This is 39 (Month 7, Check-In 2)

I'm happy to say that month seven hasn't felt as overwhelming as some of the other months. It may be due to the heavy lifting in previous months that has allowed me to cross off a handful of my goals including:

• Try Ethiopian food (if you missed that blog post, you can read all about it here)
• Eliminate credit card debt
• Exceed last year's Cycle for Survival fundraising ($18,476)
• Travel some place new
• Try mediating for 21 days in a row

But I also think it has to do with finally smartening up and not waiting until the last few days of the month to do some of the more time-intensive and challenging goals (yoga, volunteering and going hiking).

At any rate, here's a summary of some of what happened this past month:

Call my grandparents 1x/month: The highlight of this goal this month was when I talked to my grandmother the morning after the Royal Wedding. I asked her if she had gotten up to watch it and her response was on point: "Oh did I ever dear I loved every instant of it. They're a charming couple, I think. There was more to it than just watching two people get married." Apart from putting a big smile on my face, I think my grandmother summed up the wedding perfectly!

Date night with Steve at least one night a week (when I'm not traveling for work): We weren't very good at this last month and unfortunately that trend continued this month too. Although we did go to dinner and a movie (Life of the Party, which was far better than I thought it'd be!) Next month is going to be challenging too because I'll be in Ireland for 2 1/2 weeks and Summer Steve will be doing his East Coast trip (luckily there's a lot of overlap between our two trips). And honestly, this time of year we're both just hanging on as hard as we can to the finish line of the school year. We're officially in the white knuckle part of the year where we both do the best we can. So date night and nurturing my marriage take a lot of patience and intention. These goals are helping me remain mindful of that.

Finish the remaining stair walks from the Secret Stairs of Los Angeles book: I've been doing a great job of continuing to cross more of these walks off my list. So far this year I've completed 12 and have 27 left (if I counted correctly to begin with). With the Memorial Day weekend coming up, I'm hoping to get in about 5 - 6 walks in the next few days. But in the last month, I only did three of them. I'm officially done with Highland Park and am starting to move into the Echo Park/Silver Lake/Los Feliz part of town!

As always, I've stumbled upon some very cool and fun neighborhoods that I'd never normally see. My favorite walk that I did this past month was Walk #12 which found me in a historic Victorian house district throughout Echo Park. I never even knew that existed, but the houses were gorgeous and seemed so out of place (see in the second photo below)!

Walk 8- Highland Park - Highlands. 422 steps over 3.2 miles. 

Walk 12- Echo Park Lake Victorians. 428 steps over 3 miles. 

Walk 13- Laveta Terrace. 236 steps over 2 miles. 

Get 4 facials and 4 massages: I had a glorious facial today with my friend Jena and now only have to do one more facial before I've completed this goal. I have a feeling I'm going to be so good at this particular self-care goal that I'll exceed this one. Which is fine by me!

The nice thing is that I'm absolutely seeing the benefits of putting attention to my body in this way. I move better. My skin looks and feels better. And it is helping provide a nice overall balance to my health, especially with all the increase in activity. I don't know what took me so long to do this kind of self-care, but I'm so glad that I'm doing it now!

Post-facial selfie. Thank you Jena!

Read 20 books: I've finished a couple more books in the last month and only have four more to go before I've accomplished this goal.

The two books I read this month are: Happiness: A Memoir: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After. I liked this book but didn't love it. And I Will Always Write Back: How One Letter Changed Two Lives. I totally recommend this book (thank you Leah!) about how an unlikely school assignment led to the most amazing relationship that has endured the test of time and distance. The beginning was a little rough as it started when the author was in middle/high school and didn't have big things to worry about. But overall it's such a sweet and special story.

Run a Half Marathon: You guys! Half marathon training is going really well. I'm up to 3 1/2 miles without stopping. I'm running 3 - 4 times a week. I'm totally staying on track with the training. And I'm feeling really great. I'm really proud of myself for sticking with this and for seeing the progress and results I've already seen in the 4 1/2 weeks since I started.

I've been holding myself accountable by going on Instagram after each workout and sharing a few stories about that day's run. Thank you to those of you who are watching and commenting. It's more helpful than you know. I'm really looking forward to continuing to progress through the training plan and gaining more confidence that I will cross that finish line!

Track each day's food in the Weight Watchers App: Nope. Still not happening. What's most important to me is that I'm following the program. And I am. Ya know, I went bonkers (as I do from time to time) in the first part of the year and by mid-March I was all "Enough Molly." And I actually listened. In the past nine weeks I've lost 21.4 lbs. I feel really good and that's what I need to use as my barometer. Not if I'm adding things to the WW app or not. So while I'm not knocking this goal out of the park, I'm also not eating everything in sight. So it's still a win to me!

Use my real camera at least 1x/month: Last week I found myself at the farmer's market because I was desperate for some lilacs. Unfortunately they weren't that good. But I did manage to snap some photos of some beautiful and colorful produce.

