Big Plans

Hello everyone! 

So no one actually likes pants.  Hmmm.  We should start a movement.  Yes?

Anyhoo, I feel like it’s been too long!

Not just because I didn’t post yesterday, but because I’m still trying to catch up with how everyone else’s holidays went…

Anyways, the story left off in St. Louis.  I spent the night at my friend Mary’s house, not only to break up my trip back home, but to spend some time with two of my best friends over the holidays.Another wine night. We had originally talked up a big night out.  Drinks flowing… dancing… cute shoes…

We went out to pick out a bottle and get a red box movie.  After agonizing for 10 minutes over a selection, we ended up deciding on watching Entourage reruns instead.  We’re wild like that.

And reruns of Entourage turned into an episode of South Park that was about the shake weight and people’s ridiculous obsession with the Food Network.  I think I laughed the loudest.

All three of us got up around 9:30 yesterday morning.  Yes- 9:30. After we all said we would probably “naturally” wakeup by 7:30.  The long holiday weekend has clearly taken a toll on everyone.  Anyone else suffering the “holiday hangover”?

Getting up that late only means one thing.

Time for BRUNCH!We hit a local joint just down the road from Mary.  Last time us girls were together, we all ordered the same thing (it’s ok to roll your eyes here- we were just as embarrassed about it as you’d think).  This time wasn’t any different. Omelets for everyone! Like the ”Bacado” pictured above.  Mine was stuffed with avocado and bacon and I couldn’t have been happier.   

We’ll discuss how this triggered my avocado obsession (again) at a different time.

We sat there and chatted over free refills of coffee for way too long.  Not too long because I needed to go (which is probably true), but because we were rivaling all the old people with time spent there and the waitress was getting annoyed.  Oops.

Do you ever overestimate how productive you’ll be during the day?  I do- all the time.  Original thoughts were to leave St. Louis by noon or so, get a good run in (I’ve been dying to- that’s not a joke), grocery shop, unpack, etc etc.

Yeah…

I didn’t leave until close to 1:00.  Hit some traffic.  Lost any energy to workout.  And the ONLY reason grocery shopping happened was because it happened before I got home- I knew I wouldn’t drive back out to do it otherwise. And a girl needs to eat. 

And if you think any of my stuff is unpacked, you’re just crazy.  Who was I kidding?  I usually live out of my bag until it’s all been used or it has to be repacked.  True story.

However, it should be noted how thankful I am for fantastic driving conditions to and from Missouri.  That never happens.

And I would also like to note my favorite road trip tune came from a station somewhere in central Illinois.  Chumbawamba?  YES PLEASE!

Because I got to bed early, getting up to work out this morning wasn’t that big of a deal.  I figured this work week should be started with a BANG. Tuesday won’t take me down that easily.

I did my new Jillian Michaels ”No More Trouble Zones” dvd.  It left me a little sore the first time I did it, so I’m assuming it’ll let me know once again where all my underworked muscles are. 

On that note, I did “feel it” from the P90X ”Ab Ripper” cd.  Just not as badly as expected.  Maybe it was because people were building it up to such a horrible thing. Maybe because it should be combined with other circuits (really have no clue how that system works).  But I had planned to crawl out of bed. And was pleasantly surprised when I didn’t have to. Awesome.

Let’s pretend Tuesday doesn’t suck and focus our attention on how it’s yet another holiday (aka “short”) work week!

The Big Flea

That’s what we decided to call it.  Every first weekend of the month, there’s a giant flea market in St. Charles, Illinois.  Did you know that?  I sure didn’t until my friend Danielle came along.  She lives for this stuff.  She also maps out and has a time schedule for the day after Thanksgiving.  So you know she doesn’t mess around.  And technically, in her case, you can define shopping as a sport.

Anyways, before I left, I knew I’d need my energy to keep up with this shopping guru. I decided to do a broccoli scramble.  With toast.  But I had no toast.  And since I’m leaving early Thursday to go back to Mid-MO for a wedding, I decided to not grocery shop and live off of what I had.  My problem is that I like to have a carb with most meals.  Enter another “cleaning out the pantry” moment.I think I bought it for when I planned to make chili earlier this year.  Didn’t happen.  Lucky me. 

