Juicing and Puppy Socials

I've done two rounds of juice cleansing via Pressed Juicery. The first was a 5 day "level 2" cleanse and the second was a 3 day "level 3" cleanse. Level 3 was for the most serious cleansers and wow- I don't know that I could have gone a full five days.

Anyway, when we were at Stanford last week we stopped into an "in real life" Pressed Juicery! I picked up a day's worth of Level 3 cleanse and drank them today along with a giant plate of roast, potatoes, rolls, and butter......so I imagine it wasn't super effective.

Puppy came to work with me today (Ariat is dog friendly) and we scooted out a hair early to head to Puppy Social. Yes- a room full of playing puppies. We've been trying to stay on top of Pep's socialization and go to these things twice a week in addition to a day of training. Unfortunately tonight ended up cancelled due to the Easter weekend (silly me for not double checking the schedule) but we made the most of arriving home early and went to the park with Paul and practiced our "with me" leash skills (Paul calls me a human treat dispenser).

Pepé and Easter

So we got a puppy on Feb 20th- Pepé. As I'm typing this he's lying on the futon in the Den (formerly Paul's office) sleeping and farting away. The smell got so bad that Paul actually got up to leave for a moment. I wasn't willing to step away from the bowl of pistachios I'm working my way through while we wait for our Easter Roast to slow cook.

The reason for the delay was my fault. I was sent to the grocery store and got hung up at Pet Food Express (buying treats which are likely a contributing factor in the gas right now) and hunting Cadbury Cream Eggs. Lesson learned- don't go to the store expecting to get Cream Eggs on the actual day of Easter. And kudos to Safeway for managing their Holiday inventory.

We had a glorious sleep in this morning (back on the futon, which is where we end up after puppy wake up), a walk with Paul & Pepé to Peet's (say that three times fast), trip to the park (x2), and a super lazy afternoon nap.

I think a restful Sunday was exactly what the Doc had ordered going into this week. My Mom is coming to town on Wednesday and I can't wait to spend some QT with her along with ticking off a few projects that have been on the docket for a minute.

Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange

Thanks to Tracy @ The Printable Pony for another AMAZING blogger gift exchange!

I received a wonderful treat from a "new to me" blogger- Amy & Gwyn of Quantum Chrome. I'm looking forward to following along in their adventures!

The ponies are going to be spoiled from all their treats (especially the Apple/ Banana flavored Equi-Treats) and the always popular Muscle Soothe from The Herbal Horse. I may end up sneaking some of the Muscle Soothe for myself.....along with the Be Calm for this final stretch leading up to Holiday!

Candles, Peddies, and the most legit Vetrap I've ever seen- but my favorite item of the bunch was the handmade card featuring yours truly and Ellie. What a thoughtful and personal touch! Amy is a lovely artist!

Thank you Amy & Gwyn! Cheers to a Happy & Healthy Holiday Season!

Equestrian Blogger Gift Exchange- Five Year Recap

I have Tracy at The Printable Pony to thank for this post. Not only is she saving us from continuing to land on my April 5th too small white breeches photo..... my Equestrian Blogger gift giver will feel confident that I am a real person who actually does blog on occasion.

Hard to believe Tracy has been hosting this fun event for FIVE years running! I've participated each year and have such a fun time reading and discovering new blogs. As a hoot I grabbed my recap posts from the previous year exchanges!
2013
2014
2015
2016

Let's Win a Horse Show!

Paul and I recently decided to reboot our lifestyle a bit prior to our trip to Japan coming up in April. The goal is weight loss: to lose a double digit number.
Ever-practical-Paul is winning eye surgery if he meets his mark. He knows that I tend to be motivated by things that are funner (plus my vision is already pretty spot on) so he's offered up a horse show. Yes- a free horse show. Although I'm not entirely sure he realizes exactly how much they cost and I don't know if I want to divulge that information.

We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

I joined an MMA gym, Dragons Den, down the street from my office to shake things up while still keeping a few drop in classes at the studio close to home. So I can gym anytime, anywhere. The new place offers a noon class + evenings which works perfectly for my schedule and gives traffic the chance to lighten up a bit for the drive home.
Plus I get the chance to punch things during lunch- stress relief!

