Panda and I got a chance to go to Myrtle Beach and this is what we encountered along the way!
Posts Tagged ‘panda’
On the road from VA to SC
Green Festival DC 2012
This weekend, Panda and I volunteered for Green Festival and it was a grand old time! It’s the first time I’ve experienced a green conference outside of Opportunity Green and it’s quite the different experience. When we weren’t volunteering, we got a chance to go around to a bunch of the vendors/exhibitors and not only did I learn a lot, we managed to score some sweet freebies too.
Day 1 goodies: Bright Green tote bag, Bright Green laundry detergent, Repax water canister, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, Maid Brigade nail file, Maid Brigade small reusable tote, apple sauce, bananas & apple, Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One soaps (baby-mild, peppermint, rose), Yogi Chai Rooibos tea bags, Ford chapstick, Nature’s Path Sunny Hemp trail mix, Clif Kit’s Organic fruit & nut bar in Cashew, Yummy Earth organic pomegranate pucker, O Organics raisins, wood chip for casting Ford Grant vote, Ford keychains, Ford Chicobag, Jarrow formulas supplements (Phosphomega, Jarro-Dophilus EPS, Bone-Up), Pharma GABA tablets, Joyful Bath Co soap Citrus Buzz, Joyful Bath Co pin, Mind Body & Salt soap, Truly-life soap, & of course a cotton Volunteer t-shirt! The orange Chicobag and pens were actually from a LOHAS event the night before.
Day 2 goodies: Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, Hemp Hearts hemp seeds, Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One liquid soaps & bars (spearmint peppermint, peppermint, lavender), Yogi Chai Rooibos tea bags, Ford chapstick, Yummy Earth organic puckers (pomegranate, blueberry, sour apple), Bright Green laundry detergent, Truly-life soap, & a The Oink Pad pen.
Panda’s Day 2 goodies: Hemp Hearts hemp seeds, Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies, Clif Kid Z bar crispy rice in Cookies ‘N Cream, Nature’s Path Sunny Hemp trail mix, Dr. Bronner’s Magic All-One liquid soaps & bars (spearmint peppermint, peppermint, lavender, baby-mild), Yogi Chai Rooibos tea bags, Ford chapstick, Yummy Earth organic blueberry pucker, Bright Green tote bag, Bright Green laundry detergent, Repax water canister, & Truly-life soap.
Products bought: Bumboosa bamboo baby wipes, Hawaiian Moon Aloe cream, Berryplus liquid laundry soap, & Truly-life solid lotion leaves.
Entrees just aren’t my style
For a period, Panda and I were eating out consistently (something like 3 times a week). In that time, I came to a realization after he commented that I seemed to gravitate towards appetizers and desserts. Indeed it’s true that I tend to prefer appetizer dishes, soups, salads, bread, tapas, dim sum, hors d’oeuvres, finger foods, and desserts. These are generally things that come in smaller portions, don’t usually include much if any staple items (like pasta or rice), have stronger flavors, and are fun to eat. All of that make them so much more appealing to me.
Smaller dishes mean you can try out a more varied set of food and it’s all the better when you can get a sampler platter! This also fits really well into my snacking eating habit, where I can’t seem to eat much in one sitting, but I get hungry again soon after. I have to eat about 4-5 times a day, just a little each time. There are probably other reasons I can’t quite pinpoint, but non-entree dishes just feel right to me. Meanwhile, full-on main courses are over-sized (especially in America), more bland, and generally less exciting. Don’t you think so?
Picture perfect timing – in pursuit of that great jump shot
So recently I went on a vacation to Hawaii and got to go snorkeling. When we got off the boat into the water, there was the option to jump in, so of course I jumped (haha) at the opportunity. Unfortunately, in my quest for that perfect jump shot, I only got a bunch of almosts and a couple of utter fails. I guess not everyone has a knack for awesome timing like me. 😛 If only I could shoot pictures of myself jumping… I guess I could get a tripod, but I was really hoping that Panda could get the shot for me. Oh well, here’s what we ultimately got:
Surf’s up (finally)
Today I got around to learning how to surf after talking about it for the last 10 years. Wow, how did that happen?! Time sure does go by fast. Luckily, there are still plenty of years left for me to continue to try surfing. As for this first try, I joined two other girls for a group lesson in the morning. Panda stayed in shore to watch and take pictures for me.