I made spicy corn muffins by adding chili powder and red chili pepper flakes into the mix.  Good idea, but if you want to try it, be more liberal.  I held back.  But that’s ok- still good.Off to the Big Flea!

What did we find there?  A LOT of crap.  Seriously.  Crap.  Such as interesting lawn decor:Debbie Downer Frogs:Fashion statements:And fun signs for the whole family:It was also a fun people-watching event.  I highly recommend it. 

Unfortunately, the 6-foot tall metal rooster wouldn’t fit in my car, so I had to settle for a smaller purchase.  If you believe the label, it’s Dolce and Gabbana.  What a steal for $25, right?    I wasn’t “in the market” for a purse, but had my eye out.  After sifting through a million, I found this one with a not so obvious fake label.  I’m a sucker for the ruffle.  I kept going back to it until Monica said, “well just get it, Amy.  You’ve looked at it 10 times- clearly you want it.”  So I did.  And I sorta love it.

Does anyone else do the flea markets?  I’ve done the fake designer things before, but this was my first junk scavenger hunt in such a large-scale ordeal.

Afterwards, we left Danielle (who was still on the hunt), and decided to go to downtown Geneva to enjoy a little stroll and get some eats.Tapas, anyone?

We started out calm, with a light salad of asparagus, tomato, basil, evoo, and bleu cheese.Angie wasn’t quite used to the whole taking-pictures-of-food thing.  But Mon sure was and showed her how it’s done. 

My favorite?  Probably the baked artichoke stuffed with bread crumbs and topped with the most amazing sauce that I can’t remember the name of…And off of Angie’s recommendation, we chose the “Popeye” pizza- topped with spinach, feta, and mozzarella.  This picture was so posed, it was out of control.  I immediately regretted the decision- the cheese instantly started to burn the top of my mouth.  I think Mon caught me wincing in pain.  But once the pizza cooled down… oh my- it was fabulous.  Thin crust is my fav!

After I was filled up on cheese and such, I came home to my red box selections for the night.  Hot Tub Time Machine was one I was curious about.  I think I’ve heard more buzz about it now as it is coming out on DVD than when it was in the theaters. 

Someone compared it to The Hangover.  They were clearly wrong.  But it was the same general outrageous humor.  Had a few good lines.  Entertaining.  But I’m glad I only spent $1 to watch it.

Happy Labor Day, everyone! Let’s enjoy the end of our extended weekend!

Shake it up!

Yea for Friday!!!!  We made it… just barely! 

My friend Mon also had her birthday this week (Tuesday) and we had planned an official send off of our birthday month for last night (because we were both busy on both of our birthdays).  Original plans were to get all sorts of dolled up in cocktail dresses and go out to a super nice dinner and eat fabulously.

Then we realized the state of our finances by the end of the month.  I took a serious hit with the random car repairs and Mon also had a few big weekends.  So… um… instead of the lavish dinner out, we settled for lounging with a piece of chocolate cheesecake and a redbox movie.I also bought Mon some chocolates from Whole Foods because we were drooling over all the goodies there a few weeks ago.  And snuck a candle from work.  Sssshhhh!

The redbox we selected for the night was Chloe.  Have any of you heard of it?  It’s a drama with Julianne Moore (love her- she’s soooo pretty) and Amanda Seyfried.  Basically, Julianne thinks her husband is cheating on her and gets it in her head (somehow!?!?!) to hire Amanda (a prostitute- yet a classy one) to tempt him.  It was intense.  And sorta dirty.  But I really liked it because it kept you glued to the screen (because you wanted to know what’s happening next, not because it’s dirty- let’s make that clear).

Mon and I both gave it a thumbs up.

Afterwards, we were feeling a little “eh” from the sweets consumption, so we broke out the new workout equipment Mon decided to purchase.Yeah, that’s the shake weight.  She brought it over for laughs.  I really didn’t think it gave me much of a workout… but I guess if you do it for a long time?

