Technology Post

I've shamelessly been using an "extra" laptop that PhillyGuy got from work for a long time now. Like, at least 2.5 or 3 years. The battery is totally shot. Occasionally, the screen goes black for a couple seconds for no reason. To be honest, it still does the job JUUUUUST fine (at least as long as I'm near an outlet), but I'm starting to think it might be time for me to actually purchase my own.

So here's where I need you guys to come in. Do I buy a Mac or a PC?


(Photo credit)

I've always been a PC person -- not necessarily because it's a preference, but because that's what my dad always bought. I've been using a computer since before I could read, and I've been on teh internets since I was in about sixth grade (a lady never reveals her age and all that, but let's just say it was something like 1993). Despite this, I need my computer to do all of three things (in order of importance):

1. Access the internet. Wirelessly.
2. Communicate with and charge my Garmin.
3. iTunes.

I suppose if I was getting crazy, I'd include stuff like basic photo uploading and the occasional editing (meaning cropping, not fancy photoshop stuff), and I really, really like playing Spider Solitaire, but I only do that four to six months. Oh, and it needs to work with Citrix so I can work remotely if I need to, which I don't do that frequently.

Obviously, with such troglodytic needs, either a Mac or a PC is going to fit the bill. I can honestly say that the only reason I'm even considering a Mac is based on their marketing. My sister has one and I know a ton of bloggers have them, and they just look so cool and pretty! And I was in the Apple store yesterday picking up a new cord for my iPod, since PhillyGuy stole mine for his iPhone, and everything just looked so shiny and sleek and impressive. AND AND AND...if I buy a MacBook I get a free iPod touch. Not gonna lie, that's pretty convincing. Even though I already have an iPod Classic AND an iPod shuffle already.

But sweet jebus, they're expensive. That's where you guys come in. Tell me -- if you have a Mac, is it worth it? Should I buy a Mac and get the free (totally superfluous) iPod touch with it? Or should I spend the exact same amount of money and get a PC now, and possibly an iPhone in January, when my current cell contract is up?

Pretty please, weigh in. This is obviously an important decision and should not be based solely on my materialistic impulses. I would clearly prefer those impulses to be backed up by peer pressure and validation...OR to be shot down as pure foolishness.

Quickie!

Morning bloggies - happy Sunday to all.

I'm currently at Panera catching up on a little bit of work before heading out to run errands. PhillyGuy offered to make dinner for my family tonight -- all 12 of us! -- so this necesitates a Costco run. 12 hungry Italians = lots of pork chops.

Working on a weekend like this brings back (sort of) fond memories of law school. When I was in school, EVERY weekend went just like this. Wake up, pack up laptop, head out to Starbucks and set up shop for hours. I had three different Starbucks that I rotated between, and the baristas at all three knew me and my order. And let's not even talk about the bar exam -- I was at the 'bux daily for a solid 3-4 hours a day with my enormous Bar/Bri books...more like 5-6hrs on the weekends.

Blessedly, working on a weekend is really a rarity these days. I tend to work 10 or 10.5 hour days (I usually bill a bit less than that -- averaging 9.3ish) and have become far more efficient. Maybe eight or ten times a year I have to work on the weekend -- it's definitely less than once a month. This is a blessing. So, when I do have to set up shop with an iced coffee, it's kind of like "awww, remember when you were a machine and did this stuff all the time? Wasn't that fun?"

Anyway - I got here, ordered a bagel and an iced coffee, and then promptly realized I'd forgotten both my blackberry AND my phone. (Yes, I have both -- the firm doesn't give us lowly associates phone service on the BB, so I carry two devices.) Not only can I not take pictures of my (refined-white-flour and nutritionally-devoid) bagel, when I stop working and head out to go food shopping, I'll be completely and totally detached from people and technology. Craziness.

Since I can't take new pictures, and I hate posting a wall of text with no visual fun, here's a picture of a guard mule we saw on the road to Hana on our honeymoon, in Maui:

Eggs FAIL

Last night was exactly the kind of relaxing Friday night I needed.

PhillyGuy and I got the chance to hit the gym together for the first time in a couple of weeks. I went with the intent of doing 25 minutes on the bike, followed by P90X shoulders/biceps/triceps. Except that, once I wrapped up my cardio, no fewer than FIVE GUYS were scattered in front of all of the dumbbells, taking up every piece of the lifting area. I killed a few minutes BSing with PhillyGuy, who was still on his bike, but no dice -- no one was moving.

