Water Picks

I will be the first to admit that I am very picky about the water I drink. A lot has changed since I was a kid - getting it out of the fridge dispenser or straight out of tap seemed to be the only options afforded to me as a child. My only exposure, that I can remember, of bottled water was distilled water by the gallon and that was for use with the iron or my sister's contact lenses.

Nowadays, there seems to be 1001 bottled water choices out there, in all sorts of price ranges. And I have, very handily, fallen into the marketing trap. I am a bottled water drinker and I am very particular about the kind of bottled water that goes into my body.

I have to say my all time favorite bottled water is VOSS. If money was not a factor, I would drink VOSS water all day. It comes in a very simple, cylindrical bottle with a gray cap. This water is EXPENSIVE. It's about $2/0.5 Liter. I also found that if you are able to buy a bottle of VOSS, you can drink the water, save the bottle and you have a pretty chic vase. I don't get VOSS very often, due to the high price, but when I do, it's magic. A very nice bartender, at a nightclub in London, supplied me with unlimited bottles of VOSS while I got my groove on! That was major...majorly awesome!

Back to reality....in my everyday life, I tend to lean towards Fuji, which runs a close second to VOSS and is my water of choice when at the market or convenient stores, and Smartwater, which is making a flying leap right behind Fuji. I find that between Fuji and Smartwater, I have a pretty good shot at finding one of these wherever I'm at. I remember when I was back at West Lafayette for something and I went to go get a bottle of Fuji water to tie me over for the day and some college kid remarked, 'Ooooh - swanky water.' I don't view Fuji water as swanky. Sure it comes in a cool rectangular bottle and it just looks "clean" but it's just good water. And now that Smartwater has Jennifer Aniston and Tom Brady pushing their product, I'm hoping it will become more mainstream because it used to be that I could only get this water at Whole Foods.

If either of those two options are not available to me, I would sigh...and then I would move on to my second tier of water choices. This is headed up by Poland Spring, which is available through one of the vending machines on my floor. I've got nothing against Poland Spring - it's good and refreshing (as water should be)....and I really could go on and on with all the bottled waters I would drink - but it's probably just easier to name the ones I try to avoid - Dasani and Aquafina.

I think I first had Aquafina in 1999 and it didn't taste right. I even bought a couple of bottles to taste and compare and I could tell there was a difference between Aquafina and regular tap water - there was something there that left me with a slightly bad aftertaste. I have to say the same for Dasani - there's just something about that water that I don't like. Could it be that both are owned, bottled and marketed by the two largest soft drink distributors of the world (Coke and Pepsi - for those of you not in the know)? I don't think so - cause I like Coke and Pepsi products....but I can taste a difference and I know there are others out there that can too.

I can't totally diss Dasani though because there was this one incident where Dasani was like my best friend. It was during an LPGA Golf Tournament and it was hot as all heck. Luckily, we were VIP (got cool VIP passes and gifts) so we were allowed to traipse around the course and they had special, air-conditioned, nicely stocked tents set up all over the course just for VIPs. Well - because it was so hot and we were doing so much walking, we needed to keep hydrated. It was a Pepsi-sponsored event so my only options were Pepsi cola products or Dasani water. There's only so much soda one can drink in a day - so I had to break down and drink in the Dasani. Amazingly, when it is THAT hot and you're desperate for some liquid, you don't taste the difference in the water.....I must've downed a keg of Dasani water that day and that was the one day that Dasani and I were friends. I haven't had a sip of Dasani water since...and I'm going to try and keep it that way....but we'll always have the memories.

Honorable mention: Evian was actually knocked out of the 'everyday' top spot by Fuji and Smartwater. There was a time (ages 24-29) where I drank a lot of Evian but I think once I started getting more Fuji water in me, Evian was quick to drop - and now when I drink Evian, I taste the difference - I taste something that is not appealing to me that is the same as what I taste in Dasani and Aquafina. So sadly, I haven't drank Evian in a pretty long time.

So I guess that's just one more item to add to my list of 'Things I'm picking about...'