Volunteer 1x/month (must include something to help flip the House): Thanks to a couple of good friends, I was provided with an amazing opportunity to volunteer with Girls on the Run Los Angeles earlier this month. Together with my wombmate and three other friends who all work a variety of event-related jobs, we were assigned to be in charge of parking. Now anyone who's in events knows that directing traffic and parking on event can be a pain in the ass. And sometimes it does not bring out the best in people. With Sawnia at the helm, this rock start group (Karen, Katie, Cari & I) managed to live us to our self-imposed name "A+ Parking Team." It was a very fun experience and although it was an early day (out the door by 5:55 a.m.), it was great to be part of something so meaningful and to have fun while doing it!

This next month is going to be super exciting because I'll be making progress on my goals while I'm in Ireland on my annual trip back home! I. Can't. Wait!

Thank you. As always. For coming along for the ride. For reading my blog posts. For investing in these crazy goals. And for being part of my amazing support network!

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This is 39 (Month 7, Check-In 1): That Time I Tried Ethiopian Food

Well you guys. I crossed another goal off my list: Try Ethiopian Food.

Ethiopian food is something I've wanted to try for over a decade, but never brought myself to do it for a variety of reasons which may be interesting but aren't particularly important. But once I put it on my goal list, I knew I'd get it done this year, especially with a few people who offered to go with me (thank you Jeanette, Chuck & Mark).

In the end, my friend Mark was the lucky recipient to share this evening with me. After a series of rescheduling due to conflicts on both of our parts, Mark and I finally set the date for Tuesday, May 8th. We met in Little Ethiopia- an actual neighborhood in Los Angeles that's chock full of Ethiopian restaurants, coffee shops and stores. Mark had already done some research and had two restaurants for me to choose from: Messob and Lalibela. We chose Lalibela because it smelled better and the menu seemed more authentic, even though the ambiance of Messob was more traditional. Lalibela had the type of interior that made you feel like you could be at any restaurant in any city in any state/country. There wasn't anything ethnic about it...ya know, beside the cuisine served inside!

Mark, having declared that he wasn't eating meat anymore (a fact that I unconsciously overlooked even though he mentioned it at least twice) ordered the Veggie Utopia: A special combination of 14 veggie dishes: Shibera Asa, Gomen, Shero, Miser (2), Dinich, Cabbage, Ater, Suf- sunflower seeds, Tematim Fifit, Fosalia, Keke aletcha and salad. It seemed a bit excessive, but he wanted me to be able to taste some of his food as well (thank Gods).

I, on the other hand, looked over the menu completely at a loss of what to get, realizing that doing some research ahead of time may have been a smart move. I consulted the waitress, and Mark helped too. He tried to suggest I try one dish and share his, since it was a lot of food. I was indignant and insistent (this would come back and bit me in the ass Big Time) that I get something more substantial. After all, I was hungry and it was my first time eating Ethiopian food. So ultimately I chose a meat combo, because I love meat and I thought it'd be best to order something that allowed me to try a few different things. I went with Cornis: A combination of the three popular meat dishes: Kitfo, Tibs Fir-fir and Derek Tibs with Kinche soft cracked-wheat layered on top (two servings). Created by Lalibela's main chef, this restaurant favorite mixes the many rich flavors of our most well-loved dishes to satisfy your different cravings. 

Mark and I caught up and talked while we waited for our meals to be prepared. It was, as always, good to be in Mark's company. He's the type of person who makes you happy just by being around him. We laughed and laughed some more. And then the food came.

Oh boy.

As I saw Mark's plate lower down in front of him, I thought "Ooooooh! How pretty!" And then I looked on in horror as my plate came into view and thought "Oh no. I've made a very big mistake." See for yourself:

What the f*ck is on my plate, you're asking? Well...

• On the outer edge is the Kitfo (finely chopped prime lean beef seasoned with herbed butter sauce and spices served with Ethiopian cottage cheese). 
• The pile of light brown food that looks like poo/intestines is actually Tibs Fir-Fit (injera moistened with tender beef cubes simmered to perfection in berbere sauce, fresh tomatoes and garlic). 
• And the pile of mush on top was actually the best part- the Derek Tibs (well-done beef chunks grilled in spiced butter with sauteed onions, green peppers and Ethiopian spices).
• And then why not just throw sliced hard boiled egg on top? It really pulls the meal together, dontchya think? 😐

I tried everything on my plate. But unfortunately I just didn't like it. Part of me couldn't get over the looks of my food. I mean...honestly. Look at that steaming pile of...food? 

Mark was being The Sweetest. He was so excited to share this experience with me and was really generous in paying for my meal. I wanted so badly to like this. But me and Ethiopian food just don't have much of a future I'm afraid. Mark's food on the other hand was definitely more palatable than mine. I wouldn't say I had "major food envy", but there were certainly more things on his plate that I could - and did - eat. By the time we were done, it looked like I had barely touched my food, whereas Mark's plate was pretty near clean. See: 

I packed up my food and brought it home to Steve who enjoyed it far more than I did (phew). I was so glad to not have it go to waste! 

All in all, it was still a really fun night. Mostly because going anywhere with Mark is a fun adventure. He can make anything, including an unappetizing culinary experience, something that makes me smile and laugh.

I am in no rush to go back and have Ethiopian food. But I am grateful for the experience with Mark (and his excitement, generosity and patience). And, crazily enough, I actually would give it one more try. I'd just order waaaaaaaaaaay differently.

More than anything, I'm very glad I get to totally cross another goal off my This Is 39 list!

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