Be Awesome Instead

"We Never Change, Do We?"

2012-01-17T04:01:00.000-08:00

“We never change, do we?

We never learn, do we?” –Coldplay

It seems like I am constantly making the same mistakes; playing the victimto my own bad habits. I am getting prettytired of it. Are we incapable ofchange? I would like to think itsometimes. That way I can blame naturerather than myself when I screw things up or act in a regretful manner. But the truth is – the only thing we cannotchange is our past. If we truly want tobe different, better, wiser, richer, or what have you; the power to do so is inour own hands.

Dalat-Nha Trang Highway, Vietnam

Making a change is not easy though. It is something I struggle with immensely. There is so much about myself or my life Iwish I could change. I am constantly sayingthings like, “I want to lose weight,” or “I wish I had more patience,” or “Iwill not lose my temper,” but I never seem to DO anything more than state mydesire…and get frustrated with myself when I commit the same habitual mistakes.

Hoi An, Vietnam

Well, as Bob Dylan so eloquently stated: “the times, they are achanging.” It seems my time in theMiddle East is drawing to a close. Iknow a change in location does not fix things that are broken (however small orlarge they may be); but it will provide for a “fresh start” if I commit theeffort to making those positive changes I keep talking about. I think it is about time I stop talking thetalk and start walking the walk.

Dalat, Vietnam

I won’t make a huge proclamation like; “from this day forward I will begood, I will be kind, I will be patient, I will eat healthfully, I willexercise, etc, etc, and so on.” If I do that, I will never grow to be theperson I would like to be. I think thefirst thing I need to do is come to terms with my flaws, accept the thingsabout me that are not so great, and think about what ways I can improve thethings I want to change in a realistic manner. I would like to learn to celebrate the things that are good in my lifeand accept the things that are not so good as a challenge & an opportunityto improve. It is something I will have to work on every day; and if I failtoday, tomorrow I will try again.

Danang, Vietnam

(Yes, I did post random pictures from Vietnam to distract from the actual content herein & lighten the tone. We are working on positivism here, y'all.)

Reflections of a No-longer Newlywed

2011-09-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Not every day is perfect or noteworthy,

But each day is ours to share. (photo: our engagement - Alaska 2009)

Not every adventure turns out as planned, (photo: save-the-date - Doha 2009)

but we are taking the journey together (photo - Breckenridge, CO 2009).

We know how to push each other's buttons, (photo: rehearsal dinner ice cream cake -Doha 2010)

And how bring out the best in one another. (photo - Lower Latourell Falls, Oregon 2009)

We are teammates & best friends (photo: Whidbey Island, WA 2008)

Lovers, too.

{Whoops. How did that pictures of Tom Selleck get in here?} (photo: bachelorette party - Doha 2010)

We are a family, (photo: Honeymoon -Paris, France 2010)

That will grow & change with time. (photo: Doha 2011)

We will make mistakes & face challenges; (photo: Honeymoon - Corsica, 2010)

But we will overcome them as a team & become stronger for it. (photo: Courcheval, France 2011)

Each year marks another awesome chapter; (photo: Istanbul, Turkey 2011)

Of the epic adventure that is our married life. (photo: Wedding Day 9-25-10, NJ)

Cheers, to 1 year down & lifetime more to go!

Be Better Than The Gap

2011-09-20T04:58:00.000-07:00

Going to the movies is a rare occurance for me. Unless Harry Potter is out and in that case, I am first in line for the midnight premier. Holler. (BTW, do people still say that?) But in Qatar I do not go to the movies because it is like my own personal nightmare. It is always too crowded. The locals have poor movie ettiquette: they talk, come in late, go in & out several times, use their cellphones, & generally are there for reasons other than actually watching a movie. But I digress... Oh yeah - and their kids are most likely to be found kicking your seat & crying at the same time. Not to mention that films here have all the good parts edited out.

(PS- Sadface for no more HP)

Anyway, despite all of the above nonsense, I went to the movies this weekend. And was treated to this:

Well, Hello There.

Don't Mind If I Do.

Ladies, You Are Welcome.

(images from Crazy, Stupid, Love - IMDB page)

Crazy, Stupid, Love wasn't anything ground breaking, but I was not expecting to see such a funny & well done Rom-Com. I am a big fan. Even with all the kissing/sexy scenes cut out - it was still hilarious. Tons of good 1-2 liners. And Ryan Gosling - damn, he looked GOOD (and even though everyone loves the notebook - I was really neither here nor there on him before). When this is available on DVD/download I will definitely be watching it again. You should watch it too; RG's hotness alone should be reason enough.

BACK TO THE US of A

2011-09-06T01:10:00.000-07:00

IT IS OFFICIAL.

KP RETURNS TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (for a limited time only)

SEPTEMBER 30th- OCTOBER 21st

In celebration of the monumental occassion, here is a top ten list of

"MOST AWESOME THINGS ABOUT AMERICA"

SEPERATION OF CHURCH & STATE

This is a concept taught to all kids in US History classes, but it is something that I never fully appreciated until I lived in a society where religion strictly dictates the laws - regardless of the religion (or absense-thereof) you choose to practice. America wins because it supports freedom of practice & while beliefs may play influence on certain legislature - they are never founded on the sole basis of "because the Bible/Qu'ran/Vedas/ETC says so"

Example A: The entire country does not literally shut down for religious observances & prohibits a person from conducting their life as they choose - AKA it is not ILLEGAL to eat food or drink beverages in public during daylight hours during the holy month of Ramadan. If you choose to practice fasting; it is your choice to do so- it is not forced on you. While the US does close certain businesses & give holiday time off for Christmas it is not ILLEGAL to work.
Example B: You have the right to wear whatever you please in public - so long as it is not indecent exposure. You can proudly show your hair, face, knees, & shoulders without a problem.
Example C: As long as you are of age (or are in the privacy of your own home) you have the right to drink & purchase alcoholic beverages.

FREEDOM
NO UNJUST CENSORSHIP OF PIGS

Pigs & pork products are not illegal and/or banned from the country
Depictions of pigs are not deliberately removed in media & even children's books

STARBUCKS ICED CHAI LATTE

THERE ARE FOUR (4, count them) SEASONS - as opposed to HOT & HOTTER posing as two seperate seasons.
DOES NOT SHARE A BORDER WITH SAUDI ARABIA

Instead it shares borders with 2 rad on their own accord Countries:

CANADA - home of Maple leaves, Mounties, & nearly legalized Marajuana.
MEXICO - home of mexican food & cerveza. Yum.

DARREN CRISS

If you are not already a fan - please watch "A Very Potter Musical" or "A Very Potter Sequel" & then get back to me. Ok? Thanks.

LAND CRUISERS & A-HOLE DRIVERS DO NOT DOMINATE THE ROADWAYS
TAMPONS

America, my ovaries thank you!

MANY OF THE PEOPLE I LOVE & MISS LIVE THERE

Nephew Cayden & the "Devil Dog" Brody; just to name a few...You know who you all are :-)

AMERICA - I can't wait. See you soon!

XOXOX, KP

New Sports To Try...

2011-09-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

1. Street Surfing (Istanbul, Turkey)

2. Community Park-ercizing (Vientianne, Laos)

3. Sand Dune Sailing (Sealine, Qatar)

4. Snow Ski Hang Gliding (Courchevel, France)

5. Jungle Court Basketball (Luang Prabang, Laos)

Thought of The Day...

2011-08-26T00:24:00.000-07:00

Mixay Guest House; Vientiane, Laos

Obligatory Re-Cap Part II

2011-07-22T13:06:00.000-07:00

So as you already know I disappeared from the face of the ~~earth~~ (blogosphere) for nearly 7-8 months...and yeah, I really don't have a good reason for my absence. But anyway, here is where we left off on my previous re-cap:

I got hitched.

Then we gallivanted through France & Corsica on our honeymoon:

We spent a few lazy weekends hanging & camping out with friends at our favorite "secret" beach here in Qatar:

We traveled to Jordan for Christmas & visited Petra which is very high on my list of "most awesome old places on earth":

Yup, that is the husband who climbed on top of the ruins...

We stayed at the Six Senses & it was one of the most awesome hotels ever...that waterfall is actually a hot spring.

And that brings us up to speed on re-cap part I. Now if you are still with me...on to part II.

In January the "Moms" came out to visit to celebrate the Husband's birthday & we showed them around Qatar (or actually they showed us around Qatar since they had done more stuff in a week than we had in over a year of living here!) & Dubai:

HI MOM!

Ginor showed us how to properly ride a camel.

Next, we had an epic ski adventure in the French Alps, Three Valleys (a trip that deserves its own post at some future point in time):

Suddenly, it was April & off we went to celebrate my birthday in Istanbul, Turkey. (Where, by the way, I bought the most excellent Prada birthday handbag from the Grand Bazaar) Again, another trip that deserves a full post (now only if I could stop being so lazy...).

And that brings us up to my latest adventure....backpacking with Martinez in the South-East Asian country of Laos! (Just wait for the videos - two words - landslides & monks. Yes!)

This trip was amaze-balls. I want to go back and explore more of Asia...like NOW.

Well, so now you guy all know where I have been hiding. But, don't be fooled by all the cool pictures, we spend the vast majority of our time doing something less than cool (literally)...it's called work... in 120 degree heat. And yes, we have been having quite a laugh about all the "heatwave" news in the US because we consider 100 to be a nice day!

Hsbnd

2011-07-19T04:08:00.000-07:00

KP, 2:02 PM:
u going biking tonight?

Husband, 2:02 PM:
don't know
he didn't text me back yet

KP, 2:03 PM:
bmr
i am going to watch TB with JB tnght

Husband, 2:03 PM:
y i knw its bmr
cl
lts tp wth n vwls
it wll b fn

KP, 2:04 PM:
awsm

Typical

2011-07-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Such an awesome face. Just another typical evening for us during the summertime...since it is 115 degrees out & 80% humidity... Not hot or anything.

Another Reason Why my Dad is Awesome

2011-07-07T07:03:00.000-07:00

Today I received an e-mail from Dad (aka Bob-o). I clicked on the hyperlink and discovered, yet again, that my Dad is a source of non-stop awesomeness & entertainment:

PIRATE THEMED HOME MOVIE THEATER!!!!

Captain's wheel - check

Boom/Mast - check

Johny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow - Double check

Well appointed bar - SOLD.

(Images courtesy of Elite Home Theater Seating)

Thanks Dad!! Can't wait for my new home movie theater! So, when do you think you can fly out here to Qatar and install it in the man-cave???

Super Purple Smoothie

2011-07-06T20:10:00.000-07:00

It is like a cartoon character in a glass:

contains: strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, pineapple, soy milk & flaxseed.

How to eat vegetables for breakfast....

2011-07-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

..while simultaneously matching your interior decor. http://annies-eats.net/2011/05/02/green-monster-smoothies/

small victories

2011-07-04T07:38:00.000-07:00

JB 5:31 PM:
i want to wash my face, put on sweatpants & one slipper, drink some chocolate milk & sleep for like, 12 hours

KP 5:31 PM:
cholate milke is aweomes

JB 5:32 PM:
so true

KP 5:32 PM:
hahah - i didn't spell a single word in that sentence correct

JB 5:32 PM:
that's not true
you spelled "is" properly
small victories, KP. small victories

Weekend

2011-06-18T20:10:00.000-07:00

tapas. sangria. friends. vida esta buena.

