Just what I needed!

This weekend was just what I needed! I've been so stressed with work and trying (but at the same time not trying) to think about moving back to New York and it has just been consuming me. But this weekend, I was able to completely unwind with The Pilot and the family. So, here's the picture-loaded recap!

Thursday
The Pilot got to Boston just as I got out of work! We hadn't seen each other in a month and it was so good to have him in town! We went and grabbed dinner at UFood (yum!) and then headed to the Red Sox game because the Rangers were in town! And even though I'm a Mets fan who cheers for the Red Sox, I HAD to root for Texas because hey - that's where my roots lie! So, The Pilot and I rocked our Rangers hats that we bought when were home for Thanksgiving and went to watch the Rangers beat Boston! (I have to say though, it's much more fun when the home team wins!)

Me rockin' my Rangers hat at Fenway's famous red chair

Friday

6:00am - The alarm goes off and we and I got ready to head to the airport! Here's us waiting for the Silver Line from South Station!

Can you tell I was still half asleep?

We got to DFW around lunch time and my dad and youngest sister, Tiffany, picked us up at the airport. I was SO hungry that I told Dad we needed to pull over to the only fast food restaurant I ever eat at, Sonic! for my usual: a grilled cheese with tomatoes on Texas toast, tater tots and an ocean water! Yum! We got back to the house, hung around for a little while and relaxed and then headed off to the Rangers game!

The Ballpark at Arlington!

The fam and I at the Ball Park!

Saturday

I woke up at 11am! I don't think I've slept in that late since last summer! It was wonderful! After a delicious breakfast, I headed out for a 3 mile run with my sister and the Pilot in tow! She ran the first 1.5 and he finished the run with me. It was our first time running together and it was so much fun! After the run, my brother (who will be 17 next month) took us shopping! And he drove! It was so scary (not him actually driving but him being able to drive)! I bought a bunch of cute new summer dresses that I can't wait to wear! 

Saturday night, we went downtown to a bar called 8.0 (one of my favs!) to meet up with all of my friends, including Lauren, and they had an amazing band and I was just dancing and having a ball!

Sunday

The Pilot and I woke up early to get my dad's bike out so that he could ride alongside me on my 10 mile run! WOOHOO! I still can't believe I ran 10 miles! It was so great to have him riding alongside me to chat with when I felt like chatting, or just to know he was there when I didn't! I felt great after the run and jumped home to DEVOUR some fruit and pancakes before taking my brother and sister to Six Flags for the day! On the way to Six Flags, Mom called and told me I got a letter from NYU, so of course I made her open it and read it to me! And what did it say? I got a scholarship! That seriously made the weekend so much better just when I didn't think it could get any better!

The Pilot and I decided to get season passes so that we can use them at Great Adventure when I move back this summer! We had a blast! There were no lines and we even road the Titan 3 times!

Me, The Pilot, my brother and sister in the front two rows on the Titan!

Me and The Pilot in front of the Six Flags tower!

Me, my brother and sister with Wonder Woman and the Green Lantern!

When we got home, we ate dinner and then went "camping" in our RV. By camping, I mean, we sat in the RV with the AC on and watched movies all night! It was so much fun! We were going to take the RV to an RV park but ended up running out of time because our stay was so short, but we did go visit the RV park and guess who we saw there???

 YOGI BEAR!!!!

Dad giving me a Yogi Bear hug =)

Monday

The Pilot and I woke up, had a quick lunch, packed up and headed to the airport and parted ways (him back to NJ and me back to Boston)! It was a rough flight back and I'm still EXHAUSTED from my amazing weekend! 

Today was definitely a rough day at work and when I got home, (I skipped my Spanish class :/ ) I made a huge bowl of mac&cheese and sat in bed watching episodes of The Office, took a short nap and now am writing to all of you! And since I usually post these on Mondays, here's my training plan for the week!

Week 8

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: Rest (There's no way I'm going to muster up the energy to work out today!)

