Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes

Hi friends. Happy August! I'm happy to see July behind me. Last month was brutal. I took on some extra projects at work and with my ever-growing pre-baby to-do list, just felt like I didn't have time for anything. It doesn't help that I'm super unmotivated to do much of anything these days. I blame pregnancy, but I'm pushing through. I haven't had the chance to post since my big announcement so I thought I'd ease back in with a coffee date and fill you in on what I've been up to!


If we were having coffee, I would be drinking Mommee Coffee. I found this stuff on Amazon and love it. I'm not a coffee snob but this is really tasty coffee! It's low acid, quarter caf coffee (also comes in half-caf and 3/4-caf) which is perfect for a soon-to-be mama who is limiting her caffeine intake but can't drink regular coffee because pregnancy heartburn is real.

If we were having coffee, here's what I'd share:

I'm officially in my 3rd trimester! I shared a little bit about our experience going through pregnancy loss in my last post so this feels like a huge milestone. I'm feeling surprisingly good at this point, if not a little run down but everything is looking good.

I have a mile-long to-do list of stuff I want to get done around the house before the baby comes and surprisingly, most of it has nothing to do with the baby. The list is things like...painting the laundry room, reorganizing the pantry, and hanging our bedroom curtains. It feels a little overwhelming and I wish I could take a week off to just work on house projects but unfortunately, I need to save that time for maternity leave.

I miss running. I haven't run a single mile in 2018 and I was fine with it until very recently. I always wanted to be someone who ran through my pregnancy but with my history, honestly, I was just too scared to run. I lived in a bubble my first trimester and I know that that's what I needed to do for my own well-being. I didn't feel well enough to even attempt to run until I was close to 20 weeks and by that point, I had a sizeable baby bump that I wasn't used to running with and I didn't like running the few times I tried to get out there. I hope that my return to running isn't impossible after being out of the game for a full year but I have every intention of running again as soon as I feel up to it and am cleared by my doctor!

I've finally gotten out of the reading rut I've been in all year. I'm 11 books behind on my Goodreads challenge (which I had actually set low this year) but I'm finally back to reading every day. Everyone keeps telling me I'll have tons of time to read on maternity leave so maybe I'll be able to catch up. Right now, I'm reading "Paris to the Moon" by Adam Gopnik, a New Yorker writer who moved to Paris with his 8-month-old son in the 90s. Let me tell you - if this doesn't set my wannabe expat wheels turning, I don't know what does!

I'm working on my recap of our amazing trip to Lisbon and will have those posts up next week! But I can tell you right now, Lisbon was an amazing choice for a babymoon...for a lot of unexpected reasons!

To all of you who commented on my post, thank you, I'll be responding soon now that I'm out of a busy July!

I wish I had more to say about what I've been up to these last few months but to be honest, I really don't. The Pilot has been flying a lot and I've been working a lot. I really hate cold weather so outside of going to work and walking Peyton, I've spent most of my time hibernating and getting settled into our house, but Hawaii has been so good for me and I'm excited to get home to (hopefully) warmer weather and head into spring with a new perspective!

• The Pilot and I went to Dublin. It was a wildly impromptu trip but The Pilot whisked me away to the land of Guinness and stew. I was desperate to get away somewhere and that trip was just what I needed. I could use another weekend like that right about now.
• I went to a wedding in San Francisco with one of my girlfriends. I also took my first trip to wine country.
• The Pilot and I went to Croatia and got stuck in Munich on the way there. Croatia wasn't what I expected. I'm hoping to get those posts up in the next week or two so you can see why.

• I can probably count on both hands the number of times I've gone for a run since April. Remember when I went to Dubai for 4 days and ran 3 out of the 4? Yea. I miss that kind of commitment and I'm desperate to get back to it. It's amazing how hard it is to get back into running when I haven't run in so long. I planned to run just 2 miles four times this past week and I only did that once. I've got a long road ahead of me if I'm struggling to find time for two miles.
• I've read 25 books this year, a decent number but I think I've only liked 3 of them.
• My house is a mess. I haven't even unpacked from our trip to Croatia. We've been back for two months. I wish I was joking.

