My Saturdays flip between alone time and family time. But lately, alone time really just means sleeping through my Saturday. Sad. I know. But not yesterday. I left work late so that I can do my grocery right after. I discovered the past weekends that unless I have other important things to do or appointments to go to, I never could drag myself out of bed just to buy food. Haha. Instead I would bring home granola bars or yoghurt that I buy from the office, and I have those the whole weekend. So this time, I decided, no going home for me until I get it done.
It was still a bit early so I decided to take a walk around BHS for 30-40 minutes to kill time. Prior to that though, I dropped by the market, bought some vegetables, bananas and South Beach approved peanut butter. That's the first time I've heard of the latter, but I got it anyway. Peanut butter was on my grocery list anyhow. For an early Saturday, the place was abuzz with people. The fastfood restaurants were open. How call center companies have changed life as we know it indeed. I saw some pretty flowers and wanted to buy some. I've been reading Eat, Pray, Love and remembered that time when Elizabeth Gilbert was trying to get herself out of depression, and one of the things she did was buy herself flowers to brighten up her house. Now I'm not depressed, but the flowers were so lovely. I had difficulty choosing which to buy, so I ended up not buying anything. Haha.
After my Saturday market activity, I proceed to BHS for my walk. For the last 3-4 weeks, I have been putting in at least 15 minutes of aerobic exercise daily. I average around 30 minutes, mostly of Hip Hop Abs, but I sometimes go for a jog or walk within my condo just to take a breath of fresh air in the process. And just last Thursday, I started a daily habit with my office friends - take a 2-5 minute walk during break time. Instead of smoking (which I'm happy to announce that I've quit for quite some time now), walking is a healthier alternative to de-stress. We also have Badminton Wednesdays, so I feel so much balance in my life right now.
I thought my taking a walk idea was brilliant. When R was still here, we would jog around BHS, and I would catch up on my window shopping in the process. Perfect. But that was during the -ber months when the air was still cooler, and the sun was well, not scorching hot. If I was not so determined to use my "free" time in a healthy way, I would have proceeded instead to Starbucks and have coffee, which I've also semi-quit. Semi-quit because I still might drink it occasionally, but I haven't had coffee for more than a month now.
With my speedy in tow, I headed to Serendra, noted that Conti's was already open that early. Passed by Cupcakes by Sonja and realized I haven't tried those, and might not do so until I reach my desired weight, which, well, might take a while :)
As I was about to cross the street towards BHS, I saw the
Nestea Fit Camp Hot tents in one of the open grounds. I got curious so I sidetracked there. Saw people running around and some doing yoga. Hmmm. Maybe I should get some friends to join one of these Saturdays. Made a mental note to check out the website to know the mechanics. (Which I did just now, and I want to join the hip hop class).
All the coffee shops were open already, and so is Pancake House. Aldo is having a Sale. (must.stay.away.from.shoes). In the meantime, I wished that instead of my LV, I brought an umbrella instead. The heat was too much! Thank goodness for the trees and the shade. I saw many moms or dads or both with their dogs or children. There were some runners, but most of them already taking their dose of caffeine. By the time I finished my walk, Fully Booked was already open, and I went inside to cool down. There's a Neil Gaiman signing activity coming up in March, and there was a travel writing session at 4PM yesterday which would have been nice to go to, but since I was up late, I knew I wouldn't make it.
I ended up buying another book, Jodi Picoult's Picture Perfect. I know I still haven't finished Eat, Pray, Love (there's an upcoming movie starring Julia Roberts this year, btw, I just learned), but reading has always been my favorite alone time activity. And again, this year is all about balance in my life. I want to enrich myself through traveling and reading, my two favorite things to do in the world. What drew me to Jodi's book were two things : it was the only copy left (at least in that stand, haha) under the Best-Seller's section (marketing ploy, I know! so, sue me) and the plot is something I can relate to. Truth be told, the scars aren't completely healed yet, and while the pain is no longer apparent in the surface, it's so deep-rooted it still shakes me up sometimes. I guess these demons from the past never really go away either. They just lie low or we manage to control them, but they're still there.
Sonja's was open by the time I passed by it again. The sign "pull" to open was tempting (and so was the ice cream at Stock Market, haha), but I just let out a sigh and walked past it. I wanted to pat myself on the back. Hehe. I saw a little girl (about 5yo or less) with her sunglasses on (like me), with a tiny LV bag in her wrist (like me). I had to laugh out loud. How cute was she! Her yayas were taking pictures. If I had a camera, I would have whipped it out too!
In no time, I was doing my groceries. I only managed to bring one eco bag today, so I failed in the saving the earth department because of the two plastic bags used. I need to put all my eco bags in my car so this won't happen again.
I arrived home almost 1PM. Super exhausted from the heat, and the walking I did (woot!! around 1 hr of walking today!). I ate non-flavored yoghurt (yuck!), took a shower and slept. Totally missed my 3PM appointment. Woke up in the evening and Marley and Me was on Starworld. I haven't seen that film so I did. What a tearjerker! And I love that the film is about the seemingly mundane details of life and relationships, but these small things are what really matters in life. At the end of the day, the biggest fulfillment comes not from money or career, but in love. Awww. I'm such a romantic.
Not long after that, I went back to sleep. I woke up at 4AM and decided to cook pasta with creamy pesto and tuna. Now all my friends know this - I don't cook. But cooking seems like something we should all know what to do. So I'm starting with easy dishes to make. And I think it was yum! And healthy too :P
So that was my Saturday and then some. And I loved it! I have some difficult career discussions to get through on Monday so this no-nonsense weekend is really working out well for me.
This is life.
Labels: life, saturday