American Goods - Alternatively Titled - Long Live The Frosty

2011-06-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you work 12 hours a day in the Construction business in the Middle East & someone takes a trip to America:

From: Thoms, Inc.
Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2011 11:31 PM
To: Burgett, LCC
Cc: KP of Thoms, Inc.
Subject: Procurement of American goods

To whom it may concern:

Care of Burgett LLC, please find attached documented evidence of the procurement of American Goods.

Sincerely,

Thoms, Inc.

From: Burgett, LCC
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2011 7:13 AM
To: Thoms, Inc.
Cc: KP of Thoms, Inc.
Subject: RE: Procurement of American goods

On behalf of Burgett, LLC we express our approval at said procurement activities. The gatepost milestone dates have been accomplished at an earlier date than was scheduled and previously forecast, thusly qualifying Thoms Inc. for the performance incentive, to be further discussed upon return to jobsite and delivery and acceptance of material goods. Notwithstanding the prior Facebook message sent informing Thoms Inc. of a notice of change, Burgett LLC is quite grateful for the assistance of Thoms Inc. On behalf of our shareholders & the Client, Burgett LLC wishes Thoms Inc & all associated parties safe travels, good times, and implores them to enjoy America specifically: mountains, trees, weather below 100 degrees, Dr. Pepper, drivers whose intention is not to murder you with their vehicles, traffic laws, women in shorts & revealing clothing, people walking dogs, bacon, sausage, ham, absence of men in thobes, bars, dogs, dogs in bars, alcohol in restaurants, alcohol in grocery stores, liquor stores, and a democratically-elected government. And Wendy's - Long live the Frosty.

Dear Society - Here are Some Cliff Notes For You

2011-06-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

1. It is NEVER acceptable to ask a woman if she is pregnant, unless the following is true:

You are her husband and/or "partner" and you might have had an "accident" - and even then, fair warning: tread lightly.
Your best friend unexpectedly stops agreeing to celebrate your friendship with adult libations when you get together (because obviously the only reason she would stop is if she was pregnant)
You are a doctor/gyno and it is literally your job to ask the question

2. It is NOT appropriate to tell a woman she has put on weight nor ask a woman if she has put on weight- even if she has clearly been having a love affair with deep fried chicken & chocolate bars and has put on 100 pounds...it is not acceptable AND there is no exception to this rule.

3. It is however, very encouraged to tell a woman that she looks like she has lost weight.

4. It is not OK to ask a woman if she is on her period or make a smart comment about it being "her time of the month," excluding the following exceptions:

You are her husband and/or "partner" and you want to get it on. But at the same time it is NOT acceptable if you are asking because she is being "moody" or a "bitch" - in that case the only person you will be getting it on with is yourself
Again, you are a doctor/gyno

5. It is also not acceptable to ask a married woman why she does not have kids

nor follow up with telling her that she needs to hurry up and start popping out babies ASAP
nor ask her how old she is

6. DO NOT ASK A WOMAN HOW OLD SHE IS

note to the reader: notice the use of the word WOMAN...not girl - and if you can't tell the difference, well then you have got much bigger problems.

7. All of the above rules should be adhered to, especially in the work environment & when directing it to a female colleague or business associate that you only know on a professional basis.

Furthermore, asking or saying any of the above at 7am, in 110 degree heat, on a construction site in the Middle East is HIGHLY DISCOURAGED - and you will have to suffer the consequences.

Kind Regards,

KP

P.S. - My job is awesome (cliff note to the cliff notes - this last comment was sarcastic)

Where in the World?

2011-06-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

Dear internet,

Sorry I have not been *here* for the past 9+ months (what?!! seriously?!)... but I promise it was not because I stopped caring about you, it was because I just seriously lost track time...

Like for example, I went home to NJ and got seriously side track because I had to do this:

And also managed to squeeze in hosting one of these:

Because I am now an Auntie & (omg) there is another niece/nephew on the way!

Then we flitted off to here (paris, france):

and spent a little bit of romantic time here (corsica):

Also, we took a quick stop here during the Eid holiday (sri lanka):

We also celebrated this (qatar national day):

We then spent Christmas discovering an ancient city within the holy land (petra, jordan):

and taking a dip here on X-mas day (the dead sea):

So you see?! And that only brings us to the end of 2010.... there are still a 6 additional months to account for!

Breaking the Silence

2011-06-06T05:13:00.000-07:00

BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!@#%$$$$^&#**@&@^&^&@^&@^&*!&&&&*$*#%^&&$$$$$$$$$$

boo.

yes, i am alive...in case you were wondering.

do i have anything nice/cool to say? negative.

why is that? because since i returned from getting married way back in september my job has sucked the life force out of me.

literally.

Anyone have any bright ideas about what I could do for a living that would enable me to work/travel internationally, while taking home butt load of tax free money, without having to deal with complete assholes on an hourly basis??

Anyone? Buehler?

ok. enough negativity. And now back to your regularly scheduled programming....

Hen P-A-R-T-Y - Tom Selleck is a handsome 65!

2010-09-03T00:28:00.000-07:00

My apologies, I am posting this still a bit sloshed-morning after...but too amazing not to share immediately, slash I just burped-threw up in my mouth a little bit..but it is ok, signs of an amazing night!

Yes, me and Magnum PI (aka Tom Selleck)...don't judge, you love it. Best canvas poster EVER. Slash I know I have a dirty twisted mind to have a celeb-crush on TS. shhhhh..

ok this one is more normal...

Hottest blue v-neck sweater in the world!!

All the *lovely*/conspiring hoes that planned my surprise hen party (yes I am british now and say hen party..don't judge I am still drunk!). Dinner at the Spice Market (W Hotel)..best booze-free Ramadan dinner ever (sorry I am going to say ever A LOT in this post).

And the after math...

See the yellow thing on the table?? Banana holder. Oh yeah.

Ok this post was probably TMI, but no regrets.. such a good time.. I have such awesome friends here..
PPS half the reason I am so still drunk is because they took away the word *awesome* from me and I had to take a shot each time I said it...yeah...if you know me..that is a challenge.

xoxox KP

Smiling From Within

2010-08-19T04:37:00.000-07:00

I think that often when we smile and are happy it is merely on the surface. Our smiles may be true, but the energy comes from our faces. Truth be told, I spend most of my days with this type of smile parked firmly on my face. Now, this is not to say that I am not happy or I fake happiness all the time…but it is more of a realization that only every so often I am blessed with the other kind of smile, the one that comes from deep inside.
Yesterday, I caught up on g-chat with an old friend who I haven’t “talked” to in awhile. I was so happy to hear from her that as I sat at my computer, alone in my living room, I began to smile.

And it was such a special smile.

I felt it literally radiated from my soul, onto my face, and out into the world for all to share. At that moment my inner happiness was practically tangible and it generated a warmth that I could feel within my bones. I thought to myself, “Man, it has been awhile since I smiled this genuinely. Why is that?”

And then it hit me:

I hardly ever let myself just be happy. I don’t let myself live in the now.

Constantly, I find myself fixating on things in the past or focusing on what may happen in the future. I get so caught up in my job, to-do lists, life’s stresses, etc. that I don’t ever let myself relax enough to enjoy the little things that make everyday special and worth it. Like the good morning kisses from my sweet soon-to-be husband, the colleagues who make me laugh at work, a nice facebook message from a friend, or just how good that piece of dove chocolate tastes.

If I let go a little and live in the moment, then perhaps I will have more genuine smiles. So when I spill my lunch on the floor, instead of getting mad or upset about it, I can just laugh at my clumsiness. Or when the future hubs leaves the toilet seat up (yet again), I can just sigh, “oh, Men!” and put the seat down without getting mad (and politely remind the future hubs about putting it down later on). I know this is probably true because today I still feel the residual warmth and happiness of yesterday's smile.

So here goes nothing - let us live in the moment! (she says with a smile)

True Blood, True Life

2010-08-18T05:18:00.000-07:00

From: Durban Galpal
Sent: Wednesday, August 18 2010 2:28 PM
To: KP
Subject: TB

Here's a nice picture of Eric for you :-)

From: KP

Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:40 PM

To: Durban Galpal

Subject: RE: TB

Holy sh*t.

From: Durban Galpal
Sent: Wednesday, August 18, 2010 2:58 PM
To: KP
Subject: RE: TB
my thoughts exactly!

Oxymoron

2010-08-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

I apologize in advance for over-sharing, but...

I just had the BEST EVER bikini wax.

Seriously, it was life-changing and I am compelled to share.

For those who have ever had the treatment done, you are probably thinking "best ever" & "bikini wax" is an improbable combo, an oxymoron even (especially when you opt for the Brazilian). I can't speak for anyone else, but I have had more than my fair share of super unpleasant waxing experiences in my life. My recent experience was not as awesome as say getting a back massage; but it was super quick, clean, and hardly hurt at all. I was amazed. Seriously, I called my girlfriend who recommended the spa to me immediately afterwards to thank her for changing my life. I know I am a dork.

So where did I get this "best ever" bikini wax done? Bliss Spa at the W Hotel in Doha. Yes, I know none of you live in the Middle East; but it is a NY based company with locations in most major US cities. If you get the chance, go. Your hoo-ha will thank me.

No Shame

2010-08-09T05:30:00.000-07:00

I have been feeling a bit bogged down recently, so I think it might be therapeutic to get just a few things off of my chest...

I hereby consider Diet Pepsi and potato chips an acceptable morning snack
It normally takes me a few iterations to figure out what I want to wear and even though it bothers future hubs that I do this, I am probably not going to change that habit anytime soon.
No matter how hard I try, my hair will never grow as long or be as fabulous as Hollywood Hair Barbie's and I hate her for it.

(yeah, keep smiling b*tch...)

I cannot wait to be rid of this demon, hell-kitty we have been babysitting for the past 2 weeks

Careful! Don't look evil straight in the eyes.

But secretly sometimes I find the kitty to be more cute and funny than annoying. (Shhh! Don't tell the future hubs)
Having a daily makeup regimen is overrated. Just rocking tinted minty lip gloss is underrated.

My cupcake frosting skills are sub par at best and I am insanely jealous of all bakers that can get their frosting to look like a sweet fluffy cloud of heaven resting ontop of a moist cakey hill.

Blog stalking is the highlight of my pre-work morning
When I check myself out in the mirror, I totally "suck it in and stick'em out"
I am super nervous about my upcoming wedding...not about the whole life-long commitment thing, but all the other crap about the day. Like everything going smoothly, family getting along, and everyone having a good time.
I spent time googling to find Eric from True Blood in his blue sweater, but was completely disappointed by the results.

It looked way hotter in my head.

We've had an Arabic pop song stuck in our heads for months. Future Hubs asked one of our Qatari friends if he recognized the song and literally sang to him: "something, something, HABIIIIIBI". Our friend looks at him in disbelief and goes, "Seriously?? You realize that pretty much EVERY Arabic pop song has the word 'habibi' in it. It's equivalent to me asking you about an American song with the word 'Baby' or 'Shortie' in it." I almost peed my pants laughing. With the help of google, we found it: Ella Habibi and have been playing it on repeat ever since.
Bullet points rock my socks off. If I could only talk in bullet points in real life I would. Top ten lists; however, are totally lame.
The end.

