Where's the Beach?

It's Tuesday, and I meant to post this yesterday. But Monday was a Monday all the way around down to having to walk back to work from home because my car battery died (again). At least it was sunny and warm and I didn't have to trudge the 9 blocks in "the boot." Upside right? Since I was officially out of the boot , I took full advantage of the spring-like temperatures we had over the weekend. Saturday started off with a girls only lunch with my sister, mom and niece. It was to celebrate our mom's birthday in January. We of course did a little bit of shopping after eating, and then when they left town, I decided to go for a much-needed walk. It was only 2 miles, and not anything close to running, but it did my mind and body good. Saturday night, Jason and I decided to have fun in the kitchen and made some veggie pot stickers and crispy tofu. Of course we dug in using chopsticks. That's a must right? Other than the giant mess we made in the kitchen, i...

Happy Hump Day. Since it's already Wednesday, guess it'd be a good time to do a quick weekend recap, that included an accidental 19-mile run and a 3rd Thanksgiving meal. Long Run Saturday morning Amy agreed to run with me for what was a planned 18-mile run. I was going to head out and get in some miles before she arrived then run 10 together, then finish out solo. I got in 5 miles exactly, then we set out on a meandering route around the neighborhood. The temperatures were suddenly back into the 60s with high humidity and even higher winds. Thankfully it was cloudy. The positives were that we were most certainly not freezing and the wind did help dry us off. Amy had said 10 miles, but then decided she could do another mile with me. We made another loop before getting back to my house. Her watch said 11 miles on the dot, mine was behind showing 15.85 miles. For some reason, I got it stuck in my head that I was at mile 15 and needed 3 more - even said that out loud a ...

Today is Wednesday, but also like my Friday with Thanksgiving being tomorrow. Can we collectively vote for 3-day workweeks every week? Since I ended up doing a healthy holiday tips post yesterday, I thought I would do a quick birthday weekend recap today. I could really sum it up as eating, running, eating if you need the abridged version. On Friday (my actual birthday), I had taken off work so that I could sleep in, be lazy, and just enjoy the day. A gift to myself if you will. Jason wanted to take me out for lunch, so we met up for a late lunch after a hair appointment. Later we ended up going out again for dinner at a restaurant just a couple of blocks from our house called  South On Main . I didn't get any pictures of the food, but it was all good. They definitely aren't famous for their vegetarian options, mostly serving meat dishes, but the options they had were quite good. Jason made it a point to let them know it was my birthday and to insist on ordering a dess...

I know weekends typically go by way too quickly, but this weekend seemed to have gone by faster than usual. Jason was out of town, so it was a girl's weekend all the way around. It started off Friday evening meeting up with Tara from Running n' Reading . We met up at Baja Grill for dinner and lots and lots of chatting! Pretty sure we could have sat there for most of the night just visiting. Tara is super sweet and I was so happy to finally be able to just sit down and visit with her. It felt like we had really known each other and were just catching up. Because I had a 20-mile run planned the next day, I did have to get home and in bed at a very adult (old lady) time. Because of my super responsible behavior, I was up by just after 5 am. Amy was going to meet me at 6:30 to get in 13 miles, so I decided to go ahead and get in a few miles before she got to my house. When I first set out, the temps were around 42 degrees and I had on shorts and long sleeves. I ended up weird...

This weekend was fairly low-key for us. I struggled with a too-warm, too-humid long run on Saturday. I started the run solo and got in 4 miles before meeting up with Jason. I was already struggling with my pace. I couldn't seem to keep it under control. I know it sounds stupid to say, but I couldn't seem to slow myself down to where I needed to be. I was just running wildly. Thankfully, Jason is much better at pacing so that helped. It also helped having some company to keep me out of my head. He dropped off after 4.5 miles and I finished out my run very much glad to be back at the house and done with 10.3 miles (those last .3 may as well have been another full mile in my mind). I'm definitely going to have to slow down and really adjust to the humidity again. I felt pretty crummy for a few hours after the run. I haven't felt bad after a run in a very very long time. In fact, probably this time last year readjusting to the temps again. We ended up going for lunch ...

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine started off nicely as I was off work on Friday. It turned out to be a weekend of eating, shopping, running and a lot of enjoying. Friday morning I got in a run then got my hair done before heading to my hometown. I met my dad for lunch at a tasty place called Taco Mama's . The owners also have another restaurant that I really enjoy called Cafe 1217. I've been hearing great things about Taco Mama's, but have yet to try it out. I'm glad I did. I ordered their salad bowl with vegetarian filling. I'm usually leery of "vegetarian" fillings. But I was pleasantly surprised. The salad was not iceberg lettuce, a big bonus. It was filled with leafy greens, beans, rice, and a wonderful mix of zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes. Dad and I spent about 2 hours eating and visiting before I left to meet up with my mom. Mom and I went and did a little bit of shopping at Home Goods and TJ Maxx before I had to head back home. We met...

To say that it was a busy, hectic weekend is kind of an understatement. But, we've had lots of very low-key weekends recently, so I can't really complain. Plus, we did have lots of fun. Friday night we had a party to go to. It was on the other side of town, and one of my more favorite restaurants - Ya Ya's Bistro - happened to be on the way. I think that was just fate saying we needed to stop in for a happy hour drink. So we did. Our friends met up with us as well since they were going to the same shindig. Ya Ya's had an amazing Pumpkin Pie Martini, very similar to one my sister and I concocted a few years back that I called Pumpkin Pie Bliss . I figured since I was still celebrating my Birthday Week, I could splurge. Saturday morning I got up to get in my long run for the week. It was cold, windy and rather dreary. Amy and I ran for about 2.5 miles together so that helped. She had started her run much earlier, so I finished the rest of my miles solo. I know it...