Road Trip Ready

Today I’m making the drive to St. Louis for the weekend. Plans include meeting up with besties, celebrating my mom’s birthday, and running this darned race.

Long weekend, right? Good thing I’ve been carb loading.Not that I made a point of eating pasta. I just didn’t have much else in the house being as how I’ll be out for a few days. I’m even out of marinara now, so the sauce was a simple olive oil and various seasonings- heavy on the garlic salt and pepper. 

Oh… did I not mention part of the reason the family is getting together is for my mom’s birthday?  Well, it is. And it’s a milestone birthday at that. I won’t mention which one, though, because I’d rather not be greeted with disapproving look and “oh Amy!”

Anyway, in usual Amy fashion, I am so freakin’ good at procrastination, and since I’m leaving straight from work, my alarm was set 30 minutes early to make sure I wouldn’t forget a thing while getting ready this morning.

I’m tired.

And know I forgot something… it’s just a matter of when I figure it out?

Because of Holly’s little unfortunate incident of having to run in lacy underwire unmentionables, I triple-checked my running gear. So at least we’re good to go on that front.  I still applaud her for that one. Not that my teeny tinys need the support (insert my mom’s “oh Amy!” here instead), but I would be nervous of chaffing issues.  Eeek!

But anyway…

Luckily, in case my “eyes get tired”, or in case I use that excuse (because I’m a brat), one of my good guy friends is making the trip with me.

Don’t feel bad for him. He drives faster. So we’ll get there faster. Everyone wins this way.

Are you the slower driver or the faster one?

Because of some… ahem… speeding ticket issues from a few years ago, I’ve slowed my roll. The tickets finally dropped off my insurance and the added cost is not allowed back into the budget. Know what I’m sayin’?!?

Happy Friday!

Phone Tag

I really dislike going to the mall.

I know. I’m a girl. This is blasphemy.

But you have to understand where I’m coming from. One of the closest malls in my area happens to be the 5th largest mall in the United States (or something ridiculous like that).

Which is awesome. They have EVERYTHING.

What is NOT awesome is everything that goes with that one benefit. Overcrowding. Long lines. Parking lot is a DISASTER. The list goes on.

So you can imagine how long it takes for me to work up the energy to go. Especially on a weekend. I need to. I need a new dress (that can be worn in Vegas both during the spring and summer- yes, I’m going twice). Running shoes are also becoming and immediate necessity.

So I went. Reluctantly. It took 15 minutes to park. Strike one.

One store. Tried on a few things, but didn’t find anything. I screwed myself on that one because as soon as I walked in and saw the lines at the cash register (strike 2), I said to myself, “omg, I REALLY hope I don’t find something here because of the lines alone.”

Got what I wanted.

At about that time, my friend Annie called and was ready to meet up for dinner.  Perfect timing.  I didn’t even need a strike 3, I was ready to leave.

And that was my 30 minutes at the mall. I’ll try again next week. Maybe.

Alongside the gigantic mall is a gigantic Whole Foods. My friend Annie had never been to this particular one, so I took the liberty of giving her the tour. Whole Foods isn’t frequented often because I’m much too poor to do so, but the food bar is worth the trip. And walking around the store to try all the samples sitting out is a good way to get in a free appetizer.  She liked it. I hope I didn’t create a monster.

But either way, it was good to catch up. Do you ever have those friends you play long games of phone tag with until you actually get to chat?

She and I are AWESOME at that game.  I don’t think this is even considered a salad. It’s just a massive bowl of food. With some lettuce that happens to be at the bottom.

Although I have issues with the gigantic mall, none are with the Whole Foods.  It’s a good thing I don’t live closer because reasons would be created to stop by on a daily basis. There is a Whole Foods in close proximity to me, but every time I’ve given it a chance, it FAILS.

Annie’s traveling for work this week, so I made her promise to call me at some point when she was waiting for a plane or bored at the hotel.

Because I know when she’s calling, hopefully this means our phone tag game will be a little shorter?

