A Song To Come Home To ... And Intense Hydration (A.K.A. Jackfruit Smoothies and Jackasses)

Hello LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers:

It has been an amazing summer with lots of trips including Turks and Caicos, Rio De Janeiro, San Francisco, New York City, Hortolandia, Raleigh, Boca Raton, Miami, Chicago, Cape Cod ... and more!  I have thousands of pictures that hopefully will make it to some blog posts.  (Including a picture of actress Reese Witherspoon who was standing next to me at the Boston Airport, waiting for her flight to Nantucket and a picture of Top Chef Contestant Kevin Gillespie who was staying at the same hotel as me in Chicago.  All these people are stalking me!  Ha ha!) 

Unfortunately, I have been concentrating more on work, fitness and reading than writing lately.  I think everything is cyclical - so I expect I will be writing more this Fall.  (Fingers crossed!)

It has been an extremely rainy summer in Tampa Bay, so this weekend with Tropical Storm Erika fizzling out I decided to take full advantage of the sunny weather by walking the gorgeous linear parkway that is Bayshore Boulevard.  On both Saturday and today (Sunday), I walked over ten miles each morning.  I have been walking a lot as I am in constant Fitbit competitions with friends and friends of friends ... and I have a freakish competitive streak when it comes to step counts.  (I think I have won all but one of the competitions I have been involved in on Fitbit.  I am a nerd.  But a nerd with calves of steel!)

This summer, I had the distinct pleasure of seeing the winner of Logo TV's reality competition show RuPaul Drag Race Season Five, Seattle drag queen Jinkx Monsoon in two shows:  "The Vaudevillians: Bringing Up Baby" in New York City and "The Inevitable Concert" in Provincetown, Massachusetts.  Check out a reel of Jinkx Monsoon moments on RuPaul Drag Race here or click below. 

In Provincetown, MA; I also saw RuPaul Drag Race Season Six winner Bianca Del Rio's show Rolodex of Hate, the best drag queen from my hometown: Miss Richfield 1981's show Cone of Silence, RuPaul Drag Race contestant Ben De La Creme and the Atomic Bombshells in a fantastic burlesque show and last but not least: Neil Patrick Harris and his husband David Burtka doing a great show of half-interviews, half-songs. (And I sat two rows ahead of the famed Harris-Burtka twins, Gideon and Harper.  Yes- Miss VIP that I am, was in 2nd row and the twin young children were in the 4th row.  Until they left the show early for their bedtime, that is.  Gideon had a gigantic smile on his face as he watched his two fathers singing on stage.)  It was an excellent show weekend in P-Town!  

Check out my Instagram @LilyOnTheLam for pictures of me with Jinkx, Bianca, Ben De La Creme and Miss Richfield 1981 ... as well as a ridiculous number of pictures of desserts that have made their way into my belly!

In my Fitbit fervor, I have been walking 5-14 miles a day at least 3-5 times a week.  Because I have the attention span of a gnat (at times), I entertain myself on my walks by taking nature pictures (see some of my pics below) and listening to podcasts.  But for my ten mile walks over the past 2 days, I was so ADHD that I could only handle listening to music. 

Bayshore Boulevard - Tampa, FL

These gorgeous flowers were at the five mile mark of my ten mile walk

I titled this picture "Little Bird in the Big City" on my Instagram

I think drag queen Jinkx Monsoon is ridiculously talented and I listened to his album "The Inevitable Album" several times on my long distance walks this weekend.  My favorite song off the entire album is called "A Song To Come Home To."  I sat in the 2nd row at The Art House in Provincetown, just knocked over by the song.  There is a live version of the song on YouTube, but the quality is not as magnificent as when I saw it in concert - so I am including links to both the recorded version (which I adore) as well as the live version.  

This haunting beautiful song has now become synonymous with me pushing through even when I wanted to turn around and end my ten mile walk early.  It makes me think of strength, resolve and the determination to make smart choices and have a better life. 

After my second of two-ten mile walks, I must have been very dehydrated because I went to the wonderful Pho Quyen Vietnamese Restaurant in Tampa and had: 1) a jackfruit smoothie, 2) a Vietnamese Arnold Palmer - half limeade and half tea and 3) a gigantic bowl of pho with a heavy amount of hoisin sauce and sriracha sauce.

Jackfruit smoothie & a Vietnamese Arnold Palmer!

Pho Quyen also gives a giant plate of bean sprouts for their pho, but I hate bean sprouts - so no go for my pho!

Lots of Hoisin and Sriracha in my Beef Flank Pho!

After rehydrating with all sorts of Asian liquids, I drove to Starbucks for MORE liquids while I finished reading my latest book.  Seriously, I am waterlogged ... or actually iced tea-logged.  I listened to Jinkx Monsoon's "A Song To Come Home To" as I drove to Starbucks. 

A couple days ago, a toxic guy I once was interested in but then wised up and had given the boot many, many, many months ago texted me.  His birthday was two days away so perhaps he was having some sort of aging crisis where he felt the sadistic need to reconnect to women who wanted nothing to do with him.  My eyes rolled so far back in my head at his "Oh, I just wanted to say `hi'" text that I was afraid they were going to get stuck back there! 

