Weekend Recap: Birthday Edition!

Work/life was cuh-razy last week so I did not have time to draft any legit posts until today. Actually, I did have time yesterday evening but I was exhausted from my birthday weekend so I slept instead.

The reason I was so busy the last week and a half was because (a) I went to a conference in Boulder, CO for work, (b) I went home to Sacramento for the weekend (November 15-17) to surprise my dad for his birthday (we have a lot of November babies in my family), (c) I had three evening events at work this week and one breakfast event, and finally, (d) I am taking accounting online through Coursera and it was my last week so I needed to catch up on video lectures before taking my final exam.

Needless to say I had pretty much no down time for the last ten days that wasn't spent studying, sleeping, or shoveling food into my mouth before moving on to the next activity. But it's cool, because I got to co-host the event on Thursday with Soledad O'Brien.

Ok, so really she hosted the awards show and I handed the awards to the winners, but whatevs. I got to hang out with her for like three hours backstage in between winners and she was super personable and nice.

On Friday I kept it pretty low key. Chris got in to town and we ate mac and cheese, I watched accounting videos, and he did schoolwork. We lead very glamorous lives. I intentionally had a lame evening so that I would be rested up for Saturday, aka MY BIRTHDAY!

My birthday is usually on or around Thanksgiving and therefore no one is ever in town. I rarely if ever have parties to celebrate my birthday or really even see anyone besides family. For instance, last year on my birthday I went running, got a massage, and pretty much didn't speak to another human being until going out to dinner with my sister. But this year was different. Thanksgiving is super late this year and people were actually in town!

On Saturday, I woke up and went on a three mile run. I was feeling nice and refreshed since I had had such a mellow evening prior. Then Chris and I headed out to grab some lunch. The food truck gods decided to give me a birthday blessing and as we were walking and deciding where to go to lunch, we passed Red Hook! They are my favorite food truck and they serve amazingly delicious lobster rolls. It was serendipity.

Maine-style, because why would you ever turn down anything poached in butter?

I had an extra hour until I was meeting friends for a mani pedi, so Chris and I stopped by Kramerbooks to look at books (duh). Kramerbooks also has a bar and cafe inside and they have pretty awesome desserts. I got a sundae to celebrate since I knew I wasn't really going to want dessert at dinner.

Creeper in the back is looking aloof, but he def wanted in on this sundae action.

Then I headed out to the salon and had a lovely time getting nails done! I actually went with Chris' brother's girlfriend who lives in DC and Chris' sister who was also visiting for the weekend.

They headed to Georgetown to go shopping and, since I loathe shopping, I headed home for a bit of downtime before meeting up with them again for dinner at B Too. They arrived at dinner with two fantastic birthday presents for me.

It's a crazy cat ornament and crazy cat lady mug. I had an appropriate reaction (crazy).

Dinner was, in a word, delicious. Expensive, but also delicious. We got a cheese plate for the table along with a bottle of wine and I got a beet salad and mussels. Holy moly was it good. It was the perfect decadent meal to cap off a really perfect day.

After dinner Chris and I headed out to a couple of bars on U Street. I am usually not one to take a lot of cabs since I am a cheapskate, but it was freezing cold outside and I was wearing higher heels than I normally wear. Plus... it was my birthday. So we cabbed up there, hung out at bars for far too long and then went home at an unreasonable hour. At some point in my life this will no longer be possible, but I am happy to report that it is still totally doable at the ripe old age of 25.

All in all, it was one of the best birthdays I have had in a very long time and I love that I got to spend it with so many great people!

(My Sunday was spent watching football and sleeping. Nothing much to report except that my fantasy team is still doing poorly. Shocker.)

The National Arboretum

I am currently at a conference in Boulder, CO and have been awake since 4:30am. I actually really like that I get to travel for work and see so many great places and meet new people, but I have a really hard time sleeping in hotel rooms. Don't know why. Maybe a mixture of jet lag, evening cocktails, and the bed being too squishy... Oh well, I guess it's perfect blogging time!

Get ready, this is a post about trees.