Good Morning! Happy Monday! I hope you're enjoying a strong cup of coffee after a fabulous weekend and that spring has fully sprung wherever you are. Here in DC, it's been pretty cold and rainy but the temperatures are supposed to climb into the 80s later this week and I couldn't be happier!


This morning, I'm skipping coffee in favor of this Can't Beet Me Smoothie from the Run Fast, Eat Slow cookbook. I have always hated beets but I decided to give this smoothie a try and it's surprisingly good!

Let's catch up.

If we were having coffee... I would start with a confession and tell you that I desperately miss my blog. I really hate that I've been so inconsistent in the last year despite promising to myself month after month that this month, I would bring it back.

The reality is that I spend my entire work week writing and the absolutely last thing I want to do when I finish work at the end of every day, or even during the weekends, is to keep writing. We just had performance reviews at work and one of the things we were meant to talk about is personal goals and I desperately want to make it a personal goal to bring my blog back and take it in the direction that I really want to but truthfully, I just don't know how.

I would also tell you that I'm in a reading rut this month. I've started two books that I just haven't been able to get into and have left on my bedside table less than 50 pages in. The sad thing is that both are books that I've had on my reading list for awhile. I confess I haven't started the book for Carolann's and my book club yet, but I'm planning to start it tomorrow on my way to work. If you're late to joining this month, you've got four days until we link up! This month's pick is "I Let You Go" by Clare Mackintosh.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that I ran a 10-mile race yesterday! I'm hoping to recap it soon but I ran the GW Parkway Classic, a beautiful race that starts at George Washington's Mount Vernon and ends in Old Town Alexandria, running along the Potomac on the tree-lined GW Parkway the entire race. The concrete was hard on my knees but I had so much fun at this race.

This race was a little bit of a wake-up call for me. I don't know that I'm in shape for the 26.2 I have planned for next month. My training hasn't really been going well and I had to cut last week's 18-miler after I got a really weird bout of vertigo 2 miles into my run. Since I had the race planned for this weekend, I knew I wasn't going to get in 20. I'm still not too sure what I'm going to do but right now I'm ok with either decision. I think I may have jumped into training a little bit too soon after Philly and the idea of running a full marathon in May and then starting training for another one in July seems like a little much right now.

If we were having coffee... I would tell you that my to-do list this week is a mile long but that I need to get through everything. From reading this month's Book Club book to a serious case of spring cleaning, I really need to get on top of things before May rolls around and summer travel starts to pick up.

If we were having coffee, I would be drinking a home brewed cup of Philz Tesora which I splurged on over the weekend following a desperate necessity for coffee. I normally buy my coffee at World Market (their French Roast is delicious) but this was a coffee emergency and I went for the closest thing I could!

I would be much more interested in hearing about your weekend because mine wasn't at all that interesting. I spent the weekend on the couch, only leaving the couch to run but I did run a lot! 22 miles between Friday and Sunday actually and today, I rest!

If we were having coffee, I wold tell you that I'm super excited to be on the Junior League committee organizing a 5k this spring! Since September, I've been volunteering with an awesome organization called Bright Beginnings, a child development center for homeless children in DC. Bright Beginnings supports infants through Kindergarten and is a really incredible place that not only supports kids educationally but also helps their families in order to transition them out of homelessness.

If you're in the DC area, I would love if you signed up! Registration is only $25 and the proceeds go to an amazing cause! And, if you aren't in DC, you should sign up anyway and support Bright Beginnings. If you do sign up, you can indicate that you learned about it from me (Christy or type in Planes, Trains, and Running Shoes).

Speaking of races, I'm really torn between wanting to run a 10-miler or a half in April, at the halfway mark of my training. There don't seem to be many local races that would give me that option and I don't really want to have to travel for a race given all of the expenses that that would entail. I always like to run a half during a marathon training cycle and haven't done that for my last two marathons which has led me to be a little bit edgier and nervous on race morning than I would like. I am running a 10k in May, a distance I've always struggled with (and have avoided for the last five years) which might help with my nerves!

This week will be pretty busy. I have a work event, a Junior League meeting, and book club so I'm going to have some early mornings to get all of my training in but if I could do it balancing two long haul flights the last two weeks, I think I'll manage!