Nope, still not a Grown Up

2010-08-08T05:56:00.000-07:00

FACT: I am at an age where it is socially acceptable to get married & have children.
FACT: It is debatable whether or not I am actually mature enough to do either of those things. Same goes for future hubs.

Case in point:

After a minor "you never take me on dates anymore, folded arms across the chest, bottom lip pout" incident (seriously, I am like 5), the future hubs graciously planned to take me on a movie date this weekend. Backstory - the future hubs is not a fan of movies or even TV for that matter (unless it invovles bicycles, cars, or Neil Patrick Harris) so I was pretty stoked that he was willing endure 2 hours of filmwatching just for me sans complaints; especially since the last time we went to a movie I made him suffer through Twillight Saga: New Moon (wow, now that I say it, we have not been to the movies in awhile) and I still have not heard the end of it. So while I have been dying to see Eclipse, I decided to spare future hubs from having to watch me DROOL over the age-inappropriate for me to have sexual fantasies about Taylor Lautner and picked another movie. Sadface for TL being so young and for me not getting to see him in all his shirtless glory amplified on the big screen, but I digress. So there we were; a twenty-something engaged couple, who just finished a very nice lunch at a trendy French Bistro, with Starbucks coffees in hand, standing outside the ticket office deciding on a movie to watch. Of all the great choices of movies out now like Salt and Inception, what did we decide to see?

in IMAX 3D.

See, I told you I am not a grown up.

And even worse, we LOVED it. Especially because we got to wear these super awesome glasses:

We dedicated about 10 whole minutes to making fun of how each other looked in them before the movie started. Speaking of Harry Potter. ~~Oh wait, I wasn't speaknig about HP?~~ Anyway, the preview for HP7 came onto the screen (in all its HD, 3D triumph) and I about lost my shit. I was hyperventilating, jumping up and down in my seat, and squealing like a little girl. I WAS SO EXCITED. Heck, I AM still so excited and you better believe I will be getting in line to see a midnight premiere.

Ok, so back to me not being a grown up. I have now during the course of writing this post changed my position on the subject and have developed the following theory:

Maybe people have children so that they can make excuses for indulging in pleasures like Disney movies, building forts, jumping in bouncy houses, playing with rad remote controlled toys, eating grilled cheese sandwiches, and going to bed early on the weekends withough feeling ashamed or like creepy creepsters.

Am I the only one who totally just had an "Ah-Hah" moment right now?!

No? That is not why people have children?? Ok then.

FACT: My maturity is still questionable.

I blame the heat

2010-08-05T05:03:00.000-07:00

I have seriously got honeymoon on the brain this week.

I cannot be held responsible for my actions; I blame the heat.

It has caused me to do things like buy this little number from Anthropologie:

(I envision me and the future hubs reenacting the picture above.)

And I am on the hunt for a few more cute and fun honeymoon outfits. I know it is probably silly to buy new clothes just for my honeymoon, but I can't help myself!

I see pictures like this on the internet and I just go crazy. Oh, the whimsy and romance; I am dying!

I may or may not have already purchased this Victoria's Secret convertable dress in cobalt blue as well...

I figure the ability to wear one dress many ways is perfect and very practical for travelling. So purchasing this dress may actually be consider economical, perhaps?

I guess a wedding/honeymoon is as good of an excuse as any to spruce up my wardrobe.

(Heck, I'll take whatever excuse I can get. ha)

So let's go for broke:

Does anyone out there have any good "honeymoon style" suggestions?

Daydreams

2010-08-03T03:08:00.000-07:00

I've been daydreaming about escaping from the heat and stressful workdays to my future honeymoon destination...

The French island of Corsica.

:::Le Sigh:::

images from here.

UPDATE: Also found out that the future hubs and I are very in vogue, since our choice of honeymoon destination is the same the lovely newlywed Alicia Keys. Although I am quite sure our honeymoons will be VERY different since we will mostly be cycling and hiking and I am sure she is doing more of the beach, booze, and boating I am a really rich celebrity thing.

Survival

2010-08-02T00:36:00.000-07:00

It made its foreboding presence known by upping the humidity index to the "unbearable" level. The experience of stepping outside is equivalent to walking into a very hot steam bath...especially since your sunnies fog up immediately.

Ramadan is quickly approaching which means all the restaurants and shops will be closed until sundown, the entire country will be DRY (alcohol-free), and you cannot eat or drink in public (during the daytime) for an ENTIRE month (approximately August 10th-September 10th).

We made our last-minute-stockup run to the Qatar Distribution Center (the only place to buy alcohol in the entire country) this past weekend and basically panic purchased an excessive amount of booze for fear that we may run out. Which is funny because the future hubs and I hardly drink. We are typically 1-2 beers or glasses of wine a week type people. But with the prospect of it being unavailable and restricted, all of a sudden we figured ourselves to be a 1-2 beers/glasses of wine twice a day type couple!

With the onset of Ramadan we have also gone into panic mode with our social calendar. Suddenly, it seems imperative to have every weekend overbooked with events and gatherings. In our normal life, we plan in advance occasionally and mostly play it by ear. We like to keep our options open and let our moods dictate what we do. It works for us. But not this month. This month we have gone out of our way to book brunches, dinner parties, villa parties, possible boating adventures, cycling rides, etc. I am getting exhausted just thinking about it, but heaven forbid we have a free moment and wind up with nothing to do because everything is closed.

We have been eating out in excess, too; trying to fill our meals with food from all of our favorite places before they close up. It feels like we are acting as if these places are closing FOREVER. The hardships experienced during Ramadan have been so hyped up and drilled into our heads since we arrived last October that we seem to be preparing for Armageddon rather than a holy month!

But hey, it's all a matter of survival, folks.

MENKIND - I would like to submit my formal complaint

2010-07-29T05:38:00.000-07:00

Dear Menkind,

While I am impressed with your general know-how when it comes to fixing and operating technical gadgets, electronics, motorized vehicles, and the BBQ grill; I am however, baffled by your lack of common sense when it comes to simple household tasks at times.

Exhibit A. Exhibit B.

It confounds me that you are able to navigate the 5 remotes that control the “Home Entertainment Center,” yet you seem incapable of steering your dirty dishes and clothes into anywhere but the kitchen sink or onto the bedroom floor. I am perplexed how you can operate the myriad of buttons on those TV remotes with ease and finesse, but you seem completely unable to figure out the 2 buttons it takes to operate the dishwasher & washing machine. A helpful hint, (in case you did not realize it) your clothes & dishes do not magically wash themselves.

And you are such a wiz when it comes to fixing things that are broken. So how come you have difficulty applying that same handiwork to fixing dinner?

Also, you know I love it when your face is clean shaven, but do you know what I find even sexier? You CLEANING anything (besides your bike or your car).

Lastly, your extensive knowledge of sports facts and statistics is astounding. You know everything! But how can you not know a simple/common fact like you cannot leave cooked food (especially meat) out overnight unrefrigerated because it will go bad? And also just for a random made up example (cough*maybe*cough); that having to throw away the abundance of leftover homemade chicken meatballs and sauce that your loving partner spent her whole evening preparing while you were out riding your bike would make her very upset?

Any steps that can be taken in order to improve any of the above grievances would be greatly appreciated. Moreover, training classes on the art of laundry, cleaning, food preparation & proper storage are happily offered from the School of Womenkind all year long free of charge!

Thank you for your time,
Womenkind (aka The Management)

*Disclaimer - this post may or may not be reflective of a certain to-remain-nameless future hubs, nor is it neccessarily directed at said person for certain acts they may or may not have committed recently.*

I am having a bit of an off week.

2010-07-26T22:41:00.000-07:00

I have every intention of writing a humorous expose' on "How I Learned We Are NOT Cat People"; however, let's just say at the moment that post would turn out a bit more murderous than humorous.
Besides all the other not fun things going on this week; this morning right before we were leaving for work, the cat we are babysitting decided it would be a really awesome idea try to jump ontop of my bambo plant which is held in an enormous glass vase...

At the moment the vase came crashing down (water & glass EVERYWHERE) I felt myself growing into something like the Incredible Hulk and boomed, "CAT I AM GOING TO MURDER YOU!" So, yeah...it might be a day or two before I find my sense of humor again on the subject of cats.

Anyhow, this satirical blog post a fellow cylcing friend sent me this morning gave me a good laugh and instantly I felt a little bit better. If you are having a not so pleasant morning, perhaps it can cheer you up a bit too.

Tomorrow will be a better day,
KP

We cannot direct the wind

2010-07-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

but we can adjust the sails...

I'm No Model

2010-07-19T23:55:00.000-07:00

But here is my best attempt to show you all my latest Etsy purchase/obsession:

From The Pretty Little Pearl Shop

eat your heart out, martha.

(yes, I realize I look like a total dork holding that whisk, but work with me here people)

FAIL

2010-07-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

4:30 AM, the alarm goes off.

The future hubs has to go into work super early for a meeting.

Wearily, he drags his butt out of bed and resets the alarm an 1 hour later (5:30 AM) for me to get up. We only have one car since circumstances do not necessitate the need for two, so I arranged to catch a ride at the normal time with a coworker.

Future hubs showers, gets ready, kisses me goodbye, and leaves for work.

Meanwhile, I am somewhere between blissfully dreaming and awake.

RING, RING, RING.

I wake up to the sound of my phone ringing and shoot out of bed. I look at the clock and it says 7:50 AM.

SHIT. (please excuse my french)

I answer the phone and it is my ride calling. He is frantic.

"KP, are you ok? You don't sound good. Where are you?!"

I tell him that I just woke up and I realize that it is not really 7:50, but it is 6:50AM. He has called me about 10 times and I've made him late for work. (Bummer) I told him I am so sorry and to leave without me since there is no way I am walking out the door in less than 5 minutes.

Turns out the future hubs turned the whole clock forward an hour, instead of the alarm.

Awesome.

And now I am totally stranded. (Have I mentioned I live in an apartment complex with mostly coworkers? Which does me no good because they are all already at work).

I try to call the future hubs.

The call goes straight to random Arabic message. BAHH. (I hate when that happens)

I quickly get dressed and try calling again. I get the Arabic message.

Make my lunch. Call. Flipping Arabic message.

I throw my phone angrily (and magically in slow motion for effect) onto the bed. I really hate that Arabic message.

I decide to call one last time before I start walking and trying catch a cab, but as you can imagine at 120 degrees F that is not a very good option.

I dial his number.

AND. IT. RINGS. thankyoujesus.

Long story short, I make him leave work to come and get me (hey it was his fault!) and I only manage to be an hour and a half late.

BIG FAT FAIL. THE END.

A Change Of Perspective

2010-07-18T00:35:00.000-07:00

Over vacation I re-read the book "Into Thin Air" by John Krakauer. It is a personal account that chronicles a disastrous expedition to climb Mt. Everest in 1996. I can remember being in Canada when this book was released and seeing an IMax film about a seperate expedition to climb Everest which happened to be on the mountain at the same time as John Krakauer. Although the filming of the documentary was a seperate effort, the events that occurred during John's climb effected the IMax expedition and the tale ended up being weaved into the film as a consequence. The documentary motivated me to read Krakauer's novel the first time back in 1998 when I was 13 years old. Thereafter I became extremely fascinated with rock & ice climbing, and mountaineering, but had not had the opportunity to try the sport until much more recently.

