Caro’s Ramblings

08Jul
0

C25K

When it comes to some things in life, I need a little motivation to get started. Like working out. I mean I love the idea of being in shape, looking good, feeling good, and being able to do fun outdoorsy activities without getting winded. But do I like going to the gym? NO! Are you crazy?

Over the past few months I was blessed to have a friend who felt the same way. Coincidentally, he lives a mile away from me. So a couple of times a week we go get pumped at the gym. It’s awesome. Sometimes you just need that little bit of motivation (a person coming over) to get you started. And I know once I’m started, it’s all good. Get me TO the gym and I will workout.

But then summer came. My gym buddy works for a school, so his lucky ass gets summers off. So he surfs all the time, and doesn’t have the time or desire to come to my janky apartment gym.

What have I been doing since summer vacay started? Well, lots of things. But sadly, not one of them has been “gym time”.

Then I saw some tweets from @itsKrust about C25K. What is that? So I google it, and it’s pretty awesome.

Basically it’s a running program designed for the person who is 100% completely out of shape and is literally starting at 0. Hence the name “Couch to 5K”

3 workouts per week for 9 weeks and you’ll be off your couch running about a 10min mile pace for 30 minutes. This is my cup of tea. I did the week 1 workout 1 yesterday and found it quite easy. So I mixed it up a bit. Added a 1.5 incline and sped up the walking portions. Also ran the last 5 min. Not too bad. I think I’ll skip ahead to week 2 next time.

The only potential setback I might have is that my current workout schedule is 2 days a week. This means I’m going to have to actually get off my couch on Saturday or Sunday to do the 3rd one each week. J said he would do it with me on Saturday. For him, this really is couch to 5K.

Wish us luck!!

Posted by Caro in Discoveries, Health, Life, Sports, Things to do
08Jul
0

Noise

I got a noise complaint last night. For “walking too loudly”

Can I just start by saying that 1. I never wear shoes in my house and 2. There are 12 inches of concrete separating me from my neighbors below. And to top it off, I was sitting on the couch and the boyfriend was sitting at the computer. WTF?

This isn’t our first noise complaint. The same people complained for the same reason a few months ago. Too bad we were out of town that weekend!!!! We actually freaked out that time – did someone break into our apartment and take all our shit? Nope, just a crazy lady downstairs!

So this morning I stopped in the leasing office and asked about last night’s complaint. Is this going in my file? Because I don’t think I did anything wrong.

Turns out the lady below me just is a crotchety crazy lady. The best part: this complaint isn’t going in my file – it’s going in hers!

Posted by Caro in Life, weird
08Jul
0

Common Decency

Discovered this gem in the ladies room over the weekend:


Posted by Caro in Funny Signs
08Jul
1

Movie Reviews: Eclipse

I should start by saying that I was dragged to this movie on opening night. Thankfully opening night was a Wednesday, so the theater wasn’t as mobbed as it could have been. This was really my saving grace.

Before I comment on the movie, I must comment on the things that happened before the movie. I saw Eclipse with my mom and sister. My dad felt left out, so he took my niece to see Toy Story 3, which was playing at the same time. However, we had to arrive at the theater over an hour early so we could brave the line of angst-ridden tweens who are obsessed with one or the other of the main characters in the Twilight Saga. This is a summary of the stuff I saw/encountered:

  • Someone asked if the 4 year old would be coming into the movie. No we are not taking a 4 year old into a PG-13 movie she’s not old enough to understand and will easily be bored by. She actually said to me “Oh I thought she might be a Twilight fan”. Are you kidding? She’s 4. YOU ARE CRAZY and shouldn’t be allowed to have children
  • The theater had set up chairs for us to use while we waited in line for the theater to open. Seated next to us was a group of 4 maybe 13-year-olds. (I say maybe because kids are looking younger and younger to me, and yes that DOES make me an old lady.) They all have on these bracelets, the rubber kind that were made popular a few years ago by the LiveStrong Foundation. Except these bracelets said “I <3 Justin Bieber” … I tried to covertly take a picture but the chick closest to me kept moving her arm.
  • When we got into the theater I realized I was sitting next to the only grown man at this showing. Was he there with his teenaged daughter? Nope. He was there with his same-age girlfriend.
  • The remainder of the theater had an average age of about 15 (my mom, sister, and I raised the average significantly). There was an occasional teen guy, obviously dragged there by his girlfriend. Some tried to cover their faces, others embraced this as a challenge. It was entertaining. Especially the dude in the Edward shirt LOL
  • Before the movie started, a woman came into the theater to sell Twilight t-shirts. OMG they’re selling t-shirts here? It’s like a concert. Only not. I think the most entertaining part of this is that people were screaming with excitement about this prospect, but not a single person purchased a shirt. I guess they should have asked their parents for more money!

sorry so grainy!

