Friday, November 27, 2009

A Passing Trend, No Way!

I love my Ugg boots. I actually joined the Ugg boot bandwagon late in the game. These boots have been around for 30 years. My first memory of them was the boot-wearing surfers in Los Angeles. The boots were perfect for warming up feet chilled by the cold ocean. By the time I got a pair, Kate Hudson had worn them while in her underwear in the 2004 movie "Raising Helen." Shortly thereafter the boots were deemed as fashionably "out." I don't think this was because of the movie, I think people were simply tired of looking at them. None of this mattered to me. When I decided I wanted a pair, I just wanted soft, fluffiness for my feet. I was thrilled when I received a pair of short boots as a Christmas gift two years ago.

Earlier this week, as I was making my way through SFO and LAX, I observed many college students traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday. If Ugg boots aren't "in" anymore, why was almost every young adult in the airport wearing the cushy numbers (or the many available knock-offs) on their feet over their skinny-jeans? Maybe the boots are back "in" or maybe they were never really "out" at all?! The majority of the teens/twenty-somethings were wearing sheepskin or knit style boots in Black so I figure that must be the color of choice these days. That said, I still saw plenty of Chestnut and Sand (this photo is of the style and color I own) versions as well.

Ahh... when it is a cold and windy day in the city or suburbs, Ugg Boots are just right. Long live Ugg boots!

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

A Quick Trip to L.A.

This week spent two days in L.A. for work. I flew down Sunday night in order to be at the printing plant for press checks early on Monday morning. When I booked my flight and hotel last week I figured I would stay at one of the 2 or 3 hotels I tend to frequent in the L.A. area. My company doesn't limit our lodging to particular hotels, but there are company "preferred" hotels that offer a special rate. I've also learned if we want to stay somewhere that is not a "preferred" hotel, as long as we keep within a reasonable rate (which varies depending on the city) we can stay wherever we please. Usually my business trips involve staying at hotels within the Starwood chain. I must earn my Starwood points! I have gotten myself to their "Gold" level status and am working towards "Platinum." My plan is to be able to use the points I'm earning towards a personal trip in the near future.

To get back to this trip, last week I was playing around with my SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest) application on my iPhone and realized the W Los Angeles was offering a really good rate for the two days I needed to stay in LA. Yipee!! I love W hotels. Usually this particular W charges more than what I am comfortable paying for a work trip so I've stuck to the Sheraton or Westin hotels in the Starwood group which are nice, but do not generate excitement o my part. So, I was more than a little excited to be staying at the W Los Angeles. If you haven't been to or stayed at a W hotel, they are pretty swanky. Not "swanky" in the way that they are outrageously pretentious. They are modern contemporary, hip, and even a little eccentric. The music in the lobbies, bars, and elevators play an electronic edgy beat which I enjoy in the moment, but I'm never quite sure I'm cool enough to listen to regularly. Anyway, I rented my car and drove to Westwood on Sunday night (I skipped the W valet parking... ahem... $32 per night(!), and parked on the street in the UCLA neighborhood), walked into the hotel and up to the brushed stainless steel and glass reservations desk to check in. The nice gentleman at the desk gave me a free upgrade (Yay gold level!) to a Spectacular Suite. I was appreciative of the upgrade, but only half listened to the fact he called it a "suite." I rolled my bag to the elevator which, annoyingly, had a camera focused on me riding the elevator and a screen showing the images it was taking. Does my hair really look that bad? Hmm... when is the elevator going to get to the 10th floor?

I opened my door and walked into the coolest room! I wanted to live there, it was so great. Of course it wasn't as if they upgraded me to the best room in the hotel, but you see, I live in a studio apartment in San Francisco. When I travel for work I stay in hotels that are one room 99% of the time. This suite had a separate bedroom... with a door I could close! Hey, this is exciting for a small studio apartment dweller. Here are some photos from my trip. Oh, and the work part went well too. : )

The Living Room #1

The Living Room #2

Bedroom through the left door, bathroom to the right

The office and munchie bar to the right of the Living Room

The comfy bedroom

Another TV in the bedroom!

"The Backyard" as they called it.

The pool transformed into a skating rink for the Winter.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Frozen Yogurt Love

One of my favorite treats is frozen yogurt. My first memory of eating frozen yogurt was at Yogurt Park in Walnut Creek, CA which used to be across from a downtown WC movie theater, Festival Cinemas. There also used to be a small fro-yo shop in Lafayette, my hometown, but I don't remember the name. This is where I recall ordering two of my favorite things at the time, vanilla frozen yogurt and gummy bears. It took me ordering it a couple of times to realize those two things are good by themselves, but are not a good combo. Cold gummy bears are really hard to chew. While I was in college in San Luis Obispo, CA, I have fond memories of Froggie's Yogurt. It was really good, perfect on a Saturday afternoon or a break from studying.

