Sunday, February 10, 2019

36 Hours in the Central Coast

A few weekends ago, we spent 36 hours in the Central Coast, and because we have visited there multiple times before, we truly made the most of it. 


Saturday Morning 

We started our visit to the Central Coast in Morro Bay with a nice, relaxing walk along the water. 




Saturday Afternoon

We followed the walk with a delicious lunch with a view of Morro Rock at the Galley, one of our favorite restaurants in the Central Coast.




Saturday Late Afternoon/Evening

We spent Saturday evening in Pismo Beach, where we walked down the Pier, followed by food and drinks at the Rooftop at the Inn at the Pier - always a relaxing and delicious time!





Sunday Morning

We started the day with coffee, gluten-free crepes, and croissant bread pudding at Mon Ami in Pismo Beach - decadent treats we indulge in whenever we stay in Pismo Beach. They are truly worth it! 


Then we spent some more time at the beach; the weather was changing a bit, but it was still very enjoyable to hang out by the water and breathe the fresh air.


A quick note on the hotel we stayed at: The Inn at the Pier. It's a new hotel and truly lovely. It's quite pricey, but they offer special winter deals, and there are also some Groupon deals in late fall/winter/early spring.

Since the weather wasn't all that nice, we headed to the Pismo Beach Outlet Mall and did a little shopping. 


Sunday Afternoon

Next, we drove about ten to fifteen minutes to Avila Beach and had a delicious late lunch at Blue Moon over Avila. Avial Beach is a (somewhat) hidden gem with its own mirco climate, and it's often a few degrees warmer.

 

 
 

Then we did some wine tasting at Alapy Cellars and picked up our wine club shipment. Avila Beach is now home to numerous wine tasting rooms, and one can spend a very pleasant day wine tasting if it's not beach weather. 

Sunday Late Afternoon

On our way home, we stopped by Firestone Walker Tasting Room and tasted some barrel aged beers.





Our 36 hours in the Central Coast were truly wonderful. The perfect mix of beach time, good food, delicious drinks, and a little shopping. Most importantly, family time! 

Question: What was your last memorable short getaway? Do you enjoy spending time at the beach? 

Click here to check out the fabulous bloggers I’m linking up with.  

Be well,

Andrea

 

Thursday, February 7, 2019

The Blueprint for Back Pain Relief Review

Disclosure: I was provided a review copy of The Blueprint for Back Pain Relief. As always, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links, and www.andreaswellnessnotes.com will benefit from actions taken on the links. 



I recently had the opportunity to review The Blueprint for Back Pain Relief: The Essential Guide to Non-Surgical Solutions by Bradford T. Butler, D.C.

Dr. Butler starts out by outlining his own poor health during his youth and how chiropractic treatment was able to heal him. That experience inspired him to become a chiropractor himself so that he would be able to help patients in the same way he had been helped.

The book gives a lot of statistics as well as patient histories involving back pain. Dr. Butler points out repeatedly that in our current health care system only the symptoms of back pain are treated and not the causes. He makes a convincing case that medication and surgery are not the answer. He also makes the point that back pain causes many other debilitating conditions such as depression, sleep problems and stress.

He warns the reader that a back problem that is not treated correctly will cause more damage and, eventually, there will be a point of no return. He gives examples from his own practice where patients waited too long and, unfortunately, he wasn't able to help them anymore at some point.

Dr. Butler makes a very convincing point that chiropractic care should be, at least in part, preventative care. He draws a very successful analogy to dental care. Today, we mostly got to the dentist to prevent potential future problems. But that was not always the case. In the past, people only went to the dentist when they had a tooth ache. We can easily see that our teeth would be in much worse shape if we still did that today. And it's the same with our back.

Unfortunately, as we age, our pain threshold increases, and, Dr. Butler points out, this increased threshold may mean that we do more damage to our back because we don't seek treatment soon enough. That's why preventative care is so important, and we really should view our neck and back like our teeth. This is especially important because sometimes the back pain may subside, but the underlying problem will not subside without treatment.

To treat back pain, there have to be enough treatments so that the body can adapt back to what a healthy spine looks like and how it functions. Dr. Butler outlines different problems and how many treatments they require on average. He also points out that there needs to be a maintenance plan so that the correction of the problem can be maintained.

An interesting point Dr. Butler makes is to ask yourself if you move with ease. You may not experience pain, but you still may not move with ease. And that could be a warning sign of problems to come.

Dr. Butler also includes a quite comprehensive discussion of regions of the spine, which is very helpful in understanding where you have a problem versus calling it "back pain," which is quite a large region.

The book also talks about the two main types of injuries: traumatic and overuse. Dr. Butler points out that overuse injuries are especially problematic because they are often less severe, and the patient may think that the problem is therefore minor and not address it for a long time while it's in reality getting more and more severe over that period of time.

In conclusion, The Blueprint for Back Pain Relief is a comprehensive book that convincingly argues against drug treatments and surgery and for chiropractic treatment. In doing so, Dr. Butler educates the reader about the physiology of back pain and where it originates and gives many real life examples from his practice. Anyone how lives with back pain or who is not moving with ease should read the book to educate themselves about possible causes and treatment options. The Kindle version of the book currently sells for less than a cup of coffee (I believe the price will increase soon), and I think for many it'll be the best dollars they have spent in awhile.