Last year I learned how to rock climb (and also experienced real fear for one of the first times in my life).

I also learned how to ice climb while visiting Alaska.

Then finally, I completed my first summit attempt on Mt. Adams. Nothing too spectacular, just a little 12,281 ft climb of limited technical difficulty, but it gave me a nice taste of what the sport of mountaineering is all about.

I was on such a high after that climb that I started to get all sorts of delusional thoughts about becoming a bad-ass, mountain climbing chick and conquering summits all over the world. I came up with a plan: I would start training by gaining experience on the close by peaks of Mt. Hood,

Mt. Baker,

and lastly Mt. Rainier.

Then I would go visit the fiance' up in Alaska and together we would tackle Denali (ignoring the fact that I am quite sure he has no interest in high-altitude climbing, but minor detail).

Hopefully we would even get to travel the world and climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, and perhaps some other less challenging (and expensive) than Everest or K2, Himilayan Peaks. And maybe, eventually one day we would get to visit Everest.

But before I could even initiate phase 1 of the plan (conquer local Washington peaks) we got reassigned to Qatar. A country that is 100% flat, and sandy, and basically like a barren hell hole. But, alas, I am a dreamer and I still harbored the hope that I could accomplish the impossible. I started thinking, "Maybe I would try to climb some peaks in Europe and heck, Africa is even closer now, and so are Pakistan and Nepal!" My skiing trip to Austria this past March only fueled the fire as the future hubs and I spent an entire week admiring the glory of the Alps. So when I came home for vacation and spied the dusty "Into Thin Air" book sitting on the shelf in my old bedroom, I grabbed it and began reading with a renewed fervor.

AND THEN IT STRUCK ME.

I must have not "really" read this book when I was 13 or understood what I was reading at the time. Seriously, did I miss the whole part where basically everyone on the expedition died a horrible death alone and lost on the mountain or from illnesses related to altitude, or at a minimum was left disfigured from frostbite?? Because if anything, "Into Thin Air" will turn you off of climbing and make you clearly understand the repercussions of doing anything at high altitude. At about 24,000 ft your body starts to literally deteorate and eat itself just from the air and cold alone. Not to mention the million other physical danagers of unstable glacial ice, avalanches, storms, etc.

Um, WHAT WAS I THINKING!?!

Yeah, I no longer have any desire to climb the Himilayan Greats (although I still would be interested in hiking up to Base Camp at Everest) and my thrist for Denali has also been somewhat quenched. But I still have a bit of a lingering desire to climb some smaller, less dangerous summits and Mt. Kilimanjaro.

It is shocking just how much your perspective can change with age. Climbing Mt. Everest seems to be a whole lot of hassle and they say when you get to the top you are so tired and oxygen deprived that you cannot even really feel happiness or relief that you made it. Not worth it in my opinion. (Note: I am still very much intrigued by the subject (aka a sick fascination) of high altitude climbing and have since bought a few more books on the subject.) At any rate, the future hubs will be very excited that I just saved us over $130,000 (65K/person) by deciding that I do not want to climb Mt. Everest (yes, it costs THAT much just to try to climb it). Maybe I can buy some shoes and a Kindle with all the money I just saved us!

UPGRADE

2010-07-17T22:53:00.000-07:00

Hey Kids, remember our friend the cheetah??

Well, we have not seen him out during our bike rides for the past few weeks...

And now we know why.

It looks like he has upgraded his ride:

Only in Qatar. Awesome.

Because I am Swamped At Work & Over Stressed....

2010-07-15T03:47:00.000-07:00

I am going to cop out on writing an actual post and instead distract you with some pictures that I took over vacation of my two favorite beast-dogs:

THE END, for now. I hope to be back with regular posting tomorrow & next week.

Back from the US

2010-07-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

Coming back to the Middle East from the US my suitcases pretty much looked like this:

Add to that about 8 pairs of new shoes, 4 sticks of the future hubs Old Spice Endurance deodorant, a bottle of mineral oil, 6 Bath & Body Works liquid handsoaps, 1 temperpedic pillow, 1 isotonic memory foam mattress topper, 2 tubes of our favorite toothpaste, 4 boxes worth of Crystal Light Iced Tea mixes...and you get the picture. But my suitcases were primarily loaded down with a library of heavy books that take up A LOT room. Room that could have been occupied by new clothes (or more shoes, perhaps?).

This has lead me to make the following assessment; owning all these books and bringing them over here is not practical. So what is a girl to do? Here is what I am thinking:

I have about 2 months to decide (slash convince the future hubs that this is a worth-while purchase); since they do not ship to the Middle East and I will be going home for the wedding in September.

Does anyone out there have one of these? Is it worth the price-tag? I read at minimum 4 out of 7 nights a week before bed...sometimes I go through books pretty quickly, other times not so much. Is this only good for people who read ridiculous amounts?

I've Traded My Roots For Wings

2010-06-29T07:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard;

Of a tree being jealous of a bird?

A sapling growing towards the sky

Reaching for the sun; yearning only to fly.

Does the youth not see;

The true wonders of being a tree?

In the earth where it is firmly planted

The sapling takes its roots for granted.

Instead it wishes for wings;

Of all the ridiculous, impossible things.

So that it can chase the sun as it sets.

Live life to the fullest; sans regrets.

I was once a regal pine;

Dissappionted with my life's design.

So I traded sturdy roots and limbs

For wings to soar and draft the winds.

Forgoing shelter and shade;

A bargain with the devil made?

For now I have not a haven for rest,

No home; nor place to build my nest.

And for all the miles I've flown;

I must let the truth be known.

I am grateful for the freedom of the skies,

But it is the tree who is truly wise.

How funny can life be?

That I, a bird, am now longing for a tree.

There will be TACOS

2010-06-27T07:07:00.000-07:00

I think this just may be my new life motto:

nom, nom, nom.

Road Trip Around Qatar

2010-06-24T02:15:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday the future hubs and I decided to take a mini-adventure and see the rest of the country outside of the city of Doha.

Whose genius idea was this?? Did I not learn my lesson from the last time we tried to venture outside of Doha? Apparently I did not.

So off we went into the desert and here is what we found:

A WHOLE LOT OF

NOTHING

and some FLAME stacks from all the natural gas wells

also what desert adventure would be complete without some domesticated CAMELS

and some wild ones too!

The best part...

That is about 124 degrees F...in case you were wondering.

Moral of the story, life inside the city of Doha is looking pretty good right now.

100th Post Celebration & Giveaway!

2010-06-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

I DID IT!

I am not quite sure how, but I managed to turn my incoherent ramblings into 100 blog posts!! Also, I am 98% positive I used the word AWESOME over 5,000 times therein.

I think that is a pretty flippin big accomplishment, don't you?

OH HELLS YES.

In celebration of such a momentous occasion and obscene over usage of the word AWESOME, I am going to host my very first ever GIVEAWAY!!!

What's that you say; I'm going to give something away?? HECK YES. You heard that right.

CHECK.IT.OUT

What is it??

It is a 14"x11" mixed media print from one of my favorite Etsy sellers.

Awesome, right? (It says the word ADVENTURE on it!!!)

So how can you enter to win this lovely little giveaway?

Three simple ways:

Leave a comment (1 entry)
Become a Follower of "Be Awesome Instead" (2 entries)
Post a link to this blog post on your blog or facebook & let me know (2 entries)

Entering the giveaway will end midnight (West Coast Time, USA) on 6/24 and the winner will be selected randomly thereafter.

Best of luck! Thanks for helping me celebrate!

Adventures in non-american sports part 2

2010-06-17T06:01:00.000-07:00

So there is a little something called the World Cup going on in South Africa this month.

http://www.fifa.com/

Us Americans tend to be very passionate about football, but not the type of football being played in this tournament. In fact, if you are living in America you probably have not heard that much about it, unless you hang in a "football" playing crowd (I did when I lived in the states). Also, ahem, we call the sport SOCCER.

I would say that most Americans have played soccer at some point in our lives (on a recreational team at the very least), know who David Beckham is (not for his soccer playing skills though), but honestly do not follow the professional sport AT ALL. Some of us may even know this hunk of gorgeous flesh (also not for his soccer playing abilities):

(you are welcome, ladies.) From Emporio Armani

However, since I now live outside of the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave, I have come to understand that the World Cup is kind of a big deal to the rest of the world. It is all ANYONE is talking about over here. ALL.DAY.LONG. On Sunday everyone I ran into that day asked me if I saw the England vs. US match (not game, but match...remember we aren't in Kansas anymore.) and what I thought about it.

My response:

"World Cup; um, cool, GO USA. But what I really want to know is, 'How about them Hokies?!' "

And then I kindly showed my British colleagues how USA covers the World Cup: World Cup via The Huffington Post

America you are awesome.

Slump Day

2010-06-16T08:01:00.000-07:00

It is Wednesday

and I'm feeling it;

that mid-week slump.

Staring blankly at my monitor at work

daydreaming about the kumquat mojitos at the W Hotel's Spice Market.

I had a bit too many last weekend.

But damn, they were good.

Thinking to myself,

"Is it Friday yet?!"

So I can go here:

to enjoy a good book and a refreshing swim...

and perhaps a cocktail (or 3)

::Sigh::

I think the only way to brighten a slump day

may be to make it a hump day...hehe. ;-)

Oh, (get it?) Wednesday.

Care Package

2010-06-13T21:17:00.000-07:00

LOOK WHAT ARRIVED IN THE MAIL YESTERDAY!

a little bit of love in the form of a puppy named Grouper.

ok so it was e-mail and not actual mail (bummer), but still this special delivery put a big smile on my face. (thanks bff!)

Thought for the Weekend

2010-06-10T00:33:00.000-07:00

Artwork by Mae Chevrette

You Know It Is HOT When...

2010-06-07T08:08:00.000-07:00

You step outside and instantly your sunglasses are fogged up with steam.

You get 3rd degree burn from the leather seats in your car (buying black land rover with black interior is looking like it was a bad idea)

You consume 7 liters of water during a 70 km bike ride (ave 1 L/10km) and still feel dehydrated and like you are going to die. (don't worry mom, I promise I won't go outside riding anytime but night until summer is over from this point forward!)

[in Qatar you have to take this mantra literally]

You have to bring an inside AND an outside outfit to work so that you don't get hypothermia from sitting in AC in sweat-soaked clothes

Your Ten Day Forecast looks like this:

and it is only the START of summer!

I don't know what I am going to do when it is August and 150 Degrees F. Has anyone invented portable AC yet??

I may have just spent our entire life savings on shoes...

2010-05-31T07:44:00.000-07:00

SHHHH. DON'T TELL THE FUTURE HUSBAND.

ok, well I did not really spend our entire life savings on shoes.

More like if you summed up the amount of money I've spent on shoes my entire life and compared it to this one Zappos shopping cart I just bought, this would probably be more. (ok that is a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the point.)

Basically, I placed every shoe I liked on the website into my shopping cart and hit checkout.

Can someone please explain to me why gorgeous shoes have to be so flipping expensive?

Now before you start judging and calling my mom to tell her I've gone crazy with a Carrie Bradshaw complex and need immediate psychiatric treatment; let me explain...

