Weekend Things: Flowers, Vino, Red Cups

~~~~

Today's Workout: 5 miles walking, 45 min elliptical

~~~~

This was a bittersweet weekend. I leave for Italy in 12 days, I haven't packed a thing, and the boyfriend came up this weekend to pick up the pup for the summer. It was lonely waking up this morning without my furry buddy. People that have dogs can relate, those who don't think I'm a freak... I'm ok with that.

Some bright spots of the weekend were new blooms for the living room...

Breaking in the new patio for a little vino night with some girls....

A yard party with some of my favorite people. Red cups felt like a serious throwback...

An awkward pose with my uber-photogenic pup...

And some crab cake bites at Martin's (we love crab cakes) before heading to the waterfront to meet some friends for drinks...

Hope you all had  agood weekend!

Weekend Things: Nike Women's Half, Flip Cup, and Fiesta

~~~

Today's Workout: Rest

Monthly Health Goal - No Eating After 8:00pm:

~~~

I almost called in sick like 10 times this morning. Not that I'm particularly sick, just tired, and my boyfriend was still here and it seemed like a much better idea to just stay at home this raining morning. Alas, I brought myself to the office and here we are.

This weekend was fun but exhausting. I will give a full recap of the Nike Women's DC Half Marathon tomorrow. On Friday, some of the girls and I went to the EXPO, and then walked around the corner to Paper Moon for some yummy Italian food. You can never start carbo-loading too early, right?? The food was great, as was the service. The price point was also very reasonable for the portions - and considering it was Georgetown.

On Saturday I attended a charity flip cup fundraiser at the Exchange for some of my friends who are doing the Tour de Cure this summer. I flipped cups of water... so I wasn't a complete buzz kill. The weather was perfect, and if I didn't have big dinner plans with the boy I would have been ordering some food off the menu. Looking at all the other tables on the patio was making me  drool.

Later that evening Kyle and I kept the carbo-loading going with a chicken pesto pizza at Paulo's complete with cherry tomatoes, spinach, and goat cheese.

We went without a reservation which was dumb, because I know this place is always packed. Luckily, there was a high top table for two open in the bar the suited us just fine.

After dinner I laid out my things for race morning and called it an early night. I had one of the worst pre-race nights of sleep I've ever had. My allergies were in full swing and my throat would not stop itching, my nose would not stop running, I could not stop sneezing, and I felt all-over miserable. When I woke up on race morning, I was still dealing with a lot of drainage and felt very very nauseous. I ate half a zone bar and drank water on the way to the course, where I met up with some other fearless females who were going to be making the 13.1 mile trek.

We weren't the only ones showing Boston love - all stars Joan Benoit and Shalane Flanagan were representing Boston too.

I was able to hold 7:30-7:40 pace until about mile 9.6 when my drainage became too much and, to avoid TMI, I got  a little sick on the side of the road. I think mile 10 was around 8:05, 11 was 8:15, 12 was 8:20, and 13 was 8:50. As you can tell, after I got sick I hit a serious wall. Everything tightened up. I felt terrible and started thinking the finish would never come. It did, and I was pretty close to my goal. I wanted to break 1:45 and and I ran 1:45 and some change.

I tend to spend a lot of time during races weaving around people, which I know is part of it, so I obviously take into account my chip time, but for personal goals I set up my map my run to tell me when I reached 13.1. I believe my chip time was closer to 1:48.

After I finished we rushed home so I could shower and make it over to a surprise birthday brunch at El Centro for this pretty girl. This is one of our favorite brunch spots in D.C. for many reasons. One, they have amazing food (of the Mexican variety) and a large selection on the menu. Everything is bottomless - bottomless mimosas, bottomless bloodies, bottomless quac, bottomless tacos, bottomless EVERYTHING. You will definitely want reservations here, I think I heard the hostess say without reservations the wait was around 2 hours.

