In A New York State of Mind

Last week was a really hectic one, both in my personal and professional life, so sadly, I never posted about our New York trip.  But I didn't want to leave you all in suspense for too long {since this week is going to be another doozy}.

Dan and I had a really smooth trip on the bus, both ways.  Sure, we could have saved an hour each way and taken the train, but we both decided it was worth it to pay a fraction of the cost and slum it on the bus.  Once we got to New York, we met up with our friends James and Lindsay {the latter of whom had just arrived from DC on the train} and walked over to James's place.  We agreed to go to sleep on the early side, since James, Lindsay and I all had to do a 12-miler for marathon training and wanted to get it over with on Saturday morning.  We were up at the crack of dawn {7, to be exact, an ungodly hour for a Saturday} and, after Dan ran part of the way with us, the three of us ran around Central Park.  Boy, was that ever a great run!  I loved running around the park and, since James ran up ahead of us and Lindsay and I were running at a slightly slower pace, the run was so enjoyable.  We gabbed the entire way and cheered each other on when our joints started hurting.  There is definitely something to be said for having a training partner!!

After all of us showered and got ready in what has to be record-setting time, we scarfed down some bagels and power-walked to MSG for the Hoya game.  It was the first time that both Dan and I had been in the storied Garden, and luckily our Hoyas made the trip worth it, handily defeating St. John's.  After the game, we headed to a bar, where we ran into a whole smattering of friends, both my friends, and Dan, James and Lindsay's swimming friends.  It was a great time, especially since we don't usually partake in the post-game celebrations after home games.  Afterward, we walked over to the High Line and then grabbed some snacks before heading back home.  We went to 4 Napkins for a burger dinner and spent an hour or so at a low-key bar before calling it a night.

On Sunday morning, we met up with a few of my cousins and two of the kiddos {the same ones who had visited DC over Thanksgiving, plus a few more} for brunch, which was a lot of fun.  Dan had never met anyone from my dad's side of the family, so I had been really looking forward to introducing him to then.  We had a really nice time, and I enjoyed seeing my family in their natural Manhattan habitat.  From there, we headed home, and our wonderful New York weekend was over.  Sure, I may still maintain that the Big Apple is too big a city for me to ever consider moving to, but I really enjoyed our time there.  Spending time with friends, family, and, of course, my amazing travel buddy, really made the weekend perfect.  I look forward to hopefully going back soon {which will definitely happen if baby bro moves there after graduation!}!!

Brunch at Veselka with the cousins

Scenes from the High Line

I think the fact that each of us wore a different WAG shirt contributed to the win :)

As Promised, Some Christmas Break Photos

These pictures have been sitting on my desktop and are annoying me {those of you who know me can attest to how much I hate clutter}, so I am finally posting them.  I am far too busy right now to write about our New York weekend, but I promise I will post about that soon!

Beautiful light-lined streets of Old Town!

 Pucker up!! The Christmas camel, Aladdin, at Mount Vernon

Replica of the Capitol made entirely out of plants, Botanical Gardens

Beautiful lights, Georgetown Waterfront

Ice skating at the Georgetown Waterfront {highly recommended, and I would actually recommend combining it with dinner at Farmers, Fishers & Bakers}

Spending New Year's Eve at O'Connell's in Old Town with my love :)

We're going to...

via I Lost My Heart in New York

via Fairytale Wishes and Dreams

via Subway

via Pinterest

In case you hadn't guessed, Dan and I are going to New York this weekend!  I'm so excited to spend the weekend with our friends James and Lindsay, and can't wait to sneak in a quick brunch with my cousins as well!

And SNAP, the weekend's over...

I seriously have no idea where this weekend went, so I guess that's a sign that it was a good one!

On Friday night, Dan and I went to one of our favorite pizza places, District of Pi, for dinner.  As usual, it was insanely delicious.  Then we picked up some beer {for him} and cider {obviously for me} and hunkered down to watch the Season 1 finale of Homeland.  Call us old folks for staying in on a Friday night and watching TV, but the truth was, we were exhausted after a mere three days back in the office.  Fridays tend to be nights where we want to come home and not do anything strenuous.  As expected, the finale was incredible, so it left us itching to start the next season {which we did yesterday...not even embarrassed}.

