run a 10k: check!

This was for sure one of those mornings where I turned my alarm off four times before getting out of bed.

4:50am: the time where my big ambitions last night to hit the gym by 5 were immediately squashed
5:45am: the time i typically wake up to get ready and make lunches and not be rushed
6am: the time that i wake up to do the aforementioned stuff but am tight on time
6:15am: the time when i rush to the shower, rock a twisty-bang hairdo because i did NOT have time to mess with my hair, and throw whatever i can find into our lunchboxes.

Today, of course, was the 6:15 option.  I just could NOT get OUT of BED.  You'd think I had some wild and crazy weekend but no... no, it was pretty low-key.

Friday night we were super sassy and made BLTs.  Well, I made a BLT-- Brian went to "take a quick nap" and ended up conking out at 7 and sleeping until about 10.  So I did what any girl would do-- I ate my BLT while catching up on Bethenny and Giuliana, obviously.  So basically when he woke up at 10, I was heading to bed.  I would also like to note that we love our casual Friday nights.  After a week of working plus my crazy commute every day, the last thing that we want to do is go out and battle the bars.  We like to instead opt for evenings on the couch in our PJs with pizza, Blue Moon/wine and Dateline.  I haz no complaints!

My weekend routine is typically to be up and running (like literally pounding the pavement for miles) by 6:30, then I come home to shower, grab my lists and such, and head off for my Morning of Me time.  It's lovely.  My first stop is Weight Watchers, where I stay for the meeting, then head to Target (they share a parking lot-- score for me, eek! for my bank account) and proceed to inevitably spend $75-100 on things that I didn't know I needed until I saw them.  After that, I swing by Trader Joe's to grocery shop, Panera to pick up breakfast, DD for our coffees, then it's home to lounge on the couch with the boy for a bit.  Sometimes we run errands, sometimes Bri does his thing and I hang out and clean and catch up on my shows.  Regardless of what we do during the day, together or apart, Saturday night is ALWAYS our date night... and I love that.  Whether we get dressed up to go out or stay in and cook together, it's nice to have that one night to look forward to where you get to relax and reconnect.

... Unless I'm babysitting.  If that's the case, then I throw pasta together for him while I'm running out the door, which was very much the case this week.  On occasion I babysit for a sweet family with three redheaded little boys, ages 8, 6 and 4.  A positive this week was they were already bathed and fed and in pajamas, so we spent the evening leading up to bed watching this little gem:


Does anyone else remember this movie?  It was painful to watch-- Rocky, Colt and Tum-Tum.  Ah, yes.  After this cinematic treasure, they were off to bed and I had several hours to relax with a book.  Who says babysitting doesn't have its perks?  Luckily I wasn't out TOO terribly late because I knew I needed to be nice and rest for...

... MY FIRST 10K!

Oh yes.  It happened.  I was up bright and early yesterday morning getting ready, stretching, making sure I had all of my race necessities together, and then we were off!


Brian snapped the obligatory pre-race picture, wished me luck, and headed back to his spot to watch for me.  Honestly, going into this race, I was not in a great mental place.  With having been sick the past three weeks with a chest cold, a bump in my training road for a good week, I was worried how much endurance I might have lost-- I've felt rundown and just so tired lately.  

Once I started running, I was able to find a good pace, and was pushing enough to be running fast-ish, but not so fast that I was going to tire out.  My game plan had been to take into account my having been sick and take a small walk break at mile 2, if I needed to, with water, then keep coming.  Well, here came mile 2-- no water.  I pushed through to 3 and just felt very out of it-- it was like my legs were completely detached from what my mind was telling them to do.  At 3 1/2 miles, I finally found water and slowed down to take a quick breather.  After I'd started running again I immediately felt tired and started to get a little worried if I was mentally enough in the race to actually finish, which is crazy now that I look back.  To distract myself, I started dedicating every song that came on my iPod to my family and friends-- "Alright, I'm running 'Where You Lead' for Mama.  'Glory Days' goes out to Daddy!"  

My saving grace came at mile 4-- I'd told Brian before the race that I thought this might be the kind of thing where I could REALLY use some support somewhere between the start and finish but he was worried if he'd be able to get through the streets or not.  Lo and behold, his dad found a way and they were waiting at the mile 4 marker.  A big inside joke with me and Brian is the Wilson Phillips song "Hold On," which he knows every. single. word to.


Wouldn't you know it that as soon as I saw him standing at the mile 4 sign this song came up in my shuffle?  I cannot lie-- the tears started.  He was taking pictures and all I could think was "I'm crying!  I'm running and I'm crying!  I'm crying because I have to keep running!" so I put on my brave face and pushed through.  As I went down a hill and started to come up... there he was again.  I'm not kidding, it got me through the race to see him there cheering for me.  As I passed him I yelled "It's 'Hold On'... I'm crying!" and kept running.

