Tuesday Tune Up, Weekly Check In, Food, Fitness, Family, Duran Duran

 

Hey there!  How are you?  What’s been going on?

The Tuesday Tune-Up is where we can have a weekly virtual coffee date and catch up a bit.

I get to share some of the adventures I’ve been having lately when it comes to food, fitness, family and Duran Duran (and other music) and you let me know what you’ve been up to in the comments!

Food, Tuesday Tune-Up

This was not the healthiest of food weeks, I’ll admit but it was certainly worth it.  I got the chance to go out with Jay for a night out at one of my favorite restaurants in LA, The Church Key.  The restaurant has atmosphere, excellent food, and kitschy but delicious drinks:

Church Key LA, drink,

I don’t like gin but lavender will get me to try any drink.

 

Church Key LA, brown butter donuts

Brioche Donuts with brown butter glaze and cinnamon caramel with a small chocolate milk shake on the side. I don’t even like donuts but these made me a convert!

 

We actually went to another place for dinner but went to the Church Key for after dinner drinks and dessert and it truly made the night.

However, the next morning I really required the healing power of breakfast burritos because…(see Fitness for explanation):

 

Fitness, FitFluential, SweatPink, BurnThis, Tuesday Tune-UP

 

I’ve injured my back…again.  My long time back issues have been more than well documented here on the blog(see here and here) but I’ve been actively working on strengthening my core muscles for quite awhile.

On Thursday afternoon I wasn’t doing anything  strenuous but my QL muscle decided it had been working too hard to support my L4/L5 and L5/S1 areas and spasmed like a mo-fo.  I now can only stand and walk like Quasimodo’s cousin.  Here’s proof (notice how my spine is curved to the right):

X-ray, back injury, spine, L4/L5

I’m able to walk a little more upright but I’m back in PT and my thoughts of running the LA Chinatown Firecracker 10K in March may need to be delayed.  I know that this cycle of recovery is going to entail exploring new avenues to encourage long-term success.  Stay tuned!

 

Family

 

It was a quiet weekend for our family but we did watch the Super Bowl with friends.  The #LikeAGirl commercial really got to me.  As a female and a parent of a son, it’s always been important to me to show Wild Boy what it means “to do things like a girl”.  Even with my physical setbacks, I aim to show my child that both mental and physical strength are important and equally divided between the genders (or is it sexes, I never know).

I decided to post this photo to Facebook and Instagram to show my #RunLikeAGirl pride.

Melissa Burton, Reach The Beach, runner, dietitian

I may not be a fast runner or a long distance runner but in my injured runner state, I can’t tell you how much it meant to have this comment on my Instagram from the amazing American long-distance runner, Kara Goucher (who is also a mother to a son and is from Queens, NY!):

Kara Goucher, Instagram, runner

I want to show my son and myself that “doing things like a girl” means power and progress!

 

Duran Duran, music, 80's music, New Wave, Tuesday Tune-Up

 

Duran Duran still at work on their album and people are not happy about it.  There was a nasty open letter to the band circulating (which I can’t find to link to – but know that it is NOT this one from Daily Duranie) after all of the positive press that Spandau Ballet has generated regarding being very interactive and generous with fans.

I’m all for free speech but this particular letter made Duran fans (or maybe just this one Duran fan) look petulant and bratty.  We’re all getting antsy about the new album and possible tour and sure, we’d love it if band members were more active on social media but please, just sit tight and let the men do their job!

In the Duran Duran meantime, some very interesting concerts are coming around!  I don’t know about you but my eye is on Death Cab For Cutie (at the Hollywood Bowl in July) and U2 (who just added a 5th show in Los Angeles) this summer and Howard Jones and the return of Mike Peters of The Alarm to LA and NYC very soon!

Death Cab For Cutie, Hollywood Bowl, Ben Gibbons

Because I really love Death Cab and I’m excited for the new music that is forthcoming from Art Alexakis and Everclear (the album is called “Black Is The New Black”), I’m sharing a fabulous Everclear cover of Death Cab’s “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”:

 

 

 So that’s a summary of what’s been going on in my world this week.  

What about you?  Let me know!

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