can't quit dc

When I was living in the DC metropolitan area, I signed myself up for a couple runs and events in the area.  Then I moved away. And these events in the "area" turned into multiple weekend long trips up to DC...not that I'm complaining. A couple weekends ago I went up to run the Rock 'n' Roll half marathon with my dad. It was a hot and humid and successful race. However, the next morning I woke up with a killer pain in my hip. 

Fast forward two weeks. I still have that nagging hip (flexor?) pain. I've only run twice since the half. And I have another DC weekend run coming up, this time it's the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. Even with the pain I convinced myself I HAD to do it. It was a lottery entrance, others didn't get in, so yeah, I'm gonna do it even if I have to walk it. Plus a couple friends were running it too.  Luckily our pre-race dinner with multiple desserts (pictured above) boosted my confidence. 

And it was pretty great. Usually when I run a race, I hope and push for a good time (time meaning time it takes to complete the run).  But this race was different.  About 1.5 miles in I (literally) ran into Megan (one of my 3 great roommates) and we ended up running the rest of the race together. We kept a solid pace and chatted for most of it. And we finished strong, which is always a good thing.  When we finished, the last thing on my mind was the pain in my hip.  All I could think about was how great that run felt. And how I did have a good time (see what I did there!??!).

Might I add that there were hardly any cherry blossoms.  The blossoms hit their peak maybe a week before and there were just a few here and there behind the Jefferson Memorial. Some cherry blossom run..  To top off a spectacular weekend that also included a second viewing of Hunger Games and seeing many friends, I went to a Bruce Springsteen Concert. I saw Bruce Springsteen in DC. Bruce. It was a darn good concert. Okay it was amazing. I heard most of my favorites. There was so much power behind his music, as well as emotion since Clarence Clemons' nephew was there filling in the E Street Band. AHHH!!!

did i mention i saw bruce springsteen??

chinchilla chinchilla chinchilla

I realize I haven't blogged in a while..

I spent this past weekend back in Washington DC getting trained in Wilderness First Aid. Out in the woods and a tree falls on you, perhaps resulting in a femoral fracture or a head injury? I'm your girl. All of that left me exhausted and pictureless.

Time in Charleston has been enjoyable and relaxing.

I've made new friends..

..spent time with old friends..

...and gotten blood drawn two too many times.

But it'll be worth it when I can run

without fear of any issue

How i spent forever traveling,pt. 1

I'm finally back from what feels like an eon of traveling. And by back I mean back in Charleston, not DC. And okay it wasn't that much traveling..less than a week.. But it all started with a trip up to Baltimore for the Preakness! After going to a Kentucky Derby party, I had to keep up with the horse races. Infield at the Preakness was fun, sun, and horses. And live performances by Train and Bruno Mars. And more horses. I had every intention of betting on some horse or some race but did not realize just how complicated it is. Exactas? Oy..

next up:

The drive to charleston

exciting? you just have to wait and see

My friends, i love them

Fun is:

reuniting and reminiscing

a jukebox

skee ball

plastic horses glued to strings

inside jokes

the fastest 2 minutes in sports (i guess..it's really not that fun

but if it adds to my fun weekend, then sure)

yohndledore

That is me and Yohn (first name Nicole, last name Yohn, which would YOU rather go by!?!? think of all the puns - hasta manYOHNa...okay that's really the only one I can think of right now..). You might remember Yohn from the bottom of this post. We go way back. All the way back to June Orientation for Denison where we tried to finagle the exact same schedules. She got me to start playing rugby, I bribed her into being my roommate sophomore year, and we have been "besties" ever since. Well, miss neuroscience at UPenn was able to get away for a weekend and is coming into DC tomorrow!! We'll be watching the Kentucky Derby in style and visiting with other Denison friends. I couldn't be more excited. Plus, having her in town is also a good way for me to keep my mind off of the fact that the Pittsburgh Marathon is a week from Sunday. eeeyikes.

there's no place like home

while it goes without saying that i'd rather not

be home right now given the circumstances,

there are comforts of home that make things better.

free coffee & easy crosswords...

this little kitty..