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone.  Since I had my 7-mile run yesterday, today is a planned day of strength training and just a little more relaxed.

Have a good one!

Do you like shopping or are you more of an online person?  I’m considering becoming an online convert…

Everywhere and Back Again

I’m going to be cheap and use a shot of Jake Gyllenhaal naked to catch your attention:I’m not ashamed.  He is quite the handsome man.  And has come a long way from his Bubble Boy days. ;)

But yes, I just made this late breakfast. Yesterday was a whirlwind and I’m all out of whack it seems.

That can sometimes be a good thing. 

I got up early for a coffee date at O’Hare with my fantabulous friend Ashlee.  She had a 4-hour layover and we were determined to take advantage of it.Hey girl… heeeeeeyyyy!

 O’Hare is a huge place.  And I have no sense of direction.  So it took a bit to finally come together.  Which is sad, because I had a plan.  And a sign for when she walked out from the gate:Totally didn’t get to use it.  But it’s the thought that counts, right?

And yeah- we have nicknames.  I call her monkey and she calls me penguin.

You can try to understand our crazy if you want to.  But I don’t really even know how we became so weird…I already had breakfast, and Ashlee’s not a big breakfast person, so we split a cookie from Starbucks.  The white chocolate icing was fab.  But we both said the same thing.  Crunchy sugar cookies are not nearly as good as soft ones.  Truth.

After a couple hours, she had to leave for her flight home.  I’m being mischievous and am already coming up with ways to sabotage her next layover so she’ll have no choice but to stay in Chicago.  For good.  Muhahahaha…

I also had another friend who was in the area for the weekend from Philly.  We went to college together and there was an MU game on last night, so it only seemed natural that we made our way to The Spread (my favorite Mizzou bar in the Lincoln Park neighborhood).The three of us slowly and randomly worked our way around the city. It would have been faster had we not had a cab driver who hated life and decided to tell us why and then the other cab driver who seemed more lost than we were. 

My favorite spot of the night was at Cubby Bear just outside of Wrigleyville.  The big Northwestern vs. Illinios game was played inside of Wrigley field yesterday and ESPN College Game Day had been there.  Needless to say, the streets were packed.  The bars were full.  The drinks were flowing.

The pizza was also ordered.  And demolished.

We crashed at a friend’s house (drinking and driving should never be mixed, kids!) and I woke up with a bit of a headache.  Which is somewhat surprising considering how much we ate at the end of the night.  I’m not a big believer in Advil (seriously- I’ve only stashed one or two sample packets of Advil at home from work for worst-case scenarios), so my cure came in the form of this: They should really come up with a bigger size for their iced teas.  Like a pony keg.  I’d dig it. Because this was obviously not enough (refer to coffee in the first picture that was immediately consumed after my tea was gone).

I think I have a caffeine addiction.

I also think that is not a surprising revelation.

I also think it may be time to lounge some more.  It’s Sunday.  Sundays are lazy.  Truth.

Meet Me In St. Louis

Why hello strangers!

I sort of did the disappearing act yesterday, but it was for the best.  My brain was a bit mushy from not getting home until a little before midnight on Sunday night and then turning around to get to work by 7:30 the next morning.  Any written words would have been a jumbled mess. 

Anyhoo, I had a great 24 hours in St. Louis with my blondies (Mary and Laura).  Like I may have mentioned, it was sort of a last-minute thing, but I’m glad it  happened.  I miss some of my college girls, so the chance to see them was jumped on!  I got in late on Saturday, but it didn’t take long for us to freshen up and hit the town for a bit…We had a great time running around with a group of their friends and then retreating back to Mary’s house.  Because of their football party earlier, there was plenty of leftover food around. 

I tried White Castle for the first time.  (yeah- FIRST time)

I really have no idea what the big deal is.  I’m positive they should have made a movie about Jack in the Box instead.

Laura and I shared a room and stayed up whispering and giggling.  Then, when Mary’s fiance left for his tee time the next morning (how grown-up do we sound???), we hightailed it into Mary’s room and jumped into bed to make a Mary sandwich and giggle and gossip some more (ok, just cancelled out the grown-up thing).

