I ended up working on a project this weekend, and while it’s never “fun” to come into the office on Saturday and Sunday, it wasn’t too painful. Saturday I went to the gym with Kaila, and cranked out a 3.11 mile (5k) run in 36:59. The treadmill shut everything down before I could take a picture of the display, but after uploading all my iPhone photos this weekend I checked my pace from when I first started running in the winter to now:

Running in November

So this was what I was running back in November 2012. 2 miles in close to 30 minutes, pace of 14.13/mile and an average speed of only 4.22 MPH. Not bad, but definitely not where I’m at now! Again, I wish I had a photo, but the run on Saturday was 3.11 miles in 37 minutes, I think the pace was around 11 minutes/mile and an average speed of 5-something? But I know from the distance/time ratio alone that there’s been huge improvements over the last six months, and that’s so freaking exciting.

I also started the Fat Mum Slim challenge this weekend, and the first two days (haha) were uploaded with no problem. Only 28 to go! Are you participating? All my photos are on my Instagram and Flickr accounts (and the photos in the header of the blog are from Instagram feed, so you can view them there if you like).

After running and work on Saturday, I met Erin and Jesse at the pub down the block from the office for a burger and beer. There’s no better way to destress after working than red meat and liquor!

Last night we had a quiet night in at the house, and by we I mean my neighbours and I; Thomas was working. But I got to chat with Kelsey and Jeremy about their wedding plans, and it’s making me terribly excited to watch them tie the knot! We split some nomilicious food and some tasty wine as well. Thanks guys

It’s only 12 days until my 25th birthday, and this weekend I’ll be in Edmonton to celebrate both my and my aunt’s birthdays. Plus, I’ll have my first consultation with my surgeon since we submitted my case to OMDS, and an appointment with the orthodontist to adjust my braces (ick). On top of everything else, my cousin bought a house and will be moving that weekend as well. There’s no such thing as a quiet weekend when I go to visit family

But first, there’s a slew of work that I have to wade through to make it to the end of the week. Wish me luck…

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The Carrie Diaries, and I finally read The Casual Vacancy in Mexico. It’s not bad.

Song

Daft Punk — Get Lucky

Movie

I don’t think I watched any movies in May. I’ve been all about the TV lately!

TV Show

So much Grey’s Anatomy, Pretty Little Liars, the Office (US), and Buffy.

YouTube Video

Kaila sent me this video, and it still makes me giggle. This is how I feel about running some days!

Game

I finally found my Wavebird wireless remote, so I’m hoping to tackle more Wii games! But this month was more WoW for the most part.

Bath/Beauty Product

Moisturizer and SPF face lotion. Ahhh-mazing.

Article of Clothing

I love my Metal Cat T-shirt.

Food Item

All the guac. Omg, avocados are my jam right now.

Drink

Water, wine, tea, coffee. So many beverages this month! Oh, and Banana Mamas from Mexico.

Photo

Love this photo of my faux fur son!

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And now, Sonja is letting other people in on her turf — she’s hosting a Pintester Movement, and bloggers from all over will be testing (and fucking up) pins! I am one of them. The total list of participants can be found on her website!

For this little experiment, I decided to try the Guilt-Free “ice cream” pin.

This one only has three ingredients, but I was sceptical of whether the results would be any good. I mean, we’ve all had ice cream, and we’ve all had bananas. They are not the same thing, people.

Bananas. NOT ice cream.

But, despite my lack of faith in the banana-ice cream conversion I decided to try it anyways. According to the recipe, you first start with the bananas. And to start on the right foot, I kinda fucked this one up before I even really got going, because according to the website you’re supposed to cut up the banana and then freeze it. I started with frozen bananas, and nearly got frostbite trying to peel them. Brr.

Then, you add the peanut butter and cocoa. Then (if you’re me) you make your second fuck up of the evening, immediately on the heels of your first. You reread the directions, and realize that you’re supposed to use a food processor, not a blender, to get everything silky and smooth. (And if you didn’t just hear this in your head, then we’re friends off.) And apparently the food processor/blender thing is a big deal, because the above photo is after I started the blender not before. As you can see, there’s not a whole lot of change…

I’m at a bit of an advantage though, since I live with a chef. Thomas happened to come upstairs as I was putting this all together, and (as is often the case when I’m cooking) he stopped to ask me what the hell I was doing. I explained and he took one look at the concoction in the blender and told me that I needed to add cream. That would aid in the ice cream part of the recipe, but definitely take away from the “guilt free” part of it. Though, I suspect any recipe with four bananas and peanut butter isn’t too healthy to begin with. What’s a cup of cream on top of all that?

