NYC Part 2

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After making it through what Ryan and I were sure was the worst rush hour Penn Station has ever seen (it probably wasn’t) and the longest ride on the Long Island Railroad of all time (again, I am sure it wasn’t), we were back in Manhattan.  The entire train ride, all we could talk about was the amazing food we had the previous night at our friends’ wedding (mashed potato bar!  pasta bar!  carving station! paella bar!) so by the time we got off the train, we were famished.  And frustrated that a mashed potato bar was not waiting for us upon exit of Penn Station.

But across the street was salvation:

Yes, a little wheeled pagoda held the key to our hunger.

Hot dogs!  Pretzels! More hot dogs!  I seriously have not been this excited about processed food since…well, possibly ever.

Deeee-lightful.  .

Just A Big Apple Girl?

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Not quite but I was in NYC this past weekend.  Ryan and I traveled East to attend the wedding of very good friends of his from college (more on that later).  We did some shopping, we did some eating, and we definitely did some wandering.  Yes, we did check out a few famous Manhattan landmarks but my favorite part of visiting another city was simply putting one foot in front of the other and seeing whatever there was to be seen.

Rockefeller Center

Candles at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

A piece of the Berlin Wall

Even though we were on limited time, I did manage to come home with my favorite brown and white striped bag from the place I just love swinging by when I’m in New York: Henri Bendel.

Saks, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales and pretty much everything else, Chicago has.  But not Bendel’s.  Chic without being stuffy, sophisticated while still being fun.  I treated myself to a pair of lovely pair of earrings that caught my eye and picked up my favorite mascara as well (in both black and aubergine because it came in a set for just a little more than the regular prices.  And you know homegirl loves a good deal).

Of all the great people watching Ryan and I did, this kid takes the cake:

1 week before Halloween and he already was wearing his devil costume.  I’m going to assume that his choice of ensemble for the day was more about the impending holiday than a general nod to his overall behavior.  I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt.

High Five of the Day: As much as I enjoyed being in another city for a few days, there is really nothing quite like home…and I couldn’t have arrived home in Chicago on a more beautiful, unseasonably warm, sunny day.  Deee-lightful.

 

Vino and Vinyasa

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Wine.  Yoga.  360 degree views of Lake Michigan and downtown Chicago.  One of my favorite yoga instructors in the city.  Wine.

Did I mention that I had a great night last night?

The Vino  and Vinyasa event at The W Hotel Lakeshore combined a majority of my favorite things (if someone would have thrown in Christmas carols, I would have been beside myself).  55 people getting their yoga on in the incredible Altitude room, unreal views, and a glass of wine at the uber chic Wave Lounge made for one of those evenings where you go “I can’t believe I get to do this.”

It never ceases to inspire me to see people make the choice to be invest in their health after work when they could have instead chosen to go home and sit on the couch.  I saw 55 people take the time to be good and connect to themselves  so that they, in turn, will be able to offer up more light and love to everyone they come in contact with.  Totally powerful stuff.  The fabulous Jonny Vu was there, Leah from Bright Pink, my lulu girls, girlfriends from Lincoln Park… like I said, powerful evening!

Getting back into yoga full force post-marathon feels A.M.A.Z.I.N.G.  I attribute getting through the marathon entirely to continuing to practice during my training.  It feels really good to give my body some yoga love for hanging in there with me through 26.2 miles of pounding the pavements.

Namaste and Happy Hump Day!

(“I’m gonna make you girls a Hump Day treat!” Name the movie….)

My SSB

adminCarrie Bradshaw, cohabitation, couch, fashion magazines, GLEE, Gossip Girl, Luna Bell, saltines, secret single behavior, Sex and the City, Uncategorized%s Comments

I love Ryan and I love living with Ryan.  I always feel my most authentic self around him and there is nothing I love more than going for a run together, coming home to make dinner and spending our evening doing whatever we need to get done side by side on our ginormous couch (no, seriously- this couch is massive.  96 inches didn’t feel that big in a showroom but this thing is HUGE).  Moving in together hasn’t really changed any of my habits; he loves Gossip Girl as much as my old roommates did due to his man crush on Chuck Bass’ hair, he laughs when I put on my iPod and bop my head when I am writing and we both fawn over our cat more than most people do their children.

