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november travels November 25, 2008

Lunch in a cup!

I spent 4 days in Hollywood, Florida working and taking yoga classes. It was 80 degrees and sunny although I didn’t get to spend much time enjoying it. Since I was traveling so much for work I wanted to cook at least one meal in my room to prevent eating out too much. Yes, eating out gets old when you do it every meal. I brought a hot plate and some beans and rice to cook, but forgot utensils. Oops. I had to eat my meal out of a starbucks cup and had to get a fork from the coffee shop downstairs.

typical nyc elevator

I spent 5 days in NYC working and eating. Oh, and of course shopping. I have grown to really like NYC, but I don’t have a desire to live there. It’s a little too much for me at this point in my life, too much food, consumerism, people, noise, money. I work at this great old building downtown at 28th & Broadway with the smallest little rickety elevator. It’s scary the first time you ride in it, but walking the stairs to the 10th floor is a little much (even for a yogi). Last year a group of people were stuck in it for an hour. Those little signs that say “Capacity = 6, We’re not kidding” we’re really not kidding.
During this visit I noticed how many trees exist in Manhattan. It’s amazing really, they did a great job planting them well below the pavement because they are thriving throughout the city, without cracking the side walk, and they hardly get any sunlight! They’re so pretty and make the city feel comfortable. This is different than my hometown of the dirty-d…when the trees started breaking up my front sidewalk they cut them all down. I remember how sad I was when they did. It’s not surprising that soon thereafter my neighborhood went to shit. Keep the trees next time pretty please!

31st Birthday Part II October 1, 2008

These photos are from the 2nd half of the day. Enter at your own risk.

Two of my bestest peeps

Birthday Extravaganza September 11, 2008

We started with wine tasting on our bikes. We stopped at Kristin & Eric’s for a Tecate and to bond with the turtles. We barbecued at el patio. We made it to McCarthy’s. It was an awesome celebration with my Cali peeps. Notice the party favors, orange beer koozies, I had made special for the party!

Weddings and Car Sickness August 19, 2008

I went to my friend Annie’s wedding this weekend in La Jolla, California. It was a really cute little town right on the beach and our hotel was in walking distance to the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding, Annie and Bryan make it all look so easy, they were practically glowing the whole time. It was a really fun wedding. I love how the only pictures of me at weddings lately are of me cutting loose on the dance floor.
After dancing my ass off I passed out in my dress by 10pm! Cheers to being able to walk to weddings! The next day I felt fine at breakfast, I’m serious, I slept 10 hours. Then LA decided to be the crap hole it is and there was that typical stop and go traffic it’s well known for. That’s when the car sickness set in. I never got car sick as a kid, but since moving to the mountains and hitting the ripe old age of 30, I get car sick sometimes now. It sucks. I usually don’t throw up very easily, but let me tell you, this is going to be the exception and I know it.
After rolling around in the back seat of Chet and Cindy’s Sion we stopped for water at a gas station. I ran for the bathroom and there was this epic line. I had to bend over with my head between my knees for a second. I dashed for Jack in the Box next door and whew, no one was in the bathroom. I threw open the stall door and oh my god, it was the worse, dirtiest bathroom I had seen in a long time. I couldn’t throw up in it. I couldn’t look at it. I couldn’t touch anything. Oh god. Oh god. I’m dying. I just stand there so sick feeling and confused wanting to throw up but I can’t. Oh god. I run to the next stall. Just as bad. I slowly start feeling better only after getting strange looks from people in the bathroom. I splashed cold water on my face and headed back to the gas station for some water and a bag just in case it comes back and I have to throw up in the car. Yea, pleasant, I know. I asked the gas station attendant for a bag. She replies:
“Um, I only have like 10 left and I can’t go get more.”
I looked at her dead in the eyes with the most serious Roxy glare and said, “Well, can I buy one or something because I’m f*&^%ng car sick and about to vomit in my friends car. Grrrrrr.”
More evil stare.
She said, “Here.”
I walked out of the gas station and started cracking up. I was about to kick her ass and took out all of my sick frustration on this poor gas station attendant! Hahahha it was a very funny 5 minutes. For another 2-3 hours all I could do to stop from dying was keep my eyes closed with my cold water bottle held to my cheek and take long, deep breaths. I finally could open my eyes about an hour or two from home after 4 hours of torture in the car. It was by far the longest car ride that I can remember in my immediate history.