Let’s steer clear of “that’s what she said” jokes please… It would be too easy.  Don’t be cheap.  :p

I felt like Ellen on this one…

Anyways…

Did you catch that I mentioned Whole Foods earlier?  Yeah… I bet you did.  And seriously, I was there after work, right at dinner time.  What else am I going to eat?Here is my reason for staying away from Whole Foods.  Because I can’t pass up their crazy and amazing food bars!  The noodles have a peanut sauce- I wasn’t a huge fan.  After the first bite or two, I immediately got rid of them.  I knew if I kept them in the salad, I’d eat them even if I didn’t really enjoy them.  And that’s kind of pointless.  Especially when I’d be perfectly content after this amazing salad.  Romaine, sweet potatoes (hello sp’s- you’re hanging out a bunch this week), cabbage, red onion (wanna make out?), pumpkin seeds, some bacon bits, carrots, and peas.  Yep.  Loaded.  Yummy.  Gone.

Oh and I got bit by a mosquito in Whole Foods.  Yes.  In the store.  I felt something and smacked my cheek real quick.  Look at my hand- mosquito.  Ewwww…

Obviously, from my busy day, it became a rest day from the gym.  It’s ok.  I’m going tonight for a really easy two-mile run and a bit of walking.  And then we’re calling it a wrap on the half marathon training.  It’s been fun, but I’m ready to do this thing!

Happy Friday everyone!  It’s been a long week in my nook of the world, but I am glad to report that it’s obvious we made it out alive and totally deserve our two days of freedom!  Go enjoy yourselves!  Like right now.  K-Bye!

Seven Miles

Oh what an original title I’ve got today…  I’m sure you have absolutely no idea what I’m alluding to. 

Either way, first things first.  Let’s talk about how I fell asleep on my sofa last night at 10:30.  Lame.  Why so lame? Not because it was a Friday night and I should be out socializing, but because I was in the middle of a movie.  I was watching Invictus (a pickup from Red Box), and really was enjoying it.  I’m not always the biggest fan of Morgan Freeman, but he was great. Matt Damon usually is a favorite eye candy of mine, but I do have to say in this movie, he bulked up and was only so-so in my radar.  I’m more for tall and lean.  Just a preference.  Either way, I finally just stopped fighting all the exhaustion that had just hit me like a pile of bricks as soon as I got home from the gym.  I woke up at the end of it, but turned it off immediately and went to bed so I could finish it without knowing what happens (which I did get to see this morning).

Before my movie fail last night, I did do what I had guessed I would.  Wine and The Soup.  Actually, it was wine, The Soup, and a mushroom quesadilla.  Weird combination (on all accounts) but it was fantastic.Then again, cheese makes everything fantastic.

This morning I geared up for that seven miles I was talking about.  Won’t lie- when I saw it was already 80 degrees when I left the house, I got a wee bit nervous.  I did, however, plan ahead and packed plenty of water in my car so that I could stop and hydrate during one of my three loops on the trail if necessary.  Clearly, it was necessary.  I did neglect to bring any other form of energy with me.  This was a mistake because my last two miles sweating it out in the sun were pretty sluggish.  I finished the 7 miles at almost exactly an hour.  Evidence of my run is all in the tan line it left.  Even with the sunscreen (I’m being such a good girl!).

Thoughts?  Other than needing to pick up some energy blocks or that of a similar nature, I think it went ok.  The pace was lacking a bit, but I’m going to overlook that for now.  I was sluggish at the end, but not crawling.  So I’ll consider it a win. 

And I tried out my new Champion running shorts- I’ve never had actual running shorts with the inner lining.  I know, I know- crazy, but they kind of weirded me out. Then I saw them on sale during one of my many trips to Target.  They were freaking amazing.  And I need to acquire more. 

I also need to not plan a quick stop by the grocery store for after a long run.  The cashier looked less than thrilled to be helping the sweaty mess of a person that I was.  Sorry lady.

There was a little soreness in my hips, but nothing that a little yoga didn’t seem to take care of.  I’m good as new. 

I pulled a ghetto-fabulous move and sunbathed on my balcony this afternoon.  I would have trekked to the pool, but I was still pretty gross from the earlier run.  I decided to do humanity a favor and keep to myself until I had showered.

You’re welcome.