Wednesday: 5 mile run

Thursday: 20-30 minutes non-impact cardio

Friday: 5 mile run

Saturday: TBD

Sunday: 12 mile run

The plan for Saturday is to start (and continue through May) replacing my cardio workouts with core strengthening since your core is such an integral part of running and maintaining balance. So, we'll see what I come up with! I might pick up the Exhale Core Fusion DVDs since I enjoyed their classes so much! 

Well, I think I've left you with enough for tonight! Until next time!

You can take the girl out of the honky tonk...

Well I'm off!

The Pilot and I are headed to Texas for the weekend for some sunshine, barbeque, booze, baseball and of course, the family! Expect lots of pictures and a recap when I'm back!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Christy

I'm a runner?

I have never considered myself a runner. I mean, I run 4x a week, I recently ran my first race and now I find myself contemplating starting a separate bank account where I house all of my money to be used for running gear and race registrations! But still, I never considered myself a runner. Sunday morning, I watched three fellow bloggers crush their PRs in the BAA 5k. I don't even really have a PR since I've only run one race!  But for some reason, after my 8 mile run yesterday, I realized that I am a runner. 8 miles was the longest I had ever run. Until my race last week, I had never run more than 5 miles (and I had only done that once!) and now I've raced a 6.2 mile race and run 8 miles freely, on my own will, without stopping. And what was going through my head during that race? 1.8 miles? Only a 10k to go, you've done this before. Ok, now you've just finished a 5k, you can do this. You're done with a 10k and you ran it more than 4 minutes faster than last week's 10k. It was that thought process and the fact that not only were my hamstrings sore for the first time after a run but that I had blisters from my new shoes that I ignored as I felt them forming, that made me realize that I am a runner. And suddenly I realized that I can actually do this. I can run a marathon and I will.

So with that being said, it's Monday and time for my weekly training schedule!

Week 7
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles + Lower Body Strength Training
Wednesday: 20-30 minutes non-impact cardio
Thursday: 5 miles + Upper Body Strength Training
Friday: TBD
Saturday: 3 miles
Sunday: 10 miles

And on to other things, I received 2 awards over the weekend! Tara over at That's Why Her Hair is So Big gave me this award.

And Kris over at Because Why or Why Not gave me this award and left a comment about me that seriously made my day. She said, "Christy is so damn ambitious and motivated that it's a little bit contagious." Thanks girl!

 

I'm going to share this one with: Morgan, Lauren and Katie for doing so awesome yesterday (and today, Katie!) and not only being fellow bloggers, but fellow runners, because you know, I'm one too now! With this award, I'm supposed to share 5 things about myself, so:

1. I hate marshmallows. 

2. I'm a vegetarian. 

3. My sports teams are the Mets and Jets (no heckling!)

4. I'm a middle child.

5. I am going to TEXAS on Friday (more on that later this week)! 

Oh and one last thing (well 2)! Tara is doing an AWESOME giveaway for an adorable Liberty of London pillow from Target and matching picture frame! Go check it out!

AND since I am a runner ;) I recently made a list of Running Gear that I want, and on that list are Compression socks which I definitely want! And it just so happens that Laura over at Lola's Running is giving some away! Check out her giveaway here!

Have a great Monday everyone!

Baseball, wine and bloggers!

I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend! Mine was great! Very busy, but it was so nice!

Recap
Friday: Red Sox game! It was FREEZING! I went to the game with one of my girlfriends and it was about 37 degrees and pouring! The line for hot chocolate was longer than any beer long I've ever seen at a ball game! At the top of the 9th, they rained the game out and we left, so that was a bummer! And even though it felt like January, it's officially baseball season now that I've been to a game this season!
Saturday: Another RAD workout and then I came home, made a yummy dinner of brown rice with black bean almond pesto and then got myself prettied up for The Second Glass's Wine Riot! It was a wine expo featuring 250 different wines and it was so much fun!
Sunday: BLOGGER MEET UP IN BOSTON! This was quite possible the highlight of my weekend! A whole bunch of us bloggers met up before the BAA 5k (all thanks to the lovely Morgan at Caution: Red Head Running who organized the whole thing). I watched Morgan, Lauren and Katie with Katie's husband and Spike and then we met up with a whole slew of other bloggers for breakfast and had a great morning! Thanks to everyone who came out! I awesome to meet you all and good luck tomorrow!

