We had such a great weekend! It started out on Friday night when we went to see Slumdog Millionaire. It's won so many awards yet we still hadn't seen it! Of course, it was really good. A bit depressing despite the happy ending but, overall, totally worth seeing. Now I want to see the rest of the Oscars movies! After the movie, we took a little walk and got some frozen yogurt. Frozen yogurt is pretty big here. Everyone loves Pinkberry so we thought we'd try it but, to be honest, it was kind of overpriced. We'll probably be sticking with one of the other frozen yogurt places in Pasadena, like 21 Flavors or Squeeze 'n Scoop. The former is a little like Cold Stone in that you can mix in different toppings. Occasionally, they also have organic flavors. The pumpkin pie flavor around Christmas-time was amazing! At Squeeze 'n Scoop, you can combine your own flavors, choosing from about 12 different yogurt options and 20 different toppings. It's definitely yummy.

On Saturday, we had a nice breakfast together at home (I made farmer's eggs - scrambled eggs, ham, onion, and yellow hominy - delicious!) and then went hiking to Mt. Hollywood in Griffith Park. Griffith Park is a HUGE city park with all sorts of fun things to do. For example, you can visit the LA Zoo, golf at one of the golf courses, and even ride horses. We chose to hike up Mt. Hollywood for a good view of the Hollywood sign. The weather was so beautiful and we ended up spending about 4 hours wandering around the area. Afterwards, we came home and went to a German wine tasting at Whole Foods. This Whole Foods is, basically, the Mecca of all Whole Foods. They have a wine tasting/tapas bar, they have a ton of prepared foods, an entire gluten-free section, and tons of bulk items (I first discovered this market a couple of weeks ago when I was looking for bulk organic oats. I went in for one thing and stayed for an hour!). The wine tasting was good - we got to try a red pinot noir from Germany, which is unusual - and then we shared a calzone in their cafe. Yummy!

The next morning, we got up somewhat early and went out to the Hollywood Farmer's Market. Wow! It's amazing! It has to be at least 3 times larger than the one we usually go to in Pasadena! It had tons of prepared foods, including tamales, pad thai, empanadas, gumbo, and gyros, and the entire market is certified organic. They had some amazing produce. We bought a half-flat of strawberries (for only $5 - yay for California's seasonless agriculture!) and a ton of broccoli, carrots, oranges, and kiwis. We'll definitely be coming back for more soon!

In the afternoon, Jeff had to go on his long run (22 miles - ugh) so I stayed back. I had planned on going on a bike ride but, as we came back from the market, we realized that my bike had been stolen :( It was an old bike and it weighed a TON but it was really reliable and I'd had it since I was 11. So, I'm a little disappointed. But, now we're in the market for a new bike, which will be wonderful, I'm sure.

Because I couldn't go for a bike ride, I decided to make a couple of big batches of soup. My first was a curried carrot soup, which I made a little too smoky/spicy when I got overzealous with the cayenne. Then, I made a cream of broccoli and potato. Both are darn good and I have enough to last us for at least 2 or 3 weeks so least we have something in the house when we're hungry!

In other news, I also signed up for a triathlon! It will be held in the Newport Beach area (about 1 hour from Pasadena) on Sunday, April 19th. It's a 1/2 mile swim in the bay followed by about 15 miles on the bike (the new bike, which I hope to buy shortly), and a 3 mile run. I'm a little nervous about it, of course, but I've always wanted to do a triathlon and, since my mom will be in town, it was a good opportunity to take advantage of supporters :) So far, I can do 10 miles on the stationary bike followed by a 2 mile run and a 1/2 mile swim followed by a 10 mile bike so I'm feeling pretty good about my training at this point. Now I just need to get on a real bike and get some experience with that! Exciting times, I guess!