I Got TORCHED

Date: June 10, 2016

Author: astottler

Hi friends!

Currently living the pre-grad, post-class sweet life. I’m trying to soak up all my favorite people, and each moment.

Let’s take it back to Wednesday, shall we?

After a lateish (like 1…I’m a bit of a grandma) night and leftover exhaustion from finals, my body woke me up at 5:15am. I was dead tired, but not sleepy and couldn’t fall back asleep. I ended up getting up at about 6, which was probably better anyways because I had a lot to do!

I had a blueberry oatmeal muffin before heading to the gym to do my typical deadlift day.

warm up deadlift+ 4×4 deadliest, 155#, 3 seconds on the way down

4×8 RDL, 115#

3x8single arm DB press, 20# (my shoulders were sore from the previous day’s workout, so I kept it a bit lighter)/3×10 tricep dips

Leg machine where you press your legs in while seated, 3×10, then sets of 5 for heavier

Then, it was time to get ready for the beach! Breakfast was basic, yogurt+cinnamon KIND granola+mango (this batch of mangoes hasn’t been too flavorful 🙁 ).

Then, my friends and I were off to the beach! In case you don’t know, the beaches in Northern California are COLD. We bundled up, and ended up with perfect weather. Partly cloudy, breezing, cool but not cold.

We went to Poplar Beach in Half Moon Bay. I used to go there in High School, and haven’t been back in 4 years! Brings back memories <3

My friends and I stopped at New Leaf to grab some food for a picnic lunch. I’d never been there before; it’s basically like Whole Foods though.

We each ended up getting some freshly pressed juice: carrot, apple, ginger.

And then we headed to the beach!

Climbing down the steep hill to the beach actually wasn’t terrible.

Walking on the sand wasn’t great. This was the day after my first PT, and my calf was pretty sore. My foot felt ok until we got to the sand, and that was pretty rough. The uneven surface caused a little pain, but I took it super slowly.

In retrospect, this picture gives me so much regret…more on that soon.

For lunch, we grabbed a bag of heirloom carrots (the purple were the most delicious), some delicious gouda that was recommended to us, deli chicken (for me, ham for everyone else), and rice crackers.

After lunch, we did what any college students do post-finals at the beach and took a nap.

We also saw nature at work. I had fun observing seagulls after learning about animal behavior all quarter. We also saw a couple of sharks. Once again, Northern California beaches are NOT the place to swim! They were actually pretty close to shore, and we saw them circle a seal.

We were at the beach for a few hours, and a little bit after getting back I realized my legs felt….not right.

My friends, I’ve been torched. This is by FAR the worst sunburn I’ve had in years. Especially the leg that had a boot on it and didn’t see sun for the past month.

One day later, fully developed:

It’s super hot and painful. I was so excited not to have the boot in grad pictures, but now….

Dinner was mushroom sliders, corn on the cob, and potato salad, with chocolate chip cookies! It was our last meal by our chef, and my roommate and I gave him a bottle of champagne to thank him so much for all the delicious gluten free things he’s made us this year. It really does mean a lot to me. I remember one day winter quarter that I was flaring and having a rough day, and came home to an amazing turkey avocado sandwich in the fridge with my name on it, and it totally made my day. We’ll miss him!

I spent a little time packing before heading over to a party some of my friends were throwing. They had an ice bucket, and my sizzling legs and I stayed close to that all night!

One again, I had a great time talking with people. I actually had a long conversation about chaos theory and fractals with a friend. This is one of the things I love and will miss dearly about Stanford: the awesome, random intellectual conversations that you can have anywhere, especially those that are outside of your area of expertise. I think these conversations are how I’ve grown the most in this 4 years.

My friends live in a dorm, but one of the staff members there keeps a dog there. I tried to get a selfie with him, but he’s wiggly! The live stream photo on my phone looked much cooler (do you guys have live stream?), so I tried to screenshot that with limited success.

It’s such a treat to see animals at school!

I hope everyone is having an awesome week! More grad events to come!

Adventures in #bootlife

Date: May 22, 2016

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Having a stress fracture at the end of my senior year of college stinks, but I decided to not let it affect my life! (Minus the whole no running/walking/most exercise thing but minor details…)

I’m trying to have SOME fun with it (as seen here). I’m thinking of it almost like Flat Stanley (did anyone else do that? For classes, one student would get him for a week and take him on adventures, taking photos of the adventures). So this week, where did boot go?

Thursday, I rounded up a big group and friends and went to Senior night, a night out for the seniors to get together.

