February 27, 2014

Currently...

Feeling... Busy! Work has been crazy this week (good crazy) and I'm so so ready for the weekend.

Reading... I finally finished Middlesex on the Metro this morning (review coming tomorrow!). Next up, The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle. I've been wanting to read these for ages and I was able to get the complete works free on my Kindle a few months ago.


Drinking... Water.

Watching...Scandal. I watched Season 1, Episode 1 this week. I didn't love it but I heard it takes a few episodes to get into it. We'll see. Once I finish Sherlock, I'm hoping to start watching the Masterpiece Classic series.

Anticipating... Seeing the progress my mom has made on my wedding dress and having a fitting this weekend!

Wishing for... a trip to Texas. I'm itching to get down there and it just isn't working with my family's, or my schedule. Also, a massage. And warm weather...because running in shorts one day and having snow the next, is not my cup of tea.

Go home winter, you're drunk.
Seeing in DC... The National Geographic Museum. This weekend, my friend Alicia and I decided to take a trip to Nat Geo to check out the Women of Vision exhibit, which is closing soon. It was an excellent exhibit and I was so happy to have been able to attend!


Nujood Ali, author of 'I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced'
Nujood was one of the features in a piece one of the photographers did on Yemen.
Loving... a 4 day work week. Running again. Running in the mornings. The Pilot. These portabello mushroom 'cheesesteaks' I made this week, loosely based on this recipe from Cassie. 

HEAVEN ON A PLATE. 
That's it kids. 

For those that have asked, my 'Middlesex' review will be up tomorrow!

Happy Thursday!

February 25, 2014

{On Running}

So, I'm running again.

It feels...different. It isn't painful, just kind of uncomfortable and not great...but it's getting a little bit easier.

Last week, I did 3 runs, totaling about an hour worth of running.

It's amazing how tough 20 minutes can feel when the injury that brought all of this on, was past the midpoint of an 18 mile run.

I have to keep reminding myself this: baby steps.

I was really worried about how running didn't feel great right off the bat. I honestly thought that I would go for my first run and feel on top of the world. I was worried that maybe I wasn't 'fixed' and that I shouldn't be running until Andrea and I had a long chat and she told me that this is probably normal.

I talked to my PT about it this afternoon and she confirmed Andrea's theory.

So, I'm going to keep running. My PT thinks I'll be just fine for Cherry Blossom and Nike Women's. Naturally, I have my doubts, but I'm planning to revisit the training plan I used for my very first half marathon and follow it as I move through the next 8 weeks to Nike.


Week 1 involves 4 runs of 2 miles each, with cross training in between. Being in PT still means that this will probably be my most successful bout of actual strength/cross/flexibility training yet, which is great. Next week, I'll up the mileage to 2 and very, very gradually keep upping it.

The training plan is very, very basic and I think perfect for a first-time half marathoner, or someone bouncing back from injury.


I'll schedule my PT on cross-training days so that I'm working on strength and flexibility and keeping a consistent routine. I'm hoping to start running in the mornings again, and tack some yoga on in the evenings sometimes too.

I'm hoping that once I comfortably get to 5 miles, I can start to pick up the pace a bit, but for now, I'm just going to take it slow and steady. Considering that 5-6 miles was my normal, daily run, I think that taking almost 4 weeks to build back up to that distance is a smart way to get myself to those two starting lines injury free. We'll see. 

February 24, 2014

Love/Don't Love

1. This morning, I forced myself out of bed at 6:15, put on my running clothes and headed out for a 2 mile run on the Mount Vernon Trail. It was glorious. I haven't run before work in months and it felt so amazing to start the day with an ok feeling run. Love.

This morning's yummy post-run breakfast.
Fluffy scrambled eggs, blood orange slices and an oatmeal breakfast cookie. 
2. This weekend was productive, yet relaxing. Friday I stayed in and cleaned the apartment. Saturday, I went to a museum with a friend, went for a run in the sunshine and met up with Andrea for a double date night. Sunday I worked at the running store, did some grocery shopping
wtih Lauren and went to church. Productive, yet relaxing. Love.

Beer samplers from Gordon Biersch...why commit to one when you can have them all?
3. It was gorgeous this weekend. I don't even care that it's frigid again. I desperately needed some sunshine and I'm so happy I got outside to enjoy it. Love.

Guys playing roller hockey outside the White House. 

