Random-ness Blurb Style

I've finished Harry Potter and just as I expected, I'm extremely sad to have completed the books. I can't express through words how awesome I thought the Harry Potter world and characters were. Next, I'm gonna watch the movies (I've only seen the first) and hope that they draw me out of this funk. Who knew that I would get so addicted to a set of children's books !?!
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Dave and I have found 2 new guilty pleasures: The Hills on MTV and Ben & Jerry's Creme Brulee ice cream. Both are yummy.
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Secret Revelation Time: For the past year I've suddenly developed the desire to have a baby. Not just any baby but a baby girl. Luckily, my baby lust hasn't gone into overdrive and I'm not in the mood to pop one out any time soon. My long-term plan is to become pregnant sometime after my 30th birthday (2.5 years from now). In my dream world I would have a little girl and she would be a very well privileged only child. We would take family vacations to exotic locations (my form of exotic is Mexico or Hawaii) and she would attend a nice private school as well as be able to speak Spanish fluently. Up until a few weeks I had wanted to name her Ava (a nice old school name but different) until I found out that Ava was the #5 popular girls name in 2006. Who knew that today's parents had such great taste in names? Now my dream name (since I have nothing better to do then name my unborn fictitious child) is to name her Kahlil (after the poet) and use the nickname Lily if it suits her. Unfortunately, I know that my conservative husband would never allow such a funky name so I don't feel bad announcing what I think is the cutest name ever.

Sirius + Cori = True Love

Oh. Yes. Hi. Ummmm ... I've been MIA for awhile. I'd like to say that I've been busy at work or traveling the country but unfortunately that's not the truth. In all honestly I've been spending every available free minute reading Harry Potter.

I've never been too good at self control. In college whenever it was my turn to be the designated driver, my friends would always find me 30 minutes later doing beer bongs and slurring "lets call a taxi!". That's how I am with Harry Potter. I know that there are only 20 more chapters between me and the end of this book. And I know that I will be extremely sad when the book ends and I no longer can read about Harry, Lupin, James, Hermoine, or Sirius. Yet, I just can't stop myself from reading late into the night to find out what happens next.

Now if you'll excuse me. I have this horrible feeling in my tummy like I am wasting time typing when I could be reading. I have a woman doctor appointment later this morning and I plan on reading through the exam. You think I kid?

8 Things ...

I love being tagged for memes:

1. My two best friends are moving this month. This will be the first time that all 3 of us have lived in 3 different states. This Wednesday, best friend M moves to Arizona to move-in with her pilot boyfriend. At the end of the month best friend B moves to Portland as her boyfriend of 5 years who is a winemaker just got his first full time big boy job at a winery. I'm extremely upset to see all 3 of us spread so far apart.


2. Apparently, my best friends are big fans of the butt shots. Me not so much.



3. This weekend, Dave and I laid laminate wood flooring in his office. In the beginning the task was extremely frustrating but after we got the hang of it the job became incredibly easy. I'm really proud of us but am today paying the price. My knee caps are bruised from being on my knees the entire weekend (sicko!) and my hamstrings ACHE from all the getting up and down we did while laying each board. I am seriously in so much pain today.

4. We went to the Dodger's game a few weekends ago. Unfortunately, the Dodgers lost but we had great seats.



5. Postal Service rocks. To be honest I want to have Ben Gibbard's babies.

6. Number 5 also applies to Matt Costa.

7. I'm having such a hard time getting used to my new married name. Often I'll be meeting someone new and introduce myself as Cori Alpha (let's pretend that Alpha was my maiden name) and then I'll be all "oopps my name is Cori Beta" (pretending that Beta is my married name). Then the person will act bewildered and ask which name I'd like to go by. I'll explain to this random stranger that I just got married (so they don't think I have spilt personalities) and to just go ahead and call me Cori Alpha Beta. Two hours later I meet someone new and the same thing comes out of my mouth. Did anyone else have this much trouble getting used to their new married name??? My new surname really isn't difficult to pronounce or remember. It's actually a fairly common English surname. You would think this would make it easy.

8. I've been so unmotivated at work lately. I've just felt so unchallenged and I'm the type of person who constantly needs to feel the pressure of deadlines or the excitement of doing something new. Hopefully the next few weeks become magically more interesting. I'd so much rather be at home reading Harry Potter.

More Bummed Then I Should Be

I just got back from the library where I picked up the Harry Potter books 3, 5, and 6 as well as added my name to the holding list for book 7. Much to my disappointment I am number 47 on that list!

