engaged!

on the afternoon of Friday, July 27th, 2012, Rob successfully outplanned a planner and pulled off the greatest surprise of all time.

grab a drink and find somewhere comfy to settle in, this story's kind of a long one...

the decision:
about two weeks prior, I'd been on the phone with a dear friend explaining the big reason we sadly wouldn't be able to attend her best friend from college's wedding: flights were too expensive.  it was shaping up to be about $600 each, and we were trying to be responsible and save that cash for a longer, more intentional trip later in the year.  all parties involved were pretty bummed about it.  I literally hung up the call with her, and Rob's phone rang...on the other end was his Dad, asking if we planned to use a Southwest voucher he'd sent us via email a couple months back.  the Fox boys fly often, so we'd assumed it'd been used when he'd gone to LA or when Rob's bro Brian had come to visit us in Chicago.  apparently it was still up for grabs, and would expire soon.  a sign that we should be Cali-bound?!  yup.

from what I'm told, the gears started turnin', and Rob decided that California was a more appropriate place than Chicago for a proposal: we're new to the Windy City and don't have much sentimental connection there just yet, California would allow things to be more predictable, and Rob realized that we'd be able to share the news with many more loved ones in person if we took the plunge 'at home'.

*****

the ring:
I've dealt with a lot of friends getting hitched.  I've planned a handful of bachelorette parties.  I've even been a part of a proposal.  I've attended countless weddings.  however, its no surprise to anyone to learn that we were a bit gun-shy about marriage, although we both knew we were in it for the long haul.  we've both dealt with divorces in our families, and with our jetsetter mindset and Rob's MBA program, we'd never really been settled enough to even consider it.  with that, I can truthfully say that I never really gave much thought to what I wanted in an engagement ring.  call me a liar if you want to, I just knew I wanted something different and that it should be cushion cut, the sparkliest of them all.  so when Rob called up Summer, expecting that she'd simply send him a link and a size, she ... um ... came up short.  (insert panic gif here)  she did some sly digging at me, and he secretly traced my longtime right-hand ring while I was sleeping.  in hindsight, there was exactly one instance when I was gchatting with each of them when I was on sudden radio silence, but otherwise, I was totally in the dark.

Rob visited an area of Chicago called Jeweler's Row, and just wasn't feelin' it.  it seemed a bit smarmy and he wasn't interested in the hassle...so off to the diamond masters at Tiffany he wandered.  on his first of three visits, he kept his earbuds in his ears and just wandered, hoping not to be bothered.  one of the employees approached him and asked "excuse me, do you go to Thunderbird?" thanks to a clue from the polo he'd been wearing.  they got to chatting, and Rob learned that her name was Melanie and that her boyfriend is currently working toward his MBA and is part of one of the same rotational programs that Rob applied for a couple years back.  meant to be?  methinks yes.  Rob told Melanie what he knew I'd want in a ring: a cushion cut aquamarine.  she kindly explained that aquamarines are very soft and don't make for good center stones unless they're surrounded with sturdier metal/stones.  he knew I wouldn't love a SuperBowl-lookin' ring, and ixnayed the aquamarine on the spot.  they looked briefly at a couple of options.  there was no pressure from Melanie, and she gave Rob her card to get back in touch if/when he decided that he'd like her help.

when he decided everything was a 'go', he headed back to the store only to discover that Melanie was off that day (naturally, right?!).  instead, he worked with one of the managers, Krissy.  as I understand it, choosing the band was a cake walk, but he spent over an hour deciding between three different diamonds, all within .01-carat of one another, even enlisting the similarly small hands of a different Tiffany employee as a size guide.  thorough.  and typical of my man.  once he'd finally decided on my rock, he had another hoop to jump through: getting the ring sized.  which typically takes 10-14 days and is only done by the New York store.  no exceptions.  it was Monday.  we were due to leave for California on Thursday morning, which is obviously significantly fewer than 10-14 days.  because she's so rad and liked Rob a lot, Krissy pulled some major strings and managed to get a 2-day sizing turnaround.

