I told Anita I’d be happy to contribute. It was good to have a little push to get me to blog again – it has been too long. But, as I was sitting there, reading Anita’s mail, the holidays weren’t really on my mind. What was on my mind was how the heck I was going to make it up the terrifying Day 2 of our itinerary: 10 miles of trekking, hiking over two passes that reached almost 14,000 feet. Especially because within hours of landing in Cusco at it’s 11,000+ feet above sea level, I was stuck in the bathroom losing what little lunch I was able to eat. Sorry for the TMI. High altitude and I no longer seem to get along. Thoughts raced through my mind of how I was going to not ruin Cam’s trip. The first Diamox tablet didn’t stay down. I curled up in bed, and Cam brought me chicken soup and toast. I looked at it and ran back to the bathroom.

The second Diamox managed to stay put, and a few hours later, my stomach began to settle. My second day in Cusco, I managed to go outside and read my book while sitting in the sun for a few hours. I even managed eat a few bites at dinner. The third day, we took a tour of the Sacred Valley, and I hiked up a few Inca steps. With more hope than confidence, I boarded the bus the next day to being the trek. It was certainly not what I had planned or been training all summer for.

Four days later, I looked down at Machu Picchu drenched in gorgeous light. I might been the slowest hiker on our trek (go Team Tortuga!), but each step was totally worth it. It certainly wasn’t the trip I had planned, but the struggle made the summits all the sweeter. And I realized exactly what makes a memorable moment for me at the holidays, or really, anytime. It’s the story that comes from the unexpected: When things don’t necessarily go as planned; when I push myself to do things I’m not sure I can do; when I take a risk to see what happens.

Most of my best holiday memories were entirely unanticipated. An impromptu shopping spree resulting in my favorite boots when our luggage didn’t arrive. A turkey in a tent while trekking up Kilimanjaro. Skiing down our street during a rare Seattle snowpocalypse that delayed most of our holiday festivities. I love a happy accident.

Thanks Anita for including me in this promo!

Want a chance to win prizes by sharing what makes your moments special? Just tag your moment tweet or Instagram with the #LindsayMoment hashtag from now until Dec 22. See the Lindsay Olive page for more details.

This post is part of the Lindsay Olive Flavor Makes the Moment fall/holiday promotion.

“OOF” Cocktail

The flavor of the olives you use for this cocktail are critical to it working. Be sure that you like the flavor before you use them. I recommend fruity/buttery green olives such as California Green Olives or Correggiolas.

Flakey salt for garnish

1 1/2 ounce vodka

the juice from 2 oranges (3 ounces)

1 teaspoon fennel syrup (see below)

1 teaspoon high quality, fruity olive oil, plus a little more for garnish

1 fruity/buttery green olive, for garnish

1 small fennel frond for garnish

Brush a small section of the rim of a cocktail glass with a bit of orange juice, and dip into flake salt.

Shake the vodka, orange juice, fennel syrup, 1 teaspoon of olive oil over ice, and strain into a cocktail glass. Dot a few drops of olive oil.

Garnish with an olive and a small piece of fennel frond.

Fennel Syrup

1 tablespoon fennel seeds

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

a large pinch of salt

Use a mortar and pestle to lightly crush the seeds, and add them to a pot with the water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil, then remove from the heat and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain the seeds from the syrup and store the syrup in an airtight container for up to one month.

A. My not-so-new laptop didn’t have my blog editor installed.
B. It took quite a few times for me to remember my user login
C. I couldn’t remember how to connect my blog editor to my blog.

Obviously, I figured it all out.

I hate that I’ve been gone from here for basically the past year, but that’s only because I love what I’ve been doing, and let me tell you, I’ve been doing a lot.

In case you are short on time, let me get to the point.

A year ago February, amidst a pretty full-time job of shooting photos for cookbooks and magazines, I decided to get back into the software game. Don’t get me wrong- I still love food photography and writing. But in the 8 years I had been away from the tech world, I found I really missed it. Yeah, I’m weird that way.

A couple of my buddies were starting a software company, Project 529 down in Portland, and I decided to join. We are all about software to for cyclists and helping people get outside and ride more. We’ve started by taking up a cause that effects over 250,000 people per year: bike theft. Did you know that every 30 seconds a bike is stolen? That’s just insane. I’m betting if you haven’t had a bike stolen, you probably know someone who has. And it probably really sucked.

We decided that instead of just complaining about it, we’d try to do something.
First up, we’re creating a movement to urge Craigslist and eBay to require serial numbers on all used bike sales. While this won’t stop all stolen bike trafficking, we see it as a huge first step in using technology to help bike owners rather than bike thieves.

I try not to ask for much on this site, but I will ask for this: Please take a few minutes to go and sign our petition, and tell your friends.

I’m also really excited to announced that a couple of weeks ago, we released a preview of the 529 Garage website and iPhone app. Either from the app or the website, you can quickly register all the critical details of your bike, like the serial number and the make and model, as well as capture a few good-to-have photos to help make identifying your bike easier. If your bike does go missing, it’s just a few clicks to print out custom poster and get it on our hot sheet which makes it easy for people to send tips if they think they’ve seen it. Both the website and app are free, so if you have a bike, be sure to register them!

The next phase of the app is even cooler. If your bike goes missing, you can send out a notification to everyone else in your area to be on the lookout for your bike and hopefully help you catch the thief. It’s making the most of the cycling community to fight a problem that effects all of us.

We just kicked off the app down in Monterey, CA at Sea Otter Classic, a huge cycling event that draws upwards of 65,000 visitors, and riders competing in just about any event that involves human power and two wheel – there were road races, a Gran Fondo, downhill mountain biking, dual slalom, pump tracks, cyclocross and more. It was really amazing hearing everyone’s stories about their bikes and seeing them get excited about the tools we are building.

Post Sea Otter, Cam and I took the slow route back up the coast in a camper van, stopping in a few spots to ride. It’s been months of few weekends that didn’t include 10 hour work days (except when we went to Antarctica – but that’s a whole other story!), so this was a welcome respite.

Being a startup, it’s not exactly a steady thing, so I’ve still been doing food photography as well.