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.

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?

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...

It Was All About Piper (and Morgan Too)

I spent the weekend of October 3rd up in Spokane, WA visiting my sister Meg, her husband David, my 22 month old niece Morgan, and her new baby sister Piper. Unfortunately, Meg and David are (again) dealing with a colicky baby. : ( Piper is so cute, but can be SO loud! Here's a photo I had to take. Can't you almost see that sound coming out of her little mouth?


It's hard to tell in this photo, but Piper's whole body, head to toe, turns bright red when she cries. Aww... Of course, it's easy for me to write about it and think it's kind of cute. I'm not her parents though and I got to leave after four days and get to some peace and quiet! It was actually not always loud at the Allendorf abode and my visit was good. Albeit, there was some baby stress and much sleep deprivation going on. Here are some more photos from my visit.

Aren't I cute in ponytails? These Cheerios are good too.

Piper is so sweet in her sleeper. Don't miss the teddy's on her feet!

Morgan shopping with Aunt Ali at Old Navy! We bought her Halloween costume, but I'm not going to spoil the Halloween photos. I'll give you a hint though... it's pink!

Piper's bright baby blue eyes. They don't look like they are going to change. : )

Dreams of Running

I've mentioned in the past that sometimes I dream about running. Before my second knee surgery, the amount of running I did in my dreams built slowly. Once, I dreamt I was starting a race down on Crissy Field, not far from the Golden Gate Bridge, but only jogged a short distance before I woke up. Then, there was a 10K dream and few even longer races. I didn't always cross the finish line before I woke up, but sometimes I did and I remember that sense of accomplishment. In some of the dreams I worried that I shouldn't be running and in others, it just felt good to run. I always seemed to be running with minimal impact to my knee or other joints in my body. After my surgery in February the dreams stopped... until last week.

Last week I dreamt I was running down on the Marina Green. It's an area between Crissy Field and Fort Mason in the Marina neighborhood. Each year, the transition area for the Escape from Alcatraz triathlon is located on the Marina Green. Many people run along the paved path next to the street, Marina Boulevard. As I recall the dream, I was running the distance from Crissy Field to where the monkey bars sit just at the edge of the boat marina next to Fort Mason. The short run felt good, although there was that nagging voice in the back of my head saying, "You shouldn't be running yet." Of course, in real life, I am listening to that voice and do not plan to try running until at least the year anniversary from my knee scope. In the meantime, it will be interesting to observe my dreams as my knee gets better. Maybe I'll be running those races or familiar paths in my sleep in no time! I wonder if we burn more calories when we run in dreams, compared to more sedentary dreams? I hope so!

A Couple of Trips to La La Land

I'm back into the routine of traveling for work. To be honest, I like it. I missed my travels when I was not able to fly after my knee surgery. It's so nice now to not have anything holding me back from doing my job.

Work travel goes like this for me: When I'm in the office, I look forward to getting on a plane and heading to another city to print a project. When I'm out of the office on press for a few days, I can't wait to get back to the office and be back into the loop with everyone! Yeah, it's a never ending cycle.

My last two trips where back-to-back weeks in the middle of September, 2-3 days in So Cal each week. During the first trip I stayed in Santa Monica, the second visit I decided to try a hotel in downtown L.A. When I was a kid, my Dad used to go to Los Angeles on business trips. I don't remember how often he went, but I do remember when he stayed at the Bonaventure Hotel downtown. I had seen photos of the hotel and thought the elevators that ran up the outside of the four towers were really "neat." My Dad would bring back the cute shampoo bottles as little souvenirs for my sister and me. I don't remember what we did with them, but I know we thought they were really cool! These days, the hotel is the Westin Bonaventure and I decided to give it a try to see what it is like just a *few* years later. ; ) The downtown location of the hotel ended up being quite convenient for me to drive to the places I needed to be each day. I would say the interior design of the hotel is a little old and tired, but they are doing some renovation. I was impressed at how nice and genuine the people were who checked me in, brought my oatmeal in the morning, or simply passed me in the hallway with a smile. Of course, most people in the service industry are cordial, but I think it's pretty hard to fake being genuine. The people who work at the Westin Bonaventure seem to like what they were doing! I think that's great.