After my meet-up, I headed to the gym (I'm a wuss in the cold!) for an 8 mile run! It was great! Such a good run! I ran the 10k part of it in 57:10 which is so much faster than my 10k last week! And I did the whole run in 1:13:43 which is awesome! I know I can run the half in close to two hours! I don't have a goal time just yet, but the closer I am to 2:00, the better! Now, I'm lying on my couch icing my hip though because it's killing just about as bad as it did the Friday before my race. But hey, I still raced and felt great, so I'll be fine =)

Oh and check out my new kicks!

I love them!

By the way, go check me out on The Novelista Barista! She did a blogger feature and it's on ME! How cool is that? And she has a great blog, so definitely go check her out!

Oh and can I just say that I'm super behind on my Google Reader and promise to get to all of you lovelies tomorrow! And for those of you who are new and have left me such sweet comments (seriously, I received 2 comments today that MADE my day!), I will get back to you and check out your blogs tomorrow!

Also, I have 10 new followers this weekend! How exciting is that?! So, if you're new, leave me a comment and say hi and tell me something random about yourself like your favorite cheese! And I'll go check you out! In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

For the record, my favorite cheese is manchego!

You never can tell with heffalumps.

Good morning friends!

So, I finished a third book on the list last night! And it was Winnie-the-Pooh! I had never actually read this, can you believe that?!

My Thoughts: What a GREAT read! I actually ran into an older woman on the T while reading it and she said, you know, I think everyone should re-read Winnie-the-Pooh every year just to bring them back to their youth! And she told me all about how her mother is in a nursing home and they read the stories to her whenever they go visit. How cute is that!? It was SO refreshing to read this in the midst of a crazy week at work and to just really hone in on something so simple and pure and fun! How could I give this book a bad review? It's about Winnie-the-Pooh and Christopher Robin! Rabbit and Eeyore, Piglet and the whole gang! And let's not forget about those pesky heffalumps! I mean, who doesn't love heffalumps? I actually have a heffalump stuffed animal that I bought myself for my 22nd birthday. Yes that's right, for my 22nd birthday, I bought myself a stuffed heffalump.

But how cute is this little fella! (Sorry about the lighting! I need a new camera stat!)

 

So anyway, I had a terrible day at work last night and had forgotten my swim suit but really needed a hardcore workout, so I switched my Friday workout to Wednesday and tried out The Fitnessista's RAD workout (short for Revolving Apparatus of Death...aka the treadmill!). Let me tell you, it was a great workout! I was so focused on paying attention to increasing my inclines and speed and concentrating and NOT falling off the treadmill at such steep inclines, that I forgot all about my bad day at work! I covered a little more than 4 miles in 45 minutes at varying speeds and inclines. I wish I had done this workout every day in preparation for my race! I feel like it would've made those hills so much easier to get through! But no worries, because my half-marathon is called the Heartbreak Hill Half-Marathon (ouch!). If any of you know about Boston, you'll know that Heartbreak Hill is where a lot of runners hit the wall during the marathon! But, with Fitnessista's RAD workout, I think I'll be in great shape! (By the way, she has an awesome blog, so go check it out!

Oh and for all you runners out there, I got an e-mail from Amazon.com this morning that the Garmin Forerunner 305 is 50% off! I so wish I had the extra cash to go buy this right now, but new sneakers need to come before fancy running gadgets! Let me know if you go get one!

Oh and in honor of Tax Day, if you bring a reusable coffee mug to Starbucks today, you get free coffee!