I was hungry, I was tired...I generally did NOT feel like sitting on my butt for an indefinite amount of time waiting for random dudes to finish their workouts and free up some space. So, I did the logical thing: packed up and headed back home.

PhillyGuy and I ended up getting Chinese takeout. I got my usual: steamed shrimp and mixed veggies, no sauce, brown rice, with copious amounts of soy sauce and fish sauce.





Wait...what? WHITE RICE? What IS this crap? My favorite husband forgot to specify the type of rice that I wanted, and I'm assuming they default to white. It was the first time I'd had white rice in years...and I was NOT impressed. No amount of fish sauce and soy sauce could make that tasty. Blech -- not for me. So, I just did the reasonable thing, and ate all of the veggies and shrimp instead. I probably had about 1/4 cup of rice altogether -- just so not worth it.

This morning, even though poor PhillyGuy had to run off to an all-day seminar, I decided I still wanted to make eggs. No idea what I had -- so I stood around in front of my fridge and pieced something together. Hmm. Baby spinach, mushrooms, feta and bacon? Um, yes please.



Two things to note about this picture:

1 - Cosmo lurking in the background, in his standard "maybe, just maybe, if I hang out here, something will come my way" spot, and

2 - the bowl of berries and yogurt, ALSO in the background.

Both of those items have a purpose.

See, while my bacon crisped up in the pan, I went outside onto the balcony to water my flowers. When I came back in, I noticed a tiny bit of smoke coming from the pan. Odd, I thought, since I didn't have the heat up that high -- but I pulled the bacon out and set it aside to drain, hoping that it was just crispy.

Um, not so much. It was DEFINITELY burnt. And do you know what happens when you cook mushrooms and spinach in a pan that just had bacon burning in it? Even if you wipe out all of the grease?

If your answer was "the other veggies will taste exactly like burnt bacon," you are correct. And for the record? Burnt bacon is NOT tasty. At all. I didn't want to waste my food, so I gave it a shot. I covered it up with a ton of mustard, hoping that it would disguise the burnt butt taste...not so much.

I had suspected it would go that route...hence the "back-up breakfast" of berries and yogurt back there behind the eggs. But don't worry, SOME household residents don't mind the taste of burnt bacon:



My plans for the day involve hitting the gym and the dog park, and doing some serious deep cleaning of this house. When you have two dogs and hardwood floors and don't stay on top of things, you end up with tumbleweeds of dog fur...not really a way to live. Gah.

DiBruno's, I Have a Complaint

Since DiBruno's put the world's worst tomato slice on my bagel this morning, I figured it was only appropriate to document it with the world's worst blackberry picture.



Mealy. Flavorless. Kind of dry and watery at the same time. Gross. Cut from an obviously hot-house tomato the size of my head. I'd expect this kind of thing in December, maybe, but isn't it tomato season yet? I mean, come ON. Jersey tomatoes are RIGHT NEXT DOOR. I took a bite, made the same face that my dog makes when she accidentally gets a piece of fuzz from a tennis ball stuck in her mouth.

My second issue with this morning's bagel is definitely not unique to DiBruno's.



That is (a terrible blackberry picture of) the mountain of cream cheese I had to scrape off my bagel. EVERY bagel place I've ever been to puts at least 3 or 4 ounces of cream cheese on the bagel. I'll admit that I probably like an exceptionally small amount of cream cheese -- I generally scrape the bagel with my knife, gouge out whatever got stuck in the nooks and crannies, and leave a layer so thin you can see the entire surface of the bagel -- but really? Do people actually LIKE to have equal parts cream cheese and bagel? It seems so wasteful to me.

Time to state the obvious: bloggies, it is FINALLY FRIDAY.

Yesterday, I had the worst kind of day. Not because the day itself was particularly bad, or because anything particularly stressful was going on. No, it was because I kept thinking it was Friday. I'd find myself thinking "Hmm, what restaurant should PhillyGuy and I go to for dinner tonight? What should I buy at the Fitler Square farmer's market tomorrow?" And then the awful realization that NO. It was THURSDAY. And there was still ONE MORE DAY TO GO.

It's like that episode of the Office where Dwight thought it was Friday. Except no one was feeding my delusions -- I was just that braindead.