those two days passed, and it was Wednesday.  Krissy, Melanie and Rob had been in touch via email about when my ring would be back in store for pick up.  with the best of intentions, Rob let them know that he'd probably arrive around 4:30p or 5p.  in typical fashion when you've got a deadline, something came up at work and he received a call from Krissy at 5:55p, saying she hoped she wasn't pressuring him, that everything was okay, and asking if he was on his way or if he'd head in before Thursday's flight.  since we were due to fly at 8:20a, Thursday wasn't an option!  he slammed his laptop shut and hauled ass across town while they (graciously) kept the store open for him.  he arrived as security guards were procedurally escorting employees out of the store for the night - ack!  once he had the ring safely in his possession, he managed to get home and unbeknownst to me, pack it in his suitcase among some of my things.  trickster.

*****

the proposal:
there's a beautiful rose garden in San Jose where Rob and I used to often meet for lunch on workdays.  we'd have a euro-style picnic: snag a couple hunks o' bread and cheese and some deli meat, a bag of pistachios and something salad-y.  when he suggested we fit a Rose Garden picnic into our 'free' time on Friday afternoon, I thought nothing of it because it wasn't at all unusual.

after a morning run and a (much-needed) visit to the chiropractor, we stopped at a little Italian deli near the Rose Garden for the requisite sammies and snacks.  when we arrived at the Garden, we giggled at the quincinera photoshoot and headed to 'our' bench...only to find someone else's stuff on it.  again, this was not at all unusual, and I suggested we sit elsewhere to eat.  after finding a different bench in the shade, Rob claimed that he needed to use the restroom and took off in the direction of our bench, only to reappear seconds later saying "some crazy lady is moving the stuff off of our bench...come on!!!".  after he was happily settled in the right place, we ate and chatted as usual.

its very common for us that one will say "close your eyes and put out your hands" for a little surprise.  we've done this forever...and usually its something silly like the CDs we've borrowed from the library to burn and return, or a little piece of candy, or a goofy little trinket.  so when Rob asked me to assume the position for the first of two surprises, I thought nothing of it (again) and was presented with two little caramels.  I was then told to close my eyes and put out my hands for the second surprise, so I did...

I heard rummaging, and Rob asked a couple times, "are your eyes closed?", which sent me into a mini-rant on how I can't understand why people would want to ruin their own surprises and how people that hunt for hidden Christmas gifts in the house boggle my mind and yaddayaaadaayadda.  I went so far as to lift up my sunglasses to show him that my eyes were, in fact, closed.  neener neener.

my hands were out, my eyes were closed, and nothing was happening...or so I thought.  when Rob (finalllly!) told me to open my eyes, there he was on one knee with the most gorgeous and perfect ring I've ever seen.  the first words out of my mouth?!  "oh. shit."  all class, all the time over here.  after a few nice words, I got to reply "of course" and hug my new fiance!

after squeezing him like crazy, Rob wiggled out of the hug and stepped to the side a bit so I could see that we'd had two photographers capture the entire thing!  he'd been in cahoots with Summer and (her new fiance!) Chambers to have the entire proposal documented.  their disguises were so good that I literally didn't recognize them for about 10 seconds.  there was much hollering and hugging.  to celebrate, Chummers had picked up mini bottles of wine and some of our favorite Psycho Donuts.  and the self-proclaimed 'uncraftiest of them all' Sum made the cutest little banner to commemorate the event.  absolute perfection.

gardeners extraodinaire (is it any surprise I didn't recognize them?!?!  really?!)

despite their best efforts, there was not a drop of miniature champagne to be found in all of San Jose...so we 'settled' for moscato.  I think it's better that way.

clockwise: key lime pie (my fave), passionfruit (Sum's fave), kooky monster (Rob's fave), custard-filled something (covered in Oreos, so Rob's fave), Spiderman, Elvis (Chambers' fave; bacon + pb + banana + jelly)

