Chapel Hill, NC
Instead of starting my 8:30 off with some cardio, I decided to take a muscle conditioning class. Little did I know that I would not be able to feel my thighs for an hour after 4 sets of lunges, bicep curls, and push-ups.
As I sang Julietta Venegas's "Te Ví" at the top of my lungs on my drive home, I had the sudden urge to make an orange and olive oil-based dressing.
After a quick shower, I googled "olive-oil orange dressing"and I immediately got some results. My mom has taught me to be a stickler when it comes to using a recipe off of the internet, but this vinaigrette passed the test! Being that the recipe makes four servings, I had to do some math to divide all of the ingredients by four. Also, I thought that orange juice and Dijon mustard would not make a great pair, but this recipe proved me wrong.
The vinaigrette was unreasonably easy to make, you can find the recipe here.
After I made the vinaigrette at the bottom of my salad bowl, I grabbed some arugula and some almonds and mixed everything together. Then, I decorated the top with a nectarine and placed a tiny almond in the middle of my nectarine slice sun. I hope I got an A+ for presentation!
I also wanted to do something with those left over coconut bits and a banana. What better solution than to cover them in chocolate and freeze them?
After watching an episode of Gossip Girl, I packed up for today's planned adventure, which was a hike with Reese on the Botanical Gardens trails.
The backpack that I decided to use today has quite a history; this backpack used to belong to my mom's stepdad. Back in the days when he owned a sailboat in Maine, he would use it on the boat and on his many hikes. I also packed my sunglasses, my pencil box, some chapstick from the Meadowmont Dentistry, a pack of Kleenex, a small water bottle, 3 plastic bags (there's a reason why one of Reese's nicknames is "Reese-Poo"), the house key, my wallet, and my journal, in case Mother Nature influenced me to write about how nice the weather is. I did think about bringing my hiking stick from El Camino de Santiago, but I knew that would be too much of a hassle.
Despite the fact that I remembered everything, I forgot that this was the time of year when every type of bug starts coming back from the dead. Remember that thought, it will be important later.
Reese and I decided to hike off of the beaten path. It took us 20 minutes to exit the Botanical Gardens limits. Leaving the BG meant complete freedom for Reese. I happily let him off of his leash, which by the way, says "Adopted" all over it.
One thing I love about Reese is that I know that he will never run away from us. There have been times when we have accidentally left the backyard gate open. Despite the fact that opportunity was banging on the backyard door, Reese didn't bother to answer. He knows that we are the people that give him chicken soup or bacon on top of his dog food, take him on hikes, brush his coat, and cuddle him for hours. So he knows that if he leaves us, there will be no more of any of the previously mentioned.
Today, he stayed within a 10-feet radius from me. The commands "stay" and "come" were my way of keeping him by my side.
In 10 minutes, we got to the river. I got to relax and contemplate my life while Reese played on the rocks.
My mom and I also found a very random patch of yellow Daffodils. What's sad is the flowers bloomed too early and the winter frost killed off most of the bulbs. As a result, the patch had only three daffodils.
Reese also played in the secret garden. The grass was taller than him and all you could see was his fluffy tail, which I found hilarious!
The flowers didn't distract us from our hike, we trekked on!
One of my golden rules of hiking is to look at the ground often. You never know when you could trip over a root and possibly twist your ankle.
Reese did go a bit ADHD after hiding in the field of Daffodils. I spent at least 2 minutes calling him ("Reese come!"), and I forgot to look at the ground for a very long time.
The next time I stared at the ground, I noticed these little flies zooming around my legs.
I told you that statement about bugs rising from the dead was going to be important.
I remember my mom telling me that last spring, she was walking on this same trail with Reese. She let him off of the leash. Ten minutes later, Reese zoomed right past my mom, leaving her very confused. Then she felt something sting her, then another sting after that. Reese disturbed a Wasp's nest! Both of them ran for their lives!
History was definitely repeating itself. Those were indeed Wasps buzzing around my legs.
The tinier the wasp, the more painful the sting. These Wasps were minuscular!
What was even worse was of all days, I decided to wear sandals.
I saw a hole in the ground, where they were all exiting. Honestly, why did Mother Nature create Wasps that built nests in the ground?
Realize that I noticed this in a split second. I am currently thanking my dad for giving me his quick reflex gene, because as soon as I saw the stinger shaped boogers flying around my ankles, I screamed Reese's name and I ran.
As I was running for what must have been half a mile, I felt like the guy in Temple Run stuck in The Hunger Games. The only difference was instead of running away from a gorilla, I was running away from some Tracker Jackers.
Reese and I stopped running when we reached the BG trail again and fortunately, we escaped without a scratch. I really like how I have always managed to escape an angry Wasps nest.
