Wednesday Randoms

Back from vaca! South Dakota is pretty awesome. So glad we chose to go there instead of taking the easy road to the Jersey shore. I'll do a separate entry on that, but everyone should take the time, just once in their life, and visit some remote place, just to see how other people live. Not everything is shopping malls and cell phones. Great place, beautiful landscape. I would definitely go back (but I still like Ireland better :) ) Off to bed. I'll make up for the mediocre posts the past week.

Wednesday Randoms

Vacation day! Leaving in a little for some time out in some National Parks. Goin west! See ya for a recap when I get back A few randoms -Packing for trips is the same no matter where you go. Local or International, it's the same stress. -Looking forward to cowboy country :)

Wednesday Randoms

Hello sunny Wednesday. Glad you decided to show your face again after making us suffer through that cloudy, rainy, miserably humid day yesterday. At least everyone’s lawn will be green. · I’ve heard of all kinds of government conspiracies like cloud seeding, and while Ihave no idea if these rumors have any merit. Wouldn’t be awesome if it only rained at night? And maybe occasionally during the day? Think about it. No activities or parties ruined and everything still gets the rain it needs. · Why can’t people follow directions? These are educated, well versed, well-traveled,and sometimes multi lingual people. What is so hard about providing everything listed on a simple checklist? While working every day I concurrently conduct social experiments to see exactly what I have to do to get the masses to follow directions and get me what I need. In short, I’ve found bold font and directions written like they’re for an 8yr old work well. · You know my Sephora obsession. Of course you do. Now what I really love is my monthly Birchbox deliveries! Bonus points for youngest sister for getting me 6 months’worth of deliveries! Check them out if you haven’t. There’s nothing more exciting than coming home from work on a Monday to find a box of goodies inyour mailbox containing samples of makeup, perfume, etc. #loveit · Ileave for vacation in one week! Holla · I haven’t had ceviche in a while. I was on a mad kick making that last summer. I think that’s how I finally got over my aversion to purple onions. I still hate sweet onions, caramelized ones, and those big circular white ones Wendy’s puts on their burgers, but the white ones with the purple shell, finely diced, are so perfect in that dish. Going to a Mexican place tonight AND Friday, so my cravings should be exhausted after that. · I’m on a mediocre start with the training for the ½ in August. The rest of this week will be nice and ideal running weather, and this is how it’s playing out:tonight- double happy hour, tomorrow- promo job, Friday- Mexican night w/friends. All this fun really leaves little time for running. I guess you haveto be unemployed, insanely addicted, born with Olympic talent, or carry a half empty social calendar to really commit seriously to this. - Bonus tonight as I engaged in not 1, but TWO happy hours. Really fun. Caught up with some people I haven't seen in years (and by that I meant 15yrs for one and 4yrs for the other!) Now.... bed!

Run/Shred/Walk (My Sunday)

You know when you have one of those really productive days? The kind that leaves your body tired, counting down the hours til you hit the pillow, yet filled with a very pleasing sense of accomplishment? I had one of those days. And it was well overdue.

For the past 8 years or so, my weekends have been a combination of work and fun (thankfully the latter outweighs the former), and when the direction starts turning towards fun, and not looking back, the mundane chores which are so easy to put off get... well...
put off. (Who wants to dust when another murder movie is on Lifetime? Who needs to file papers when there's YouTube to surf? Who really wants to wash the dark clothes when there's FIVE moves waiting in the queue on Words With Friends?!?!?!)

You get the point. Today was different though. I seized the opportunity and blocked out all distractions, and finally got down to business on that bag of papers/check stubs/bill receipts/CRAP that's been sitting in a closet since...wait for it... Spring 2010. *gasp*

A nice, hot 3.5mi run at 8am started off the morning right. What I was saying as I trudged up the hills of Conshy in 80deg wasn't exactly motivational, but the work got done, (thank you PG for the company and inspiring words to drown out my gasping for air heavy breathing) and I was determined to go home and do something productive. Running- done.

After getting a little distracted by Rafa v. Djoko in the French Open, I grabbed the paper shredder, dragged the filing cabinet out of my room, yanked that dreaded bag filled with 2yrs of junk out of the closet, and got to work. 3 hours later, I filled one of those big black 33gal trash bags. So many shredded bits, I think I could dump it from the ceiling at the next televised celebration event! 5yrs worth of old bills and bank statements! HOORAH! I wanted to throw it in the air and celebrate for finally ending my procrastination and getting this done. It sounds small and like an over-hyped accomplishment, but equate it to finally getting that one corner of the basement cleaned up, or that certain closet organized. When it's done it's like someone filled the house with a huge burst of fresh air, if just for a moment. Shredding- done.

