Bay to Breakers 2011!

When a frient (friend-client) asked me to run the 100th Bay to Breakers 10K with her back in March, I thought...

A normal race to kick off my spring/summer training? Brilliant!

A chance to run from the Bay to the Ocean in Beautiful San Francisco? Amazing!

I did not expect to wear a cape...



I did not expect to leap and dart through crowds bigger than the 4th of July on the Capitol Mall.
(yes. seriously.)


I did *NOT* expect this...

(sorry. I had to.)

And I did not know I would have most fun I'd had in a while :D

We spent the night in San Francisco to avoid traffic in the morning, and spent the evening watching No Strings Attached and chowing delicious Thai food in Superman's adorable urban apartment.

Girls' Night Extraordinaire.

The next morning, suitably attired, we struck out to fight crime and fight to the finish!



There were muppets.


and butterflies.


and the most crowded hill I have ever seen.



(darting and leaping was required to keep a jogging pace!)

The event was much tamer than years past, as the usually liberal San Francisco banned all floats and alcohol on the course - but we had a blast!


Only complaints (and you know I always have one or two) :

• The race was SO big, that it was just poorly organized. Bottlenecks at the end made it next to impossible to just grab a mini protein bar and get the heck out.
• And the MUNI shuttle (we had pre-paid for) kept filling up at an earlier station, so we stood at a corner, looking amazing in our capes, for 20 min waiting to have our superasses hauled back downtown.

We made up for it at Chevy's with table-side guac, veggie fajitas and a beer the size of my super hero head.

Yum.

All In All:
A successful day fighting crime and seeing a piece of San Francisco History. 100 Years of Bay-to-Breakers!

Cook Book GiveAway!!

(am committing to being a better blogger... also known as: Giveaway Love!

Last week WhatRunsLori gave away a kick ass cookbook and I totally missed the boat.

From here on out: get on the boat or swim my ass to friend island!)

***

The Lucky Girl herself is sending love in the form of cooking peace of mind!

Go comment at Lucky Girl Sweets 'n' Stuff and enter to win Five Ingredient Solution!

'jus sayin....

Best. Weekend. Ever.

About *cough...* years ago, a Dear Friend of mine attended Country Thunder. We arrived Thursday night... planning to go home Thursday night. We got home Monday morning and declared it the
BEST. WEEKEND. EVER.

This weekend - I did the grown-up version of BEST WEEKEND EVER!

Miss Lori - the amazingly talented blogger that she is - was selected by FoodBuzz to attend the Pebble Beach Food and Wine Festival! She was given a +1 ... and I was her date!

(If you don't know what this thing is: It's ridiculously swanky. $200 ticket swanky.)

We spent Saturday shopping ($2.50 Tank Tops at Forever XXI ... why YES! I'll be 21 Forever!)

and eating artichokes...

and drinking martinis...

and watching a movie ... um... falling asleep during a movie (see also: drinking)

And Sunday - we awoke, fortified ourselves with a green smoothie and drove to Pebble Beach!

If I haven't mentioned it lately - this part of California is insanely beautiful.

The drive was sunny and warm, the ocean was briny and cold, the avocado stands were advertising 4-for-$1.

After meandering around the Pebble Beach Lodge and Shops (we'd paid our $10 to drive 17 Mile Drive and we were gonna get our money's worth!) ... we took a walk and some photos.

Then : IT Happened. And because I'm a lazy lazy blogger and a very good linker...

Check out the details at What Runs Lori.

Suffice it to say... I was in fish-eating, wine-tasting, beer-drinking, chef-stalking heaven.

If you need more incentive to click over to Lori's recap:

- We have a picture with Chef Morimoto
- A hug from Michael Simon
- Giant Fuzzy Arm Chairs

(no meat was consumed [by me] in the making of this event...)

I cannot say enough about how happy this weekend made me. Came home feeling loved, relaxed and completely at peace.

And SO glad to have amazing friends.

(and luck with a camera. because this is a baller shot I'm about to end with...)

Thanks, Lori!!

How Rude!

Yes. That was a Full House reference.

1. I laughed at this carrot and waved it at Brian for at least 3.2 minutes yesterday... I am a 12 year old little boy. HOW RUDE!


2. I somehow managed to brute for strength this Henkle table knife IN HALF while slicing ... a piece of soft chevre (goat cheese for the layman.) how RUDE!

3. It's Monday. Again. We just got here, Sunday -- Last a little longer!
(that's what she said) HOW rude!

because this made my day...

All Hail April!

So Far: April wins the 2011 month-of-the-year contest!

Last weekend was full of sunny hiking, cozy book-reading and nail-salon patronizing...


This weekend has been just as wonderful!

Spend yesterday morning teaching Gentle Yoga, Power Yoga and Bridal Boot Camp.

hover squats + band rows... killer!

Spent yesterday afternoon wine tasting in Saratoga!

We had a private tasting at Savannah-Chanelle



A not-so-private (or yummy) tasting at Mountain Winery... but we'll definitely be back for the concerts!

Then did a few tasting rooms in Downtown Saratoga - including Cinnabar.

the booty!

Then wandered downtown Saratoga around with Miss Lori...


until we found sushi!

Spent this morning transforming my apartment from war-zone to cozy home/somewhat-less-chaotic-home-office and have book club this evening with some of my favorite ladies.

Happy April!

TGI April!

March 2011 is FIRED.

It probably should have been this kind of month

get my crap together and build a meditation practice for the rough patches


But it was this kind of month

Rental Car Key as a wine opener as wine was not optional after the day I'd had and I somehow forgot my travel wine key...

It was intensely sad saying goodbye to Grandma and - in effect - saying goodbye to Grandpa again. As long as she was around, it was like a piece of him was still here.


But we found layers of joy in the sadness.

Like Greek yogurt and BARE FIT Granola parfaits for breakfast in the hotel with hubby and sis:


And a beautiful trip to the Georgia Aquarium with my Aunt and Cousins:


Lion Fishies.

Sister and Me with our heads poking up into the penguin habitat

Sister finding a new boyfriend.

We ended the trip on a really happy note with the the aquarium and Behinanas... then slept the whole way back to the West Coast on our 7 am flight the next morning.

And came home to this.

Hail.

T.G.I. April!