Before last week I had never gotten into the whole Harry Potter thing, had never read any of the books, and had only watched movie #1. For the past few weeks Harry Potter mania has been at full tilt and curiosity got the best of me. I figured that I would check the books out at the library and over the next seven weeks read the whole series (I usually read one book per week and sometimes two books a week if the books are quick reads). What I didn't account for was how addictive these books are. I started on Monday at lunch and by that night had finished book #1. Book #2 took me Tuesday and Wednesday. Today I picked up book #3 and am hoping that it at least lasts me until Friday.

At this rate I'm confident that I will be ready for book #7 by the middle of next week. If the library doesn't have a book available for me by then I might get desperate for a fix and actually go out and buy the book which is something I never do. Even worse, I'm worried what will happen when I have finished all seven books. Although I've only read two books, I've sorta become attached to Harry, Ron, Hermoine, and Ginny. What will happen when there are no more books to feed my new addiction???

Chicken Cordon Bleu

I'm a big fan of Cooking Light magazine and often use it for inspiration. This is one of the few recipes that I make exactly as it is printed. The chicken comes out very flavorful and moist. This is a great recipe when dining alone (the chicken tastes wonderful when re-heated as leftovers) but also works great for a dinner party (easy dish to bake and comes out looking quite nice). I usually serve this dish with a nice ceasar salad or grilled asparagus. Works well with a nice slighty sweet wine such as a gewertzaminer.



Chicken Cordon Bleu

Ingredients
1/4 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
5 teaspoons butter, melted
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 teaspoon paprika
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices prosciutto (about 2 ounces)
1/4 cup (1 ounce) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
Cooking spray


Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.
Place broth in a small microwave-safe bowl; microwave at high 15 seconds or until warm. Stir in butter and garlic. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and paprika in a medium shallow bowl; set aside.

Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and pound each to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt, oregano, and pepper. Top each breast half with 1 slice of prosciutto and 1 tablespoon mozzarella. Roll up each breast half jelly-roll fashion. Dip each roll in chicken broth mixture; dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place rolls, seam side down, in an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour remaining broth mixture over chicken. Bake at 350° for 28 minutes or until juices run clear and tops are golden.

Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 rolled chicken breast half)

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 297(30% from fat); FAT 9.9g (sat 4.4g,mono 3.6g,poly 1g); PROTEIN 45.5g; CHOLESTEROL 125mg; CALCIUM 94mg; SODIUM 619mg; FIBER 0.5g; IRON 1.9mg; CARBOHYDRATE 3.8g

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1134074

PS - In the future I'll post my more "original" recipes and include my own pics.

I've never felt so OLD!

Gosh, this question makes me feel incredibly old. I know these shoes have been all the rage for awhile but I haven't purchased a pair since I really don't need tennis shoes except when doing the gym thing. But I saw these in the last Kohl's circular and I do need a cute pair of shoes when doing the night rides at Disneyland next week. Plus, these shoes = SUPER cute. My question that makes me feel super old: what socks do I wear with the shoes? Do I let my socks show? Do I not wear any socks? Wont my feet chafe? Shouldn't I know these things??? Am I that old and un-hip?

Update: Much thanks to Erin who helped answer my questions. I bought the shoes on Tuesday and have been wearing them since. So adorable and so comfortable!

Healthy We

I've written a lot on this blog about my attempts to lose weight through exercising and a few times I've mentioned various diets that I've been on. What I've neglected to emphasize is just how important healthy eating is to me in my daily life. In the past I've led a healthy lifestyle to lose weight but now as I've gotten older I've changed my focus to being heart healthy. In the past this was very difficult since David has always been naturally trim and fit but lately (especially after he quit smoking) Dave has begun to develop a tiny baby gut. Even though he is having a very hard time dealing with his new metabolism, this has actually been a blessing in disguise since I finally feel like I have 100% of Dave's participation in healthy eating and exercising.

In general my diet consists of 1200 calories per day divided between 6 meals. For the most part I try to eat non-processed foods with an emphasis on fruits, veggies, and lean meats. I usually cook dinner each night and when I do so I choose recipes that are easy, cheap, quick, healthy, low calorie, and tasty. What is that I hear? Snickering. Oh yes. Getting all those qualities in one meal is not always easy but definitely do-able. In the next few weeks, I'll be sharing some of my favorite recipes that are regulars in our diet.