7 pounds down so far!

Yosemite Visit

Paul and I realized that we have not been on a vacation together since our long weekend in Monterey this time last year. So his Christmas gift, a trip to Yosemite with a two night stay at The Majestic, came at the perfect time to get away.

The weather couldn't have been better with sunny 65 degree days and dry trails. We explored the valley on some absolutely stunning hikes, read books, and ate delicious meals.

I didn't realize how much I needed a moment and it was tempting to stay an extra few days!

A Rainy Weekend

We can't seem to escape the rain in CA lately so in an effort to get out of the house we went to our local Hot Chocolate cafe armed with books. I would seriously trade this cocoa for a coffee any day- delish!

2016 Blogger Gift Exchange

Thank you Tracy at Fly on Over Eq for hosting yet another wonderful Holiday Blogger Gift Exchange! It's such a fun way to connect with new bloggers and celebrate the Season!

The Blog has been a bit quiet as Paul and I made our annual pilgrimage to Ohio to spend Christmas with our families. There was a fun surprise awaiting me at the office today and it must be noted that my gifter took went above and beyond to make sure I had my package before the Holiday- unfortunately we were ships in the night....I literally missed it by one day.

I was treated to a whole bevy of fun presents from Elizabeth at Clover Ledge Farm- each was individually wrapped and adorned in bows with fun tags!

The first gift I opened was in a wine bottle bag and while Elizabeth was appropriately apologetic that there was not actually wine in there (clearly she got to know me during this process), she gave me something even better- Green Spot Remover. This stuff is like liquid gold when you have a grey horse and I can run through a bottle lickety split.

Ellie scored in the next round with Uncle Jimmy's Squeezy Buns treats! I've never tried these before and I have a feeling Miss Elle is not going to object. I LOVE when I have a tub of fancy treats to give her!

Finally a beautiful, handmade suncatcher! Through Tracy, Elizabeth had reached out to find out what my barn colors were and I had shared the standard lineup of navy, hunter green, etc etc.... and then confessed that I sometimes like to dress Ellie in purple....so the choice in stone is more than perfect. If you haven't had a chance to follow along with Clover Ledge, Elizabeth owns two beautiful Standardbred gals- and the suncatcher is built on a Standardbred racing shoe! Because I love nothing more than adorning my desk with ALL THE HORSE THINGS I immediately found the perfect spot where I can enjoy it every day!

Thank you, Elizabeth, for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts! You're awesome!

Amazon Freakout

I had these grand plans of parading around the upcoming Holiday show dressed as Santa with cute boot cuffs, white gloves, a Santa hat, and maybe even a beard....with Ellie dressed up as an adorable reindeer.

I found all my gear through Amazon and feeling a little intoxicated with the ease of ordering plus the two day shipping I also went ahead and ordered some additional Holiday home decor.

Then the boxes started showing up.....all of the boxes. And when I opened them yesterday afternoon I was incredibly underwhelmed. The Santa outfit looked cheap in its plastic packaging (but really, what can you expect from a Santa outfit). The reindeer that looked so pretty in the picture was a sad state of glitter disaster. The snowflake window stickies were much, much smaller than I had originally expected.
Sad all around.

I had been busy telling Paul the other night that our Holiday decor has some equity. It comes out year after year- a few pieces have been coming out for a decade at this point and we have yet to lose a a Christmas or Halloween soldier.
I didn't feel like these Amazon purchased decorations would hold up to the test of time.

While I don't often return, this morning I packed everything back up into their boxes and got them on their way back to Amazon.

It's not a total loss- a Target stop yielded a friendly new Snowman along with some lights for a pretty console display to add to our festive house!

And I think I'll order Ellie a pair of Holiday polos to complete our Christmas show outfit!

As well as a lesson learned in the art of Amazon shopping.....don't do it after wine! You can only blame a finger slip on Amazon 1-click so many times.

World Series!