I actually went to the National Arboretum two weeks ago, but I had to share some photos because it was just such a beautiful day. This was only my second time going to the National Arboretum, I also went in the spring when the azaleas were in bloom. Those azaleas were beautiful, but these fall colors are something else. Where I grew up in California, there are not really seasons. There's like, maybe three weeks of temperate weather and then it either gets wet, cold, and rainy, or blistering hot for the next 5 months. While there are many reasons why I love the East Coast, I must say, the seasons are awesome.

Take it away, Mother Nature:

This tree was in the parking lot. The parking lot! I've never seen a more beautiful parking lot tree...

Those colors... This was in the Fern Valley section of the Arboretum.

These are the original columns from the US Capitol building. The photo doesn't do this justice but those plants were vibrant yellow and purple. Gorgeous.

Having been to the Arboretum before, I had also previously seen the bonsai tree exhibit. Before driving over to the Arboretum on this day, it crossed my mind that bonsai trees might change color with the seasons as well. Boy, do they...

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was my trip to the National Arboretum in photos. Thank you for sticking through this post even though it was mostly photos of plants. But, come on. They were freaking gorgeous plants.

Veterans' Day 10k

Happy Veterans' Day!

I actually celebrated Veterans' Day a little early and ran the Veterans' Day 10k in DC yesterday. I only signed up for the race a few weeks ago because of my job offered a fall fitness challenge to encourage people to eat more veggies, walk more throughout the day, or train for a 10k. Since I was planning on doing a fall race anyway, signing up for the 10k was a no brainer (especially since participating in the fall fitness challenge helps me towards earning my $300 wellness bonus!). It was also useful because I have been trying to wake up earlier in order to go running. Having to send in my running log each week definitely kept me on track for this race.

In addition to this being my 10k race week, this was also the first week of the Pile on the Miles Challenge hosted by Monica over at Run Eat Repeat. My goals for the month of November are to run 50 miles total, so that ends up being 12.5 miles a week. It's only the 11th and I've already run 20 miles so I'm feeling pretty good about the challenge!

Here's a little run down of how the race went:

I woke up at 6:00am on Sunday and had some coffee and ate a little breakfast (some toast and peanut butter). I made sure I drank a big glass of water as well before heading out to the metro at 6:45am.

I look way too happy for 6:45am on a weekend.

The downside of this race was that it started and ended near the Lincoln Memorial. Now, don't get me wrong, it's a very pretty spot along the mall, but it's a mile from the closest metro stop (Foggy Bottom). I tried to see if there were any buses that could get me closer, but no dice. So, I walked. It actually wasn't that bad and it was surprisingly warm out. It was still 40 degrees, but that's pretty warm for a morning run at this time of year!

I got to the race start and had just enough time to drop off my jacket at the bag check and use the facilities before heading to the start. I was actually cutting it a bit close because they were singing the national anthem as I was still in line for the bathroom. I had wanted to grab one last sip of water before the race, but I didn't have time. There weren't really pace signs, at least not any that I saw, so I just headed over to sort of the middle section of the crowd and as soon as I got there the race started. I hadn't really had any time to collect my thoughts and this wasn't a huge race so it wasn't like there were scores of people to clog up the starting line and give me a grace period. So I just started MapMyRun as soon as I could and got my SPIbelt situated as I was half jogging over the start. Oh well.

The race is along the most boring route in all of DC: Hains Point. For whatever reason, every race in DC takes you around Hains Point. Actually, the most likely reason is that there is not a lot of traffic so it's probably really easy to get road closures there; however, what Hains Point lacks in cars it makes up for in really monotonous scenery and lack of spectators. It's mind numbing to run because there isn't much to look at.

The first mile was fine because that was the portion that ran by the tidal basin and the Jefferson Memorial. I went out feeling strong but knew I was going to need to let up a little if I was going to keep feeling good the whole race.

For whatever reason, mile two is always hard for me. I mean, not as hard as mile 10 or 20, but mile two is right when I start feeling the burn but still haven't quite warmed up enough yet. It's when the doubts about whether or not I am going to be able to finish/do well/not throw up start. This race was no different and mile two was no fun this time either, but I powered through to the water station.

