16 - thursday

last night with my cousins and sister was a blast!  those girls make me laugh harder than just about anyone else.  I can now say with absolute authority that tequila and tacos do not mesh well with 8-mile runs, a little fun fact I discovered the hard way this afternoon.  oops...but totally worth it. 

I'm sitting outside on my back porch, drinking my favorite lemon-ginger tea and enjoying the night.  it's breezy and warm, but cool enough for a sweatshirt.  I'm so content.  

15 - wednesday

thanks to all the rain we've had in the past few days, the hosta in the front bed have gone from tightly curled shoots to full-sprung leaves (literally) overnight!  I think we have three or four varieties.  some are still shooting up, so it's a bit hard to tell, but I'm glad they're here.  hostas are some of my faves.

it's cinco de mayo!  I live with my cousin, and she and I both have little sisters of similar age, so the four of us are having a mini-fiesta at our place tonight.  tacos, guacamole, 7-layer bean dip, the works.  oh, and of course, giant margaritas. ole!

14 - tuesday

weather and noise.

we had seriously crazy weather today. this photo is the best I could do hanging out the window of the third floor of the restaurant, but the thunderhead on the right was pitch black - 30mph ice cold winds, whipping rain, big booming thunder and lightning - and moments later brilliant sunshine, eighty degrees.

it was still light at 8:15 on my drive home.  I can't wait for the long summer days to get here so I can sit out on my deck with a cocktail, maybe some corn on the cob, my man... perfection.

13 - monday

there was (almost) nothing good about today.

it took me sixty-seven minutes to make my twenty minute commute...which is exactly ten minutes less than it took me last month to get to work when the highway was closed and the National Guard was out because of severe flooding that put half the state (literally) underwater.  when I got to the site of the alleged accident that was responsible for the traffic fiasco, it had already been cleared.  I hope everyone is ok, don't get me wrong, but if I'm going to sit in traffic for an hour, I want to at least see that there was a worthy problem.  I'm not talking multiple ambulances and fireball cars; I'm not that morbid or sociopathic.  I'm talking about something like a piece of bumper on the ground.  you know, evidence.

I got to work to find my office in complete shambles: my desk pulled away from the wall, the contents of a storage cube (carefully organized binders, reams of printer paper) spilled all over the floor, my computer unplugged, cpu's re-positioned, etc.  all because my looney tunes boss needed a spare outlet to charge his cell phone last night.  remind me to buy an outlet strip to avoid such a scene in the future.

then, the errand that I went out of my way to run after I finally left work ended in the store being sold out of the one item I wanted.

I could go on and on.

what was excellent about today was that I got to see and talk to t on skype, and even though the combat 'stache that he's growing is totally gross, I still think he's the absolute cutest.  he reminded me that his monday was no better (and arguably, worse) than mine, and he's so right.  I have an awful lot to be grateful for.

tomorrow is a new day and it's uncharted training territory.  I've now run two half marathons, but I've never trained beyond.  tomorrow I am making that first real step towards 26.2, and I'm bringing with me all the lessons I learned yesterday (particularly about fueling).  so excited!

12 - sunday

race day! the cox rhode races marathon and shape up RI half marathon were this morning in downtown providence.  it was cloudy and breezy when we stepped off, but warmed up very quickly and turned into quite a muggy race.  I felt great and spent it fist pumping for cowbell, giving little kids high-fives, and enjoying the company of my fellow racers (and the cheers from my family!).  I stopped and took a quick picture with my little sister at Lippett Park, the 8 mile mark.

Lippett Park, 4.75 miles.  too fast for a sharp picture.  ha.

sisters at Lippett Park, 8 miles.  

I kind of hit a wall on my way into mile 12, and felt like if I stopped running I was going to pass out, but luckily met up with another girl who had been running near me and we paced each other into the finish.  I emptied the tanks pretty hard, sprinting across the line, and was so bugeyed and exhausted by the time I finshed that I dropped my medal.  but, I did it!  I don't have my official time yet (I crossed the line at gun time 2:06), so by my calculation it was right around (hopefully under!) 2 hours.

I finished! SO tired.

Harpoon sponsored the after party.  honestly, who can drink a beer after running 13.1? not me.

11 - saturday

it's Kentucky Derby day, so obviously I wore THIS ridiculous dress today in honor of the holiday.  I somehow managed to miss the actual race while I was driving home from work. go figure.

I took the night off so I could eat a good dinner, do some yoga, make a killer playlist, and head to sleep early.  for dinner, I stuck to one of my standby recipes, spinach fettuccine with summer vegetables and greek yogurt alfredo sauce.  the recipe comes from Self (I'm on their recipe of the week e-mail list.  usually they're awful, but this one and another, for white bean cassoulet, have made their way into my repertoire):

Ingredients
8 oz spinach fettuccine
1 tbs olive oil
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, cored, seeded and sliced
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1/4 cup nonfat, low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 tbs Parmesan cheese
1 tbs light cream
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Cook pasta as directed on package; drain and set aside.  Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add zucchini, squash, bell pepper and garlic.  Reduce heat to low; cook until pepper begins to soften, 2-3 minutes.  Add broth; cook until all vegetables are tender, 3-4 minutes.  Remove from heat; add pasta, yogurt, basil, cheese, cream, salt and pepper.  Toss and serve immediately.

I skip the cream and the fresh basil, and substitute spinach spaghetti for fettuccine because my grocery store doesn't carry it.  I like this recipe because the ratio of veggies to pasta is substantial (I toss everything in the pasta pot - my biggest skillet is too small for all the veggies!) and because the "cream" sauce is super light.

here's hoping it carries me across the finish line tomorrow.  my goal is to finish in under two hours!

friday night lights

t--the pawsox game was awesome.  big win for the home team!  I know you're sad/jealous that you couldn't join us (don't worry, I didn't see anyone, ahem, of *note* on the jumbotron) but I offer you this as a holdover until you get home: a kick-butt fireworks finale set to the dropkick murphy's.  (admit it, you miss boston!)