Friday, we (the boot and I) went to a sorority mixer. Since #prevet, I suggested an animal theme and somehow that actually went through. Not complaining.

It was a fun night, spent with lots of friends!

Then, Saturday was the perfect day. It was so much fun. Despite a late night, I was up pretty early as per usual and decided to head to Crossfit, since the WOD was reasonably foot-modifiable. My workout ended up being 5 rounds, 2 min rest between rounds, of the following:

2 min assault bike

15 strict pul ups (I used a band for the strict, but worked in some no banded kipping. I can now string 5 kipping together, and pre-injury it was only 3!)

1 min assault bike

10 ring rows

10 strict press

It felt good to get moving, and I fell those pull ups now!

Since I sometimes call this a food and fitness blog, not just #bootlife and #stressfracture, here was my lunch:

GF avocado toast, leftover dill salmon (our chef makes the best salmon ever), greens with Italian dressing, and apple/beet/dijon salad.

Then, the main event! My friend somehow managed to convince his professor to let him use his beach house for the day/night! A group of us made the hourish drive, but with good conversation, it flew by!

This is the view from the window.

First stop was the beach! Luckily there was a nice path leading down to the beach. After a minor sand incident last week, this time I came prepared. I brought a drawstring (this is key) garbage bag to put over the boot to keep the sand out.

Worked like a charm! As a we were walking along the beach, a big wave came up to knee height, but my boot stayed dry!

Despite rain earlier in the day, the weather was perfect. The beach house even had a private beach! We also had no cell signal or Wifi, which was a strange yet refreshing experience.

We spent about 2 hours hanging out at the beach before heading inside to make dinner.

My main task was chopping up and sautéing the peppers and asparagus.

As well as pan-frying the chicken. I actually surprised myself by how much I actually am capable of cooking, and how much I actually know about things. Maybe it’s comparative! When cooking with 3 boys, sometimes you have to be the voice of reason.

For example, we bought some wine to go with dinner, and I pointed out we didn’t bring a corkscrew. They immediately thought we should just hit the top of the bottle off. I suggested we check the fully stocked kitchen for a corkscrew. Guess what? We found one! Haha!

For dinner, we had chicken (which I made with olive oil and garlic salt), gluten free spaghetti with marinara and the veggies I made, corn, and tortellini with pesto.

I seriously cannot get enough of this view.

It was honestly such an amazing day. I ended up driving back around sunset that night instead of staying because I had an early morning. These people have been my friends since freshman year, and I don’t see them nearly enough. It was the perfect senior spring day.

Sunday was another great day. My dorm did a wine tasting trip to Napa! The bus left at 9am, and we arrived at the first winery at 11.

Our first stop was V. Sattui. We had some time to walk around before our tour. They have a really nice deli, with delicious cheeses!

A winery tour in a boot was one of the more challenging things I’ve done, I have to admit.

Cat sighting!

Thankfully, we got to sit down for the tasting.

My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc. I am not a red wine girl, I have to admit.

After our tasting, we had lunch at the winery. I had a turkey sandwich on lettuce.

The highlight was dessert for sure though. It was creme brûlée, served cold. I’m not always a huge fan of creme brûlée, but this was delicious. It was a little eggier than a lot of creme brûlées, and seemed less fatty, which I liked a lot more! It also had strong vanilla bean flavor.

Stop #2 was Robert Mondavi, one of the big founding wineries in Napa.

I actually liked this tour a lot more. The tour guide was funny, and very informative. In addition, we got to see more of the process.

Our tasting took place in the barrel room!

And more beautiful Napa scenery:

These past few days have been amazing. it’s hard to go back to reality, especially with only 7 days left of class in my undergraduate career! I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I think part of that is the uncertainty of next year. But let’s not even touch that topic with a 10 foot pole!

What did you do this weekend?

Maui Part 1

Date: September 11, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! I’m blogging from Maui, Hawaii! Lots of delicious food and scenery to share today!

Also-shoulder update-it’s feeling better each day but it’s definitely not near where it needs to be. I can now raise my arm above my head, but I have problems rotating backwards. I’m hoping I’m healed enough for Crossfit on Monday!

The plane ride here was pretty painless. I woke up early and ran 3 miles before leaving for the airport at 7, and had plenty of plane snacks, including my banana bread. I used guava syrup as the sweetener-there wasn’t much so I’m not sure it was noticeable but it felt festive!

