Birthday Recap!

Hello! I have so much to share - a race recap, recipe and a birthday recap. Let's start with the birthday recap!

Jay's birthday is just days before mine so it always makes celebrating a fun, extended event but can also create a little chaos (totally worth it!) trying to do something for both. This year, we went camping for Jay's birthday on one weekend and had a birthday dinner for me the following weekend.

Chaca's New "I <3 Camping" Shirt

Joining us on our camping trip was Chaca (of course), my brother, his friend and my parents. My mom has a very strict "if I cannot plug in my blow dryer, I'm not going" rule when it comes to traveling, so we were a little nervous that she wouldn't enjoy it. Thankfully, she did!! We all had a great time playing games, grilling and enjoying the peace of the forest. I also managed to squeeze in a 1 mile hill repeat run- the change in elevation was so tough but excellent training. Though it was his birthday, Jay did 100% of the cooking all over the fire. And it was THE BEST.

 

 

We also enjoyed some tasty adult beverages in the form of my spiked agua fresca. It was perfectly sweet and fresh. Yum.

 

 

With this being Jay's first birthday in El Paso, it only felt appropriate to give him an El Paso birthday staple...a pinata!! My mom and I filled it with Jays' favorite candies and confetti. The confetti leaked all over the trunks of our cars, houses, etc. keeping it a surprise was a trick.

TMNT!

It was a bit chilly so we made sure to keep warm with a fire each night. After spending the day running around, little Miss Chaca was so happy to curl up and get warm.

 

Sweetest Girl

 

On our last evening, we brought out a very fancy and elaborate birthday cake.

 

 

Okay, not so fancy or elaborate but it was easy to transport and exactly what the birthday boy wanted.

 

Fruit Makes It Totally Healthy, Right?!

The following weekend we held a taco and sangria dinner at out house. I followed this sangria recipe and it was amazing. The men seemed to enjoy it and none of them are very fond of sweet wines. Score! Jay was sweet enough to run out and pick up our order of tacos from a local restaurant while I got everyone mason jars of sangria and beer. It was a dinner with Jay, my cousin, my parents, brother, sister and her boyfriend - small and simple and it was perfectly what I wanted. I wasn't feeling the big to do this year and was glad we could make it happen. After our dinner of tacos, beans and my mom's homemade rice and salsa, we hung out around the fire pit in our backyard.

 

And I cannot forget to talk about my amazing birthday cake. Everyone thought it was a little odd for me to make my own cake, but I love baking so it was a gift in itself.

 

Cake & Birthday Flowers

 

 Following Brown Eyed Baker's recipe, I was able to recreate one of my favorite treats - Cheesecake Factory's Red Velvet Cheesecake. One slight change I made was in purchasing a Cheesecake Factory cheesecake at Costco instead of baking one (I've only had 1 very failed attempt and wasn't ready to try it again). It was indulgent and spot on!

 

I miss it already....


 

I felt so special all week as Jay and Chaca gave me little treats - a couple of books, some Cadbury eggs, tea and flowers - and in being able to spend time with family for both birthdays. Over all, we had fantastic birthdays. 







3 Goals Before 30

With my 30^th birthday less than 3 years away, I thought it’d be fun to set 3 long-term fitness goals that I’d love to achieve before the big day.

There is quite a bit of time to achieve and to change my mind but here they are as of right…..now!

1) Run a sub 2 hour half-marathon. My best (and only) time is 2:00 and at that time, it was really easy. Now? Not so much so I have some serious work cut out for me.

2) Bike a half century. Who am I?! To do this I’ll probably need to upgrade from the Huffy I currently ride (yes, and race in) so thank goodness for having some time to save money. I’m also going to use my friend Lou’s 365 mile goal – for every mile she runs, and her goal is 365 in a year, she puts a dollar in a jar – so for every mile I bike, I’m going to put a dollar in a jar. I better get cranking because bikes are expensive!

3) Hold a yoga handstand. I know this is ridiculously easy for some, but I’ve never been able to do it. I can’t even do a cartwheel. To achieve this, I’ll need to start attending yoga frequently and build that strength!

And that’s my plan, Stan!

Laundry Run

So far, being 26 is not too bad. I feel pretty old though. I couldn't get myself out of bed this morning (because I only got 6 hours of sleep...) and my wrist hurts. Carpal tunnel? I sure hope not! A lot of people in my office end up with CT because we work on laptops and don't have nice keyboards, but I've only been there 6 weeks, so I'm hoping that's not the case. Also, I know that I hurt it trying to readjust myself in my office chair the other day. Just a weird tweak. But when lot of old ladies have CT I feel old!

Today I went for a really crappy run. I had to make it short because I was doing laundry, so I only had the time it takes for the clothes to wash. But my Garmin wouldn't sync. Then I started running and my pants kept sliding down. And my shirt kept riding up. I stopped to "stretch" more than once because I had to adjust my clothing. And try to pull my underwear out of my butt without everyone noticing. And I had to stop at a million stop lights (I usually run this route early in the morning and there is no traffic to stop for). As I said, crappy run.

But I went out and that's what counts. I'm getting really frustrated with my workout these days...mostly because they aren't happening. I used my new job as an excuse for too long, and now it's just becoming a lame excuse. I should have shattered that race on Sunday, and it totally sucked. So today I printed out a blank calendar and came up with a workout plan.

 

I wrote everything in pencil so that I can change it as needed without making a huge mess of my pretty calendar, but I mapped out the whole month so that I see what I SHOULD be doing. (and please ignore the fact that I spelled elliptical wrong. It was late in the work day and the 6 hours of sleep was starting to get to me). I usually do really well I lay out a plan for myself, even if it's just for a week, so I'm hoping I can keep up with this for the whole month! And yes, that is yoga on the schedule. I need to work on my core and balance a lot, and can always use a good stretch, so I figure I might as well get myself into it.