It's almost the weekend everyone! 

Book Review: "Beloved" - Toni Morrison

My Thoughts

This was a beautifully written story that tells the story of a former slave woman named Seethe living in Cincinnati after the war. The story really cuts into the brutal reality of slavery on an intimate level such that I had never read before. At times it was a little confusing as it bounced around from perspective to perspective, but that just added to the natural chaos of the characters in the story. It took me awhile to get through, but it was a good read and I definitely would recommend it.

Have any of you read Beloved? What did you think?

Stay tuned tomorrow for my NEXT book review ;)

I'm talkin' pedicure on my toes, toes

I need a little lovin' after my race yesterday so my race buddy and I headed to my fave nail salon for some pedicures! I got the extra massage feature and it was heaven! And let's face it, my toes look great (although my legs look so white!)!

I felt pretty good today, my calves were a little sore, but nonetheless I felt great! I felt even better when I found out that Amoree over at Imperfect Obsession left me some blog lovin'!

I'm supposed to say 7 things about myself and then pass it on to 7 other bloggers, so:

1. I had never tasted pumpkin until this past fall and I became unreasonably addicted.

2. I'm a vegetarian =)

3. I have been to just as many states as I have countries (20/20).

4. I went to four different high schools, debatably five. Three of them were in my freshman year. 

5. I always forget that I'm 23. 

6. When I was younger, I lived on a farm in Texas. My favorite animals were the cows and pigs. The chickens terrified me. (This isn't why I'm a veggie!)

7. My two favorite movies ever are Empire Records and Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet (better known as the one with Leo DiCaprio)

Now, moving on! I'm about 15 pages from finishing Toni Morrison's "Beloved," I'll post my review tomorrow!

I also watched all of Season 1 of The Office on Friday afternoon, (I'm not crazy, it's only 6 episodes!) so that's another thing that's under way on The List!

And of course, since I promised it, my training schedule for the week:

Week 6

Monday: Stretching! (And lots of it!)

Tuesday: 20 minutes of non-impact cardio + strength training

Wednesday: 20 minute swim!

Thursday: 20 minutes of non-impact cardio + strength training

Friday: R.A.D. Workout (borrowed from another blog, check back Friday for credit and details!)

Saturday: 3 mile run

Sunday: 8 mile run

That's right, 8 miles!!! From this point forward, I'll have run the furthest I've ever run every week and I can't wait for it!

Now I'm sharing my bloggy award with:

Alee at Love Is (If you're looking for a good book to read, definitely check out her blog!)

Stacy at Stacy Says

Hope Chella 

Angela at Craving Cupcakes

Rachael at Senorita Rachael

Sarah at Sarah Ann's Bon Mot

Morgan at Caution! Red Head Running (who I am going to meet this weekend for the Boston Marathon festivities!)

I did it!

I did it! I did it! I ran my first race! I ran 6.2 miles of rolling hills along a beautiful coast line in Massachusetts. Almost the entire race was run along the beach with a gorgeous sight line and a very refreshing breeze. Sounds perfect doesn't it?

Well let me tell you, that race f*cking killed!

Oh my goodness! It was SO difficult! Now, I didn't have any problems with my foot or my hip (as I was having all week), but it was such a tough course! Right after the first mile, we came up on an enormous hill and each hill came to a slight drop and then went up again. It was like a roller coaster!

The first two miles were definitely the hardest for me and then I sort of got into my groove and kept going. Around mile 3, we came up on this really tough hill and my right foot just went completely numb. By mile 4, my left foot had gone numb! Now, I wasn't too worried as I know that this is just a really bad sign that I need to change my shoes, but by 4.5, I had to stop and walk to get the feeling back in my feet! My friend Kathleen who ran with me was so great and just jogged alongside me and said, "We start together, we finish together" and that's just what we did.