When we stepped off the plane, this was the view:

However, it was HOT. 90 degrees and 80% humidity. Yuck. Our first stop was the local mall that we have gone to every time for many years. There was a mini farmer’s market going on on the ground floor and we picked up some tropical fruit and some avocado! Lunch was eaten at the food court-we went to a Korean place and I got BBQ chicken+sides.

After exploring a bit, we were able to check into our hotel.

But then it was time for ice cream. I had banana salted caramel.

Followed by exploring the property. My dad is here for a conference so we’re staying in a much nicer hotel than I’ve stayed in before!

Dinner was at the hotel restaurant. It was tapas style, so we ordered several dishes for the table-highlights for me were mahi mahi with mashed purple sweet potatoes and passion fruit, miso kale salad with dried figs, goat cheese balsamic beet salad, and gooey mozzarella tomato salad.

For dessert, we shared breadfruit lilikoi cake (breadfruit gives it a similar texture to cheesecake!) and a dish that was fruit with caramel sauce and chocolate that was then broiled and topped with ice cream.

The view over the infinity pool at dusk:

The next morning began with a slice of banana bread and a 5 mile treadmill run. Normally 4 is my treadmill limit but it was HOT so I just broke it up and did it. Post run, we ordered room service breakfast, and I got a beautiful fruit platter with maple yogurt. We also split gluten free pancakes, which were so, so good! I can’t remember the last time I had real pancakes!

Then it was beach time!

On the way back to our room, we stopped by the hotel’s water slides (!). When I was younger, we’d always pass the fancy hotels with water slides and wish we could go on them, so this was our chance!

After cleaning up, we headed out to lunch at O’Lei. I had blackened mahi mahi with papaya salsa, served with rice and caesar salad.

After lunch we headed to a nearby ice cream shop for some tropical ice cream. I had mango ice cream with mango sorbet swirls, and in the heat, this hit the spot perfectly!

After a grocery stop and some time to cool off in the room, we headed to the luau hosted by our hotel!

(Do you like my tan line? The sad thing is it’s not from wearing a t-shirt, it’s from only sunscreening my shoulders this morning…cute)

When we arrived, we grabbed drinks (piña colada for me) and got a glance at the pig they were pulling out of the emu pit. To cook the pork, an entire pig is buried underground and cooked all day.

After a bit of a wait, it was time to eat! I was pleasantly surprised at what there was for me to eat given my dietary restrictions!

Salad, pineapple coleslaw, roasted purple potatoes, fried rice, teriyaki chicken, lomi lomi salmon, and poi. The lomi lomi salmon is the salsa looking thing. It’s essentially pico with chunks of salmon (that look a lot like tomatoes!). Poi is a pudding like food that is made from taro. It has a bit of a sour flavor, and is often eaten with lomi lomi salmon. If you’re less legit like I am, you eat it topped with sugar!

For dessert-key lime squares, chocolate cake, a pineapple chunk, and haupia. Haupia is sort of like creamy coconut jello.

Then-the show began!

The fire dancer was especially impressive! I cannot imagine sticking a flaming stick in my mouth.

After a fun start to our trip, we have lots of adventures ahead!

4th of July!

Date: July 5, 2015

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

Hello! I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July! I visited a friend in Monterey, and we watched the fireworks over the bay from Santa Cruz.

When I arrived in Monterey, our first stop was Carmel to visit the beach. The entire town of Carmel, including the beach, is incredibly dog friendly so I’m definitely brining Chloe later this summer when she’s old enough!

We stopped for dinner at a little cafe hidden inside a small shopping center off the main street of Carmel, and I had roasted chicken and the veggie of the day, asparagus, with lemon and thyme.

Since it was 4th of July, ice cream was necessary. We both got fudge ripple!

It was a beautiful day-pretty cool by the water but still warm enough to enjoy the fresh sea air!

Backing up a bit, Friday night I made red, white, and blue banana bread. This stuff is insane. I just use my regular banana bread recipe and throw in blueberries, raspberries, and white chocolate chips! I made it for the first time last 4th of July and knew I had to make it again!

In terms of workouts this week, it’s mostly just been Crossfit. I’ve been trying to get out the door for a run lately but it just hasn’t been happening. Since I don’t have a summer half marathon, the schedule and motivation is just not there right now! Additionally, my work schedule this past week made it hard to fit a run in. Such is life.

I apologize for the infrequent posting, but I promise a food+life update tomorrow!

What did you do for the 4th of July? Any patriotic treats?

Got Avocados?