In the words of an old proverb (or Instagram post I saw somewhere), may your Monday be short and your coffee be strong!

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I ended up in a food coma from way too many side dishes, but it was well worth it. 

I am totally buying my race photos this time around because they are awesome.

Last week was a quick week and on Friday afternoon, Peyton and I were in the car driving up to NJ for the weekend. I originally wasn't planning to leave until Saturday afternoon but my mom promised to take me to the beach on Saturday, and that was enticing enough. Saturday's Beach Day was glorious. It had been ages since my last trip and it was exactly what I needed. 

Sunday, we went to our nephew's Christening and, after all of our flight options for the night got canceled, we hopped in the car and got back to DC just before midnight.

Today is supposed to be my first day of marathon training. I wanted to take the week after Sea Wheeze off to recover, especially since. I had some post-run knee pain, and I did but ever since I came back from the West Coast, I haven't been able to pull myself out of bed before 8am. This morning is beautiful in DC. Cool, breezy...perfect for running. No matter what, I need to get in a run today. It will have to be after work, but it'll happen.

This week isn't going to slow down any either. I'm heading out to Raleigh for work, coming back to DC, and then going to a wedding in Connecticut  this weekend. 

I can't wait for Labor Day weekend, when I can finally take some time to relax...lounge poolside, maybe visit a museum or two, go for a hike, who knows? As long as it's local, because, after months of trying to figure out where to go, The Pilot have finally planned our anniversary trip and it's going to be incredible!

But I have to finish telling you about Paris before I tell you where we're going!

My goal for this week (aside from kicking off marathon training) is to finish all of my Paris posts and actually get back into a rhythm with my blog because I miss it!

Good Morning friends! Happy Monday!

It's been awhile since I've written one of these posts and since my posts have been less frequent than normal, I thought I'd update you all on what's been going on over a little coffee date!


So, if we were having coffee, I would tell you that:

I think I'm still jetlagged from my trip to San Francisco. A few really late nights at work this week didn't help. but I'm exhausted. I had the day off on Friday and I slept until 11. Saturday wasn't much different. I spent the day binge watching Gilmore Girls while doing laundry and a little bit of cleaning, but I really needed the weekend to just veg out.

I didn't run once last week...or any other form of exercise. I came back from San Francisco with a really strange soreness in my hip and I was exhausted, so I took the week off. I already feel better.

I still hate my haircut. Yup, the one I got 2 months ago? My bangs are growing out in the weirdest way possible and pinning them back isn't an option because of the way they were cut and I'm agonizing over the day that they fully grow back.

Monthly meal planning is working out wonderfully. I wrote this post at the beginning of the month about my meal planning epiphany to meal plan once at the beginning of the month and recycle all meals. On top of being wildly easy, I'm saving so much money by not having food go to waste and knowing exactly what to do with what's in my fridge. I wanted to test this out before I went into detail about it, but since it's working so well, I plan to share next month's meal plan with menus and walk you through the process week by week!

I need a serious reset on my work-life balance. I love my job but I have never been so busy in my life. Things will hopefully slow down a little bit in May before picking back up again in June, but I need to start making more time for myself - morning workouts, planned lunch breaks, scheduled time-outs in the evening, more time for reading, more time outside (if it ever gets warm enough to actually just be able to lay in the grass and enjoy the sun), etc.

My first year in Junior League is almost over. I'll finish the last of my requirements this week and then I'll be done! I liked my first year in the League but I'm excited for next year when I won't have as many requirements.

I'm on Season 3 of Gilmore Girls and I'm totally hooked. I don't know why I never watched this show when it was on, but I love it!

Good Morning friends!

I was really under the weather this weekend and missed out on a lot of fun weekend plans. I'm slowly coming back to life, but I thought I'd fill you in on what's been going on in my busy, busy world over a coffee date!

I slept for 24 hours this weekend. I came home from work Friday and was completely exhausted. I was in bed by 9:30 and slept until 10:00 Saturday morning when I woke up with a miserable cold. I spent the day on the couch watching episodes of Gilmore Girls and catching up on Scandal, Downton Abbey, and Once Upon a Time. It wasn't a bad way to spend a Saturday, except for the fact that I was sick. Sunday morning, I slept even later...until noon. Yikes!