“Giggle” was the word of the weekend. 

The three of us didn’t really do too much other than chat it up all Sunday.  Since we don’t see each other nearly as often as we used to (ie everyday), that’s all I need to call it a good weekend.

Well.  That and food.  Turns out we still have similar tastes.Fiesta salad with chicken and added avocado. For all three of us.  How obnoxious is this??? The waitress looked at our table funny as we ordered our round of iced teas and the same exact salads.  I’d be embarrassed but we have good taste in food.  What are we supposed to do? 

Although Laura just HAD to be difficult by getting the sour cream on the side.  GEEZ!  It was something about trying to make the salad healthier…  whatever…

We also have similar tastes in sweets:Oh buddy.

On a separate note, after discussing it in detail and a trip to Target for the dvd and weights, Mary decided to try out The Shred.  So far I haven’t received any hate texts from her.  Then again, she also hasn’t hit Level 2 yet. 

I really should get paid for this, Jillian.

After the lovely lazy day, Annie and I roadtripped our way back to Chicago.  We had fun on both drives (to and from), but were horribly tuckered out on the way home.  We tried to remedy the situation by digging up some of her old cds and listeing to some of Top 40′s greatest of 2000 – 2002.  Yessss….  You can’t help but love the smooth sounds of Savage Garden and Mandy Moore when she was still blond.  Classic stuff.

All this traveling left me without much physical activity for the rest of the weekend.  And that was OK.  I seemed to forget the importance of stretching after a race and adding 10 hours in a car didn’t help.  So last night was just walkin’ it out a little on the ‘mill.  I’m not pushing myself back into a serious workout routine at the moment.  I’ve been saying for a while I want to take a break from the consistent running.

Not that I’m going to stop (seriously- that would be tragic), but adding a little more to the mix isn’t going to hurt anyone.  Plus, now I’ve got the Hustle Up the Hancock to train for!

Oh and by the way, here are my final stats from the Hot Chocolate 15k.  They were no surprise- I knew it wasn’t the best race. But we’re ok with that.  Promise!*Sigh.  Even though I wasn’t planning it, I may have to sign up for maybe one more race this winter just to redeem myself.  Maybe…

Ever had a crappy race?  What caused it?  Let’s discuss…

Number Seven

Why hello there. 

I went to Jaime’s sister and she definitely took care of me!  No pics- but that’s because my camera was dead when I grabbed it this morning… boo!  We took care of those nast scraggly ends that have been keeping me up at night and went a few shades darker.  Not a huge difference, but enough to make me happy.    The colors are “mochas”, and it certain lights you can see some reddish undertones.  Sweet…

Most people would find it funny that I decide to go darker for summer.  But I live dangerously.  This would be right up there with my use of expired pasta… scandalous!

I also appreciate her not judging me for wacking off half of my bangs last weekend in a desperate last attempt to style them before going out.  Yes, I’m a cutter.  And I’m horrible at it.  But Michelle just giggled and laughed a little as she tried to shape the leftover bangs.  I appreciate that.  Because I’ve gotten lectured before.  It’s like going to the dentist and  lying to him about flossing every day.  They know you’re lying.  But you do anyways.

I got home after the two-hour ordeal and was starving.  Being as how I was’t quite at 100% (see “multiple martinis on Saturday night”) I heavily considered getting carryout somewhere.  Something greasy and fantastic.  But as I sat there with color setting in my hair and flipping through a two-month-old People magazine, I became overwhelmed with the options.  Boneless wings?  Hamburger?  Loaded nachos?  Pizza?  But honestly, the big burger and fries I used to consume after every night of going out would probably leave me feeling even more gross afterwards being as how I don’t get them nearly as much as I used to.  Which would have inevitably led to me laying on the couch the rest of the day feeling dirty and used…  What are hangover/next day tricks that you used to swear by (even if they’re not so good)?