I have no self control
my feet were depressed and needed a pick-me-up
money for food? Ha! I can live on shoes and love alone!
Work was really boring today

So pretty, pretty, prettyyyyyy
Sex & the City 2 fever compelled me to do it

Still think I am certifiably crazy??? Don't worry, the above list is a JOKE. (cough, sort of)

Truth be told, while I did spend a decent chunk of change on the lovilies shown above; sadly, I will only be keeping 2 pairs to call as my own. That is if everything works out as planned. The first four are potential wedding shoes. I will hopefully be selecting one of these based on fit, comfort, and how it looks with the dress. Of course, the pair I love the most (based on appearance) costs the most. Figures. The last pair is a set of heels that has been elluding me for an entire year....I've tried on at least 50 pairs of nude pumps to-date and still have not found a winner (I am a bit picky). I am hoping these will finally end my quest. The reason I mass ordered online is because Zappos does not ship to Qatar and I will soon be home in NJ for a week so this is my only chance.

Hopefully I can keep the credit card bill a secret until then.

UPDATE: Future hubs saw the e-mail receipt for my purchases (damn, forgot about that) and the following Microsoft Communicator IM conversation ensued:

Hubs, Future [5:21 PM]: hey

Hubs, Future [5:21 PM]: shoe shopper

KP [5:23 PM]: um, hey babe...whats up?

Hubs, Future [5:24 PM]: you picking me up?

Hubs, Future [5:24 PM]: or did you have to sell the car to pay for those shoes?

BUSTED.

Little Known Fact

2010-05-30T01:18:00.000-07:00

Little known fact: I have an extremely small head.

Fortunately, I don't think I am one of those people whose body looks disproportionate to their headsize (now if i shaved my head, it might be a different story). But this tidbit has been fodder for an endless amount of jokes from my future husband (what.a.guy) since the moment he discovered I was "cranially challenged".

For example:

Last weekend after my cycling accident I had a CT scan of my head taken to make sure everything was OK. This produced two X-ray type films; one of just my skull and the other of my brain. He found it hilarious to show me (and our friends who came over for lunch later in the day) the one of my "empty" skull and say, "see, I knew your (her) head was too small to fit a brain! This explains so much!" and so on. Brutal. Not the teasing (because it is typically in a playful, loving way), but the quality of the jokes, can we say lame?! (sorry babe, love you!)

Anyway, having a small head has always been a bit of a challenge for me when it comes to buying hats, headbands, and/or any other sort of headwear. For hats I typically have to wear the adjustable kind, strapped to the smallest setting or an extra small fitted size. One-size-fits-all? Um, LIES. Not this little head.

Typically, I am not bothered or embarrassed by the fact my head is so small...although yesterday was an exception. Due to my accident I had to replace my helmet. For those of you that don't know, I live in the Middle East and it is not always easy to find things you want/need. Especially when it comes to sports and fitness type supplies, food, and equipment (with the exception of soccer gear). There is a surprisingly decent sized cycling/mtb community here; however, there is only one real store in the entire country that supplies to our needs. While they do carry some essentials; it is a small store with pretty limited offerings and brand varieties.

So anyway, we went down there to find me an interim replacement helmet. I am going to buy a light-weight racing helmet when I go back to the states in July but I need one in the mean time so I can still ride. They only had a couple to choose from and the salesman starts off by handing me a medium sized helmet; I try to tell him that a medium will be too big but he insists it is adjustable and will fit. I try it on and crank it down to the smallest setting and low and behold, the helmet is not even close to fitting. "Oh, I see," says the salesman. He tells me he needs to go into the back and see if they have any smalls available. After a few minutes of searching he finds one. I try it on, crank it down, and it still does not fit. He hands me a "universal size" helmet which can adjust to a smaller circumference than the small and still, no luck. At this point the future hubs starts laughing and hands me this:

The Trek "Little Dipper" helmet, designed for small children. After a bit of coercing, I put it on just to humor him...I was able to get it on my head, but it did not fit properly because it was not deep enough (thank god). But, I was still able to get my head into it, which was enough to cause the future hubs to go into hysterics. Even the salesman was laughing at me as he said, "Ok, I see what you need. This will work," and hands me the following:

It is a Trek Youth "Vapor" helmet and of course it fit, PERFECTLY. The future hubs starts telling the salesman, "Great, we will take it!" Um, future hubs, Seriously?! Are you kidding?! I am sorry but, really?!?! I would rather not ride my bike then get caught wearing this thing...it screams 12 year old girl! Honestly, while having a small head is one thing, I don't think the whole world needs to know that I wear helmets designed for pre-pubescent children. Especially when I am trying to intimidate the competition during a race. Yeah, not happening. I plead desperately to the salesman, "Do you have this in any other color?? PLEASE, ANYTHING ELSE." He looks over the helmets on display and says he needs to go check in the back. The future hubs shoots me the looks that says, "Are you really going to be such a fashion diva? It is just a helmet." Um, YES and I am quite sure you wouldn't be caught dead wearing something like that while out training with the Terminator and Mr. German National because they would never let you hear the end of it.

After a few minutes the salesman comes out from the back with this (the very last one):

Ok, now this is something me and my tiny head can live with.

Latest Obsession: MyPlate at Livestrong.com

2010-05-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

Being that I am a cyclist, one might think that I knew about this ages ago since Lance Armstrong and his Livestrong mantra is like the most mainstream cycle thing there is. Truth be told I only "discovered" the amazingness of this website last week by total accident.

Livestrong.com acts as a complete epicenter for healthy living. It is designed for everyone; from the seasoned athlete trying to get the competitive edge to the average jane/joe looking to lose a few. I have been playing around on this site for a few days now and there are so many awesome features; I just really feel the compelled to share (also, of course I find this site during the week I am not allowed to do any physical activity...but I guess it is a good thing I found it now).

The majority of the features on this website are FREE (don't you love that word?!); however, if you want some more seriously advanced fitness & health tracking features you will have to shell out a whopping $45/year. (How much does Weight Watchers cost?? I am thinking this is a steal) The first step is to figure out your daily calorie goal. This goal is based on your basic stats (age, height, weight, gender, etc), your activity level, and your health goal (maintain weight, lose weight at x lbs per week, etc.). The next step is to start tracking.

Ok, so I like adventure sports and outdoor activities, but honestly I am not a health nut. Anyone who knows me (or reads my blog) knows that I LOVE food, especially in the form of cupcakes. I would say that in my quest for a healthy figure and fitness level eating well is my BIGGEST challenge. Especially with a fiance like mine who is extremely athletic, skinny as a rail, and can eat like one of those Asian competitive food eaters without gaining a pound. Constantly being around someone who eats that much and does not have to worry about his food choices can be extremely difficult; temptation is a wicked beast. So for me, I find the myplate food tracker to be amazing. First, it has practically everything you can think of stored in there with a full nutritional breakdown. I am a huge nerd and fully enjoy looking things up that I plan to eat or have eaten.

The myplate is an extremely easy way to keep a food journal and it does all sorts of cool analysis for you. All you have to do is enter in your food ...how easy is that?!

It will point out to you areas in your diet where you need to improve and areas where you are doing well. As you can see, I have been consuming too much sugar and too little fiber. No wonder I am always hungry! The tracker is great because it keeps records of foods you eat often so you can select them more easily, but you can also create meals (groups of things you may eat on a daily basis like cereal and milk) and add recipes of things you cook at home.

While you track you food intake, you can also track your fitness and calorie deficit from normal everyday tasks. Did you know desk work burns 119 cal/hr?? Go figure. The last feature (probably my favorite) is the My Loops function. Here you can map out running, walking, and cycling routes (linked through google maps) and based on your weight, distance, & speed it can calculate the calories expended on that route. Again, I am a huge dork and had the best time mapping out two of my most common biking routes on it...you can also find other user's loops in your area (there are none in Doha unfortunately, except mine now).

There are a ton of more features to this site, like articles about healthy weight loss, fun exercises to do at home, etc. but I'm sure I've already bored you to death so I am just going to let you go and explore on your own. Don't blame me if you get addicted though!

Tasting the Pavement

2010-05-23T07:55:00.000-07:00

People in the Middle East seem to be very confused by my hobbies. Yesterday's events only further proved this theory.

I got into an accident while cycling at 45 kilometers per hour (~28 mph). I was reaching down for my water bottle and hit a raised reflector in the road (I didn't see it coming). Since I only had one hand on my handlebars I was unable to correct my balance and I went flying directly into the highway...where the locals tend to drive like maniacs at speeds greater than 100 mph. Luckily, there were no cars immediately in the location that I landed but traffic was oncoming quickly.

Now in the US (at least where I am from) if a driver came up to a cyclist crashed on the road they would stop their car, get out and try to help that person or at least make sure that they are OK. This is not the case in the Middle East. Instead the driver slows down and starts flashing their lights and honking at you for getting in their way. Then after they have made you aware of your "error", instead of stopping to help they will just drive around you while continuing to honk out their displeasure. Awesome.

As I skid out into the highway I was screaming in horror and pain. My entire right arm, shoulder, hip and lower leg became covered in "road rash" aka a wicked gravel filled abrasion. I hit my head, causing my helmet to dent and crack. I was dizzy from the impact and unable to react quickly enough to get myself out of the road and dangers way. Thankfully the other cyclists I was with (one of them being the Construction Manager of my project) were able to react quickly for me. They were able to move me and my bike to the side of the road and help me. I have to note that even after I was out of the road, still lying on the ground, cars continued to drive by and honk at us. Seriously, I am almost POSITIVE that at least SOMEONE driving by in the US would stop and help if they saw someone in distress on the side of the road without a vehicle parked nearby. Obviously a bunch of people on bikes are not going to be able to get a person to a hospital if needed. Am I right?

Anyway, I was able to get to the hospital to get cleaned up and checked out. All is well. Except again, Middle Eastern people don't understand my hobbies. Every doctor & nurse I saw kept asking me if I got into my accident while swimming. What?! How on earth would I manage to get that scraped up while swimming??!! My only guess is they were extremely confused by all the spandex I was wearing since all the Islamic women here wear like full spandex outfits that cover their entire bodies when they go swimming. But again, I was wearing spandex shorts cut well above my knees and a short sleeved spandex shirt...and also carrying a cracked helmet. I would think the helmet would be a dead give away. Wrong. Then when I told them I got into the accident while cycling, they responded: "Motorcycle?". Well, at least that is a bit closer. None of them seemed to believe that a person could ride a bike at 45 km/hr either. Guess they have never heard of Lance Armstrong.

The definition of awesome

2010-05-22T22:36:00.000-07:00

this is brillant:

Hyperbole and a Half: Sneaky Hate Spiral

enjoy.

ok seriously i have a problem

2010-05-19T08:00:00.000-07:00

I was eating cake yet AGAIN in my dreams last night.

I dreamt that I was tasting wedding cake and settled on the following flavors (each in their own tier):

Double Chocolate with Chocolate Mousse
Apple Pie Cake
Tiramasu
Funfetti with brownie bites

And I could totally taste every bite I took. Seriously. How ridiculous (slash kind of delicious) does that cake sound? Who dreams with that kind of crazy detail?? ABOUT CAKE??

I.HAVE.A.PROBLEM.

