Friday, October 31, 2014

...Howl-o-ween...

Dipping the batter, our cupcakes, Andy with all the ladies...
At the beginning of our marriage, Andy nearly refused to make a meal unless I was standing over him telling him exactly what to do. At one point, exasperated that he needed so much help, I can remember telling him that I wasn't going to help him anymore, and that he needed to "use his imagination."

It was around that time that we decided we needed to take a cooking class, and we began to scour our local grocery stores class offerings. It wasn't until today that we found a food we wanted to learn about that also matched our availability: Autumn Cupcakes!!

We made Pumpkin Apple cupcakes, Boston Creme cupcakes, Apple Pie cupcakes, Butter Pecan cupcakes, Decadent Chocolate cupcakes, and Banana Cream cupcakes, all from scratch. (If you'd like a certain recipe, I have those as well, so just let me know.)

We were both exhausted for this early morning class, but enjoyed all that we learned, the instructors, Sally and Dennis, and our classmates. It was a great way to spend time together.

Buddy the ewok!
As soon as I was able, I finished sewing Buddy's Halloween costume. Lots of my ideas came from BeautyBren28 and her super cute vlog. Buddy was so good to stay in his costume for pictures. In fact, he went trick-or-treating with the kids tonight and even got a dog treat!! Some people are so thoughtful!

We loved spending time with friends this evening, playing silly trivia games and making s'mores. Because Andy had to go to work, he didn't dress up, but at the last minute, I pulled together a Marty McFly costume. Unfortunately, we forgot to take a picture.

Did you dress up for Halloween? Hope yours was safe and happy!

Thursday, October 30, 2014

...Race Day, part 2...

What Lombard looks like on google maps vs. real life.
When we woke up around 4pm, we headed back toward Union Square for an Italian meal, and then decided to ride a trolley to Lombard Street. Named the crookedest street, Lombard actually looks like this on Google maps, and they aren't joking. We took the Powell/Mason trolley to the base Lombard, and realized that we couldn't see much, so we started to walk up the hill, which a local told me later that evening, was the steepest hill in San Francisco. Yes, this was only a few hours after running a half marathon.

Needless to say, I made my way up slowly. Andy was way ahead of me, but I didn't mind. When we reached the swirly part of the street, it was lined with cars filled with tourists filming their decent down this landmark. It was pretty funny to watch. Several tourists asked me if I lived on the street as they slowly drove past. I would just smile and shake my head no.

When we reached the top of the hill, we took the Powell/Hyde trolley back to Fisherman's Wharf. After a few minutes of discussion, we decided that our time would be best spent riding the trolley. It's actually really quite fun, like a roller coaster ride, depending on your driver. One of the drivers would just hold let the car plummet down hills before slowly applying the breaks. I squealed more than once on that ride.

We bought some goodies at Ghirardelli Square, and then headed back to the hotel, delighted that we had stayed out past 9:30pm. It had been a big day, and we were ready to head home.

We were asleep within moments of our heads hitting the pillow...

...Race Day...

I've had some health concerns over the past month and a half which have kept me from adventuring. My doctor cleared me for the race, but I wasn't to push myself, get overheated, or get dehydrated. My regular running pace had gone from an easy 10 minute mile to a labored 13 minute mile. I was deeply concerned I wouldn't make it to the finish line. My stomach was a mess of knots that morning.

I had been raising money for the A21 Campaign, an organization that seeks to abolish modern day slavery in the 21st century, and so many friends donated to the cause. I had committed to wear silly race attire for each increment of money that I raised, so I pulled the silly socks and homemade tutu on as my final act in getting ready.

We had a quick breakfast at IHOP before finding a bus that would take us to the starting line. As I began to line up with 24,999 of my peers, Andy texted me encouraging words and found a place along the course to cheer me on. How sweet and kind and faithful! There are few who would wake up so early to show their support. (I can't tell you how excited I was to see Andy just a few miles in. I ran a bit faster just to get to him sooner.)

I was in the third wave of runners, so, though the race began at 6:30am, I didn't even cross the starting line until sometime after 7. Unlike Andy, I made no friends, but offered a few smiles here and there. I stopped along the way to take pictures, and walked up one obnoxious hill, but ran the majority of the race at an easy jog, smiling, laughing.

The morning was a mess of fog. Though it was intended that we'd be able to see the painted Ladies and the Golden Gate Bridge, you really could barely see the runners in front of you.

All along the course there was encouragement. Whether it was cheerleaders, a marching band, a drum line, or water and electrolytes, Luna bars, orange slices, etc, you never felt like you had been running that long. Then, of course, there was the chocolate mile, where they pass out, you guessed it, chocolate, to motivate you to the finish line. The entire event was so well organized!
After I crossed the finish line, I waited for my Tiffany necklace medal and then headed to the line to get my picture with the firefighters. I decided not to wait in line for a massage or food and flowers, as I really just wanted to go back to the hotel and have Andy hold me for a while. We waited in the line, chatting with people around us, and were soon headed back. As I took a shower, Andy got pizza from our favorite little pizzeria. After a good 40 minutes of yin yoga, we crawled into bed and fell asleep for a few hours. It was about noon.