This course was an out and back so around mile three was when I started seeing the pros looping back around on their way to the finish line. I don't know how the heck they do it. They run so freaking fast. It is inspiring to see them though and put a little spring in my step as I watched them whizz past and thought about how much I really do like running and racing. Plus, seeing them was the biggest highlight of this otherwise boring course.

I sort of struggled near mile four and slowed down a little. As I mentioned before, it was a lot warmer than I was anticipating so I was a little hot in my long sleeves and pants. But this was the point in the race where I finally started recognizing the same people around me. I'm sure this happens to everyone, but when I run races I notice that the same people are around me for most of the end of the race. They are probably pacing pretty close to me, so it's nice to sort of make a game out of it and see if I can beat red-shirt-guy to the next tree or aim to overtake blue-pants-lady by mile five. Focusing on those little victories helps take your mind off how much longer you have to go.

Mile five I started picking up speed and mile six went well too. I finally felt like it was safe to loosen up and start really aiming for my goal time of 1:04:00. The last half mile or so of the race was the hardest because it was a long straightaway. You feel like you should just be able to sprint your way to the end, but it's actually pretty far. Still, I ended up being able to sprint the last 100 yards are so and made it across with a gun time of 1:05:28 and a chip time of 1:04:13. Not too shabby!

I was pretty happy with my results, especially considering that I only missed my goal by 13 seconds. Plus I had negative splits for the last part of the race. I think all the early morning runs really paid off and helped me get faster and I'm looking forward to my turkey trot at Thanksgiving to see how my 10k training pays off in a 5k race.

Post race glamour shot.

After crossing the finish line I sat down on the grass to the side and caught my breath and drank some water. I didn't want to sit for too long for fear of tightening up so I only sat for a few minutes before heading to pick up my jacket and head back to the metro. I was feeling a little queasy (I have the weakest stomach ever, so this is typical for me after a race) so I did not partake in the bananas or granola bars and decided to start walking my mile to the metro with the goal to stop by the Whole Foods on my way home to grab a post-race snack.

I was practically falling asleep on my walk back to the metro. I literally kept closing my eyes and wishing myself home a la Dorothy in Wizard of Oz. It didn't work though and by the time I got to the metro I was starving and popped across the street to the Whole Foods to grab some of their fantastic hot bar offerings.

Eggs, grits, sweet potatoes with kale, a plantain that looks like a giant slug (note: it tasted delicious), and grapefruit. Yum!

After scarfing down some food I finally made it to the metro and then finally made it home for a bath and a nap (okay, maybe two naps...).

Chicago Trip Part Two

Check out Part One of this grand adventure to the Second City.

On my last day in Chicago, a Friday, I attended the last sessions of the conference before checking out of the hotel and heading out for the day. I figured a walk up to Lincoln Park to check out the zoo and maybe get some deep dish pizza was in order. Chris' grandmother lives in Chicago in the Lincoln Park neighborhood (I have never met her and did not visit her while I was there, but I will be meeting her at Thanksgiving!) so he has spent some time around there and suggested that I go check it out.

I headed out on my walk to Lincoln Park along the same pathway I took on my run a few days before. It was, once again, beautiful weather so the 2 mile walk to the zoo was a no brainer. I kept stopping to take photos of some of the more spectacular views.

I mean...

Now, parts of the Lincoln Park Zoo were awesome and I would definitely suggest that you visit the zoo if you are in town, particularly if you have children with you and you want to keep them entertained for a while (plus it's free). However, parts of the zoo were... how do I put this gently... depressing.  Now, full disclosure, I am an animal-loving, vegetarian and I know absolutely nothing about zoology or zoo-keeping, but I felt kind of bad for some of the animals. Their enclosures just seemed a little small. I'm sure when the zoo was built back in the day that this zoo was totally state-of-the-art and, to be fair, some of the exhibits and animal enclosures are updated and totally beautiful. But some of the animals in the smaller cages were just pacing in circles out of what I assume is boredom and I found that sad. That being said, I have no idea if those animals always are in those enclosures or if they move them to a separate locations sometimes or what the deal is, I just found that a little unsettling. Zoos play a wonderful role in educating the public about the natural world and are instrumental when it comes to breeding programs to save endangered species, but I still feel bad gawking at wild animals in cages who are obviously not living in their natural environment.