*****

hindsight is 20/20:
- the bags on our bench when we arrived were theirs, and I definitely should have recognized one of them!
- the night before, when we were talking with Summer and Chambers about their upcoming wedding, Chambers got a goofy ass look on his face when I said 'if we ever get married...'
- when I was getting ready for the day, I whined that my hair was out of control and pulled it back into a French braid.  I randomly asked "does this hairstyle look dumb?  I feel like I should be riding a horse or something".  these boys  are sweet, but usually the opposite of helpful in style situations.  both immediately replied: "um, it is a little...equestrian looking...??"
- while I was sitting on the bench with my eyes closed and hands out, ranting about snoopy people, I pulled up my sunglasses to show Rob that my eyes were closed.  his quick reply of "put your sunglasses down" was a nice way of expressing that "we don't want pics of you looking dumb"
- the aforementioned gchat radio silence + random email from Summer were  for info harvesting purposes 
- the Friday before Summer and Greg got engaged, I publicly posted a subliminal message subtly referencing the rad Sunday that was ahead.  Sum told me that, at the time, she was pisssssssed at my gif choice, but it all made sense after she got engaged.  so what did she do?!  mimicked me, hardcore.  except hers was under the guise of just being excited that we'd be home for a Friday Fat Night, so I thought nothing of it.  I really shoulda known...but I'm glad I didn't.

*****

other:
with all the excitement surrounding getting engaged and sharing the news, things still haven't really sunk in yet.  it might be in part because we've spent approximately 22 total hours together as fiance and fiancee (the spelling.  why?!?), but we're really excited to celebrate together this weekend.  

my ring was a little snug (left hand = fat hand), so we sent her off for resizing yesterday (sniffle)...but again, Krissy is working magic and I should have it back on Saturday :]

I am over-the-moon pumped to marry the coolest guy I know.  he constantly surprises me, but I don't think this one can be topped.  I'm so unbelievably lucky and happy and grateful.  we don't know much yet, just that it won't be your average wedding, it likely won't be in the US, and that we're looking forward to making the whole thing very 'us'.  yay!!!

10,958 days and counting (subline: holy crap, I turned thirty)

((warning: concidentally, there are thirty pics in this very very long post, which is pretty fitting if you ask me.  and it's my blog, so you practically did...))

as a new Chicagoan with a mission to enjoy all that this amazing city has to offer, my thirtieth birthday was (shockingly!) centered around food.  

we started with lunch at Blackbird, a restaurant that's been perched (see what I did there?  perched?! like a bird!??!) near the top of my 'must try' list.  

since Rob and I really need no excuse to imbibe, and actually had an excuse, we ordered (left to right):

Something Borrowed and New: XXX Shine (white whiskey), stewed citrus fruit, Bittermans Hellfire Habanero Shrub

Blackbird Orange: Murphy's Law Reisling (wine), Bianco Vermouth, Pharoah's lemon peel, orange-ginger puree

I still don't understand like two-thirds of the ingredients, but the drinks were good.  really flavorful, citrusy, and not overly sweet.

I ordered from the lunch prix fixe menu, and got an appetizer, entree and dessert.  Rob spotted one thing he wanted and didn't need to look any further...

our appetizer: kombu cured fluke (fish) with spring mojo verde, spruce tips and lardo

the fish was really light and delicate, and a bite with a little of everything was awesome.  you can barely see the flakes of salt, which added a ton o' flavor.

my entree: wood-grilled sturgeon (fish, again) with green cabbage (braised), enoki mushrooms (those little fried 'trees'), walnuts and kaffir lime (sauce)

wow - this was super flavorful.  a little smoky, with lots of different textures.  sturgeon is pretty meaty, so I actually had a difficult time finishing the entire thing.  I was a pinch disappointed by how salty it was, but good nonetheless.

Rob's entree: short rib burger with smoked provolone, capers, pommes frites (fries!) and a (pickled) spring squash salad

sweet jeebus, I will never not want this in my mouth.  so meaty and tender.  those fries...gah.  I would go back just for this dish.

our dessert: espresso chiffon (cake cubes) with blood orange segments, honey and turnip ice cream

I tend to gravitate toward the 'odd' when it comes to food.  my m.o. is to never order something I can ever make myself.  I often ask for the strangest item on the menu, because life is too damn short to eat boring food.  so yes, you read that right: turnip ice cream. and did it ever taste turnip-y!  the candle was a cute little touch, too.  the little white chunks had the shape, size, and texture of a macademia nut, but tasted kinda earthy.  odd.  and awesome.