3. I'm at a point in this whole wedding planning process where I feel like we're done. Sure, we still have stuff to do, but everything has been planned and I'm feeling really good about it. 7 months in and I have yet to get stressed about it. Love.
4. This weekend was one of those weekends where I wish I didn't live so far from my family. Every part of me wanted to hop on a plane to Texas this weekend. Unfortunately, the long flight and the standby lists to come back on Sunday meant that I probably could have gone, but only for about 19 hours. Don't Love. 
5. At the same time, I am grateful to still live super close to my mom. This weekend, I have my first wedding dress fitting with her and I can't wait! Love.

That's that! Busy week ahead full of RUNNING!

February 20, 2014

Currently...

Feeling... Tired. Bring on the coffee. I didn't sleep on Monday night and it's thrown off my week. I'm also feeling incredibly sore from Tuesday's run...but good sore...like the kind of sore you get after a long run or race so that's good...I think.

Reading (Still)... Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Whyyyy won't this book end? I've been reading it all month and it just won't end. It is, at times, wildly exciting and, at others, mind numbingly boring. The story doesn't seem to be building to anything, which doesn't seem promising but I haven't given up on it because 1) I never give up on a book and 2) when people see me reading this everywhere I go, they tell me how great it is...seriously, at work, on the Metro, at the doctor...


Eating... Greek yogurt...sans granola because I forgot it and that makes me sad.

Drinking... Coffee.

Watching... I watched the Olympics last night. Figure skating is really the only Olympics sport that I have any interest in so for the last two weeks, I haven't been watching anything. I did finally subscribe to Netflix though so let the binge watching begin this weekend.

Adelina Sotnikova (RU) was amazing!
Anticipating... our wedding! It's starting to feel close!

Wishing for... a warm weather vacation. Since Hawaii didn't pan out, I'm looking to go somewhere else that's sunny and warm. It was gorgeous in DC yesterday. It's going to snow next week. Mother Nature, you're drunk.

Seeing in DC... I'm planning some museum adventures this weekend. Stay tuned! Also, my DC Bucket List should be posted soon!

Loving... that I'm cleared to run. Wednesday wasn't at all easy and those 22 minutes were really tough but I'm feeling ok and looking to get back out there this weekend. Baby steps.

Despite being a short week, this week has felt long!
Happy Thursday!

February 19, 2014

{On Running} Don't Call it a Come Back

Last night, I ran.

It's been almost 3 months to the day since my last run and yesterday morning, PT cleared me to run.

It was hard. It was slow.


In hindsight, I probably should have waited until today to run because PT kicked my butt yesterday morning, but I was just way too excited.


So, when I got home from work, I got dresses, laced up my sneakers and headed out for 22 minutes of slow running.

When I finished, my legs were so unbelievably sore. I felt like I had just finished a 10 mile race. Post-run, I stretched, foam rolled and iced and called it a night.

This morning, I feel fine. My right knee (the less injured one) is a little bit sore, but I blame the fact that I only iced my left knee so lesson learned.

Today, I'm taking a total rest day before I head out again tomorrow for another 20-25 minutes, which right now, is all I'm cleared for.

My PT says I should be fine to train for Cherry Blossom and the Nike Women's Half. I'm a little more than 8 weeks out from Nike so I'm optimistic about being able to train smartly for it.


Right now though, I'm just taking it one day at a time.

February 18, 2014

A Birthday Weekend

This weekend was a prime example of life throwing lemons.

Or, in my case...snow.

One of my goals for 2014 is to 'Oops' my way to more places. To celebrate my birthday, The Pilot and I were going to 'Oops' our way far, far away to sunny, tropical Hawaii.

Then, this happened.

Photo on the left {via} because I sure didn't leave my house
other than to take photos of Peyton playing in the snow.
To say I was upset would be an understatement. Flying standby all the time means that when weather hits, any plans to get out of town can quickly be thrown out the window. It's one thing however to not be able to go somewhere. It's another when you were planning on spending the weekend on a beach in Hawaii, and instead get trapped in the worst winter snowstorm in 4 years.

Despite getting trapped in Portland, Maine for 3 days, The Pilot made it home around 7:30pm on Friday, just in time to celebrate Valentine's Day and to make sure I had the best snowy Valentine's Day I possibly could.

The Pilot and I weren't planning on celebrating Valentine's Day since, well, he had been trapped in Maine for 3 days and it was still snowing and who knew when he was going to get out. He sent me a text while I was at work on Friday to let me know that he was about to board his flight, so after work, I jetted around DC to pick up some ingredients to make us dinner.

Homemade vodka sauce with not homemade crescent rolls and wine. Yum.

We cozied up for the night and watched The King's Speech before calling it a night.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to the puppy singing me 'Happy Birthday' barking like mad. The Pilot made me pancakes and we started our day.