Tuesday, October 21, 2014

...San Francisco, Day 3...

The life cycle of this tree. Zoom in to see when it became a tree.
I can't tell you the number of people that told us to visit Muir Woods while in San Francisco. Muir Woods has some old Redwood trees, you know, the kind that are over 1,000 years old, so Andy and I made it a priority to see them. The only problem we faced: figuring out how to get there.

Since we were relying on public transportation for the entire trip, there was quite a bit of "figuring out" that needed to happen so that we didn't end up stuck in Sausalito (which looks like is a quaint little town that I would have loved to have explored.) We had one bad experience with a driver (basically, he gave us completely incorrect information) but we arrived just in time to hop on a tour of the woods.

Inside a tree
The woman leading the tour was green, figuratively and literally, but she did a great job. At times, I could see her cheeks and mouth shaking as she spoke. We were a small group, but we asked her lots of questions, and her answers were solid and sure.

Did you know that the tannins in redwoods repel bugs and mosquitos and moss? Did you know that there are hardly any birds because there are no bugs to feast on?

It's an eerily silent forest.

After the tour, we explored on our own for a while, and then caught the shuttle back to the city. We cleaned up at our hotel and headed down to Fisherman's Wharf for dinner.

We felt that eating fish and chips while by the bay was a must, and the Codmother Fish and Chips had the best reviews. Similar to a food truck that's parked, we walked up and grabbed an open table on the patio (there's only a patio) and placed our order. The food portion was tremendous, and the taste was absolutely delicious. It was a bit more than either of us could manage.

(One of my favorite things about this trip, was that Andy and I bought food to share, instead of each having our own entree. It gave us a chance to try different things without breaking the bank. Everyone else probably already does this, but it was a first for us.)

This little guy was all by his lonesome.
All his friends were over on another dock. Loner?
We walked around the wharf, to Pier 39, and watched the sea lions sleep on the docks. We walked to Ghirardelli Square and ordered a sundae to share. Ghirardelli makes great chocolate, but I wasn't impressed with the sundae.

With race day the next day, we were again in bed before 8:30pm. I woke up with a start two times in the middle of the night, nervous my alarm wouldn't go off and I'd miss it. By 3:17am, there was no going back to sleep for me...

...San Francisco, Day 2...

Andy was desperate to play disc golf, so we walked to a Sports Store in the Presidio, and, when we realized that we could rent bikes, decided to bike across the Golden Gate Bridge.


It was a perfect day for it, clear and cool, and soon we were off exploring on two wheels. I'm not the best biker. I'm fine with balance, but there's an element of fearlessness that one needs to have which I do not. I tend to be a bit shaky. At one point, Andy stopped to check on me and, with a surprised voice exclaimed, "You're not doing too bad, babe!" Whatever!

Though the view was gorgeous, I couldn't really enjoy much of it. Only one side of the bridge is open on weekdays, which meant a mass of walkers and bikers and runners were trying to share a space smaller than most sidewalks. To make matters worse, there was a protest going on on the bridge. Sigh! I can't tell you how many times I rammed into the side just to avoid running someone over.

After we made it across the bridge, we biked back to our favorite pizza place and had lunch, and then returned the bikes and walked back toward our hotel so as to catch a bus for Golden Gate Park, the location of the disc golf course.

The Palace of Fine Arts - just happened to walk past this amazing building
Sadly, the bus took about two hours to get us there. It would have taken us an hour to walk. There was a car broken down on a two lane road and the man wouldn't let us out of the bus. While I napped on his shoulder, Andy watched google maps as we drove further away from where he wanted to be. It was discouraging, to say the least.

When the bus driver finally opened the doors, we jumped out and power walked toward our destination. While I ran one final 5K before the race, Andy found a few guys to tag along with and play. I met up with them after my run, and was so appreciative of how kind and welcoming they were to him. Some people are just really wonderful! Andy loves meeting new people, and he revealed later that that was his favorite part of the trip.

Once the game was over, we took a bus to San Tung and ate their famous Dry Fried Chicken Wings. If you are ever in San Francisco, these are a MUST!! Just incredible and amazing...and I am not a chicken wings fan. The wait was unbelievable, but next door you can find San Tung 2, exactly the same food and owner, just with a smaller menu. They also had a wait line, but we managed to sneak in before the big crowds started arriving.

We took the bus back to our hotel room, and were in bed by 8:30pm. We're not big night owls, but there are few people that make the most out of everyday like we do!

How are you making the most of each day?

Friday, October 17, 2014

...San Francisco, Day 1...