after lunch, Rob packed up his work stuff and we headed home for a pre-dinner nap.  on our way to dinner, we headed up to the 96th floor of the Hancock building for a drink at the Signature Room.  the building is so tall you can actually feel it sway in the breeze.  the views are stunning, as expected.  the drinks are stronnnnnng. (have I mentioned that one of my fave things about this city is that I never ever ever have to worry about drinking and driving, since we don't even have a car?  cabs are cheap enough)

looking North, toward our neighborhood

we actually tried to spot the buildings near our place, but we live a handful o' miles away, so it wasn't easy...besides, we were focused on the beverages (and making our dinner reservation!)...

take a guess as to who ordered what...

Strawberry Mojito: the usual mojito ingredients with muddled strawberries

Lake Shore Martini: Grey Goose vodka, Marquis sparkling wine, raspberry liqueur

my drink bordered on paint-thinner, it was so potent.  it was fun to look out over the city and find our fave spots with a drink in hand.

the sun was so bright from the west that half of the pics were silhouettes..whatevah.

a quick cab ride (with an awesome Romanian cabbie...so funny) later, and we pulled up at iNG restaurant (it lives right between Moto and Next...holy shit.  the Fulton Market area is a gee-dee food mecca.)

iNG is a tasting restaurant, with a set 6-course menu featuring really cool and creative drink pairings.  it's a sister restaurant to Moto, which features waaaaay more courses.  to be perfectly honest, I'd never even heard of iNG until Friday.  Rob did a ton of research and knew a lot about it, but had suggested that I just go with the flow and do the digging later, so I did.  as if I weren't excited enough for a 6-course paired tasting menu (my mouth is watering just typing that.), Chris Jones from Top Chef season nine friggin' greeted us as we walked in.  not kidding.  what a surprise ... everything Rob had read said that he typically didn't work in both kitchens, so it was such a cool twist.

I watch a ton of Top Chef, and always joke that the appetizers I make at home are amuse bouches.  you can probably imagine how stoked I was to have a little bite placed before me (with a glass of champagne, since they discovered it was my birthday!).  instant baller status.  these little popcorn balls were filled with honey and seasoned with Old Bay seafood seasoning.  such a fun, yummy start to the meal.  

nothing about this place it typical.  the menus were folded up as cubes, and I almost destroyed mine trying to get it open.  Rob had no trouble with his, which was pretty ironic.  the menu only listed a few key words for each course, to leave a little bit lot of mystery.  we were encouraged to go as quickly or as slowly through the courses as we wished, and took full advantage (more on that later...).

we decided to kick off (continue???) the celebration with some fun beverages before diving into dinner.  per our server's expert suggestion, we tried (left-right):

my champagne

Domaine du Salvard's Cheverny: Chardonnay/Sauvignon Blanc blend

The Kimura: vodka, St. Germaine (elderflower liqeuer), aperol and grapefruit

that Cheverny was so awesome.  it had the perfect blend of Chardonnay's buttah and Sauv Blanc's bright and floraly notes.  the Kimura was really complex, despite the simple list of ingredients.

after beverages, we alerted Scott that we were ready to get our show on the road.  most of the meal was focused around the South African miracleberry, which affects the tastebuds that pick up sour/bitter notes and makes them register sweetness.

our first course was called strawberry rhubarb, and featured the most melt-in-your-mouth olive-poached salmon.  holy crap.  the rhubarb element was in the rhubarb-jalapeno vinaigrette served in a little pipette, alongside the ginger-dressed arugula salad and the carbonated orange.  we were instructed to try each component individually, then together.  next, we should let a little bit of miracleberry dissolve on our tongues, and then repeat the process.  it was awesome.  sweet stuff was a little sweeter/brighter, and the acid in the vinaigrette and ginger dressing totally changed.

please pardon the dark pics, but that up there is a shot of two test tubes on the rocks.  one contains sour ale, and the other holds Lambic vodka, green chartreuse, cherry, and lime.  as with the food, we were told to try each part, then mix them up however we liked in the rocks glass, and then try it with the miracleberry.  pretty damn cool.  the ale was definitely sour, and really played off the ginger in the salad. 