Happy, non-pacing meerkats

Enough sad zoo talk, next up... flowers! After my walk around the zoo I headed over to the Lincoln Park Conservatory. I love a good botanical garden and this one did not disappoint. It wasn't very big, but it was nice just to walk around and look at all the different plants and flowers. I always feel like I'm in some far away place when I walk through conservatories and I'm a huge nerd so I think it's fun to learn about all the different plants and read the Latin names to see if I can figure out why they have certain names. (I can't believe I am admitting this to the internet...)

Once I was done in the conservatory I took a little break on a park bench and caught up on some work and news on my phone. By the time I was done I was starving so I started walking towards the deep dish pizza restaurant that Chris had suggested, Bacino's. The walk was short, but the houses in that neighborhood were gorgeous! It was as I was walking to the restaurant that I thought, "Man, I could live in this town. Particularly if I ever got wealthy enough to live in this neighborhood." I unfortunately didn't get a photo because I was too enraptured with the architecture to remember.

I got to the pizza place and placed my order for one of their specialties, the Spinach Supreme. Fun fact: Bacino's website claims that their pizza is "heart healthy." It was a 45 minute wait since I ordered deep dish and I was already starving when I got there so I bummed around on social media while waiting for my pizza and trying to ignore the growling in my stomach.

Don't worry, it's heart healthy...

Whoa. This was delicious. I mean, the crust was out of this world and the rest of the ingredients were so fresh and well seasoned that I managed to finish the whole pie.

Now, I was getting a little tired at this point because I had walked two miles to Lincoln Park, walked around the zoo and conservatory, and walked another half mile to the restaurant. Also, I was wearing just regular ballet flats so my feet were not exactly pleased. However, I was too timid to figure out the bus system and there was no metro stop nearby so I decided to just walk back to the area near my hotel (they were holding my bags) and just took some breaks along the way in the park. I spent some time on a park bench near the Lincoln Memorial (no not that one) and finally made my way to Argo Tea for a much needed iced tea break.

'Sup 16?

When I moved in to my apartment, the girl who had lived there before me (actually, I think it might have been the girl who had lived there before her) had left some Argo tea in the cabinet. I am not remotely ashamed to say that I ended up taking both of the packets she left-- I mean, she had moved out like 6 months ago and it's not like she was coming back for them. I ended up really liking both of the flavors (black currant and peach) so I was excited to check out Argo for myself. I think I ended up ordering poorly because, while I liked my iced green tea ginger twist, it had weird chunks of what I'm hoping was ginger in it that I did not appreciate getting random sips of. It also was a little sweet for a whole glass. But besides my poor ordering, I really enjoyed sitting at the Argo tea and resting up after my long walk around Chicago.

But don't you worry, my trip still wasn't over. After tea I headed back to the hotel to pick up my luggage and then took the metro out to the area near Northwestern University to visit one of my oldest friends from home who is getting her PhD in film studies at the university. We got drinks at Hopleaf bar. It was a great bar, kind of dive-y and a great beer list. I didn't have anything to eat because I was still full from my deep dish pizza, but the food looked really good too. Plus, it was great to catch up with an old friend.

Finally, it was time to call an Uber and head to the airport. Overall, it was a fantastic trip and I was really glad I finally got to visit Chicago as a grown-up. Anyone else a Chi-town fan? What should I check out next time I'm there?

Chicago Trip Part One

So, one little week off from blogging turned into a whole month. But thanks to a little nudge from a particular boyfriend, I am back on the blogging train. I don't have too much to report from being gone; however, I did visit Chicago for work and I had a lovely time there.