It was extremely busy at Waikiki Beach, but Erik our instructor showed us the “sidewalk” that you paddle up, which is sort of a safe zone to the right of most of the surfing action. If you head up that channel, it’s pretty safe. Once you get far enough in (there were visual cues for us to line up to make sure we were positioned correctly), you’d wait in the “parking lot,” staying aware of your surroundings so you don’t run into anyone who may be coming in on a swell. When the coast was clear, we’d paddle towards Erik and he’d send us off on a wave.
We had practiced how to get up on the board back in the shop, ensuring we could keep a strong stance and maintain our balance. While the sensation of this force pushing you from underneath and behind was strange, it was relatively easy to get up and not flail around.
My first wave was a short ride and as I tried to get back on my hands and knees for greater stability, I fell over into the water. The second attempt wasn’t much better – my timing was a bit off. But by the third try, I was able to catch a wave almost all the way back to shore! On my way back I had one mishap where I wasn’t straight enough heading into a wave so I got turned around right next to a guy surfing. Thankfully, he was an instructor, so he was incredibly skilled at keeping us from colliding. Other than that, I was pretty proud of how well I was able to avoid any accidents, even getting out of the way of a fast-moving outrigger canoe (if you never had one charging at you before, it can be intimidating).
For some reason, my breastbone feels bruised from the experience. At first I thought that it was due to my bathing suit, but I just had a soft string there, no knots or pieces of plastic to dig into the flesh. Long after I got out, it was still hurting too. I thought I’d be more sore since I was feeling it getting out of the water, but I feel good so far. My triceps hadn’t gotten that kind of workout in awhile! I’d expected paddling to be easier than it was since I’m a good swimmer, but boy did I feel weak and inefficient.
Ultimately I’m so glad I finally took a surfing lesson and I can’t wait to try in the California coast sometime. Hopefully next time, Panda will be confident enough to join me.
Bumblebee stalker
Panda seems to have a bee stalker friend – it’s huge and apparently obsessed with his window. Or maybe it’s trying to tell us something with its dance…
Ritzy living
When Panda and I had the fortune of staying at the Ritz-Carlton Marina del Rey for a few days, I was excited to document the experience. Here are some of the highlights from that stay; click on pics for the full size.
Dream schedule
My, how time flies when you’re enjoying yourself! In my first week of scheduling freedom, I have started most days around 8:30-9 in the morning, when I wake up naturally. I then spend the morning whiling away time enjoying an episode of The Voice or some Plants vs. Zombies gaming action. Around noon, I packed up and headed out in search of places where I could sit and read or go online while enjoying the sunshine. Sometimes I ended up hanging out in my car and oftentimes I found myself driving around to various parts of LA – Culver City, Santa Monica, Westwood…
I filled up my tummy for lunch, then spent the afternoons first online, then reading through the first book I plan to cross off my reading list: Switch. Before I knew it, 5 o’clock would roll around and Panda would get back from work to find I wasn’t around. I’d head back to meet up with him for a brief break to decide where to eat and off we’d go. By 9 or 10 we’d be back for the night, winding down the day. All in all a very relaxing and leisurely schedule for me! Perhaps because it was so nice, it went by in a blur and suddenly I find myself at the end of the week wondering where all the days went. Luckily, I now have the weekend to enjoy and more weeks of working online and reading offline to look forward to.
Photography skills
I like to tease Panda about his photography skills because his pictures usually come out blurry. Here is one such case where he took a picture, which looks kind of cool, but doesn’t exactly show you what it is we were trying to capture… (though now that I look at it from afar you can kind of tell it’s a bird). Click on the pictures for larger views!