Pink Hair, Smoothies and Soda-Tinis

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Mama Tater Tot — my gorgeous, artistic, loving, supportive and all-around amazing mom, StarStrukLynna!

Cheers!

I often find that half the fun of drinking alcohol is doing it out of fun glasses. So the other night, when I was in the mood for a drink, but not in the mood for alcohol, I made this soda-tini! We had a can of Mountain Dew in the fridge, and while normally I don’t drink soda, I decided that it would make for a fun treat. So I prepared the glass just as I would for a real martini, putting a few ice cubes and cold water in for 5 minutes, then dumping it in favor of the soda. I even considered rimming the glass with sugar, but figured this treat was sweet enough already.

What else is making me smile? Rain boots, or wellies, as my Australian grandmother calls them.

My grandmother was born and raised in Sydney, then moved to the States when she met and married my grandfather. They’re both living — in their 90s! — and I feel so lucky to have had them in my life for so long. My grandmother is the one that really made me love tea (you can read a post I did for GrowingBolder.com about tea ceremonies here), and I still say “mozzies” instead of mosquitos. That, coupled with my New England-speak, is a funny combination.

And Jay Robb is the new man in my life. Sorry, Lucas — he is the vanilla BOMB!

I can’t believe it took me so long to follow Mama Pea and HEAB‘s advice (fellow grammar nerds — is that where the apostrophe would go in this case?) – I added this to a Purple Monster, which included frozen banana slices, crushed ice, almond milk and blackberries. If I’d had spinach, I would have used it. I shook it all up in my new Blender Bottle, recommended by FFF’s Ali, and drank it up. Glug glug glug.

The Jay Robb was the perfect addition. I also packed up a cute lunch tower. I bring my lunch every day — and very rarely eat out, even for dinner. I just feel more in control when I make my own eats.

And, while I realize it may be a placebo, it works for me…I’ve been drinking one Emergen-C packet a day, because I started to feel some sniffles this week. As soon as I started drinking this, I felt much better! It’s the third time I’ve chased off a cold, so I fully endorse this. Plus, it’s PINK!

Speaking of pink, I tweeted and Facebooked this week about a wild idea I had to celebrate my 30th birthday (coming up this week). I asked:

Thinking of dying my hair a wild color, like pink — what do you think?

Now, I realize that in many jobs, this would be a terrible idea. I’m intrigued by it as a last-ditch celebration of youth…I am considering maybe a streak or two that I can hide when I need to? What do you think? It would also help me stand out at Fitbloggin‘ this week!

Other shoutouts:

• I am so proud of Jenn (aka Bender) and her new colleague, who have just started Pursuing Our Passion. I think it’s amazing when women take the lead in emerging businesses like social media — you GO, girls!
• Caitlin is doing her first Olympic distance triathlon tomorrow, and I’m super excited to cheer her on! I know she’s nervous, as I was when I did minen last year, but she is going to ROCK IT. Fun note: I actually did this same race last year, but the sprint distance, and I won my age group!
• I mentioned this on Twitter, but I have been experimenting with a vegetarian diet for the last week. So far, it’s been very easy (since we don’t eat a lot of meat anyway) and while I’m not ready to make any sweeping announcements about a permanent change, I do feel better about my relationship with food. I’m almost done with “Eating Animals,” which has backed up what so many of us already know from movies like “Food, Inc.” It’s made me really think hard about where my food comes from and what my role is. Plus, I stinkin’ love vegetables. And beans. And nuts. And berries. And…yeah, you get the picture.

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