(darn it and now I want a slice of cake!)

the view from here

2010-05-17T07:39:00.000-07:00

Doha's city center as seen from The Pearl in West Bay

This is The Pearl:

It is a man-made island/peninsula that will eventually be home to a myriad of luxury homes, villas, apartments, 5-star hotels, retail stores & restaurants. Some of the first phases of development have been completed and several high end stores (such as Dolce, Prada, Hermes), showrooms (Ferrari, Bugatti) and upscale restaurants (Gordon Ramsay's Maze, Le Relais de l'Entrecote, Bice Ristorante) are already open. Although there is a ton of construction still going on (and yet to go), it is already shapping up to be quite an amazing place. The Pearl is one of my favorite places in Qatar and not because of the shopping (although I am sure the fiance' thinks it is the reason I am always asking to go there!). It has great views of the city center, giant yatch's, and the Arabian Gulf. Another great feature is that there are tons of walkways along the water and relatively few people. It has a really relaxing atmosphere because it is not over-crowded like the other shopping/dinning areas in the city. There are plenty of places to sit, relax, and enjoy an evening or afternoon coffee...and of course, plenty of ridiculously amazing/expensive clothes to drool over.

I think my living in Qatar would be much improved if I were residing here:

Don't you? (*sigh* wishful thinking)

Splash

2010-05-16T03:08:00.000-07:00

You are hanging out at a boat party up on the top deck and suddenly you think to yourself; "boy, it's hot; I'd sure like to go for a swim!"

So what do you do??

JUMP ON

IN!

(SPLASH!)

oh yeah, did I forget to mention this was a PIRATE boat party??

AWESOME.

Brave or Stupid?

2010-05-11T06:51:00.000-07:00

HOW

RAD

IS THIS TRIAL BIKER?!

HOW

NERVOUS

ARE THESE GUYS?!?!

(PS - Do you see me in the background snapping a picture?? I will post that one later once I get it off my camera...it's pretty awesome)

B is for Bad @ss and for BOY

2010-05-09T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hello blog world! I would like to introduce you to my *first* ever nephew:

CAYDEN ROBERT

I absolutely L-O-V-E the name Cayden. It reminds me of the place my brother & his wife first met - the Cayman Islands. I don't think this has anything to do with why they choose this name, but I like it. His middle name; Robert, is my dad's name. Good old Bob-O!

They just found out they were having a boy a few days ago and I could not be more thrilled for them. If this little bundle of joy turned out to be a girl they were planning on naming her Evelyn Pilar. Evelyn is the name of my sister-in-law's good friend who passed away and Pilar is her Mother's family name. I like that this name has sentimental value.

Baby names are hard in my opinion. Not that I am anywhere close to the point in my life when I am ready for a child (sorry mom!), but I have thought about baby names in an anticodotal fashion. As in, "oh, that is a cool name"...or "oh god, whoever named their child that is deranged!". If I actually had to come up with a list of names I liked or would consider for my future unborns the paper would be completely blank. Now, if I had to come up with ridiculous names I would name my unborns as a joke...I could do that in a heartbeat:

Girl Names

1. Trashawanda - seriously I met a girl with this name once and I tried VERY hard not to laugh everytime I saw her

2. Anita Lai - self explanatory

3. Bertha - just screams "fat girl" to me

4. Gertrude - your child is now an 80 year old grandma

5. Krystal Oceania - I named one of my Barbie's this as a child, I have issues...ahaha

6. Apple, Blossom, Rainbow, Pearl - (or anything that is an actual object)

7. Neveah - (or anything this actually something else backwards)

Boy Names

1. Harry - I had a friend with this name, his last name was unfortunately Wiener (dead serious)

2. Ralph - to vomit or manparts...take your pick

3. Scooter, Skipper, Skipp - this is supposed to be a baby, not a boat

4. Thor - your child now must grow up to be on American Gladiators...(I think I may seriously have to name a future dog this though, preferably a smaller one..haha)

5. Seymour - your child is now an old pervy grandpa or vice principal

6. Sancho or Sanchez - as in dirty sanchez..haha

7. Prince - (put princess up for girls names as well oh, and precious for that matter..VOMIT)

Anyone else have any brillantly ridiculous names?? I could use some good ones for my future pets...(I highly agree with giving animals ridiculous names or wait, does that border on animal cruelty??)

scenes from my version of a typical weekend in Qatar...

2010-05-09T04:15:00.000-07:00

i think i may have a problem...

2010-05-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

Last night I was apparently chewing in my sleep; very loudly.

To the point that the fiance' tried waking me up to stop me from chewing.

Now I don't remember any of this because I was sleeping, but here is what happened:

Fiance': Baby, hey baby. Wake up.

KP: (chew chew chew, chomp chomp chomp) mmmm

Fiance': Babe, come on, you are chewing, wake up.

KP: (chew, chew) I know - I was eating CAKE.

Fiance': what? um, was it good?

KP: I don't know.

Seriously, you know you have a problem when you dream about eating cake to the point that you are physically chewing in your sleep. I am not sure what is more funny, the fact that I was eating cake in my dreams or that I did not know if it was good or not. Either way, I think this may be a sign that I have a problem and might have to join cake-eaters anonymous.

Why I am completely changing my ENTIRE Wedding

2010-05-05T01:38:00.000-07:00

Over the past 24 hours, I have had a total change of heart. It all happened when my Dad (who is totally rad btw) sent me the below e-mail that totally rocked my world....

So wait, you guys didn't know I have a "thing" for pirates?!

Ok, BFF/Maid-of-Honor, you totally knew. (and you are down for this right??)

So instead of having an outdoor garden, simple-chic wedding in New Jersey, I am now going to have an

AWESOME SQUASH BUCKLING, PIRATE ADVENTURE AT SEA WEDDING

This is going to be the most FANTABULOUS wedding EVVERRRRR!!! I am practically having a seisure of pure joy over this. And these are the wonderful people that are going to make it all happen:

Here are all the AMAZING details:

Here is what me and my future captian of my heart and life (aka fiance) have to look forward to:

Seriously, I am pretty sure you all are entirely jealous of how super rad, fantastically, awesome-riffic my new wedding is going to be. I am sorry, but your glamorous ballroom, black-tie wedding just does not compare. I mean come on, Pirates! Arghhhhh!!!

So you guys are all totally coming right??

PS- Pirate or wench costume required.

Lime is apparently not the only fruit that goes with salt...

2010-05-02T07:22:00.000-07:00

Sometimes during lunch at work I go to a jobsite canteen to eat with a few of my coworkers. The canteen closest to my office (while it does have killer chocolate muffins) does not typically serve the best food so we usually bring our own food and eat it there. (side note: there is this rad canteen out in the labor camp for management (additional side note: yes, you read that correctly, labor camp aka where the cheap labor lives...obviously we are not in America anymore!) that serves seriously awesome, authentic, made-to-order, super spicy Malaysian food for dirt cheap that we like to go to, but it is a bit of a hike so we don't go often.) Anyway, when people of different cultures bring food for lunch it can lend to be quite an interesting experience.

I am constantly seeing and trying things I have never been exposed to before. Funnily enough, while I have not seen or tried many of the "common" Middle Eastern, Indian, or Far Eastern cuisine; most people I work with from these countries know all about "common" American foods, fruits, & vegetables. Also at the grocery store; I have never seen nor heard of half of the fruits and vegetables and would have no clue how to cook or what to do with them either. So it is pretty cool for me when my non-western coworkers are kind enough to give me things to try. Actually, the Lebanese guys I sit with at lunch usually force their food on me...I will get up to get a napkin or something and magically some random food will be left where I am sitting and then they will all chant, "Yalla, yalla! Try it, try it!" ("yalla, yalla" literally means "quickly, quickly" but the expression roughly translates to "let's get it done!" or "let's go!")

Today at lunch was no exception. One of my Lebanese coworkers had brought in a bunch of fruit that was grown at his home in Lebanon. Of course it was all passed down to me to sample, learn the names of, and consequently butcher their language as I try to repeat it. (Teaching me Arabic words is another source of entertainment for them, as my pronunciations are absolutely brutal and they find it hilarious.)

Here is what I tried...apparently all of these fruits are really nice with a cold Heineken and some salt. Or so I am told.

Janerek

Janerek most resembles an under-ripe plum in my opinion. It is soft enough to bite, but more crisp than a ripe plum and also more tart. You are supposed to have it with a little bit of salt on each bite. (and "Kimberly, it is so perfect with a beer")

Amande

This is actually an almond, but with its outer shell and before it hits full maturity. You are supposed to eat the full thing, dipped in salt, and again chased with a beer. (Got to love these Lebanese guys. Can you tell we are living in a dry country...everything tastes better with a beer! ha.)

Lastly, Akedeneh

This was my favorite of the three. The english word for this fruit is Loquat, they are originally from Japan and there are farms that grow them in California. Although I personally have never seen or heard of them before. It was sweet and had a really nice texture sort of similiar to a papaya or mango, but does not taste like either. This one does not require salt but of course, would be enhanced by a Heineken.

So now I think I am going to have to go home and grab a beer and test their claims... Yalla, yalla!

Quirks of Qatar

2010-04-28T07:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Qatar,

You crack me up sometimes.

Take this picture I took this past weekend for example:

Please ignore our super tight & bright colored spandex outfits, but
could you be more random & unneccessary?!

I am guessing probably.

That's all for now. Thanks.

xoxo, KP

the battle is on

2010-04-27T02:05:00.000-07:00

I like to think that I am "normal" (we all know that is far from the truth, but humor me here please) and that I am just like every other bride-to-be in the fact that I would like to look my absolute best on the day I walk down the aisle. For some brides their "absolute best" means full out makeover and crazy weight-loss while for others it simply means keeping in shape/toning up and maintaining a good beauty regime.

I would say I fall somewhere towards the latter (although my hair is beyond dire need for a trip to the salon...its been over 6 months since I've been..I blame the middle east, but that's another story!). The latter being that I'd like to stay in shape and while it would be cool to lose a few LBs, it is not the end of the world if I don't.

That being said, there is something I need to admit:

I've been on a RIDICULOUS chocolate & cheese filled binge for the past 2 weeks.

I.CANNOT.CONTROL.MYSELF.

And ladies, if I keep up at this rate, things are going to go south real fast. AKA my whole body is going to explode into one huge pustule of fat. I will go from the bride who looks like this:

To one who looks like this:

No, seriously. Thank god my hobbies are predominately sports related - otherwise I'd been in major trouble. So anyway, all day I have been CRAVING (to the point I can almost taste it and I'm drooling) a chocolate muffin from the canteen at my jobsite. I don't know what they heck they put in them, but they are GOOD and I crave them (and usually succumb to my craving) all the time. But today, I put my foot down. Enough is enough! I've got a wedding dress to rock in less than 5 months!

And guess what?! I've made it through the ENTIRE day without having the chocolate muffin or any other of the chocolate/cookie/junk food treats that can be found lurking around trying to steer my off course in the office. I went head to head with evil old temptation and won! It was a hard battle but today I was victorious! Hell, I think I deserve a reward for being so good....don't you???

I'm thinking a cupcake.

Small Green Packages

2010-04-25T22:56:00.000-07:00

It's true what they say; the best gifts come in small packages...small green packages that is.

This year for my birthday (last week) the fiance' replaced my old (slightly on the fritz) 4GB iPod Nano with this green 16 GB beauty.