I walked for about half a mile and then picked up the pace and sprinted right through the finish line and it was a wonderful feeling! It was also great because Cohasset is such a small little town and the entire town comes out to cheer on the runners which was awesome!

Thanks to all my lovely readers for the encouragement, well wishes and support! I was definitely thinking about you around Mile 5 when I started running again!

I have to say though, my playlist for this race was AWESOME! I accidentally hit Shuffle when I started so I never knew what was coming but each song came on at just the right time! So, I'll post my play list and leave you all for the night! *Note: This is not the order of the play list, just the songs on it.* Look out tomorrow for this week's training schedule! (Don't worry, I'm not crazy! I'm definitely taking it easy this week!)

Cohasset 10k Road Race by the Sea Playlist
"I Don't Want to Lose Your Love Tonight" - The Outfield
"I Gotta Feeling" - Black Eyed Peas
"Tik Tok" - Ke$ha
"Hey Soul Sister" - Train
"Good Girls Go Bad" - Cobra Starship
"Love Drunk" - Boys Like Girls"
"The Way You Make Me Feel" - Michael Jackson
"Candle 'Sick and Tired' - The White Tie Affair
"Check Yes Juliet" - We the Kings
"Jessie's Girl" - Rick Springfield
"Five Minutes to Midnight"  Boys LIke Girls
"Shake It" - Metrostation
"Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
"Misery Business" - Paramore
"Run Around" - Blues Traveler
"Bad Romance" - Lady Gaga
"Lollipop" - Mika

Holy Smokes! The race is tomorrow?!

That's right! My first 10k (first race ever, actually!) is tomorrow! I am such a mixture of nervousness and excitement, I'm not quite sure how to deal!

Considering as late as last night, I did not think I was going to run, I think it's fair to be nervous! See, I was having a lot of pain in the top of my foot all week that finally diminished on Thursday. It started on Saturday and felt better on Monday, so I went for a 5 mile run on Tuesday but the pain came back on Wednesday after a 2-ish mile ride on the elliptical and a 2-ish mile walk home. But by Thursday, I felt fine. Well, Friday morning I went to see a physical therapist about a recurring problem in my hip and after just the evaluation, I was in SO much pain I ended up leaving work early and laying on my couch all day with ice and a lot of pain killers. I felt much better today (am a little sore now, but that's probably because I just stretched!) The PT said I would be ok for Sunday and my hip hasn't been bothering me for a few weeks (until yesterday), so I'm hoping I'll be ok!

My biggest fear is not finishing. Since I've never raced before, I'm not concerned about time, I'm just racing to get some experience in before I start bigger races and to get in the 6-ish miles I'm supposed to get in this week!

Well, my race clothes are laid out and I've got breakfast all planned for the morning! I've had a nice quiet night in after a full day of spring cleaning and now it's time for bed!

Wish me luck tomorrow! I'll let you all know how it goes!!!

"Leave the gun, take the cannolis" - The Godfather

While "The Godfather" is on My Movie List and I still haven't seen it, I thought the comment would be appropriate as I have been inducted into:

That's right, Brittany at Simplicity in Baltimore (if you haven't checked out her blog, go there, NOW...well not now, after you finish reading my post!) has inducted me into The Preppy Mafia!

The Rules? Copy & Paste the picture into a post if you're tagged. Show some Blog Love to the person who tagged you. Answer the questions. Pass it on to 10 bloggy friends!

The Questions?

1. Who is your style icon?

Ashley Olsen - I love her boho, hippie style!

2. What is your favorite socialite book?

 That Extra Half an Inch: Heels, Hair and Everything in Between - Victoria Beckham

3. Favorite party theme?

I actually hate themed parties, so N/A on this one!

 4. Go to Halloween costume?

I'm always pretty creative about these! This year, I was Sherlock Holmes. Last year, my rommate and I went as good fairy/bad fairy (I was the bad one, hehe) AND as Hannah Montana...that got a lot of laughs!

5. Extravagance you cannot live without?

D

Definitely my Blackberry...

