i feel pretty...

... or at least my new blog look does! Emmy has been home the past few days, and as mine was one of the first pages she designed, she wanted to tweak it a bit. And we just couldn't stop! How do you like it? She did have some fun tweaking my photo a bit:

this was about 3 minutes of fun - how can anyone believe that anything is not Photoshopped?!

And I love my signature at the bottom. First of all, I can write in that script, and secondly, notice how it says "Cathy" and there's a bee? I love bees, because it is the initial of my last name! (Are you hearing Ralph Wiggins saying "It says I choo-choo-choose you, and there's a picture of a train!" right now?) So creative with the artwork, that Emmy. Seriously - thank you, Honey - I love how it looks!

I've been MIA for the past few days since we've been out of town. Guess where?

desert, mountains, sun, 82 degrees

Good friends of ours were staying in Scottsdale for the week at a condo that their friends had offered, and Debbie and Steve asked if we'd like to join them. They didn't have to ask twice - after this winter (which wasn't even that bad here compared to other parts of the country), we couldn't say yes fast enough for a long weekend getaway.

I saw this guy on the golf course. He didn't say "meep meep", there was no coyote in pursuit, and no Acme Anvil Company nearby

ready for his closeup

We got off the plane, played 18 holes at The Raven, and then, since we were in Arizona, felt like we needed tacos and margaritas. Turns out we were right. Notice how margaritas is plural? It doesn't happen very often, but I may have been over-served. Couldn't be the one gin & tonic after golf, the two margaritas at dinner, or the half-glass of wine at the condo....

The guys golfed again the second day while the women went shopping at Kierland Commons. What a wonderful shopping area. They had an Athleta store! I have loved (and ordered from) that catalog for years, so it felt like I was making a pilgrimage to Mecca to actually touch and try on everything! I went in to try on a skirt that my friend Kathy has and looks so good in, but I ended up with a pair of pants and a workout top. These pants, the Allegro 2, might just be my favorite ever. The bottom has a drawstring, so you can wear them long, or cinch them up to any length you want: ankle, capri, knicker. The fabric is really lightweight but hangs well, and most importantly, makes my butt look good.

All the shopping made us hungry, so in addition to the burger I had and the basil chicken sandwich that Debbie had, we needed to split an order of fries. Now I have never met a french fry I didn't like, so this is high praise coming from me: BEST FRENCH FRIES EVER!!!! The description is just "truffle and parmesan frites". Well, actually, that description sounds pretty fabulous. I don't know what it is about truffle oil, but it makes me want more. The dipping sauces were a truffle aioli, homemade ketchup, and an adobo-type sauce. 

just looking at this picture is making me hungry - and it's 6:00 in the morning!

We got home Sunday afternoon and I needed to hit the grocery store since Emily was arriving on Monday and we had no food. She is on day 22 of the Whole30 eating plan. She writes about it on her blog, The Swallow Flies, daily, and Instagrams (emmy815) all her meals. In a nutshell, the nutrition plan - to me - seems like a really restrictive Paleo diet, which is a little restrictive to me in the first place. French fries with amazing sauces, anyone? But after seeing her meals for the past three weeks, and hearing how wonderful she feels and how great she looks, I'm at least giving a teeny little bit of thought to adopting some of the eating strategies.

As I may have mentioned, I love my breakfasts, and they either consist of PB toast/english muffin/bagel thin and fruit, oatmeal, or a protein pancake. Every now and then there are some scrambled eggs thrown in there. Lunch is so haphazard, but our dinners are Paleo at least 50% of the time, if not more often. For example, last night's was Gingery Broccoli and Beef with a side of Spicy Italian-Style Cauliflower, or as we call it, Aly's Cauliflower. Which should, perhaps, have been sided with some Beano...(seriously, give me a recipe and it will have your name forever: Bev's Salsa, Troy's Dip...)

I substituted peppers for carrots and forgot the scallion on top, but it was still pretty delish

The chef and author Mark Bittman is following a plan, VB6, which is Vegan Before 6 - or basically eating vegan all day until dinner. Maybe my plan will be PFD, or Paleo For Dinner. Let me try this for a few days and I'll get back to you.

 [A few housekeeping notes: if you're interested in any of the recipes, I will link to the original author if you click on the blue title of the recipe. Same goes for any of the words that show up in blue - it will be a link to that website, product, whatever.

Cathy Shows Up has a Facebook page. I would love for you to follow me! For the time being, I will continue to post on my own personal page and also Cathy Shows Up, but soon I will be only posting on Cathy Shows Up so I don't blow up your news feed. Another way to follow me is to go to cathyshowsup.blogspot.com and follow me there. Then you can see the blog in it's real form. For all the blogs I read, I bookmark them and go to the actual sites. You can also "join this site" about halfway down on the right side. And if you're already following me, thanks for the validation!]

Time for some toast with almond butter, berries, and coffee. Lots and lots of coffee. 

TTFN!