I have never spent a lot of time in Chicago. When I was little and we were visiting my parents' family in Milwaukee we would fly in to Ohare since there was no direct flight from Sacramento. I have very vivid memories of thinking that the moving walkway light installation at the airport was awesome, but that was really all the time I spent in Chicago as a child. I finally did manage to visit the city in college, once again with my family, but I don't really remember much beyond shopping along the Magnificent Mile and visiting the Museum of Science and Industry (which I would recommend).

So, this was really my first grown-up visit to Chicago. Like I said, I was technically working so I didn't get to do all-tourist-all-the-time stuff, but I did manage to fit in a few sightseeing excursions.

On day one, a Wednesday, I took an early flight out of DC and arrived at Ohare at about 10am. The conference wasn't getting underway until about 3pm so I knew I had a little wiggle room in my schedule. I took the metro (Venta? L-train?) from the airport to my hotel, The Millennium Knickerbocker. Yes, my work would have paid for a cab, but I actually like taking public transit in new cities. It helps me get oriented to where things are and, believe me, there is no quicker way to learn where you are then when you are stranded at a subway stop in the middle of the night somewhere in Queens because you took the express train by accident and you really, really, would prefer to be somewhere--anywhere--besides stranded at a subway stop in the middle of the night. You will never accidentally take an express train again. (Yes, NYC reference but I think it is appropriate here).

Anyway, I took the train and managed to switch lines at the correct stop and everything. I made it to the hotel and caught up on some work before heading out on a run during my lunch break. My hotel was really close to the lake so I figured I would go and check that out for my run. Google Maps looked like there was probably some sort of running path and with some quick directions from the bellhops I headed out on a lovely run along Lake Michigan. I ended up stopping a few times to take photos because it really was so beautiful and the weather was perfect.

Literally 2 blocks from my hotel. Awesome.

After the run I headed to Epic Burger. I had walked by the place with all my luggage while on the way to my hotel so I made an effort to remember where it was so I could return for lunch.

It was a little hard to figure out how to order since you literally just walk up to the kitchen and tell the people what you want, but after I worked out the ordering, my grilled cheese with fries was AMAZING. I mean, is there anything better than grilled cheese? I don't even really miss hamburgers because grilled cheese are so delicious and satisfying. (Confession: sometimes I think about In-N-Out and whether I should talk myself in to eating one next time I'm home)

After lunch it was conference time. I pretty much was busy with conference things for the rest of the day and for most of the next day (Thursday). However, I did manage to take a couple of hours between the conference program and the scheduled dinner on Thursday to take a walk down Michigan Avenue and see the sites. I stopped by the Sears Tower just to see how much they charged for going to the top. It was $18. That, combined with my intense fear of heights, was enough to deter me, but I could definitely be convinced if I had been with someone else. I walked about a mile or so down to Millennium Park.

Smudgy Selfie at Cloud Gate

That park is awesome! Obviously, Cloud Gate is really cool and looks like a giant bean, but also the amphitheater was massive and the gardens and art installations were fun to walk around as well. In general, I was really impressed by the architecture in the city in general and how Millennium Park really took the time to plan some breathtaking vistas of the city. Props to the park planners on that one.

On my walk back to the hotel I stopped by Garrett's Popcorn--obvi. I actually had not even planned on getting popcorn, I mean, I was about to go to dinner, but the smell from Garrett's is so intoxicating and it wafts up the street and follows you until you succumb to its cheddar-y, caramel-y goodness. The small bag was HUGE which I was very excited about.

I got the Chicago mix, which is both cheddar and caramel popcorn mixed together. It is a winning combination. You cannot go wrong with a salty and sweet combo in my book. Unfortunately, my popcorn was not warm when I received it, which really dampened my spirits, but it did still taste delicious and it was still delicious when I kept eating it for the next three days... possibly for dinner one night.

So that was the first two days of my trip to Chicago. I took a half day on Friday, my last day in town, and will let you know all about my Chicago adventures on that day in my next post! Glad to be back in the blogosphere! :)

In other news, anyone doing Pile on the Miles in November? I am definitely in and will have a post about it soon!