Notice a theme with Annie & I?

back in nyc June 20, 2008

back in nyc

Originally uploaded by roxbanta

Another fabulous trip to NYC. My fourth time here for work. Things I love: private room karaoke, people watching, I don’t get lost anymore, new friends, (too much) great food, madison square park, walking everywhere, how you have to ask for “new york’s finest” just to get tap water at many of the restaurants, the attitude reminds me of the D …Things I miss: the grass, my bike, friends, yoga, my voice, space, alone time, my kitty. If you’ve never been to NYC, it’s definitely a place you should visit. I can’t believe how many people are in such a small space. It makes you feel comforted, yet overwhelmed at the same time. It’s amazing how many different lifestyles are intersecting here. More photos here.

New Tatoo? June 5, 2008

What do you think of the tatoo I’m thinking of getting?

Mustache Riders May 30, 2008

Mustache Riders

Originally uploaded by roxbanta

My friends and I, the Mustache Riders, won the bike commute challenge in SLO for the month of May! We took the most trips on our bikes. I rode my bike 140 miles this month for 101 trips. Our team of 10 rode a total of 1888 miles for 1512 trips saving 0.79 tons of co2. It was fun to drive my car as little as possible. I’m going to try to continue. My favorite part of it was noticing things on my bike I wouldn’t have noticed in my car, like the smell of freshly cut grass, sunsets, and all of the friends who saw me and waved hi who wouldn’t have noticed me in my car.

my first crash

my first crash

Originally uploaded by roxbanta

It all happened on a lovely Saturday afternoon of Memorial Day weekend. Me and some friends were riding our bikes across town to a cookout. I looked down and noticed my bike lock was falling through my basket and so I tried to grab it and recover it to a happier position where it wouldn’t get caught in my front tire. While I was wrestling the lock someone slowed down in front of me and I hit their back tire and lost control of my bike and fell on the street on my right side. I have road rash on my wrist, elbow, side, a bruise on my leg, my shoulder was pretty sore for a few days, and a bruised ego. My beautiful, green, 1977 schwinn suburban was injured as well, the basket and fender were a little bent out of shape. Lesson learned: Don’t use those crappy locks that don’t coil around your bike. Lesson #2: Maybe don’t use those crappy locks when you’ve had a few beers and bicycling.

I was due for a crash. It had been a while. I can’t remember the last time I crashed on my bike in fact. It reminds me of learning to ride a bike. First of all it took forever, as my brother Billy learned at 3 years old and it took me until I was 7. Immediately after I learned I crashed my bike and broke my arm and had to wear bread bags on my arm all summer while I played in the slip ‘n slide.

How I Gained 10 Lbs @ Wildflower May 4, 2008

Race time

Originally uploaded by roxbanta

I “competed” in Wildflower Triathlon today as relay team #8135, aka Xanadu, with Shaba swimming a mile, I biked 24 miles, and Meghan running 6 miles. We did the shorter olympic distance but the long distance was twice as long. Yes, that’s right, we did the least amount of physical activity of anyone competing in the event by doing the olympic distance with a relay team. The people who won the long distance completed all 3 courses in like 4 hours and the olympic distance in 2 hours. It took me 2 hours just to finish the 24 mile bike course! Well 1:51 and 32 seconds to be exact. Talk about being fit! My friends completed the whole courses by themselves and kicked ass too. Jesse completed the olympic distance in 2:42 and Garrett in 2:28 and I am still waiting to hear about Johdan who I am sure killed the longer distance on Saturday. It was crazy to see so many people, of all ages, pushing their bodies to the absolute limit and the people just spectating and cheering were awesome. Our friend Hawk puts on an energizer bunny suit at the top of what’s known as “the nasty grade” to keep people going. Lots of naked bodies and silly screaming people to help pump you up. It made me want to get my old cheerleading uniform out. The triathlon actually started as a blues music festival so it still has the festival atmosphere, there were live bands playing all day, tons of people camping who weren’t competing, and lots of vendors, beer, and food booths. Another friend of ours hooked us up with special guest passes and we got in to special places and ate free catered food all weekend. We were totally spoiled. So, instead of eating typical camper fare I overate delicious catered food. Since our relay team didn’t race until Sunday I ate food and drank tecate all weekend. Instead of overexerting myself like most of the athletes and getting extra fit, I feel like I gained 10 pounds! Ha.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend. I hope that I am kicking ass like the 72 year old dude I saw on his bike when I’m older.

Click here to see the rest of my photos from the weekend. Click here to see me in action during the race.

Organic Farm Box May 2, 2008

I recently signed up to receive a weekly box of veggies from the Calpoly Organic Farm. Thankfully I am sharing this weekly box of goodies with a friend or I would be wasting a whole lot of veggies. It’s a really awesome deal though. It costs about $20/week for one box, and sharing it we are only paying $10/week for so much yummy food it seems like I’m cheating or stealing or something. I have been forced to try new veggies that I would have run from at the grocery store and all in the name of supporting local agriculture. It’s a beautiful thing. Really.