Typical.

After a steady mile incline on a road and the biggest hill of my life, I finished in 1:06:31.  I was hoping for better, but I guess that gives me something to beat next time!  I'm happy to say that I finished my first 10k though.  As miserable as I was immediately after, by last night I was already looking at more upcoming races.  Without a cold and missed training, I'm excited to see what my next time will be!  Love that running feeling!

Once I got home and showered, I put on my favorite PJ pants and retired to the couch for the rest of the day.  We watched Mad Men all afternoon and dinner was ready in the CrockPot.  All in all, a lovely Sunday afternoon.

And just a tad bit more of REALLY exciting news-- I'm going home to Texas next weekend!!  I'm SO EXCITED.  I'm needing to rest and recharge and have meals cooked by Mama.  And a haircut.  

It's the little things.

To wrap up this (way longer than intended) blog post, do yourself a favor and swing by 


you're welcome.


a beautiful friday!

It is the most beautiful, perfect day outside here in Boston today!  Sadly, I only experienced a brief half hour of this as I made it a point to get out and walk around at lunchtime.  The wind is also blowing so extremely hard that a watched a tiny little thing who was definitely close to my age hold on to a light pole as she waited to cross the street.

Moral of the story?  Some days it pays to have a li'l junk in the trunk, as this bod was blowin' NOWHERE.

I think I'm having spring fever because I have been extremely productive today and contemplated approximately 72 things I'd rather be doing than sitting at my desk.  They include 

*sitting on a patio while partaking in a Blue Moon (3pm is a totally acceptable start time for Happy Hour) and... nachos.  Or queso.  Or something else my PMS-ridden self is craving
*enjoying a cup of PinkBerry (regular tart with berries and coconut!) outside
*sitting on a porch with a good book... and a pillow... and a glass of iced tea
*sitting at the beach with a good book... and a blanket... it's still chilly here
*going for a long, luxurious run all around downtown (totally killing two birds with one stone: the wind = resistance training, right?)

This week has felt exceptionally long, so our plans for the evening consist of BLTs and soup + wine + Mad Men.  Although I'm fairly confident we're two of the last people in the world to jump on the MM bandwagon... I'm now riding comfortably and never want to get off!  Obsessed, to put it lightly.  Obsessed to the point that I've planned Sunday's dinner to cook in the Crockpot all day so we can have an uninterrupted Season 1 marathon-- whoop!  I'm babysitting for little ones tomorrow night and have my first 10k race on Sunday morning. 

MY FIRST 10K, PEOPLE.

My mind?  Is a little freaked out.  I had an awful chest cold for a solid two weeks which definitely derailed my training, though I've never stopped running altogether... I'm just worried my endurance has run down a bit.  And the top of my right foot is feeling extremely tight and catch-y (not catch-y flashy, catch-y "Oh! That's not good...") so I'm just trying to stretch and stretch and do lots of warming up before exercise.  As much as I'm craving a good run outside tonight in this gorgeous weather, I think I'm limiting myself to the elliptical for my workout, and then attempting an easy run tomorrow morning.  6.2 miles-- holy moly.  On that note, I'm outta here.  

(pardon the f-bomb, but this little card is what got me through today!)

Happy weekend my lovelies!!

wine-filled wedding fun

This past Saturday we attended the wedding of Brian's mom's best friend's daughter... whom I've met twice. Ever.  We weren't expecting to have a fabulous time (someone was mad about missing the Bruins game) but it ended up being a really fun night.  There might have been a Table 1 Chant, commentary on the happenings on the dance floor (we were seated on the second floor), poof comparisons (my real vs a bump-it) and a lot of dancing... eventually barefoot... in a little spilled wine.  I am nothing if not classy!  Ending the night with cold pizza, it was a fun time all around.


Off to the wedding!  The Bruins were on, moving left to right across the radio, NOT on the TV.  Oh well...


Photo shoot in the car!  Always have to send a pic to The Mom when I'm all dressed up.


Delish sliders.  Tinier than my palm.  I heart them.


Boyfran. I don't know why this is blurry.  


Bridgie, one of Brian's older sisters.


A girl's gotta have her options.


Jana!




All in all, we had a fabulous night.  I can't lie-- I definitely get wedding fever at times, especially when we're guests to one and I leave at the end of the night thinking "That was kind of perfect-- mental note for this and that and that and this."  It was the perfect wedding for such a laidback and fun couple... whom I do not have a picture of.  Whoops!  I told you, I've met the bride twice-- I'd have awk flouncing up and asking for a pic, particularly after beverages were consumed (note: see "options" photo above).  Makes me excited to plan the big day someday myself!  Weddings are the best!