our second course was called the thaw, and blew me away.  pork belly sat atop a kombu noodle with maitake mushrooms and puffed rice, and was dusted with a 'snow' of ...get this...pulverized packaging peanuts (a.k.a. cornstarch).  kombu broth was poured over the top and the snow melted into deliciousness.  the pork belly was a little crispy, even after spending some time in the broth.  there were so many flavors happening at once that it should have been a disaster, but it just flowed so well.  this course was served with a hoppy Belgian pale ale called Atomium by Brouwerij Van Steenberge.  we typically don't love Belgian beers, but this one was really tasty and not too 'white'.  I'd drink it again...

the third course was baozi gyro, a fusion of Greek and Chinese flavors.  each of three jazzed-up Greek flavors was nestled on a tender bao bun.  braised lamb and hummus were awesome, I absolutely loved the tzatziki (with fennel, an olive tapenade and crispy parsley!), and Rob's favorite was the tabbouleh.  another Belgian ale make this little dish feel like a whole meal (you'd be shocked how filling these seemingly little portions can be!), this time a brown ale from the Abbaye de Leffe.  the beer was caramel-y and butterscotch-y and has definitely been added to my list of faves.

up next was april showers, a deconstructed chicken pot pie which looked like bars of sudsy soap!  the little dollops of 'shampoo and conditioner' were added at the table from those travel-sized squeezey bottles.  such awesome and thoughtful and fun touches.  one bar of soap was butter-poached capon (male chicken), and the other was a leek confit.  the suds were a pastry cream foam flavored with carrot and celery.  the shampoo was actually a spinach and cauliflower puree, and the conditioner was a puree of turnip and garlic.  I remember this course being the most filling, and taking a long time to eat...I just kept hopping around from bite to bite, mixing and matching.  the wine paired with the dish, a 2010 J. Hofstatter Lagrein from Alto Adige, Italy, was rich and refreshing.  I'd never heard of a Lagrein before...it was rad.

look at that teeny tiny carrot!

our fifth course, the first of two desserts (!!), was may flowers: a lime curd layered with andiginous hazelnut and tea cookie, and topped with edible flowers.  it was like a new-and-improved version of crushed Oreo + chocolate pudding mud pie, minus the gummy worms.  this course was served with a hefty dose of miracleberry and lemon slices.  the idea here was to try the potted dessert on its own, which tasted limey and tangy and sweet.  the addition of hazelnut was awesome and made it almost a little earthy.  then, we let the miracleberry dissolve on our tongues for about 45 seconds before biting into the lemon slice - it totally tasted like a pink lemonade!  then, with the berry still coating our tongues, we dug into the dessert again...and it tasted like an orange creamsicle.  in.sane.  the wine served with this dessert, a (hold on here, this name's a lonnnng one:) a 2009 Reisling Kabinett by Paul Anheuser Schlossbockelheimer Konigsfels was light enough that it didn't overpower the amazing flavors, but could stand on its own.

lastly, we had an easter egg hunt: black forest cake, with brandied cherry nibs, white chocolate shell, liquid-nitrogen-created chocolate drops, with phylo 'grass', a cherry gastrique and cherry dust.  so. much. chocolate.  the textures really played well together.  the cocktail pairing here was a Makers Mark whiskey with a touch of Kirsch, cream and vanilla, and served with a vanilla-chocolate truffle with a Cadbury gel.  such a perfectly sweet way to finish off an amazing meal...

after our five-hour dinner (whoopies), a long chat with Chris (sidenote: I joked with him at one point, joking that "sorry by ya'lls food sucks", which he though I meant seriously and resolved to send out course after course until I changed my mind...eeek!), and some quality time getting to know our amazing server-slash-up-and-coming-chef, Scott, we were invited to take a tour of the kitchen!  VIP treatment...it was so fun.  we chatted with the executive chef, Nate Park, about how their systems worked and how he comes up with the ideas for dishes.  after such an tremendous experience upstairs, it was really fun to peek behind the scenes and be able to compliment the team first-hand.  after our 6:30pm reservation, we finally left (stuffed, buzzed and really happy!) around midnight...

update/ed note: so I found a video explaining all of the courses in a waaaaaay better manner than I've done above.  I'm not going to bother going back to change any of my words above because I prefer to leave this account just as I experienced it, and I do notice a few little tiny differences, but here are the pros themselves explaining what we ate.