Don't you hate when that happens? But now -- it really IS Friday! And I'm not delusional! And I can go to the Farmer's Market tomorrow, make myself eggs, go for a run -- do whatever I want whenever I want. If that's not cause for celebration, I don't know what is.

Weekend plans! What are they?

Hi, I am a Salmon Addict

Yesterday was a kind of insane day -- tons of errands, dog park, blah blah blah. Before we got moving, PhillyGuy and I took the pups down to Cafe Lutecia for a quick breakfast.

I LOVE this place. Tiny and very French, with a simple menu and plenty of daily features -- two or three quiches and a variety of fresh-baked scones. SO GOOD. I had my usual smoked salmon on a bagel with tomato:



and a few bites of PhillyGuy's amazing cinnamon chip scone:



(Pardon the lousy blackberry pictures!) We chilled and read the paper over breakfast before heading out to exhaust the dogs at the dog park.

Today flew by -- I had an "emergency" motion to respond to, you know? :-P By the time I got home I was exhausted and starving. I marinated some chopped onion, red and yellow pepper, mushroom and zucchini in Lupo's Chicken BBQ Marinade while I walked the pups, and then threw it on the grill with -- you guessed it -- a Costco salmon burger.



Sophie is PETRIFIED of the sound that the sliding glass door to the balcony makes. And the sound of the window opening or closing. Poor puppy.



Dinner was fantastic:



I brought a file home with me, but I've just been kind of staring at it while I screw around online and watch Kourtney & Khloe Take Miami. I do this a lot -- bring something home with the intention of billing a couple more hours, and then suddenly it's 9pm and the last thing I feel like doing is reviewing loan documents. Billable Hours Fail.

Mmmm, Weekend

This morning brought another quick jaunt for Cosmo and I to the Fitler Square farmer's market.



I felt kind of guilty leaving Sophie at home, but rumor has it she built herself a fort under the dining room table.



Honestly, I just can't take her with me if I actually intend to shop. She goes apeshit when she sees people -- all she wants to do is play! -- AND she doesn't have the same walking capacity that Cosmo does. She's all trot-trot-trot-happy for a few blocks, but then...she gets tired, and decides to lay down every few yards. I can't really manage to carry her AND the groceries AND my coffee AND walk Cosmo...so, she stays home for our farmer's market trips.

I had hoped for some fresh strawberries, but no dice. Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries (all of which I had already), and gooseberries (which I just wasn't into) -- that was it. I grabbed some asparagus, mushrooms, and a couple jars of fresh jam, all for about $10 -- not too bad.

When I got home, I set about making breakfast:

Chopped broccoli, mushrooms, and spinach went into my frittatta.





Plus some romano cheese whisked into the eggs.



(Non-farm-fresh, but still delicious) berries on the side.



Melted some fat-free american cheese (don't you judge me, I love that stuff) on top, plus a couple slices of bacon on the side...mmmmmm.



And yes -- real bacon. From a pig. Fried. None of that turkey bacon BS for me -- that crap is an abomination.

Afterwards, I cleaned up the house a bit and then headed to the gym for my daily dose of Tony Horton. I did 25 minutes on the recumbent bike followed by legs & back.



That's kind of what my thighs look like. Except maybe just the TINIEST bit...softer. TINIEST bit. I swear.

I know I say this a lot, but I've really been making noticeable strength improvements. Especially with my pullups. Today, before the first set of pullups, I figured I'd just do a little test. I set the counterweight at only ten pounds -- and OMG I did a pullup. It was HARD and I only did one -- my second, I failed halfway up -- but man, I just lifted almost my entire body weight. That is a tremendous, TREMENDOUS improvement.

I knock out about 8-10 pullups in each set, with 6 to 8 sets per workout, depending on which split I'm doing. I had started with a 75lb counterweight on the assisted pullup machine. I'm now down to 50lbs, and can probably go lower next week. At some point, I'd like to start with at least one unassisted in each set, and go from there.

Next thing you know I'll be doing Beast Skills.

Once I came back, I was SO ready for lunch. Enter the almighty Costco salmon burger:



with feta, baby spinach and honey mustard on a whole wheat english muffin. SO FREAKING DELICIOUS.

We've got a chill evening ahead of us -- running out to grab some ice cream, and maybe we'll On Demand a movie (god bless you, On Demand). I love weekends!

Kryptonite

"Work is frustrating today...I don't want to work," I said to myself. "I want to go for a run. Or...next best thing...hmmm...OMGIWANTSOMETHINGSWEETOMG."