But there are some things you just don’t do when someone else is home.  .

Carrie Bradshaw so wisely called it your “Secret Single Behavior”, the things you do in the privacy of your own home that you would never do in front of your partner.  Her “SSB” was stacking saltines with grape jelly and then eating them while standing up in her kitchen reading the latest issue of Vogue.  I love watching my dvds of Sex and the City as much as the next girl who went to college right after the series ended and therefore, owned every single season so she could watch them hungover on Sundays with her roommates while eating tater tots and veggie buffalo chicken wings.  I mean, for example.

But I never considered what my SSB was until tonight when Ryan was gone for the evening.

Immediately upon walking in my door, I was on SSB auto-pilot.  A scene that has unfolded a million times before commenced once again.

I sat on our ginormous couch, a pile of previously unread fashion magazines on my left (how is Drew Barrymore STILL making covers, someone please tell me), huge fountain Diet Coke on the coffee table, Luna Bell on my right and my laptop on, well, on my lap.  For the next 3 hours, I flipped through said fashion magazines, looked up things I liked on the internet, looked for dresses for a wedding I’m attending this weekend while watching every single episode of GLEE that I have recorded on the DVR.  Fast forwarding to the songs I like, typically old school show tunes.  Possibly Definitely singing along.  Rewinding the ones I thought deserved another go.  Singing louder.  I took a break once for LB and I to go to the window to watch traffic together.   While listening to French pop music on Pandora.  And I may or may not have been pretending I knew French while attempt to hing (that’s hum and sing) songs I have never heard before in my life.

And I didn’t have to talk to anyone about anything.

Mind you, with Ryan here, I can do those things too.  But I’m more focused on spending time with him, us both enjoying what’s on tv, making conversation.  Tonight, I could be all about the show tunes, trendy dresses, celebrity gossip, and bbm’ing my BFF Holly when I needed her opinion on a few (or 11) dresses.

I’m happy to have Ry back home tomorrow but my evening of my SSB was enjoyable too.

Maybe if I set the closed captioning on the tv, Ryan can learn the words to GLEE and sing along too…

Quiet Moment

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I woke up before the sun did today.

Which is not really all that impressive since sunrise is around 7am these days but it is Sunday, after all.

With nothing to do and nowhere to go, I curled up with my favorite big, cushy blanket, a cup of my favorite tea and watched the most quiet Lake Michigan and Lakefront path I have ever seen.  Usually, there are tons of sailboats out, runners getting their jog on, bikers getting their pedal on and traffic for Luna Bell to watch on Lakeshore Drive.

This morning: quiet.

Still water, a lone jogger, a ball of fire slowly rising out of the lake.  Quiet in my apartment, quiet in the little world outside my window.

I know the rest of Chicago i s waking up right now too but, for now, I am relishing in my quiet moment.

I’m On A Boat

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Somehow, Chicago has lucked out on yet another week of unseasonably warm temperatures.   It was perfect timing for me yesterday because 1) I got out of work early, 2) I had a Groupon for the Tall Ship Windy that was expiring exactly yesterday and 3) the weather was perfect for a little fall sailing.  Off to Navy Pier I went.

(Are you familiar with Groupon.com?  It’s my go-to for when I want to try something new and try it on the cheap.  It’s a deal-of-the-day website where if enough people purchase said Groupon for the day, the deal is on for everyone.  I’ve tried The Counter, Jazzin’ at the Shedd, Spa Chakra at the Palmer House, and Paint, all for a fraction of the cost I would have paid.  Pretty sweet.)

Back to the sailing.

“Rum Runners” was the theme of the sail so in addition to AMAZING views of the city with the wind in my hair and sun in my face, I heard all about how tall ships were used to smuggle alcohol into 1920s “dry” Chicago.  Apparently, “Grandmas that made brownies were now making bourbon.”  The docent telling the story was fantastic and I learned a lot of cool things about booze and Chicago.