I’m showered now and will be out enjoying the rest of my day.  I hope you all are doing the same (shower not required, but preferred).

Zoning Out

Hello kids!  I  hope you all had a wonderful weekend.  Mine was a perfect balance between having things to do and relaxing.  After you last heard from me, I was pretty much worthless the rest of Saturday.  I did get myself up for yoga.  But then quickly settled back down with the movie The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.  I sort of agree with Kelly in my opinion of it.  It was ok.  Not really my style.  And I feel like a few parts could have gone more in-depth?  But I guess that’s somewhat expected when one of the main characters dies mid-shoot.  I still miss you, Heath Ledger.  My poster of you from A Knight’s Tale will never be thrown away.  Ever…

Sunday was a good day.  I still lacked a little sleep (seriously- I have no idea how I function when this happens.  It’s odd.)  Either way, I headed out in the morning for a  run.  I considered a new trail that is a seven-mile loop, but the skies were looking threatening and I wanted the option of a quick trip back to my car if absolutely necessary.  So I stuck to my smaller trail.  I’m a creature of habit.

6.5 miles.  I was a little slower than usual (8:48), but couldn’t have asked for a better run.  The temperatures were perfect, it wasn’t too muggy at that point (good thing I’m an early bird because it got a little gross later on in the day), and I just zoned out into my own happy little world.  Usually this does not happen.  But I guess I had a lot on my mind? 

Are you one to zone out on runs?  Or are you focusing on something the entire time?

The zoning was apparently more intense than I realized.  At one point, I realized I was less than four feet away from a deer on the side of the trail.  I was definitely more surprised than she was.  My heart jumped and I gasped out of surprise.  She just stared at me.  If I wasn’t so unwilling to break my pace, I would have stopped and had a stare down.  Ok, not really, but usually they’re quick to run away.  This one was just giving me a “whatchu lookin’ at, fool?”.  Deer with an attitude.  I like it.  Go on with your bad self…

I also should have paid more attention to the feeling in my feet.  The last mile was when I noticed the serious rubbing of one of my toes.  “Well there’s not  much I can do about it now”, I thought.  Actually yeah there was- I could probably have stopped.  Because now I have a killer blister on my big and second toes on my left foot.  Killer.  My Disney Princess band aids are currently being put to work.  And I’m not quite sure how it’s going to feel for my run tonight.  I’m going to try and protect them as much as I can without getting ridiculous.  Usually I’m just one to pull out the band aids, but does anyone ever use that “second skin” stuff?  Does it actually work?  I’m curious…

I also did another session of Yoga Meltdown (Level 1 this time vs. Level 2 on Saturday).  Still working on the crow pose.  Can’t do it for more than three seconds, but I also didn’t fall on my face this time.  So we can call it a win…

Food has been focused around some more veggie lovin’.I think the asparagus wrap thing is seriously changing my life.  Is it the asparagus?  Or the cheese?  I couldn’t tell you.  But whatever it is, it’s working.

I also broke out the edamame hummus I bought from Trader Joe’s.  Like I said- I thought I’d like it way more than I do.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it at all!  It is still good.  Especially with cauliflower.  Just so you know.

And when I made my obnoxiously large-for-no-reason trip to Target, I finally snagged some of these:I saw sooooo many people trying them out.  And they are quite good!  I love that M&M’s are starting to really mix it up with all the flavors.

Last night I traveled to a nearby town for my friend Annie’s dance recital (she’s a dance teacher).  Her birthday is today (Happy birthday, Annie!), and since I couldn’t see her today, I wanted to hang out with her one last time beforehand.  Plus, she’s going on hiatus as a dance teacher for a while, so I wanted to be there to check out her last show.    It was super cute and I may be a bit bias, but I just LOVED the dances she choreographed.  Annie pretty much rocks.  One of the classes she teaches is hip hop.  And that’s why I’m always a little embarrassed of my mediocre dance moves when we go out…. ha ha.  What… is the robot not cool anymore?

By the way, she said they all loved the cake I baked for her.  Sweet! 