Oh! Perfect.

I'll just have one square and save the rest in my desk for emergencies.

Maybe another.

OH GOD DEMOLISHED.



Whatever. Dark chocolate + sea salt = kryptonite. I need to stop eating my feelings this week.

Quick Blogging Break

GAH.

Last night, I had a swanky wine pairing event to attend for the firm. Sometimes, being in this business ain't so bad, right?

Six glasses of wine (a rose, a white, three reds and a sparkling dessert wine) plus six courses (THREE of them were red meat -- lamb chop, veal, and strip steak...be still my beating heart) plus a drive home starting at 11pm -- all of that equals one sleepy PhillyGirl today.

I figured I'd have a better chance of actually being bright and cheery if I dressed the part, so I threw on a new skirt I picked up at the J.Crew outlet over my stay-cation.



Problem: in my closet, I saw the print as black and navy. Once I got to work under the super-flattering flourescent office lights? Clearly two shades of navy. So my black handback and black sunglasses just make it look like I got dressed in the dark. Which I apparently sort of did.

My first cup of iced coffee was completely unhelpful, so by 9:15 I found myself in line at Starbucks waiting to re-up.



That isn't what woke me up, though. What really snapped me into reality was getting a couple of totally frivolous "emergency" motions tossed into my lap. That I now need to spend my weekend responding to. (I just typed out a long rant about what I think constitutes an "emergency" (hint: this isn't it), but thought better and deleted it. I don't know why, but this particular case really gets under my skin. It's definitely up there with the top three contributing factors to the ulcer I'm sure I have. Costco on a weekend, produce section at Wegman's on a weekend, and this case.)

It's Friday! And PhillyGuy and I are going to grill pork chops for dinner...preferably eat them outside on our balcony. I didn't mention it on here (um, okay, I actually didn't mention much of ANYTHING on here since I haven't posted all week), but he was away for the week. My bookend pups kept me company, but it's nice to have him back.



My plans for the weekend (besides responding to these stupid motions) involve a pedicure, plenty of weights and hopefully a long run -- assuming my hip cooperates. How about you?

Did You Ever...

...have one of those days?



Where you were just under an attack of the stupids the entire day?



Sometimes, when that happens, only one thing will do.

Life After P90X?

For a change, I thought I'd have yogurt and berries for breakfast this morning.



Man, blurry BlackBerry pics just look mouthwatering, don't they? :)

I hit the gym last night for 20 minutes on the bike, followed by a super-sweaty chest/shoulders/tris workout. I was definitely feelin' it last night -- I don't know if it was the 20 minutes of cardio beforehand, or if it was my less-than-diligent weekend of eats, but I was hurting for sure. Especially as I tried to knock out my pushups. It felt like a freaking elephant was sitting on my back.

Last night's workout marked the start of week 11 of P90X. Um, yes, it HAS been more than 11 weeks since we started the program. See, both PhillyGuy and I have been less than diligent about following the schedule to the letter. P90X prescribes six workouts a week, in rotating order. Every week involved three strength workouts, hitting the major muscle groups in varying splits (this week, for example, is chest/shoulders/tris, back/bis, and back/legs); 90 freakin' minutes of yoga; plyometrics; and Kenpo.

In any given week, I'd get to the gym 4 or 5 times, reliably. Usually, I'd do all three strength workouts, plus yoga, plus a run or two. I abandoned Kenpo after the first time I tried it -- it bugged my knee and gave me a lot of trouble, since I'm the least coordinated person ever. After Broad Street, I also more or less abandoned Plyo. I've replaced those two days with alternative cardio -- preferably running, but two past two weeks have been hot dates with the recumbent bike. And since my hip injury, I haven't done yoga, either, since most of the poses irritated my poor hip and left me walking around the house like Igor.

And as for the diet? Well, I've stuck to it...sort of. I've added in more servings of carbs. And veggies. Which likely means I've increased my calories. Which is fine. And I've also thrown it out the window when it comes to eating out, which we do at least once a week. Sometimes twice. Which is also fine. But I'm definitely not losing fat at the rate I was when I first started. Overall, I'm down about 7 or 8 pounds from when we started, which is great -- but I know I'd be down a lot more (in terms of both weight and inches) if I was more diligent about the nutrition plan.