She had no idea that we were planning a brunch for her so by Saturday night she figured we had all forgot it was her birthday and had arranged a little gathering at our place Sunday evening. We obviously weren't going to cancel once she found out about the brunch, so we continued the festivities late into Sunday evening. I was a zombie around 8:00 and was pretty much in a daze as people came and went.

I slept like a baby last night, and was not ready to be greeted by my alarm this morning. Check back tomorrow for a full race recap!

Weekend Things - Running, Shopping, Eating

~~~

Saturday's Workout: 12 miles

Sunday's Workout: 3 miles, Sculpt Class in the evening

Monday's Workout: Rest

Monthly Health Goal - No Eating After 8:00 pm

~~~~

Is it really Monday already??

Friday was welcomed with open arms after a tough week. I stayed in and got through my mountain of hw. I know - so riveting - I expect Bravo to contact me about a reality show any day now.

An amusing part of Friday - we had been told by neighbors that the home we moved into used to be the residence of Jenna Bush - but we always figured they were pulling our leg....until we got her mail.....

Saturday I met up with a friend who will also be running the Nike Women's Half this upcoming weekend, and we decided to run the majority of the course - per her request - it's her its half and she is a little nervous.

Saturday afternoon we made some rounds picking up craigslist goods for home updates - more on this later. Saturday night was spent soaking up good weather on Lauriol's rooftop.

Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs. We all had plenty leftovers.

Sunday called for a quick run with the roomie, ending on M Street for a little shopping.

Sunday night I sculpted-it-out at CorePower yoga. I forgot how much I loved to hate this class. Such a good workout. So rewarding. Here is an awesome article about the Sculpt classes in the Washingtonian.

And during my weekly trip to the grocery store, as I was looking for some frozen fruit for smoothies, I saw that Jamba Juice has pre-packed mixes now. I had to snap a photo to send to my dad. He loves loves loves Jamba Juice. He always gets a smoothie after long runs, and talks about wanting to open a location once he retires. You read that right, once he retires, he wants to start a business.....

And before you say anything (MOM!) I know I need a manicure. I know I know. Its on the list.

Happy Monday, All!

Sweet Weekend with Sweet Potato Fries

~~~

Today's Workout: 60 min cross train

~~~

This past weekend was my first in over a month spent in D.C. My other half came to visit me from Chapel Hill and brought back the other love of my life.

This was the first time I have been away from the pup for more than a week since we got him. I will be going away for an international internship this summer and he will be staying with the boyfriend (stupid joint custody). We thought it would be good to give them both some practice so its less of an adjustment when I peace out for a few months.  To help cope with my withdrawals, I requested he text me a picture of the pooch every day. Here were some of my favs:

We spent a lot of the weekend spending time with friends watching basketball. We ventured out to The Daily Grill for some of the games, and snacked on some crab cake sliders.

We also tallied our brackets from the comfort of our own couch and made some homemade treats.

I love sweet potatoes and am a BIG fan of the sweet potato fries served at Top of the Hill in Chapel Hill. We decided to give it a go on our own:

The Top of the Hill version comes with cheese on top, so we usually ask for cheese to only be put on half - he loves cheese and I try to avoid it. We went with the same method in our recreation.

So delicious. I also whipped up my favorite Almond Flour Pancakes for breakfast - also seen here.



Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

Running, Eating, and Drinking in Orlando

~~~~

Today's Workout: 5 x 800 meter intervals on the track

~~~~

Running in Orlando

One of the best things about my family is that it is filled with runners, so there is never a shortage of running buddies or running motivation when on vacation. We ran/ worked out each day we were there, and the workouts went like this:

Wed: 3 miles easy

Thurs: 40 min interval workout

Friday: 3.5 miles

Saturday: 5.5 miles

Sunday: Cross Train

We were hoping to get a longer run in on Friday, but we kept running out of real estate on the sidewalks surrounding the resort grounds. The immediate vicinity was great for short 3 - 4 mile runs, but we realized we were going to have to do some research to find some serious running trails.

We came across the Cady Way Trail in northern Orlando, which was about a 15 minute drive from our resort. It was worth the extra travel time for sure, and we would have gone longer but had big plans for the day!