...and when you stop petting her, this is what happens:

and ronnie, my food inspector...

[not. i don't let my cats touch my food ever since my brother told me i was going to die or get sick after one of our cats licked some cheese i was eating when i was younger]

and, of course, being with old friends...

Passover (or how i spent my weekend cooking)

Passover began last night. I’m very excited. It’s one of my favorite holidays, up there with Thanksgiving. I'm a big fan of holidays that revolve around eating delicious food, spending time with family, and no gift-giving/receiving. Granted, this delicious food during Passover is limited to the seders I attend since I will probably be living off of hard-boiled eggs, matzah, and haroset for the other 6 days…not that those aren’t delicious…I digress…I decided to spread the joy and cook a Passover meal for my housemates. There was only one issue: I’m a vegetarian and have been for a while. Having been a co-cook for my summer camp for two weeks surrounded by either vegetarians or people who have a serious love affair with meat, I understood that I should include some sort of meat dish in the meal or face the wrath of the carnivores. So I opted for the meat that I miss most as a vegetarian, which is also Passover appropriate: Brisket (a better option than my other favorite, bacon).

Getting the brisket was an ordeal in itself. I went grocery shopping with Sydney, who is also a vegetarian. So when it came to buying brisket we were CLEARLY THE BEST PEOPLE FOR THE JOB. I went into this situation with the same mindset as when I go to get my car fixed (which is often) - I need to sound like I know what I'm talking about and have confidence oozing out of my pores.

me: do you have brisket?

meat man: yes (proceeds to show us to the briskets)

meat man: how much do nee..

me: eighttotenpounds.

meat man: well the biggest we got is probably 4 or 5..

me: thatsgood.

meat man: ...pounds..you sure? here's a 6..

me: Yeahi'lltakethesix

meat man: personally, i'd go with this one with good marbling..

me: andamoreuniformcutyeahdefinitelyagree

mean man: ookayy...

Whatever. Clearly I am very knowledgeable when it comes to purchasing cuts of meat. The rest of the shopping went off without a hitch (though lugging around a 5 lb box of matzah without a cart did draw a few looks from the gentiles of the wisconsin st. giant). So with my newly purchased, soon-to-be-a-staple-of-my-kitchen cookbook, Sydney and I spent Saturday and Sunday cooking up a storm. It was complete with me squealing every second I had to touch the raw brisket and asking the carnivores to check it every 5 minutes.

All in all, we made brisket (duh), matzah ball soup (duhh), haroset, and an eggplant dish. We didn't have a true seder because itwassundayandnotyetpassover NOT because I couldn't get haggadahs... Not to mention I'll be going home next week to help my mom put on a seder..wouldn't want too many seders..wouldn't want too much of a good thing..no way. But there you have it- my seder meal. If you read all of this, I thank you. Next time I see you, perhaps I will reward you with a slice of the Passover Wine Cake I just made which may or may not have been successful. Also, thought I'd point out, not mentioned in the Haggadah is the 11th plague, also known as the mess created in my kitchen as a result of two days of cooking. Lethal.

Chag Pesach Sameach!

oh dear...

[I think these kind of blog posts are cop outs, but I have a little to stay about a lot of things]

dear blog,

sorry for neglecting you so. i have had adventures, seen many friends, thought many a thought, all of which i want to share, and will do so in the coming days.

dear tourists,

i'm glad you're here for the cherry blossom festival, glad you're here supporting the tourism industry, but don't look so surprised when i give you the stink eye as i pass you because you couldn't be bothered to make room on the sidewalk for others.

dear small unattended child,

if you're not careful (rather, if your parents are not careful), i just might scoop you up next time your guardians are distracted taking pictures of themselves touching the top of the washington monument, because you're so gosh darn cute (same to you, wandering puppy).