What's going on in the world outside of horses?

Paul and I spent the evening cheering on the Tribe in the World Series. We should absolutely not spend any more time cheering because two of the five games we've showed up for our team has lost. No more! Ask me what I'm doing Tuesday night- I won't be watching the game! Go Tribe!

Early Voting!

Paul and I got our ballots in! Early voting rocks and we made a little date out of it by dropping them into a 24hr Voting Dropbox and then going out for a celebratory dinner afterward!

Succulent Standing Desk

I recently ended up with a standing desk- this giant, black plastic monstrosity that has absolutely taken over my workspace. In an effort to make it a little more palatable I've added a few potted succulents in hopes of adding some visual interest. Paul drove me around to a million different nurseries and we spotted these cuties (pre-potted) at Cactus Jungle in Berkeley.

RAIDER NATION

Holy hot mess express.

Between the Oakland Raiders game the afternoon and the Debate the evening I am totally spent. I haven't been to an NFL game in about a decade and honestly, I was not super pumped about going to see the Raiders- they're a bunch of hooligans after all. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd- lots of cheering & camaraderie....of course it helped that they won!

Whoa- we are so scary!

Birthday Week

It's my birthday week (tomorrow is the official day) and since I'm obviously taking a vacation day to celebrate, my awesome coworkers surprised me with flowers and a cake! And Doughnuts. And Chipotle. I am going to need a forklift to get out of here!

Silver Status: Unlocked

While I was at AETA one of our buyers for Manhattan Saddlery who I've had a chance to meet a few times and adore, mentioned that she read my blog. I was both flattered and shocked...mostly shocked.
And happy- a good reminder that a) some people read my blog and b) that I haven't posted anything for a million years!

What I have managed to do is unlock my Silver Status on United with the past few trips and now shooting for Gold. It's good to have goals I suppose!
There was something immensely gratifying about choosing my Economy Plus seat on the day of a long few flights home from Philly.

So on to a recap (in photos and captions) of where I've been the past month or so. Ellie and I are signed up for Sonoma Strides and Tides September 14-18 and I've been viciously guarding those dates from travel. Now between Salt Lake, Arkansas, Seattle, Denver, and NYC I'm hoping to get a few prep rides in.

First up: Montana for my cousin's wedding! It was a great Geick reunion in a beautiful setting! Lots of fun family time. My poor Mother- most of my photos revolved around getting a selfie of her photogenic self!

Clockwise Top Left: Last Stampede Rodeo, One Armed Bandit Entertains the Crowd, Tube/ raft/ kayak/ paddleboard trip in Helena, and Brewery Selfie with the crew

Clockwise Top Left: At the wedding- unassuming MOM w Kate and Karen, at the reception w MOM, Kate, Aunt Betsy, paddle trip w MOM, Kate, Karen, Celia and in the car w MOM,  Kate, and Karen

Straight from the wedding to Outdoor Retailer. A HUGE difference this year- rather than staying in Sandy, UT- I "house sat" for my step-cousin-in-law (say that three times fast)! The most exciting moment of the trip was on Friday evening when I went to show (Facetime) Paul the chickens and they had all "flown the coop" and escaped into the backyard. 

Clockwise Top Left: The Booth, Devious chickens, teardown (Saturday afternoon- finally!), and the deer (a fabulous, old cemetery w a herd of deer next to the house) 

And finally AETA. My favorite moment of this busy weekend was when we all crowded into the Chronicle of the Horse Booth on Sunday to watch Valegro win Gold!

Clockwise Top Left: The Booth, The Team...and Beezie, the thunderclouds that threatened my sanity, Team photo! 

Happy New Year!

Our business operates on a fiscal year and tomorrow our warehouses stop shipping for 5 days during physical inventory.

We're all letting out a collective deep breath!

In preparation for the New Year, my coworker and I (accidentally) wore the same shirt and embarked on a massive cube cleaning spree.

Feeling prepped and ready to go for Fiscal 2017. Cheers to a New Year!