So, the end is approaching and I'm not sure what I want to do next. My hip is feeling much, much better -- and I'm pretty confident I want to train and run the Distance Run/Rock & Roll half in the fall. I'm also REALLY missing my weekly yoga practice, so at a minimum I want to keep doing that -- whether it's the P90X quad-killing DVD, or maybe a membership at the local Bikram place.

And I've REALLY been enjoying the P90X lifting routines. In fact, I kind of want to master (or mistress, I guess) some of the moves a bit more fully. It'd be badass to be able to do unassisted pullups. And one-arm pushups. (I can do like 6 or 7 with about 1/3 range of motion, which may not sound like a lot, but seriously, YOU try it!)

So, I guess what I want to do is sort of what I've been doing. Which is half-assedly following this workout plan, while flirting with injury from running.

Sounds like a completely airtight plan, doesn't it?

Yeah. Again.

I am so streaky with this blogging thing sometimes (read: ALL THE TIME).

Friday I bailed out of work early to make it out to our friends' wedding. PhillyGuy was a groomsman, so I had to get there solo. Talk about a perfect evening for an outdoor ceremony!



As I tend to do, about four hours before the event, I spontaneously decided that I hated absolutely every single dress I own. So, I went on an insanely frantic shopping spree at South Moon Under -- I seriously think I tried on 15 dresses in less than 30 minutes, and I ended up buying the first dress I tried on. Despite the fact that when I first tried it on, I was convinced it was horrible and made me look like a grandmother. The next 14 dresses were so much worse, though, that I tried the first one on again, this time without the chic, classic strand of pearls I wear to work. Um, yeah -- totally different look.

I was hellbent on having someone get a picture of me and PhillyGuy in our finery, but...um, I forgot. And the best I could do was this picture of us making faces at each other.



Close enough, right?

It was a pretty crazy week and PhillyGuy and I barely saw each other. So, we decided to head out for a date night.

Um, so I'm a total class act. And I wore the EXACT same outfit to dinner that I'd worn to the wedding.



DON'T JUDGE ME.

We had dinner at Tequila's at 16th & Locust. The last time I was there, I had wanted to try a cocktail made with jalepeno-infused tequila, but they were out. This time, I was in luck -- plenty of spicy liquor left. I started with a Short Rib:





Chips and salsa...and pickled jalepenos:





We split the night's special guacamole, made with crabmeat and papaya:



I scarfed down about 2/3 of that bowl. Easily. PhillyGuy's not a "dip person," whateverTF that means...I don't really compute. All I know is that it translates to more guac for me :)

For my entree, I had the Salsa Tequilas over shrimp. Which I assumed would be, well, salsa. Over shrimp. It was not at ALL what I pictured:



But it was REALLY, REALLY tasty.

We also split churros for dessert, but I was so transfixed by the sugary cinnamony goodness that I forgot a picture...boooooo.

The rest of the weekend was pretty chill -- which was just what the doctor ordered. Gym here and there. My hip is feeling 90-95% better...which naturally means I'm ready to hit the pavement and reinjure myself run. We'll see -- I booked a doctor's appointment, but I couldn't get in before July 7. Um, great? So I may as well try to recreate the injury in time to find out what it is, right?

How was your weekend?

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

WHEW. Um, so where was I??

Oh yeah -- Friday's Phils game!



PhillyGuy's birthday was last week. As part of his present, I picked up tickets for the game. But not just ANY tickets...



Diamond Club, baby!

Yeah, our seats didn't suck. Right behind home plate, 14 rows back. Worth EVERY penny!



Any baseball game requires a hot dog. Period.



I also had a few of PhillyGuy's nachos, and we shared a bag of roasted peanuts later in the game. Any time I eat roasted peanuts, I chew the whole thing up -- shell and all. PhillyGuy was horrified at this -- in fact, he called me a "dinosaur." (Right, because that's what dinosaurs ate. Peanut shells. WTF.)

The Phanatic started the game off by acting out "Casey at the Bat" while it was being read aloud as part of a "Phanatic About Reading" promotion they were doing that night.





It was ROASTING and super-humid, but we had an awesome time. The seats were incredible -- you could see each pitch move, which was fascinating for me. I have such terrible hand-eye coordination that I considered it amazing if I could even throw a ball directly at someone's glove, let alone force the ball to spin and move in different directions to screw with someone's head in the meantime.

Massive exodus to the subway after the game:



The rest of my weekend was pretty uneventful. My hip is still really bothering me -- but I haven't even had time to make a doctor's appointment, because naturally, my week has been insane since I got back to work. Such is life -- at least the days are flying by and it's almost the weekend again!