I would like to sincerely thank him for DVRing the USA hockey match and ignoring all social media for the day so that he wouldn't learn the score of the hockey match could spend the entire day with me.

We started the day at Union Market. I've been dying to go there since I moved to DC and we finally made the trip. I absolutely loved it and it reminded me very much of a bigger, better version of NYC's Chelsea Market.


We spent the early afternoon wandering around, sampling wines, checking out all the vendors before popping in to Bidwell for some soup and fried oysters.

Post-brunch, we made a little shopping trip. I didn't find anything at the mall that I liked which was super sad, so we went back home and got ready for dinner. We met up with some of my lady friends for dinner at Sona Creamery, which is in soft opening and only opened about 2 weeks ago. Sona is a wine and cheese place and neither the wine, nor the cheese, disappointed. They also serve small plates. The Pilot ordered a grilled cheese STUFFED with mac and cheese...so basically heaven on a sandwich. The service left room to be desired, but being that they're brand spanking new, I will definitely give them another shot.

Mmmmmm cheese
Post-dinner, we headed to a joint birthday party for my friends Adam and Drew, who share my birthday week.

Sunday the Pilot and I headed to church, then for brunch at La Madeleine. We shopped the streets of Old Town and thoroughly wore ourselves out before heading home to dive into the plethora of desserts currently residing in our apartment.

Birthday cupcakes from Mom
Monday was pretty low key. Brunch, grocery shopping, wedding planning, dinner, Olympics.

Today, we're back to work for an excitingly short week. 
Temperatures are warming up (albeit temporarily) so that's at least cause to celebrate!
I hope you all had a fantastic long weekend!

February 14, 2014

Book Review: The Paris Wife

I finished this book a few weeks ago but haven't gotten around to reviewing it. 'The Paris Wife' was the first book in the book exchange my friend Carolann and I are doing. I sent her The History of Love and she sent me The Paris Wife. 


From Good Reads: A deeply evocative story of ambition and betrayal, The Paris Wifecaptures a remarkable period of time and a love affair between two unforgettable people: Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley.

Chicago, 1920: Hadley Richardson is a quiet twenty-eight-year-old who has all but given up on love and happiness—until she meets Ernest Hemingway and her life changes forever. Following a whirlwind courtship and wedding, the pair set sail for Paris, where they become the golden couple in a lively and volatile group—the fabled “Lost Generation”—that includes Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, and F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald...

...A heartbreaking portrayal of love and torn loyalty, The Paris Wife is all the more poignant because we know that, in the end, Hemingway wrote that he would rather have died than fallen in love with anyone but Hadley.

My Thoughts: I struggled with this book. I found Hadley to be remarkably dull and not at all a strong female character. The first time Ernest goes away on business after they move to Paris, she sinks into a terrifying depression after only two days of being separated from him. I just couldn't identify with a character like that. I didn't know anything about Ernest Hemingway before I read this book but their relationship was so twisted. He took a mistress and Hadley put up with it...going so far as to not say anything when she wakes up in the middle of the night to find the two of them in bed beside her. I thought the story was told well enough, but I didn't really enjoy it. 

Have you read 'The Paris Wife'? What about anything by Hemingway?

February 13, 2014

Wedding Things VI: Diving In

We're getting married in 7 months! We're now at the half way point of our 14 month engagement and it is finally starting to feel like it's getting close!

So many people told us when we got engaged that our engagement would fly by and they were all wrong. The Pilot and I were talking about this the other day. I don't know if it's this winter or what, but time seems to be going at its normal speed and I'm just fine with that!

We're at the point now, where just about everything has been planned and all that's left to do, are things that need to actually be done...most of which can wait a couple of months.

At 7 months out, I still haven't gotten stressed over planning our wedding. It's all been really easy. My friend Steph pointed out the other day that when you're super organized, it's hard to get stressed out because you're just always on top of stuff, so I guess that's helpful!

Here's a running to do list of what's left on our list.

Centerpieces

  • I still haven't really nailed down what I want to do for centerpieces. I want to do something less traditional than flowers, but still classy and elegant and in keeping with our theme. I have a few ideas floating around, but I have yet to really put in place something. 
Cupcakes
  • When it came to dessert, The Pilot was clear on one thing. He wanted cupcakes. So, cupcakes it is! We're getting them from Georgetown Cupcakes (face of the TLC show, DC Cupcakes). We just need to take a trip there and figure out which flavors we want. Tasting cupcakes? Wedding planning is so difficult!

