Life Lately

I haven't done much life updating in a while, so I thought it would be kind of fun to do that for my family/friends who read here to know what's happening down here in SoCal. Lately I've been...



Studying...

I just started my three week bar exam leave. If you've been reading for a while, you might recall that I spent summer of 2013 studying for the New York bar exam (and I passed, phew). Unfortunately, a lot of states do not accept the bar admittances of other states, so I have to retake the bar exam in California. Where it is three days instead of two. And instead of a summer, I have three weeks. Thankfully I wasn't too busy at work the past two weeks so got a fair amount of studying in, which was good. I will gladly be accepting all good luck wishes and/or condolences at having to retake the bar.


Listening to...



Still jamming out to my Surf City Half playlist. Some of these are "oldies" that show up on my playlists routinely and some are new to me. The MVP of the race's playlist was definitely David Guetta's "When Love Takes Over". I hadn't listened to it more than once before and it gave me such an energy boost heading up a hill, so I added it to the playlist mid-race, figuring I'd want that feeling at the end (I did).

Resting...

Today was my first day working out since race day. I'm really glad that I took five days to rest and recover. I stretched and foam rolled each day, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't jumping back into working out without giving myself both a mental and physical break. I think it worked because I was excited for my training session today (it went well) and can't wait to spin for two hours tomorrow in support of Cycle for Survival. I think giving yourself a mental break after a race is just as important as a physical one. By Friday, I was eagerly anticipating my first run on Monday, and that's the feeling I want to have about running.

Reading...

Well, mainly bar materials, but I've also been reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel before I go to bed at night. I'm trying to be strict about getting enough sleep, so I usually only read for 15-20 minutes, meaning it's slow going (the book is about 600 pages long), but it's reminding me why I was so fascinated by the Tudor period of England's history in undergrad. Thanks to a research grant, I actually spent a month in London doing research on Anne Boleyn and writing a paper on her impact on British culture and religion the summer after my freshman year of college. Wolf Hall focuses on Thomas Cromwell, a lawyer/banker/councillor of the king. It's part of a trilogy but the third book hasn't come out yet.


Eating...

I had a fantastic Korean dinner with a friend at Tang 190 last night. I love the fact that there are so many different cuisines in Irvine. I was a bit worried before we moved to Orange County that it would be all Applebee's and Chili's, but I've been pleasantly surprised at the quality and type of food here.

This probably doesn't look great, but it was delicious -- crispy chicken thighs with kumquat relish over freekeh with Swiss chard.

Sourabh and I recently signed up for Blue Apron, the ingredient-and-recipe delivery service, and have been enjoying it so far. It forces us to cook more and gives us recipes and ingredients we wouldn't normally think of making. We'll see if it's still feasible when we're both working, but for now, it's been a fun change of pace. I'd recommend it for home cooks who have a hard time making anything but standard, simple recipes (that would be me).


Wearing...

This awesome Beast Mode hat. Marshawn Lynch is my favorite Seahawk (please read this great article on him and why he doesn't talk to the media), so Sourabh surprised me with a Beast Mode hat. He ordered it before the Super Bowl, so it wasn't just a "please don't hate me because my team won" gift. Which is good because I'm still a bit bitter...


And that's about it. I don't know how much I'll be posting over the next few weeks as I cram for the bar, especially since I won't be training for anything, but if I do go silent, I'll hopefully have a triumphant return in March!