dear group of school kids i passed on my walk to work on friday,

just because i am dressed up to go to work, and walking by a senate building, does not mean i am a congresswoman. but i did appreciate the "pardon me miss congresswoman" and "excuse me congresswoman". it's a nice change from being asked if i am an unaccompanied minor in the airport.

dear mockingbird that is always singing outside my window,

did that rock i threw sorta near you scare ya? huh? huh? did it? guess we'll find out tonight...

dear courtney,

thank you thank you for visiting dc this past weekend. i loved the opportunity to hang out with you and finally catch up. i found this gem from our night out:

which reminded me of this picture from high school when you (wrongfully!!!) accused me of stealing $5000 of project graduation money from you. i forgive you. please visit again.

Sorry for the "paws" in posts..

I realize I haven't posted in a while...I have a lot of draft posts sitting, waiting to be posted, but they're not quite complete. They mostly center around puppies and how I want one. And how I didn't join a gym, and instead, put potential gym-membership money into a puppy fund. And how that puppy fund will eventually allow me to purchase an english bulldog and provide me with eternal happiness (or at least 8-10 years of happiness, with additional years added on for memories of said puppy). Just look how adorable this pile of them is.

There is also this article telling me to get a dog, not a treadmill (rather, a puppy, not a gym membership). It makes a whole lot of sense (even though the dog I want doesn't really require the most exercise..). Basically all signs point to puppy. But it hasn't been puppy-on-the-brain 24/7. I made some room for a nice 20-mile run. It's amazing how close everything actually is to capitol hill. I was able to run to RFK stadium, around Hains Point, over by Arlington Cemetery, by Roosevelt Island, and through Georgetown. Like a "DC's greatest hits" run or something. I got my hair chopped off. I would normally just say "cut" but my hairdresser was very angry with the state of my hair. She would hold up shorter pieces and exclaim "WHAT HAPPEN HEERE!?". Or let out a sigh every time she reminded me that my hair was damaged and it was a good thing I was finally getting it cut. I enjoyed the beautiful weather. There are signs of spring everywhere..daffodils (my favorite!!)..daylight savings time..basketball brackets.. Aaand I hung out with friends that I haven't seen in a while.

let it also be known that there is one week until my first trip to vegas (!!!!)

Birth of the cyclone

Yesterday, amidst the crazy winds and the National Christmas Tree toppling, was Kelsey's 23rd birthday. Kelsey, of Kelsey and Chelsea, went to Denison with me, is in my sorority, is infamous for breakin out the cyclone, and (lucky for me) currently lives and works in DC. Of course, a birthday celebration is not complete without a cake (see birthday cake for my housemate Sydney; it's on the baking blog that i share with Kayla). So i made a Margarita birthday cake, because no other cake could match up to the cyclone that is Kelsey. Chocolate cake? Nah. Plain white on white? Booring. Let's break out of the box and turn a crazy cocktail into a cake. And of course, no margarita cake would be complete without this ingredient found in both the cake and icing:

Personally, I'm not a fan. But in a cake? Why not.

ahh..the fruits of my labor. (haha get it!?)

A word about the cake: I adapted it from a cupcake recipe. I doubled the recipe to make a 2-layer cake, failing to take into account how not-substantial the icing was and how much it was meant for a cupcake-form. I worried about the cake's stability. I tried to give it a little encouragement by adding sprinkles. They were festive and gave it that little extra push it needed to stay together...i think. But cake and I braved the 30mph+ winds to Kelsey's birthday shindig. I never got a decent picture of the final product but I was able to snag this one of the birthday girl herself digging in:

While i'm not a huge fan of tequila, or maragaritas for that matter, the cake was very tasty...i think the crowd of intoxicated party-goers agreed.. Perfectly sweet and you could taste every flavor ..lime..tequila.. Cupcake form would be exceptional if I do say so myself. Also exceptional was seeing Kelsey, Chelsea, and Alison, and catching up and meeting new people.