I.AM.IN.LOVE.

Little known fact: I am a music-aholic. My iPod is the one thing I don't leave home without. I am more likely to leave home sans cellphone than I am sans iPod. (I know, that's not normal) No, I am not one of those emo people who walk around all day with baggy jeans and a hoodie with earphones on! But, I do always have my iPod handy and use it frequently (when appropriate). And besides always having my iPod handy, I have playlists for EVERYTHING.

No really, everything.

I have playlists for my different moods (and according to the fiance I have far too many..haha), for different types of dinner parties, for dance parties, for the mid-week work slump, for right before bed, various mixes for sports training & workouts, one for travel, an "i gotta get sh*t done" mix, and even one for running a marathon! (got to get busy creating a Half-Ironman training mix next)

Anyway, I have to say the fiance' did awesome this year; especially because I had been wanting a new iPod but had not even mentioned it to him. Gifts are great, but I think they are so much better when the giver somehow magically reads your mind and you are not expecting it but it is exactly what you wanted. You know what I mean?

homesick

2010-04-22T05:29:00.000-07:00

living halfway across the world

is an exciting adventure.

a fortunate experience

for two best friends to share

together.

in one another

we have found a home, our home

no matter where we go.

but some days

i just

miss our

other home.

the one we've left behind.

the one that houses

all of our friends

and our family

who are not here with us.

they say

home is where the heart is;

and today my heart

is not here with me

it is home with you.

CAUGHT!

2010-04-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Today at work the paparazzi caught me on camera....

Bet you didn't know that my job required fall protection and a hard hat some days, huh?

iWedding

2010-04-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

I had yet ANOTHER frustrating wedding dream last night. I am quite sure my subconscious is trying to tell me something...and that message is "iPhones are evil". (Say what?!?)

You are probably thinking: "What on earth does an iPhone have to do with a wedding?!?"

According to my dreams, apparently A LOT.

Which is weird because I don't even own an iPhone...

but in my dreams I do and it causes me nothing but trouble.

I am either getting bad news called to me on it or I can't get in contact with/lost the number of a vendor/bridesmaid/future husband. In one dream I had all the music for the wedding saved on the iPhone and somehow it all got erased and replaced with a track of Halloween sound effects (random, I know).

Well, last night I dreamt that it was an hour before the walk down the aisle and my hairstylist was MIA. Frantically, I am trying to get in contact with her, but my evil iPhone would not let me access her number. I kept scrolling through my contacts and it would just keep scrolling right past her name and not stop. I would get extremely close, but not close enough to click on her name and call her. I tried looking her up on the mobile internet, but the server was not working. So then finally, I decided to ride my bike (in my wedding dress of course) over to her house. Once I get there we settle everything and I sit down in a chair and she asks me how I want my hair done. I am all, "I have pictures saved on my iPhone that I can show you! I want my hair exactly like this one picture I have! It's going to be soooo awesome!" And, the evil iPhone strikes again...it won't let me find the iPhoto app. I keep sorting through the screen with all the apps and I just can't find it. When I finally do find it, I keep hitting the wrong button...like I just can't quite seem to hit the screen in the right location to open it. But none-the-less, my wedding is quickly approaching and I keep trying until after what feels like an eternity I lose all of my patience, throw the phone on the floor, and stomp on it until it breaks into a million tiny pieces. At this point I woke up sweating and to my alarm clock blaring. All I could think at that moment was "I am NEVER buying an iPhone!" Haha, seriously.

I have no idea why the iPhone is a reoccuring demon in my dreams. I understand why I may be having dreams about things going wrong with my upcoming wedding...but I really just want to know, "why iPhone, why must you torment me so?!"

On a side note: Are there any other brides-to-be or newlyweds out there that have experienced wedding nightmares? Or is it just me (crazy KP with her overly active imagination)?

I wonder where this cupcake came from??

2010-04-15T04:41:00.000-07:00

I was reading one of my fav blogs cakespy.com and came across this picture:

Do you see the AWESOME t-shirt the girl on the right is wearing?!

The unicorn is pooping CUPCAKES!!!

It's absolutely brillant. I.DESPERATELY.NEED.ONE.

So I googled "unicorn pooping cupakes" (had a good snigger about typing that into my browser) and found that they were selling this shirt:

at Hot Topic. Not exactly the same, but equally hilarious and awesome.

In my search I also came across these two other gems:

(Yes, I am aware that I am too easily amused.)

Seriously, I was so excited about these pictures that I was INSPIRED to create my own!

Which then turned into this:

hahaha. Unicorns pooping cupcakes, love it!

An E-mail from my Future Husband

2010-04-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

I get to work this morning and open up my e-mail to discover the following message from the fiance':

From: The Future Husband
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 6:01 PM
To: KP
Subject: FW: Classes for Women

I found these great courses on-line and I really think you could benefit from taking a few of them! See class descriptions below:

Classes for Women
at

THE ADULT LEARNING CENTER

REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED

By Friday, DECEMBER 30, 2010

NOTE: DUE TO THEIR COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL, CLASS SIZE WILL BE LIMITED TO 8 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.

Class 1

Up in Winter, Down in Summer - How to Adjust a Thermostat, Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.

Meets 4 wks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hrs, beginning at 7:00 PM.

Class 2

Which Takes More Energy - Putting the Toilet Seat Down, or Bitching About It for 3 Hours?

Round Table Discussion.

Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00PM for 2 hours.

Class 3

Is It Possible To Drive Past a Wal-Mart Without Stopping? -- Group Debate.

Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 AM for 2 hours.

Class 4

Fundamental Differences Between a Purse and a Suitcase -- Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.

Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.

Class 5

Curling Irons--Can They Levitate and Fly Into The Bathroom Cabinet? Examples on Video.

Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM

Class 6

How to Ask Questions During Commercials and Be Quiet During the Program--Help Line Support

and Support Groups.

Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM

Class 7

Can a Bath Be Taken Without 14 Different Kinds of Soaps and Shampoos?

Open Forum.

Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours..

Class 8

Health Watch -- They Make Medicine for PMS -

USE IT!

Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.

Class 9

I Was Wrong and He Was Right--Real Life Testimonials!

Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined..

Class 10

How to Parallel Park In Less Than 20 Minutes Without an Insurance Claim.

Driving Simulations.

4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.

Class 11

Learning to Live--How to Apply Brakes Without Throwing Passengers Through the Windshield.

Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined

Class 12

How to Shop by Yourself.

Meets 4 wks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.

Upon completion of any of the above courses, diplomas will be issued to the survivors.

Real funny, Future Hubs, real funny. Of course, I had to write back. So I countered with this:

To: The Future Husband

Sent: Wednesday, April 14, 2010 7:30 AM

From: KP

Subject: RE: FW: Classes for Women

Babe,

It was so thoughtful of you to find those classes for me! I really appreciate it. In the spirit of "continued education" I went through the effort of finding a couple of courses for you to enjoy, too!

Here is a short review:

Classes for Men

at
THE BOYSCOUTS OF AMERICA LEARNING LODGE
REGISTRATION MUST BE COMPLETED
By Friday, DECEMBER 30, 2010
NOTE: DUE TO THEIR COMPLEXITY AND DIFFICULTY LEVEL, CLASS SIZE WILL BE LIMITED TO 4 PARTICIPANTS MAXIMUM.
Class 1
Up Before, Down After - How to Properly Operate the Toilet Seat, Step by Step, with Slide Presentation.
Meets 4 wks, Monday and Wednesday for 2 hrs, beginning at 7:00 PM.
Class 2
Which Takes More Energy – Doing What You’re Asked To Do Now, or Being Bitched At About It for 3+ Hours?
Round Table Discussion.
Meets 2 weeks, Saturday 12:00PM for 2 hours.
Class 3
Is It Possible To Drive Past an Expensive, Fast Car Without Drooling like a Fool? -- Group Debate.
Meets 4 weeks, Saturday 10:00 AM for 2 hours.
Class 4
Fundamental Differences Between a Real Sports Team and Your Fantasy One -- Pictures and Explanatory Graphics.
Meets Saturdays at 2:00 PM for 3 weeks.
Class 5
Dirty Clothes – A Miracle Journey from Where You Left Them on the Floor to Their Magical Clean Return to the Closet: Examples on Video.
Meets 4 weeks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM
Class 6
Learning How to Listen: With Empathy and Like You Care--Help Line Support
and Support Groups.
Meets 4 Weeks, Friday and Sunday 7:00 PM
Class 7
Do You Really Need to “Adjust Yourself” That Often?
Open Forum.
Monday at 8:00 PM, 2 hours..
Class 8
Health Watch -- There Is Soap in the Restroom -
USE IT!
Three nights; Monday, Wednesday, Friday at 7:00 PM for 2 hours.
Class 9
I Am Wrong and She Is ALWAYS Right--Real Life Testimonials!
Tuesdays at 6:00 PM Location to be determined..
Class 10
You are Not Jeff Gordon – Learning to Obey the Speed Limit.
Driving Simulations.
4 weeks, Saturday's noon, 2 hours.
Class 11
Dishes – They Are Not Going To Wash Themselves
Tuesdays at 7:00 PM, location to be determined
Class 12
How to Be the Perfect Shopping Companion – Bag Holding 101
Meets 4 wks, Tuesday and Thursday for 2 hours beginning at 7:00 PM.
Upon completion of all of the above courses, your balls will be returned & diplomas will be issued.

Point, KP.

Tricked, Fooled, Conned ... A Sports Story

2010-04-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

Did I ever tell you guys about the time I got tricked into running a marathon?

Yes, that is right; I was fooled into completeing 26.4 miles of self-inflicted physical and mental abuse.

I am pretty sure I have mentioned I ran the Dubai Marathon in January, but what I failed to explain was how this feat ended up being added to my list of "Life Achievements". (And yes, I have contemplated puting my marathon victory on my resume under "skills", haha)

Clearly, I got tricked into this because no one in their right mind decides to train for a marathon only 13 weeks before it (with Christmas & New Years falling square in the middle), in the HOT Middle Eastern desert, in a city that only has 2 safe places to run long distances. But alas, I am a sucker and a fool.

It all started with an e-mail suggesting that it would be fun to go over to Dubai for a weekend getaway and while we were there run the 10K race that was being held in conjuction to the marathon. Somehow this fun suggestion snowballed into a "who is the bigger ~~idiot~~ man" competition where 20 of my coworkers (including the fiance' and myself) were peer-pressured into running the marathon. We even paid 80 USD for the awesome pleasure of torturing ourselves.

To be honest, the idea of running and training for a marathon did not seem *too bad* when supposedly 20 other people would be there to support you through the duration of training and during the actual race. However, as the weeks went by more and more people hung up their running shoes. By the time race day came only 4 (myself and the fiance' included) of us actually made it to the starting line and only 3 crossed the finish.

And let me tell you...running a marathon is no joke. I mean you hear the word marathon and you think "yeah, that sounds tough," but really you have NO IDEA until you actually run one. Of course, I was completely fooled & under prepared. I ran the first half of the marathon in 2 hours (a decent pace) and was having a good time. It felt pretty good and I was enjoying seeing Dubai for the first time. The problem is, in my limited amount of training, I never ran more than half a marathon distance. BIG MISTAKE. I had no flipping clue what I was up against because the second half of the marathon was not only hard, but it was HOT (we are talking nearly 100 degrees). So hot that I was pouring an entire bottle of water over myself at every 1.5 mile water station. And the last 6 miles were BRUTAL. I was on the verge of emotional hysteria by the time I reached the finish; bursting into full on tears as I crossed because I seriously did not think I was going to make it. Afterwards I vowed that I would NEVER run another marathon again. Been.There.Done.That.