6. Living person you admire?

 Mom. 

7. Greatest fear?

Let down. I've been let down by a lot of people I trusted. My biggest fear is that if it happens again, I'll never be able to open up to anyone again. 

8. Trait you dislike about yourself?

I used to be a really positive person. I was always incredibly optimistic and was always trying to find the positive in the most negative of situations. That's changed, a lot in the last year and I'm working hard on getting it back. Moving back to New York will be a huge step in that direction.

9. Which talent would you most like to have?

I used to sing. I had the lead in all the school plays and I had a really good voice. When I was in the 10th grade, I developed vocal nodules (small growths on my vocal cords) that made me unable to sing. So I wish I could still sing. 

10. Greatest achievement?

 Graduating college and getting into grad school. 

So now "I'm gonna make you an offer you can't refuse" to the following:

Amanda (My Blog Twin!) at The Jazzy Olive 

Simply Girly at http://city--love.blogspot.com/

Natasha at A Day in the Life

Morgan at Caution! Red Head Running

Nel at Finding Rabbit

Jane at Happiness, Adventure, Beauty, Love

Lindsey at La Dolce Vita

Jaime at La Vie J'aime

Lauren at Livin' La Vida Lola

Lindsey at Longhorn in Houston

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

#8. Get My Masters.

After countless hours of studying for the GRE, writing Personal Statements, tracking down recommendation letters and filling out applications, I've made my decision. I applied to 6 schools and was accepted to 5. So I'm leaving Boston for the BIG city and will start my Masters in September at:

Happy Wednesday everyone =)

Marathon Training Week 5

So I just realized I never posted this on Monday like I usually do, so here goes!

Week 5
Monday: Rest Day
Tuesday: 5 mile run
Wednesday: 20 minute elliptical training; upper body strength training
Thursday: 5-6 mile run
Friday: 3 mile run; strength training
Saturday: Rest Day
Sunday: 10k Race!

I was really worried that I hurt my foot after Saturday because I was in a lot of pain through yesterday, so I was shocked when I ran a full 5 miles today when I expected to fall short at 2 or 3!

My 5 mile playlist was:
"Best Days of Your Life" - Kelly Pickler
"Candle 'Sick and Tired'" - The White Tie Affair
"Check Yes Juliet" - We the Kings
"Dear Maria, Count Me In" - All Time Low
"Girl All the Bad Guys Want" - Bowling for Soup
"Five Minutes to Midnight" - Boys Like Girls
"Halfway Gone" - Lifehouse
"Jesses Girl" - Rick Springfield
"Just Dance" - Lady Gaga
"King of Wishful Thinking" - Go West
"Sex on Fire" - Kings of Leon
"Slide" - Goo Goo Dolls
"Party in the USA" - Miley Cyrus
"We Weren't Born to Follow" - Bon Jovi

Definitely not the best playlist as I got bored around 2 miles, so I'll have to come up with something new for Thursday! I'll keep you all posted!

Happiness

I received my third award today! This one comes from Heather at The Sunset Won't! Check out her blog!

The rules of the award are to list ten things that make me happy and then pass it on to five other blogs!
Here goes!

1. Hearing "Slide" by the Goo Goo Dolls when I'm not expecting it. - "Slide is hands down, my favorite song of all time. No matter what, if I'm upset about something, this song can cheer me up, from the second those first guitar chords are played. (Click the picture to have a listen!)

2. Being with my nieces and nephews. - I am the middle child of 7 and it has been 10 years since the 7 of us have all been together. My three older sisters have 5 kids between them and whenever we get together, I just love being with them. I'm closest with my sister Tatiana who has the most beautiful girls (8 and 3) and I love going home to see them. 

3. Soaking up the sun.- I am a warm weather girl, there's no way around it! My parents were both born on islands and I grew up with an outdoor pool in sunny Texas! Just being in the sun absolutely exhilarates me! (My friend snagged this photo of me without me knowing!)