Spending the afternoon as a busy bee made me realize it was dinner time! Slim pickings in the house, so I was going out for something... wasn't sure what. Starting the day off with a run, then shredding/filing/cleaning for hours had me a little wired. There was no way I could just get in the car and hit up my trusty Wendy's for a snack. I also had a really nice parking spot out front... and then it hit me... I'm going to Whole Foods. And I'm going to WALK there. (ooooh ahhh).

It's 1.2miles round trip. I'm an able-bodied person, it's a nice day out, and there are sidewalks for 80% of the walk. I wasn't pressured for time, so why not? That Whole Foods has been there for 3 years, and I've never walked there once. Shame on me.
So off I went. The entire trip door to door took 50min; 15min each way and 20min inside the store. It was still pretty hot out. While walking there I immediately thought back to the fall, and my solo trip to Dublin. I spent the entire week walking everywhere, and when not walking, taking the train or a bus. I loved it! I felt freedom, and the feeling of not being tethered to a car every minute of the day (sorry Jeep, still love ya) was somewhat liberating. I came home and was mad I actually had to drive 12mi to work the next day. I'm not a city gal, but I could get used to the idea of relying on myself for transportation for small, everyday things. Take a look around the next time you're in a major European city (Dublin, Paris, Rome)- everyone is fit and active. You know where I'm going with this...
One of many articles about Americans getting off their butt!

Someone needs to start the movement to get us moving. I know it's not feasible for everyone to walk to work, or to the store, but the solution lies in recognizing what things you can change and acting on them! Baby steps like wanting to ban the sales of jumbo soft drinks are a start, but it's a lot easier to convince someone to take a 20min walk than to threaten their freedom of choice and eliminate the 60oz Sprite option. So the walk to Whole Foods ended my productive Sunday. Believe it or not, I had a greater appreciation for the food having gone to more effort to obtain it. Just take my example and think of the big picture results. It's really what this county needs. Walking- done!

On the way home

Wednesday Randoms

Hello, Wednesday... from the blog-that-used-to-be-multidimensional-but-is-now-so-one-sided.

• I love Broadway. And musicals. And everything singing, dancing, costumes and makeup! I've seen over 20 shows and while I've only seen a couple on Broadway, the Philly theatres put on a pretty good show.
• After a very mediocre disappointing meal at the Olive Garden back in January, I doubt I'll be able to convince the BF to go back, even though the OG hooked me up with a gift card in the amount of the entire bill after I emailed them expressing some very objective feedback on my experience.
• Happy National Running Day! Guess what I did on this very special day? Signed up for my 1st and probably last half marathon! This was on my 2012 bucket list, and I knew I had to hit the button now. I know I can do the mileage, but the heat at the end of August has me a little worried. I'm just praying it's not 90deg and humid at 8am. I should be able to squeeze all my training into 10wks. As always, I'll report the results!
• One of my favorite things in the summer is the chocolate chip ice cream cookie sandwich, with the mini choc chips all stuck on the side. #loveit I've tried making my own before, but the product of the ice cream truck is just so much better. That's going to help the race training... for suuuuuure.
• Lots of stuff coming up: dog sitting, liquor promotions, vacation, meet ups with friends, wedding, baby showers. Sometimes I have to focus on the next 24hrs only so things don't seem too jumbled or overwhelming. I think how I'm just one person, with a small house, and nothing else super major on my plate. I can't imagine how these people with all these kids and jobs and a house and a million activities manage it. I have no interest in letting my life get to the point where I'm putting out the fires of chaos on a daily basis.
• My poor Kindle hasn't gotten much love the past 8 months or so. Although I read a really great book on Ireland and Irish Americans recently. I have no interest in the pop culture trashy novels everyone on Facebook posts how they read by the pool. I want to invest a few hours and come away learning something. (Go ahead world, judge away!)
• 2 years later, still playing Words With Friends, and have about 5 games going at once. I started a game with a random opponent 2 summers ago, we rematched, chatted here and there, and we've had continuous games going since for the past 2 years. That's the world we live in today. I have more interaction with a 21yr old from FL than I do with my cousins who live an hour away. Oh well. It's all good.
• I want to make a fresh fruit pie this summer... just need to decide what kind. Whatever I decided, you can be sure I'll take a pic :) Suggestions welcome. Don't be shy people, leave a comment!