So the World Cup started, and can I say I’m just not a huge fan of soccer?  Am I the only one out there?  I try to get into it, but it’s just not my thing.  Don’t get me wrong- I have a huge admiration for the athletes in the sport (I think it’s one of the sports that calls for a crazy amount of endurance and strength).  And I think it’s awesome that people get that passionate about it.  But I’m just not into it….  No idea why.  Maybe because I grew up in an area where soccer really wasn’t that popular?  I was a tee-ball kid.  All the way.  Oh well.  I tried…

Happy Monday!

It’s Complicated

Let me first say I’m not feeling so hot.  So lets see where this post goes…

Mon and I had our little pizza and a movie get-together last night.  It was fun.  You know what else was fun? Thoughtlessly posting “date night!” as a facebook status and getting a crap-ton of messages inquiring about it.  Apparently I need to be careful about these things.  Comments, messages, texts, and even a drunk dial.  Not kidding.  My brother’s friend was very distraught about my current status at 2:35 in the am.  I could have cleared up the “confusion” with changing my status to “girls night in”.  But didn’t.  That’s probably mean.

I’m startled by the fact that one mention of me dating and everyone’s in a tizzy.  Obviously, I need to work on this.  Or maybe I’ll just continue to fly under the radar when it comes to such things. 

Even one of my best friends texted me, somewhat upset she hadn’t been filled in about my date.  I should probably tell her to read my blog more often…

Anyways, my “hot date” was lovely.  Here’s the pizza:Spinach, sausage, and mushrooms over the Trader Joe’s whole wheat dough and pizza sauce.  All topped with feta.

It was love at first bite.  That could be the corniest thing I’ve ever said in my life.  And I actually took a pause to look at what I just typed and considered deleting it.  But instead will elaborate and point out how awful it really was.  I apologize.  Like I said, I’m feeling a little rough.

Before I move on, let me say, this pizza turned out waaaay better than the last one I made.  The last one was good, but was a definite learning experience.  This time around, I let the dough “rest” a little longer outside of the refrigerator.  And was much more liberal with the flour as I was stretching and putting it on the pizza stone.  Last time it stuck a little too much to the stone.  And finally, I started baking the pizza crust for almost 8 – 10 minutes before I put the toppings on.  I really think this helped make it more crispy overall- or specifically in the middle.

Now you can just call me the pizza master.

But back to my story, I’m feeling not so chipper this morning.

I have strong suspicions that it could be the two bottles of wine we took down during the movie.  What?  It was a long movie…We sat on the floor like kids.  But with wine.  So really… it wasn’t like we were kids at all.

We ended up watching It’s Complicated.  It seems that the majority of you guys liked this one better.  And the point was made that Dear John would be a downer whereas the other would be light and fun.  Thanks kids, it was a cute movie.  Meryl was looking lovely as usual.  Alec and his desire to frolic naked in this movie was somewhat unnerving.  I blushed a little.

Either way, it was a fun movie.  And a good night.  I assume today will be a slow one with so many already off of work for the weekend.  Maybe slow enough for me to get out of here early?  Let’s cross our fingers…

Happy Friday everyone!

I’m Boring Sometimes.

I got home from the blogger meet up and knocked out a little of Level 3 of The Shred.  And no Jillian- I still refuse to do jumping lunges.  It’s a safety issue.  Being as how my schedule was a little off, my Red Box Friday turned into a Red Box Saturday!  One great thing about being in the city for a couple weeks?  I’m literally a few blocks away from almost anything.  My car barely moves- except for during the awful commute to work- but I guess it barely moves then, either… ha.

Why Red Box last night?  Because I felt just like these two:Yaaaawwwwwnnnnnn….

The three of us watched The Lovely Bones and The Blind Side.  I had been wanting to watch The Lovely Bones for a while because I had read the book and absolutely loved it!  And I love Stanley Tucci as an actor- I think he’s fantastic.  And he creeped the hell out of me in this movie.  So he did an awesome job.  But that’s really the only good thing about the movie.  It was kinda slow.  I’d rather spend the time reading the book again… much better.

And for some reason, I never really had a desire to see The Blind Side, but it seems everyone and their mom has seen it and loved it- so what the hell?