*****

the shenanigans continued on Saturday with one of my favorite activities: day drinking.  few things top getting buzzed in daylight (paired with snacks, natch), getting to bed at a decent hour, and actually being able to function the next day.  boom.


we started with a long and boozy brunch at Stanley's with our friends, Chris and Jen.  then we made our way to Big Star, a sister restaurant to Blackbird, for some killer tacos and $1 Schlitzs (I know, right?!?!).  we wrapped up the afternoon at Northside Bar & Grill before hitting the couch with a movie and some leftover pizza.  perfect. Saturday.

Sunday was for recovery, eating (mostly) healthfully, and scoping out bikes for tooling around our city. between the unreal food options and the fun, friendly people, this place just keeps growing on me...

if you couldn't tell from the post above, Rob absolutely KILLED it with the birthday celebrations...I am so so so appreciative and so very lucky to have him in my life. I couldn't imagine a better way to celebrate my 10,958th day on this planet.

kick-ass weekend recap

Friday

• found our couch on the world wide web and tried it out in person (SUCCESS!)
• got crafty: turned a regular ol' scarf into an infinity scarf/snood with a pair of scissors, the ability to tie a knot, and a little patience
  

Saturday

• my first good run in a while, even if it was <2.5 miles
• made our place sparkle
• ate Kel's delicious crock-pot jambalaya
• pre-game beer and football at a bar
• Sharks vs Capitals: row five. you hear that?! ROW. FIVE. it was so much fun...the game is so much faster and the guys are so much bigger when you're up that close. every time the Caps were on penalty, our section was in a heckling uproar. and they WON.

Sunday

• hit up the shooting range for my stepbro's birthday: it was my first time ever shooting a gun. it was so loud, it made me giggly at first. then I felt like a bad ass. fired a .22 pistol, 9mil, 40, 45, and a .22 rifle. I counted it as my workout to withstand any and all recoil.
• lounged around (hey look, I even blogged!)
• early to bed for some solid sleep

cool story, Hansel.

so this is really happening, huh...?

We have a place to live in Chicago!!! Its super cute, insanely central, and has all of the hundreds of things we wanted in one form or another. I've been dreaming of the shiny new stuff that we'll need to fill it up (we'll have not one, but TWO bedrooms. we're so fancy).

we'll be on the top floor...love the windows

Crazy, right?! Then, today, we bought a couch. For the first time ever, since all of our other couches were parentally-owned hand-me-downs/’rounds. We’ve never lived somewhere long enough or took my/our place seriously enough to plunk down serious cash before, so this feels like kind of a big deal. And while I’m at it…a small self-pat-on-the-back for us: since we’re living in different cities until I move out there, we each went to different stores in the same chain and tested couches separately with obvious success. But when it came to picking a color? We both get all nervous committing to any ‘forever’ detail, so I expected the worst. Believe how pleasantly surprised I was when the conversation went: me: so um hey, I like XYZ color. which one do you like? him: the same one, actually. BOOM. DONE. As a little icing on the cake I took advantage of a humungo sale and capped it with an extra discount from taking some three-minute survey and got the thing for like 56% off, delivered. It was a total fluke that I even looked at this store's site when I did, so I'm pretty damn happy with the result.

the worlds teeeeeniest pic...ours will be a greyish brown "cocoa" color

The years of limbo are (strangely) coming to an end, and while I'm nervous and sad to leave California for a little while, I'm really really really stoked about a year or two of big city livin' in one of the funnest and tastiest cities in the country. Flights can be cheap enough, and we have an extra room just waiting for our first visitor...

adios, belongings!

