Tuesday, November 3, 2009 at 08:00AM ...Homemade cherry pie is uber delicious, especially with the Martha Stewart Cookbook crust (my #1 fave). What special treats have you had in your life lately?
Monday, November 2, 2009 at 08:00AM 
The perfect post-race mealThis weekend, Goober, Bossyboots, and I ran the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k here in The Chi. Goober ran the 5k, Bossyboots and I took on the 15k.
Even with my marathon training, it wasn't easy!!!
I am really proud of myself because I stuck to my race plan... intervals of 8-minute runs and 1-minute walk breaks, running the last mile straight through. Bossyboots and my finishing time was 1:48:15. I was happy, because my goal was to finish at 1 hour, 45 minutes. ALMOST! (curses) I have a bad habit of wimping out in my runs and not taking training seriously sometimes, so this is really good for me!
The big draw of the Hot Chocolate event is that afterwards, there is a chocolate extravaganza... hot cocoa, chocolate fondue, and chocolate candy of all persuasions. A veritable Willy Wonka factory right in front of my face.
Except... those 5k jerk-o's ate it all! (Except for Goober, who is perfect in every conceivable way.)
We made our way over to the cocoa and fondue tents, only to be met with fondue fountains that were frozen stiff in taunting chocolate tendrils, and candy baskets that held only mocking scraps. DISASTER! Faced with the prospect of a non-chocolate existence, life had no meaning - which is to say, we booked it out of the chocolate-less party and went for burgers and beer. :)
This is what running 15k does to your looks - I hope you frakkers appreciate the fact that I am clearly lacking in vanity today!This was Bossyboots first race ever in life and the longest distance he has run so far. He has decided that he didn't so much hate the running, and may be taking on the Chicago marathon next year. We'll see how he feels after his half marathon in December! I am contemplating the Chi-marathon, too, but I want to get my full December marathon under my belt first. If I don't hate my life during that marathon... I may do the Chi, too. How did I become a runner? I have no idea - I like the couch decidedly better!
What's your favorite post-workout meal?
Friday, October 30, 2009 at 02:55PM ...a pretty...
...and rainy...
...Friday. Happy Halloween!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 08:00AM 
I have been full-on lusting after this perfume for a year. I'd visit it on Sephora every few weeks or so just to see how she was doing. I just could never bring myself to actually order it... perfume is expensive!
When it comes to scents, I am also extraordinarily picky - I really appreciate a "polite" perfume. You know - so many perfumes overwhelm a room, you can smell them from a mile away - they irritate your nose. No, thank you. I have a HUGE fear of being one of those people that others get annoyed because they have perfume on. There are a couple people that I encounter on a regular basis that feel a need to take a shower in their cologne. Sigh.
I am terrified of accidentally being one of those people with the rude perfume! Little Miss Dior will be a Saturday night occurence only, so this bottle should last me, oh, for a good year or twenty.
Do you have a favorite perfume? Do tell!
Tuesday, October 27, 2009 at 08:00AM 
I have four very good friends who are currently pregnant - three of them are due within one week of each other! I am apparently a baby magnet. If you are not currently looking to get knocked up, then stay far away from me!
I am also talking super good friends of mine... one is Wrigley-T, one is a girlyfriend that I met when I was 14 years old, another is my "The Bachelor"-watching buddy (that show has seriously gone downhill, btw), and the last - due first - is my friend Mags, with whom I lived for six years!
Mags and her hubby J-Mags are expecting their very first Wee One, whom they've named "Turkey." I find it interesting that my friends name their children varying forms of birds, between the Turkey and Wrigley-T's Chicken, Jr. They must be in the mood for poultry. :)
Mags' sisters recently threw her a baby shower WAY OUT in the suburbs. OK, not really, it was only an hour away, but I was having massive flashbacks of that Sex and the City episode where the four ladies trucked out to a baby shower and felt like the witches of Eastwick, dressed all in black! I actually pulled a black dress out of the closet that morning and put it right back, so I could avoid the City Witch effect. However, I DID bring my Starbucks thankyouverymuch. Put me in the middle of beautiful trees and grass, and the world spins!!!
Hmmm, now that I think about it, we kind of fit the bill... two of my friends and I all drove out together, we all had Starbucks, my sinuses were rejecting the plethora of nature, and one of us even had a giant gift basket, a la Charlotte but more awesome. Whoops. However, none of us were drunk! Yet. J/k. Mostly. MOSTLY.
The story is better told in pictures! (Isn't everything?)
First, so you know the players... me on the left, J-Rock, Mags, and Spence on the far right. That's Turkey and mini-Spence in the lower half of the photo. :)
We started off the day by meeting at Spence's house to then car pool together. I was feeling pretty good about my present until I saw J-Rock's... you'll understand why later! She also had run 16 miles already that morning, so my day started off with serious blows to my self-esteem! Oh well, sometimes you just feel bad about yourself. (I am totally kidding. Calm down, Dove Police.) We had a really fun time catching up in the car on our drive out to the land of trees and flowers.
The shower was held at a bee-youtiful golf course... this was our view: (!)
Mags had TONS of presents coming to her...
And we had TONS of food coming to us!
Mmmm, bacon.
Mmmm, Omelette Station of my dreams.
Clearly, we partook!
Yum to cupcakes!
Everything was so pretty... one of Mags' sister MADE these fortune cookies for everyone. They were damn tasty, too!
Mags does flower design, and she created the centerpieces, also lovely... I know people increasingly use fake flowers, but I really don't think you can beat a real, living, breathing flower (regardless of the fact that they make snot roll down my face uncontrollably.)
We played games, which I lost continually!
Um yeah, this was J-Rock's gift basket. Self-esteem squasher! She thought about things that Turkey might need through the first year, and then built the basket around that. I think it's a great idea that you should steal imitate. :) So adorable.
We had a great time, and it was so nice to have good hang-out time and celebrate the coming day of Turkey!!! Mags is an avid crafter, so this is definitely her greatest crafting project ever. I can't wait to meet the new little one!
There's me and my boobs taking pictures in the reflection. (sigh)