My celebrity look-a-likes

Or so I've been told. First, there is Amy Adams. I'm not gonna lie, when I first got this one, I was pretty stoked. I think she's gorgeous, so even a sheer resemblance of her makes me happy. I think it's mostly the reddish hair, but I suppose a little in the shape of my nose. (I just hope that people weren't referring to her at this stage!!) Earlier this year, I had 4 different people in 1 week tell me I look like her - even a lady in the elevator turned to me and said, "You look so much like that girl from Enchanted!" Sweet, I'll take it.


Next, Cheryl Hines. She's a character in Curb Your Enthusiasm, I think. I haven't gotten this a lot, but I do hear it from time to time. Tronics' friend, Tyler, couldn't get over it one night - I'd find him looking at me for no reason and then he'd say something like, "It's just so crazy how much you look like her."


Finally, apparently there is some resemblance with Carly Simon. Or so it was pointed out here. For those of you who don't know who she is (I was in the same boat - only recognized the name), she sings "You're So Vain."

Overall, not a bad selection of look-a-likes. I'm just glad that no one has ever told me I look like this.

Pain is temporary, but pride is forever

This is the motto that was on the back of a runner's t-shirt during the Rock n' Roll Half Marathon this weekend. We must have took it to heart because by mile 11, I thought I was running to my death bed. My breathing was fine, but my muscles were shutting down. All I could think about was walking, but wouldn't let myself after all I had worked for so far... Must. Keep. GOING!

BUT, in the end, we were triumphant! Autumn, Maddie, Lizzie, Nick, Kathryn and I (among 25,000 others!) all finished in one piece. Kathryn and I ended up finishing the race together at 2:10:28! My goal was 2 hours, but I am extremely happy with this time (which originally we thought was a little less than this, but again, I'm so happy with my results!).

Some of the highlights:

• First and foremost, our adoring fans: Straubs, Steph, James, the Doherty's, Pat and Mary. It takes a diehard to wait on the sidelines for hours just to see someone run past in a matter of seconds. Thank you all!


• Also, a big thank you is on order for Pat, Kathryn's husband, who sacrificed his morning to forge through the incredibly bad traffic to get us to the race. I owe him a drink. Or two. Maybe another trip to the Little Red Hen is in order??


• The beautiful course, especially along Lake Washington.


• At one point everyone was pointing at this bald eagle and I overheard a lady saying, "Oh crap, is everyone pointing out another big hill?!"


• The funny water station volunteers who would be holding out water and yelling, "Bud Light, come and get it" or "Gin and tonic! It's your friend."


• Where the full marathoners split, there was a man yelling, "Come to the dark side" and all I could think was, "Oh, hell no!"


• The MJ tribute in one lady's lawn - complete with a framed picture and blasting Billie Jean.


• The makeshift band with a 10-year old boy taking his job oh-so-seriously.


• A woman in the blue wig or the lady with the sequined cape and shoe covers. There were just some overall fashion disasters going on.


• The mile 12 marker. Damn, it had to have been the longest mile in history.


• Somehow managing to gather enough energy to sprint to the finish line. DONE! (Well, until the next one on October 3rd.)


• Brunch with the Doherty's after the race - as Maddie puts it, we were playing with house money and could eat whatever we wanted. (I may have taken this too literally over the course of the day.)

Kathryn and me - I must say, it doesn't look like we just ran 13.1 miles.

Lizze, Maddie, Autumn and me dazzling the camera with our bright colors.

A Running Nirvana

I've done everything possible to completely prepare myself for my half marathon this weekend. I've completed the many runs, sacrificed many social outings, continuously hydrated myself (to the point that people might worry based on how often I have to pee!), grudgingly pulled myself out of my nice bed several mornings, bought new gear (I mean, come on, I want to look good when I'm running for hours at a time), found my energy supplement of choice (Gu Chomps = Awesome) and now I have to wait. Wait. Wait. Until tomorrow morning at 7am when the gun goes off.

I wonder how many of the bands will play MJ songs along the way. Or how many people will be wearing one shiny black glove. Or how many people will moonwalk through the water stations. I wonder. I'll let you know. Wish me luck!

She's fallen off her rocker

My Mom - the same mom who would never claim ownership of any of our pets growing up - got another puppy. Lily, the first one, isn't even completely potty trained! When she called to tell me, I completely thought she was joking. It took a few minutes to convince me (and a picture via cell) to fully believe that she was getting another Westie. Her reasoning: "Lily needs a friend! She gets so lonely at home by herself!" My response: "Umm, Mom? Wasn't today your last day of school? Aren't you going to be her companion this summer?"