Yesterday, we finished up our humungo purge-all-the-things project at Casa Saratoga. When we went abroad in 2009, Rob's Mom was kind enough to let us basically box up our lives and stash 'em downstairs at her house on the hill. We had a TON of crap, and at the time, I was much more concerned with simply getting stuff out of her way (and getting out of the country!) than with parting with anything, so we amassed something like 50 boxes/bags. When we got back an moved into our little studio apartment, we left like 96% of the stuff there and just kinda started over with the handful of things we wanted or needed.

That crap on the mountain has been an ever-present dull ache of weight on my shoulders. I've been meaning to get up there and purge and better organize it for almost two full years, which is embarrassing at best. With the upcoming move and the hired movers being willing to make stops at two places to pick up our stuff (!), we had no choice but to get crackin'. Since Rob is home for the week, we set aside an entire day to sort out what should be tossed, donated, stored, or shipped... and an entire day it took.

Eight hours of solid work at the house cut our pile o' crap by at least half. We filled the bed of Rob's Mom's pickup truck with a load of donations, and piled up an additional seven boxes + two bags for later drop off. Three huge bags of trash and two boxes of recycling makes me itchy wondering why the hell I even boxed up that stuff in the first place. SO. MANY. THINGS. Things that have no use or personal attachment. Things I swear I didn't actually have. Things I thought were lost for good and that I actually squealed over upon unearthing. But mostly things that we do not need, so off they go to someone who can actually use them.

If I had to guess, I'd say that we've whittled the grand total of our crap (spread between alllll the houses/apartment) to less than 2/3 of what we once had. And I'll probably ditch even more stuff when I'm actually boxing things up, simply because I'm over it. I took a couple pics o' the piles, but no one really cares to see those because they're boring and ugly. So here's a pic of some jumping cats instead:

yay!

thirteen point one

Last Sunday we ran the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon and I didn't die!

I want you to really think about what we've just done. For any couch pototoes in the crowd, imagine settling into your ideal spot and turning on your favorite DVD. Imagine watching the previews, which you've seen approximately 84 times. Imagine watching the whole movie, which you probably know line-by-line. Imagine sitting idle while the credits roll, alllllll the way until the lion roars at the very, very end. Now, imagine that instead of watching the movie with your popcorn and Junior Mints, you were RUNNING FOR THAT ENTIRE TWO-AND-A-HALF HOURS. That's what we've just done. Three months ago, I probably didn't have the endurance to sit for that long, much less run!

Based on the fact that I hadn't really intended on running a half marathon or even considered it until approximately 26 days before the event, I'd been feeling super-anxious about the whole thing. Trying to calm myself down was difficult. I still have no idea what I was getting worked up about. I know I wanted to do well and wanted to make the whole experience a positive one, but felt really nervous that it wouldn't go well. Maybe it was the crap runs I'd barely made it through in the week before the race. Maybe it was that I'd only semi-secretly never run more than 6 miles, and that 13.1 is a helluva lot further. It probably has something to do with my perfectionism. I dunno. Logically I knew that I could literally walk the entire course and still make it to the finish line before they came out and carted my ass off the course for exceeding the time limit, but still...

We'd visited the pre-race expo on Friday to pick up our bibs and some swag, and Rob signed up to run it! He's got wonky knees and was playing the whole thing by ear...we got turned onto the glories of RockTape and it gave him the boost he needed to commit to the big event!

After a bit of early-evening bowling on Saturday, we all went home and attempted to crash. Summer and Chambers fell victim to our asshole loud neighbors and I tossed and turned a lot with my earplugs in. Bleary-eyed and just a teeny bit edgy, we all hit the road bright and early to get our asses downtown. The train was packed with other half marathon-ers, which pumped me up and freaked me out. That lady will not - nay, can not - beat me. Because perceived competition helps in solo sports, right?! My shoelaces are waaaaay more flourescent than that guy's shirt...it'll totally help me run fast and strong. They are rad, by the way...the most eye-accosting green I could find. What if I fall down, like that girl did on a training run?! Pshhah - what're the odds of that?!

After port-o-pottying, bib-pinning, gear-checking, and starting-line-scoping, Sum, Rob and I made our way to the corrals and met up with our favorite mama, Rebecca. Holy cattle call, Batman. So. Many. People. So much spandex.

I'm not nervous...you're nervous.