On Saturday morning, I had to do a 16-miler for marathon training, and I was really dreading it.  It has gotten to the point in my training where it is becoming a hassle to plan my weekends around my long runs, mostly because I tend to be somewhat incapacitated by the pain afterward.  I was feeling pretty good up until I stopped briefly at Mile 6 to eat some of my Clif Bar Shot Bloks {I am still not confident enough in my ability to ingest these without choking to attempt to eat them while still running; however, I am a WHIZ at getting my water bottles out of my belt without stopping.  Baby steps}.  When I started back up again, my hip, which has been bugging me for the past month or so, was in some pretty serious pain.  I pushed through it, but it was definitely not a great run.  I would characterize the last two miles of the run as a jog/limp hybrid, with an emphasis on a limp, but more worrisome was the fact that my hip was in so much pain that I was nearly in tears.  Of course, when I told Dan that, he asked me the totally legitimate question of why I continued running.  Being stubborn himself when it comes to workouts, he could obviously relate to why I wanted to finish, but he is just concerned that I'm in so much pain. 

Anyway, after I had wolfed down some food {I was so hungry when I got back that I almost passed out} and taken some Advil, I went over to my parents' house, where we were preparing for a SLEEPOVER with a few of my friends.  That's right, you read that correctly, a sleepover!  Jamie, Molly, Lauren and I had been talking about getting together this weekend, and I suggested the idea of an Old Town sleepover, and luckily, the girls were very excited about that!  We went to Fontaine's {that fabulous crepe place that I had gone to previously with my parents} with my parents and then cozied up in front of the TV to watch Bridesmaids.  We ended up staying up until about 2 a.m. chatting, which made it feel like a true slumber party.  In the morning, my mom made us Christmas rolls {WIN!} and, by the time the girls left, we had decided that this had been what all of us needed!

Yesterday, Dan and I were couch potatoes and watched some Homeland, followed by the 'Skins game.  While I am not a football fan, I like to see DC teams {other than the Caps...side note, HOCKEY IS BACK! GO PENS!} do well, and I think that RGIII seems like a stand-up guy.  It was tough to see him struggle with his injury. 

This week, I have some exciting things coming up!  Tonight, I'm planning on cooking myself something hearty and healthy and then chilling on my couch to watch the much-anticipated {haha} premiere of The Bachelor.  Tomorrow, Dan and I are going to the Pitt game, which his brother so kindly bought us tickets for!  On Thursday, we are going to Rasika; after talking about going for months, I finally looked on OpenTable and picked a date.  I am bouncing-off-the-walls excited! And THEN, this weekend, we're going to New York!  The impetus behind the trip was wanting to go to the St. John's game at MSG, but we're also going to hang out with James and Lindsay, as well as hopefully see some of my cousins who live in the city. I'm really looking forward to it!  Even with as close as I grew up to the city, I haven't really been there too many times, so it should be fun! 

I hope you all had a lovely weekend! Here's hoping the next one gets here quickly :)

Relaxation Time: How I Spent My Christmas Break

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I certainly was not lacking in relaxation time over break, which, after a stressful few months at work, was certainly in order.

After getting caught in a terrible snowstorm that turned what normally is a 4-hour drive into a harrowing 9-hour drive, Dan got back to DC.  Knowing that he would be grumpy and starving {he only ended up being the latter}, I had some homemade mac & cheese casserole {one of his favorite dishes that I make} and Oreo cupcakes {which he claims is his favorite dessert EVER- patting myself on the back haha} waiting for him when he got to my apartment.  He worked from home on Thursday and Friday, so we just hung out in my living room during the day and got to hang out at night.  SLASH we MAY have also gotten addicted to Homeland during parts of the work day :) The only thing on my agenda was going for a run- I had a 14-miler on Friday- so the rest of the time, I just sat pretty.  I also made crepes on Thursday morning, so that took up a little bit of time as well!

On Friday night, we saw Les Mis {the movie}. SO. FREAKING.GOOD.  Tears were rolling down my face for a sizeable chunk of the movie, which Dan made sure to give me grief about haha.  In all seriousness, I was amazed by the singing performances {other than Russell Crowe's}; even Anne Hathaway, for whom Dan tells me that I have an irrational hatred, did a great job on "I Dreamed a Dream." They were all incredible, and it is such a moving story that they captured so beautifully.  As we left the theater, a tissue-less me still sniffling, Dan remarked that he had forgotten that the story was so sad.  Yeah........

On Saturday, I took my "day off" from exercise, which actually ended up being a very busy, not to mention active, day.  Dan wanted to go shop for some golf supplies, which I didn't really want a part of, so I met up with my mom to see the Christmas displays at the Botanical Garden, which I would highly recommend, by the way.  From there, we went to the Museum of the American Indian for a bit.  It was nice to have some mommy-daughter time! When I got back, Dan and I headed over to the Thomas Jefferson Community Center in Arlington to play some basketball.  We had been threatening to play for, oh, about a year, but we finally did it.  We didn't play 1-on-1, but we did play two games of horse and one of Around the World, all of which I won, thank you very much.  Too bad I didn't have the good sense to put a home-cooked meal on it beforehand! 

