5k Glow Run

Between my injured finger and traveling to San Francisco for work, the last few weeks have been crazy.  This is now a bit belated - but I'd be totally remiss if I failed to document the amazing experience I had a little while back.

A few weeks ago I had a perfect Friday night.  Along with some girlfriends from work, we did the Living Social 5k Dance Party - a.k.a. the Glow in the Dark Run.  It was a blast - I only wish the pictures did it justice!

With our powers combined...

It was a great way to blow off some steam at the end of a long work week and to bond with my coworkers in a totally new way.  I love my friends but all too often I feel like I'm choosing between my social life and getting a workout in (because c'mon, dancing the night away doesn't really count).

Winning

You can't necessarily have your cake, eat it too, and still fit in your skinny jeans - but its nice to know that you can have your friends. your workout, and some sweet glow accessories!  The free Mich Ultra and Kind bars at the after party were a nice touch too!

Words of Wisdom

In college I had a great friend/roommate/rugby teammate.  While we were living it up like typical 19 year olds - staying up to late, eating the wrong foods, and beating ourselves opponents up on the rugby pitch, her Dad gave us some advice that has stuck with me:

If you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough.

It strikes the right balance of dry wit and truth - and provides some useful perspective to put my mishaps in perspective.

Thanks Dad for the awesome 1st aid!

Over Thanksgiving, and on my 28th birthday no less, I had to be tough (long story short, I was slicing butternut squash with a mandolin, and my fingertip got in the way).  Looks like I'm going into my 28th year with a new set of fingerprints!

Needless to say, my right hand is a little out of commission, so I'll be watching Law and Order SVU marathons resting and rehabbing my poor pointer.  Between that and getting ready to go to San Fran for work next week, it'll be a little bleak around here!

Down the Pinterest Rabbit Hole

I love Pinterest.  I may even be a Pinterest addict.  Pinterest has given me a new world of favorite recipes, enabled me to be much more creative in my attire, and helped me better organize my life.

All in all though, my Pinterest is largely idealized.  Pinterest is well known for being a general repository or catch all for dreams that may never come to fruition, desserts which will never be baked, and crafts which will never even be started let alone completed.

Take today, when I found myself eating ramen noodles at my desk for lunch, while pinning a delicious looking fall butternut squash salad.  Grownup fail.  I haven't looked at all the stats - but it seems by far my most popular, or most often re-pinned Pin, is a chocolate cake I have never even made.  

But I did do one thing today that I learned on Pinterest - Vick's socks!  Ohhh yeah.

Vick's Socks - its a glamorous life

For anyone that knows me, I absolutely cannot stand socks. When socks are a must, I wear footie socks (even with galoshes!) and as soon as my shoes come off, so do my socks.  No socks in bed is a cardinal rule in my home.

I had a great long Veterans' Day weekend with some family out in the country, but came back with a cold.  I've been congested and a little bit sniffly and sneezy, but I read on Pinterest that Vick's works just as well on the bottom of your feet (without all the smell near your face!).

I can't say that Vick's is a miracle cure for a cold on the feet - but it never has been for me on my chest either.  It seems to help as much probably, and feels way less gross!  Now perhaps I should move onto that super popular chocolate cake... 

Pumpkin Blondies

When you find yourself in the midst of a hurricane, surrounded by a flood of Facebook posts about delicious treats, it eventually becomes inevitable that the flour, butter, and chocolate will come out, and the mixer will be put to use.  There may also have been videochatting with my cat and my coworker (and her cat); as it turns out, the kitties were not so impressed.

My hurricane buddy

Unfortunately, my last minute trip to the store for my weekly shopping trip coincided with many people's trip to stock up for hurricane supplies, and my grocery store was entirely out of eggs!   (They were also out of bananas - is this how DC preps?)

So when the inevitable happened, and I found myself searching through the pantry for something sweet to bake, it was the eggless caveat in mind.  I don't mind substituting for one egg in a pinch, but beyond that you can't gamble too fast and loose wtih baking.

I stumbled upon a blondie recipe at Smitten Kitchen - and with only one egg I figured I could make it work.  I subbed about 1/3 cup canned pumpkin for the egg and also added 1/4 tsp baking powder and 1/8 tsp pumpkin pie spice.  With some chopped almonds and chocolate chips, these were definitely what the doctor ordered!

Pumpkin Blondie with Almonds and Chocolate Chips

Riding Out the Storm

Oh Sandy!!

Call it Frankenstorm, call it a blizzicane - either way Sandy has been wreaking havoc across the eastern seaboard since yesterday.  Here in the DC area, that means that Metro has been closed and nearly everyone seems to be off work.