Ceremony Details
  • For the most part, we've planned out our Mass. We just need to pick our readings and finalize our music choices. The music coordinator at the church is actually taking care of our ceremony musicians, which is awesome, so I just need to follow up with her and we'll be all set! Once we nail down the ceremony details, I'm going to start drafting our program. 
Invitations
  • My sister designed our Save the Dates and she's doing the same with our Invitations. We know exactly what we want, we just need to nail down some details like color/background/text/etc. The invites will be very DIY so we want to get started on them way in advance so that we have plenty of time to get them finished before they need to go out in July.  
Bridal Party Attire
  • My bridesmaids picked out their dresses and I love them. They're blue and will look great on everyone. We picked them from Weddington Way and they'll be ordering them soon, so I'll make sure to write up a review of them once everything is in! The girls are all wearing different dresses and I really like all of them. I still have to pick out my dresses for my junior bridesmaids (2) and flower girl (all my nieces). The Pilot and I are planning on taking a trip to look at tuxes sometime in the spring and then we'll get him and the guys sorted out. 
{via}
These are the dresses in pink.
Honeymoon
  • We know where we're going, we just have to figure out the details...and that's all I'm saying about that for now =)
We've already picked all of our flowers and just need to finalize some of those details. We picked out the bridal party transportation (still need to figure out a thing or two with that) and started registering for gifts. Everything left to do is super manageable and should be all of the fun stuff. 

That's pretty much it! Oh and Mom just needs to finish my dress! We're getting close!

February 11, 2014

I Really Miss Running

Sunday will mark 3 months since my last run.

Right now, I'm less than 2 months away from the Cherry Blossom 10 miler and while I'm still not worried about training, I just really miss running.

This winter has been brutal. I can't even handle it. I've never been so miserable about the weather. Lately, I've been trying to figure out what's causing it.

Polar Vortex 1? No.
Snow? Or lack thereof? No.
Polar Vortex 2? No.
Upcoming Polar Vortex 3? Maybe.
Running.

Running. That's it. I always run through the winter. I've mastered the art of layering to a T and am usually in either half or full marathon training mode by this point of the winter.

The fact that I haven't run in almost 3 months means that I've taken all of my workouts inside.

The fact that my apartment is across the street from the Metro and that my office is above the Metro means that the only time I spend outside is to take the dog out...which I rarely even do when The Pilot is in town.

Not spending any time outside not only means that I'm the palest I think I've ever been in my life, but it also means a lack of vitamin D...which means seasonal affective disorder.

I could say that I'm going to make it a point to spend more time outside, but let's be honest. Nothing warms you up outside like running, and with windchill factors in the single digits, it's just way too cold to go for a brisk walk.

This Saturday is my birthday. I don't really care what my PT says but I'm going running. I don't care if it's only for 10 minutes. My knee hasn't been hurting in the past few weeks and PT says I'm making progress. I'm not going to be stupid about this, but I just need to get outside and run...even if it's just for a little bit. 

February 10, 2014

Weekend Happenings

I'm a little under the weather today. I cancelled my early PT appointment to try and get some extra rest. I'm hoping it passes soon. I don't want to be sick for my birthday!

This weekend was pretty busy but it was so much fun! Friday, The Pilot and I headed to Bar Louie after work for a drink and some appetizers before heading to Leanna's to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremonies.


The Opening Ceremonies were a snoozefest. Russian history is absolutely fascinating...unfortunately, I don't think that came across all too well. I didn't watch much of the Olympics over the rest of the weekend because winter sports just aren't really my jam.


Saturday was The Pilot's birthday. I woke up early and made him chocolate chip waffles.


He was going to a basketball game with some friends so I stayed home and cleaned before heading to Vida Fitness for a Barre class.

I was thoroughly unimpressed. Vida was supposed to be offering free classes all month. The schedule said the class would be from 2:30-3:30. I showed up, along with about 20 other women and waited for the class to start. At 2:45, we were told the class had been at 11 and they didn't know why we were all there (despite having been individually escorted up to where the class would be). They did have another instructor offer to teach a class, but she started with "Well, I was planning to go home and this isn't my fault." The class was mind numbingly boring. I've honestly never been so bored during a workout. So, that was a disappointing way to spend the afternoon.

After class, the Pilot and I met up in Chinatown for some Shake Shack before heading home to get ready for our night out.

We went to RiRa in Clarendon with a bunch of friends. There were plenty of drinks, lots of laughs and then a late night stop to American Tap Room before we headed home somewhat early so The Pilot could rest up before he had to fly on Sunday.

The Pilot with Andrea and her boy.
Sunday, I headed in to work at the running store I sometimes still work out before doing a little bit of mystery shopping. I got back to my apartment around 4:30 and it was snowing! (The snow all melted within 5 minutes) I took Peyton out for a bit and then headed to evening Mass before volunteering with my middle schoolers.