I finally got the right consistency though! But, instead of ice cream, it’s more like that stage of ice cream where it’s not frozen any more, but is still cold enough to hold a semi-solid shape. The ice cream soup stage! The stuff you’d have left over in your bowl after eating the majority of the ice cream. Which really, considering this is just bananas, cocoa, peanut butter, and cream that’s not too shabby.

So, I didn’t pull a classic Foust and fuck this up royally. Just kinda sorta fucked it up, and was lucky enough to have someone around to save me from my Pin-testing self. But, if you add some cream and need to use a blender instead of a food processor, I’d say my version of the pin was largely a success! But it’s no longer very guilt free. Maybe just pick up some ice cream unless, like me, you were partial to the ice cream soup stage of ice cream.

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I’ve had this entry kicking around in my head for weeks now, and I’ve tried to think of a million different ways to start this post. But the line I keep coming back to is “I don’t take a lot of photographs anymore.” I’ve heard that brevity is beautiful, so you’re welcome for that one-liner.

And the statement is sad but true. I have not one, but two wonderful DSLR cameras: a Nikon D40, with 10,000+ shutter depressions on it (and it’s good until about 40k), and a Nikon D3100 that takes stunning pictures. Add to that my iPhone 4s, which has the same amount of megapixels as the D40, and I have the trifecta for camera awesomeness in all its Apple and Nikon-y glory.

See? That’s a very nice camera. And objectively, I know my appearance isn’t the worst thing to photograph.

But yet, my photos are few and far between.

Online and offline friends alike all have their Instagram or Flickr accounts, and are posting/uploading beautiful photos almost daily. I’ll surf my feeds and see the images and think “Man, I have the ability and the equipment to do stuff like that, so why don’t I just DO it?”

Easy answer: I don’t like being conspicuously inconspicuous.

That phrase took some twisting of the fingers to bang out, so let me explain what I mean by it.

I read a quote from a character who was a photographer in a Jennifer Weiner book (shut up), and the reasons she gave for having her camera at all times was to be present, but not. Having a camera in front of your face allows you a degree of separation from what’s happening in that moment. While I agree that the statement is fundamentally true, I also see the converse to be true.

There are obviously a great many pictures of cats. Cats don’t curr.

Taking the photo instead of participating in the moment is a way to separate and disassociate, but by doing something completely different and separate from the situation or group you’re by default calling attention to yourself. Everyone is standing and laughing, but you’re on one knee on the ground, two feet away, trying to take a picture.

That’s what I mean by being conspicuously inconspicuous. In theory no one notices you, but I feel so visible that it makes me uncomfortable. Even walking down the street with my phone and snapping a quick photo has the same effect. It feels like there are eyes on me, wondering what hipster picture I’m taking and with what faux vintage finish.

I know I shouldn’t give a shit, that I shouldn’t care and should just take pictures anyways. I’ve even been told that a few of them were good. But for some reason my socially anxious side will not let me get over this mental block. This is why my photos so rarely have myself in them (the one-arm selfie? I’m squirming inside!), or many people at all for that matter. I take pictures of things, because things can’t turn around and ask me what the hell I think I’m doing with my camera.

I don’t know where this came from either; as a journalist in school we had to do photo assignments once a week, and I was completely capable of and comfortable with shooting that quantity of photos. I got some great shots in return, too. But somewhere between graduation and real life, I lost the ability to let loose with my camera.

I’m going to try the Fat Mum Slim Photo a Day challenge for June, and see where it takes me. I don’t want to promise I’ll finish, or even that the photos will all be on time, but that I’ll at least try. Maybe the return to school-like uninhibited photography assignments will give me the kick in the shutter finger that I need.

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1}Which do you prefer in the AM: Coffee or tea? 

I could take either or, but usually prefer coffee. It gives me a better buzz to start my day.

2} Work has been cancelled on the spur of the moment: Clean house and do errands, Or just fun things?

A little bit of both! I’d probably do errands in the morning and fun stuff in the afternoon.

3} Middle of the hot summer, vacation at: Mountains or Beach?

Beach, beach, beach. I’m spoiled by having the lovely mountains in my backyard though.