Yes, I loved it.  It was great.  I have a  new appreciation for Sandra Bullock.  The story was fantastic.  Good work.  I sheepishly admit that everyone loved this movie for a reason and I wish I had seen it sooner…

I slept until I felt like it this morning.  Yeah… I was up by 8:00.  Lame.  But I still got a decent amount of sleep.  Even if Jaime and Scott’s neighbors were having a party and every time people walked up or down the stairs, either Hazel or Princess would throw a little fit.  And then Hazel tried to settle herself right on top of my face.  “No Haze, you can’t do that”- and sit her down beside me.  Hazel does it again.  Lovely…  But finally, things died down outside and Hazel stopped trying to smother me.  And we were back to happy cuddling and lots of sleep. 

Now I’m off to the ‘burbs to run by my place (I miss my apartment!) to do a load of laundry and check out the supposed paint job in the bathroom that was to happen last week.  And deal with the furniture store and try to get everything resolved.  Here’s my game face:Grrr….

Wish me luck!

Sa-weet!

So here I sit… waiting for my furniture to come…  It’s been giving me some serious anxiety, so I’ll be glad to have today over.  And be able to eat at my new table and curl up to watch tv after.  Sa-weet! 

As I sit to write, I’m sitting in the middle of my living room floor.  No more college futon!  Mon and I destroyed it last night.  We thought it’d be easier to carry out (probably quite the “duh” moment) if we took the whole thing apart.  It was quite a liberating experience.  Good bye squeaky uncomfortable futon!  I will not miss you!  And thank  you Mon for helping!  She’s so sweet!  Don’t worry- I paid her in wine.  And we watched my Red Box selection for the weekend- Couples Retreat.  Considering how huge of a Vince Vaughn fan I am, it’s amazing to me I haven’t watched it yet!  It was fun and cute.  Kinda typical ending, but that’s why peeps love the rom com’s right?

So yesterday I worked the early shift.  A couple of the guys were already there by 8:00 and when I walked in the break room, I was surprised.  Cheesecake for breakfast anyone?  This is what I have a hard time with.  Not so much the cheesecake specifically, but when you’re having “a morning”, the sugar high goes well with a cup of coffee.  Is this an issue with anyone else who works in an office?  A few weeks ago, there were THREE of these babies chillin’ on the table.  I resisted the early morning munchies, but mostly because I knew these were coming in the afternoon:One of our office supply guys came by and dropped them off.  I think most of the vendors we deal with have realized they can woo Jaime and I with sweets.  I love free stuff… especially when the said free stuff is cookies. 

To continue with my sweet streak, I had a decadent breakfast.  I seriously just started with wanting oatmeal and coconut pancakes.  I had been craving the pancakes…. badly.  But then I found the peanut butter.  And at that point, I was like, “why not?” and threw on the white chocolate.  Decadent.  For reals…  And I think I finally hit that point where I’m done with sweets for a bit.  After yesterday and this morning, I’ve had plenty.

Besides, I hit the grocery store and have some more greens and asparagus that are just waiting to give me urine issues.

I’ve slowly started getting back into workout mode (if you haven’t already noticed).  I spent a lot of time scared of putting too much strain on the leg, but it’s getting to that point where I’m getting more comfortable again.  Yesterday, however, was a mistake and I apologize to my poor arms.  We moved the futon later, so I had plenty of time to do what I wanted exercise-wise.  I decided on The Shred and Yoga Meltdown.  Jillian and I are starting to get very close…

It was an awesomely sweet workout.  But uh… by the end of yoga meltdown, my arms were throwing in the towel.  Sideplanks usually are not too difficult for me, but I was shaking like CRAZY.  And then I still had to move a futon!  Whew…  Either way- lesson of the day?  Stick to one Jillian workout.  She’s nuts.

Ok, I need to get back to waiting patiently as I stretch out in the middle of my living room…  Ahhhhh…… and My Best Friend’s Wedding is on TBS.  Holla’.  Do you have movies that give you a little Deja Vu?  I specifically remember watching this movie at a sleepover in junior high.  Most likely we didn’t get the whole movie.  But we did enjoy the dance and song at the beginning.  And later recreated it in highschool for a lip synching contest during Spirit Week.  No pictures (ah… the time before digital pictures ruled the world)- but I rocked out the “bride” part.  And hell yes we won.  Sweeeeet….