After we showered and changed, we headed over to Georgetown to check out their ice skating rink. FAB.U.LOUS.  It was significantly less crowded/hectic than the Sculpture Garden rink, not to mention more picturesque at the time of day that we went {7 p.m., so all the lights were sparkling!}.  After skating for about an hour- and avoiding falls! Woohoo!- we hopped over to the newly reopened Farmers, Fishers & Bakers for an 8:00 reservation...only to wait until 8:45 to get seated. WOMPPPPPP.  We were so hungry after our active day that we got pretty grumpy, but quickly cheered up when we learned that they were comping us a round of drinks and an app.  Now THAT'S how you placate angry diners, people!  Let's also talk about the fact that the food was OUT OF THIS WORLD, and also reasonably-priced!  We got an appetizer of soft pretzels and three mouthwatering dipping sauces, and, for our entrées, Dan ordered jambalaya and I ordered a gardener's pie {essentially shepherd's pie but with veggies instead of meat}.  Our tummies were sure happy when we left, and we vowed to go back very soon.

On Sunday, we went to our beloved Metro 29 for brunch after our runs, where who should we see but Eric Cantor.  I was so tempted to bitch him out, because, at that point, Congress had not reached a deal to avoid falling off the fiscal cliff.  However, I kept my cool and stuffed my face with French toast like a good little girl.  For the remainder of the day, we watched football.  Now, I hate football, but watching it meant that I got to spend time with Dan, and it also required no effort, which pleased my exhausted body.  In return, he told me that, since I had been so good to watch 9ish hours of football, I could choose Monday's activity.  I chose Mt. Vernon, which ended up being a slightly poor choice because of the cold weather and the fact that the place pales in comparison to Monticello.  Who knew?  However, while there, we saw Michele Bachmann.  I kind of creeped myself out by recognizing two politicians in 18 hours, but I know that I was right.  Again, in a perfect world, I might have bitched Michele out for her politics, but I refrained.

And then came New Year's Eve.  Last NYE was definitely a depressing one for me, because, as we walked around Dublin on that day last year, it seemed as though there was a happy couple everywhere we turned, which only made me miss my guy more.  That's why I was thrilled to not only spend so much time with Dan this break, but also spend New Year's Eve with him.  We had decided that we wanted to do something low-key {but still actually go out}, so we threw on our party clothes and headed to Old Town.  All of the Christmas lights lining King Street twinkled away, and I briefly forgot that I was not walking down the Champs-Elysées.  Dinner was yummy, and we decided to head to O'Connell's, a charming old pub, afterward.  We were SO fortunate, because, just as we got there at around 10, a group of women was leaving, so we snagged their seats at the bar.  We didn't have to fight for drinks all night, AND we got seats.  Seriously perfect.  We made friends with some pretty interesting characters {one, a guy named James with long, red hair and a pink sparkly cape, was particularly entertaining} and just enjoyed each other's company.  It was perfect.  Seriously, I was in my happy place, getting to spend the holiday with my love.

So that's all she wrote, folks!  That was my UBER-relaxing vacation, and I enjoyed every second of it, whether spent with my family or with Dan.  It was definitely tough to get out of bed on Wednesday morning to come back to work, but, surprise! Today is Friday!

For whatever reason, my photo uploader isn't working, which is kind of annoying, so I'll try again later to post pics of the rest of break!  Happy (almost) weekend!

New Year's Resolutions

via French By Design

I really hate the start of a new year, partly because my once-crowdless gym suddenly becomes crowded, and partly because it's the season to make resolutions that you don't end up keeping.  Because I'm one for actually achieving goals that I set for myself, I prefer to have tangible, reasonably attainable goals for myself, rather than making sweeping declarations.  So here, my dear readers, are my Tangible, Attainable Goals for 2013:

• Assert myself more, whether in my personal or professional life {for those of you who know me, you know that assertion and conflict are not exactly two of my strong suits}
• Run a marathon {I'm already signed up, and am in the midst of the hardest part, all of the training}
• Eat enough, and well enough, to bribe my body to run 26.2 miles. HA!
• Put some of my Pinterest home decor ideas to use {more on this soon!!!!!}
• Always take the time to help or listen to a family member or friend in need, and never hesitate to let those people know how important they are to me, both through my actions and my words
• Enjoy the little moments.  I am so goal- and milestone-oriented that I often struggle to stop and smell the roses.  I have so many wonderful things to look forward to this year that I want to enjoy everything in the moment, rather than constantly looking forward to the next thing.
• Do things and spend time with people who bring me joy
• Do not fear change
• Do not forget to laugh, especially at myself!