These days are the kind I store in my pocket and bring out when it’s Februry and freezing and I haven’t seen the sun in weeks.  When winter’s frigid winds roll into town, I am going to be able to remember that, at one point, the wind was soft, warm and propelled Tall Ship Windy through Lake Michigan on a lovely October day.

Thursday: TMI Edition

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The worst part of the Chicago Marathon happened last night.

I lost.  A toenail.

I know, I know.  It’s a part of this running thing but I was doing so well, not sore and all after the race.  Now this happens.

I emailed my Dad a picture of my newly deformed foot but I’ll spare you.  I’m the only person who should be burdened with this.  Me and my pedicurist.

On Flowers and Toenails

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Marathon Good Luck Lilies from my bff Holly.  It was such a boost when I got them on Friday and now that they’re in full bloom, I’m reminded every time I go into my living room how supported I was every step of those 26.2 miles!

In other news, I’m shocked by how great I feel post-marathon.  My legs were a little sore yesterday and today, the only thing that hurts are the 2 toenails I am definitely going to lose.  In all fairness to the toenails, if I had been pounded into shoes for 26.2 miles, I’d fall off too.  However, I think the long walk I went on Sunday night was clutch.  I kept those muscles moving and stretched out until I passed out at 8:30pm.  Best night of sleep.  Ever.

Have a happy little Tuesday, Chi-town!

Chicago Marathon Recap

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This weekend was sooo my weekend.

First, my Michigan State Spartans beat U of M.  For the third straight time.  This is may also be known as “putting them in their place” or “basing your team on a kid who can’t tie his shoes is a terrible idea/he will never win the Heisman”.

This glorious, 34-17 win gave me a clear conscience to run the 2010 Chicago Marathon and run it, I did.

A record setting 38,131 runners competed in the marathon and 26.2 miles later, I was one of the 36,159 that finished.  Even today, I cannot believe that I ran that far and it’s all over.  It’s almost surreal.

Some highlights:

  • Nearly every inch of the entire course was lined with spectators.   I now know what 1.2 million people look like.
  • Every single one of those spectators were cheering, screaming, sign-holding and smiling.  I now know what being a rock star must feel like.
  • My friends Mike and Lindsay were at miles 6 and 9, Ryan and my Mom were at mile 12, my co-workers were at mile 23, my college roommates saw me cross the finish.  I had people there for me at crucial miles and it made all the difference in the world getting me across that finish line.
  • Every Port-a-Jon I used was relatively clean.  Score.
  • I was served a Dixie Cup of beer at Mile 24.  I dedicated that entire mile to those fine folks.

Here is the method to my madness during the race:  I focused on each individual mile.  Some people told me to break it into sections, some people told me to not look at the mile markers.  But the second my feet hit the start pad, I knew it was going to be a mile by mile race for me.  “Working on 2, working on 2”, “working on 8”, “working on 18”, all the way to “working on 26”.  This really kept me focused on a manageable task (I can run a single mile) and fully present to what I was trying to accomplish.  It worked for me because before I knew it, I was working on 26.

Speaking of Mile 26, this is the only portion of the race with a hill.  The Chicago Marathon is famous for being “fast and flat” but right before you hit 26, there is a decently steep hill.  And I didn’t even mind.  For me, it hammered home that yes, this is a huge deal, yes, even though you’re almost done, you have fought for every step of this run in 80 degree heat.  And yes, once you’re at the top of that hill, .2 miles has never looked so sweet.

When those .2 miles were done, I cried.  Oh boy, did I cry.  I was a marathoner.  I ran 26.2 miles.  Every time I didn’t go out, every beer I didn’t drink, every mile I put in when I just wanted to stay in bed all led to the exact moment I crossed the finish line.  Holy cow.

And then I got to meet up with my cheering section:

And then I got to go home to my cat.  And even though I had to share my bagel with her, I didn’t mind one bit.

Congratulations to all of the 2010 Chicago Marathon runners!  It was long and it was hot but we did it!