PhillyGuy somehow managed to snag a FREE TICKET for tonight's Flyers game -- so he's down at the Wachovia Center in a huge luxury box with food and open bar. Must be nice, right?? Honestly though, I didn't make it home until after 7 tonight, and by the time I walked the pups (who LOVE to play in the rain!) and got changed, it was almost 8. I'm so, so happy to be sitting on my couch watching the game from the comfort of my sweats, while my puppies wrestle on the floor in front of me. Dinner was a salmon burger over a salad made with baby spinach, blackberries, blueberries and crumbled feta:



I whisked together balsamic vinegar, a tiny bit of olive oil, mustard and some honey for the dressing. It's good, but I definitely got a little pour-happy with the vinegar. Still delicious, but super-tart.



Salmon burgers, much like Chobani and acorn squash, are another blogworld discovery of mine. I had a coupon, so I picked up a package at Costco. Um, WHY did I forget how much I love salmon?? And how did I manage to go for so long without the convenience of something you can pull out of the freezer and cook in less than 10 minutes? THANK YOU, BLOGWORLD. I would clearly be lost without you.

How's your week going? Do you eat the shells of peanuts or am I a dinosaur?

Over Already?!?

Cannot believe my vacation is over ALREADY. It was fantastic and relaxing and I'm actually PREPARED to be back in the office, instead of feeling like I was never even gone (don't you hate when that happens?).

I have plenty of messages to dig through and sort out -- but I'll be back later with a recap of Friday's Phillies game and the rest of my vacation.

I Need a Pause Button

seriously! How is it already Thursday night? This vacation week is flying by WAY, WAY too fast.

I started this morning off like I have the last five -- waking up without my alarm, around 7:45 or so, with a snoring Cosmo curled in a ball up against me. I walked the pups and then came back to clean out my work e-mail while guzzling my precious Via and fending off the dogs from taking bites of my yogurt/berry concoction.





When I could stand it no more, I booked upstairs to wake up PhillyGuy. I was antsy. I wanted to hit the gym. He was still sleeping. So, I bustled around. Put away laundry. Started another load. Folded other laundry. Put that away.

Eventually, he dragged his butt out of bed and we hit the gym for some Core Synergistics with Mr. Horton.

I really enjoy Core Synergistics. As I've mentioned before, it's the type of workout where it's very, VERY easy to just go through the motions and get nothing at all out of it. But if you really focus on what you're doing, flex what should be flexed and work what should be worked, you'll be dripping with sweat. Just like I was when we were done.

It's workouts like these where I really start to notice my progress. Prison cell pushups, for example.



(Clearly that's not me. Nor is it PhillyGuy. This is just someone who's really good at banging out prison cell pushups.)

When I first did Core Synergistics, I could do three or so before I had to stop doing the pushup in the middle. Now, I can do about six full sets without cutting out any pushups. I also jump up in the air between them, but I'm pretty sure that doesn't affect anything.

A truly amazing part of this video is the all-star "cast." There's kiss-ass Dreya Weber, Adam the Cyborg, and my personal favorite, "Pam the Blam."



Tony and Blam in Plyo. Couldn't find a core synergistics picture. Couldn't find ANY pictures of Adam, which blows my mind. I need to figure out how to get a screenshot. Anyway.

Tony's nickname for her is Blam. I assumed, from the beginning, that it must be short for "Black Pam." Obviously. I mentioned this to PhillyGuy this morning while we were huffing and puffing.

"I figure in the test group, there were two Pams -- one black and one white. So Tony nicknamed them Blam and Wham."

He didn't necessarily jump on board with my theory. Apparently, he's right -- according to Pam the Blam herself, in this interview on Fitbomb, Tony just spontaneously and randomly started calling her "Blam" during filming. So lame -- so uninteresting!

(by the way, one of the first things I did after picking up P90X was googling "P90X blog." And Fitbomb was one of the first ones I found. He is flippin' hilarious -- even if you're not a P90X-er, you've GOT to read.)

We took advantage of the gorgeous weather today and got hoagies at Sarcone's. I took the pups to the dog park, and now they're comatose. Cannot believe my vacation is already so close to being over -- this week has absolutely FLOWN and it's been really, really relaxing. Definitely wish I had a pause button to stretch this out even further. I need to do this every year!