Metro Remains closed through Tuesday AM

I'm lucky living downtown in that my power seems to be relatively reliable.  Cross my fingers, but I haven't lost power in the city yet (Take that Irene, derecho, and Sandy)! I know there will be some cleanup, but it feels good to be prepared.  Going about the prep in my little 1 bedroom made me feel grown-up in a way -  the plants had to come in off the balcony and be cordoned off from the cat, filled up water jugs, and had flash lights, lanterns, and candles at the ready.  Even though I'm nearly 30, I sometimes am surprised by my reaction: oh! I can do this myself, and I don't even need my parents!  Actually, I think my parents may have been a little disappointed that I didn't need them, since they called throughout the day just to check up on me (they're the best!).

The internet has really changed the way we deal with Mother Nature.  Facebook is entirely taken up with Frankenstorm posts - and mostly with my female friends posting about cleaning their apartments and baking.  All that inspiration and a little dose of restlessness left me hungry!  So off to Pinterest to finally try out some of those recipes I've pinned ages ago.  A blizzicane obviously calls for warm comforting soup - so I made a white bean and roasted garlic soup based on this recipe from Pease Pudding.

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

I used canned white cannellini beans, and roasted my own garlic.  There is nothing like the delicious rich smell of roasted garlic infusing the air in your apartment to instill a sense of calm while a hurricane rages outside.  I roasted mine in foil packets with a tiny bit of olive oil (and sopped up that oil with some bread after roasting!) I also included some of the thyme from my newly relocated plants.  Comforting, delicious, and pretty dang easy.  This will definitely go into the rotation.

Oven Roasted Garlic

Sprouted

I love the internet.  Before the internet, where did we watch videos of exotic baby animals and learn about up to second breaking news celebrity gossip?  Need to prove to your friend the obvious answer of who would win in a match between a giant mantis and a spiny leaf insect? Youtube has your answer: Monster Bug Wars (awesome show!).

The internet has a lot of awesome, useful things.  I love to cook, and I'm always looking to make something new.  So low and behold, having mastered dry beans, I realize that you can sprout beans.  Yes - bean sprouts, like you buy in the store, you can make that at home and its pretty much the easiest thing ever.  I'm talking 5 minutes of effort, and no special equipment.

I followed this website: eHow - Sprouting Garbanzo Beans - and simply used a large metal bowl and a paper towel.  You can soak them anywhere from 36-72 hours.

Day 2 - Delicious!

After a day, the sprouts had tails about 1/4 inch long.  Personally, at this stage I thought they were still too crunchy.  By day 2 I was AMAZED at how much the sprouts had grown - the tails were closer to an inch (see above)!  To see things in my garden take weeks or months to produce, sprouts are like instant gratification.  At the end of the 2nd day, I found them to be more to my liking for not only putting in other dishes like mung bean spouts, but also straight on salads.

Hooray for sprouts!!

Killer Cacti!

Watch out for those Killer Cacti!

There have been a lot of changes around here.  Well... perhaps not in the blog world since I have been consistently absent.  The rest of life, though, seems to be constantly in flux, and seems to be especially crowded as of late.  Changes at work, and at home, can make the little things feel even bigger.

I went through an administrative change at work - same job, same clients, different company paying me - and the administrative changes are so frustrating.  New insurance, new 401k, new administrative procedures. Woof.

The manfriend, Mr. Lincoln, went off to Arizona to go to grad school, and I've be working to reestablish a routine as a (geographically) single woman in the City.

I spent last weekend in Arizona (my first trip!) and we got in some quality time. We drove up to Sedona, taking in the desert vistas from our rental convertible and a perfectly relaxed night watching the moon rise from our hotel balcony with pizza and champagne.  It doesn't get much sweeter than that.

Moonrise from the balcony

Its a tough change, and a big adjustment, but I always find the old adage is true: distance makes the heart grow fonder.  Its a great reminder to cherish the time we spend together and to slow down and enjoy each others company.

Brunch at Ken's Creekside

I'm Still Here

I guess the purpose of this post is two-fold:

1. I'm still here - I haven't ever really gotten into blogging as any kind of routine.  When I get home from working a 12 hour day in the office (my norm), the last thing I usually want to do is sit at front of a computer and work more.  That being said - I'd love to have a place (i.e. this blog) to use as kind of a journal to capture my life.  Something I can look back on.  As much as I work, this is a wonderful exciting time and I'm afraid that if I don't capture some of the wonderful everyday moments that make it worth while I'll look back and think that all I did in Washington, D.C. was work.  While that's the bulk of my time - its certainly not what I think of as the bulk of my life.
2. Mr. Lincoln moved last month. To Arizona.  YIKES!  It all happened really fast, and - obviously - things have been pretty chaotic around here.  He's been gone about 2 weeks and to be completely honest the transition has been a lot harder than I anticipated.  Yes, we were long distance for a long time before living together, but its really hard to be still in the same apartment with his/our cat and so many of his things and to be here along.  So I'm still here... but its just me now.