Diminished Running Capacity

I recently strained some ligaments in my knee that really put me 'out of commission' at the gym for a good two weeks. I did go to see a doctor to have it checked out after a week of pain (from walking up and down stairs) and he told me to take it easy - didn't look to be anything serious. So I did....that was my signal that I could take a little respite from the gym. But I actually still went to the gym but did things that weren't too stressful on my knee, like running. I just walked on the treadmill at a slower pace and did the elliptical in order to work up a sweat. And I still ended up playing volleyball because I really enjoy volleyball. And I still went to dance class cause I loves me some hip-hop.

I can finally say that my knee is feeling a lot better - I made sure to take it easy and I think it paid off. I had an "almost normal" workout yesterday with some running on the treadmill and another 20 minutes on the elliptical. Everything was done at a slower pace, since I'm still in recovery mode, but it was nice to be able to finally build up to where I was at before the injury.

When I told my husband that I was able to run for a longer distance than I had been for the last two weeks, he asked how fast I was going. I said I was only going at a very slow jog (4.8) but that I was building back up to my daily run speed of 5.5. Then of course he had to boast about how he usually runs in the 7.0-9.0 range and I'm just like, 'Yeah, well you have longer legs, a longer stride and you look like you're having a seizure when you're running that fast.' And then I had to tell him that I was faster once...back in the college days - and it kind of just started going downhill after graduation.

I remember being back in college and I think my top speed was like 6.8. I wouldn't run for a full 20 minutes at 6.8 but I would build it up from 6.0 to 6.8 for a good workout. Then for the first few years after graduation, I topped out at 6.0. There might've been special occasions where I went up to 6.2 but it was usually a steady 6.0. In the last couple of years, it has slowly gone down...slightly. I find myself running/jogging at a comfortable 5.5. That's the tops that I'll go these days and I am okay with that.

I was watching 'The Biggest Loser' this past week, and during a 'Last Chance Workout,' the trainer made one of the girls run at 17.0 for ten seconds straight. SEVENTEEN POINT OH. Wow - Never, in my wildest dreams would I imagine even going that fast. I didn't even think the treadmill could go that fast. I mean, I envy those guys that come off the treadmill and I see their average speed is like 8.0 or 7.5 - but 17.0 - even for ten seconds...sounds brutal.

I wonder why I keep getting slower and slower - maturity of the bones? A decrease in caring how fast or hard I run? Not sure - but I'll see how long I can stick with 5.5. Hopefully by the time I'm 40, I won't be 'jogging' at like a 4.0 - which is a nice walking pace for me now.

Voices Carry

I know Miley Cyrus is all the rage these days, particularly with the tween set. I have seen her face plastered all over my US Weekly. I skip right over any "story" about her, though, because frankly, I'm just not interested. I haven't seen a single second of Hannah Montana, and the only reason I even know about it is because I would basically have to be living in a cave NOT to hear about it. Again, it's all over US Weekly. Also, it was plugged by her daddy Billy Ray on Dancing With the Stars, possibly the best marketing vehicle EVER.

So, anyway, I got my chance to get to know young Miley Cyrus during the Academy Awards. It started with Ryan Seacrest's interview on the red carpet. Side note: Ryan Seacrest is pretty terrible as the emcee of Amercian Idol, but I actually think he's a brilliant interviewer (his awkward pregnancy-related questions to Jessica Alba notwithstanding) - and interviewing is what he should stick to. So anyway, Ryan puts the mic up to Little Miss Cyrus, and holy moly! That girl has a deep voice. I was expecting some kind of Minnie Mouse squeaky thing (perhaps because of the Disney connection). I was so surprised (and impressed)! The deep voice actually made me care about Miley just a little.

I also love Keri Russell's voice. For that alone, she was a winner on the red carpet. And that is probably part of the reason I liked "Waitress" so much. I so admire that low voice she has and wish I had one too.

Which got me thinking . . . do I have a low voice? A high voice? Or somewhere in the middle? I guess I've heard it (and cringed) on my outgoing voicemail messages and in video footage, but I am just not an objective judge. I hope hope hope it is medium to low. But I don't know for sure . . . .

I Can't Wait for Dollywood!

Last night, my husband surprised me with something that if I had a wish list of things I wanted to do and he had to prioritize my list with things he would actually do with me, this would be like the LAST thing on his list... going to Dollywood!