4. The smile The Pilot gives me when we see each other. - My boyfriend has a great smile and being in a long distance relationship can be hard, but when we see each other, he just flashes me this smile that makes me feel like we were never apart. (That was mushy, sorry!)

5. The uncontrollable laughter that my mom, sister and I get when we're together. - Our favorite thing is to watch YouTube videos and we just get that out-of-control, need-to-pee-in-your-pants, tears-streaming-down-your-face, hyperventilating kind of laughter that is just amazing. My mom's boyfriend says our laugh is sinister. Maybe it is, but I love it. 

6. Getting mail! - Graduating and getting a job sure made me grow up fast! But when I open my mail box and find a letter or a post card from a friend and no bills, it's just the most wonderful feeling!

7. Saturday mornings. - I love waking up on a Saturday and realizing that there's just a big, open weekend ahead of me that I can do whatever I want with! This Saturday was like that. It was beautiful out! I had laundry and grocery shopping and cleaning to do and you know what? I didn't do any of it and I'm glad that I didn't, because I just enjoyed myself!

8. A really good Homily at Mass. - I love going to church and I love when the priest just delivers something that sits so close to you and makes you feel like God is talking through the priest to answer MY prayers. It's a great feeling. This year for Lent, I went to Mass every day, instead of giving something up and there sure were a lot of Homilies like that and it made my faith so much stronger and THAT makes me happy.

9. Clean sheets.- Who doesn't love lying down on crisp, clean sheets before bed and waking up with that hint of detergent smell around you?

10. Baseball. - In case you missed it in my last post, I love baseball. I love ball park peanuts and games where the sun sets right around the 5th inning. I love that you never even notice the sun has set until you realize that the lights are on in the park. I love the sound of the crack of a bat and the cheers from the crowd. I love the sing-a-longs and the crowd shots on the score board. I love watching a guy with his son at his first ball game. I love when the home team wins and the crowd goes nuts. I love the energy that just flows through the park. I love cold beers at the 7th inning stretch. I love bottom-of-the-ninth-bases-loaded close games when your team wins.

Pictures from Last Season

The sun setting on CitiField.

Fenway Park

What makes you happy? I'd love to know! Leave a post about something that makes you happy!

I'm sharing this award with: 

Juliana at A Blonde Walks into a Blog

Chelsie at Chelsie Denson

Kari at Nathan and Kari Otto

Susan at Susan in the South

Valerie at The Journey to a Better Me

Happy Easter! Oh yea and it's BASEBALL SEASON!

Hello everyone! Happy Easter! And HAPPY BASEBALL SEASON!!!!

This weekend has been amazing! 

First of all, can we start with this spectacular weather in Boston? Nevermind spring, it feels like SUMMER!

To recap my weekend, I woke up yesterday morning and had breakfast on my roof to this incredible view:

I had breakfast on the roof yesterday and then went for a great 2.5 mile run along the river! After my run, I put on a bathing suit, pulled out a book and laid on my roof soaking up the sun for a few hours! Then, I had some friends over for some Thai food and wine and we had a picnic on the roof! It was fantastic!

This morning, I (again) had breakfast on the roof, went for what was supposed to be a 5 mile run, but was just over 2 because of the aching pain in my foot =( and then headed to church for what was quite possible the best Easter Sunday Mass I've ever been too and then went to brunch with two of my girlfriends. After brunch, we came back to my place to soak up the sun on the roof deck and then headed over to Fenway (just 2 short blocks from my place!) for OPENING DAY!!!

Here's the scene at the park tonight:

We were also lucky enough to get great seats at The Bleacher Bar! You aren't allowed to take pictures inside, but for those of you that don't know, it's a bar build inside Fenway, underneath the bleachers that you don't need tickets to get into, but can get a great view from the center field bleachers!