The view from my room over downtown L.A.

My next trip? I'm off to Minneapolis next week, straight from a visit to Spokane to meet my niece Piper and spend some time with Morgan Boo. I'm hoping I can teach her to say "Auntie."

Pop!

I'm guessing you may be curious about what's going on with my bum knee lately? Well here's the deal. After I returned from my trip to New York, I limped around for a few days. It wasn't a bad limp, but it was there. I noticed it and my coworkers noticed it too. To be honest, I wasn't really worried. I knew I walked around way too much in Manhattan, but I actually felt as if my knee bounced back pretty well each day. Although after multiple days of wandering around, it had it's toll on my knee. I took it extra easy (if that is even possible) the week after I returned and my knee seemed to get back to normal. The current norm for me anyway.

I cannot deny that it's been a tough Summer. This second knee surgery really took it's toll on me, mentally and physically. The recovery period during the first 3-4 months was much worse than I imagined it would be. I have not been on the "sunny" side of life over the last 6 months or so. It's more like "clouds with a chance of rain." Not good. Back around May I got to the point that I wondered if I would ever be able to return to an active lifestyle again. It was sad for me. I didn't realize it at the time, but around July, shortly before I went to New York, it dawned on me that my worry was getting me nowhere. I can't say I entirely stopped worrying, but I drastically reduced the amount of it. I figured the surgery was behind me and there was nothing I could do to change it. I better just settle in and be patient. Dr. Dye said my knee would heal and I figured it may be good to start believing him.

During my trip, I did worry a little. I really had not walked that much in a long, long time. I thought to myself, "Should I be taking this trip? Maybe a stay-cation would be better for me right now." The need to get-out-of-town took over and I was pleasantly surprised how my knee handled the trip. That the achy feeling in my knee did not escalate to full pain and throbbing as it had when I did too much a few months earlier. In the mornings I would wake up and, while my knee didn't feel great, it wasn't holding me back. That was good to learn. I thought, maybe, just maybe my knee is on the road to be able to withstand some activity again.

A week and a half after I got home, I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Dye. I hadn't seen him for about 6 weeks. He looked at my knee and said, "It looks better than the last time I saw you!" I laughed. What? How many knees a day does he see? 12... 20? Could he actually remember what my knee looked like 6 weeks ago? Dr. Dye does not take photos, but hey, maybe he has one of those photographic memories. Hmm. I thought it was interesting that during those 6 weeks since my last follow-up I had hoofed it around NY and he still thought my knee looked better! Dr. Dye told me to keep doing whatever I was doing and come back in 4 weeks. I've had to move that appointment out a few weeks due to some work trips, so we'll see what he has to say in mid-September.

There is one especially interesting thing to note. A few weeks ago, I was lounging on my couch (as I do more than I would like to admit) and had my leg propped up on a pillow. I do this often, especially when icing my knee. I had an urge to stretch and bend my legs, so I did. I heard a "pop!" in my left knee, honestly the loudest pop I have ever heard come from that knee, before or after surgery. The pop wasn't painful, it was just a noise. Well, something must have come "unstuck" because suddenly my knee didn't feel as tight. I swear, for the last few weeks it has felt significantly better and I can lift my leg straight with minimal pain in my knee. I would say that's progress! My guess is that one of those synovial "fronds," as Dr. Dye called them, stopped catching. All a part of the healing process, I guess.

I realized it's been a long time since I've taken or posted a range of motion photo. As you can see, my ROM is not back to normal, but has improved. It's all I can ask for as the Summer comes to a close. Hopefully Fall in San Francisco will be a little more "sunny" for me.