When I got home, I started typing this entry, hoping to get every detail down.
Up next, my adventures in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area!
As I sang Julietta Venegas's "Te Ví" at the top of my lungs on my drive home, I had the sudden urge to make an orange and olive oil-based dressing.
After a quick shower, I googled "olive-oil orange dressing"and I immediately got some results. My mom has taught me to be a stickler when it comes to using a recipe off of the internet, but this vinaigrette passed the test! Being that the recipe makes four servings, I had to do some math to divide all of the ingredients by four. Also, I thought that orange juice and Dijon mustard would not make a great pair, but this recipe proved me wrong.
The vinaigrette was unreasonably easy to make, you can find the recipe here.
After I made the vinaigrette at the bottom of my salad bowl, I grabbed some arugula and some almonds and mixed everything together. Then, I decorated the top with a nectarine and placed a tiny almond in the middle of my nectarine slice sun. I hope I got an A+ for presentation!
I also wanted to do something with those left over coconut bits and a banana. What better solution than to cover them in chocolate and freeze them?
After watching an episode of Gossip Girl, I packed up for today's planned adventure, which was a hike with Reese on the Botanical Gardens trails.
The backpack that I decided to use today has quite a history; this backpack used to belong to my mom's stepdad. Back in the days when he owned a sailboat in Maine, he would use it on the boat and on his many hikes. I also packed my sunglasses, my pencil box, some chapstick from the Meadowmont Dentistry, a pack of Kleenex, a small water bottle, 3 plastic bags (there's a reason why one of Reese's nicknames is "Reese-Poo"), the house key, my wallet, and my journal, in case Mother Nature influenced me to write about how nice the weather is. I did think about bringing my hiking stick from El Camino de Santiago, but I knew that would be too much of a hassle.
Despite the fact that I remembered everything, I forgot that this was the time of year when every type of bug starts coming back from the dead. Remember that thought, it will be important later.
Reese and I decided to hike off of the beaten path. It took us 20 minutes to exit the Botanical Gardens limits. Leaving the BG meant complete freedom for Reese. I happily let him off of his leash, which by the way, says "Adopted" all over it.
One thing I love about Reese is that I know that he will never run away from us. There have been times when we have accidentally left the backyard gate open. Despite the fact that opportunity was banging on the backyard door, Reese didn't bother to answer. He knows that we are the people that give him chicken soup or bacon on top of his dog food, take him on hikes, brush his coat, and cuddle him for hours. So he knows that if he leaves us, there will be no more of any of the previously mentioned.
Today, he stayed within a 10-feet radius from me. The commands "stay" and "come" were my way of keeping him by my side.
In 10 minutes, we got to the river. I got to relax and contemplate my life while Reese played on the rocks.
Our expedition continued.
A couple of days ago, my mom and I found a huge patch of Cinnamon Roses. We have no idea how the roses got there, but they are gorgeous! I revisited these belles and I am happy to say that they are getting plenty of sun!
Reese also played in the secret garden. The grass was taller than him and all you could see was his fluffy tail, which I found hilarious!
The flowers didn't distract us from our hike, we trekked on!
One of my golden rules of hiking is to look at the ground often. You never know when you could trip over a root and possibly twist your ankle.
Reese did go a bit ADHD after hiding in the field of Daffodils. I spent at least 2 minutes calling him ("Reese come!"), and I forgot to look at the ground for a very long time.
The next time I stared at the ground, I noticed these little flies zooming around my legs.
I told you that statement about bugs rising from the dead was going to be important.
I remember my mom telling me that last spring, she was walking on this same trail with Reese. She let him off of the leash. Ten minutes later, Reese zoomed right past my mom, leaving her very confused. Then she felt something sting her, then another sting after that. Reese disturbed a Wasp's nest! Both of them ran for their lives!
History was definitely repeating itself. Those were indeed Wasps buzzing around my legs.
The tinier the wasp, the more painful the sting. These Wasps were minuscular!
What was even worse was of all days, I decided to wear sandals.
I saw a hole in the ground, where they were all exiting. Honestly, why did Mother Nature create Wasps that built nests in the ground?
Realize that I noticed this in a split second. I am currently thanking my dad for giving me his quick reflex gene, because as soon as I saw the stinger shaped boogers flying around my ankles, I screamed Reese's name and I ran.
As I was running for what must have been half a mile, I felt like the guy in Temple Run stuck in The Hunger Games. The only difference was instead of running away from a gorilla, I was running away from some Tracker Jackers.
Reese and I stopped running when we reached the BG trail again and fortunately, we escaped without a scratch. I really like how I have always managed to escape an angry Wasps nest.
When I got home, I started typing this entry, hoping to get every detail down.
Up next, my adventures in the Chapel Hill-Carrboro area!
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