Love that Dirty Water!

I am just now starting to come out of my Red Sox World Series Championship-induced high.  What a fun month October was to be a Red Sox fan!  I started off the month feeling cautiously optimistic, given the embarrassment of the past few seasons for my boys.  It was also fun because, for the first time in 21 years, the Pirates made the playoffs/had a winning season, so Dan was as giddy as a schoolgirl over that.

I enjoyed being in Boston during the ALDS, although they were playing in Tampa at the time.  Strolling down Yawkey and Lansdowne never ceases to make this girl's heart flutter.  There was a fun little sign on Yawkey that paid tribute to the wide variety of beards represented by this year's team {which, by the way, I'm completely over.  Dan will tell you that I start to squirm if he has the slightest trace of facial hair}.

Admittedly, I gave in to my grandma ways and did not stay up like I had for the playoffs in 2004 and 2007, but, in my defense, I was a student during both of those playoff runs, so a little grogginess was more excusable.  I definitely remember walking around in a fog for about three weeks during the 2004 playoff run {if you'll remember, we had some late-night extra-inning games that year}.  I did stay up for Game 6 this year, because I wanted to witness the moment when the Sox won, if they won.  Boy, was it ever magical.  I know there are so many Red Sox fans who came before me who never got to see a World Series win in their lifetime, so I feel pretty spoiled that I have seen three in the past decade.

This team was a very special one, as I think this Globe article proves.  I think there was definitely a tendency among members of the press to overstate the importance of this World Series to the city of Boston in light of the Boston Marathon tragedy, but it's undeniable that this team provided a much-needed morale boost to a city that has had an emotional year.  It has been proven that sports are part of the healing process following a tragedy, allowing people to temporarily escape from their grief.  It brought tears to my eyes to see Sox fans flock to the finish line of the Marathon following the victory, down on their knees and taking a moment to honor the victims.  Despite the gritty reputation that Bostonians have, the city, and its residents, was profoundly affected by the tragedy.  Boston Strong, indeed.

A few other gems from the playoffs:

- A rundown gone awry

- Oh Prince, you are so…special.  Laughing for days.

Trying to Make Sense of a Tragedy

via A Blog About Love

I promise I will post about our hiking adventure from this past weekend, but I am writing with a truly heavy heart this morning and wanted to address those feelings first.

As all of you are probably aware, two bombs wreaked havoc yesterday near the finish line of the Boston Marathon, killing three and wounding more than 120, nearly 20 critically.  The attacks occurred on Patriot Day, better known as "Marathon Monday." Patriot Day is the most sacred of days in Massachusetts, with the entire state taking a day off from work and school to celebrate the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the start of the Revolutionary War.  The day truly does capture the extreme pride of the citizens of Massachusetts, who ring in the day by tuning in to the afternoon Sox game and the running of the Boston Marathon.  The bombs that ripped through crowds of innocent bystanders yesterday shattered the sacredness of the day.

On a personal level, while I may not live there anymore, Massachusetts is the state where I grew up, and it will always profoundly affect how I view myself.  To illustrate this, my Massachusetts license is due to expire next March, and I would rather not have a valid ID than have to trade in my Massachusetts ID for a Virginia one.  They can punch a hole in it, rendering it useless, but I refuse to fork it over.  The type of pride instilled in every "Masshole" for our beloved state is something that you can't really put into words.  Many people have a strong allegiance to their city, but mine is statewide, and, better said, region-wide.

A very close friend of mine was at the finish yesterday, watching a friend run.  Thankfully, through the magic of Facebook, I was able to see that she was fine.  However, when I texted her to tell her how glad I was that she was okay, she told me that she had left the blast site mere minutes before the bombs went off, joking that she had wanted ice cream and that that was the first time when her sweet tooth had been legitimately good for her health.  I am so grateful that she is okay, but my heart is broken for the families of the dead and of those still fighting for their lives.  My thoughts and prayers are with all of them as they struggle to make sense of lives cut short.  The fact that an eight year-old child was among the dead is truly sickening.  When will our children cease to be targets of acts of violence??? When will parents stop outliving their children?

Having run my first marathon exactly a month ago today, I tried to put myself in the runners' place, that of complete confusion in the face of sheer exhaustion.  The fatalistic part of me can't help but think, 'What if that had been my race? What if that had been my parents, my boyfriend and my friends at the finish?'  The thought that you could be putting yourself in danger of a terrorist attack just by going out for a run is enough to strike fear into any runner's heart.  But runners are a strange breed. We do what we do for reasons that we cannot really explain to anyone else.  There were so many stories of heroic runners who, immediately after finishing the race, continued running to Mass General in order to give blood.  So, even in the face of this tragedy, I choose to run.  I run for Massachusetts, I run for Boston, and I run for the innocent lives lost.  That's about the best that any of us can do.

A nip is in the air!