So I came home and made some more of the shrimp wonderfulness I had from the night before.  And seriously, I can’t let food go to waste and it’s gonna get bad soon.This made me feel sooooo much better.  And I even went for a three-mile walk afterwards to help me feel like I was “detoxifying”.  The Yoga Meltdown session with Jillian also helped this process.  I know it’s probably not scientifically legit, but I feel that “sweating out the alcohol” makes the rest of the day much better.

My cousin who was considering the 13.1 Chicago in a few weeks emailed me again- we’re not running together that day anymore because she didn’t realize it fell on a weekend she already has something going on.  I’m sad she won’t be down to visit again, but I’m working on getting her to run the Rock ‘N Roll Half with me in August instead. 

I also heard from my lovely friend Mary last night.  Along with my friend Laura, we’re the trio of best friends from college.(Mary’s the blonde in the middle in the tailgating pic.)  Btw, my hair sorta looks like that now… but better.  Because this pic of me was when my roomie and I decided to do the color from a box- it was my first and last time doing so.  The color was really flat and it’s a lot harder than you’d think when you have such long and thick hair!  I leave it to the professionals now…Mary and I also lived together over one summer and for a year later on in college.  I loved it because we’d just wonder across the hall to the other person’s room and get to sit and talk whenever we wanted.  She and I often had “Friday Night Dress Night” and shared a mutual respect for Goldshlager.  We don’t get to talk nearly as much now, but we make sure to get in girl talk whenever we can…  So she just recently got engaged.  And just asked Laura and I to be co-maids of honor.  Of course I said I’d do it!  I’m very excited! I’m sure Laura and I will have bachelorette party ideas flying around in no time at all… 

This is wedding number seven for me.  If you’re looking for a professional bridesmaid, please call me at least seven to eight months in advance.  I’m booking up very quickly.  I love doing it because I really have a great set of girlfriends, but I’m just wondering what I’m going to do with all these dresses?  That shorten it and wear it again crap?  Uh no….  So any creative ideas???

Happy Monday! This week will hopefully be a good one- I’ve got Thursday off randomly to get some stuff done. A nice break in the middle of the week will be very appreciated! 

Tonight’s another quick 3-mile run.  But again, it’s supposed to be rainy.  I’ve been lucky so far, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if it’s the night I get forced to the treadmill.

Hey Bay-bay!

Yes, that is also a Hurricane Chris reference.  Anyone remember him?  I do.  He was a predrinking friend of mine with my roommate Mary.  Our bedrooms were right next to each other’s the last year I went to school at Mizzou.  And whenever that song came on, like little girls we would scream “Hey Bay-bay!” wherever we were and then proceed to the kitchen for a shot of Goldshlager.  Yes, that’s gross.  Yes it’s true, nothing good ever comes from starting a night out that way.  And yes, my fascination with hip hop lives on.  In case you were concerned. 

So getting away from the nostalgia, this cartoon made me giggle.  Good thing I have that Core Challenge to keep me in check… and I actually like doing pushups.  Of course I’m a far cry from Michelle Obama’s super arms, but hey- I take what I can get.

On an impulse, I bought that book by Michael Pollan, In the Defense of Food, that’s “all the rave” now thanks to Oprah.  I have no idea why.  I also threw in Jillian Michaels The Shread DVD workout so I could qualify for free shipping on Amazon.  Sure I had considered looking into buying it, but I got hit by the shopping bug and just went for it.  So I’ll be expecting those two items in the mail this week.  Hopefully I didn’t just waste my money.  Maybe after this month is over, I’ll be out-of-this-world toned and the healthiest eater you’ll ever know.  Doubtful.  But anything is possible.

Last night as I was in the middle of some random yoga pose, I noticed how crappy my feet look.  I think tonight after my little run and weightlifting session, I’m going to have to take care of that one.  I’m not a foot person, but that doesn’t mean I’m allowed to let them just go to crap either.  My little ladies need some love and color.

Have a good Monday!  I’m doing what I can- turns out less than five hours of sleep does not a happy Amy make.  Go figure.