Category Archives: photos

the half marathon of death

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Okay, not really. Nobody died (at least, not that I know of). I thought I was going to a few times, but I didn’t. In an effort to document what it’s like to struggle through a half marathon having done a horrible job training, here is (after the pictures) the first in a series of videos (they take forever to upload and use lots of memory, so I’ll post a couple at a time). This is the beginning of the race, where I introduce “the band” and the buses. I hope all of all of you readers realize how much I love you, because these videos are not a good look for me (early morning, no makeup, sweating buckets, etc.), but I decided to post them anyway.
This is me, showing off my cute “frozen” look. The gloves are a new addition to the running wardrobe, and a welcomed addition they were. It was freezing!

Our fabulous feet! Can you name them?

And the band (clockwise from top left), Christy, Anne, me, and Jen . For a spoken intro, watch the videos.

I just wish that you could hear the guys behind me. They talked the entire way about what time they were hoping for on the race, how cool they were, etc. It was fantastic!
You know I love you when I publish a video where the frame that shows looks like this.

My favorite video moment is still to come, where I give advice on how to train for your next half marathon. Good times. Good, good times.

the fabulous life of…

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Before I share what I want to share here, I have to tell you all that I’ve had a pretty crappy week overall. I just don’t want you all to think that my life is peaches and sunshine. I assure you it is not (I’m going back to WW tomorrow…gag). But, despite my crappy week and pity kegger (much bigger than a party…sadly, though, no alcohol was involved, so it’s a bit of a misnomer), there always seems to be a bit of sunshine.

This week, the sunshine came in the form of a fantastic concert. It’s that time of year again, thank goodness. Yesterday, right after work, Sarah, Candice and I headed to Salt Lake, where we met up with Emily, Heidi and my friend, Rebecca, to see Ingrid Michaelson and Joshua Radin in concert.

It was a great show. I hate the venue it was at, but otherwise, fantastic! I love Joshua and was excited to see him again (although, I now see that he has some issues…which is probably why I’m attracted). Ingrid was phenomenal. Sadly, I forgot to take my camera in (well, I remembered, but by the time I did, the line was starting to move), so no great video footage of Ingrid and her bad self (she’s hilarious) or Joshua telling the story of his sad breakups. We did manage to get it after for some great pics with the artists. Candice is also planning becoming BFFs with Ingrid, so that will make me Ingrid’s BFF once removed. How awesome is that?

me, Joshua, and Sarah

Candice, me, Ingrid, and Sarah

And here are some downloads for your listening pleasure:

Paperweight – Joshua Radin and Schuyler Fisk. Sadly, they broke up, so he can’t play this song anymore. But the breakup did inspire a great new song called You’ve Got Growing Up to Do …ouch. And that’s why I’ll never date a musician. (You can listen to his new stuff on his MySpace page).
The Fear You Won’t Fall – Joshua Radin
Breakable – Ingrid Michaelson
The Hat – Ingrid Michaelson

chicago

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So…here it is, finally. My recap of Chicago, or at least the sites I saw and places I ate. I left out the play-by-play of my shopping. You can thank me for that later. And in case it wasn’t evident before (which I’m sure it was) I am a total foodie. Good times.

Friday evening, after picking me up at the airport (thank you) Kelly and Kevin took me to their favorite place to take visitors for dinner, Ballo. It was great. I have never been a huge meatball fan, but I’m a believer in being open-minded, so I didn’t say anything when they ordered some…and I was right to keep my mouth shut. They were absolutely delicious, as was everything else we ordered.

Lunch on Saturday was at The Signature Room. This is obviously not a picture of the food, but the view of Navy Pier from the restaurant, on the 95th floor, which is really why the restaurant is such a big deal. Amazing!


The Art Institute of Chicago. I went here twice. On Saturday, we saw a very thought provoking photography exhibit (and warmed up). It was all about adolescence in women. I could have spent hours in that one room alone (except that the museum was closing, so we got kicked out). The next day, Kelly and I went to see the impressionists (my favorite art period) and it was incredible to see some of my favorite paintings in person; some of Monet’s Water Lilies, Renoir’s Woman at the Piano, Van Gogh’s The Bedroom, and Seurat’s A Sunday on La Grande Jatte.

This is one of the reasons I love big cities: street performers. These guys were outside of the Art Institute and they played so well.