So, meet Maggie.

The Weekend: Part Deux

After the show on Saturday, we took an excursion to the Cheesecake Factory for some dessert. A little chocolate coconut dreamcake never hurt anyone. Then I pulled a complete 180 and changed into my Mariner's garb for the game with my cousin, Amanda!

Way back in March, Amanda asked me to go to the game with her, her boyfriend and a group of friends - which I was super excited about because we don't hang out nearly enough! She got me two tickets so I could bring someone, so I asked Aaron because I don't see him enough and he knows my cousin: Perfect! We met at Pyramid for a beer before the game and chatted for awhile. Aaron got caught in traffic on the way down, so he met up right as the game was starting.

Our seats were great, right behind Ichiro in right field. Even though Griffey didn't play, it was still a great game - we won! I was bummed that I didn't really get to chat with everyone in the group, but I did have some good conversations with Tony (the bf) and Stephanie. Loved them both! Stephanie lives in Seattle and we swapped numbers and are going to grab dinner one of these days - new friends are fun!

After the game, Aaron and I headed to BalMar in Ballard for Kimber's birthday. Not the typical bar that Aaron would frequent, but I think he liked it.

Overall, a super fun and full day! My Sunday festivities to come...

Take me or leave me

What an amazing weekend! It all started when I went downstairs after work to find three smiling faces waiting for me at the Starbucks - Steph, Kathi and my Mom. Let the mother/daughter fun begin!

First, we went to the Pink Door for a lovely dinner. The food was excellent, the atmosphere was fabulous, but our waiter had his nose so far up in the air, you needed binoculars! Basically, he seemed to be a little snobby, but it may have just appeared that way because he might have actually just been an awkward guy. And it didn't ruin the evening, it actually just gave us something to laugh about. After dinner, we headed to Steph's place for a glass of wine and chit-chat.

Saturday morning, bright and early (7:30am!!), Maddie came over for our last long run. We showed that run what was up because it was a cinch. (Knock on wood for this weekend!) After our run, the mother/daughter bonding ensued. We went downtown shopping and had lunch, then went to the Broadway musical, Rent. We were in the 2nd row! Great performance - I highly recommend it.

This is my favorite song from Rent - it's the movie version, but you get the gist. It reminds me of Stephanie... No, not because it's about lesbians, but because she is the one who got me hooked on the Rent soundtrack, starting with this one:



The rest of the weekend's festivities to follow - can't give it away all at once!

11 weeks down, only 1 to go

Until I cross the finish line of my first half-marathon - 13.1 miles! As you would expect, it hasn't been easy. I've had to sacrifice hanging out with friends on several occassions. Sometimes I would sacrifice my sleep because I would wake up early just so I could actually do something that didn't involve running after work. I've even had to sacrifice that extra Friday night cocktail - opting for a glass of water instead - just so I could feel fully hydrated and prepared for my long weekend runs.

I've actually been somewhat surprised at how easily the mileage has built up over the course of my training. However, last weekend during my 11 miler, I thought my running abilities had crumbled right in front of my eyes. It was the first week that I was literally not able to squeeze a run in Monday-Friday, so I think that hurt me. I made the full 11 miles, but let me tell you, I was not a happy camper at the end. This week, I've felt much better on my runs, so hopefully my final long run before the main event goes well.

I've been keeping track of all my runs and I totaled them up - 197 miles in 11 weeks! Man, doesn't that just make you want to die? Or at least eat a cheeseburger or something.

This is how excited I will be when I cross the finish line (better go shopping to get this awesome outfit too):



In actuality, it might go a little more like this:

Any volunteers to help me cross the finish line? Tronics? Steph? Anyone?

One of these things is not like the other

Take a guess, but I suspect it won't be hard.

Golden Gardens

(click on the picture to enlarge)

Cup o' Joe

I've come to the realization that I am a true Seattleite when it comes to coffee. It's been a very slow transition, much slower than many around me, but I must confess that I do love my morning coffee. For the record, I'm not quite at the point where I need coffee to function and don't have it on the weekends very often - but when I get to my desk at work in the morning, there's something truly satisfying about a nice, hot cup o' joe.

It started more socially - I wanted to go to Starbucks downstairs with everyone to hear all the latest and greatest. I'd get some fu fu drink like a tall non-fat cinnamon dulce latte or a soy iced chai. Now, to save a buck or two, but still get the necessary caffeine, I find myself ordering a tall drip coffee (watered down with creamer and sugar, of course). If it hadn't been for a particularly tiring morning, I probably would have never even tried simple drip coffee. It's super nice when we actually have coffee grounds at the office because that makes the habit much cheaper!