Right now the hubs and his bff (although he says boys don't have bffs) are grading papers in the living room and watching No Country for Old Men. Well I feel like an old lady enough as it is, so I've hauled up in the bedroom with my book until I pass out...which will hopefully be really soon! :)

PS - Happy Birthday, Lou! Hope it's been a good one and you had a fantastic celebration, Philippino style!

Last Day of 25

Today is my last day as a 25 year old. 25 has been a good year, but I think 26 is going to be way better. I've got high hopes.

My last day as a 25 year old did not start out as I had planned though. I wanted to go for a run this morning because there was a break in all the rain we're having, and it was 50 degrees. I have everything laid out.

I assume you can tell where this story is going. I definitely did not end up running, but it's a funnier story that I just slept in...

When it's rainy in Boston, I sleep with ear plugs in. We live on a really busy street in Boston, and there is a lot of traffic noise. For the most part, it doesn't bother me, but when it's wet out, it's enough louder that I need the ear plugs. Well apparently I put them in really well last night, because I didn't hear the alarm go off! Eventually it woke up the hubs (who almost NEVER wakes up to the alarm bc I get to it first), and he had to practically shake me out of deep sleep. I was SO discombobulated by the event, and fell right back to sleep without realizing it. I managed to take one ear plug out, so I heard the alarm go off again, but this time I hit snooze right away like I do every morning, without even realizing how late it was. Needless to say, by this point it was too late to run, and I just got up for work. I hate having slept through a planned run, but at least I didn't make the decision consciously! :)

SO tomorrow is my actual birthday, and I'm really excited, but I've already had a lot of celebrations! My weekend was fun, and it was so great to see my mom. We had a nice Thai dinner Sunday night, before some gifts!

my mom, sister, and me at dinner (I definitely look more like my dad lol)

I feel SO overwhelmingly grateful to have a loving family and for the things I've been given for my birthday. Just seeing my mom was awesome, but she went above and beyond. First, she made me a cake!

oh yes, it's a birthday cake shaped like a bunny. I was born the day before Easter, so I've ALWAYS gotten a bunny cake. Even when I wasn't at home for my birthday, the hubs and/or the bff made one for me. I don't care how old I am, the bunny cake it amazing. (We made sure it was good by testing out his bow tie).

Not only that, but my mom and my sister pulled out all the stops and got me a lululemon outfit! Oh yes! I am the proud owner for some super fancy lululemon gear and I feel BADASS.

I'm super excited about my fuchsia headband and the monkey sleeves.

I feel like I'm going to be a huge speed demon now that I'm properly dressed! (When in reality I know that's not true, but running is so much about the mental, and feeling good sure helps make a run better!)

Tonight I went to dessert with a friend of mine who has to work tomorrow night and won't be able to wish me well tomorrow. She's super sweet and was kind enough to a) buy my dessert, 2) listen to me go on and on about our apartment hunt and a sticky situation we seem to be in, and d) give me the super cute necklace.

I feel so incredibly lucky, and it's not even my birthday yet! :) I told you 26 is looking good!

Now I'm going to get some sleep. It's already too late and I actually would like to wake up for a run tomorrow, so let's see how that works out! Good night!

Birthday Week

First and foremost, I must say:

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BFF!! 

You're wonderful and I miss you, and I hope you're having a fantastic birthday out there in New Mexy-co! Just pretend I'm out there and we're having drinks and making fools of ourselves like we did when you turned 21.

Today happens to also be my sister's birthday! In April I have A LOT of friends with birthdays and many of them fall on the same days, but this one is most definitely the most important two people!

It's been a fun birthday weekend so far. Since my mom was in town, we did some celebrating for my sister and for me. Yesterday morning we went on a hike in the Blue Hills. It was still snowy, but I handled it okay in my sneakers. I'd post pictures, but my hiking outfit was extremely unflattering and the wind made my hair look awful.

After the hike, my sister and I went to get massages! My dad had given us both spa gift certificates for Christmas, so we figured this weekend was the perfect time to use them. I had an AMAZING 50 minute massage. I did not want it to be over. I asked the massage therapist to focus on my upper back and my calves, both of which get really tight. She did such a wonderful job. I wish I could get massages every week.

THEN! (oh, yes, it gets better) we went to my uncles' house for our family party. We have a super cute little cousin who was there too. She helped with the cake.

My uncle made awesome lasagna. I'm not really a big lasagna fan, because I don't really care for red sauce, and usually lasagna has a lot. But this was only moderately sauced, so it was awesome (although there were carrots in it. gross. but they were big enough to pick out).

This morning, the hubs and I ran the Common Man's Marathon. It's 2.62 miles, instead of the insanely long 26.2 miles of a real marathon. It was KILLER. We have to run up the same awful hill THREE TIMES. Oh yeah, you read that right, THREE. It sucked. But we managed to run it in great time. And we were more happy for it to be over than any other race. Hill+windy windy windy day=suckage.

I think we made good time because this was my first race with A GARMIN! Woo! That's right! I got one for my birthday from my dad and Gramma. I'm so excited! I asked for one for Christmas and didn't get it, so I was super excited to open it up last night. Now I feel like a real baller runner (or I can fake it even better lol).

Now we're off to another birthday dinner! Thai this time! I love my birthday and birthday week in general and I'm so happy my mom is here to celebrate too! Dinner pictures tomorrow :)