At the recommendation of Jenny (and Oprah…apparently), I also picked up a bag of The Mix at Garrett Popcorn; a combination of cheese popcorn and caramel popcorn that is their specialty (and I’m all about specialties). It was surprisingly good, although next time I might have to try the Macadamia CaramelCrisp. Doesn’t that just sound delicious?

We went to Giordano’s for dinner on Saturday and this is where I had my first experience with Chicago deep dish pizza. It really is so much better than regular pizza and totally different than real Italian pizza. I am a fan.
As is my true nature, I needed a little something sweet, so Kelly and I stopped at Potbelly’s for shakes. So. Good.

I had the good fortune to visit Chicago during its Restaurant Week (I also had this luck on my D.C. trip last summer). Kelly made reservations for us at the Pump Room. It was so delicious. Honestly, I probably would have been happy with just the croissants (the best I’ve ever had on American soil), but the rest of it was worth the calories, too.


I was luck enough to make two visits to Millennium Park. This is the giant bean. Strange? Yes. Fascinating? Absolutely. Entertaining? Completely.


On our way back to Kelly’s to pick up my luggage and head to the airport, I wanted to stop at Paper Source. We had just enough time, so we got off the train and headed in (where I proceeded to spend a small fortune on…yes, paper.

But then, Kelly mentioned a chocolate shop that was just down the street. So, rather than be practical and head back to the apartment so I wouldn’t be late for my flight, we went to Vosges Chocolates. I had actually seen this place on-line before my trip and wanted to go there, but had completely forgotten about it. I think I might have had the best hot chocolate I’ve ever tasted (it might be a tie with Max Brenner) and I also purchased some truffles that were absolutely divine. I felt a little daring with the strange flavor combinations; coconut and curry, and various chilies, but they ended up being absolutely delightful (once I was able to taste them…as they were in my luggage that didn’t make it on the plane because I was late to the airport because I stopped to purchase them).


As you can see, I had an absolutely delightful time (well, minus the interview that I didn’t manage to get to on time).

happy birthday to my dad

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Yes, yes, the Chicago post is coming. I had a fabulous time, foot pain and all, but today is my dad’s birthday, so using that as an excuse, I’m going to post some things that I have been thinking about for a while (for posterity…so this post may totally bore any of you not related to me, or who don’t know Nev).

My dad is hilarious. He tells the lamest jokes ever (we were discussing adoption tonight and he once again mentioned that one of my sisters was adopted…but then they brought her back) that always make me laugh. With him? At him? Does it really matter?

One of his favorite funnies (not so much a joke) is referring to himself as Good Old Dad. Create an acronym and you’ll get the humor in it. His favorite is to remind us to thank “Good Old Dad” for whatever it is he has done for us at that moment.

He doesn’t really share how he feels, but it is obvious through his actions. He has moved every one of us multiple times. He has installed crown molding, recessed lighting, kitchen cabinets, and painted more walls than I could ever count. He pays for plane tickets for us to visit each other and we know that, no matter what happens, he will be there if we need him (like for me, now, as I live in the apartment over his garage). And, as seen above, he lets his granddaughters play with his hair.

He has always been a great example of hard work and frugality. Unfortunately, I only inherited the former…my spending habits I got from my mom. And even though he wishes I could figure out the real difference between wants and needs, he is really good about not making me feel bad about my inability to do so.

In teaching us about hard work, he also taught us the importance of each step in a project. In any project, there are four steps. You probably thought that it varied based on the project, but it doesn’t. There are always four and only four. Sure, within those four, there might be multiple tasks that must be done, but any and every project can be subdivided into the following four steps:

  1. Prep: this step includes planning and setting up for the project.
  2. Do: pretty self-evident.
  3. Clean up: again, not much explanation.
    1. Most people would think the project was over at this point.
    2. Most people are mistaken. Step four is not only the most important, but also requires the most time.
  4. Admire: this step can be done alone, at first, but in order for any project to be truly finished, you must actually include at least one more person in this step. This step requires “ooohs” and “aahs”. Not necessary to this step, but definitely encouraged, are phone calls to others who are not able to be part of Step 4 in person, photographs to be shared for years to come, and later discussions about just how great the project turned out.

I have to say I have a pretty great dad, even if we don’t see eye to eye on everything. So here’s a big birthday wish to my favorite dad ever! Happy Birthday, Dad.

Oh, and thanks for dinner.