Just a brief update.  Just the things I can handle for now - since so much is going on!

Lightening Up & Letting Go

I recently came across this post 15 Things You Should Give Up To Be Happy (I can't remember how, but I'm guessing it was on Pinterest) and it made me think.  I'm certainly guilty of a lot of things on this list (hello #s 2, 9, 14). It's always a good reminder to lighten up and let go.  A lot of these lessons are the hardest, and the ones I find myself constantly having to relearn and be reminded of.

Give Up:
1)  Your need to always be right
2)  Your need for control
3)  Blame
4)  Self-defeating talk
5)  Limiting beliefs
6)  Complaining
7)  The luxury of criticism
8)  Your need to impress others
9)  Your resistance to change
10) Labels
11) Your fears
12) Your excuses
13) The past
14) Attachment
15) Other people's expectations

Check out the full post on Purpose Fairy here

Way Out West

I've been slammed (as usual) at work this month - back in Seattle for work then a quick trip back to Texas to visit my family.  Here's a few quick (long overdue) pics!

Obligatory Space Needle picture

Dogs Days of Summer

Surprise landing to refuel at Dyess AFB - Abilene

In N Out Cheeseburger - Animal Style!!

Pike Place Market

Sustainable Seafood at Pike Place Market

Elephant Car Wash - Seattle

Weekday Holiday!

I live in D.C., so odds are I'm either I work for the federal government or an attorney, and in my case both.  Working for the fed means federal holidays (YAY!) but the timing of the 4th seems odd this year... I can't remember the last time we had a holiday totally in the middle of the week all by its lonesome.

I was initially a bit disappointed - What No Three Day Weekend?! - until I realized that it essentially meant TWO two day weeks!  Now this might actually be a proposal I could get behind.  It's always either Monday or Friday - none of those dull Tuesdays or dreary Wednesdays.  Unlike when they proposed Year Round School when I was a kid, I'm now increasingly in favor of shorter, more frequent breaks (anyone else miss nap time?).

Photo: Kevin Ambrose via Washington Post

I'm looking forward to tomorrow - Mr. Lincoln and I will be heading over to some friends to watch the fireworks from a friends roof deck, and we are making a boozy watermelon to beat the heat!  I've never actually been in D.C. for the 4th of July, normally taking advantage of the long weekend to visit family, so I'm pretty excited for this year! 

Don't Step on my [Multicolored Neon Running] Shoes

Sooo... I've been drooling over these babies for months.  My "saved" shoes in my Endless.com account will be one less - because these lovelies are now the newest members of my closet!


These New Balance WR1400 were more than I would normally like to spend... but I've decided if there is one fashion item that I won't give myself a guilt trip for, its new workout gear.  I needed new running shoes anyway, and I've been lusting after these for months.  And of course I couldn't resist the multipack of matching neon sock at the checkout. YES!

What kind of indulgences do you allow yourself?

Status Update...

So... clearly I wrote a few blog posts... and then never wrote any more.  I keep thinking still that I want a blog to record the things that I am doing and experiencing.  A way to remember things I want to look back on.  A way to revisit this part of my life (I guess that's really the origins of blogging anyway - anyone else remember livejournal?).

I've been traveling a lot for work, and I'd love for my photos to go somewhere than the CameraRoll of my iPhone 4S.  Seriously.  The digital age is so sad sometimes.  We take so many more photos, but sometimes they become kind of meaningless.

This week I'm in Cle Elum, Washington.  I'm a Texan, born and raised, and while I may live in DC now, getting out to the mountains of the west coast still remains a relatively foreign experience for me.  We're staying at a resort - my room literally overlooks the mountains; now capped, tree lined, with a river running through the valley just below my room.  I would feel spoiled if it weren't for working 18 hours a day.

But I digress.  Here is the part I want to remember.  The Cle Elum River at sunset.  I took quick solo hike down to the river just before sunset.

Up North here, the light slowly fades and sunset seems to lasts for hours.  I was the only one on the trail, and it was quiet and peaceful.  The river is cold, clear, and strong.  Its obviously carved the valley that my hotel rests atop, but at the same time is seems timeless, as if its run the same course for eons and always would.

It seems a shame to come to such a beautiful place, full of activities that Mr. Lincoln  and I like to do together, and to not be able to share it with him.  Its always hard to find the time and money to get away, and while this summer may not be the time to revisit the other Washington, I think this is a great reminder to do what you can, when you can.  Present over perfect.