For some reason, the business of frozen yogurt diminished for many years and it was hard to find other than a few options at the grocery store. When I first moved to San Francisco in 2003, only a market on the corner of Union and Fillmore Streets had frozen yogurt to offer. I'm happy to say Yogurt Park has hung on though and is still in Walnut Creek. They moved the title Yogurt "Park" to a second shop in Broadway Plaza shopping center and the original shop is now called Yogurt Castle.

In recent years Pinkberry, out of Los Angeles, has started the frozen yogurt craze all over again. We don't have a Pinkberry in SF, but there are a few knock offs called Tuttimelon and Red Mango popping up in the neighborhoods. In my heart of hearts, I still love Yogurt Park style fro-yo much more than the Pinkberry style, "tart" or "green tea" flavors you can add fruit or candy toppings to if you please. The real soft ice cream taste of a vanilla frozen yogurt at Yogurt Park with chocolate sprinkles is my favorite, with crushed Butterfingers running a close second. Sometimes I choose a fruit flavored yogurt like Peach or Raspberry with no toppings. So fresh and delicious.

Long story short, there is a new frozen yogurt place my friend Sarah suggested we try a week or two ago. It's called Fraiche and it's on Fillmore Street in SF, cross street California Street, I think. Fraiche touts themselves as serving "all-natural" frozen yogurt and when I walked in the door, I figured it would be another knock-off of Pinkberry, maybe with healthy toppings. As I was looking at the array of toppings available to us, my eyes landed on "Ollalieberry Puree" and my heart skipped a beat. Ollalieberries! Yay! Growing up, my parents had Ollalieberry bushes in our yard and annually made jam and wonderful pies. To this day, I believe there is no better jam than Ollalieberry. While my parents don't have the bushes in their yard anymore, my Dad makes an annual trip to Brentwood to pick Ollalieberries for jam and pies. The jars are like liquid gold. A few years ago my Dad brought me a jar at Thanksgiving and it accidentally slipped from his fingers when he was pulling to out of the car. I think we both almost cried when the jar crashed to the sidewalk and smashed open. Ohhh nooo! Good thing, there is always a new crop each year to be able to make some more. : ) My Dad even made mini jars of Ollalieberry jam as favors at my sister's wedding. So cute.

So, now you know how very excited I was to see Ollalieberry puree as an option for my beloved frozen yogurt. It was sooo good! Here's a photo I snapped on my iPhone. The photo doesn't look as good as it tasted though. It's the little things in life that brighten our days, right?

Thursday, November 5, 2009

And Now... A Word from Dr. Dye

I am incredibly behind on blogging. I heard an interesting statistic the other day that 95% of web blogs have been abandoned! Can you believe that? I have a hard time believing it is true since so many people I know keep blogs, whether they are family or business related. I do understand that sometimes life gets in the way and it's hard to post something new very often. I'm in that place right now.

I thought I would write a quick update on my last appointment with Dr. Dye, about 3 weeks ago. He told me he would like me to get on my bike. No, not outside, just some easy spinning on my trainer indoors. He said I should begin with cycling 10 minutes every other day, then building up by 5 minutes per week. Of course, this is if my knee can handle it. Dr. Dye told me he would like me to be up to 30 minutes every other day by the time I have my next follow-up with him in early December. My immediate reaction was that it seems like a dream. I could possibly get that much exercise? No way! Hard to fathom at this point in my saga.

So I began 3 weeks ago... how did it go? Okay, sort of. The truth is I'm still at 10 minutes. Not because my knee seems to be reacting to the cycling, I've just been noticing another phenomenon lately. I may have mentioned this in the past, but my knee seems to be really sensitive to stress. The last month, maybe more, at work has been non-stop. I've been traveling, staying at the office late, and even bringing work home with me. Some days my knee starts to ache and the feeling doesn't seem to tie in with the days I cycle. Plus, when I travel for work it's usually for press checks where I have to get on a plane (the cabin pressurization doesn't help inflammation) to travel out-of-town. During the time on press I spend too much time standing on a concrete floor inside a printing plant. That floor is not forgiving at all. So with all of that, I've been afraid to increase the duration of my cycling.

Still, I hope to be to be at least halfway to the 30 mintes before I see Dr. Dye again, maybe even 20...