I would love to hear some of your New Year's resolutions or goals.  How do you hold yourself accountable {or don't you?} in your quest to achieve these goals?

A Very Merry Christmas Indeed

If you read my blog posts at this time last year, you will remember that, what with our whirlwind Christmas vacation, my family had a very, very busy break.  I look back on that trip so fondly, and I know that my family does as well, but dam, did we keep busy that break!  This Christmas break was a total 180 from the frenetic pace of Christmas 2011.

I'm going to have to separate the break into a couple of posts, because I think that this one will be a little bit lengthy otherwise, but I'll start with "fake Christmas," my Christmas celebration with Dan the Friday before Christmas, before he headed home.  I  had gotten off of work really early, which ended up being nice, because I had time to pack and clean my apartment.  Once he got to my place, we headed downtown and stopped by the Capitol Christmas tree, which I always love {it looks so much more natural than the caged-in White House Christmas tree}.  From there we walked to dinner at Poste in Chinatown, which, although exorbinantly priced, was delicious.  Plus, what better time to go out for a pricey dinner than a holiday, right?  Then, we went home and opened presents, and, once again, Dan did a great job. He got me a beautiful, logo-free Coach wallet {he knows how much I hate logos, and he also has had to watch me fish through my coin purse for credit cards and IDs enough to know that I needed an upgrade}, as well as a running headband {purple, my favorite color, to match the running jacket he got me last year} and smart phone-friendly running gloves. I had gotten him a dress shirt to replace some of the ones that are now out of commission {he tends to get holes in the elbows of his work shirts, so he must sit in a strange position when he's at his desk!}, as well as an overnight in the Charlottesville area and a trip to a few breweries on the Nelson County Microbrewery Trail later this month, which we are both really looking forward to.  I was sad to see him off bright and early on Saturday morning, but it helped to know that I would see him again in just a few days.  The two-week separation over Christmas last year was really difficult, so it brought me so much happiness to get to spend so much time with him this break.

After a long run, I met up with my friend Jamie to go to the Georgetown basketball game.  From there, we perused the Chinatown Christmas market and then saw Anna Karenina.  I had been really excited to see it {I almost always love Keira Knightley period pieces}, but we both walked away very disappointed.  I should have known it would be a letdown, particularly since I disliked the book so much {I actually ended up giving up and didn't finish it}.  It is always lovely to spend time with her, though, so I was happy, despite the $9 wasted on the movie haha.

From Saturday night to Wednesday I stayed at my parents' house, which was exactly the getaway I needed. There was lots of going to bed early, early-morning runs with my dad, eating yummy baked goods that my dad picked up at the Old Town Farmers Market, and generally spending quality time with my family.  On Monday, my mom decided that Tim needed to get out of the house, so we went to the Spy Museum, specifically because there was a special James Bond exhibit that she thought he would enjoy.  Even though I had been to the museum once before, I thoroughly enjoyed going again, and I think my dad and Tim had a nice bonding experience over the Bond villain exhibit.

 

We spent Christmas morning at my parents' house, opening presents and eating our customary Christmas rolls {if the picture below doesn't make your mouth water, there may just be something wrong with you}.  Santa was very good to me this year; in addition to the running gear that Dan had gotten me, I got some more great stuff, including a dri-fit shirt, a roller {to help with my tight muscles, which I am SO excited for!}, a belt that holds some small water bottles, and some gummies, which are so delicious I plan to use for my training and then during the race.  They are so yummy that I had to promise Dan that I wouldn't just sit at my desk popping them throughout the day...Not to pat myself on the back, but I really loved the gifts that I gave my parents and Tim, Snapfish photo books of our Europe trip last year.  I wanted to find a creative way to memorialize the trip, and I was so pleased with how they turned out!

Seriously...

 

After we finished opening presents, we drove to my aunt and uncle's house in southern Virginia, where my mom's entire family gathered for Christmas dinner.  It was the first time in probably about ten years that we had all been together, so it was nice to have the entire family there.  Everyone especially enjoyed the Christmas poppers that we brought, something that we always do for Christmas on my dad's side of the family. Each popper contains a paper crown, a small toy and a little joke, and everyone was a good sport and wore their crown.  After an overnight stay and some more time with the family in the morning, we headed home.

Merry Christmas, from my family to yours!!!