the shower and collapsed. Funny it takes a game to make me finally, actually, truly run. I might live a little longer...or not. I figure that as long as I run I will have seconds for desert so maybe we will just call it even on the life expectancy.

So now that I am finally using my workout gear on a regular basis (outside of the house) I realized that I need new workout clothes. My workout clothes now consist of yoga pants, sports bra and t-shirts from the 90's. Early 90's. Like from high school. You know the ones you don't want to get rid of, but won't leave the house in? Well so I started looking for some tops to go with my yoga pants and wow are they so much nicer looking these days. Here are some of my favorites and no I am not wearing these to Target. ONLY for running/working out. Do you hear me OC ladies? It is not OK to wear this to the store (and that my friends is a story for another day).

Sodha Tank Athleta.
Image via Athleta/Gap

run:swiftly Lululemon
image via lululemon

Zella Peekaboo Tank
image via Nordstrom

Under Armour Touch
image via Nordstrom

Any suggestions on tried and true workout gear?

Crown Jewels

This weekend was a whirlwind of kids, kid parties and ended with packing Sunday right before I left the house for the airport to catch a flight to London. Unfortunately my stay in London is not long enough to see all the people and do everything I would like, but I will make sure to get a few fun things in. After two days in London I am heading out to Stockholm and then returning to the Netherlands on Friday. One of my goals this week is to play with my new camera lens that I got for my birthday and see what it really can do. Both London and Stockholm definitely have lots of great sites and hopefully some will be interesting enough to share. So far the only downside of the trip is the fact that the temperature will peak at about 34 in Stockholm while I am there. I am definitely not in California any more! Well I am off to see the crown jewels because no matter how many times you see them you must see them again and again and again. I love sparkles.

Room with a view. Only I would pick a hotel with it's own crack
den next door. Don't worry they are totally nice. Actually we are in a
very lovely Bengali area in the east end with seriously the best curries around.
The burnt out old factory is just for ambiance and we are totally safe DAD! Promise.

See you just have to look up and not down. Good advice all around.

P.S. The Zombies, Run! app is now available for iPhone (Android to follow) and I can't wait to get my run on in London towne ala 28 Days Later.

On the YA Tip. Again.

I wrote a little bit about why reading young adult books doesn't make you stupid here. Then I just read just this week on the Curvy Girl Guide about other awesome YA reads that I had not had the pleasure of pursing. After reading through her recommendations I immediately ordered (it's on paperback and wicked cheap to buy the actual book instead of downloading) The Forest of Hands and Feet , because duh zombies are involved. Then I downloaded Daughter of Smoke and Bone onto my iPad because I was super jonesing for a good book. I proceeded stayed up all night reading the darn thing because it was so good. I tried to put it down and go to sleep, but I had to know what was going to happen next. I kept thinking just one more chapter and then all of a sudden (3am) I finished it.  Loved it. I am getting down her list pretty quickly. Actually to the point that tonight I am not allowed to start a new book so that I can get a full nights beauty sleep. I must say so far everything I read has been entertaining and captivating as promised. I can't wait for The Forest of Hands and Feet to arrive for my Zombie loving approval. The girl with the dragon whatever? Snore.

It completely unrelated news this is my new friend Ernie. He currently hangs out on a shelf here in Arizona and is one of the ridiculous decorations that came with the house. I kinda love him.

Running for your life

So it has been documented here that I do love the zombies. I've had a border line obsession with them for at least 10+ years, but it wasn't until I started working with my former boss that it went nuts. Needless to say I still am enamored by zombies and totally pissed that I packed my zombie t-shirt and most likely won't see it until Spring.

Cafe Press and totally worth the cost.

Awesome right?

Patrolling the Internet the other day I came across a zombie game that I think I may just have to pre-order. Is it insane? Yes. Will it make my butt look good? Actually it just might. The people behind this game are brilliant if only because this may be the only way to get me to run and be in shape and stuff. Who knew?

http://www.zombiesrungame.com/ and you can save 40% by pre-ordering. A better butt and 40% off, woo hoo Tuesday.