My fear of oversleeping woke me up at 3:05am, so I was already showering when the alarms started blaring at 3:15, 3:17, and 3:19. We were already packed, so we just needed to get ourselves, and Buddy, out the door. That proved a bit more challenging than expected, but we still managed to board our 6am flight before take off. Phew! Made it!

We had a layover in LAX, and arrived in SFO at 11am. One suggestion for when you come  visit SFO, take the shuttle to get to your hotel. It's $17 a person, but the other options, which are only a few dollars cheaper, take hours, literally hours.

By the time we arrived at our hotel, which is cozy (read tiny) but clean, we were exhausted and famished. Andy searched a place to eat (he's so good at finding great little nooks) and we walked up to a pizzeria in our area. It was tasty pizza, AND Andy and I both ate for under $10 - TOTAL! We'll be going back.

After lunch, we headed to the Nike Women's Marathon Expo-tique. Here are some pictures from our adventure.

Walking to the bus stop...I'm not sure I've trained for these hills.
8.0 on the treadmill incline doesn't seem sufficient now...

This is how close we are to the bay. So picturesque!

The start is at Union Square. Red are the steepest hills, yellow are your
basic hills and inclines, and green is supposed to be easy...we'll see...

After my free makeover. I need to remember to smile nicely.

My complimentary airbrush tattoo encouraging me to run like I have wings!

Also had my hair braided by the ladies of Paul Mitchell. I might go back
on Saturday and have them do it again for Race Day!
Because they offer so many free goodies (and I'm bringing home ALOT of free goodies), this is an expensive race to run. We wanted to make sure that I took advantage of everything they offer, and Andy lovingly and patiently carried my bags and took pictures while we walked to each activity. We spent our day at the Expo-tique!

(At one point he did say, "It would be so awesome if one of your girlfriends was running with you and could do all this stuff," but I think he sincerely meant that it would have been more fun for me to have a buddy, and not suggesting that all he wanted to do was get away from all the ladies. If you ever do this race, insist on a buddy, any buddy. If you weren't great friends to begin with, you will be by the time it's over.)


So the evening was all Andy's, and he wanted to watch the St. Louis Cardinals defeat the San Francisco Giants, so we walked to a sports bar, Jillian's, and waited 40 minutes for a table. In fact, they sat us at a huge table and asked us if it would be okay if others joined us. Soon, two older gentlemen came to our table, engulfed in a conversation about their online dating antics and the women they were meeting. At one point (I kid you not!) they were looking at a phone and giggling at the responses they were composing and receiving through text message! Did I mention these were grown men (at least in their fifties) and not teenage girls? It was fascinating!

It was a tense game. When that one guy on the other team hit the home run late in the game, the whole room erupted in cheers. I knew there was no stopping the Giants now...and we couldn't. They went on to win it in the 9th inning. The room went crazy, and Andy insisted we leave immediately. So quickly, in fact, that he left his phone on the table, and we had to go back to retrieve it. My poor, broken-hearted husband. I'm not sure he's over it yet.


When I wasn't looking, Andy snapped this.
Isn't he wonderful?

We have more fun for today! Can't wait to tell you all about it! Remember, I'm running on behalf of the A21 Campaign, and if you'd like to pledge to my cause, you can do so here!

Thank you for loving me so well everyone!

Monday, October 13, 2014

...one more week...

I finished my last long run yesterday.

11 miles down...

2.1 miles to go...

Most of my adventures of late have centered around running...and eating...and sleeping. By this Sunday at 10am, I'm hoping it will have all been worth it.

I have chosen to run on behalf of the A21 Campaign. I haven't been the best fundraiser, mostly because I crumble when asking people for anything. But I wish I had been more brave a bit sooner.

While this race will certainly be fun, there's more to it than that for me. Hopefully, you'll join me in supporting the A21 Campaign.

You can donate to my fundraiser here.

Thanks in advance!

Wednesday, October 8, 2014

...total eclipse...

The sky couldn't have been more clear.

Bright stars, some that I had forgotten existed, burned in the sky as I trudged down the driveway toward our open common area, my eyes, still clouded with sleep, searching the endless black night.

As I entered the clearing, the deep, dark wine colored moon held it's own against such a magnificent sky and I gasped, unexpectedly. I wasn't prepared to be so taken aback.

Within moments, a neighbor joined me, one I had never met before, and we stared in awe together. She began to tell me about the blood moon, that it's red color is because it is reflecting the sunrises and sunsets around the world in that moment.

There's a more scientific reason. You can look it up for yourself, but I've embraced the idea of such staggering beauty being mirrored. Am I a mirror? If so, who am I mirroring? Does my life reflect beauty and love?

I hope so.

My phone's camera snapped away, but there are some things that an iPhone cannot capture. So I stopped and stared, breathing in the moment before it passed.

It was definitely worth the 5:25am alarm...