By the time I got home, I was exhausted. I made a late dinner and called it a night.

This week, I don't have too much going on. My birthday is on Saturday so I took Friday off to enjoy the holiday weekend! I'm sure I'll get myself into some kind of adventure so stay tuned!

February 6, 2014

Currently...

Feeling... like it's never going to be warm again.

Reading... Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenedies. I'm only 20 or so pages in and I'm not sure how I feel about it. The narrator will talk about something, switch to a different topic and then come back to the previous topic a few pages later, basically repeating the same thing. I'm not giving up on it yet, but we'll see.


Eating/Drinking... Nothing. I actually woke up to my alarm this morning and had time to sit and eat breakfast at home. I should be drinking water but I'm still thawing out from my long walk to work after the Metro decided to break down operate the way it normally does.

Watching... Downton Abbey and New Girl are so good this season. I really want to start watching Sherlock. Though, I recently downloaded The Complete Sherlock Holmes and am thinking about reading that and then delving into the show...that way, I can pick up Season 3 as it shows up on Netflix...which I don't have. (I know.) I also kind of want to watch Lost...although I think it would make me irrationally angry to see a bunch of people running around half naked on a beach while we're having this abysmal winter...

Anticipating... The Pilot's birthday is this weekend! I think I always get more excited about his birthday than I do about mine...which is next weekend!

Wishing for... Cupcakes. Goodness, I've been craving cupcakes....and sushi. I'm dying to go on a sushi date. Having a seafood-allergic fiance makes sushi nights a rarity, but I need to make that happen soon as I haven't gone out for sushi since I was in New York and that an insanely long time to go without sushi.

Seeing in DC... The Pilot and I have been wanting to go to the National Air and Space Museum since we moved here. Not the one on the Mall but the other Air and Space Museum in Virginia. I think it would be fun to head out that way this weekend. I've also been itching to visit the National Museum for Women in the Arts. I walked past it on my way to work this week and saw that they have a Judy Chicago exhibit that just opened and really want to check it out.


Lately, I've been working on a DC Bucket List of sorts. It's a never ending list of things I want to do in DC but I think I might post it on here...if I ever get around to finishing my in-progress blog makeover!

Loving... that PT is finally starting to go well and that I may{hopefully} well be on my way back to running soon.

That's all for today! It's supposed to snow this weekend. With my luck, this will be the snow that derails everything and by Monday morning, it will all be clear. All I'm asking for is ONE snow day this year. Just one! Or, you know, for the temperature to spike up to 80 and stay that way forever. That would be nice too!

{In typing this, someone tweeted to me that it is -30 degrees and windy where they live...so I guess we are in the middle of the heat wave by comparison. If you are in the same kind of place, I am so so sorry.}

February 3, 2014

Thoughts on a Dreary Monday Morning

1. There is no snow in DC but it is rainy and wet and gloomy. Don't Love.
2. This weekend was pretty low key. The Pilot and I had a lot to do at our church this weekend and spent a good part of the weekend planning our wedding ceremony, so it was somewhat productive. Love.
3. The Super Bowl was insanely boring and the commercials were terrible. We left the party we were at after half time and turned the game off once the score hit 29-0. Don't Love.
4. This weekend is The Pilot's birthday! I bought him a hybrid bike as an early birthday present so I think my plan for this weekend is to make him a nice dinner and see what other kind of trouble we can get ourselves in to. Love. 


5. I didn't sleep last night...again. I don't know what to do about this little problem I'm having but it's been going on for almost two months now. Someone at work recommended Melatonin, so I may have to track some of that down. Don't Love.
6. After years of having terrible phones with 6 hour battery lives, I finally caved and got myself a good phone. So far, I love my Samsung Galaxy S4. I thought it would be too big, but I don't mind it at all, especially since most days I carry it in my purse. Love.
7. I am tremendously excited that next week brings a 3-day weekend. My birthday also happens to be next week. I'm majorly scheming on trying to get out of DC to head somewhere warm and sunny. One of my goals for the New Year was to 'Oops' my way to more places after all! We'll see. Love.
8. The Pilot and I are at a point in wedding planning where I think things will taper off for about a month or so, which is nice. I was determined to not let planning our wedding take over everything we've done, and I'm happy to say that it's been really easy to do that. It'll be nice to take another welcome break from planning until we start to get a little bit closer. Love.

That's all for this dreary Monday! I hope you're all staying dry. For those of you who have a Snow Day, I'm insanely jealous. I have yet to celebrate a Snow Day this winter...which makes it all the more unbearable!

Have a great week!
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