4}You have to travel at a leisure speed: Train, plane or car? 

Plane. The other two take too long. I actually love to fly.

5} To relax: A movie or a book?

Book.

6} What kind of pets? Dog, cat, bird or fish.

Cat <3 I love my kitties. But I don’t mind dogs either.

7} Dream home: Hard wood floors or carpeting? 

All hard wood please! Carpeting shows every stain, spill, and hair.

8} A fun activity: cards, bingo or blogging?

Cards, then blogging.

9} First date: Dinner, movie or a hike? 

Dinner. Yum

10}The first Kiss: peck on the cheek, or a long romantic one?

Long romantic one — peck on the cheek is a little too chaste.

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Ever since coming back to Calgary, I’ve been inhaling insane amounts of (safe) grains and cheeses, because it’s what I was really missing in Mexico. Just last night, Kaila and I managed to down two boxes of Annie’s White Cheddar shells and some nachos & salsa, and we both still wanted a third box of macaroni…

Having these two around helps though.

It’s been difficult to settle back into everyday Calgary life. I underestimated the impact that “vacation brain” would have on my functioning by about a million percent. Coupled with that is the cold I picked up somewhere in Mexico that refuses to just go away! Cold medicine + antihistamines (now that spring has sprung my allergies have EXPLODED) + vacation brain = a barely functioning Kylie.

However, the fact that I’m living in a haze completely separate from reality does not make the things that I need to get done magically go away. I submitted freelance drafts to a client on Monday, ran all my vacation laundry through the wash, and went back to work Tuesday. Now there’s dentist appointments to go to, grocery shopping that needs to be done (eating out every day gets expensive, y’all), and preparations to make. I need to get to Edmonton June 6-9 for a consultation with my surgeon and an appointment with my orthodontist. I’m hoping that the surgeon will be able to tell me when my surgery date will be, but I’m not holding my breath; it seems odd to make a whole appointment to just tell me when he’ll be cutting my face.

That weekend is also the moving weekend for my cousin, and my aunt’s birthday weekend. We’re going to have a double-birthday party, since my 25th is the week after that on the 15th.

I love summer. There’s so much to look forward to! In addition to all of the above, there’s a weekend at Sylvan Lake with my friends, a potential camping trip, an engagement party, and two family weddings. What else can we get in there? Bring it, Summer 2013!

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We stayed at the Occidental Grant Xcaret, and it is a beautiful resort. Built into the surrounding environment, the rooms are surrounded by jungle and we shared the space with several animals. Iguanas. were. EVERYWHERE. Consequently, I have a million and one pictures of iguanas wandering around the resort. There was also more than one occasion where I almost stepped on one while walking to the buffet or the beach.

Oh, and the beach. Love, love, love the beach. Again, because the hotel is built into the natural environment, there was a cliff and several rocks jutting out into the surf. A man-made cove was created to give the tourists something to congregate around, and there’s a small saltwater pool behind the beach restaurant. Very, very beautiful, and I love the integration of natural and man-made; it’s so unique.

The food was pretty great, though as it does on any vacation it starts to get repetitive. The gluten-free offerings were plentiful, and I had very little issue with cross-contamination. There was one instance where I’m pretty sure I got a dose of wheat, but I didn’t ask if the chips were flour or corn; I kinda walked into that one. The a la carte restaurants were delicious. There’s no other word. We went to the seafood restaurant on our second night there, and I was blown away by my seafood salad. However, sometimes the translations can leave something to be desired (but they’re good for a laugh).

I didn’t know salmon had loins…

The staff was friendly and polite. Language can be a bit of a barrier, but they try their damnedest to understand what you’re saying in English (and I got to practice my Spanish more too). Everywhere you’re walking, there’s someone from the resort ready to greet you with a friendly “hola, hola!”

Cheers!

We didn’t find any issue with timeshare hawkers, and the vendors that sold their goods inside the resort were respectful. I found I was harassed more when I went into Playa del Carmen, and that was when we were simply walking down the street.

The disco was heaps of fun, and the DJ was open to taking requests. One of my favourite memories of this trip was headbanging on the empty floor with Erin, dancing our asses off and enjoying the fact that we could ask for Disturbed in Mexico and be obliged.

I have very little to complain about when it comes to the resort. I spent a week in +32 paradise, and would return to the Grand Xcaret in a heartbeat!

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