Happy Birthday Kels!

dinner with dad, date with denison

My dad was in town at the office for work today (which happens to be the office i'm interning in). This gave him the opportunity crack jokes and embarrass me, his favorite daughter, with the likes of "i hear this office stops functioning when you leave" and "does everyone know you're the hardest worker in the office?" when we were around other people in the office. Thaanks dad. But it gave me the opportunity to spend time with him and go out for dinner.

After dinner with my dad, I headed over to a denison alumni (WHat! me!? alumni! when did this happen!?) event at The Laughing Man Tavern. It was nice to see everyone that i have been unsuccessfully trying to meet up with, especially all at one time. It made me realize what makes me anxious about blogging- I want to take pictures for my blog, i want to take pictures in general. But i'm timid about breaking out my large camera in large groups of people, forcing people to pose for pictures. I guess i'll have to get over that. So if you're my friend, and you're reading this, be prepared - i will probably take your picture if we hang out.

Anyhoo- chels and kels and I weren't really enjoying the crowded group of older alumni we didn't know. And the food, while free, wasn't quite up to par. So we left and brought the real party to FroZenYo. Not captured: the three of us running up the down escalator to the metro when we realized we wanted frozen yogurt. Captured instead: a casual walk through downtown dc.

And if i didn't have enough Denison for one night:

I got to skype with my mah bestie yohn.

Freshman year i bribed her into being my roommate.

And we haven't looked back since!!

go shorty, it's your birthday

Yesterday was Cynthia's 21st birthday! To celebrate, we went out to dinner at Busboy's and Poets (her favorite by far...soon to be mine) and had unnaturally colored girly drinks and way too much delicious food. However, they were out of sweet potato fries. Again. I'm beginning to believe they don't exist there and they put it on their menu to see the disappointed faces of their customers when they reveal that they're out of them. Regardless, Bb&p's food is absolutely delicious and you should go if you haven't been.

Anyhoo, we would have continued the night with a search for a pina colada, but we were too stuffed to really go anywhere but the metro. Talk about a crazy 21st (just kidding, it was really great)

happy birthday!!

I'll stick with the birds

Week 1 of marathon training ended successfully yesterday with a really nice 10 mile run down and around Hains Point. I saw 4 foxes. They scared the bejeezus out of me. Afterwards, Cynthia came by for the night and, after much deliberation, we made vegan pita pizzas with vegan cheese (it melts and spreads! mmm?). The best part: I got to try out my new garlic chopper. It was awesome. Worked perfectly. I'm never chopping another garlic clove again.

Then after waking up early (because that's when nature gets up!!!!), navigating my bathroom in the dark because someone blew a fuse, and filling mason jars with coffee, we drove out to Roosevelt Island by civil dawn for some good ol' fashioned freezing cold winter birding. And though it was very cold, and cynthia didn't bring out the hand warmers until near the end, and the planes made it hard to hear, we saw some pretty cool stuff: various woodpeckers, carolina wrens, adorable dogs...

and the morning was not complete

without vegan brunch at sticky fingers

(which made me realize

my past 24 or so hours have been vegan

and it hasn't been thhaatt bad...)

Natalie works on her vision and math

Tonight, Natalie, Stewart, and I went to dinner and a movie. We got our tickets early, ran and got a quick dinner, and headed to the movie just in time for the previews. But not in time to get good seats. We were front row center, just like middle school.

so we spent the whole movie like this.

At least it was really good.

look how excited they are.

probably because we have a 3 day weekend

iDied

R.I.P.

my bedazzled nano of 5 years, may she rest in peace,

died 2 minutes into my 50 minute run.

and now she's not holding a charge for more than a minute.

moment of silence please,

i don't know what i'm going to do tomorrow on my run.

but on a happier note, my grandlittle ANGIE

[future theta prez & soccer captain, templeton, shaped leader, etc]

is in town for breakaway!!

Chelsea, Kelsey, Anna, Angie and I met up for dinner at Circa at Dupont.

we gossiped and ate. Typical.

for as close as we live to each other,

i've hardly seen them, despite our best efforts

so tonight was wonderful.