  • The movie started and I swear I lost some of my hearing when Jacob first came on the screen, shirtless of course. I’ve never heard girls shriek at such a decibel before. It’s mind blowing.

Anyway that’s all of my observations. I was expecting the shrieking, I was expecting the tweens, but the other stuff was just icing on the cake. Now onto the movie:

It was good! I could have waited to see it a week or two, but I definitely enjoyed it. The acting was significantly better this time, although Kristin Stewart is terrible regardless. The special effects were also pretty awesome. The plot is the one thing that bothered me (well besides the fact that the whole thing has blatant Mormon overtones and the fact that the main female character is so unbelievably weak. But those were just a given). I mean, you could remove this entire movie/book and nothing would change in the saga. We’re still left where we were at the end of New Moon – Bella and Edward are going to get married, Jacob is in love with Bella.

Regardless of the negatives, it was still well worth my (sister’s) $11. Very entertaining – 4 stars.

Posted by Caro in Fears, Movies, Rants and raves
08Jul
0

Movie Reviews: The A-Team

I saw The A-Team this weekend, and wasn’t sure what to expect. I kind of thought it was going to be different than it ended up being, but I definitely liked what I saw. Partly because it included Mr. T, Bradley Cooper, and a crazy dude (we all know how I <3 the crazies lol). I also didn’t realize that Jessica Biel was in this one. That’s just an added bonus as far as I’m concerned.

The special effects were pretty good. Stuff blowing up + attractive men = usually a winning situation. The story line was a bit out there, but then again, that’s what you expected. I think this movie worked for me because they made fun of how ridiculous they were being. If it had been a “serious” movie I probably would have hated it.

So all in all, a good movie. I’d see it again, but not in theaters. I guess that warrants 4 stars? Yes, 4 stars :)

Posted by Caro in Movies, Rants and raves
06Jul
0

Busy Busy

Between the jobs, miscellaneous random travel, my eBay business (well the 10 things I have listed), and everything else going on at this current moment in my life, I find that I have no time left to do anything else. So here’s a list of some of the things I’ve promised myself I’ll get around to this week:

1. Go back to the gym. I went once last week and 0 times the week or two before that. I blame the World Cup. I mean, I get up early, go to bed late, and of course spend my lunch breaks glued to ESPN3. So when am I supposed to burn all those calories I’m taking in while on the couch watching soccer? I guess after soccer is over!

2. Call my doctor. My gyno thinks I have GI issues, not gyno issues. So back to a different doctor I go!

3. FINISH my spring cleaning. Yeah that nice project I started like 2 months ago? Still not done. On the bright side though all I have left really is my filing cabinet and ALL of J’s stuff. He’s such a packrat. The floor area next to his side of the bed could take all week!

4. Catch up on notes. I kind slacked off last month on entering notes for my unpaid job. I guess it really goes to show that external rewards (like paychecks) are required to do the more mundane aspects of work.

5. Read another book. Ok let’s be honest. I’m not going to read a whole book this week. But starting one of the many I’ve purchased for the summer would make me happy. So let’s list this goal as “read 1 chapter of a book”

6. Go back to the gym. I’ve already listed this, but I have to go more than once this week if I’m going to fit into my “summer” clothes before the end of summer.

That should suffice. Words of encouragement are most definitely appreciated. After all, this is a short week!!!

Posted by Caro in Life, Random, Things to do
29Jun
0

Similac

I decided to stop and check my mail last night on my way up to my apartment. There was a tag on my box letting me know I had dry cleaning ready for pickup, which I expected. But then I also had a tag indicating I had a package for pick up. That’s odd – the only thing I ordered could definitely NOT be here yet.

So I hand the guy at the front desk my tags. He checks the package log, pauses for a second and says, “That’s odd. This package has your apartment number on it, but it’s for the Brooks family.”