I'll give credit to my dad for my delay in coffee-drinking. Back when I was five (yes, a wee little kindergartener), I was disgusted with the taste of my dad's black coffee - So he bet me that I couldn't make it until I was 21 to drink coffee (It seems that the natural bet with a young child would be to not drink alcohol until you're 21, but coffee it is!). We shook on it and his ritual morning coffee served as a constant reminder that the bet was on. Coincidently, I worked at a coffee stand in high school; I found that drinks were delicious even without the shot of espresso. We raised the stakes ($200) right before college because he didn't think I would make it through the study cram sessions without the help of coffee.

My 21st birthday rolled along and I was $200 richer! No coffee since that sip back when I was 5 years old. My first drink was a Caramel Frappuccino and I was not impressed. So for awhile, I stuck with the non-coffee drinks, but eventually built in some coffee choices into my orders.

If I've made it this far, I wonder if I'll ever make it to my dad's coffee-drinking caliber: Double Shot in the Dark. Just as it sounds, two shots of espresso in drip coffee. Black. Ugh, I don't think I can go there.

Miss Harper can most certainly do it!

I'm only like 100 pages in, but I would officially like to endorse the book, Miss Harper Can Do It. Not only do I feel like the main character's thought process is sometimes just pulled straight out of my head and on to the page - I know the author! Jane graduated two years ahead of me from BEHS, went to Skagit Valley Academy of Dance (so did I) and worked at Sakuma's too.

The story is set in Tacoma - about a 24-year old dealing with her boyfriend's deployment to Iraq. It's really entertaining so far, but I'll give the full review once I'm done.

Rumor has it, her next book references the Longhorn in Edison. I'll definitely be reading that one as well.

Update: So the main character got a little more crazed throughout the book, so I couldn't identify as much, but that made it even more entertaining! Read it.

Bob the Landlord

To round off the plethora of posts I've had during Danielle's visit, here is one of my favorites. So, after staying with me, D was scheduled to stay at Autumn's place for the last couple nights. Since we had, more or less, been planning her schedule without keeping her in the loop, she didn't know the specifics of her next stay.

So on Wednesday afternoon, she texted Autumn something along the lines of, "Hey! Can't wait to see you tonight. Am I staying with you tonight and tomorrow night?"

Upon hitting send, she realized that she had apparently checked the contact in her phone right under Autumn's name which just so happened to be Bob the Landlord. Yep, the old landlord from the Big House in Greenlake where everyone lived for 2 years (my time was shorter lived, but I still got the Big House experience). After years of jokingly inviting him to house parties and the such, someone finally pulled through, even if by accident.

If I was to picture Bob's reaction, it would be a little like this:

First:

Then:

Beer hunting.

My friends and I often frequent a little dive bar by the name of The Duchess... or the Dutch as we affectionately refer to it. It reminds us of college without fully being in the U-district (we're going to leave Earls and Finns to the students... unless Holden has any say in that). They have a "Husky" beer (AKA Miller High Life), the walls are covered with UW and Roosevelt High photos (weird, I know, what kind of bar associates itself with an underage entity??), pool table and shuffleboard.

They also have this sweet club: The Beer Hunter's Club. Yep, hunting beer. It requires you to fill up a stamp card of 40 different beers! And I'm happy to announce that I am a proud member. I started way back in April 2006 and just finished a couple months ago - I can't believe I didn't lose my stamp card in that timeframe!

Anyway, upon completion, they ring this bell and announce it on their loudspeaker-type thing and you get an awesome hat. We dubbed it the $160 hat because that's about how much it costs to actually get the hat in the end. AND, you get your name engraved on a plaque on the wall.

On her last night in town, Danielle finally joined the Beer Hunter's Club. (She actually remembered to bring her card from Tennessee!) She had 7 stamps left, but luckily she and Straubs got there at 5 to start early. And she made it. Welcome to the club, D!

Only 2 remain to join the club: Straube and Cleggo. Ladies, we're waiting... The funny part is that Straube is like the Queen of the Dutch! Not only did she start her bachelorette party there, the bartender Steve is madly in love with her.

Danielle earns her "antlers"

We saved the best for last. I love my camo hat!

Autumn, Maddie and I proud of our stamp cards!

Seattle is cool.

As you may recall, my friend, Danielle is in town and staying with me for a couple nights (unfortunately I've been coming home late from work, but she understands) and she has wanted to do some of the more Seattle-like activities that I totally take for granted. For instance, yesterday she biked to Gasworks just to take a picture of the beautiful skyline because she misses it. What is crazy is that I look at Gasworks outside my office window on a daily basis and forget how lucky I am to always take in the beautiful scenery!