Friday was quite possibly the best workday ever. There's a yoga studio here in DC (Flow Yoga on 14th Street for those of you who are local) that started doing Friday Workflow. They set up one of their studios as a work space with tons of different options for standing desks, sitting desks, etc. It' just a super comfortable way to work outside the office complete with meditation and yoga breaks and the option for a Thai Yoga massage which I absolutely took advantage of. I was there with about 7 of my coworkers and it was awesome!

I still hate my haircut. It's starting to grow out and by out, I don't mean longer, I mean physically out. I think I look like one of the three stooged. I've had bangs once before, but they looked way better than these do.

I finished watching Downton Abbey. I like the way it ended, but I feel like they could easily have gone another season.

Carolann and I are taking suggestions for our next book club pick. If you joined the book club, check out the Discussion Board to talk about how you're feeling about The Memory Keeper's Daughter and to suggest a pick for our next book club!

I'm supposed to start marathon training today. I've decided (but not registered) to run the San Francisco Marathon in July and I'm trying out a new training plan that is wildly different from any other plan I've done, but I think it's going to work really well for me. It's Bart Yasso's The Perfect 10. I'll post more about it in one of my Weekly Workout posts, but I'm supposed to start today off with a Tempo run and with how I was feeling this weekend, that might not happen. This training plan offers a lot of wiggle room though, so if it doesn't, I think it'll be ok.

You guys, this weekend is crazy and I honestly love it. There is so much snow, it's ridiculous. With well over two feet and DC declaring a State of Emergency, this weekend has definitely been eventful. I've never seen snow continue to fall nonstop for this long. Since I am not leaving my house anytime soon, let's have a coffee date, shall we?


If we were having coffee, I would tell you that Peyton is loving all of this snow. She got a little bit lost trying to find our house on her evening walk last night, but she's having a blast. Although, I think this Florida-born pup is confused as to where she actually is since, all you can see anywhere in any direction, is snow.


I would tell you that I had grand plans for baking and reorganizing during this snowstorm and I haven't done any of it. I've been couch-ridden with crippling back pain that nothing is helping. This has meant no baking, no reorganizing, and unfortunately, no yoga or running!..although, I wouldn't be running in this anyway.

I would tell you that I really hope they close my office tomorrow. Aside from the fact that snow days are great, I don't think I could physically get to work. My street hasn't been cleared and the sidewalks are atrocious.

 I would tell you that I finally sent in my passport to get a new one since I ran out of pages and changed my name. I had major anxiety about this because I don't ever like to be without a passport. Of course, the day I dropped my passport off, my mom called and asked if I wanted to go to Belgium in three weeks BUT her trip got postponed and the US Passport tracker says that I should receive my passport on or about this weekend...only three weeks after I submitted it!

I would tell you that I'm excited to link up next week with Chelle for her new Reading Lately link up! I might link up with her every month instead of doing quarterly book reviews. We'll see!

Since I started this blog in 2010, I've committed to goals at the start of every year and loved seeing my progress at the end of each year.

I didn't do that last year.

Instead, I said, "I don't want to be bound by a to-do list for the year. I want to be adventurous and spontaneous and I want to learn things and see things and do things."

I made a list of some things that I wanted to work on but didn't really care if I did. Those things included yoga, making more food at home, rather than buying pre-packaged stuff, shopping locally at my local farmers' market, reading more non-fiction, saving money, and exploring more of DC,

I started off the year doing a lot of yoga...and that took a backseat. I've definitely been better at doing yoga at home this year thanks to Yoga with Adriene, but I don't think I get as much out of yoga in my living room (with the dog running around me and the oven preheating for dinner) as I do in a studio.

I definitely tried my hand in some Adventures in Homemade - homemade bread, homemade tomato sauce, pasteis de nata (from Portugal), but I'd like to get better at that, and actually blog about those adventures.

Clockwise from Left: Apple Picking in VA, Hiking in Rock Creek Park, a homemade lattice top pie, at home yoga, "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin

I think I shopped at the Farmers' Market once.

I failed miserably at exploring more of DC. We moved into a new neighborhood and I love it so much, I hardly ever left. I definitely read way more non-fiction than usual and I saved a ton of money.