Now you may also be asking how in the hell I only consume 1200 calories per day, yet still eat 6 meals. Introducing my daily diet:

5:30am Meal #1 - Pre-Workout Snack (100 calories)
I usually eat something slightly sugary and carby to give me that extra energy boost needed for my morning workout. Sometimes if I'm in a hurry I'll grab a Luna Bar or Kashi bar but usually I eat a half slice of fiber rich whole grain wheat bread, with a thin layer of peanut butter, and a drizzle of honey.

9:00am Meal #2 - Breakfast (200 calories)
Yoplait yogurt plus banana (or some other type of fruit)

Noon Meal #3 - Lunch (300 - 350 calories)
Usually my lunch breaks consist of me sitting in front of a computer, rapidly typing out emails, while trying to consume a meal. Due to these reasons, lunch is the only meal in which I consume processed foods. My typical lunch is a lean pocket, healthy choice meal, or lean cuisine with a fruit (typically grapes) and diet cherry coke.

3:00pm Meal #4 - Snack (100 calories)
An apple with sugar free caramel dipping sauce is my perfect mid-afternoon snack. The apple has enough sugar to give me energy but also fiber to keep me full until dinner. And to be honest I hate apples (don't know why but I do) so the sugar free caramel dipping sauce helps me like to eat the apple. Sometimes if I'm busy I'll grab a Luna Bar or Kashi Go Lean Bar.

6:00pm Meal #5 - Dinner (400 calories)
This is where things get complicated. My goal each week when cooking dinner is to have one vegetarian dinner, one fish dinner, and only one red meat dinner each week. The other nights are usually chicken, turkey, pork, or leftovers. As I said before all recipes must be quick, cheap, easy, healthy, and tasty. I usually don't include a carb (even as a side dish) unless the recipe requires it such as veggie pizza (must have the crust) or fish tacos (need the corn tortilla). Most importantly, I try to make my dinner portion size the same as what I would eat for lunch. In the past I would over eat at dinner which is a shame since my body didn't get much of a chance to metabolize my meal.

9:00pm Meal #6 - Dessert! (100 calories)
My favorite meal of the day! I love sweets so my dessert is usually a sugar free skinny cow or sugar free banana pudding with chunks of banana. Mmmmm!!!!

My Dinner With Meatwad

It's 7:30p on a Friday night and my lovely husband is knocked out on the couch. I'm actually not upset since tomorrow I'm gonna either be laying by the beach or climbing a fake rock wall. Surprisingly, both tend to exhaust me the same amount so I'd like to try and reserve my energy as much as possible. Plus yesterday, Dave and I had a late night at a company dinner with several of his coworkers from St Louis (read: expensive and drunken meal on Dave's company dime). I knew Comic-Con was in town so I was prepared to encounter some "interesting" individuals (read: big fat geeks) on the downtown streets. What I wasn't prepared for was this to be greeting me as soon as I stepped out of my car at valet:



I thought it was a giant, 6 foot raspberry but evidently the characters name is "Meatwad" and he is a shape-shifting glob of red meat. Aqua Teen Hunger Force was having a private event at the same exact fancy restaurant that we had chosen for dinner. I'd probably be all excited about this but I've never seen an Adult Swim cartoon nor do I feel the desire. On the flip side I would feel un-hip and old but the private event was attended by mostly middle aged geeks who had struck it rich by drawing and voicing animated junk food. The whole evening left me wondering: how high do you think they were to not only imagine a chunk of raw hamburger that talks but also pitch and sell the idea to the rest of their comrades?

Recently, I've Been Thinking

Recent random thoughts that have passed through my brain:

Work. Work. Work. Bored. Don't want to work. Crap, 6 more hours til I can go home. I want to leave early. Must set example for employees. Can't leave early. Bored. Let's look at MSN news again. Nothing interesting. Ooo! Monkey steals tourist's glasses. Read. Bored. Back to work. Bored. Mmmmm .... raspberries + perrier water. Mmmmm ... raspberries + champagne even better. MMmmmm ... diet cherry coke + coconut rum. Going to the beach on Saturday. Maybe I should pack a picnic lunch? No. My friend is too picky. She wont eat what I pack. Work. Work. Work. I should blog. I have nothing interesting to say. Work. Bored. I need to be more stimulated. Bored. I want chocolate but I'm on a no sugar diet. No chocolate for me. I should lose more weight. No I should stay at my same weight. No I only have 20 more pounds to go. No I like the weight I'm at and I'm tired of dieting. Sex. Work. Work. Work ...

