Book Crush

I often get crushes on pretty books. This time it's on the new editions of the penguin classics. Especially the Treasure Island volume. How can you not want this book????? They look really smart all lined up in a row, but its this one that I daydream about. Bummer is it's in the half of the collection that's only available in the U.K. right now. Sigh. If a certain friend who goes to London every month for work really really loves me maybe she'll fetch me a copy?? yes? to be continued.

Home Economics

I've been on a DIY kick lately. My apartment was a mine field of paintbrushes, staple guns, sandpaper and baking pans. I repainted my hideously ugly kitchen table with chalkboard paint. It's now so much fun to sit there and doodle we fill it up every week with new designs. I recovered my desk chair with girly hot pink waffle fabric. I love I love. And I made my own vegan version of the amazing 1/4 pound chocolate cookies they make at Levain Bakery in NYC. Mmmmmm. Photos are attached to document my domestic triumphs. I cheated and added in another one of my cupcake extravaganza. This pic is soooo much better than the first one I really couldn't resist.

13.1 Miles

I DID IT! I ran 13.1 miles and it felt amazing. This was my first half marathon and a goal of mine for the past 5 years. If you asked me if I'd be able to do it even a year ago I'd probably have said "no way!" I got the itch to run a half five years back. I was at the top of my athletic game in college. I rowed on the crew team and was in the best shape of my life. My dad is a runner so I wanted to surprise him by running a half with him. My training did not go as planned and left me with horrible plantar fasciitis. Apparently rowing in boats does not translate to running :) My left heel was in so much pain I could barely walk. I was convinced I'd never run again.

My foot finally started to feel more like the old me this last January (4 years later!). So without telling anyone I secretly started working out a little bit to test it out. Man is it hard to get back into running when you haven't done it in forever. It was clear I needed some motivation to keep me going. I gifted myself a nike+ ipod system and was really amazed at how easy it was to push myself when I could track the results and join challenges. The only problem was I didn't get a lottery entry into the half marathon. Luckily Amandah was able to help me out with that. The NWM half was on!

I was equal parts excited and nervous going into race day. So nervous I woke up every hour on the hour. I knew I was prepared thanks to the Nike training runs I did every weekend, but that did not shake the jitters. I also had a race plan down to my pre-race breakfast (strawberry poptarts!) and as long as I stuck to it I knew I could make it across the finish line. Getting to the start line by 6AM was not as painful as I thought it would be. Since I was up most of the night, I was rearing to go by the time my alarm went off. And I'm glad I got there with plenty of time to wander around because it was exciting to see all the runners go through their own pre-race routines.

Nike does so much to make this race really special through out the entire experience. I crossed the start line at 11:21 on the start clock to a DJ spinning beats that made you want to sprint on through. The adrenaline was pumping and I managed to stick to my race plan even after unexpected mile 2 and 3. If the gorgeous scenery wasn't enough, every mile along the way brought something cool to keep you from thinking too much. Some of my favorites were the gospel choir, cheerleaders, and signs listing the reasons for running the race. Support along the course from friends and family was so amazing. And I was so proud of myself for running the entire race, even hill 2 and 3 which I had not expected. I was all smiles when I crossed the finish line and collected my Tiffany's finishers medal.

I got a chance to talk with my parents after I stretched out and rehydrated. They were of course happy for me. In the excitement of it all I may have committed to running 2 or 3 more half marathons next year. I start training for my next one in three weeks if anyone is interested ;)

Peak Week

I made it through peak week for the Nike Women's Marathon. Hooray! This meant lots of milage and nerves. So many nerves that I was afraid to blog about it until it was in the bag. We ran 12 miles on Saturday so now I'm confident I can make it the full 13.1 on race day. The best part about it all is that I get to start tapering now. Awesomeness.

Saturday went so well that I'm going to do everything exactly the same on race day. Whatever I did that morning must have been the magic formula. So it's poptarts with peanut butter for breakfast + pink socks + 3 skinny headbands on race day. I did manage to run through the back of my shoes on Saturday, owie, so I'll be wearing newish sneaks on race day. Not ideal. But better to have 2 weeks to break them in then 2 days riiiiiggghht?

Apologies for the running overload that's going to happen on my blog for the next two weeks. But I just can't help it. I'm on a runners high :)

It's 2009 People

My roommate does not keep her eggs or OJ in the refrigerator. This is totally weird right? I mean were not in the middle of a third world country or stuck in the 1800's.

The Green Curry Project

I had a really bad experience cooking thai food back in college. Something inspired me to try and make pad thai and at the crucial moment where you ad the fish sauce I dropped the bottle and spilled the entire contents on the floor. Fish sauce is made out of fermented sea critters and smells absolutely foul. As did my kitchen for the next 6 months. The lingering smell final went away but the memory of the catastrophe did not. Even attempting a simple stir fry would not cross my mind. That was until my corner thai take-out joint cut the portions in half and doubled their prices. You see I really had no choice if I wanted to continue my love affair with vegetarian thai curry. The green curry project begins.

Now that I was committed I needed to find a decent recipe. After some internet research I found one that met all the criteria - fish sauce was not required, heavy on the veggies, no ingredients I had to go anywhere more exotic than Whole Foods to procure. I gathered up the goodies, pulled on my big girl pants, and got to work in the kitchen. Slice, saute, simmer and wait. The whole house took on a spicy musk and everything stewed away. The final results were not exactly like what you get in a restaurant. The soup base was sweeter and thicker. And it took on the color of the vegetables a little more than I'm used to. Next time I'll try adding some broth to thin things out, and maybe saute the vegetables separately and add them at the last second. But all in all I'd deem this project a success. My fridge is stocked with enough curry to feed me for an entire week and I've regained my confidence to venture into the asian section of my cookbook collection.

Almost Vegan

So my migraine doctor had this crazy idea that I should stop eating meat to see if that will fix my migraines. Since I already can't eat dairy my sister pointed out to me that this pretty much makes me a vegan. What fun! And what do you know, it's kind of working. I'm not sure whether to be happy, or angry with my doctors trickery since I might be off burgers and chicken nuggets forever. Sigh. Although I have to admit that my doctor is one smart lady. She figured out my migraines happened to start getting worse about the same time I stopped being a vegetarian in college. So clever she is. It's been about 2 months now that I've been on this kick so I've started to get a little bit more creative with my menu repertoire. A girl cannot survive on salads and soy products along people. Like these fricken amazing cupcakes I knocked out over the weekend. They are could give Kara's a run for the money. The frosting is a lovely shade of lavender which you cannot tell from my blurry cell phone photo. Check it check it.