What?

So we go to the back and scout it out. Sure enough, there’s a box (well 2 actually) with my apartment number written all over them. These are 2 small, blue boxes, that clearly came in packaging from a company. The company’s logo is all over it. What did I get?

A box of Similac.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Similac, it’s formula. Like the kind infants eat. Did I have a kid a few months ago, order some formula, and suddenly get amnesia about this whole ordeal? I don’t think so?

It gets even stranger. So the second box is addressed to the Brooks family. Who live in a different building than me. But the address has my apartment number on it. And the two boxes have different tracking numbers, so they were clearly shipped separately.

Here’s what happened:

A. As stated above, I had a kid, ordered formula, and forgot. Oops!

B. The Brooks family messed up and put in the wrong apartment #. But that doesn’t explain how the second box had MY name on it.

C. A third party ordered me Similac. Maybe the company sent me samples? I mean, I have been spending a lot of time in Baby Gap – maybe I signed up for some sort of mailing list by accident?

D. Something else?

I have no idea what else could have happened.

This still leaves me 100% confused about the baby formula that came to my house. SO WEIRD!

Posted by Caro in Baby, Random, weird
29Jun
3

Shoes!

With the Italy trip quickly approaching, I need to do some shopping….for my feet. I figure I’ll be on them at least 14 hours a day, and I know I need comfy shoes. Especially so since it seems Marla will be coming with me…

Clearly I’ll be bringing my running shoes. I plan to get new ones, but hadn’t had the funds to do so just yet. On the bright side my procrastination paid off – Asics just came out with the latest generation of the shoe I was planning to buy. So here it is: the Asics Nimbus 12!

The perfect cushion shoe for my over-pronating foot :)

So onto the other shoes. I have a pair of Puma’s that are perfectly fantastic, but it’s kind of challenging to keep my orthotics in them (yes, I am an old lady with orthotics! lol). I just bought these 4 with the intention of returning 3. If I hate all 4, I have like 20 other choices. So here’s the list of potential new sneakers for my collection:

1. Asics Gel-fieri

2. Onitsuka Tiger by Asics Ultimate 81

3. Onitsuka Tiger by Asics Mexico 66 (downside is that Zappos reviews say these have 0 arch support. Hopefully the orthotic will at least fit inside…)

4. Puma Street Kosmo (these also come in brown. I couldn’t decide. I can always change my mind!)

So there you have it. I can’t wait for this package to arrive in the mail so I can give a full review of these shoes!

Posted by Caro in Money, Shopping, Travel
29Jun
0

Random Wants

Here’s a list of miscellaneous things for my kitchen that would in some way improve my life. Or just make me happy :)

1. An air-popper popcorn maker. I had one of these growing up and I love it. Such good memories of making popcorn and sitting down as a family to watch a movie.

2 & 3. A pitcher and tray so I could serve drinks. You know, for those days that I might decide to BBQ :) Seriously, I really enjoy this All-Purpose Pitcher from Crate & Barrel. Simple, tasteful, and gets the job done.

And maybe this Bamboo Serving Tray. It strikes me as very “summer”

4. I like having people over for wine and game nights. Really who doesn’t? But then you end up with the inevitable “is this my drink or yours?” dilemma. A simple solution: Cute little wine charms!! These lantern ones from Crate & Barrel are really cute! Although, I would (obviously) enjoy a set of penguins. Or even a set that has ONE penguin charm. If someone finds this they will be my new best friend. Seriously.

5. A Mortar and Pestle. I make awesome guacamole. It’s delicious but let’s be honest: it’s a pain in the ass to make. I strongly feel that one of these gadgets would significant improve my life.

6. Cheese spreaders. Going back to the wine and games night, obviously there will be cheese at this event :)

7. Last but not least, a fancy wine opener. No, I don’t NEED this. But it would be awesome to have!!

Posted by Caro in Food, Shopping
28Jun
0

An eBay Machine

Yep that’s me!

I currently have 22 items listed and am making a small fortune (well like $47). I have several more things to list, but am going to put those off for about a week. Really, I’m just having a great time watching all the bids come in. I’ve never had such a great eBay experience, and it’s a pretty awesome feeling!!

So check me out and buy my shiz!!

Posted by Caro in Money, Shopping
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