Bay Area Blogger Meetup

Wow! What an incredible meetup of Bay Area Equestrian Bloggers! There were actually so many of us that I didn't get a chance to chat with everyone!

I'd had a pretty early start to the day getting both Ellie and Wilbur ridden and came to lunch straight from the barn....I figured this crowd wouldn't mind my Sunday Best e.g. dirt smudged breeches.

Pulling into the parking lot I saw a gaggle of gals pulling up chairs and I just knew....these were my people. In fact, as though by some sort of weird apparition, it looked like everyone was wearing riding clothes. Nope. Just me.

When I spotted Karley, it was like seeing an old friend. After all, I'd been following her blog for 3+ years and we've always been like ships passing in the night at various horsey events but never actually had the chance to meet.

And then Lindsay showed up which was this giant, wonderful surprise! While she doesn't publish a blog herself- she following the Bay Area group and we've become friends via Facebook. It was another one of those- 'I feel like we must have already met because I know you' moments. The best part was that she wasn't on the email thread going around so it truly was a surprise!

Olivia brought everyone a goody bag of horse cookies, tagged with her very own DIY screen printed mule- awesome and so thoughtful!

 I definitely had a 'small world' moment when Nicole and I realized that we use the same *equine* chiropractor- a perfect reminder that I needed to get Tina back out!

I hadn't known about Kat's blog prior to the meetup- excited to read about her continued adventures with Holly! There were some new additions to my reading list and it was so nice to put faces with blogs! I was one of the first to leave (thinking that booking a 4pm appointment against an 11:30am lunch was safe) and we had easily gabbed for three hours!

And of course L has a knack for bringing everyone together and making great conversation. She has promised me a visit to meet Ellie and Wilbur- I'm holding her to it!

My takeaway from this adventure is simply....when can we do it again?!? What a great group of ladies!

Clockwise from front left:
Incidents of Guidance
Viva Carlos
A Horse is a Horse...
Avid Blog Reader and FB friend
All In
Me!!!!
Zen and the Art of Baby Horse Management
DIY Horse Ownership
A Enter Spooking
Topaz Dreams

There in spirit:
Cruisen in Stilettos
Pony and a Payday
Now, that's the Spot

Home Again

Appreciate the condolences blog friends. Home after a week in Ohio and a few days in NYC. While under sad circumstances, I enjoyed the time with my family.

Clockwise: Creeping through old photo albums, the Waggoner farm, Aunt Linda & the pond, the open road

Clockwise: Paddle boarding with Mom, Cleveland view, Mom & I on Memorial Day, Mom & Dad on Lake Erie

Beautiful Flowers from my sweet coworkers

A Week

 There has been some travel in the front half of the week, but also the passing of my grandmother, who died at the age of 96 died in the company of family in her home in Findlay Ohio.

I'll be flying back to Cleveland tomorrow to spend the week with my family, and while I am very sad, am also looking forward to celebrating her life with those who loved her.

Monterey Escape

Paul and I took a long weekend and headed a few hours South to Monterey. Aside from being simply gorgeous coast, the weather was clear (typically foggy and windy), and Paul and I had a much needed weekend away.

Some highlights included visiting the Monterey Bay Aquarium (they were housing a juvenile Great White on our last visit a few years ago....no such luck this time but the Tentacles exhibit was not to be missed), a hike around Point Lobos (the Crown Jewel of the California State Park System full of seals, otters, and a pair of gray whales spotted just off the coast), and a Whale Watch (I'm spoiled after our Hawaii Humpback encounter....plus you can't spit in the Monterey Marine Sanctuary without hitting a whale....in this instance a few Humpbacks...was hoping for a few Orcas but we're sorta in between seasons),

Plus lots of wine, walks, and delicious food!

Clockwise: Gorgeous walk to dinner (photo 1 & 2), Kelp forest at Point Lobos, playful rescue otter at the Aquarium

Clockwise: A windy selfie on our whale watch, tail spotted, Point Lobos tide pools, glimpse of China Cove at Point Lobos

Seals relaxing at Point Lobos, Jellies at the Aquarium, MORE seals, coastline of Point Lobos