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Tomorrow the fourth annual Great Handcar Regatta will be taking over downtown Santa Rosa, CA. The Regatta, an event dedicated to Mechanical & Artistic Wonders takes place in historic Railroad Square from 11am to 6pm, with a few after-parties including one with Gaby LaLa and another at D’Argenzio/Sheldon Winery.

A SPLENDID CELEBRATION OF ART,SCIENCE AND INGENUITY, FOR THE DELIGHT AND EDIFICATION OF ALL WHO ATTEND.

It shall be a day filled with handcar races, wonder, excitement, good friends, good wine and what looks like good weather.  Heather Irwin, food writer from BiteClub Eats will be keeping us entertained and fed and I cannot wait to see what she has up her steampunk sleeve for tomorrow’s event! There is a rumor that my boss, Colt Briner will be busting out some magic as well.

2010 Handcar Regatta pictures by Sara Webb

Anyone who has felt the impact of the “Parkerization” of wine must watch this video immediately for a good laugh!

Self Portrait ~ Fitness Boot Camp Day One

Today I started LiveFit Boot Camp with two good friends, Natalia and Melissa. At 5:45pm we drove up to St. Rose Elementary School in Santa Rosa, all three of us both excited and nervous at the same time.  Okay, I may have been the most nervous…. While Melissa has done P90X before and Natalia has tried Crossfit for a few months in the past, I am the the one who has never done much more than a once a month gym visit or a yoga class here or there.

With a pair of blue Sketchers, gray yoga pants, a black shirt, purple yoga mat and a large Fuji water, I was ready to accept my fate of being out of breath first and having my face turn bright red.  One minute in and we were running back and forth on the courtyard, jumping up and down, bringing our knees up as we ran, stepping over imaginary obstacles and skipping.  Yup, I was out of breath. Thankfully my two partners in crime were also.

Then we ran around the football track for ten minutes. Oh, and by run, I mean walk…. Because that is what the three of us did. While we were not the biggest girls at Boot Camp, we were definitely the most out of shape. We half-joked with Chris, the instructor, that we were going for most improved. While we may have been joking, we playfully encouraged each other that we had no where to go but up.

Good girlfriends can be the best encouragement when you are starting something new. 

Next it was time to lift weights, and do lunges, crunches, planking (no, not the meme version), squats and other “fun” exercises. This is the part where I am going to warn any guys reading that they may want to stop reading…  Today was also the day I started that “fun” thing that happens to women once a month. Yeah, not a fun way to start Boot Camp.  In fact it was quiet painful during some parts, but I listened to my body and stopped when I had to, slowly pushing myself by clapping my hands above my head when I couldn’t do any more jumping jacks or extending my three pound weights from the picnic bench instead of doing squats. But I am happy to say that I didn’t give up and am both excited and scared to wake up with the burning in my muscles that only happens when I work out.

Day 1 of Boot Camp down, 20 – 25 more days to go….

I have made it a mission to start doing activities that are healthy for me (yes, I am SO very aware that I sound like a broken record) and two of those activities are blogging more and getting out more (in a non-drinking environment). The past few trips to Spring Lake have reminded me of how easy it is to stop complaining and simply just DO the things I have made excuses not to do in the past…. A new weekly step to getting myself to blog more often is simply to write about my favorite sights, smells, tastes, etc. so here it is….

Taste ~ Veggie tacos and mexican coke out of the bottle from La Texanita Food Truck.

Listen ~ Laughter from my friend Melissa and I as we walked the 2.3 miles around Spring Lake.

Smell ~ Blackberry bushes, clean air and freshly made tacos.

Sight ~ Many people walking around the river this week. Makes sense because the weather is a perfect 72 degrees.

Feel ~ Energized and clear. I also love that by purchasing food trucks I am donating to the Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation to help support parks. For more details, please visit the Food Truck Picnics at Spring Lake Regional Park page.

Wish/Hope ~ I can make my lake walk a habit, for a minimum of once a week.

What has been on your mind this week?