I definitely had some awesome experiences in 2015. I was finally able to race uninjured and did so at DC Rock 'n' Roll, Cherry Blossom, and finally, Chicago. I traveled a lot.

• I celebrated my sister's 40th birthday at the Sundance Film Festival.
• The Pilot and I visited my sister in San Francisco.
• My mom and I went to Lisbon together, and The Pilot joined.
• We celebrated our 1st anniversary in Hawaii and then took off on an impromptu trip to Dubai six weeks later.
• I spent a few days in St. Louis for work, and fell in love with the city.

The Pilot and I spent more time apart than we ever have. He started the year away in training for a new job for 3 months...and then left again for training with another airline at the beginning of December. He left right after Peyton's surgery and it was tough taking care of her by myself. Peyton's cancer diagnosis in itself was a tough blow but I'm so grateful that we were able to act quickly with the support of some really generous family and friends.

I don't think I was my best self in 2015. I think I was selfish in a lot of regards, but at the same time, I didn't really do anything for myself. I half-assed my way through marathon training, almost reinjuring myself in the process. I spent more time on my couch this year than ever before, I turned down a lot of plans and invitations and secluded myself. I'm not even really sure why.

I'll be 29 in 2016 and lately, I've been thinking a lot about where I want to be at 30. I want to be more committed this year...to everything...to running, to blogging, to my family, to traveling...everything. I want to be my best self at 29 and that means saying "Yes" a lot more, and being the adventurous, spontaneous self that has always made my happiest. I'll be back later this week with how I plan to make that happen!

Holy smokes kids, it's Race Week! Months of training and here it is! Let's have a cup of coffee and talk about how I'm feeling about it, shall we? Sit down, grab a cup of pumpkin spice (or whatever it i you fancy) and join me.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that my mom is amazing and booked a last minute flight to Chicago yesterday so that she can be at my race.


I would tell you that despite a great 10 mile run this weekend, I was still completely terrified of running Chicago until my social media feeds blew up with Wineglass and Twin Cities Marathon updates. Now, I'm pumped. The only run I did last week was that 10 mile run. I really just didn't feel like running throughout the week, so I didn't, but I'm feeling really good right now...and slightly terrified still.

I think the reason I'm so terrified is that this will be  the first marathon I've gone into without having done a training race before. I haven't raced since Cherry Blossom, so the whole race day feel just feels slightly unfamiliar.

I would tell you that my Garmin is dying and I'm not sure what to do about it. I bought The Pilot one for his birthday so I can use his for the race, but I'm debating whether to run with it at all. I'm worried about going out too fast without it but I like the idea of just enjoying the run. I've run some of my best races watch-less.

I would tell you that I didn't get into the London Marathon and I'm fine with it. It was the sixth consecutive year that I didn't get into this race and it's number 1 on my race bucket list but I was so miserable training for the DC Rock 'n' Roll Half this winter that the idea of training for 26.2 in the middle of the winter terrifies me, but I did get into the Seawheeze Half-Marathon! I'll be taking my first trip to Vancouver in August and running with my New York running buddy, Emily. It's almost a year away, but I have big goals for this race.

If we were having coffee, I would tell you that The Pilot and I went to a spin class at Biker Barre on Sunday night. He had a great workout. I was on a bike with a broken resistance knob and was bored the whole time.

I would also tell you that we didn't do much of anything else this weekend. The weather in DC was miserable and I was perfectly content to lounge around the house.

I would tell you that I need a vacation...or maybe just a staycation. Hawaii was fabulous but we were up at the crack of dawn every morning and on the go. I need either a stay-in-your-pajamas-and-binge-watch-tv-all-week week or a roast-on-a-beach-in-a-lounge-chair vacation. It's crazy cold in DC so obviously the latter is preferable but I don't think either are going to happen any time soon.

Good Morning!

I hope you're all well rested from wonderful weekends and excited to tackle the week ahead!

I really needed to unplug this weekend. I needed to just spend sometime alone and do my own thing this weekend. I got home Friday from work, poured myself a glass of wine and made myself some dinner. I watched some TV, straightened some stuff up around the house and called it a night.