Run for the Cheetah 2010

I’m probably never ever going to sleep in past 8:00 on the weekend ever again, am I?  Ahhhh…. how life has changed from when I was a 22-year old college kid nursing a hangover…

But that’s ok.  Yesterday was a good reason to be up early.  I was out the door and picking up Annie to take a drive down to Lincoln Park in Chicago by 7:30.  We had things to do.  Like kicking ass and taking names… Details you want?  Ok. Here’s Annie as we’re walking to the park- we were both anxious for the race to start:Wave at Annie!  And feel free to say hello!  She informed me she’s one of the regular readers of SCR… Hey girl,  heeeeyyy!The race started right at 9:00 with a little rain in the air.  Nothing too bad- I was more concerned about wind- but that wasn’t much of a problem, either.  My leg was feeling quite alright.  I could feel a little twinge (is that a word?  If not, I’m using it from now on to describe feeling the spot of concern without really feeling pain).  I started out at a decent pace, and closed in on the first mile a little under 8:30.  This surprised me considering I haven’t really ran at all since the Shamrock Shuffle three weeks ago.  As soon as I realized my pace, I knew that I would comfortably hit a finish under 27 minutes (the time I had decided I’d be ok with all things considered).  I hit my stride in the second mile and pretty much just carried it through the rest of the race. 

After I got done, I quickly turned around, grabbed our stuff from gear check, and hustled to find a spot to watch Annie finish.  This girl rocked it!  I am soooo happy for her!  I found her after she crossed the line and we gave each other a big hug- victory!!!!  Here’s Annie’s re-enactment of crossing the finish line:And here’s me stretching out the little leggie that gives me problems and just giving my body some recovery from the shock of all the sudden having it’s owner telling it to run:

And after I got up, I realized my big mistake…  The ground was a little damper than I realized.  Awww… my poor flat and wet butt.  I just can’t win… in more ways than one.  Come ON Jillian, we’re supposed to be working on this issue!

Final time you ask?  25:18!  That’s a 8:09 average pace!  And I placed 8th in my age group- so that’s kind of neat.  Considering all the protest my legs have put up, I was completely happy with the time.  I’m hoping to break 25:00 on my next 5k I run.  Still up in the air if that’ll be Race to Wrigley in two weeks.  I’m hoping it will be. 

And little Miss Annie clocked in her first 5k ever at about 32:30!  I was soooo proud of her!  Can I say that enough?  I love that I have a few running buddies now…

But enough about racing.  It was time to eat.  We ended up at Toast (thanks for the suggestions, btw!).  I asked Annie if she would be ok with that one and she said her boss had also told her that’d be a good place to go.  We had to wait to be seated, which was fine because we were still walking it out and stretching.  And the wait was seriously worth it…  LOVED the restaurant.  Loved the food.  Loved the company!And loved the coffee… mmmm.  We both went back and forth on what to order.  After giggling about the menu’s “pancake orgy” (yes, I have the sense of humor of a 12-year-old), I settled on the Omelette Lorraine.Oh man it was good.  We enjoyed our breakfasts over some good conversation.  Well, good conversation on our parts.  I don’t often mind the people around us (or even notice- hello, I’m focusing on my food!).  But we were seated next to a first class jackass.  I mean really.  I wouldn’t have even mentioned it if some of the things that came out of his mouth weren’t some of the most obnoxious and egotistical bull I’ve ever heard.  Apparently, there are no girls hot enough for him in the clubs anymore these days.  But it doesn’t matter because he’s too good looking to have a girlfriend right now anyways.  The couple sitting with him looked embaressed because they knew he was offending everyone within ear shot.  He said much more, but I’d rather not get into much more detail than that.  I have never had such a strong desire to stick my foot out as he got up to walk out.  But I was in a good mood.  And I didn’t want to deal with the possible law suit that would occur.  Not worth it.

