Spray Tanning: The Update

So in one of my earlier posts I mentioned my pretty distinctive tan lines due to cycling and my desire to minimize them for the Big Day.

Well, upon my mom's consultation with some friends of hers, she recommended I go with airbrush spray tanning. She found some local options thanks to Yelp and I called up to make a reservation at one in the Marina (SF neighborhood).

The whole process was painless. I showed up, stripped down and went into a shower type stall and was spray-tanned all over by a personal air-brusher. She aimed for the whiter areas, but sprayed all over. Afterwards, I stood in front of a fan to dry faster and then changed into black clothes and headed out.

I met up with my best friend Leila afterwards for dinner. Nothing was very obvious, but I felt sticky and optimistic. We caught up, chowed down and I headed home -- trying to dodge the light rain since I was told this was no good for the spray tan.

I couldn't take a shower for at least 6 hours so I just headed to bed with visions of an all body consistent tan as I drifted to sleep.


I guess it takes 2 days for the tan to absorb completely. But, it just didn't work. Not the day after or 2 or more (the photo above is at work 2 days later). My tan lines were just as clear, though I had an overall bronze-y glow.

Needless to say, I'm glad I gave it a trial run. But I'm bummed. I want a one-stop solve. Now it's back to square one. I'm going to explore the rub-in tan that gradually deepens. I'll also work on moving my jersey and short lengths around to blend the transition from tan to white a bit more (right now I have very distinctive linear lines). And in the end, if nothing really works, well -- the two-tone complexion will always be a reminder of how much fun we have together on our bikes (awwwww).

Super Secret Date Night

Travis and I have "date night" every Monday night. That means we aim to get home by 7 p.m., make a meal together, eat and then hang out a bit together before going to bed. These are low key, but I look forward to them because it's a time we carve out for just us during our sometimes chaotic weeks.

I decided recently, though, to surprise Travis with a Super Secret Date Night. Last night was the SSDN! I'd been slowly building up the suspense in the past few days asking if he was excited, how he should be excited and how "I didn't know" if any of the guesses he came up with were at all close to the real thing (volunteering at a cook-off, a show at a local venue, dinner at a fancy restuarant, etc.).

Yesterday I texted Travis at 4:00 p.m. with the address he needed to be at by 6:30 p.m. with instructions to "come hungry and no looking up what resides at the address." I could tell he was excited and playing along because he asked for the cross street so he wouldn't have to look at Google and get too many clues.

I ended up meeting up with Travis just before 6:30 p.m. He was rattling off how he just couldn't imagine what we were up to in the NoPa (North of the Panhandle) neighborhood.

I told him we were heading to dinner first -- that this wasn't the BIG surprise. As we approached Nopalito, his eyes lit up. Time to eat! He ordered some carnitas and I the enchiladas. Yum!


We had some time to spare before the BIG surprise so I suggested we grab dessert. Luckily, we found a lovely dessert bar, Candy Bar, to satisfy my chocolate cake craving! While savoring the flourless chocolate cake and raspberry sorbet, I figured it was time to finally reveal what we were going to do for our SSDN!

I pulled out of my bag a printout and handed it to Travis. Here is his reaction as he read it:

"Fire Escape Planting!" he read. Yep, we were headed to a 2 hour class on planting our own herb planters. He looked up with a look. I laughed. We had a gardener recently come weed out our jungle of a backyard. Travis had instructed her to plant some herbs as well. When I heard that (since I'd already booked our SSDN), I told him absolutely not. He tried to ask questions, but I just told him we couldn't do that right now. He knew something was up and I could tell he was frustrated. He gets it now!

So we were off! Our class was held at the Workshop, a DIY craft studio in San Francisco. Naya from Fire Escape Farms was our instructor and super laid back and helpful. She started by telling us some basics about potting and feeding plants. And then we got down to business!

First, we got to plant some basil, thyme and sage into our pre-made recycled wooden planters:

Lookin' good!

Then, we planted seeds to grow our own lettuce/green mixes:


We got all of our questions answered, rolled up our sleeves, got dirty and went home with 4 new planters! It was great!

Travis is in charge of watering the herbs/greens. We're excited to start adding some fresh, organic edibles to our meals.

BTW... we have a lot of wedding updates so stay tuned!

A Cycling Life -- 2011 Goals, a Honeymoon & Tanlines

Most of you know that I like to bike -- a lot. As in, for miles and miles on end. There is something about spending the day outside with friends, tackling some major mountains on your own power and then heading home for a tasty meal and falling into bed happy exhausted.

Luckily, Travis understands. We met through our bike club and our favorite weekend activity is to head out on bike dates. Lately, we've both stepped up to the cycling goals we've set for ourselves this year.

Travis and I hope to go on a 9 day cycling honeymoon through the Alps in September from Geneva to Nice. It involves climbing like we've never seen, but is exactly the type of trip that makes our eyes sparkle with excitement -- and our calves twitch in anticipation. We're not really beach folks and we don't idle well so an (epically) active honeymoon adventure is up our alley.

Travis is 100% back on the bike after his recovery from his broken clavicle and subsequent surgery in September and is already training for our pending honeymoon with early morning hill repeats and back-to-back weekend rides.

Biking is more like another part time job on top of my regular full time job. I try to get in 2 spin classes during the week, along with strength/core training twice a week at my work's gym. And then I aim to get on my bike for anywhere from 100-175 miles on the weekends.

In addition to our honeymoon, I've lined up what I call my "ATP" or Aggressive Training Plan. My best friend and riding buddy, Kelly, and I are tackling Furnace Creek 508 this year (this will be my third time and second time with Kelly) which is a 509 miles ride through Death Valley. Kelly and I will tagteam and have the support of my sister and Travis in a crew vehicle.


To prep, Kelly and I are tackling 4 double centuries (200 miles in one day) and the famous Death Ride. I hope to throw in an additional double century after Furnace Creek for good measure. Anyway, our first double of the season is this weekend in Paso Robles, CA and will help us gauge our fitness and whether or not our ATP is appropriate or insane.

While all of this will get me in great shape for our honeymoon, there is a side effect to all the riding -- and that is the infamous cycling tanlines. Since I usually train year round, I have perpetual cycling tan lines -- feet, legs and arms. In general, I avoid any type of strappy shoe since it just looks like I'm wearing socks and try to pretend my arm tan lines aren't as strong as they are. If I must wear girly shoes, I actually (no joke!) put make up on my feet to even it out.


I don't want to wear make up on my feet and I don't want to look like I'm wearing a sweater with my dress on my wedding day so next week I'm trying spray tanning. It's an experiment to see if we can even out my tan lines which will only get stronger with 3 double centuries and the Death Ride between now and our wedding!

And if the spray tan doesn't work -- then I'll have to be OK with it cuz it won't stop me from riding up a storm!