Weekend Update (Vignette Style)

I've been MIA lately since work has all but consumed my last few days. Unfortunately, it's not even the productive type of work that makes me feel good about the long hours and clean desk. Nope. I've been in a series of meetings, meetings, and more meetings. The week before last I had two days of meetings on Thursday and Friday that were all day and required a 3 hour round trip each day. Last week I flew to our State Capitol for a 5 day training on employee relations, and then next Monday I'll be driving another 3 hours round trip for my last meeting.

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Today is David's birthday and we plan on celebrating it by napping and participating in general laziness. Tomorrow we'll drive up to LA and go to the Dodger's versus Mets game. Go Dodgers!


Then next week Dave is gone for a meeting, the week after that he is gone for a second meeting in Arkansas, then the week after that he is gone for a company exhibition that will be held at Disneyland. The good news (besides the fact that one day I can drive up to Disneyland and get to do night rides) is that for the next 3 weeks I'll be able to indulge in all the red wine and sushi dinners that I could ever want (Dave hates both sushi and wine) and that I'll also be able to gorge myself on Lifetime movies and other assorted chick flicks. The bad news is that I'll miss him and I never sleep as well when he is not by my side ;-(

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Forgive me father, for I have sinned. Not only did I shop at Walmart! I completed an almost greater sin: I GROCERY shopped at Walmart! I know, I know. I feel so dirty. Californians have been very zealous in the past about their hatred of all things Walmart and it's evil empire. For a solid 2 years, my feet never even crossed the Walmart threshold. But ever since we bought the new house, there has been an evil Walmart located fairly close to our house and I have been weak and unable to avoid the low prices. In California, we've been succesful in stopping Walmart from doing the supercenter thing so luckily none of our stores offer a complete grocery store. Yet, Walmart has slowly begun creeping in two or three aisles of dry goods and one aisle of frozen/refrigerated items. The other day I needed a few things from Walmart and had planned to also make a stop at the grocery store until I found that all the items I needed Walmart carried. I felt dirty but I also knew that I was short on time. Time prevailed and now I have to live with the guilt and the self promises that I will never do this again. Yeah right! I'm weak.

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I have a girl crush, which is rare for me since I'm usually all about the guy crushes. Her name? Victoria Beckham. She's so freaking cute and self-deprecating funny. Not to mention that she has a super hot husband. I watched part of the Coming to America special that was on Thursday night and spent most of the time charmed by her antics. Maybe I'll convince David to drive up to LA so that we can catch a Galaxy game.

Little Things

Today is 7/11/07 which means free slurpees at your neighborhood 7 eleven. I went to grab a perrier (I'm addicted) and decided to walk slowly past the slurpee machines and drool. I love me a good frozen treat during the summer months but unfortunately slurpees just contain too many calories and regardless if they are free will not be touching my lips. While walking slowly and cursing my slow metabolism, what do I see??? Could it be true? Five calorie, no sugar Crystal Light slurpees in berry pomegranate and raspberry lemonade. Oh my! Combine this with several good book finds at the library and I would say that I am having one stellar day. It's the little things ...

Instant Mood Enhancers

So handsome

I've never felt prettier.



My thoughts at that moment: "please don't fall down the stairs. please don't fall".

My heels sank as I was walking down the aisle because the grass was wet. I almost did a total face plant in front of everyone.

Stunning. I can't believe that this was actually my wedding.

I do

When it came time for the kiss, Dave frenched me! In front of everyone!

The Recessional

So Happy



I loved our cake. It was vanilla toffee caramel flavored. Mmmmmm!



Being announced as Mr & Mrs

The End.

More On The Blue Thing

Well I guess I should be completely honest and clarify that when I said I was blue, I meant I haven't had the desire to get out of bed or do anything productive. I think I've called in sick the last 4 days straight (which for those of you who are keeping track means the whole week). I wouldn't call it depression but more like just bummed about life. I've come to realize that so many of the monumental, exciting parts of life have already gone by for me (college, dating, engagement, wedding). Dave and I are still uncertain on the whole kid issue so for now there really is nothing to look forward to. Add to it the "people stress" that I talked about in my last post, which becomes even more of a downer when you realize that life is never easy! There will always be someone in our professional or personal lives who is either out to get us or out to get themselves (and bring everyone down with them). I'm not sure what the point of getting out of bed is, when there really is nothing to look forward to (besides making and spending money).