I can't explain to you how much I love baseball season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year! Now, in the spirit of my blog being about completing 25 things before I turn 25 and #9 on The List  being to visit every major league ball park in the country, I thought I'd give you all a run down of my summer plans to get this going! 

Now, of The Ball Parks, I have only been to 4 (5 if you count the old Yankee stadium...do you???), but this summer I already have definite plans to visit:

• Camden Yards, home of the Baltimore Orioles
• Nationals Park, home of the Washington Nationals
• Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves
• Citizens Bank Park, home of the Philadelphia Phillies
• Yankee Stadium, home of the...duh!
• PNC Park, home of the Pittsburgh Pirates

And I have tentative plans to visit:

• Busch Stadium, home of the St. Louis Cardinals
• Great American Ball Park, home of the Cincinnati Reds
• Safeco Field, home of the Seattle Mariners
• Coords Field, home of the Colorado Rockies

If I hit St. Louis, I'll definitely hit Cincinnati and it will either be the Mariners OR the Rockies, but definitely not both! We'll see what happens this season! 

Well, to close off this post on the most exciting day of the year, I'll leave you with this video of the most adorable kid reading a poem at today's Opening Game at Fenway! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkqAErSitJM

Take your foot of the brake, let's just put it in drive

I normally don't start off blog posts with song lyrics but a) I have this song stuck in my head and b) I really wish I could just get in a car and drive right now, top down, windows down, radio blasting, no destination in mind. Sadly, I don't have a car because I'm a city girl.

In case you're wondering, the song is "Fast Cars" by Bon Jovi. Click below to listen!

I've had a rough week. It's been really tough and I've been trying to deal with it and that's why I haven't posted in a few days. I've been extremely tired, not getting enough sleep, not eating right and not sleeping well and have been having a lot of problems at work and not your typical run of the mill, "bad-day-at-the-office-type-stuff." Now, that's all I'm saying because I feel that my blog is about ambition and goal-setting and should focus on the positive, not the negative, so to move forward:

Stacy over at Stacy Says and Lauren over at Livin' La Vida Lola asked for posts about me sitting around and being lazy. Well, here goes: Wednesday, after work I went out for dinner with one of my friends and then decided to go shopping for a little pick-me-up (more on this later!). I decided to try an at-home cardio session afterward that I found on FitnessMagazine.com. It was a 20 minute cardio workout which fit nicely into my plan of getting in 20-30 minutes. Well, after 10 minutes I was DEAD and literally in the middle of a squat thrust, I dropped to the ground, laid there for about 10 minutes and then got up, went to the freezer, pulled out some ice cream, sat on my couch and devoured it.

So there you have it ladies!

My shopping spree was DEPRESSING! What's worse than not having money to shop? Having money to shop and not finding anything that fits right! I would LOVE to go shopping this weekend because I am in DESPERATE need of a pick-me-up, so if anyone can recommend any place that is having a SALE right now, that would be great (and don't tell my about Target because there isn't one in Boston!) I'm looking for gladiator sandals and cute spring dresses!

Now, on another note, I finished my first book on The Book List! It took me 2 weeks! I don't think it's ever taken me that long to get through a book, but this was a long book and it was a bit dry!

My Thoughts
"A Passage to India" written in 1924 by E.M. Forster tells of the rift between Indians and British during the time before Indian independence. I felt that the book was very dry and somewhat anti-climactic, perhaps given the time period it was written, it was full of details that, in many cases, could have been spared. I did enjoy the book but wouldn't read it again. I would recommend it to anyone interested in International Affairs, India, or colonization.

Have any of you read this book? What were your thoughts?

And finally, to close out my post, it is finally April! It is supposed to be beautiful in Boston this weekend. I'm looking forward to running outdoors, wine tasting on Saturday, Easter brunch on Sunday, starting the next book on my list and not making a To-Do list and just enjoying the weekend for what it is and trying to put myself in a better mood! 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

And thanks to all my new Followers! If I haven't been to your blog, drop me a note and I'll stop by!