The energy in the corral was intense, and the event's MCs (?) were definitely caffeinated. Other runners were sporting tutus and goofy socks and homemade t-shirts and support ribbons. Rob spotted and loved one shirt's quote in particular, which I think we both used as extra fuel:

someday, I won't be able to do this.

today is not that day.

Although I didn't get my promised flyby - bang, we were off! The beginning of my run felt good, like any other warm up. It usually takes me 2 solid miles to get the knots loosened up and really hit my stride, and I was hyper-focused on not overdoing it and running too hard, too soon. My goal was to finish the race, period. I planned to listen to my body, stay hydrated and to power-walk as I moved through each water station. If that got to be too tough, I would run 10-12 minutes, then walk for one and repeat. The four of us had planned start the race together and then find our own paces, which worked out really well.

I've got to admit, the whole thing went waaaaaaaaay faster than I'd ever expected. By my watch, my split times were right on par with the 10k race, and I felt steady and controlled. In hindsight, I don't think I ever found my strongest stride. My Achilles were killing me by mile seven, and I think I'd been trying to keep my run too slow. I started to pick it up a bit and flick my ankles more to use more muscles, but even then I still kinda held myself back a smidgen too much. Meh...that just gives me something to work on for the next one.

Some random guy had mentioned that mile eight was his hardest point, and to nevereverever stop at mile eight because you'd never get started again. Eff THAT. Mile eight was cake. It was also the furthest I'd ever consecutively run at that point (eek!). Just five more miles. Mile ten to eleven was a lifetime, and I asked myself "am I even actually moving?!" about a hundred times between mile eleven and twelve.

The bands and cheerleaders and random onlookers were really fun, and provided a fabulous distraction from running for two-and-a-half straight hours. As I neared what I figured was the last half-mile, I remember hearing from a supporter that there were just four blocks left. Then, and only then, did I finally find my stride. I cranked up my music and my ipod skipped right to one of my top running jams...boom, kismet. I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel awesome. My absolute favorite solo moment of the day was turning that last corner and seeing the finish line looming about a hundred yards away. It sounds silly, but that's when I was most proud of myself for taking on the challenge and kicking. its. ass. hard.

LETS GET TO THE RESULTS, SHALL WE?!

Nicole

Finished In: 02:26:11

Overall: 5950 of 9831 · Division: 493 of 913 · Gender: 2560 of 5416

Pace: 11:09

5 Km: 35:01

10 Km: 1:09:35

10 Mi: 1:52:44

Rob

Finished In: 02:24:07

Overall: 5755 of 9831 · Division: 570 of 777 · Gender: 3314 of 4415

Pace: 11:00

5 Km: 36:42

10 Km: 1:09:37

Next up?! Warrior Dash, bitches!

oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh

food?! yeah. I like that stuff.

Thirteen months after receiving my very own pasta machine as a rad gift, I finally took the thing for her maiden voyage on Saturday using my recipe that I learned from the adorable Ariana during our stay at Hotel Malu in Rome.

there are literally six ingredients to this recipe: flour, eggs, olive oil, salt, water and time
(no, I spelled that correctly - this recipe takes a good 2 hours. and its SO worth it.)

rollin' rollin' rollin'

you've gotta let the pasta rest in the fridge, on the counter, before/after its been mixed, cut, cooked...a ton o' resting going on here...I recommend passing the time with a bottle (or two) of wine

flour'll turn your cooking water all nice and frothy, turning you into an impresssive-looking chef

there are no words

The results were not only completely edible, they even tasted gooooooooooood! I had 3 servings. Oops. I'm working on perfecting my skills, but that pasta machine works like a champ!!!


Sunday was Father's Day, which meant more eating was in order. We headed over to Dad's place armed with enough Kinder's ball tip to feed a small army (if you've never had it, you've not lived.) and about a gallon of their potato salad...*sigh*

the (self-appointed) GrillMaster at work

Don't let him fool you, the man loves to barbecue, and is damn good at it! He was not at all put out by having to cook his own dinner on Father's Day, no matter what he tells you. Barbecued ball tip, beer and a backyard = a great way to spend the day.