Here I am in all my marathoning glory (totally beating the cr*p out of that fit looking dude)

But here is the awful truth: the further I get away from the experience, the more I find myself contemplating attempting another one or maybe something more.... I keep thinking, "I could have run that faster" or "I can do it without crying". And there I go now fooling myself into more physical punishment. Which, the point to my story being I have now been CONNED, yes, conned into completing a HALF IRONMAN.

WTF, KP!?!?

I know guys! I know. But it's not my fault! I swear. (ok, maybe a little bit my fault) So basically, after recovering from the marathon I have been thinking all sorts of crazy things. For some reason I now believe I am part super-human, perhaps? I don't know. But what I do know is that I have this super cool cycling friend (who the fiance' picked up for me one night - that is another story though) M from Australia who is super awesome and also a triathlete and she convinced me that I can be one too. I currently cycle between 50-80 miles a week (if not more), I have got the running thing down (thank you marathon)and I used to swim competitively in High School - so I figured I could definitely do a Sprint triathlon (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run) or with a bit training an Olympic triathlon (1.5 km swim, 40 km ride, 10 km run) no sweat. But she flipping signed me up for a Half Ironman (1.9 km swim, 90 km ride, 21.1 km run aka The Long Course)! See?? I totally got conned!

So here I go again - signing up for more self inflicted physical and mental abuse. Seriously, I should probably get my head checked.

instead

2010-04-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

i was supposed to go to the gym tonight after work.

instead i am at home eating chicken tacos and watching 90210.

i probably should be feeling guilty about skipping my workout,

but these tacos are damn good.

so it is hard to feel guilt; instead I feel this:

90210 + tacos > healthy lifestyle choices

and this

90210 + tacos = win * awesome

KP at Work - A Self Portrait

2010-04-11T03:21:00.000-07:00

This was how I felt at work this morning... note the puddle of drool.

Subliminal Message..You Want Blueberry Muffins

2010-04-07T07:40:00.000-07:00

The other day the grocery store had fresh/good looking blueberries; which is a rare for us here in the Giant Sandbox. So of course, it was blueberry muffin time.

And, um yeah, I totally documented the event ~~because I am an evil bitch and want you to crave baked goods as much as I do~~. So sit back and enjoy...

Are you craving blueberry muffins yet?!

Confession

2010-04-06T08:05:00.000-07:00

I spent most of this morning prior to work and today at lunch look at PORN.

Ahem, porn of the shoe variety, that is.

Have you been to Zappos?? It is literally a shoe-addicts heaven. You can browse thousands of shoes in just a few clicks and sort them all by type, color, brand, heel height, etc. Then once you have found a pair ~~(or 20)~~ that suits your fancy, you can look at in high definition from 7 different angles and zoomed in. Seriously, I am telling you; it's shoe porn.

And yes, I DO need to see the shoes from ALL 7 angles and the zoomed in close up shot! That is the BEST feature of the site in my opinion. I can't tell you how frustrating it is to be shopping online and not get to see a good view of a product from multiple angles. Especially when it comes to shoes! (Can I get a "Hell Yes!"?) I also like when websites give you suggestions of other shoes or items you might like based on the ones you are looking at...and I am like a moth to a flame...or a fat kid to a cookie jar ~~(yeah I am definitely most like the fat kid to the cookie jar)~~...I am addicted and am continually finding the next swoon-worthy pair of shoes I wish I owned. (Meanwhile the fiance is having a minor heart attack at the thought)

And since I am such a good blog friend, I am going to share some of my porn with you (because really, that is what friends do!):

I am totally loving the thick, around-the-ankle-strap right now and I am in search of the perfect pair to add to my closet. Also, if you can't tell I am still floundering over the whole wedding shoe thing. My heart aches for those Badgley Mischka's, but I have decided I don't want to do white with ivory. I am toying around with other options of gold or silver...but I am not entirely sold on the idea. I also found these Martino Valero petal sandals that have stolen my heart a bit too. The thing is, I am having an outdoor wedding so heels are not the best choice of footwear...but I simply cannot find a pair of wedges or flat sandals that have the same kind of whimsy or romance as the Badgley's or the Valeros. I found these other sandals on Style Me Pretty, but they are gold...and again, not sure I am sold on the idea.

I am secretly hoping for a fairy godmother to appear and bestow upon me my "glass slipper", aka my perfect wedding shoe. But until then, I will just be stuck sorting through endless amounts of shoe-porn. It's a tough job, but someone has got to do it ;-)

Shamal of Doha

2010-04-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

Ok so I have to admit; I have been here for nearly six months and had yet to travel outside of Doha city limits. (I know, bad KP!!) This past weekend we decided to remedy that situation and take a mini-road/bike trip up to the Northern tip of Qatar. First we started the day with a 70km (about 44 miles) cycle up to Al Khor and back (see the blue line on below map); another place I had never been. It was a great ride and we saw a heard of about 30 camels grazing in the desert...um, well I actually missed seeing them on the way up to Al Khor because I was heavily engrossed in a political debate with a Brit who was on our bike ride. Oppsss.

After recovering from our morning ride, we grabbed some lunch and headed out on our journey up Al Shamal Road (see the red line). Shamal is the Arabic word for "North" although prior to taking this little jaunt we thought it meant "Sandstorm" for some unknown reason, aka we thought we were taking a voyage up "Sandstorm Road". Sounds way cooler, right?!

Now, I bet you are wondering, "KP, so what is Shamal (North) of Doha??!!"

Well, let me tell you!

A WHOLE LOT OF ABSOLUTELY, FLIPPING NOTHING.

SERIOUSLY.

We drove for almost 2 hours straight through endless stretches of desert with random spots of palm trees and shrubbery scattered about and finally reached the coast. The tide was so far out that we could hardly see the ocean from the shoreline...all we could see was sandy muck and stranded wooden boats waiting for the tide to come back in.

Oh yeah, we may have seen some goats:

And we may have also found a little park. Which was extremely strange because it was seriously in the middle of nowhere.

We might of done a bit of recreational activity in said park...~~because we have the combined maturity of a 12 year old~~

We also may have found some ruins of an old deserted city:

and might have explored a fort from the 1800s...

And of course, we just might have hung out with some camels on the way back:

Ok, so maybe there is not absolutely nothing North of Doha... but lets just say it is not very likely we will be making another trip up that way any time soon...cough*EVER*cough

First Steps

2010-03-31T07:47:00.000-07:00

I have previously threatened to turn my kitchen into a cupcake factory...and this past weekend I took a few steps towards making that threat a reality.

The first step was making a batch of home-brew vanilla extract.

The second step was putting my oven into action by making a crap-ton (yes, you read that correctly, a crap-ton) of mini cupcakes. I will admit that these cupcakes were not from scratch...the main reason being that it will be about another 75 days until my vanilla extract is ready. Also, I was not able to find powered sugar for making frosting until just yesterday, but I digress... Excuses aside, I think that I still made a wicked "from the box" cupcake.

can you smell them baking?? mmm.

Almost ready...

Do you hear what they are saying? "Eat me, I'm yummy, and not fattening at all. I swear!"

Haha, yeah right. These bad boys had an entire stick of butter in them, not to mention the icing. They definitely are not the dieter's cupcake, even though they were bite-sized.

One of my friends told me my cupcakes were better than the ones he had at Magnolia's Bakery... he 1. obviously has not had a cupcake in quite awhile (we are seriously deprived over here) and 2. he must not have had the chocolate with dark chocolate icing, gave me a cupcake-gasm, one that I had when I was at Magnolia's in Dubai.

Anyway, so now I got this practice run of cupcakes out of the way... I am almost ready to let the cupcake factory production line begin. I am having visions of myself at the end of some sort of belt shoving mini cupcakes into my mouth "I Love Lucy" style. Awesome.

Dear BBC,

2010-03-29T22:42:00.000-07:00

I was reading the daily world news on your website this morning and came across a headline under your "Top Stories" announcing that Ricky Martin is gay.

Seriously, you are calling this is a "top story"?! (ignoring the fact that I don't understand why someones sexuality is "news" or anyone else's business for that matter) Tell us something we don't aleady know.

Now if you were to report to us that Tiger Woods was gay, that might be a bit more "newsworthy". Or maybe since he is so promiscuous it really would not be!

Anyway, leave the gossip to Perez and go back to reporting actual news, BBC. Thanks.

Yours Truly,
KP

My Middle East, Company Supplied Housing

2010-03-29T21:34:00.000-07:00

A little glimpse of our everyday life in Qatar.

Just wait til I show you the grocery store...

When Prohibition Gets You Down ...

2010-03-29T04:07:00.000-07:00

It is time to take a cue from our Bootlegging fore-fathers of the roaring 20's ...

and make a batch of "home-brew".

and in 80 days time (long I know, but what's a girl with a cupcake fettish living in the Middle East gonna do?!) I will have my very own

KP secret recipe VANILLA EXTRACT.

What's the secret? Actually nothing, I just think it sounds cool.

Well, since anyone who ~~wastes their time~~ reads my blog is awesome, I'll share:

Slice three vanilla beans open length-wise.

image from tomford.com

Place vanilla beans into a glass jar with an air-tight lid.
Pour 1 cup of vodka (I used Absolute) into glass jar;

Don't forget the very important step of testing the vodka first by taking a shot just to make sure it hasn't gone bad. this is the "secret step" in case you were wondering. haha.
Make sure the vanilla beans are fully submerged in the vodka.
Place in a dark, cool place such as a kitchen cabinet.
Let sit for about 80 days/8 weeks.

After 80 days it should look something like this:

image from: blog.craftzine.com/vanillaext.jpg

And smell more like vanilla and less like vodka. The other cool thing about making your own vanilla extract is that the longer you let it sit, the more depth of flavour it develops. Also, when you start to run low you can simply top it off with additional vodka and BAM! (channeling my inner Emril), you are back in business. Awesome.

Nice Kitty??

2010-03-27T21:43:00.000-07:00

A typical sight on our Friday morning bike ride...

And we were FINALLY able to catch it on camera.

Only in Qatar. Awesome.

Mmmmm

2010-03-24T06:54:00.000-07:00

So today I was browsing through some folders on my Macbook that I have not touched in ages. I was in pursuit of some study materials from college to (hopefully) help on my quest to earn my Professional Engineering license (an 8 hour exam, plus 4 hour supplement for the State of California on top of professional recommendations and qualified work experience, blah, blah, blah). Anyway, I randomly came across this photo tucked away in the stash and immediately started laughing outloud.

Got to love those "free smells." I am quite sure this beauty was taken after a long night of drinking at one of my favorite college watering holes that is right above it. Senior year this was my BFF and my go-to late night place...slash we would have them deliver to us at our sorority house ALL.THE.TIME. Delivery sandwiches, seriously, that is a stroke of pure genius if you ask me. Mmm, I can taste their Beach Club now.

Five bucks to anyone who can name the bar I stumbled out of to go to here. Any Hokies out there? ;-)