Last night my mood began to improve. Partly because I worked out (working out clears my brain) and partly because I took the time to release my emotions (through this blog). It really did feel like a small part of the weight was lifted from my shoulders. I actually felt like going to work! So this morning I woke up early, got dressed, and just as I'm about to walk out the door, I get a call from my office. Computers are down and there is no point in coming in to the office. Oye Vey.

Spanglish

Hola

It's been uno week since we got back from Mexico and I'm having a muy dificil time getting out of the hablar espanol mode of thinking. I can comprende espanol fairly well and can hablar my thoughts decently bueno using basic spanish. Just don't ask me to use past or futuro tense because then I clam up and begin stammering. Over the past week, Dave and I have taken to slaughtering both the espanol and ingles languages by speaking a spanglish hybrid. Complicating matters even worse is that I am currently reading Three Junes by Julia Glass which contains the occasional french. Every so often my speech is peppered with "comme ca" and other popular french phrases which I mispronounce.

Lately, I haven't posted because I've been feeling a little blue and down trodden. I can deal with the type of stress that involves impossible deadlines, tediousness, and running around like a cat with my head cut off. In fact I thrive off that type of stress! But the minute you add people stress in to my life, I fall apart. In recent weeks in both my work and family life I've experienced people acting passive aggressively and it tears me apart! Passive aggressiveness has always been a special pet peeve of mine that borders on instant contempt (to me it means that you are a weak person who doesn't have the self esteem to stand up for things and instead have to be deceitful to get what you want). Unfortunately, I just can't run away from work or family problems so instead I am forced to endure other's actions. To help myself cope I've been trying to repeat the Serenity Prayer. Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference So far it hasn't been working. C'est la vie (or so I'd like to pretend).

Los Lunamieleros

Our hotel room had all the essentials: flat screen tv and a bar. It was actually really nice that the room had a fully stocked bar and mini-fridge. Very convenient!

The view from our hotel room.

Dave smoking a Cuban.

A view from one of the restaurants at the resort. Dave and I ate 4 meals just about every day we were there. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and then Late Night Snack. We're going to have a very hard time getting used to being home and not having a buffet or room service available to us at all times.

The resort really was as gorgeous as it looked in the pictures. If you're ever interested in an adults only, all inclusive resort near the Cancun area, then I highly recommend Aventura Spa Palace. I really don't have one negative thing to say about our stay. Dave is interested in exploring the other parts of Mexico on our next vacation but I'd much rather just go back to Aventura. I loved it that much!


I spent most of my time reading and relaxing in the hammock on our balcony or by the beach with a Rum Punch by my side. I finished 5 books in the 8 days we were there!

It rained on us one day while we were there. The rain lasted only one hour and was very cool for us since we've only experienced 3 inches of rain in San Diego ALL YEAR!

One night they had a special honeymooners dinner for all of us. The resort had 1200 rooms (it was big) and there was probably 250 honeymooners there at the same time as us. The honeymooners dinner was a nice meal and a great way to make friends.

Dave and I spent alot of time by the endless pool.

One day we took the 30 minute ferry to the island of Cozumel. A very quiet and quaint little place to visit.

Our hotel had several places on site where we could snorkel. Here is Dave snorkeling in the Caribbean. I attempted to snorkel one day. I put on all the gear and jumped in the water. I saw one fish several feet ahead of me, immediately freaked out, and swam the 3 feet back to the dock. Snorkeling is not for me! The fish look huge under the water!

A recreation of a Mayan dance.

As part of our all-inclusive package, several tours were included. One day we went to the Mayan ruin of Tulum. Super cool and informative! The Mayan people were savage but also intellectually advanced. This is a sacred arch where every year during the solstice, a ray of light is projected from the pyramid onto this site.

Another gorgeous pic of Tulum.

To commemorate our honeymoon, Dave gave me a 3 stone ruby and diamond ring. Rubies are his birth stone, diamonds are mine, and 3 stones to represent our past, present, and future.

*sigh* We're home now. Part of me is so happy to be home (I missed Fluff!) while the other part of me wishes I was back in Mexico.

Paradise Awaits

For the next 8 days, Dave and I will be sitting by the pool, relaxing, drinking, and eating to our hearts content. Much love til I see you again.

PS - Dave and I prepped for our honeymoon by taking time the day after our wedding to sit and relax by the pool in Yosemite. I needed to work on my tan ;-p

He do, I do, We all do

Click on any of the pics to see them larger.


Rehearsing


My bridesmaids and I


Getting Ready


The finished product


The little ones and I


The guys


Dave and I relaxing before the ceremony began


After saying 'I do'


Our cake


Husband and Wife