I've seen a program on the Travel Channel about Dollywood. It's really just a Dolly-themed amusement park in the mountains of Tennessee, owned, operated and filled with a bunch of Dolly's relatives. There aren't any boob-themed rides, quite possibly Dolly's most popular assets, but there are a lot of kids' rides, water rides, crafts, artisans, shops, good mountain man cooking, etc.

When I met my husband's cousins, from Tennessee, I asked them would they take me to Dollywood when we came to visit. Their response: 'We'll drop you off and pick you up later.' I think being native Tennessee people, they think of Dollywood as a joke but I don't think it's a joke. I think it's great that Dolly thought of something that could help employ her family....where it doesn't matter what your brain power is - the smart ones get put towards the front office, the not-so-smart ones get left frying food, stocking shelves, and operating the rides...wait....maybe not operating the rides, maybe checking to see safety belts are locked. Supposedly, everyone that works at the park is in relation to Dolly in some form or another. Well - with ten other siblings and who knows how many aunts/uncles, I'm sure that's pretty true. But one picture I saw of a performer makes me wonder what the connection is...does Dolly have Asian relatives?

I'm so excited about it that I went and looked up stuff on the Dollywood website. I think I'm most excited about seeing the artisans and crafts and maybe purchasing some hand-made quilts and art work/pottery - but I'm also going to embrace Dollywood as a whole...I'll eat their down-home cooking and sing 'Islands in the Stream.' And you better believe, I'm leaving there with a 'Dollywood' shirt! YAYE!

The Purpose of the R.S.V.P.

From as early as I can remember, when I got an invitation to a birthday party, school dance, bar/bat mitzvahs, prom, weddings, etc, there was an RSVP date. I don't know exactly what RSVP stands for but I know it's the date by which you need to respond with your attendance status. If I knew off the bat whether or not I could attend, I would respond promptly, way before the RSVP date. If I wasn't sure I would be available for an event, I would wait it out but still respond by the RSVP date. And in my experience, the RSVP date was usually at least two weeks from receipt of invitation.

As a hostess, the waiting between sending out invitations and the RSVP date is always so nerve wracking....I know for my wedding, I really enjoyed receiving those little envelopes in the mail with people's responses. What I did not enjoy was having to hunt down people for their lack of response a week after the RSVP date - I think that's kind of rude and it adds more stress to an already stressful situation.

Thankfully, I haven't had to really plan things out since my wedding...and thanks to the power of Evite, informal get-togethers can now be handled through the web and those people that respond with 'Maybes' can be handled at the host's discretion.

Recently, I had to plan a semi-formal reception. I received about four month's notice to secure a location, work out some details, and get a flyer out two months before the event. Because I was dependent on another party to create and send out the flyers, they actually didn't go out until six weeks prior to the event. I had set the RSVP date for two weeks prior to the event so that gave all invited parties about a month to respond. Like I said, the first week after the invitations go out is a nerve wracking cause you're always hoping people actually show up. My first few RSVPs were a little daunting - they were the 'No' responses. But going into weeks two and three, I started to get more positive responses. I was just hoping for at least 50 people... as we neared the RSVP date, it looked like I was going to meet the 50 and then some. So I was happy.

Three days before the RSVP date, you wouldn't BELIEVE the responses I got of people that still wanted to attend and just wanted to let me know. I would tell them that it's still okay to register but their registration wouldn't be fully complete until I received a check/money for the event - this is a precaution I put into place due to the results of past events held. The day AFTER the RSVP date, I was still getting emails and phone calls from people wondering if they could still attend. And here's my question to them - where the hell were you for the past four weeks? Some of the emails said they were 'out of town' this last week, in which case I'm wondering where they were for the three weeks prior to that... Another woman emailed me two days after the RSVP and said, 'they missed the boat on RSVPing' - yeah, I'll say. But still wanted to know if they could attend....of course I said they could but what the hell, people?! Do all stragglers just want to make more hassle for the host and actually force them to respond to you when there are a ton of other things to worry about?

It upsets me because these are all people from my same alma mater - I would expect better of these people. Respond on time - get an etiquette book. If you miss the RSVP date, then assume you can no longer come. The RSVP date is not a 'suggested' respond by date - it is the date you should respond by....in order for the host not to look poorly upon you. Wikipedia says RSVP stands for: Répondez s'il vous plaît - 'Please respond.' So please, in consideration to your host(s), RSVP by the date provided, not by your own schedule.