It was like "Dude, you were self-absorbed, vapid, misogynistic and unkind when I gave you the boot and from what I can see nothing has changed!  Why are you contacting me?"  If someone tells you they no longer want to talk to you anymore- why would you try to reconnect many, many months afterward?  It's sad.  I wanted to tell the guy to get some self-respect.  iPhone's and Gmail's blocking capability to the rescue! 

I follow "Prince EA" on Instagram and Facebook.  I find his motivational messages and videos to be inspiring and they always seem to be on topic for what is going on in my life at just the right times.  Today he posted these two internet memes which again had really amazing timing for what I have been thinking about recently.  

In trying to make healthy decisions for myself, it has been refreshingly easy to "walk away from anything that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy."  I listen to Jinkx Monsoon's "A Song To Come Home To" and I smile because just as the song helped me push through a ten mile walk (two days in a row!) when I would have rather been sleeping or laying by the pool; the song also serves as my anthem for taking overall care of myself - emotionally as well as physically.

It is good to respect yourself enough to make the best decisions for yourself ... and it's also good to be extremely hydrated.  Ha ha!  This summer has not only been a time of some amazing travel, but also a time of focusing on what is important and leaving all the rest behind.  I hope your summer has been amazing too, dear readers!

As always, thank you for reading!

Challenge Extended ...

Happy Wednesday, LilyOnTheLam.Com Readers!

I am in a GROUCHY mood today.  I need more sleep and more exercise.  With my new job I usually start work by 5:45 a.m. or 6:45 a.m. if it's a "late" day.  My body clock would rather start work around 10 a.m. and finish up say by 2 p.m.  Unfortunately for me, I also like receiving a steady, fat paycheck ... so I wake up early and I am grouchy.

I can only assume at my core that I am a masochist, because I know that I function better and feel better if I get enough sleep, water, exercise and healthy food ... and yet here I am wishing I was eating THIS for breakfast ...

  
It is the Coconut Cream Pie from Capital Grille restaurant.  Now normally I am a banana cream pie girl, but this is by far my favorite coconut cream pie.  There is no comparison with how good this darn pie is ... and it comes with a cookie!  Seriously if I were Empress of Lily Land (formerly known as the US of A), I would require that all pie slices come with a cookie and all cake slices come with a donut.  And everyone gets their own pony.  Or unicorn.  Or rainbow.  There's a lot of rules in Lily Land. 

I haven't had this particular Coconut Cream Pie in at least two years because it is pure decadence in a tartlet shell ... but if you're looking for super rich, super good coconut cream pie- get yourself over to a Capital Grille restaurant.

I try a lot of products "for the sake of my blog" (ohhh I am such a martyr!)  But I can't try every product out there, so I am going to extend a Product Review Challenge ... have you tried any of the following products?  If yes, tell me what you thought of them in the comments section ...  It is INTERACTIVE LilyOnTheLam, people!

Product #1:  Milkis - from what I can tell it is some sort of carbonated "milk soda" that I found at my local Asian store.  Since I have a milk soda-phobia, I have not tried this.  Have you?

Product #2:  Cosmic Blue Twinkies - Twinkies with Blue Raspberry Creme.  When I saw these, my first thought was "Oh God NO!"  Seriously I already think "tons of artificialness" when I look at a Twinkie, do we need a bright blue filling too?  Am I wrong?  Is this the next best taste sensation?

Product #3:  Not to be the world's biggest hypocrite, BUT ... after I was slamming the Blue Raspberry Creme Twinkies I next saw THESE and thought "Hmmm, those look tasty."  BAD LILY!  Chocolate covered Twinkies!  Have you tried these?  What did you think?

Product #4:  How many decades before someone said "Hey a square marshmallow would make s'mores making easier?" This is why I am proud to be an American - square-shaped marshmallows ... excuse me "s'moresmallows."  If ever there was a reason to stop what you're doing and make some s'mores - this, my friends, is all the reason in the world.

Product #5:  SRIRACHA POPCORN!  I was traveling and didn't have any room in my suitcase.  Which I feel weak even admitting ... I mean seriously, isn't there always room for sriracha popcorn??  I have never seen this product since my initial spotting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  I am only left with my longing and regret ... have you tried it?  What did you  think?

Product #6:  I have a love-hate relationship with flavored Oreos.  Ever since I tried the Candy Corn Oreo and cried and cried and cried, I have been gun shy about flavored Oreos.  I think Chips Ahoy also makes a root beer float flavored chocolate chip cookie.  As Miss Toledo says - WHY?  Why keep making things that taste like other things?  Although I watched a BuzzFeed video that said that Oreos originally came in the chocolate with creme version and a LEMON MERINGUE version that was discontinued in the 1920's.  What the what?  Bring that cookie back and let me try it!  But until then ... have you tried the root beer flavored Oreos?  What did you think?

Are there any products you have wanted to try but are too afraid/shy/broke to try?  Let me know in the comments section!