Oh, and I thought I would be just... down for the count on Sunday.  Somewhere between the late night slice of cold pizza and two glasses of water at 2am, my body said "You're a champ!" and while I lazed around and did nothing on Sunday... I felt fab.  Win!

a BOATLOAD of pictures

It has been a Monday and a half, y'all. It just seemed like the day was never ending, every time I would catch up on emails and ran to the bathroom or to refill my water, I'd come back and would have 10 new emails waiting. People were a lil cray-cray today and I so wanted to just propose a midday happy hour and we could all throw in the towel.

Alas, we did not hit up the bars and the day wrapped up. Today was supposed to start my 10k training (first 10k on April 29-- woo!) but my right knee did this catchy thing all day and I thought it'd be better to start off on fresh legs than, you know, bust my knee on Day 1 of the program. So I did what any gal would do-- came home, put on my PJs, dozed off for a half hour, and made a dinner of a sweet potato and Morningstar Farms Buffalo Chicken strips. They may not be the best thing for you, but on a night when you're just cooking for yourself, it's ideal/easy/quick.

I haven't posted pictures in FOREVER... so here's a big ole picture post. Because it's truly been so long, I'm gonna separate by month. Yes, I have THAT many pictures. With commentary, of course. If you don't care, I'll see ya soon. If you do, stick around-- catch up with me, won't you?


DECEMBER
the month of my birthday (26, holy cow) and home to texas for christmas!

boyfran and me out for my birthday with friends! love him.


birthday cake! they sang to me! i hated it... but loved it.


birthday drinks with the ladies.


my first night home, mama and i had wine. LOTS of wine.


my sweet (second) cousin jack.


i just love him to pieces-- my little guy starts kindergarten this august!


carter, jack's little brother and my birthday buddy. love that sweet face.


oh, just some melted snowman cookies.


someone was LOVING the snowman cookies. "marshmallows! and sugar cookies! those are my favoritest things in the world!"... and then he bounced off of the walls.


our sweet lucy... with the donkey across the fence from our backyard. my parents have named him jack. he hollers when he doesn't get attention. they feed him carrots. lucy is jealous. i swear they could have their own tv show... i have no words.


girls night at carol's = snacks and sweets and wine... so much wine.
amanda marie, my absolute most bestest friend.


mid-evening photo shoot. we're fun.


yvonne, carol and amanda-- they've been my girls since SIXTH GRADE. do that math-- sixteen years. that's what you can call "in it through it all" friendships.


it makes sense that this picture is blurry.
the next day was christmas eve. i was in a bad, bad place.


lucille was beat. love her.


FEBRUARY
friends come to visit and little man turns ONE!

another one of my bffs came to visit me in boston while here interviewing for residency programs. yep, she's a smarty-- SHIVANI!


we trekked all over boston and back and took lots of touristy pictures.



out to dinner in the north end-- lots of wine. as you can see, the place was hoppin'!


brian tagged along-- love him... again.


ending the night the best way possible-- at mike's pastry. love her and so glad she came!

And then... this guy, who is pretty much the highlight of our lives...

turned ONE YEAR OLD!

We drove from Boston to Baltimore on a Friday night... seven hours later, we made it. That was with no traffic, my friends. It was brutal. Saturday we spent the day with Little Man and then that night... the cookie workshop set-up:

(me with brian's older sisters, colin's mama is in the middle)

which would lead to this (times five trays)

Sunday morning, his actual birthday, I was up bright and early:

He was a busy little bee, helping mama and Uncle Bri put the sprinkles on his smash cake.


These two melt my heart. They had a little uncle/nephew time.


Once he was dressed, the birthday balloons arrived!


my little guy and his birthday balloon wreath! such a fun little project to do for him...


and he LOVED IT. He kept sticking one single finger in the open ends of the balloons-- adorbs.

uncle bri, aunt katie and little man colin!


he is his uncle's favorite.


walking with uncle bri-- one of my favorite pictures ever. love that toothy smile!


close up of my birthday wreath :)


MARCH
PW, runs and leprechauns

I met Pioneer Woman. No big deal. I might have gotten teary-- I can't help it.


I ran my first race of 2012, a 4 miler on St. Patrick's Day morning.


Much less peppy at the end than at the start of the race.


ANNNNND done.


After a healthy lunch of Taco Bell and lots of day drinking, we got ready to go out for the evening-- St. Paddy's Day!!


Please ignore the beer boxes and golf clubs in the background. I live with a boy. He golfs and bottles his own beer. I look the other way.


Happy St. Patrick's Day!!