Date: May 20, 2013

Author: astottler

Categories: Uncategorized

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I feel like the days are just flying by now! Next week is Week 8 of our 10 week quarter. And then…freshman year is over. How crazy is that??

A quick blogging sidenote-my blog currently has basically no recipes and basically no workouts, When school is out (which is fairly soon) I’ll get on posting some more of those things in a more organized manner.

Also, I really want to tell you guys about a complement that I received the other day. I was at a party with some friends and a guy came up to me and complemented me on my weight lifting. This was super awesome; I am so proud of my weight lifting! Best complement ever!

Saturday morning, I was in the mood for a smoothie, but I couldn’t really pass up the guacamole, so I mad a small Mexican salad bowl as well. I was trying to base the smoothie off of my Dark Chocolate Blueberry smoothie, but I kind of failed at that. I didn’t have the protein powder or peanut butter, or really the right amounts of anything. And I added spinach. The flavor wasn’t terrible, but the smoothie just wasn’t cold enough, so maybe it would have been better if I had added ice. Not that it was a bad smoothie or anything, but not my best effort.

After brunch, I did a quick workout before meeting up for coffee with some friends. And by coffee, I mean a mango smoothie. Basically the same thing, right? I didn’t have time to get through everything I had planned, but basically I started with 1k on the rowing machine, then did a leg circuit with single leg squats and single leg deadlifts. I had planned on doing another leg circuit, but I ran out of time. I always overestimate how long things will take, and how much is reasonable to do in one workout. I plan these elaborate long workouts, and usually end up skipping things. I had planned on doing some sprints on the rowing machine later as well, but that didn’t happen.

Next, I did this:

20 Minutes, As Many Rounds As Possible of:

5 Pull ups (I did pull downs on a machine)

10 pushups

15 air squats

I have no idea how many rounds I got through, but each round took less than 1:30. I followed that with a plank circuit.

That afternoon, I went to Half Moon Bay for a retreat with my sorority. We went to the beach briefly, mostly to take pictures. The water was quite cold, and getting even my feet wet was unpleasant, but worth it for the scenery!

And we saw a cat on the way back! Yay!Dinner at retreat was burritos-with plenty of salad of course!As you have seen, throughout the week I received gifts from my Big (a sorority thing). Yesterday was when I got to find out who she was! How did she do the reveal? She held up this shirt:HOW GREAT IS THIS???

Hmm I might just have to wear this for a race…I feel like it expresses me quite well. And yes, thanks to my big, I do have avocados.

We spent to rest of the night doing fun bonding type of activities, and before I knew it, it was time to return to the real world.

I was thinking about doing a run today, but then I remembered there was a power yoga class offered today, and I haven’t had any rest days all week. Since I ended up not going to yoga at all this week, I decided it would be perfect, and it was. My hips are sore from a lot of the leg work I’ve been doing lately, and we focused on that quite a bit. I also saw my Psych professor- she’s an aerobics instructor, and was teaching the class before mine. It’s always so weird to see teachers/professors outside the context of the classroom. After yoga, a nap was in order. I wasn’t all that tired, but I did not get much sleep the last 2 nights, so I knew it was a must. This afternoon and evening has been spent working on a take-home test due tonight-I finished right before writing up this blog post! I did break for dinner around 5:30. My friend wanted to go to Jamba Juice, and since it was hot, I decided that it might be a good way to cool off. I got one of the fruit and veggie smoothies- the tropical one. In this one, I think the only veggies in it are veggie juice, but I actually really like it because it wasn’t as sweet as smoothies blended with fruit juice. After that, this happened:Turkey burger and sweet potato fries. Hey, I got the veggies in my smoothie, right?? As I may have discussed before, we get a certain number of meal plan dollars to use each quarter as part of our meal plan. They work at several different restaurant type places on campus, including this place, which I’ve never actually eaten at before. I have never used up these meal plan dollars. Last quarter, I had a good excuse though (leaving school 4 weeks before the end of school due to illness). This quarter, I all of the sudden realized that I have three weeks left, and over $100 to spend, otherwise they will go to waste. So at dinner, I treated my friend, as well as some other people we happened to meet up with, and chipped away $50 from this mountain of meal plan dollars I need to spend. Yay! I still have a ton, and I am planning on buying some really expensive salads in the near future!

Well, that’s all I have for you today. Before I leave you guys those, I want to make a shout out to my friend Elizabeth. She just started a fashion blog, so if you like fashion (or even if not), check it out! It is called Styles by Elizabeth.

Have a great week!