The tempo run and cross training took place in the comfy resort gym.

Eating and Drinking in Orlando

While we did make a concerted effort to get some exercise in, we also made sure to eat a lot of yummy food - we are on vacation after all!

Hotel Restaurant and Bar

We had a few meals at the resort's restaurant located right next to the pool behind the main club house. The menu was pretty extensive and it usually had something to fit whatever you were craving. On different occasions I had the grilled Mahi Mahi wrap, and a standard (but huge!) chicken caesar salad.

Margaritaville

If our family had a song, it would be Margaritaville (I'm sure that makes us sound really classy). My parents both love a good margarita, and Jimmy Buffet's song is just so darn catchy. After a long day at an amusement park, the adults were ready for a serious frozen concoction. The food was pretty good too!

I went with the Orange Crush which was delicious (and strong!).

And for dinner I got the blackened salmon.

My dad got the avocado burger which looked mighty delicious.

Wolfgang Puck

My dad had been to Wolfgang's Orlando restaurant previously and was eager to take us there as a family - and I am so glad he did!

My sister-in-law started with the best butternut squash soup we have ever had.

We were gushing over it and the waiter was so nice and actually brought us out the recipe!

For the main course I went with the filet. It had been awhile since I had really good red meat, and I was in the mood to spoil myself.

Mas Margaritas

I was shocked how much alcohol is sold around the Disney / Universal Parks. Somehow I was oblivious to this as a kid, but you never have to go too far to grab a drink. At one of the water parks, my parents rented us a private cabana (more on this later) with a wait staff which kept our pitchers flowing throughout the day.



We also had to make a pit stop at another bar during the course of the trip to cheer on the Tar Heels during the ACC tournament.

Green Beer for Good Measure

Of course this Irish family had to partake in Sunday's festivities.



When weren't eating out, we were utilizing our condo's kitchen. I knew our meal outings would be rather indulgent so I would usually do a light yogurt breakfast and maybe some toast or dried cereal for lunch / snacks between the bigger meals.

All over the District

~~~~

Today's Workout: 40 min bike

~~~~

This past weekend was my third weekend in a row away from DC. But before I could hit the road, I had some rounds to make around the District.

Thursday night a group of friends met at Nooshi in downtown for dinner. Located really close to my office, I have been here for happy hour a few times but never for actual dinner.

I love sushi but that night I was in the mood for something  a little less raw. I tried the Peanut Noodles and was not disappointed. Others in the group did the Pad Thai and Sushi. One of the guys said he thinks it is the best sushi (for the price) that he has had in the city. It's been awhile since I've had theirs so I'll have to try it again before I confirm or deny this.

The crowd is young and fun, and the decor is vibrant. This place doesn't look like much from the outside but is quite the hidden gem. After some sake bombs, we called it a night. Big plans for Friday awaited us.

We had a busy day scheduled for the office so lunch was being brought in. The team decided to bring in food from Jetties, which is all anyone been talking about since the new location opened next to our office a few months ago. There is one also located near my home in Georgetown.

I love a good sandwich, but I have a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that a sandwich should cost $9.  There are usually other options around the neighborhood that I think are more worth the money, so I had yet to try it.

The verdict? It was good. Really good. I was stuffed and couldn't finish this beast, which, if I'm going to pay $9 for it, I think is necessary. I have not completely converted to the point where I think I will spend this much on it with my own money, but I'll never turn down a Jetties offer.

Friday zipped by and then I had to run down the office gym locker room and pull my black tie self together.

An incredibly accomplished colleague was retiring, and a black tie dinner was being held in her honor at the Cosmos Club. This venue is classic and elegant. We were blown away.

Each room had such distinct character, I am sure it can fit any need. The staff were helpful and friendly, and the food was amazing. We couldn't help but reflect on how long it will be before were having similar dinners, and how we can only hope it as beautiful and moving as this evening was.

24 hours of fun, good company, and good food. I had approximately 10 min to relax before heading down to a southern piece of heaven, Chapel Hill.