WEARING | my new Peloton shirt. Yeah, I might be a little obsessed.

LOVING | the beautiful early morning sunshine.

RUNNING | a virtual half marathon this weekend and I am not prepared. Admittedly, I kind of half-assed my training plan (partly because bad air quality prevented me from sticking to my training plan, and partly because the Peloton was calling my name. I am sure the excitement and newness will wear off eventually. Ha.)

LOOKING FORWARD TO | fall. Aren’t we all? I, for one, am over the hot temperatures (and I hope cooler temperatures and – dare I say it, gasp! – some rain will help slow down the fire season here in California).

EATING | plum cake. Once a year during the plum season (which is really short – between July and September), I hunt down Italian (Empress) plums at the local Farmers Market to bake this seasonal German plum streusel cake. (Come back here next week, if you’d like the recipe. Maybe you can still find Italian plums somewhere.)

RECOMMENDING | that while you’re at it, you also get some pretzel croissants if you ever come across any at a bakery. They’re so good.

DRINKING | coffee. What else is new?

ENJOYED | some girl time with my friend Susi these last few weeks and it’s been wonderful. I haven’t had any girl time in FOREVER. It feels good to be vaccinated, is what I am saying.

READING |  The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. I am not very far in yet, but the premise of this book is so intriguing.

(so) RELIEVED | that a huge majority of Californians strongly rejected the recall of our governor Gavin Newsom in California last week. Again, is Newsom perfect? No, but I think he has done a phenomenal job under difficult and unprecedented circumstances. This recall effort was a huge waste of money, IMHO. Just imagine what could have been accomplished with 276 million dollars.

What is currently going on with you?

AMAZED BY |  how fast a month flies by. Feels like I just wrote my “Currently in June” post, but I guess, it’s been four weeks.

ENJOYING | a popsicle (or two) in this hot weather. I usually have lemon popsicles in the freezer, but picked up peach pops last week. What’s your favorite flavor?

ADMIRING | this beautiful new leaf on my Monstera.

ORDERING | take-out at a new-to-us restaurant. Jon had pizza and I had a pasta dish. Both delicious.

READING | Love Lives Here: A Story of Thriving in a Transgender Family by Amanda Jetté Knox. What an amazing book – you need to read this.

TRYING TO | get back to blogging (and reading blogs) this week after a bit of an unplanned break.

WORRIED ABOUT  | more heat and more wildfires here in California. Last year, the air quality was awful at times and I can only hope that we won’t get a repeat (but I am sadly not convinced as we had our first ‘taste’ of smokey air this week from the Dixie Fire, north of Lake Tahoe).

SAVORING | these moments of zen at the park on my early morning runs.

(really) EXCITED | that I got to try out an actual Peloton bike at my friend Susi’s house. I’ve been trying to tell myself that I am totally fine with the no-frill bike that I have (and truth be told, it’s been working great for me this last year), but man, I’d be lying if I said that the Peloton bike isn’t extremely nice and fun to ride!

MISSING | my family and friends. Please don’t @ me and ask why I am not traveling to Germany this summer. I know that I am technically allowed to leave the country and return (others might not be so lucky), but I really don’t feel safe traveling yet with so many unvaccinated people and the Delta-variant floating around. I still miss my family though.

EATING | Barbara’s Oat Crunch. I get a craving for cereal every once in a while and I love this one. Also, chicken kebobs. (Not together, obviously.)

DRINKING | lemonade mixed with sparkling water. You should give this a try. It’s a refreshing treat and real thirst quencher.

What is currently going on with you?

WEARING | my super-comfortable romper. Easy to dress up or just lounge around in at home.

THANKFUL FOR | every day where the temperature doesn’t climb into the triple digits. The heat wave in the West is insane.

LOVING | a lazy weekend morning in bed with a  good book. I don’t really sleep much later than 8:30 am anymore, but I occasionally enjoy a slow start when I wake up and stay in bed for an extra hour or two.

FEELING | so sore from my last HIIT workout. Damn, I forget that some of these muscles exist.

EATING | grilled everything – since we got our BBQ out of the garage a couple of weeks ago. What do you like to throw on the grill?

DRINKING | homemade iced tea. 

ENJOYING | my week-day 4-mile morning runs. It’s the best time of the day to be outside.

READING |  Know My Name by Chanel Miller. Wow, this is the memoir of the young woman that was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner and she’s an incredible writer and such a powerful voice.

WATCHING | the UEFA Euro 2020.

WONDERING | if I should be laughing or crying about all the weird stories that come out about Trump (like, that he seriously proposed sending the first Covid cases to Guantanamo, or that he asked the justice department about legal actions against SNL and other late-night shows).

HORRIFIED |  by the news about the condo collapse in Miami, Florida. How does something like this happen without anyone noticing anything beforehand?  

LOOKING FORWARD TO | making plans to visit family. I know, many have traveled to Germany/Europe again already, but I am honestly not ready yet. Sitting on a plane for 12 hours with a gazillion other people doesn’t sound appealing to me, but I do hope we’ll be able to go sometime in the not too distant future.

What is currently going on with you?

PARTICIPATING | in a virtual Mother’s Day 5k with my Mom, my sister and my Mom’s friend. Doesn’t matter if you can be together in person or not, you can always run a virtual race #separatebuttogether. (And of course, I could count on my friend Tanja to join as well!)

STOKED | about my first IKEA visit since before the pandemic started. It was so nice to roam the aisles. I didn’t buy a whole lot, but a few (smaller) items had been on my list for a while. And of course, there are always things that you didn’t know you needed. Haha.

READING |  The nine lives of Rose Napolitano by Donna Freitas. So many thoughts, stay tuned for the review.

BUYING | more plants. I think Jon’s going to put in a veto soon. 

DRINKING | green smoothies (or is it technically eating?) for my 10-day Green Smoothie Cleanse.

EATING | an adapted version of this Feta-Cucumber-Dried Tomato-Farro-Salad with chicken. You gotta try this sometime. It’s a great summer dish. Fresh, crunchy, and filling.

EXCITED | about a surprise package from Germany! :)

WATCHING | Schitt’s Creek. We’re on season 4 and loving it. It’s getting better and better.

ENJOYED | having our first visitor (Jon’s Mom!) in over 18 months. It’s been nice to hang out with someone other than each other. Scrabble is more fun with three people as well.

CELEBRATING | 15 years of marriage today. This is crazy.

STEPPING UP | my running game. I am back to a 3-runs-per-week schedule and I am so thrilled about it. I really love all the other cross-training activities (sometimes I can hardly decide which one to pick), but I really want to focus more on running again. 

(super)BUMMED | that one of my favorite (German) instructors, Irène Scholz, is leaving Peloton. 

FEELING WARY ABOUT | California’s planned full re-opening in mid-June, I have to admit. This probably warrants its own post (another ‘Blogging through he Covid19-Crisis” update, perhaps), but I don’t feel ready for full-capacity indoor dining and no social distancing or masks. I trust science, I trust the vaccine, and numbers are down, but are we really out of the woods yet?

What is currently going on with you?