Remember how I was whining last week about the unseasonably warm weather?  Well, I can now say that it is officially fall here in the District!  The temperature dropped dramatically on Saturday, and it has been all heavy sweater and warm soup weather ever since :)

After the tough week that last week turned out to be, all I wanted to do this week was relax, which is exactly what I did.  On Friday night, keeping with the Mediterranean food kick that I was apparently on last week, Dan and I went to Agora on 17th St.  I really, REALLY love that place, and we liked it enough the first time that it made us want to go back!  There is just something about Mediterranean cuisine, the flavors, the freshness, and how freaking satisfying it is! 

After dinner, we went home and watched Goldfinger.  Being that I am trying to broaden my movie taste (to Dan's shock and sheer delight, I love the Bourne movies, so we decided to tackle James Bond next), I was trying to keep an open mind going into it.  Well, this one got a big thumbs-down from both of us haha, and my falling asleep during it was definitely proof enough that this was not a good movie.  I wanted to like it, I really did, because who can say no to watching a Sean Connery movie?!  I think we might have to try one of the newer, more action-packed options next (Pierce Brosnan or Daniel Craig).

On Saturday, we finally, wait for it......WENT APPLE PICKING!!!  At dinner on Friday, Dan said, "I have a proposition for you: If we go to a farm tomorrow, can we go to the driving range for a bit?" Ermahgerd, NO-BRAINER! "I accept your proposition," I answered.  So we went to a farm!  We chose Larriland Farm out in Howard County, MD, because it had the widest variety of apples.  I was like a little New England kid in a candy store, if you can picture that!  This was definitely not a small mom-and-pop farm, it had some serious bells and whistles, and there were a ton of people there.  We picked two bags worth of Staymen, Sun Crisp and Mutsu apples (strange names, I know), some of which were used for a pie that I baked yesterday, and others for just eating.  We also got a pint of apple cider (Dan was thoroughly confused when, later, at home, I insisted on microwaving my cider.  Clearly, the guy didn't grow up in New England, where you take your cider warm and with a cinnamon stick).  Seriously, people, think about all of my childish glee!  I had to restrain myself from going in the hay maze (which was actually meant for toddlers; my height alone would have given me an entirely unfair advantage), but I picked apples to my heart's content. 

The beautiful produce available at the farm!

Officially my new favorite picture of us :)

Afterward, as promised, we went to the driving range.  I had never watched Dan hit before, so it was really fun for me to see him hit a bucket of balls.  He was also less sore after this time hitting, so I think that means that we're moving in the right direction in terms of rhabdo-recovery!! I had been to the driving range once with my dad and Tim, but, so demoralized by my inability to make contact with the ball, I had resolved never to return to the driving range.  But, in the spirit of wanting to try new things and be good at everything, I couldn't resist trying it out.  I am happy to report that I did not whiff or completely shank the ball!  Granted, the ball did not go very high or very far (and I injured my arm in the process, obviously), but I made contact!  Maybe I will be paying the range a return visit sometime soon :)

Favorite golfer!

On Saturday night, we bought some movies at Best Buy, got takeout from Mellow Mushroom (Dan LOVED the BBQ chicken pizza, which I had told him he would) and watched O Brother, Where Art Thou?.  We are making the most of this rhabdo-recovery period, and Saturday was one of the funnest days we've had in a while, in my opinion!  On Sunday morning, I grabbed brunch at Policy with one of my closest friends, and, true to form, just talking throughout brunch wasn't enough.  She is one of those amazing people who you can talk to for hours, and it seems as though we have a lot of the same things going on now, so there was much to discuss.  We plopped ourselves down in a creperie for another few hours, armed with hot chocolate and tea, and gabbed away.  From there, I walked to the National Portrait Gallery, where I hadn't been in a while, and perused the new exhibits.  I should mention that, by this point, it was in the mid-40s and damply cold, so a museum outing was definitely appropriate.  On my way to Dan's, I couldn't resist picking up some festive cupcakes from Crumbs (I should never be allowed into a bakery close to dinner time haha).  We watched some football and baseball and had an overall relaxing night. Sadly for him, he had to work from home on Monday, but I had the next day off, so I was allowed to move a bit more slowly on Monday morning :)

Tell me those are not the cutest cupcakes you've ever seen!

I had planned to go to Pentagon City with a friend yesterday, but, since she was feeling under the weather, I took advantage of the extra day to organize my room, do laundry, catch up on projects I had been meaning to take care of, and COOK! As I already mentioned, I made a pie out of the apples we bought on Saturday, and made some vegetarian chili (part of which I had last night, and the rest of which Dan and I will be eating tonight.  Sorry to give away our menu haha).  Since it was so chilly, all I wanted was some nice, hearty vegetarian chili, and this recipe is my absolute favorite!  By the end of yesterday, I was feeling good, positive, and ready to tackle this week!  I have lots of fun things going on, so this is going to be a good week! I'm calling it now!

I hope you all had a lovely weekend (hopefully you got to spend it enjoying this lovely fall weather!)!