Today she is going to Pike Place Market and that got me thinking - why the heck don't I go to the market more often? I could use some honey, fresh flower and amazing mini-donuts more often. She also is going to go walk around downtown for fun. I couldn't even tell you the last time I did that!

This past weekend we went to Golden Gardens for a BBQ picnic (where we had awesome food including homemade potato salad, brats, watermelon and cucumber salad, caprese, root beer floats, yummy cupcakes, rice crispy treat and more!). I live like 5 minutes away from Golden Gardens, but I haven't been since Kimber's birthday last June! We also walked around Greenlake which I sort of forgot how much I liked - since all I do is run these days, I forget how pleasant the lake is for a leisurely stroll.

So I've set a new goal: I'm going to enjoy more of the typical Seattle locales and activities. It's pretty much the best city ever, so might as well enjoy it!

TGIF

And I can't wait to cut loose. Like this:


(Apparently we like the robot.)

Welcome Home, Danielle!

How did she manage to stay away for over a year?! That's right, my good friend, Danielle - born and raised in Washington - has not been back for over a year! Granted, her family moved to Virginia, so now visits home aren't to the lovely town of Kalama (yes, where they shot part of the Twilight movie and have a page in their yearbook dedicated to Carhartts)... And last year she tried to come home for Straube's wedding, but there was a little mishap in ticket purchasing. It was a sad day when she found out that her tickets were accidently purchased for April, instead of July.

She moved to Memphis for the University of Tennessee program in something really smart like Pathology (cancer) and Developmental Biology. She's getting her PhD, so she'll be there awhile.

BUT, we have her for 12 days and we have quite the agenda set out for her, including but not limited to: dinner at her fave Thai place, mani/pedis, Golden Gardens BBQ for her birthday, Sunday brunch, Greenlake fun, going out in Ballard, maybe a little shopping downtown and sooo much more. She's going to leave this city exhausted! She'll be playing a little musical apartments the whole time - staying first with Lianna, then Maddie, me, and possibly Erin and Autumn.

The not-so-secret garden

With the assistance of my mom’s green thumb, I finally planted my little garden outside my apartment last weekend! I have a great little porch with an area in front for a garden – it was previously inhabited by an ugly, dead tree of sorts, but that’s no longer.

My Mom, Dad, Grandma Pete and Lily all came down to visit on Saturday – Steph joined the Peterson clan fun as well. First, we walked to Hale’s for some lunch. Then, we trekked over to Fred Meyer to scope out the flower selection. My only requirements were: a lot of color and long-lasting flowers – gotta make it through the whole summer!

After a laborious process of actually picking the flowers out, we headed back to my place. Steph, Dad and Grandma took the liberty of watching the process while my Mom and I got down and dirty in Miracle Grow. (Lily just started digging a hole next to the tree she was tied to. Apparently, she felt left out.) I was hoping for an overnight miracle, but alas, flowers take TLC to thrive. On Sunday, my Dad called and asked how much I made at the Ballard Farmer’s Market from my plentiful, flourishing, miracle flowers. I told him $62 – that’s right, Miracle Grow works magic. That, or I have a super green thumb...

Getting started

Planter #2 - Dad and Grandma relaxing

Some finishing touches

Ta-da! Garden-riffic!

Sounders 'Til I Die (or maybe not, I'm not bleeding green quite yet)

It was a sea of green and blue at Qwest Field this Saturday! In all my experiences at sporting events – Mariners, Sonics, Seahawks, Huskies, even good ol’ BEHS – I’ve never seen so much team spirit! I felt like the only person in the stadium that didn’t have Sounders gear and I almost felt pressured to buy a t-shirt (but then my cousin informed me that they are like $5 at QFC with a $20 purchase – score!).

Anyway, it was super fun and our seats were awesome! Right by the entrance of where the players come in and leave, so I got to see them all up close and personal. So naturally, I have to decide which player I should be dating. While originally I was thinking Nate Jaqua because he scored the only goal and is quite a looker, I have changed my decision to Kevin Forrest because not only is he attractive, he also is from the great state of Washington, is about my age and played for UW. (Or you can decide on an option for me here.) Man, how creepy would it be if he saw this post? Kevin, if you’re reading this, please know that I am perfectly sane, have a job, would support your soccer career and am really fun. My number is: 555-1234. Talk to you soon.

Here’s one of the super creative chants from the game:
I'm Sounders 'til I die
I'm Sounders 'til I die
I know I am, I'm sure I am
I'm Sounders 'til I die

And here’s Lynnette and me, as well as a view of the game from our seats.