Every good brunch needs a bit of dessert, so we walked back up the block to this little shop:I had stopped in Starfruit to pick up a race packet before, and loved how cute it was.  But never tried anything.  I’m not a huge fruit person (in which I mean I really don’t eat hardly anything considered “fruity” at all), so I stuck with the original flavor of the Kefir froyo and got a little reese’s pieces goodness to put on top:True love.

I got home and crashed on the futon (which is only around for another week before it gets replaced- so I’m saying my goodbyes).  I also finally watched The Informant.  After much thought, I thought this movie was “ha ha….eh.”  You’ll know what I mean if you’ve already watched it.  The plot bored me.  And I honestly spent alot of the movie semi-confused.  But some of that could be blamed that I was watching it in tired-coma-like-state.  My brother was the one who said it was funny.  And I told him after I watched it, I wanted to write Red Box for my dollar back.  And then we went back and forth with some random quotes Matt Damon had throughout the movie.  His random narrations were pretty funny.  Because they were just ridiculous.  But the movie as a whole was just “eh”.  That’s why I stand by my rating of “ha  ha…eh.”  Take what you want from that…

Have a good Monday!

One Tequila, Two Tequila…

Mr. Craigslist came and picked up the chair this morning.  He wasn’t a creeper.  No worries.  But Mon was there, as my red-headed spunky sidekick.  Just in case.  Ha.  Mr. Craigslist was actually kind of nice- and turned out he and his wife were originally from a farming area in Ohio.  So we got along just fine. 

After he left with the papasan chair crammed into his car, Mon and I headed to downtown Arlington Heights to enjoy the day that was even WARMER than promised.  Gorgeous!  We popped in and out of a few boutiques and stores here and there, but I was a big fan of this store I didn’t know existed called Runner’s High n’ Tri.I was intrigued by the shoe selection, but decided to come back when it was less crowded.  Check out how cool this wall is:The wall was signed by random athletes who had stopped in! 

Then we decided it was time to hit Fuego.But it’s not called Fuego anymore- Now it’s Salsa 17.  For some reason or another, there was a name change last month.  It really made no difference to me or my tastebuds.  We both had planned for this to be a “fun” outting, so we decided to order by the waiter’s recommendations. Margaritas!  Don’t worry- it was almost noon by the time we had our first sip.  That’s acceptable, right?Mon was happy.And so was I.  Clearly. 

Then we decided just to split a couple apps for lunch.  So we had some guacamole made tableside along with spinach quesadillas…Fabulous.  I overdid it a little with one too many tortilla chips.  I blame it on the margarita.  It was a strong one.  And I was a little loopy by the end of it.  So after I dropped Mon off at her car (that was getting fixed), I went home and lounged.  Even got in a little cat nap as I watched the Cards game (great day yesterday, boys!).Here’s something randomly fun- see that upper pic on the bookcase?  That’s me as a blond in there on my 21st birthday…  Wanna see it up close for fun? But I guess it’s kind of hard to tell how blond and overly tan I am for my own good in this pic.  So here’s another one.  Keep the smirking to a minimum, please…Too funny, right?  A couple of you had asked when I mentioned that I used to be blond, so I figured I’d just bring these up for kicks. :)  Oh and that’s Mary to my left and Laura to my right.  It seems we just naturally tend to pose in that order… which I totally didn’t realize until I was writing this.  And even looked back through more facebook pics to confirm it.  I guess we all have a good side?

Anyhoo, it was a fun Saturday.  I hit up the Red Box near me again as to keep me entertained for my night in before the race.  Has anyone seen Zombieland?  It looked kinda funny when it came out in theaters, so I thought why not- I’ve already exhausted most of the options in Red Box.  And it was funny.  I’m not into the gruesome factor, so I had to look away a couple times (even if it is seriously unrealistic), but I laughed.  It was much appreciated “off” humor if you’re into that kind of thing.  I also rented The Informant on a recommendation from my brother.  That one was saved for later today.

I also made sure to be semi-productive after the little nap and before the movies.  Yoga and the elliptical.  This was the first time I had been on the elliptical in awhile- and it wasn’t bad.  I read about Kendra’s difficulties after giving birth in an old US magazine.  Good stuff…

Ok, so this is posted as I am on my way to my 5k- Run for the Cheetah.  See ya kids later, I’ve got some business to take care of…