Question: Do you ever experience back pain? If so, what, if anything, do you do to alleviate it? Have you ever seen a chiropractor? Or do you see a chiropractor regularly?

Be well,
Andrea




Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Sentence a Day: January 2019

Here are my sentences for January 2019. You can read my past sentences on my Sentence a Day Page.

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

I didn't quite make it to midnight last night, but got up before 5 a.m. thanks to jetlag; I made a big pot of Korean rice cake soup and we brought some and other Korean dishes to my father-in-law in the nursing home; in the afternoon, we went on a beautiful hike.




Wednesday, January 2, 2019
I'm still waking up before 4 a.m.; today I was productive and worked on my winter classes for a few hours and then took a barre class at 7 a.m. Since the boys are still off, we walked two miles to lunch and back. In the afternoon, I worked a few hours at the barre studio.


Thursday, January 3, 2019 
I went hiking with a good friend in the morning, and in the afternoon we were invited to our (other) friends' house for coffee and cake.




Friday, January 4, 2019
I worked in the morning, and then we went to downtown San Jose to check out the festivities for the College Football Championship.



Saturday, January 5, 2019
I started the day with a barre class, went grocery shopping and got caught up at home as it rained most of the day.

Sunday, January 6, 2019
Another rainy and very windy day that I started with a barre class; we also made it out to run some errands and wanted to use a gift certificate to Fleming's Steakhouse but realized that they are not open for lunch on the weekends, so we ended up at Il Fornaio (mainly because it was right next door and we just wanted to get out of the dreadful weather); the meal ended up being very enjoyable, and we celebrated life with some fancy drinks.



Monday, January 7, 2019
I worked a shift at the barre studio and got ready for the first day of winter classes tomorrow.

Tuesday, January 8, 2019
I taught my early morning class (nice students!), took a barre class, worked a shift at the barre studio and took the kid to an orthodontist appointment - long day!

Wednesday, January 9, 2019
I can't believe I'm still waking up at 3:30 a.m.! Today I made the most of it and got a bunch of work done before taking a yoga class at 7 and then working two shifts at the barre studio the rest of the day.

Thursday, January 10, 2019
Taught my class and then had a nice long phone call with a good friend while we both went on a walk.

Friday, January 11, 2019
Worked a shift at the barre studio, and in the evening was the holiday party at the studio with a beautiful tablescape, amazing food and great conversations.


Saturday, January 12, 2019
We met up with my brother-in-law for lunch, and in the evening the kid went to his friend's house for a sleepover.

Sunday, January 13, 2019
We were invited to our friends' house for brunch. Everything was sooo good, and it was so fun to make racelette. 


Monday, January 14, 2019
Worked at the barre studio a few hours and got caught up on work.

Tuesday, January 15, 2019
Andy and I got to check out breweries that will be at the San Francisco Opening Gala at a media preview event in San Francisco; unfortunately, because of the rain and accidents, a drive that should have taken us one hour took more than 2.5 hours. We were so glad when we finally arrived.


Wednesday, January 16, 2019
I started the day with a yoga class (always nice!), worked on my classes for a few hours and then worked a few hours at the barre studio. In the afternoon, a huge rain storm moved in, and driving was not fun!

Thursday, January 17, 2019
Another wet day, and I left my umbrella in the car before my first class, which meant I was soaked by the time I retrieved it...

Friday, January 18, 2019
Started the day with a HIIT Pilates class (so hard but so good!) and got caught up around the house and with my classes. Also took care of annoying (and expensive) car stuff.

Saturday, January 19, 2019
We got up bright and early and drove to the Central Coast, where we enjoyed the warm weather and the beach and had some fun!


Sunday, January 20, 2019
We enjoyed another day in the Central Coast before driving back home.

January 21, 2019
We got new tires in the morning, ran a bunch of errands and celebrated our daughter-in-law's birthday in the evening.


January 22, 2019
I didn't feel well all day, but it was a busy day with teaching and working a few hours at the barre studio.

January 23, 2019
Not feeling well.

January 24, 2019
Luckily, I felt a bit better today as we went to a fabulous wine dinner at Il Fornaio Burlingame with Round Pond Winery wines, which had been on the calendar for a while.


January 25, 2019
Andy's car needs more repairs and much of the day was taken up by taking care of them. Not fun. And expensive!

January 26, 2019
We went on a short hike, but the kid ended up not feeling well.


January 27, 2019
I went grocery shopping, and when I wanted to put everything away, I realized our fridge and freezer had stopped working. 

January 28, 2019
The kid woke up not feeling well and stayed home from school; in the afternoon he scared me when he slept for five hours straight. 

January 29, 2019
The kid was still sick, and I taught my classes in the morning and worked two shifts at the barre studio in the afternoon.

January 30, 2019
I took the kid to the doctor because he is still not feeling well; they did a strep test, but we'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to get the results.

January 31, 2019
Both the kid and I have strep. No fun.

Question: What was your highlight in January? 

Inlinkz Link Party

Be well,
Andrea